GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT [josh]

Thinking back to his high school days when most encounters with the principal led to a threat to call his parents, Joshua had since been wary each time the man approached him or called him down to his office. Then there had been the awkward incident where a rival Thunder had seized his laptop to download unflattering imagery onto it and send it via email to all of his professors and the man that ran the school. They'd cleared that up through a very uncomfortable discussion in which Josh had repeatedly insisted that, no, he did not have a ton of porn on his laptop. "It's for school, just for school," he'd said with a very red face.

So now when the man in question approached him, Joshua was wary. At first he almost hoped that he was not the one who was wanted in this instance, that they were simply too close together in the hallway, but since it was an empty and quite wide hall there was little room for doubt. "Mr. Dale," the man greeted in a friendly enough tone, not one that screamed, "run now for you are in grave danger. Joshua blinked. "Uh, hi." He really wasn't sure how to respond other than that. It wasn't every day that he had a conversation with the guy that didn't involve him being in trouble or something to do with his grades. In fact, it was never. "You're a strong guy, right?" Another awkward pulse of silence. Maybe it was that their last conversation was still ringing in his ears but he wasn't sure how to go about responding to the principle in a way that wasn't uncomfortable.

"Sure...?"

That was how, within the next five minutes, he was wandering the halls in the electives floor looking for one of the Home Economics rooms. It might have been a lot easier if it was a class he'd ever thought to take or even near said classes but it had been a long time since high school and it was in a largely unfamiliar corridor. Oh, he'd been down it before, he had made it a point of his in high school to explore the building for shits and giggles, but he had never actually paid attention to the little numbers on the doors or who each room belonged to. "You're looking for a Mr. Suck," he'd thought the man was saying at first. He'd actually thought it to be a joke. The principle had then taken pity and spelled it out. S-E-O-K. "He teaches Home Ec, shouldn't be that hard to find."

Tell that to the guy with no interest in Home Ec.

The door was open but he knocked the knuckles of a loose hand against it a few times anyway, just to be sure. He didn't recognise the guy when he walked in and so wasn't sure what impression he was supposed to be getting. A bit like a college student the way he sat on the desk but that didn't bug the Fire elemental. "Yo," he returned. "Guess I am. What all do you need?" He'd seen the boxes out front and all but he wasn't told what he was meant to be doing with said boxes. Lifting them, probably, thanks to the whole question of his strength, but there hadn't been much else said.

Joshua made a noise in his throat that somewhat resembled a scoff when Logan explained the need for new ovens. What. How on Earth did one manage to blow up half the damn ovens in the Home Economics room? He wasn't a celebrity chef or anything like that but Josh was good enough at following directions in recipe books (to the letter) that he'd never had any particularly bad accidents. He didn't have any sort of personal flair in the kitchen but he could cook for himself and that was all that mattered.

No, he really didn't feel like he needed an explanation beyond the one he'd been given. He was clever enough that he could put two and two together, figure out that the principle probably wanted him to help haul the new ovens into the classroom. He really wasn't too bothered by the idea of helping. He had never been what could be considered lazy. He wasn't the sort of good Samaritan that would lend his assistance whenever the opportunity presented itself but he also wasn't going to say 'no' if he had no reason to. "Gotcha." Like Logan, Josh did not feel the need to babble endlessly.

He was already prepared to follow and so didn't think too much about Logan's comment. Probably a good thing or he might have gotten offended. He blew air through his nostrils in what might have been the start of a laugh that didn't quite come to be. "Yeah. Said you needed help with something. Didn't give me much other than your name. Seok. Is that for real?" He sounded almost amused. All right, maybe it would have been safe to be a little more careful about what he said but he really wasn't thinking too much about it. It was funny and he didn't know the guy. "Thought it might have been a nickname. Inside joke." He wondered what it would be like to have your boss call you 'Mr. Suck' as a joke. Pretty offensive. It sent a sort of message.

He surveyed the ovens with a thoughtful frown. Looks heavy. He was pretty strong and aware of his own strength enough that it didn't phase him. Logan said something about supervising and he arched a brow. "You mean you're not lifting any yourself? What, did you pull a muscle or something?" It was said with a disguised sort of subtlety. It sounded like he might be asking out of genuine curiosity... or he could be making a hit at the fact that the guy was making him do everything. He wandered over to one of the boxes and inspected it for a moment, trying to decide what would be the best hold. He was not going to drop the oven in the hall, no thanks. He didn't want any broken toes and he also didn't want to be bitched at for making them replace any more appliances. Shaking his head and withholding further comment, he lifted the first box and started to haul it back to the room.

He lifted his head in silent acknowledgement of the explanation. He wondered if Logan had been teased about it when he was younger, unless of course he had grown up in Korea or something where the name would seem perfectly normal. He didn't think on it for too long, only a second or so. Then Logan was asking for his name and that stopped his thoughts completely. "Josh," he replied. He didn't bother with a last name. Josh was what most people called him, friend or acquaintance or otherwise. He supposed some people were used to their nicknames being reserved to friends but his own was nothing special, nothing flashy, so he had no problem with it. He was 'Dale' to a lot of people as well; mostly those who didn't like him, or his professors.

He arched a single, dark eyebrow at Logan when the older man flat out admitted that he was only sitting out because he was lazy. "Oh, sorry," he said, though he didn't sound sorry at all. "I mistook you for someone who actually gets off their ass and does things for themselves." He probably shouldn't have been talking to a teacher with the same scathing familiarity he used on anyone else who said something that didn't sit right with him but Joshua had never claimed to be the best decision maker. He had a biting tongue and more than a bit of an attitude. He was a Fire. He was pretty sure most of his element would agree that it came with the territory. Not that he was on speaking terms with most of his element.

Scoffing, he said, "Thought I was around to help out someone that couldn't do heavy lifting, not someone that was too lazy for it." Joshua was not a lazy person by any means. His contempt for those that were varied depending on who they were—Devin received nearly none of it whereas Logan, whom Joshua did not know well at all, got most of the blow. He was a decent guy once you got to know him but that was the problem—getting to know him. You usually had to work around an abrasive and irritable attitude first.

The Fire graduate shook his head and decided that he might as well finish what he'd started. He'd considered putting the box down and leaving it there for Logan out of spite for a moment but it would cause more problems than it was worth, he assumed. He didn't know what this guy's attitude was like (besides annoying, or at least Josh's definition of annoying) and after the drama of the laptop with the principle he really did not want anything else fucking up his record. He was so close to graduation that he could taste it. There was no way he'd be getting into medical school if he flunked out of college. Even the thought made him nervous. "So what are you going to do, just stand there?" His tone was a bit clipped as he continued to walk, heavy-as-hell box in hand(s).

Honestly, I think I prefer 'Seok'. A nice save from his common sense stopped this comment from leaving his lips. A part of him didn't care if Logan had issues with him but the other, more sensible part reminded him that teachers could do something about issues with students. He wasn't talking to a fellow college student here but a member of the faculty. He usually got along quite well with the staff at the school but that did not mean exceptions did not exist. Like this one. Sometimes he got off on the wrong foot with a person, the wrong two feet when it came to Joshua, really, and it was hard to recover from something like that. He wasn't a grudge holder but he also wasn't big on second chances.

Joshua's eyes narrowed. Yep. Don't like him. First impressions were worth a lot when it came to the Fire and unfortunately for Logan, this wasn't a good one. Then again, perhaps it wasn't so unfortunate. Seok didn't seem like he really cared what Josh thought of him. That was fine, too. The feeling was mutual. "I can also handle physical violence but I'm really trying not to right now." A dry smirk adorned his lips for a moment. Worded like a threat, it was not as serious as Joshua wished it could have been. He wouldn't have minded hauling off and punching the other man in the face if they had anywhere but here, if this had been anyone but a teacher. He was glad that he was good at hiding things. I hate that you have power over me, asshole. It was a good thing Logan wasn't aware of how much Joshua hated the power trip or he probably could have used it to his advantage.

Not realising that Logan wasn't trying to be as obnoxious with that comment as he came off, Joshua scowled. "Hurt myself? No, I don't think I'm the one in any danger." Ugh, he hated that he couldn't pose a literal threat to the guy. He could threaten him (which was stupid in its own right) and he could bitch and gripe internally but he couldn't do anything unless he wanted a trip to the principle's office. He said I'd get expelled for the next big offence, Josh recalled. God, no. He couldn't imagine how shattering it would be to get kicked out of college in his senior year, so close to the reality of medical school that he could taste it.

Yes, yes it did bother him. It bothered him very much. He pressed his lips together in a hard line. Maybe I could throw it at him and pretend I tripped, he thought with sarcasm. "Whatever," he said. "Don't know how you manage to keep a job if you just make everyone else do things for you. What, do you force the kids to teach themselves? Maybe it's not that surprising that the ovens ended up in the state they did." He really needed to close his mouth and suck it up but god, Logan was really pressing buttons. Sometimes his irritation was a slower burn but Seok's obnoxious attitude was really setting the fires faster than most people could manage. Joshua wasn't hard to anger in the first place, so it wasn't saying too much, but even still.

It was too easy to irritate Joshua but it was thankfully not quite as easy to fluster him. He did not flail around like a helpless child at the slightest sign an argument wasn't going his way and so the comment of Logan's simply elicited a narrowing of his eyes and a sour, withering look. It could be likened to a combination of disdain and exasperation. "Aren't you cute." Not a question, it carried almost no tone. His dislike for Logan was growing rapidly. Joshua didn't hate a whole lot of people—he was a Fire elemental, sure, he had a temper, but hate was a whole different ball game. He didn't hate Logan. Dislike? It was only too likely that he'd decide upon his dislike of another person within the first five minutes of meeting them depending on the circumstances. He wished he'd never agreed to this, wished he'd said that he had some other commitment and wormed his way out of it. There was no way he could have known the sort he was dealing with, though, and he was generally compliant if a 'superior' asked something of him.

Not a kiss-ass, no, but he wasn't rebellious.

Logan seemed more amused than anything else by the threat and it irked the Fire graduate that he had every right to feel a lack of intimidation. What could Josh do about it, unless he wanted to get expelled from school? Attacking students wasn't taken as seriously since it was well-known that the alliances caused fights that had faults on both sides but to attack a staff member was to cross an unspoken line. "No, really, you're cute. Keep it up." He rolled his eyes, trying to seem like he wasn't impressed and that he thought Logan was childish. In reality he knew the other man was right, his pride simply wasn't allowing him to admit it. Arrogant, stuck-up, full of himself... He continued to insult the professor internally to sate his need for conflict. Man, he hated having a temper sometimes. He scoffed. "So you're going to tell on me? How old are you, now?" He hoped by bringing age into the picture and subtly suggesting that tattle-tales were grade-school bullshit that he could somehow avoid being ratted out unless things got worse than they were now. Did Logan have pride he could take a hit at? Ugh, not understanding one's opponent was a pain.

He wasn't looking at Logan but straight ahead as he replied, "I consider it my business when I'm the one hauling the replacements for the shit they broke. Maybe you should have paid more attention." In his eyes, his dislike toward Logan meant that this entire situation was his fault. It wouldn't have mattered to him if a substitute had been on duty or if the ovens had simply been old and needed replacements, this was Logan's fault. That was what happened when Josh didn't like people, he was all the more likely to pin things on them. Not literally, he wasn't spiteful like most Thunders, but in the privacy of his own mind he could think what he liked. He could also fantasize about throwing people off bridges. That helped with the anger on variable occasions. "Now you're the one talking about shit you know nothing about," he shot back. "My personality, for example. I'm sorry, do you know me?" He took a mocking tone of false innocence but they both knew his game, he was sure. "Bet it's a lot of fun being lazy, huh? Having no drive must get you so far, Mr. Home Ec. I can see why they call you 'Seok'." Too far? No, no, he was almost having fun with that one.

Logan hit the nail right on the head with that one—Joshua got really annoyed when people smiled in response to a sarcastic comment or else came back smoothly and didn't seem all that affected. It brought about a rush of anger that gave him the strong and almost irresistible urge to punch something. Thankfully for Logan, and, well, Joshua too given his desire to avoid expulsion, it was a little hard to haul off and punch someone when you were lugging a huge box down a hallway. He was pretty strong and he could probably throw the box or something—not far at all, of course, but it wasn't like he and Logan were miles apart—but that would result in more injuries than even he was willing to cause at this point. A punch did damage, sure, but it usually wasn't as severe as being crushed by a heavy, roughly square-shaped object. He was angry at Logan but he wasn't homicidal or overly sadistic. He wasn't his little brother, who had tried to kill him once in a fit of rage over being denied a place to stay. Instead of attacking, Josh just scowled. "Oh, not a problem." Logan had managed to come back sounding pretty chill but Josh sounded furious, ruining the illusion of being fine. No, there was nothing fine about this. He hated that Logan was 'winning', in a way, but his anger made it a lot harder to appear calm and cheeky all the time.

Just one punch? He was tempted to drop the oven whether it broke or not just so that he could satisfy the steadily growing urge to deck something—or, well, Logan specifically—but there was a chance he'd crush his foot, which he didn't want. Yet again he also had to remind himself that this was a teacher. He'd never had much of a problem with teachers thanks to his intelligence and the fact that he behaved himself in class. He'd never sucked up enough to become a teacher's pet but he was well-liked by most of them for his work ethic, attendance record, all the things that teachers generally appreciated. Logan? Eh, he wasn't a first, but he was certainly making a lasting impression. Even a good student couldn't like every teacher and besides, Logan was not his teacher. Had never been his teacher. He really wished they were off school grounds right now so that they could throw down without consequence. "Maybe not," he shrugged, not sounding like he cared about that little detail. "Would you? Gonna be that guy or do you actually have the balls to be a man and keep your mouth shut?" Even if Logan assured him that he was no rat, Josh didn't think he'd take the chance and attack him. There were too many risks. People could lie, they could decieve, and then he'd be facing the difficult reality that he wouldn't be graduating or going to medical school.

He raised his eyebrows, then tried, "Must be a pretty shit teacher, then, if you can't even do your job." They were supposed to keep the kids in line and force them to behave, right? That was his general impression of their role apart from teaching and Logan had, in Joshua's eyes at least, just admitted to being bad at it. It might have meant nothing to the older man but it meant something to Josh. It was satisfaction, a brief victory. It wouldn't last long in this vicious back and forth, though. "Why would I want to? I'm not stupid, I don't need anyone to hold my hand around a fucking oven." He'd taught himself to cook using recipe books and trial and error. Sure, it had resulted in a kitchen accident or two, but he was a quick learner and now he knew his way around the kitchen decently well. Nell was still a better cook than he was, though, so it wasn't like he complained when he didn't have to cook at home. "Not all Fires are the same, not everyone who speaks their mind is the same." He hadn't directly said that he was a Fire, he was more using it as an example than anything else, but he wasn't trying to hide it either.

He set the first oven down in the room and flexed his hands briefly, keeping a fair enough distance between he and Logan to stop himself from acting on the urges that still dominated his thoughts. Anger was a bitch. However, he almost laughed when the man basically hit the nail on the head. "I do focus on my schoolwork, Seok, you don't get into medical school on a fluke. I can keep my grades up and still hate your guts, don't worry about me, it's not that hard." He sneered and shook his head, setting off at a quick and purposeful stride to retrieve the second box. He had to resist another urge, this one to bump Logan hard on the shoulder as he passed.

He was so frustrated with Logan by this point that he could not think of any witty response to his comment. Instead he settled for glaring at him and silently wishing that looks could, indeed, kill. All right, maybe his anger was not at the homicidal level. As temperamental as he was, there were under five people in his life that he'd truly hated enough to consider wiping off the face of the Earth and the fact that he was walking down the hall of a school instead of a prison was proof enough that he had self-restraint. Fuck you, he thought. He didn't say it out loud. Not because he was afraid of getting into trouble but because he had a feeling Logan would have something to say about that, too, and it was already pretty difficult to avoid hitting him.

... Which was why it was definitely a good thing that the oven he was holding prevented him from doing exactly as the man advised. He might have had enough common sense to avoid things like murder that would get him put in jail for the rest of his life but it was a lot more difficult to stop himself from resorting to simpler violence when someone was repeatedly goading him. "Are you some kind of sick masochist?" His tone was more scathing than anything now and the anger thrummed through it like a constant current. "It's like you want me to drop this damn thing and go for you." He had half a mind to. Not quite a full mind or the oven would already be crashing to the floor but he was getting there. Good job, Logan. "Tch, I don't want to be a teacher, why would I teach anything?" He realised that his anger had made him sound disdainful and that it might come across like he was insulting teachers in general and suggesting that it wasn't a good profession to aspire to. This was far from what he'd been going for but he did not bother to correct himself. He wasn't going to waste his breath on someone like this guy.

It was a little known fact that he didn't like being called pretentious or having any similar insult thrown his way. He almost stopped in his tracks to glare at the teacher for a moment but settled for a scoff and a roll of his eyes. "I don't need to feel intelligent, I am intelligent, and that doesn't have fuck all to do with what I said." He hated people who were so full of themselves that they held their accomplishments and booksmarts over the heads of others. He'd known a lot of them in his life since he tended to take classes alongside them and they drove him up the wall. To be marked as one of them was frustrating. Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Logan would probably play it up if he found out and that would make this difficult. "It's called being able to follow a damn recipe." There were chances for cooking to go horribly wrong if you went by the book, too, no one was perfect, but he couldn't claim to have blown up an oven. He considered it a success. "Not all people are stuck-up if they don't like you. Ever considered the fact that you're just an irritating prick?" His tone was sugary as if he were trying to teach Logan an important life lesson. He was trying to egg him on in the same way that Logan had provoked him. It bothered him that the guy wasn't as volatile as Joshua and that he had managed to remain calm while the Fire graduate was this close to snapping.

It wasn't the first time someone had assumed that he thought too high of himself and it wouldn't be the last. Didn't change the way he felt about it. The scowl had never left his face but it deepened now and with the absence of the oven to occupy his hands he literally halted his stride to stop from closing the gap between he and Logan and carrying out what he'd earlier been given permission to do. It was as if the devil sat on his shoulder and whispered in his ear: He told you he wouldn't tell. You could probably get away with it. Common sense sat astride the other shoulder and franticly argued that, No, no, there's no guarantee he isn't lying! Do you really want to be expelled? He did not want to lose all that he'd worked for and so he drew in a deep breath. "It's real fucking easy to hate you, if that's any indication." His hand clenched into a slow fist and it was trembling slightly. Anger was physical for him as well as mental, it eclipsed everything. "I'm not going to school for half my life so I can be better than you so you can get that idea out of your head." It was hard not to add, "or I'll do it for you". Really, hitting someone probably wouldn't better their opinion of him, but the anger didn't give two shits about that. He shook his head and started off toward the room again.

[Josh wants to attack him so bad that I've actually had to stop him about three times now omg xD]