-- THE SMELL OF DAISIES [Josh]

June days were not usually this mild, but Joshua was hardly complaining as he stepped out into the sunshine and paused for a moment to let it soak into his skin. He always felt invigorated during the summer months, powerful, like he could climb mountains or swim the ocean (provided he learned to swim in the first place). Though spring was his favourite month, summer made him feel the most alive. It was being a Fire elemental that did it, that he knew. Every elemental had their season, the one that made them feel the best as their powers stirred under their skin. Fire had the heat of summer, Wind the breezy autumn, Thunder the dry air of winter. Spring, the rainiest of the four seasons, was shared in its love by Water and Earth. There were seasons that really fucked over the elements, as well, and it was one of the reasons he hated winter so much. That and the fact that he just didn't like the cold, powers or no powers. In fact, he'd probably hate it more if he didn't have his natural warmth to fend off the bitter chill. There's none of that now, he thought, basking in the glow of the sunlight before continuing on down the path. There was a rough network of paths around the Academy grounds, all natural, where most of the students spent their time. He took a left at one of the forks and found himself heading toward the gardens. Why not?

As a gust of wind buffeted him, Joshua had the brief thought that it would probably have been cold to anyone else. The hell is it cold? It's summer. Canadian summers were just as warm as the summers everywhere else, a defeat of a stereotype that he didn't even understand to begin with. How is it, he thought, that we know about everywhere else, and yet they don't know a thing about us? It baffled him. He slipped through the arched trellis that marked the entrance to the Academy gardens, rimmed with rainbow-coloured roses that were natural rather than dyed. Earths showing off their talents, of course. Some might have considered it cocky and vain but Joshua appreciated the beauty that they could create, and it wasn't just because of who he had as a fiancée. He'd been raised by a mother whose secondary profession seemed to be a gardener. When she wasn't dealing with politics in the city and on the phone to her assistant about something or other, she was kneeling in the garden and tending to some plant or another. She'd have made a good Earth elemental, he thought, but knew that his mother's fierce temper and slightly manipulative personality had cancelled out that plan. A love of flowers did not make someone an Earth. It was personality that did it. Not everyone liked their element, but Joshua couldn't imagine being anything else but his own.

Most of the people he passed were Earth, and he offered them quiet greetings if they acknowledged his presence or glanced in their direction. He could easily destroy what they had built with just a flick of his wrist, yet he did not. There was something in one of his history books about a fire consuming the gardens and the student in question being expelled and later having their powers stripped when it was discovered someone perished in the blaze. That was likely why the Fires didn't bother. He just didn't see the point. It was a nice place, why ruin it? His musings stopped short when he spotted someone familiar, lips twitching into a smirk that was not entirely unfriendly despite the boy not looking in his direction. "What an incredibly manly activity," he remarked, calling attention to himself. He was only kidding. He may have sounded serious but he was not sneering and so there was a chance Asher might realise that he was just pulling his leg. Or perhaps not. It really was hard to tell with Josh. "Asher, right? What're you up to?" He paused, then added deviously, "Besides making me doubt my earlier opinions on your masculinity, that is." In reality, Josh didn't judge a guy by his muscles or his hobbies. It wasn't personality that made you a man, it was, quite frankly, whatever organs you happened to possess.

He snorted with mild amusement at the words but did not deliver an outright laugh. The Fire graduate certainly had a sense of humour and could appreciate when someone was being funny (or when they were only trying) but that didn't mean he'd express it in the most obvious of ways. Instead he settled for allowing the conversation to move in whatever direction it would, taking them to the formalities of 'how are you's and 'what are you up to's. He did not mind exchanging pleasantries; for the most part they were sincere if he bothered to ask them. Unless he wanted something from someone—and he wasn't the greatest at manipulating people—he did not try to flatter them by convincing them he had their best interests at heart. Josh either liked you or he didn't. Playing pretend wasn't his style. "She's certainly memorable," he mused on the subject of his car. "More so than I am, apparently." Once again, his humour was not direct nor accompanied by even a smile. Josh didn't have to smile to be content. He figured that grinning your ass off for the sake of doing so was a waste of time. If his lips twitched themselves into a grin because he was generally elated about something, so be it. If not? Well, then he was perfectly happy to leave it alone. His thoughts dissolved for a moment into a haze of quilts and wondering what joy anyone found in making them. They were nice to look at, sure, but he didn't think he could sit there for hours and craft one. Some of the Native American ones were really nice, he recalled—there'd been a stand selling them at the fair one year when he'd been poking around.

He must spend an awful lot of time at that shop, thought Joshua. Not that he blamed the Wind elemental. He was sure that he'd be excited to work in the hospital when it wasn't all about ferrying things from room to room and fetching water for the patients. Thanks to his experience in Biology as a third year college student and the fact that he'd taken courses in first aid, they sometimes let him help out with the minor cuts and scrapes when the place was overrun. He revelled in those times. Not because the person he was treating suffered, of course, but because he felt he was doing something useful by helping them. It made him feel good. He had not expected the strong compassion he felt toward the injured, always having expected himself to be one of the more distant doctors. It must have been in his genes. Maybe it was like that with Asher, too. Maybe the guy had it in his blood, that passion for auto-mobiles. "How's that going for you, by the way?" He'd seen the fixer-upper when he'd taken his own car to the shop for an oil change. Not his type, perhaps, but certainly a fine car. Or it would be when Asher was finished with it. He also wondered how long the Wind had been working on his future vehicle but refrained from asking so that he wouldn't be bombarding him with questions. Josh hated the feeling of being interrogated and so unless he was frantic or he knew someone well, he tried not to overload them. Tried. Sometimes he let his curiosity get the better of him.

Though they were unaware, the boys had a similarity in their determination to finish tasks. Joshua often got so intent on a project or novel that he would forget to eat until it was finished. It's a good thing I have someone like Nell around, he thought fondly of his fiancée. She didn't nag him and so he was absolutely fine with her concern over his eating habits. He'd be concerned, too, if she was skipping meals. Not like we haven't been there before. In order to avoid the death trap of his thoughts, Joshua answered the question. "Ha, no. Wanted to enjoy the weather, actually." His nose wrinkling slightly in distaste as he gestured around, he said, "Not that there's too much to enjoy. Chill in June? The weather does what it likes." Not that it could be considered all that strange any more, what with Global Warming having an affect on the planet and its weather-patterns. He wished it would act up and abolish the winter, turning it into a second summer rather than the other way around. He'd like that. "At least there isn't any snow," he concluded, looking on the bright side. He was not a total pessimist. Even Josh could see the finer points in life. "D'you work at the shop on school days, too?" he wondered. Josh had sometimes volunteered during the school week at the hospital but more often than not he reserved that time for studying. Two majors could be a bitch to handle, even for him.

He still did not quite understand but nevertheless accepted the habit of naming vehicles. He supposed it was akin to how the captains of a ship gave her a name. He also didn't understand why everything was female but didn't bother questioning that, either. Cars and boats seemed more androgynous to him but who was he to decide that kind of thing? "Ah, I have my fiancée to thank for Harper's name," he said. There had been a time when he'd never have mentioned Nell in conversation but the words slipped easily from his tongue now. It was not that he didn't love her—you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who cared for Nell more than he did—he merely valued his privacy and the right to keep his personal life... personal. However, he didn't mind Asher and thus didn't mind this disclosure. "Never knew they were meant to be named until she told me, actually." The Lamborghini wasn't a child or a pet. He'd been similarly confused when he'd realised that most people named their instruments. His guitars still remained nameless but his mother had told him in casual conversation that the grand piano upstairs that he sometimes put to use was called 'Tessitura', which was a foreign word that he only knew had something to do with music.

He arched his eyebrows when Asher mentioned activity, then chuckled when he corrected himself. "Was wondering where you were going with that." It was a pretty good day for getting up and running around, Joshua couldn't argue with that. It would probably fight off the chill for those that couldn't do it on their own, too. Of course, most people probably don't find it as unbearable as I do. It was his abhorrence of the winter and all things that came with it that made him so sour and unpleasant whenever it came to colder weather. It was practically a crime for the weather to dare be anything but perfect when he was outside! He didn't actually think this but he did hate it nonetheless. "Rock climbing, eh? You any good?" He'd done it a few times himself, though not on an actual rock-climbing wall. He'd instead tried to scale mountains as a kid. It had stopped when he'd slipped and lost his footing, giving his ankle a bad sprain and earning himself a long gash in his calf. That had discouraged him from trying again. Hiking the normal way worked for him. "I don't think rain was in the forecast," he said, frowning as he tried to remember what they'd said on the news that morning. He usually watched the news whenever he had the time. Television didn't really interest him but it was good to know the weather and what was going on in your city. "Then again, you never know. The weathermen aren't known for being accurate."

The idea of Asher being so focused on cars that he forgot his homework amused Joshua, lips twitching into a half-smile. He understood how that went. "Not like I haven't been there before." Oddly enough, it was the other way around for him—so focused on homework that he forgot about everything else. He didn't bother going into detail with this to Asher, though. The guy didn't need a run-down on his habits and Josh wasn't going to offer one. He nodded in reply to the question. "Sometimes. Only volunteer work, I don't really need the money. It's good for the medical school application." He figured that Asher knew what he meant by not needing the money. He drove an Aventador, it was pretty obvious to anyone who glimpsed the car that he wasn't desperate for cash. There had been a brief point in his life when his parents had kicked him out where he'd had Harper and very little cash to speak of but it was just that—brief. He tried not to think on it because it hadn't been his finest moment. He was over that now and everything was back to relative normalcy. "Unfortunately you need a degree for any sort of real work," he said. "So I don't do anything interesting." He shrugged, leaving that as it was.

Had Asher asked, Joshua might have disclosed Nell's identity, but there was also the possibility that he would have been vague about it. He was proud to let people know that he was engaged and that Nell was his special someone but he was not the type to tell just anyone about her. They had their private lives and he didn't know what, if anything, Asher knew about Nell. The Wind elemental did not inquire after her identity, however, and Joshua did not offer any further information. Instead he smiled. "Thanks." It was good to be congratulated on things like that. He chuckled at Asher's comment. "Indeed it does." Harper had worked fine before he'd named her and she worked just as brilliantly afterwards. The car didn't give him as many problems as some of the ones his friends owned, thank goodness, because Lamborghinis were both expensive to buy and expensive to fix. Though it might have been surprising to some that he was ignorant of many customs and superstitions, Joshua's full-logic approach to almost everything could explain it, if only slightly. He dealt with things that were serious most of the time and spared little thought for things like naming instruments and cars. Besides, his lack of a thriving social life in youth had inhibited him. He'd had a few close friends but not enough of a circle to really keep up with what most people considered common knowledge. His knowledge came from textbooks and documentaries for the most part.

Joshua lifted an eyebrow, for the idea of hiking anywhere near a waterfall sounded absolutely absurd to him. In fairness to the Wind elemental, it was Joshua's fear of drowning that stopped him from considering anything to do with deep or rushing water fun. He didn't like boats, he wouldn't go kayaking if you paid him, and he didn't even like to think about learning to swim. At least with a boat you weren't braving the hellish depths of the ocean (or lake, or river) yourself. Still, he digressed. It wasn't his hobby and so Asher could do whatever the hell he liked in his spare time. "Exactly how many sports are you involved in?" Joshua asked, his tone light and joking. He was active but he did not go for any extreme sports and, to be honest, he hated most sports in general. Tennis was the only love he had in the sporting department. He liked hiking, jogging, and spending time at the gym to keep himself in shape. Working out kept his muscles defined without requiring any real teamwork, something which appealed greatly to Josh. He was getting better with people now that his walls weren't as thick but that didn't mean he had changed completely. He would always have the anger and he would always have his pride, two things that made cooperation with a group of people sticky at best. "What'll you do if it does rain?" Joshua wondered, glancing curiously at him. Josh loved the rain and didn't usually let it halt his plans, but he could understand that not everyone was the same.

Though he caught the slightly confused look, Joshua did not understand it and so didn't know what to say in order to clear things up. Rather than asking, in case it was anything awkward, Joshua merely allowed the conversation to continue without interruption. The Wind elemental seemed to recover quickly anyway. Maybe he's thinking about something. Joshua often found his mind wandering if he was worrying or thinking about something else in conversation with someone and so he wouldn't hold it against anyone else. He nevertheless nodded his agreement to the words and twitched his lip when Asher continued. "Yeah, it definitely keeps me busy," he said. "Don't get me wrong, though, I like having something to do. Even if it does get a little tiring at times." He knew he'd be a lot more restless and irritable if he had nothing to do than what he did now. Joshua was a workaholic, thriving off of keeping himself occupied and engaged in something as often as possible. It didn't matter if that thing was studying, working, or bettering his relationships with friends or his fiancée, as long as he was not sitting around and staring into space. Laziness was something he really didn't understand. He didn't look down on others with less drive than he had, they merely baffled him.

Though he hadn't been expecting a serious answer to the question about sports, Joshua still listened with interest to the other's reply. He was not so rude that he would inquire about the life of another and then completely ignore their response. Besides, for a mere acquaintance Asher was one of the more interesting people Joshua had met. It was nice talking to him and he didn't have to worry obsessively over when the next personal question would throw him off his guard. Inquisitive people who did not understand the concept of privacy set him on edge and it was very hard for him to get along with their types. He was tolerant only to a certain point before he would ignore them outright. "Jesus. Tennis is the only thing I really play on a regular basis." He would very rarely humour his friends by kicking around a soccer ball with them but he was not good enough to play competitively in anything that involved a team. He only thought about himself and his own moves and completely excluded the idea of passing to someone else. He was used to his drive being his own—he hated anything that forced him to believe otherwise. Teamwork, team sports, just teams in general. The only exception was something that did not involve competition or schoolwork. He could easily cooperate with someone if they were trying to figure out how something worked, like a puzzle or an object to be assembled. Then he liked the cooperation.

Josh shook his head, though his expression was more entertained than anything else. "Rain and a waterfall? Do you just really like getting soaked, or what?" His tone was teasing, not really meant to be taken serious. As he loved the rain himself it was not difficult to grasp the concept of enjoying a hike during it. Now, if it had been snow they were talking about he would have been a lot more incredulous. I wonder what I could get up to tomorrow...? Then he remembered that he had a couple of papers assigned that very day and knew that he'd probably spend it inside and working on them unless Nell had plans for the pair of them. His fiancée was one of the only people for whom he would willingly sacrifice a couple hours of studying. He didn't need to work as hard as he did, after all. He could take little breaks here and there to cultivate his relationship and maintain his small but tight social circle. "Speaking of school work, that's where I'll be." He chuckled and didn't seem bothered by this at all. The papers were both for courses in his Biology major but that was alright with him. While he didn't enjoy it as much as he did History, he still liked the subjects enough to do well in them. Heck, he did well in subjects he didn't like, too. He didn't want anything to pull his grades down. Joshua knew that he could have aimed a lot higher than the Academy's college if he'd wanted to but he'd stuck to it because he knew that it wouldn't do good for him to be so far away from home, from his family.

The name was unfamiliar to him but he didn't ask, not wanting to cross any boundaries. Asher had shown enough respect for his personal life that he would extend the courtesy in kind. He glanced around the garden when the Wind elemental questioned him, shrugging. "I don't have any real plans. Nothing major to work on and I'm not scheduled to go into the hospital until later on in the week." It bothered him that he didn't have anything immediate with which to occupy his time. For the time being he was preoccupied with conversation, which was good, but what would he do after Asher left? He frowned in thought, then shook his head and directed his attention back to the other elemental. "What about you? Planning to spend the rest of the day here?" He remembered that Asher had said something about the shop closing early and guessed that meant the Wind would not be going into work. He's probably planning to scale Mount Everest, Joshua thought dryly, though there was humour in the musings. He wondered if Asher was one of those adrenaline junkies or whether he just liked to have fun. Whatever the case, Joshua would leave him to it. What a person decided to do in their own spare time was their choice, after all. A lot of people found his love of puzzles and problems confusing and downright boring.

Josh gave an affirmative nod. "That's the plan." It wouldn't have mattered if it was pleasant and sunny or in the throes of a blizzard, he always put his studies before time out in the weather. Not that there were any blizzards in the summer, something that he would always be grateful for. He wouldn't put it past a graduated Water student to create a small one for the entertainment of friends but it would never be anything like mother nature could do herself. The elementals were powerful but the drain on their stamina stopped them from doing anything that could destroy the planet as spectacularly as she. "Do you plan on going to college?" he wondered curiously when Asher mentioned medical school. It seemed that the Wind elemental had good things already going for him at the shop and so he wondered if the Wind had any alternative plans. Maybe there's something that helps that kind of career. He knew the Academy had mechanical and metal-working classes but he did not know their extent nor if there was any major surrounding them. He had no interest in the courses himself and so had only heard of their existence through friends or when he was looking through the available options for his own benefit. He didn't suppose he was crossing any personal boundaries in asking Asher about his plans, seeing as it was a common question at the Academy. It was a school, so it was only natural that people discussed school-related things.

Doing chores for his parents, voluntarily or otherwise, had never been an issue for Joshua growing up. Sometimes he wondered what it was like to have grown up with that sort of responsibility as a part of one's daily life, seeing as he himself had been rescued from the need by the housing staff. They washed the dishes, tidied the rooms, pretty much did anything that needed doing. Joshua had been a little bit of a brat toward them when he was growing up in regards to their handling his possessions but he'd gotten better with it as he matured and simply requested that they leave certain things alone. Then he'd moved out and truly understood what it was like to do chores, though he'd been the home-owner (well, renter) and not a child being ordered around by their parents. He was a little surprised when Asher mentioned the possibility of hanging out, Josh not having considered it himself. He was not the type of person that often spontaneously arranged to hang out with acquaintances but today he supposed that it might actually be a good idea. Asher seemed to be relatively good company and he trusted him enough that he didn't feel uncomfortable. It was harder to make Joshua uneasy or set him on edge now. "Like I said, I don't really have anything planned. That sounds fine to me." He added a nod as well, for extra confirmation that he was up for hanging around a while.

Glancing around the garden as if it could give him ideas (it didn't) Joshua frowned and wondered what they could possibly get up to around the area. The Academy had a lot of prospective hot spots for fun and getting into trouble but he wasn't sure which one of them, if any, they could utilize to kill their boredom and keep them busy. He wondered if Asher had any ideas. He's probably going to suggest jumping off the cliffs, thought Josh. He likely wouldn't let up on the extreme sports jokes, even if they were internal, for a little while. Joshua was serious and stoic a lot of the time but he also had a sense of humour. The amount of jokes he kept to himself versus the ones he voiced could often be a semi-accurate judge of how much he got along with you. He didn't know Asher all that well yet and so he kept a lot of things to himself. That could change in the future. It all depended on the pair of them. "Should we stick around here or head to the Hollow? Staying around would save time but I'm not sure what we could do." The only thing he currently knew they had in common was a love of cars and hiking. "I'm fairly awful at most sports, so that's out," he added, just to clarify. He hated sports. Aside from tennis, of course. Hiking coming to mind again, he shrugged and suggested, "We could always check out some of the disused trails out in the mountains. No one goes up there any more; might find something interesting." Smirking, he added, "Maybe even one of your waterfalls."

[My apologies if I didn't give you much to work with xD]

Joshua had decided when he was eight years old that he wanted to be a doctor, 'just like Dad'. He had always been very sure of what he wanted in life even when he hadn't been as confident in himself and his abilities. He'd known he would go to college and then medical school and he'd entertained fantasies of being a doctor and working side by side with Donovan. His desires had matured when he grew older but their core had always stayed the same. He'd never really had the doubt or uncertainty that some people did. He nevertheless agreed that two years was plenty of time to decide on a major and nodded to Asher's words. "I got stuck between two," he admitted with a chuckle. "Ended up with both of them." He had taken a double major so that his passions didn't conflict with his desires for the future. It was difficult to love a career and love a subject that had fuck all to do with it at the same time. He doubted he could combine his passions for History and Biology so he was instead content to continue History classes whilst taking Biology to fit in all of the courses he needed for pre-med. It was amazing to think of how many majors the Academy actually offered. They also had majors that focused solely on the elements for the students who did not desire a post-secondary education but wanted to further their powers as best as they could. All majors included some elemental courses (it was mandatory if you attended the Academy college) but those special majors took it to new heights.

He was admittedly relieved when Asher easily waved away the idea of sports, having harboured a private concern that the Wind might try to talk him into something. Not that it would have been possible—Josh was very firm in his desires and dislikes. It might have been different in youth when he'd been willing to do almost anything to impress his group of friends but not now. The hiking trip seemed like a look plan for both of them and he grinned at the thought. It wasn't often he went hiking with other people nowadays. He'd hiked a lot with his family when he was younger and had taken an interest in it himself when he got into high school but his trips where someone actually accompanied him were rare. He remembered a hiking trip with Nell that he looked upon fondly, however, messing around with her camera and staying the night in a makeshift camp. Asher would be much different company as they were not romantically involved but he still thought that it could be fun. "Walking? That would take hours," he pointed out. "It'd be dark by the time we got there." Maple Hollow was a good ten minutes away by car and a lot longer on foot, and that was just the town itself. You had to go farther out to reach the good hiking trails and the abandoned ones were harder to spot. "I can drive," he said, nodding. "Harper can't go off the road, of course, but I don't mind a bit of a walk to the trails." He usually parked his car in a certain spot and then hiked up into the network of trails and pathways.

He unlocked and raised the doors before they'd even reached the car using the automatic key and fiddled with the controls on the cockpit once he'd got inside. He could feel the air-conditioning kick in and turned it down thanks to the cool day, then pulled out of the parking lot and hit the road. They had quite a drive until the trails and even though he could have made brilliant time if he went over the speed limit, Josh was always very careful to obey the traffic laws. He liked his sports car because it was beautiful and fast but he did not like the idea of it being taken away from him for breaking the law. He'd already had a bit of a run-in once when he'd panicked and tried to outdrive the police. Never again, he promised himself. "You know," said Joshua conversationally, keeping his eyes on the road despite the fact that it was fairly empty, with only a few cars passing every now and then, "I was going to ask if you wanted me to turn on the radio and I just realised I haven't got a clue what sort of music you listen to." He chanced a brief look at his acquaintance in order to flash him a grin and then refocused his attention on driving. "So what sort of stuff are you into?" Joshua had a load of music on his iPod, as well, which was currently plugged into its interface, but he was not sure that they enjoyed the same things.