tim's -- a way of life [josh]

Tim Hortons was practically a staple of Canadian life and Joshua couldn't imagine where he would be without it. He stopped in at the drive thru every morning before school and got a large coffee to spirit him through his morning classes, sometimes even went out again at lunch to get another. Then when he was driving home he'd grab a coffee, tea, or even an iced cappuccino as well as some donuts and maybe a sandwich. It was also, coincidentally, a good place to hang out with people for a casual chat. So when he decided on his way home from work that he might drop in for a coffee or two, he decided that it couldn't hurt to grab some company. Matthew happened to be the first person on his mental list whom he was both in the mood for hanging out with and who happened to be available. Most of his closest friends seemed to be busy and that was fine by Josh. Not like he had a broad inner circle or anything and people had lives. On some days the line outside any given Tim Hortons could reach all the way out of the door and onto the sidewalk but crowd control had mercy on him today as there were only two or three people waiting in line. He turned his head at the sound of Matt's voice and looked around before locating him and shooting him a smile of acknowledgement, nodding to show he'd heard and lifting his hand to reinforce the greeting. Gotcha. He waited his turn and stepped up to the counter, sliding the money across the counter. "I'll have an extra large coffee, black, and, uh... a dozen donuts. Assorted, I don't care which." He loved his donuts.

He stepped aside to wait by the glass counter so that the next in line could step up, taking his order when it was ready and going to sit down next to the Water graduate. "Yo, Matt," he greeted as he plopped himself into a chair, opening the box of donuts and selecting a Boston Cream, though he didn't yet take a bite out of it. "How long'd I keep you waiting?" It was more curiosity than anything else. He'd gotten here pretty quickly himself but it was very possible that Matthew had been closer than Joshua was to the Tim Hortons when they'd actually arranged to meet up. That was fine with him. "So what's up?" he wondered, then bit into the donut so that his silence would give Matthew enough time to answer. He had manners and would never talk with his mouth full, thank you very much. "I just got off work, long day. It was pretty good, though." He'd gotten some studying done during his break and the work itself, though it could get repetitive and a little boring, was not stressful. He liked his job, mostly because he knew how important it was for his application to medical school. Swallowing, Joshua chased the food down with a sip of coffee, the taste strong and unaltered by anything but a little sugar. Joshua had grown accustomed to the taste in high school and now he was quite hooked. It was one of his number one methods of functioning during the day when he didn't otherwise have enough sleep to do so. Which was most days, lately.

Chuckling as he noted the way that Matthew seemed to have shifted everything out of the way to make room for the donut box, Joshua said, "Might wanna give yourself a little more room there, man, wouldn't want to drop the goods." His light tone was both assuring Matt that he didn't mind sharing the space and making a joke at the same time. Josh was capable of joking, after all. He actually quite liked doing so if he felt comfortable enough around a person. It was a sign that his walls were coming down a slight amount. Not in a way that was substantial, of course, because he wasn't open even with his closest friends, but in that subtle way. "Cool, cool." As long as Joshua hadn't kept Matthew waiting for a ridiculous amount of time then the Fire graduate wasn't too bothered. Josh didn't like to keep people and he also didn't like being late to anything but considering this was just a casual hangout and not anything of serious importance a few minutes or so was alright. It wasn't like they could mutually teleport to their desired destination the moment they decided that they wanted to go there, though Joshua had to admit that such a talent would be pretty cool. Then again, if he could teleport he wouldn't need to drive his Lamborghini, and they were also what he considered to be in the realm of 'pretty cool'. "Gave you a headstart on donuts, at least. Never a bad thing. Did you get a chance to try those cupcakes?" Because, you know, decadent-whatevers were totally the best topic of conversation evar.

He nodded at mention of school, his thoughts immediately going to exams. "Hell, I am there. Exams need to get here already, I'm sick of the build-up." He studied more than a lot of people did and so he was confident enough in the fact that he could pass but the more time he had between now and the tests themselves was just extra time that could be spent feeding doubt into his self-assurance. No one liked doubt. "Nah, not much stress. I work at a retirement home, medical assistance and all." He couldn't be a doctor thanks to a lack of medical school credentials but this was as close as he could get and he'd taken it without complaint. It was better than folding towels at the hospital, sterilizing tools as he spent time wishing he was amongst the real doctors and learning how to literally care for people. At least they gave him better volunteering options now that he'd been around for years, though. That was something. "A job's a job, though. Do you have one?" A lot of people worked, especially college students. It was a part of life. One day you wake up and realise that the sweet, sweet days of mooching off your parents and being able to lazily scrape a pass in high school were gone. He didn't need to scrape a pass and he wouldn't call what he did 'mooching', his job was more to secure his entry into medical school than anything.

Joshua chuckled in amusement at the thought of Matthew lying unconscious, knocked out thanks to over-indulgence in dark chocolate cupcakes. "I've never gotten that, actually," he mused, taking another bite of his donut and pausing to chew and swallow before he added thoughtfully, "Maybe I've built up an immunity." It was possible, right? You could build up an immunity to a lot of things if you were exposed to them constantly under a long period of time. Joshua had studied such things both for class and out of general interest. Interest was generally the only reason the Fire graduate would study anything outside of class. He didn't get the people that wanted to become doctors for the money. It took years of time and dedication and you had to spend the majority of your first years paying off the cost of medical school. But then, he'd never had money issues. Maybe it was different if you lived in poverty and wanted to eventually better your life. "At least it was worth it, though. Good things in small doses, yeah?" Joshua did not think he could handle being a diabetic. He'd be dead within the week with all the candy that he liked to consume. Really, it was remarkable that he and Nell managed to keep the fridge stocked with their collective habits. "As predicted, Annabel ate half mine. Sisters." He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but the smile that tugged his lips betrayed him. "Has Sandra gotten used to your place yet?" He remembered Matt mentioning something about that before and wondered if there had been progress, positive or negative.

He was more than understanding about the fact that caring for other people was not everyone's cup of tea. Joshua was not exactly what you could call a patron saint of humanity or anything like that but he figured it was his exposure to the medical field through his father that had sparked his interest in it. "Retail's not so bad if you're good at it. Look at it this way, I couldn't do your job." It was both a compliment and the truth. Joshua was not notoriously bad with people but he was not very good at being helpful in that sort of way. He'd always been more of an intellectual than a people-person. "A job's a job. At least it's not fast food." He made a face at the thought. He didn't think he could ever work in that industry but then, being vegetarian made him a little biased. "You looking forward to it? Internship, like." Some got excited at the thought of their first "real" job in their specific field and others dreaded it for various reasons. He was excited for residency and all, but there was no use getting too excited when it was another nine years away. Nearly a decade. He'd be thirty. It was a headache to consider indeed. Taking a sip of his coffee, he said, "Got anything planned for the day? I have a few hours I need to kill." It was an indirect request to extend their meeting beyond coffee and donuts if Matt was interested and had the free time.

It amused him to think of a fridge full of labelled items and specific sections. "Sounds like something I'd do." He tended to be a little obsessed with rules, structure. Joshua liked to know what he was doing, when he had to do it, and what was expected of him. He didn't like uncertainties because they made him nervous. There was so much that could go wrong without structure. "Mostly she tells me to get over it and buy more." He rolled his eyes but the smile that accompanied this gesture suggested that he wasn't all that annoyed. He usually did end up getting over it and buying more. If they were short on cash it would be different but in Joshua's opinion they were doing alright. "I don't think I could live with someone controlling. I'd end up bashing their head in with a frozen turkey or something." He was almost expressionless as he said it and sounded completely serious, picking up his drink and taking a slow sip. He wouldn't really. Joshua understood the law and he knew that breaking it by bashing someone's brains in with a freezer-burnt bird was not the best way to go about following said law. "That you do," he agreed on the subject of a job, nodding. He remembered the tattoo parlour without any fondness whatsoever. That had been a job he'd gotten out of necessity. He hadn't liked it there and he never wanted to go back to that again. He liked where he was at now, enjoying his life and all that came with it.

The Fire graduate raised his eyebrows at Matt, smirked. "If? Your optimism is infectious." He sounded sarcastic but the fact that he had previously been in a good mood was probably enough to suggest he wasn't serious about it. Besides, it wasn't like Josh could bash other people for a lack of optimism. He'd been there, though with the way his life had picked up lately he felt much better about positive thinking. "Do you need a portfolio if you're a comic book artist?" He was honestly curious here. He knew everything about how to become a physician-scientist because it was the career he himself wanted to pursue but he had to wonder sometimes about other people. He was a curious person, always liked to learn new things, even if those "new things" would never be of use to him. He had a head full of pointless facts and then a storage area for the relevant stuff. Guess which was larger? "Ha, yeah, we've all been there." With a double major he could definitely understand what Matthew meant about homework. "If it's not homework it's studying, if not studying it's actual work. Hard to find time, y'know?' He didn't sound bothered but knew his own words were true. It was hard sometimes. He shook his head at the question. "Nah—I just figured I'd go with the flow today. Anything you're up for?" He didn't know Matthew well enough to know his interests (at least not all of them) and so he was willing to hear any ideas he might have.

He obviously possessed a genuine interest as he listened to Matt's reply, but then, Joshua would not have asked if he did not honestly care what the answer was going to be. He was not what you could call a 'fake' personality, at least not in the usual sense of the word. He lied a lot about his past when it came up but that was really because he figured it was no one's business. He didn't ask other people about their past experiences and he expected that same courtesy in return. "Yeah there's something like that in medical school. They rotate the different specialities so you can get a feel of what you want to go into." Which was helpful, he supposed, to the people that really hadn't found their footing yet. There were a lot of people who wanted to become doctors but did not know what kind of doctors they'd best be suited as. Joshua knew exactly what he wanted but he was still going to enjoy the full experience. The more he learned, the better prepared he'd be. "First impressions are always important," he agreed. "Hopefully you'll stand out and they'll be begging to hire you, yeah?" He grinned. He knew that it wasn't likely, he was just being himself and supporting a friend. He did believe he could start considering Matt a friend now. He'd warmed up to him, decided that he liked the Water graduate now that he'd spent a little extra time in his company. It took time for Joshua to make his decisions on people and they weren't always positive but Matt was someone he could definitely consider as being in his good books. "Man, at least yours doesn't take six thousand years, though," he joked. Nah, he'd long since gotten over the daunting eight years thing. Still, it was fun to jest about it.

He chuckled at the thought. "Hell, I could use a few more hours of sleep every night." Most people could. Joshua would sacrifice his sleep if it meant getting extra work done, though. He wasn't a procrastinator by any means and so it was difficult for him to keep a steady sleep schedule. Extra hours in a day would be nice but he knew that it wasn't possible and so he'd deal with the stupid twenty-four hour schedule that the world was on. Joshua appeared intrigued by the idea of an arcade. He liked arcades, really, even if he'd only ever been to one once or twice. "Hey, sure, sounds like a plan," he replied. "Think they'll have one of those old school Pac Man machines? I love those things." He shook his head and grinned, entertained. Pac Man was one of those games that was known by nearly everyone no matter who they were. Joshua wasn't big on video games or arcade machines but he liked pinball and he liked Pac Man. He had a pinball machine in the entertainment room in the mansion, as well as his pool table. He did love that pool table. He'd always kind of wanted a Pac Man machine to go in the empty space beside the pinball machine but they were not easy to find. So he'd settle for arcades and the like. He might be wasting his money on pointless shit but Joshua had never cared enough about money to avoid outings like this. "Is it close enough to walk or anything, so I don't need to tail you in my car?" He'd never been to the arcade before so he was going to need to trust Matthew with this one.

Joshua definitely did not belittle anyone else for their dreams and goals in life. There were a few people who took classes alongside him who did not want to become doctors and were only taking the classes because their parents had pushed them into it or they thought that making the kinds of money that doctors did would be better for them. Josh disagreed. He had never been pressured by his parents to do anything other than 'follow his heart' or whatever lame and cheesy saying could be applied. However lame, it was true. Following your dreams was better than being miserable the rest of your life. He didn't really care for law and he could not imagine becoming a lawyer simply because they made a lot of money. He listened as Matthew spoke, chuckling at the image of a nerd convention clamouring for the attention of their desired superiors. "If you're lucky you'll get a bunch of people who aren't as serious about it as you are, I guess. Best of luck to you, though!" He was genuine enough as he said this. He wouldn't wish poor luck on anyone simply trying to make their way in the world. "And I mean if you really want it that means you'll try hard, yeah? Can't go wrong there." As long as he didn't work too hard and become one of those people that drove everyone off with their insane and insensible ethic. Josh was a hard worker but there was a difference between working hard and working so hard that you alienated yourself from the world. He didn't think Matthew seemed like that type, though (and thank goodness!) so he wasn't too worried. Matt was a cool guy.

It was amusing to consider complaining about his future. If he didn't want it, why would he be on the path that he was on? Josh really never understood following things that weren't dreams. Nevertheless, the Fire elemental knew that Matthew was kidding and so didn't give him a dirty look or anything like that. "It'd be pretty stupid to commit to eight years if I wasn't sure about it," he said thoughtfully. "Hey, I hate waiting, let's find a career that involves a lot of it!" He said this last bit in the sort of overly cheerful voice one might use when mocking stupidity and grinned to back up the fact he was joking. He was usually a pretty serious guy but sometimes he would laugh or smile to let people know that what he was saying was not meant to be taken literally. "Ooh, awesome! I'm pretty shit at Pac-Man but I'm determined to get better." He narrowed his eyes with an overly serious expression to indicate that he was mostly fooling around. "I'm pretty great at pinball, though. It'd be a pretty sad arcade if it didn't have a pinball machine." Pinball was classic, wasn't it? Tilt was one of the most annoying things that could happen to anyone, ever. You're just going around, minding your own business, and then bam, pinball cockblocked! "Alright, man, lead the way." He picked up his box of donuts after tossing the trash into the garbage can. "You hear about that shooting on the news? Jesus, everyone's talking about it." He shook his head. It had happened downtown and since Maple Hollow wasn't an area with high crime rate, a shooting death was a big deal. "Never heard if they caught the guy, though. Scary shit. Nice to think about when you're walking down the street." He scoffed at the irony of his own statement, then shrugged.

[crimes make great conversation >> feel free to have Matt know details, I don't have anything set in my head xD]

He wondered what it was like to be in such a competitive position. Joshua already knew how it felt when it came to the prospect of medical school but he knew that once he got past that hurdle, he'd be home free. There was always a high demand for people in the health care industry and it paid well once you got past all the debt that piled up with your education so as soon as Josh got into a medical school he figured he'd be all set as long as he didn't fuck things up. He was confident that he would not. He couldn't imagine not having that confidence. "Hopefully," he agreed. "Being the odd one out draws attention." Hopefully good attention. Josh didn't know much about the comic industry, unfortunately. "Hah, Scrubs," he said, scoffing a little in amusement. "Not that I watch a whole lot of TV but I know the basics." He knew was Scrubs was about the same way that he knew what the Real Housewives were all about even though he wouldn't be caught dead watching such a show. Josh was more of a written word kind of guy. Not too big on shows or movies. "May the best man win," he said. "Does that mean I'm winning all the time with you, then? Awesome." Despite his tone being more neutral than anything he was kidding and smiled to prove as much. He didn't think that he was any better than Matt and he didn't think Matt was any better than him. He figured that the other guy had been joking, too. It was nice to joke back and forth with people even if Josh didn't often seem like he was joking. Several people pointed it out to him but he couldn't help it. It was just his personality.

He thought about it, nodding. "I haven't played Mrs. Pac-Man enough to know the difference but I'll take your word for it." There was no reason for Matthew to lie, after all. "I'm bad at Pac-Man enough as is. I wonder if I could even pass her first level." He didn't mind a bit of a challenge but it was frustrating with games sometimes because he was not as good at them as he wanted to be. Funnily enough, Josh didn't want to be good at games because he thought they were the best things on the planet, he just hated to be bad at things. It was a hit to his impressive confidence and he didn't like that. He liked to feel good about himself and failing repeatedly at something upset him. Not that he'd admit such a thing aloud. He listened with intrigue as Matt spoke of some details, seeming troubled but attentive. "I never understand people killing for insurance," he said with disgust and incredulity lacing his tone. "I mean, you might get all that money but if you get caught, and they usually do, you're in jail for the rest of your fucking life. What money's worth that?" Jail did not sound like a good place to be. He remembered being his naive fifteen year old self and believing the cops when they lied to him and said he could go to jail if he didn't rat out his friends in the gang. Then recently when he'd attacked Rafael the threat had been real and frightening, five years in jail for aggravated assault and attempted murder. He hoped the cops didn't find out about that any time soon. "Yeah. I grew up here and there's never much this serious goes on. It's a big deal, even if it's not too much of a threat." He remembered how the shooting that he'd actually been involved in had been all over the news. Thankfully as a minor they had not said his name but the rest of the guys in the gang had been listed by name as the conspirators. It had been shameful to watch and to see the cold looks his father had given him, even though he'd had no idea it was going to happen when he tagged along for the jumping and hadn't been the one to pull the trigger. "This it?" Certainly looked like an arcade.