|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 6, 2011 22:57:02 GMT -5
There wasn't a lot to do in a tiny apartment. Alright, so maybe someone with more creative ideas and strange interests could find something to do in Nell's apartment (like the girl herself, for example) but Joshua found himself at a loss of what to do. Though he hated to admit even to himself that he was a spoiled and entitled brat, the Fire graduate reflected on the fact that he was missing his mansion and the vast amount of things he could get up to. He could play tennis in the backyard or just hang around the garden, he could read out on the balcony or else watch movies on the large television, he could bake some sort of sweet thing like brownies or cookies, he could explore the almost archival basement. He could find entertainment in his sister, his pets, his parents if they were home. Alright, so maybe he was sulking a little. Even though he had decided that he would adapt to this new way of living if only it meant keeping Nell in his life, that didn't mean he was perfect. He still missed the life he'd left behind. It had all been for her. He felt uncomfortable pointing this out in front of Nell and so generally just tried to avoid the subject of his family and his pets and the vast fortune he'd left behind.
Sighing, he glanced out of the window and lamented the fact that it was a perfectly sunny day. He had assignments that he had to finish, even though this particular day was void of classes and nothing was due imminently, and someone like Joshua would normally be found outside and under a tree on a day like this. Either that or in the library, but he didn't feel like trailing all the way to the public library and the nearest park to downtown was the shabby excuse for one--the very park in which Nell had confessed the killing of her mother. He was almost exasperated as the thought crossed his mind. Couldn't anything go on where he didn't have to think of Nell and the matricide which made her a fugitive hiding out in the country of his birth? It wasn't something he thought about often, to be honest. The more he tried to let the flaws and crimes of his girlfriend sink in, the more Joshua just wanted to shove everything under the bridge and pretend that nothing was wrong, that he was absolutely, one-hundred percent fine with it. And he wasn't, really. How could someone be fine with that?
Still, he reflected to himself as he sat down and started to lay his books out in front of him, it's probably not for the reasons she thinks. Nell wasn't stupid--surely she understood that this wasn't easy for him. But it wasn't the fact that she'd killed someone that bugged him at all. It was the fact that he didn't know what their future together would bring that had his stomach in tight knots whenever there was talk of the trial. Where did he see himself ten years down the line? Well, that's where things always got mucked up and muddled. Before he'd met Nell he'd seen an image of himself--rich, a doctor, living alone in the mansion his parents had promised him. A girl had never been a part of the picture. Josh was just so solitary that he'd assumed he would stay single for the rest of his life and that had actually been quite alright with him. He hadn't been too bothered about getting a girlfriend. But now he had one, and yet that only made the future even more confusing. Because what if... what if the trial went wrong? What if Nell was put in prison for the rest of her life? He didn't think he'd ever stop loving her, but would be end up moving on? Could he bring himself to do that?
This is why we don't think about the trial, he thought dryly. He'd read through the first paragraph of the textbook without taking it in several times now. Trying to push the thoughts away, he also tried not to think about how incredibly bored he was as he dragged his mind over to the assignment. Come on, he thought. What happened in that year? You know this! He was certain he must. History was his strong point, the favourite subject of an already bright and gifted student. However, not even booksmarts could save Josh when his mind was not on books. He eventually managed to get so invested in his work that he was lost in it--soon, his only thoughts were on names and dates and the age old thoughts of ancient historians. There was an expression of stoic concentration on his sharp features as he read through the text... studying, on a weekend. It was typical of him, really.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 7, 2011 17:04:01 GMT -5
 “Nell, why does your car have a mustache?” The girl turned to look at her co-worker who was sipping at his coffee. Since it was such an extremely pleasant day, they decided to meet up at Timmies and stuck mainly to discussion about work and—one of Nell’s favorite topics—food. She gave him an exasperated look, coffee in one hand and half-eaten donut in the other. “Because she forgot to shave. Ba-dump psh.” They both turned to look at the large magnet on the front of the PT Cruiser. Honestly, Nell just thought the car was incredibly uninteresting and when she found the jumbo magnet, she figured it’d be a way to make her car look a little better. Okay, maybe she didn’t hate her car as much as she said. Because that was a very petty thing to be upset about. At least she had a car, and at least it wasn’t the Monte Carlo. That was pretty much the definition moving on up.
And she couldn’t help but be jealous sometimes of Josh’s Aventador, which was glaringly obvious in the parking lot. Like the wolf in a herd of sheep—dented, rusting sheep that is. She always debated using her father’s money to get a new car, but she had to wonder if that was assisting herself in some big way. She wanted her independence, and that included not relying on her father’s money. She didn’t want to dip into his bank account for something like a new apartment or a new car. If she was going to make it in any way, she was going to make it on her own, with her own money and her own skills. Nell didn’t even think about the fact it might not be worth it—because if her thoughts went there, they got dangerous. Come December, her fate would be decided and that fate may not be liberation. It might be twenty-five to life, and what would a car matter then? What would anything she’d done matter?
Well, Harper doesn’t have a mustache, she thought with as much pride as she could muster when it came to the PT Cruiser as she headed up to her apartment, donut finished and coffee lukewarm. It was so nice out, she was disappointed to have to go back to the apartment. Maybe Josh would like to do something today, she thought, instantly bringing up her enthusiasm. Nell didn’t like to bee cooped up inside anyway, good weather or not. She’d find some way to have fun in a downpour just so she wouldn’t have to suffer through cabin fever. However, Josh apparently had different ideas. When she entered her apartment, she found him not only chilling out, but studying. She wasn’t too surprised. In fact, she was a little amused. Of course she’d find him studying!
“Lucy, I’m home!” Nell called out in her best Ricky Ricardo accent. Crossing her arms, Nell said, ”It’s a beautiful day out, Lucy. What are you doing in here?” Even though she was joking around, she still would like to understand how he could spend so much time with his books. It’s his thing, she reminded herself. She may not have spent her days pouring over books (anymore, really), but she certainly wasn’t going to judge her boyfriend because he did. It was admirable, really. Sitting down next to Josh, she kissed him before saying cheerfully, ”You know what the temperature is outside? Seventy degrees even.” She looked down at the open textbook and grinned. History. Napolean would have liked this weather when invading Russia. ” Don’t you ever get cabin fever?” The last question was somewhat serious. Even she couldn’t stand to be in this apartment for extended periods of time unless sleeping or watching a movie. The only one who really liked it in here was Pablo, who was napping on the futon. ”How about we go outside?” she asked, the question light enough that he could refuse if he wanted. She wasn’t about to force him outside if he really wanted to get his work done.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 7, 2011 18:06:46 GMT -5
Joshua was so focused on his work by this time that he didn't so much as hear the apartment door opening and signifying Nell's entry. No, when Joshua got involved with his work you usually had to say something to him or else sit right beside him before he paid you any attention. It was a tactic he'd developed from years of sharing his sanctuary at the Academy (the library, of course) with a bunch of irritating freshmen. He had learned to shut out noise and distraction and simply focus on what he himself was working with. When Nell actually spoke, however, Joshua's gray eyes flicked upward to meet hers with a look of mingled amusement and exasperation. A smile tugged at his lips. Always an oddity, this one. He liked her strange behaviour, though, it was refreshing. He'd never really met anyone quite like her before. "Studying," he replied quite unnecessarily, gesturing toward the History book. He knew that a lot of people would deem him as 'boring' because he didn't really do much else but Nell just accepted it for what it was. He respected her for that and it was why he never really questioned some of the strange things that she did. They were simply themselves around each other. It was nice to not have to pretend about anything.
Of course, the moment she sat down next to him and kissed him, his mind was nowhere on what he had been reading moments before. The distraction was welcome, of course, and he returned the kiss automatically. Blinking at her when she mentioned the weather, Joshua couldn't hide a smirk. "That must be some kind of record. Is your apartment safe from such disastrous heat?" He was only teasing her, of course, and he added a moment later, "Or is that just the American in you?" He quickly ran through the conversions in his head and deduced that it was probably a nice and warm day out at any rate. Not a day that most people wound spend holed up in an apartment but Joshua just didn't have anything better to do. Unless he was at home or at the Academy he didn't feel right just going outside and standing there. What would he have to do except take in the derelict appearance of downtown? It would probably make him more depressed than anything else.
When it was with Nell, however, the prospect sounded a little less grim. "Not really," he lied when she asked him if he ever got cabin fever. It wasn't truth because even Joshua could get restless when he was shut up inside all day without anything to do but read books, but he didn't want to make Nell feel bad or anything. After all, he wouldn't be having this feeling if he were at home right now and Josh didn't want to run the risk of her making the connection. So while he was usually honest when it came to Nell he decided that a little white lie never hurt anyone. It was difficult to tell when he was lying unless you knew him better--such as when he told you he was fine when he obviously was not. She mentioned going outside and he regarded her thoughtfully, obviously considering this prospect. He wasn't going to refuse a chance to hang out with Nell, of course, because much as he valued his education his girlfriend was much more entertaining than a bunch of textbooks. "To do what?" he asked after a moment, furrowing his brows. He wasn't the type that usually just went outside on a whim and walked around with people. He usually liked to know where he was going or what he was doing. But if she didn't have a specific thing in mind, it was possible that he would still accompany her regardless. Even Josh could be persuaded to be spontaneous.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 8, 2011 13:49:30 GMT -5
Sometimes Nell truly realized how different she and Josh were. She wouldn’t spend such a pleasant day inside studying. Well, she wouldn’t procrastinate either, but she’d rather be outside even if she had to spend her time with history textbooks. Of course, she didn’t think anything of it, didn’t consider her boyfriend a ‘dork’. His passion for reading was like her passion for food. Or trolling her father. Except that it was actually a pretty good thing to do. So it wasn’t like she was going to rip his books out of his hands and order him to do something outside. Still, she knew that he spent a lot of time studying. Josh was a serious person, sure, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun, right? He’d enjoy getting out of her cramped apartment that seriously needed to be vacuumed thanks to Pablo and his fur.
Nell cocked her head to the side, wondering what he meant for a moment, not realizing she had slipped up in describing the temperature. ”…Farenheit,” she said slowly. ” Seventy degrees farenheit.” After a second, Nell stuck her tongue out before saying, ”You know, the American way is the the right way. I’m not a part of your Canadian system.” But then she smiled, to show that she really didn’t mind the correction. Because she didn’t have too much pride that it wouldn’t allow her to admit that she was wrong. Still more American than I thought. She didn’t know what to make of that. Nell still had her accent, and she didn’t know when or if that would go away. Did she want it to go away? She didn’t really know what to think of the place she’d come from, because it was the place she feared having to go back to. ”In either celcius or farenheit, it’s perfect weather. People are breaking out into song and dance out there.” She looked over at her plants, still thriving next to the little window she had. Hopefully winter wouldn’t come too soon, for quite a few reasons.
He responded to her question about cabin fever, and she smiled. ”I’m envious,” she said with a light laugh, putting her hands in her lap. She didn’t take his words for anything deeper than face value, because she didn’t see any reason why he would lie about something like that. Ignorance truly is bliss. Instead, her claustrophobic self wished she could stay in one place without getting antsy or nervous. Of course, she knew to keep her apartment locked up, she just tried not too pay mind to it and focused on the fact that she could unlock it and walk out anytime she wanted. Nell leaned back a bit, considering Josh’s words. ”Well to get you out of this tiny place,” she said. ”But there’s lots of things to do! Like….ooh, Blair Witch Project. We can go hiking, look out for urban legends. I got a video camera and everything.” Of course, she could have simply left it at hiking, but now she was up and digging in a Rubbermaid, looking for the video camera she bought. ”Or we can go to the park or something.” The sky was quite literally the limit here. She pulled out her video camera, and looked over at Josh eagerly.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 8, 2011 16:56:51 GMT -5
Having known her for a while now, Josh realised that Nell probably didn't mean the comment about the American way being the right way, so in response he merely twitched his lips into a slight smile and laughed in a good-natured manner. The signs of his amusement were less pronounced than they would be in someone more loud and expressive, but even a half-smile and a bit of laughter was enough to tell you that Josh was appreciative of your humour. He just wasn't an overly expressive person, was all. Unless he was drunk. It was like he stored up all those weeks of light responses and released them in an explosion of dramatics. Or something like that, anyway. "Well, at least we can enjoy the fading summer." He knew that the heat waves and sweltering weather could not have lasted forever but he certainly wasn't eager for their fading into fall, either. He liked the heat. Spring was better overall even though it was more mild and rainy than warm and sunny, but summer made a close second. "You were out in it, though," he pointed out unnecessarily. "What were you doing?" It was an open question. She could either tell him, or she could lie, or she could just choose not to answer. Most things with Josh were this way. He didn't like to feel as if he was ever pressuring people into telling him things, and though he trusted Nell and would ask her more personal questions he still kept up his old habits. Admittedly there weren't many reasons she'd have to lie about what she was doing unless she was cheating on him but he didn't think her the type.
Joshua arched an eyebrow at Nell's suggestion. She really did get stranger every day, didn't she? But he didn't think that his girlfriend was weird or annoying or anything like that--no, her odd sense of fun was actually part of the reason he found her to be such good company. They were complete opposites in most respects and that was what he'd needed. He didn't need someone so similar to him that he grew bored of their company thanks to the familiarity of it all, he had needed someone that could lighten up his solemn personality. That someone was Nell, and he was glad to have her even if it meant disgracing his family name or whatever it was that Donovan had accused him of. He smirked a little. "Blair Witch, Nell?" he asked, "Really?" Rather than exasperated the Fire elemental sounded more entertained. "I love you," he chuckled. Though said in a light-hearted manner and accompanied by a soft shake of his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, he also meant that quite literally in a sense. He did love her. He might not say a lot of the time but he figured that he would just let his actions speak for him. What was that proverb again? Actions speak louder than words? This rung especially true with Josh, who was not much of a talker.
He wondered when Nell had come into possession of a video camera, then reminded himself that she might have had it for a while and he was only seeing it for the first time now. He knew that there was a lot of things back in the mansion--thought of the place made his stomach clench--that she probably didn't know about belonging to him. Just because you dated someone didn't mean you knew every object they owned, every book they had read. "The park?" he repeated, then glanced at the camera. "You really want to give that thing a work out, eh?" He considered for only a few seconds before his expression broke into a bit of a smile. "Forget the park," he said. "Let's go have some real fun." What was he getting into? Joshua didn't even really know himself. He was acting on a whim with his decision to accompany Nell but sometimes, he reflected, that was okay. He would have fun as long as it was with Nell, right? He might not have believed in the Blair Witch Project or any other urban legends, but he could humour his girlfriend and hang around her while she did some investigating--maybe even take part, just for the hell of it. And it would be getting outside. Standing up, he left the books where they were and said dramatically, "I'll even leave these here. Just for the occasion." Chuckling, he then asked in normal tones, "Should we take your car or mine? And if we're going hiking... maybe we should be a bit more prepared. I can make light and heat out of nowhere--" he flicked his wrist and a burst of fire materialized beside him before vanishing, "--but I can't say the same for food if we'll be there a while."
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 8, 2011 19:02:53 GMT -5
Nell didn't think she hated any season, but it was sad seeing summer end. But it would be her first autumn of freedom, and she was excited about that. Then it would be her second winter and then--I don't know. She'd rather not think about the coming winter. "The temperature is definitely cooling off?and not heating up." She said the last part to acknowledge her earlier mistake, since she wasn't at all bitter about it. Usually Nell didn't like to talk about her personal life, but Josh was a part of her personal life. With certain things, that is. She wasn?t so secretive that, say, she wouldn't be able to admit her diet to someone. She was just...careful. But she understood that she didn't have to hide from Josh. "I just went to Timmies with my co-worker talking about Blackjack's paycuts, so I wasn?t actually outside," she said with a bright smile. "And I got a mustache magnet for my car." Now Gwen looked like a villain from one of the silent films she liked to watch. "I assume you've been inside then?" No, she couldn't really understand her boyfriend in that aspect.
Nell looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed together as if she was confused by Josh and his amusement. "Hey, I know it was a hoax," she said, not being able to resist the smile. It was odd that one of the most serious guys she knew made her smile the most. Not like she didn?t already smile a little too much. "Besides the the Blair Witch, there's the yeti, right? The Abominable Snowman is up here in the mountains." She was really just joking around, but you never knew what you could find out there. Canada was a strange place, and you'd probably find a lot more here than in New York where she grew up. She rolled her eyes at his exasperation and said, "Yeah, I love you too." At least she was used to his sense of humor now that it wasn?t a total shock. Besides, she'd like to believe that he actually did love her. Otherwise this wouldn't be working out between them.
She flipped out the lens of the camera and turned it on. Usually, she didn't have the best luck when it came to technology but this device was simple enough. She held it up and started to film Josh as she said "Got it at a yard sale. You can find some pretty nifty stuff. Got a boombox too." Of course, when she could not longer find use for whatever she bought she didn't want it taking up space so she either asked if one of her friends wanted anything or threw it away. It was like ultimate success, Josh's agreement to go with her. She didn't really expect it, and so she was pleasantly surprised. Nell closed the camera and grinned. "All right!" She really shouldn't have been getting so excited, but the prospect of pulling Josh into an adventure was quite exhilerating, to say the least. Besides, she wanted to get out as much as she could. Even now she was getting a little antsy in her apartment.
When Josh said that he'd leave the books behind, she covered her mouth as if shocked. "Really? I?m sure Pablo will take great care of them." As long as he didn't have any writing utensils that the cat would be tempted to bat at and play with, his books would certainly be fine. It wasn't like she didn't have a few of her own lying around, though certianly not as much as Josh. "Would you like to off-road Harper?" she asked, tilting her head. "We can just take my car." Nell was a little proud of the mustache, and wanted to show off anyway. Nell lifted an eyebrow when he summoned his fire. He certainly would be helpful hiking. "And I can make food out of nowhere...kind of." She wasn't too confident in that aspect of her powers yet, but she was definitely working on it. One of the things she definitely wanted to learn out to do is grow food. "But I've got all the food we need, don't worry." All she would need was to grab her cooler and go to her kitchen. It was always stocked. "So you're seriously up for this?" she asked, wondering if he would back out and return to studying. She'd be fine with that, but she would like to know before she got too excited.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 8, 2011 20:09:37 GMT -5
Joshua's gaze sharpened slightly when Nell mentioned the paycuts in Blackjack. "Oh?" he said, as if this displeased him in some way or another. "You weren't affected, were you?" He didn't like the idea of Nell possibly having lower pay than she usually did. Working in a bar (especially when you were working illegally) was not an easy process--Blackjack might have been better for her than, say, Corrosion, but it still wasn't a good thing to get paid peanuts for dealing with a bunch of rowdy drunks all evening. He knew that if he got a job he would certainly want one that paid well enough for the work he had to be doing. His thoughts flicked back to the tattoo parlour, where he definitely hadn't been paid enough. That was different, he reminded himself sharply. That had been when he was working just as illegally as Nell had been.
He blinked. "Mustache magnet?" he repeated, bewildered. Then his expression smoothed as he laughed, shaking his head. Really, Joshua wasn't an easily amused person but with Nell it felt like he was always laughing or at least generally amused by something that she was doing. "Only you, Nell. Only you." Of course, there were other strange people in the world but Josh was proud to insist that his girlfriend must be amongst the best of them. Really, a mustache for the car? It was one of the most ridiculous and yet interesting things he'd ever heard of. "May I ask why Gwen has a mustache?" he said, feigning innocence with his tone as his gray eyes sparkled with the light of their humour. It was a bit surprising, perhaps, that he remembered the name of her car when she'd only told him once, but Joshua was good about that kind of thing. He didn't have a lot of friends to converse with so he remembered the things that they told him with relative ease.
He simply nodded in response to her assumption of his whereabouts, then listened as she defended herself. "Maybe if we run into Bigfoot on the way, you can get his autograph." Though voiced sarcastically, it was the gentle sort of teasing that Joshua reserved for people he was very close to. He hoped that Nell picked up on the fact that he wasn't actually trying to insult her, because really her attitude toward this whole thing was refreshing after hours of reading books. Skeptic though he may be, Josh did like to do something fun every now and again just to take his mind off of books. Granted, he'd been studying to try and rid his mind of the trial, but Nell didn't need to know that. This could help him forget just as easily and if it kept Nell happy then that was enough for him.
His eyes lit up for a moment at the mention of a boombox. "Do you still have it?" He might not have been a music enthusiast or anything but everyone enjoyed a little music once in a while. He smirked as he remembered that the ringtone when Nell called him was the aptly named Boombox and said, "You should go all 'The Lonely Island' and parade down the street with it." Did he actually expect her to do so? No, not really, but Josh wouldn't put it past her. Nell did some pretty weird shit sometimes. He definitely did love her, though, or he wouldn't have stuck around this long. Especially not when their relationship was not as physical as he was used to. Abstinence was a pain in the ass and not one he would have been willing to go through for just any girl. But this was Nell, and Nell was worth it. He hoped that she realised this but didn't know how to go about showing it other than to resist cheating on her. Which he had done, but sometimes it felt like it wasn't enough. Oh well. There was nothing he could do about that, really.
He blinked when she asked if he would fancy off-roading his baby, his Aventador. "No," he admitted, "You've got a point there." Her white paint job would suffer for it, and it might wreck the wheels, or he'd crash, or--yeah, they weren't taking his precious Lambo. "Are you sure you want to risk it with yours?" Then, with a bit of a devious smirk, he added, "Especially with her dazzling new 'stache." His eyes widened a little when she mentioned making food out of nowhere, however, and he waved his hands slightly as if to discourage this. "That can be dangerous," he said, sounding a bit worried. "Be careful if you ever do stuff like that." He didn't want to come off as overbearing or over-protective but he remembered when a girl in his class had been hospitalized for some sort of berry poisoning. She'd only just lived through it and he didn't think he could bear the thought of Nell sick like that. "To the fridge we go, then," he chuckled. After they were through with that, Josh nodded. "Sure thing. I would have told you if I wasn't." He wondered if Nell recalled the mattress sliding incident, something he had been opposed to. He spoke his mind.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 8, 2011 21:27:44 GMT -5
Nell noticed that Josh didn’t appear to be pleased about the paycuts she’d mentioned. ”It wasn’t too much,” she reassured him, since it didn’t seem like he was too pleased about what was going on at the bar. ”We didn’t even have to take it if we don’t want to, but if it’s to help out…” She shrugged, still smiling. She didn’t mind sacrificing her pay if it meant helping anyone out. ”Oh, and I’m getting better benefits, so that’s a plus.” Just to further ensure Josh that she wasn’t being completely screwed over. There was the fact that she had her father’s money to fall back on, even though she didn’t want to rely on the man’s bank account. She wanted passive aggressive revenge more than she wanted money. You’re a terrible person, either way, the forgiving side of her mind arguing. It was one of the things she hadn’t told Josh about, the fact that she was spending so much of her father’s money because he thought he could make up eleven years of absence with that money. No matter how many times he claimed that he wouldn’t leave her, she was still self-conscious.
She nodded as he repeated the words, and pretended to be offended as he claimed that only she would do something like that. Holding up her hands, she defended herself, ”Clearly not only me, since it’s a brand of magnets.” She almost couldn’t help but think how strange it was now, joking around with Josh so much and hearing him laugh, because when she first met him, it had been a constant debate in her head whether or not he actually had a sense of humor. She appreciated the fact that he did. ”Because she forgot to shave this morning,” she told him, very seriously. It was actually nice to know that he remembered her car’s name, even though she’d rather the car be in a ditch. Okay, she was growing some affection for the vehicle, especially now that she had a mustache. ”Oh I will,” she said as if challenging him. Almost tempted to snap her fingers for emphasis, she resisted. At least he wasn’t bringing her mood down by saying that he didn’t think they would find a Bigfoot—not that she would have truly been deterred. Her boombox seemed to further amuse Josh. Nell pointed her thumb over to the box she pulled her camera from and said, ”Yeah, and it works pretty well for something made back in the 90’s.” She was surprised that it hadn’t broken yet or anything. ”Already have, with fingerless gloves and everything,” she said, waggling her fingers around in a reference to the song. She had carried it on campus when she’d first gotten it.
Nell knew she was right in assuming that he would not want his Lambo to be anywhere near dirt, since white paint must be bad enough to deal with. Her Monte Carlo had been a hideous cream color, but that was different—she didn’t care about that paint job. ”It’s a PT Cruiser,” she said, raising her eybrow at him. It wasn’t the worst car, but it certainly was not an Aventador. ”She’ll be just fine. I can groom her afterwards, anyway.” No matter her distaste for the car, she still kept good car of it, of course. She didn’t want to be seen in another Monte Carlo with chipped paint and no hubcaps. Nell drew slightly aback when Josh insisted she shouldn’t be growing things like that. ”I’ll stick to seeds then,” she said, because a great thing to have would be a vegetable garden. All she really knew about growing it from scratch, however, was that they usually rotted right after when she tried. She didn’t realize that there was anything truly dangerous about it.
When she had her bag of food and they went down to the parking lot, she spread her arms wide to show off Gwen’s facial hair, the magnet on the hood of the car. ”All she needs a top hat,” Nell said. Add in a monocle, and it’d be the car version of the Monopoly man. With a black mustache. It wasn’t too far of a drive to the hiking trails, and she knew a good point to get off at from going there before. The rough land and surrounding trees was exactly her place for adventure. Starting to walk, she took the camera that she stuffed into her bag of food, turning it on as she began her monologue in a melodramatic narrative voice. ”Day one of the Yeti Hunt. Joshua Dale and Nell Shepherd are on the lookout for Bigfoot, a creature rumored to be over seven feet tall, unlike any wild animal. It has been rumored to be spotted around British Columbia’s mountains, which brings the two brave explorers out here today.” She shifted the camera over to Josh and said, ”Have you anything to add before we begin our excursion into the Canadian wild?” Every word had added intensity, just for the camera.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 8, 2011 21:58:29 GMT -5
Though Nell was clearly trying to assuage some of his irritation, Joshua was not convinced. He had been in Blackjack with his father when he was younger (not to drink, of course) and as soon as he had his legal ID showing he was nineteen it had become one of his more favoured places to drink, as well. He knew that the bar had plenty of money from all the rich socialites that drank there (Joshua included) and he didn't like the idea of them cutting Nell's pay. He wouldn't have given a shit if it was anyone else but he cared about Nell and so with it came certain things he was more sensitive to. "Helping out?" he snorted, shaking his head. "They could cut back on plenty of things without taking money from your wallet." He knew that she didn't really need the money as much as some people might because she had money belonging to her father, though he wasn't aware that she was spending the money out of vengeance. But that didn't matter. If she had been struggling--drop it, he thought firmly. Just drop it. He didn't want to argue with Nell over something like this, it wouldn't have been fair. "Well, that's something, then," he admitted when she said she was receiving better benefits. It still bugged him a little but he didn't want to feel like he was coming on too strong about it for it might start a fight.
He was hardly even surprised to discover that Nell had paraded through the street--or wherever she'd done it, for she hadn't clarified--with the boombox. This was Nell, and Joshua was starting to adapt to the fact that she did things that he wasn't used to. His lips twitched and he nodded, saying half to himself but certainly loud enough for her to hear, "Of course you did." His tone suggested that he had almost expected it. For it was something that, when you were dating a girl like Nell, you learned to expect. Apparently Nell figured the make and model of her car spoke for everything when she stated it. "It's still your car," he pointed out. He'd known people that drove cars which resembled poorly crafted metal boxes on wheels but who had still taken the chance to defend their vehicles whenever possible. Nell was not one such person, but he still didn't want to cause the car unnecessary damage. "Not to freak you out, or anything," Josh said hastily when Nell seemed taken aback. "It's just something I heard." He didn't go into detail about how a lot of his classmates had thought she was going to die, about how there had been a frighteningly serious lecture afterwards about the dangers of mishandling your element--any element. Fire could be just as fatal if you lost your control.
He chuckled about the comment on the top hat and internally committed it to memory. So Gwen wants a top hat, eh? He smirked to himself as Nell pulled out the camera and flipped it open, staring to film and speak in the most dramatic voice possible. For anyone else it might have been hard to contain their laughter but as Joshua was generally a very stoic and quiet person, it only amounted to a slight matter of self-control. He did smile, though, and his gray eyes glittered in appreciation of the humour. He might have made some sort of comment on how ridiculous she sounded--good-naturedly, of course--but he didn't want to interrupt the filming. Then she turned the camera on him and he kept his expression as morose as possible. "I hear people have died," he said in an almost-whisper, to add dramatic effect. "Mountaineering accidents, they say, but you never find the bodies." He allowed his voice to die away as if to add to how grim and dangerous their excursions were. "If we don't come back... this camera could be all the evidence that's left of us."
In reality, hiking was a familiar sport to Joshua. It was one of the things he'd done a lot as a child and so it wasn't out of place to find him walking up the trails with his family. It had been a while but that didn't take out a private sort of eagerness that he felt--even if they were joking around about the fact they might see a Yeti, at least they could enjoy the view from higher up the mountainsides and spend some time together. "Do you see any signs, Nell?" he asked, glancing around them for effect. "I imagine something that big would leave a pretty massive footprint. They don't call him Bigfoot for nothing." He was going to add something in there about Yeti dung but didn't know whether even he could keep a straight face for that.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 8, 2011 22:39:53 GMT -5
Nell waved away Josh’s insistent words, saying in her usual easy fashion, ”It’s really okay. Not like I’m going to complain.” And she let the topic drop there, in light of joking. After all, she already had to listen to her co-worker complain, and like any good friend she had agreed. It wasn’t fun to complain while someone else constantly disagreed with you. And even though she wasn’t the sort to nitpick or whine, she agreed that it was unnecessary. But her co-worker really needed the money—she was relatively fine on her own. Again, she easily dismissed his concerns, this time about her car. ”Honestly, I can’t wait to get another car, so whatever happens to Gwen is fine. I’ll try to get myself a junker to fix up soon.” She wished it was easier, though, and by then was seriously considering keeping it at her father’s house, even though she’d rather not have to deal with him. Nell knew he’d probably not enjoy having a junker parked in front of his mansion, and might even have it towed if she left it there. It was strange the things she could tell about him, like he’d never left in the first place. On the subject of the whole ‘growing things and eating them’ deal, she was rather nervous. ”Okay,” she said in a quiet voice. She certainly wasn’t going to argue with him on this.
So far Nell only got trees, shrubs, and—the most interesting thing yet—squirrels on film. But she certainly wasn’t disappointed. Hiking was fun in itself, especially when Josh had come along with no argument at all, which she still couldn’t really believe. So her boyfriend could be spontaneous, it was good to know. Her camera on Josh, she was biting her lip so that her chuckles wouldn’t be heard on tape. That was one thing that could ruin the effect, whenever watching a video like that. When you heard laughing in the background, it became unfunny. Luckily, the Fire graduate was still a serious person and so it must have come easier to him than it had her. She was pretty sure her face was turning red by the time Josh finished from the effort of biting about laughter. Finally, she turned the camera back to pan the trees around them as she said, ”God help us,” she said in a somber tone, adding to his statement of only a camera being found. Very Blair Witch Project-y. Of course, there were still dangerous out in the forest, but hopefully they wouldn’t prove too much trouble for two elementals. Since there wasn’t any one around, if any trouble popped up it would be easy for Josh to go all Fire graduate on a cougar.
When Josh spoke, Nell swept the camera around again, also taking time to appreciate nature without the lens. ”We have to be very careful,” she said, turning the camera on herself. ”You see, Yeti tracks can be easily confused with bear tracks. Poop, too. They have very similar poop.” It was amazing that she didn’t fall over in giggles right there, but she turned the camera back to the trail so that she could grin without it being on camera. Honestly, all there really was were some deer trails cutting through underbrush and their shit, which could only be attributed to them. Abruptly, she put a hand on Josh’s arm to stop him from walking. ”Did you hear that?” she said in hushed tones. ”It sounds like something coming from…that way.” She panned it over to the area of trees where she heard the noise, and on tape was a deer tentatively bending over to graze at the underbrush. ”Remember, folks, bucks have similar footfalls to those of...the Yeti.” Pausing for dramatic effect, just another stock effect in her documentary repertoire.
When the sun began to sink lower in the sky and they had kept up their ‘paranormal adventure’ narratives, she looked over at Josh and said seriously (though still in her gravely serious narrator voice), ”It’s getting late, do you think we should call it wraps on day one of…” She paused for almost thirty seconds, before saying, ”The Yeti Hunt.” Times like these she wished she could have a soundtrack to her life playing dramatic music. But it was a serious inquiry. Josh probably wanted to get back to studying, or so she thought, and she would be fine with that, really. Not like she was going to keep him out searching for Bigfoot all night if he wanted to return to reading about dead guys.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 8, 2011 23:23:16 GMT -5
Glad that they could drop the subject of the paycuts so that it didn't get too awkward, Joshua decided to show his interest in Nell's future vehicle. "What sort of junker?" he inquired. "One of those really old classic cars or just a regular one?" It was strange that of all the things they could have had in common, History and cars were two of the main ones. He loved his Aventador dearly and didn't think he could part with it, unlike Nell's eagerness to rid herself of the PT Cruiser. All the same, he had dropped the Gallardo--which was still sitting, unnamed, in the back of the garage--the moment he'd laid eyes on the shiny new Lambo. Maybe a couple years down the line there would be a better car that came around and stole Harper's thunder but for now she was his pride and joy. He did feel bad about freaking Nell out, but on the other hand he was also secretly glad she was so hesitant to try anything with edible plants. He didn't want to go to class one day and have them all talking about the Earth elemental that had overdosed on poisonous berries or something. As comical as it sounded in theory it wouldn't be funny if it was your friend that it happened to or, in this case, your girlfriend. No, he was glad she'd be cautious. He just wished he'd maybe broken the news in a bit gentler of a way.
It was a very good thing that Nell was not pointing the camera at him when she mentioned bear poop, because he actually gave a start and covered his mouth to remind himself not to laugh. "I hate you!" he mouthed to her through silent, shaking laughter. He was good at avoiding raucous peals of it, at least, and recovered quickly. Still, the joking moment had caught him off guard and it was all the more amusing because of it. "I'll go take a look over there," he said, gesturing vaguely to an area which he knew probably didn't hold anything of interest and starting toward it. He heard the same noise that Nell did, however, and stopped just as she put out her hand to caution him. He blinked at it and then turned his head to follow her gaze, his lips twitching at the sight of the deer. Poor thing, he thought. Probably thinks we're out of our minds. But he didn't care. It was true that a lot of people--though maybe not deer--would think they were mental and childish for finding enjoyment in this but the fact that he was with Nell changed that. He wouldn't trust many other people to act this silly around. He also wouldn't let most people film him doing anything silly thanks to the infamous streaking incident. Hell, he was never getting drunk around a video camera again.
When they had finished for the night, or so he assumed by the way Nell asked him if he wanted to conclude their video footage, Joshua responded still seriously, "We'll turn off the camera for the night and resume in the morning... if, that is, we make it out alive." The moment Nell had switched off the camera, however, Josh couldn't help but to laugh. "I'm sure the Yeti trembles in fear of our kick-ass video making skills." It was surprising that he wasn't the least bit bored or eager to return to her small apartment. In fact, at the thought of going back to his studies, Joshua actually found he wanted to hang out with Nell a little bit longer. It would take a little while to get all the way back to where they'd left her car and into the city, by which time most of the things they could have done would have been closing up for the night. Not including bars, of course, but he didn't think that was a wise suggestion. "You know... why don't we stay here for the night?" he asked, quite serious as he looked at his girlfriend inquiringly. "It could be fun." He wondered if she would take him literally considering he was usually the type that would wave away this sort of thing. But it had never been with the right people, before. It felt natural to hang out with Nell like this because it was how she behaved.
In an effort to show her that he wasn't just fooling around, he sat gestured a little further up the slope. "We can look for a good place to stay and I could keep it warm. You could alter the landscape in our favour." They hadn't planned to stay all night and so they didn't have sleeping bags, but Joshua figured that Nell could probably work some of her Earthen magic to make the place a little less uncomfortable. He thought immediately of survival programs where people build little shelters out of logs and covered the ground with foliage. It made him grin a little to himself as he came upon an area that was a bit more open--a sort of flat mountainside that fell away into a jagged cliff but which had plenty of space away from the edge that one could relax without fear of rolling down the mountain in the middle of the night. "Does this look good enough to you?" he wondered aloud. "I could make a fire to cook... whatever it is we brought. Candy, food, anything." He could also keep the fire burning without wood if he had to, though he was planning to gather some sort of firewood so that he didn't drain his energy.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 9, 2011 0:42:45 GMT -5
Nell was more than pleased to tell him what she had in mind for the junker she wanted to fix up. ”If I can find an old Mustang, that would be just great. One of the first gen ones, too. With a convertible top. Though I may be asking for too much.” After all, what were the chances of finding a car like that in a junkyard? Very slim, but a girl could dream. ”Still, it’d be cool to find any old car and fix it up and mod it. Give it some hydrolics so I can ride like a cholo.” Lowriders were also a cholo thing, but she wasn’t too into that. Not that she would get hydrolics, either. That was a ghetto trend from long ago, from what she knew. And a lot of her knowledge was on cars and not much else when it came to real-world experience. ”The only problem is that I don’t know where I’d keep it.” Again, thoughts of her father cropped up, but she shooed them away. He was already too deep into her life, she didn’t want to give him a reason to think that he’s actually getting closer to her or something.-
The camera face away from her, Nell smiled devilishly as she mouthed back to Josh, “I love you.” It was nice seeing him laugh, since it was rather a strange thing to behold when it came to Josh. Yes, she understood now that he had a sense of humor, but he was still just…serious, would be the best way to describe him. Nell turned off the recording on the tape, and looked to make sure that it would remain for the sake of reminiscing when they looked back on it. She returned it to her messenger back that held all the necessities she thought they’d need for the trip. ”Dun dun dun,” she said in response to the ‘if we make it out alive’ statement. She couldn’t stop the grin that seemed to have permanently made its home on her face now, especially when he mentioned the Yeti. ”We could probably do an entire serious. Go to the Loch Ness and everything. But that Yeti will someday need to be found. It’s probably lurking around her…somewhere…” She looked around as if trying to find a giant bear-looking creature peaking out from behind a tree. But there was probably only deer around…and squirrels. No Bigfoot, it seemed. That was just as well, because at least she got to spend time with Josh out in the wilderness. So Nell was expecting him to turn back and head to the car before it got too late, but instead he threw her for a loophole. ”I love you so much,” she said as if saying that they could camp out was possibly the most astounding thing that ever came from his mouth. ”I’d definitely like to camp out.” It was just another pleasant surprise that Josh had in store for her apparently. And now she was really excited, but once again she didn’t want to go overboard just to be disappointed if he changed him mind.
Instead, he told her that they could find a good place to camp, and she was still smiling because goddamn, she did not expect this. ”Seems like we’re set,” Nell said contentedly, considering they really didn’t need any of the things that people most likely would have normally brought camping. They had the elements on their side. They went further up to a clearing, and she looked around, seeing if there was anything that she could attend to. She couldn’t do anything about large boulders, but she made sure to clear the area of brambles and thorns. ”Perfect!” she chirped, crossing her arms and looking at the area as if she’d done something worthy of a trophy. Looking over at Josh, she told him, ”Go gather some kindling, boy scout, I’ve got marshmallows to roast. And then we can tell ghost stories.” Most of what she knew about camping out really came from movies. Blair Witch Project included. It was nice to experience it, though, since it was another of those firsts that she never got the chance to experience as a child.
Finding a boulder that seemed like a suitable place ot sit, she took the bag off her shoulder and rooted through it. She pulled out the bag of marshmallows, and continued to look, feeling like she was going through Mary Poppin’s bag. ”Don’t think I brought chocolate. Just a lot of junk food.” Most junk food came in bag and packaged form after all. She knew that Josh would appreciate the candy that she’d brought along, now that she actually knew he had a sweet tooth. Nell tried to keep as healthy as possible, but it wasn’t like she never indulged. ”Hopefully the Yeti doesn’t come to steal our food in the middle of the night,” she said in her series-narrator voice. Fortunately, she didn’t think that there was anything too dangerous. And if there was, elementals could take care of wild animals.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 9, 2011 1:37:53 GMT -5
He could sense Nell's enthusiasm as she talked about the Mustang and it brought a bit of a smile to his lips to hear her talk about it. It was always funny to realise that the two of them did have some similarities. They were few and far between, but they were there. He didn't mind that they weren't like twins in all of their hobbies and habits however. He supposed that a relationship would get really boring if you knew what to expect from a person. "True," he said with a frown when Nell pointed out that she had nowhere to keep a car from the junkyard. It wasn't like she could tow it into the parking lot of her building and just expect the landlord to be okay with that and the other tenants to leave it alone, after all. He might have offered his place if not for the fact that he no longer had one--not only that, but he was pretty sure his Dad might have a heart attack if he came home to find a banged up Mustang hidden amongst the gleaming sports cars of the Dale family. The sudden reminder of his family and his father hit him like a ton of bricks--he tried his best not to show it in his expression. There was always a feeling of guilt whenever he missed them. He felt like he was betraying Nell by wanting to be back in the comforts of the huge mansion with access to a fortune in family funds. I did this for her, I shouldn't be regretting it. And it wasn't regret, not really. More like a wistful feeling of loss.
He gave an easy laugh when she mentioned continuing their little urban legend excursions in the future. Knowing that she was probably joking, he replied, "We could look for Mothman, the Sasquatch, everything." Though he did not believe in urban legends and myths, that didn't mean he had never read up on them before. He did find it intriguing to study things like religion and mythology--things that people had believed in the past and that some believed today. He was fascinated by the reasons that people believed and how easy it was to convince people that certain things were not fictional or figments of their imagination. He supposed that he'd just grown up a skeptic and so found it hard to grasp the idea of ever believing in something himself, but he was curious as to what made one believe. As an afterthought, he added, "We could even make crop circles and say it was the aliens." He had watched an entire documentary on them with his sister once. She'd gotten scared and started panicking because she thought that the aliens must be real and that they were going to come through her window in the night and abduct her. Joshua had stayed up all night with her, keeping the room brightly lit and telling her stories about his time at the Academy to lighten the mood and take her mind off it. She'd fallen asleep in his arms. He missed his baby sister. "Do you believe in any of this?" he wondered now, conversationally. It was not asked in a condescending manner and he made it clear that he wouldn't hold it against her if she did. He was just curious.
He blinked when Nell had a surprisingly positive reaction to his words, then couldn't help but to smile. "I love you, too?' It was teasing and said as a question. Apparently she was rather pleased that he'd made the offer of camping out and so with that it was settled. Noticing that her smile was practically plastered onto her face (which wasn't saying much, admittedly, given that she smiled a lot) Joshua said amiably, "If you're not careful, your face will get stuck like that." Did he actually believe that? No. His mother used to tell him such things whenever he would glare at her and he had believed them as a child but now he was just saying them to mess around with her. He figured that Nell wouldn't believe it, either. He watched his girlfriend clear the area of brambles and helped in his own way by starting to send waves of heat over the area, keeping it warm. It didn't have much of a drain since he wasn't overexerting and by the time Nell was finished, he was also. He gathered a good amount of sticks and dried grasses, then took several steps back and said, "I got this, just watch me." Throwing his girlfriend a wink, Joshua then focused his attention on the haphazard pile.
The flames shot straight into the air much like one would expect of a bonfire lit on a fuel of gasoline. There was no denying that Joshua was showing off for Nell, of course, seeing as there was no catalyst of the sort and it had actually been his influence that made the flames leap high in a burning pillar, rather than just catching slowly as they would have if he'd lit it by hand. He held the impressive column of flame for a moment before relinquishing control of it. The flames seemed to retreat toward the ground, but a smaller campfire remained crackling amongst the sticks. This would not take any of his energy as long as he didn't have to manipulate it again in some way. Going over to where Nell sat with her bag, he examined the marshmallows and said, "Think you can create some ideal roasting sticks for these things?" That was the joy of being elementals, really. Nell could make a perfectly straight and even stick that wouldn't leave them with bits of twig and leave in their gooey treats. He could make sure that the fire wasn't too strong or too mild, thus making them perfect rather than burnt. It was awesome, really. And they were so far away from other people right now that he wasn't concerned about getting caught. "Candy's all good with me," he laughed, waving a hand. He didn't care if it was chocolate as long as it was sugary sweet.
|
|
|
|
Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 9, 2011 14:09:16 GMT -5
Nell grinned. ”I’m sure the Syfy channel would love to get their hands on our tapes,” she said. Knowing what could get on television, she wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happened. Because apparently, shows with a rag-tag bunch of ‘investigators’ was always in vogue. Having fun like this was fine without becoming famous through it, however. It didn’t really matter who believed in what as long as you could enjoy whatever you were doing. She snorted at Josh’s idea. ”There are people who do that. They get a wooden plank and…well, ruin farmers’ crops by crushing them down. So that wouldn’t be too nice…” Nell was all for fun, as long as it wasn’t hurting anyone else. She had seen about people who did go to farms in the middle of the night and made crop circles, and the farmers then complaining about the loss of grain. She wouldn’t want to do that to someone.
He asked her what seemed to be a serious question, and her gaze was pensive for a moment. ”I can’t exactly disprove anything, so why not?” She gave an easy shrug to accompany her words, smile still on her face. Nell believed a lot of things, and other things that she didn’t believe, well, others had every right to whatever the believed. ”Until there’s concrete evidence of something either existing or not…you never know. Schrodinger’s cat logic.” That was more of a paradoxal theory that the cat can be both alive and dead at the same time, because you wouldn’t know until you opened the box. But she believed it could apply nicely to life—you never know until you have proof. So she couldn’t say for sure that there was no such thing as a yeti, and she wasn’t going to say that. Not that she seriously went out today to actually find one. The girl had just wanted to do something fun in the nice weather, and it was even better that Josh had actually joined her. ”Do you believe it?” she wondered. Her boyfriend had a serious personality, but he’d proven that he could be up to adventures like these. The shock was still there in the back of her mind.
She laughed at Josh’s teasing, only then realizing how much she was smiling. ”That’d be pretty creepy, actually.” She crossed her eyes, and said, ”Better than my face being frozen like this.” Returning her expression back to normal—which was smiling, of course—she thought about the fact that her sister had been one to mock her about things like that. Not her parents, though she was sure it was something her father told her once or twice, like telling her not to touch the stove when he had taught her how to cook and her mother’s…warped lessons that Nell never thought about anymore. As much as she didn’t think about her future, she never thought about her past. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she said, ”I’m watching.” She jumped instinctively when the fire shot up as anyone would do if fire just popped out of literal nowhere, but then she was laughing as she watched the huge bonfire. ”I’m sure that wasn’t necessary,” Nell teased. ”But it had a nice amount of flair.” Having a Fire elemental for a boyfriend was pretty awesome, she had to say—it made camping trips much more cozy when you had a bonfire tended to.
Nell held up her hands at Josh’s question, saying, ”You ready? You watching?” Using her influence, she was able to create a decent length stick without the peeling bark and little bugs to worry about. It exhausted a little energy, but not as much as it would have when she first started doing things without a catalyst. She handed itover to Josh, as she said, ”I know your jealous of my camping skills.” Nell didn’t have that many camping skills, per say, but she did have survival skills. A list she had memorized, actually, because she had needed it when living with her mother. Camping wasn’t something one did in the projects, though, and it was something she’d never have experienced anyway. She was happy that she had the chance now, however. She made her own stick and opened the bag to stick a marshmallow on it before lowering it above the fire. ”I don’t think candy would taste to good on gram crackers and marshmallows,” she said, wrinkling her nose. ”Maybe a Snickers or something might work…” Nell didn’t even really know what she’d grabbed, since she brought anything she believed they may or may not need. Finding chocolate bars, she uttered a successful ‘aha’ before passing the bag over to Josh. ”There might be some other candy in there.” She didn’t keep too much of it around the apartment because that would be too tempting for someone who tried to eat healthy and yet loved to indulge in fast food and other vices of hers. ”Now all we need is ghost stories. Got any good ones?” She had a few from sleepovers aimed to keep everyone up all night, but she knew that Josh wasn’t one to be painting his toenails and raiding fridges with his girlfriends. Well, she hoped not.
|
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 9, 2011 19:14:32 GMT -5
Nell seemed to take him pretty seriously about the crop circle thing--perhaps she didn't think that he actually had plans to go out and ruin the crops but she certainly had to point out the morality issues that came along with it. He gave her a long look and shook his head a bit, not sure whether to be exasperated or amused. "I know that," he pointed out with an air of patience. As a skeptic, he had obviously fastened himself to the most logical explanation that involved the least amount of surreality. He was, of course, much more willing to accept the idea of idiots running around with wooden boards as opposed to aliens landing their spaceships in the wide open fields. "No, I wouldn't say it was very nice," he concluded with a bit of a shrug. Joshua was not as empathetic or even sympathetic as Nell. It sucked for the farmers whose crops were ruined, sure, but he didn't really feel for them as much as she probably did. They really were quite different. However, just because he didn't feel too terrible for the loss of all their hard work didn't mean that he would be up for going out and playing such a cruel trick. He usually found his humour in less sadistic ways than ruining the lives of others. In fact, unless he was drunk and pursuing stupid ideas or else trying to get some sort of revenge Joshua usually wasn't the type to mess around like that at all. Tricks and pranks were more of a Water elemental thing, in his opinion. He'd stick to his books and his studying thank you very much.
He could see where Nell was coming from, he supposed. Josh wasn't the type of person that would cut someone up based on their logic being different from his own. Though he could be opinionated on some respects he usually just left everyone to their own devices with the request that they return the favour; it wasn't fair, after all, to expect him to treat them any differently than they did him. Nell returned the question and he shook his head honestly. "Not really," he said, "but I'm not so closed-minded that I'd deny the existence of something if there was some sort of proof." On some things such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, Joshua was pretty hard to convince. A lot of the supposed 'sea monsters', in his mind, were probably just mutated versions of actual sea life. Instead of a gigantic sea serpent he'd be more ready to explain it away as a giant eel or the like. He tried to find grounding with reasoning and science. It was just the way his mind worked, but it didn't bother him that Nell thought differently. They were different people in many respects and he could admire her for that. If they had to start to change for one another then this relationship would go nowhere. With a bit of a smile, he added, "If you ever see something out of the ordinary, let me know. I'd be interested." He sounded genuine enough. He was more willing to believe Nell than certain eye-witnesses of said 'paranormal activity' anyway. A lot of them were probably just doing it for recognition but he didn't think his girlfriend was like that.
"Go ahead," he said with a chuckle and a nod when Nell prepared to exert her own powers. He was rather fascinated by the creation and turned it over in his hands for a moment when she passed him it before giving her the thumbs up. "A perfect, grade A stick," he joked. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I am so jealous." He felt like he was laughing tonight more than he had in quite a while, but this suited him. He might be serious in personality but with Nell it was okay to just relax and let that go for a couple hours. Or an entire day, as they were proving. His assignments and textbooks were all laying abandoned in her small apartment, watched over by her little kitty sentinel, and that was alright with Josh. He wasn't even thinking about them as he pulled out his switchblade and ran it along the tip of the stick a few times to make a sharp point so that he could spear the marshmallow more easily. Holding it over the fire of his own creation, he turned the stick lazily whilst keeping his attention on Nell. "No, probably not," he agreed when she said candy wouldn't be a good idea. "I just like eating candy whenever." His gray eyes lit up, ecstatic, when she procured some chocolate from their supplies. "Awesome," he said eagerly.
He thought seriously about her question, trying to remember the things he'd heard growing up as a child. He'd been a skeptic even then, but that didn't mean he hadn't listened to the stories. "Well, there's all the classics like stuff about Bloody Mary and the like," he said. "But I think you'll like this--Maple Hollow's got its own brand of horror story." Perhaps it came from the fact that the city was quite literally secluded and out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't hard to be spooked when you looked around you to the wilderness and realised that it stretched on for miles and miles. The locals had to have their fun like any place did and so they had either came up with stuff from nothing or perhaps had basis in fact. He was willing to believe the latter to a point. "I wouldn't exactly call it a ghost story," said Joshua, "but they always tell funny stories about the stuff that goes on in these mountains. People just... disappear sometimes. No explanation and usually no traces of them found." Joshua would be more willing to believe that they had gotten lost and collapsed or at least just fallen off a cliff--it seemed more plausible than being eaten by a Yeti, at any rate. He supposed it did make an interesting story, though. "I'd repeat the actual stories but I can't remember any specifics." He shrugged apologetically. "As for literal ghost stories, well... yeah, I'm a little dry of those." He chuckled. "What about you?"
|
|
