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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 21, 2011 16:03:29 GMT -5
 The young boy pouted as he looked at Nell, who currently crouched in front of him, pulling the mittens through his sleeves. ”Where’s mommy?” he asked, the whining edge clear in his tone. She sent him a warm smile as she pulled on his mittens. ”She’ll be here soon, Bobby,” the Earth girl assured him, straightening out his jacket. She feared that he might cry, but he was a boy—he kept his chin strong and looked directly ahead. Nell felt sorry for him, for his mother had callled to apologize for running late. The teacher left, but she offered to stay behind and clean up while she watched over Bobby. ”You want some cookies to take home, sweetie?” Nell asked, and this brought the light to his eyes. She took the bag that she was planning to eat and put it in his Batman backpack, in the small pocket on the front.
Nell found she loved this job, even more than being a bartender. Sure, she was good at bartending, but she was even better with children. She liked the feeling of being helpful, of taking care of people, of knowing what she was doing and how to do it. It was easy for her, even though the teacher often told her how she got stressed out by the kids. Apparently, the woman was a big wine drinker, partly thanks to her recent divorce, leaving her as “Ms.” Kustack. Nell was sometimes amazed by how people like her good so freely speak of their personal lives like that. As far as she knew, the daycare teacher didn’t know of her status of acquitted murderer, because otherwise she would most likely have told her bosses. At least, that’s the feeling Nell got after the betrayal of her friend, Evie, that lost her job. Unlike Ms. Kustack, Nell didn’t easily fall under the pressure of wild children, and was glad to assist the easily angered teacher. She knew all of the things to say, what to do, and it almost came naturally for her.
One of the best things about the job was that it was helping her. Being responsible for these kids, having all this energy around her, and generally doing something she really liked was making her feel better about herself and her situation. Maybe it was the Prozac that she was steadily taking, but that wasn’t all of it. She was growing content, used to things. There was still the sadness, always would be she supposed, but Nell knew it was a long road. Wondering if she would always be in recovery didn’t help her, and she was prone to almost random bouts of sadness, but she knew depression couldn’t last forever. She patted Bobby on the back when his mother arrived, and spoke to the woman for a few minutes, all the while wondering at the reasons she loved doing this so much. Nell locked up afterward, and decided that she might as well walk somewhere. After work—on the weekends, she worked all day for the kids whose parents also worked weekdays, a small crowd—she made sure she’d at least try to get out some. Nell knew she had been sleeping a lot lately, and even though she still felt that constant fatigue, she didn’t want it to weigh her down as much.
She shivered walking outside, crossing her arms after tightening the sash of her pea coat. Tires kicked up blackened snow from the streets, and even though the air was freezing, snow didn’t seem to be on the way. The sky was a pale blue and the sunlight harsh, as if it were summer. She brought herself to the library, kicking her boots on the mat before entering, respectful even when going into public places. The air of the library was warm as usual, and it always held that same comfort for her. After enthusiastically greeting the librarians, she headed to her favorite section—philosophy. Nell did take out books, had quite a few out all right, but she liked to relax in the building. After reading a few pages of an essay by Nietzsche and setting the book aside, she took out her origami, one of her favorite things to do on her down time, other than…well, anything else. There was honestly nothing she didn’t like. She didn’t really pay attention to the motions of folding, instead gazed out the window as her fingers worked by memory.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Dec 24, 2011 0:31:55 GMT -5
Skye was in the library. It wouldn't have been her first choice as far as hang-out spots went (because really, Skye wasn't a particular thrill-seeker, but libraries were perhaps a touch too quiet for her to be in all the time) but she had an essay that required research... and she should probably get on it soon, considering it was due next week. Skye had been doing as well as ever at procrasting; Junior year didn't change a thing. She liked what she was doing enough, sure, and actually didn't hate it all as much as it would have seemed, but she was negative by nature. (She was sure there was some very clever joke to be made there about electrons, but somewhere between taking notes and poring over extremely boring books, the clever part of her brain seemed to have melted.) As far as Skye was concerned, it was all worth it in the end, or at least she hoped so -- but until such time as it paid off, she would complain as much and as often as she liked. In her own head, of course. There was nothing worse than a person who whined all the time, though Skye wouldn't deny that she let it slip occasionally to whoever was unfortunate enough to be the recipient at that given time.
She shut the old book and placed it back where she'd found it on the shelf. That wasn't a book she was going to be bothering with signing out. It had that dusty, grimy feeling of books that had gone untouched for too long, and she wiped her hands off on her jeans only to feel like both her hands and jeans were dirty. Ugh. The jeans would just have to wait, but she would... go wash her hands. Getting away from the books (if only to go into the library's washroom) would probably be a good idea anyway. She washed her hands of whatever it was that coated the pages of books over years and years of disuse, dried them, touched up her hair quickly, and then left the bathroom, unembarrassedly massaging her temples. There was so much work to do all the time. It was incredible that any of them were able to keep up with it. She found herself missing her early years at the Academy as she walked back over to her work. It was sitting exactly where she'd left it. For some reason this almost disappointed her. Back to work, then -- no distractions to be found, not so much as pen that had mysteriously gone missing.
Skye wandered back over to the shelves, trying to avoid any books that looked very old. It was a difficult task, and she wandered further and further away from the books she should really be looking at, not really paying attention anymore but just wandering down the aisle between the shelves, so that she was entering the Philosophy section. (This would, of course, be no particular help to her for the paper she should be writing, but her mind was drawing a blank anyway. It would be fine.) She had resigned herself to her fate of slaving away at this the rest of the week, however, and turned around to head back to her own table -- or at least the table she'd occupied entirely for herself, considering there weren't very many people in the library today -- when she spotted a... somewhat familiar face. Well, the "somewhat" part would be a lie. Nell Shepherd's face was a very familiar one, because Nell was currently almost something of a celebrity. There was also the fact that the girl was dating Josh, but regardless of their friendship, she'd never been properly introduced to Nell -- for obvious reasons that Skye wouldn't dream of challenging. That was the way things were.
Maybe it was her exhausted brain at work, but Skye felt somehow drawn to go and talk to her. Or maybe it was just that she wanted to find out something about the girl who'd already been charged with two counts of murder (it was a pretty interesting situation, to be honest, though probably a pretty awful one to actually be in). Whatever the reason was, Skye found herself leaving her hiding spot between the shelves and approaching Nell. Without much effort, she kept her face neutral. She wasn't here to scare the girl... but not really here to particularly befriend her, either. "Hey." She found herself there either way, making some kind of feeble attempt at a greeting -- a quiet greeting, of course, since they were in the library. Skye recognized a bit late that she was folding origami -- somehow she'd seen the folding motions before but hadn't really acknowledged it to herself. That was probably because if she'd done so, she wouldn't have bothered coming over. Hopefully she wasn't being much of a distraction... but even if that were the case, it was a little bit late for that kind of doubt now anyway.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 24, 2011 23:26:00 GMT -5
The static hum of the library’s silence was one that Nell had learned to sit comfortably in. She could hear the flourescent lights buzzing, the computers nearby whirring, but more than that there was silence, broken only by the murmurings of people asking the librarians questions. Nell wasn’t one perturbed by silence, even though she met some people who just couldn’t stand it and always needed to have something in the background. She was perfectly content to just sit quietly, especially nowadays—usually, she had too much energy to keep still, and that spurred her into going outdoors. Lately…lately she was lacking in the energy department, choosing to spend as much time as she could in bed. Instead of recooperating, she liked to consider it hibernation. It was funny if she thought about it—before the trial, she spent most of her time running around and eating like a garbage disposal. Now she was sleeping in and not eating as much as she should be. Hibernation really was a good word for it. Besides, it was easier on her than thinking about what it really was, clinical depression. That was a mental health issue. That was a connection with her mom that she didn’t want to have.
The clinical silence was broken by a hushed voice, and it took a moment to realize that it had been meant for her. She blinked up at the girl a smile already on her features. It wasn’t something forced to be polite, but as if it belonged there. And really, it was rare when she was without a smile. ”Sup,” she said, pulling the head of her crane and making the wings flap. She set it down on the table, and shifted to cross her legs on the chair, always shifting. Her eyes stayed on the girl, not really inspecting her, but trying to figure out if she knew her or not. She only looked slightly familiar, in the way that you may see someone from the back and with the first view of the front you try to connect the images in your mind. But she merely shrugged it off when she couldn’t make that connection. Since they were in the Hollow, she didn’t automatically assume that the girl was an elemental or anything of the sort. If she was aware of the fact that Skye was a Thunder elemental, she would have been more wary in conversation. Even with the knowledge that she was Josh’s friends—he didn’t get along with all her friends, and it was the same with her. Although, it was difficult for her not to get along with people. She liked to be friendly, it was just that the alliances were different. Bad experiences had rather traumatized her.
Instead of dropping off conversation right there, Nell was a naturally sociable and friendly person and felt the need to ask, ”You interested in philosphy?” They were in the section, so she was assuming. The girl had come out of nowhere, so she was just merely going off the information she had. Then, she said, ”Ya know, just wondering because not too many people hang around these parts.” Like the dusty reference and non-fiction historical sections of libraries that people liked to bypass in pursuit of fiction. She didn’t mind, since she enjoyed any kind of literature, really. It was a comfort from her past, she supposed, something that she took with her into the present. ”Nell, by the way,” she said, figuring an introduction might be in order. She held out her hand, didn’t offer a last name since—for one—people usually didn’t introduce themselves with their last names, and—for another—her last name was one that could be recognizable to some people. She was hoping that ‘Sinclair Fuentes’ would be the names that were synonomous with her history—unfortunately, ‘Shepherd’ was noteworthy thanks to the trial. Either way, she wasn’t about to change it again. The name had meaning for her.
[btw, as a side note, nell has only been going to the academy for one year because she enrolled late. i know i didn't mention it to you, so i apologize. xDD]
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Dec 28, 2011 18:45:28 GMT -5
Some people were born with that natural gift to be friendly to everyone, and optimistic all the time, and just... happy, in a way that didn't seem false or intentional. It was just their natural demeanour. Skye had not been born with said gift, and while she wasn't necessarily constantly either angry or upset either, it was true that she was not generally what most would consider a happy person. It seemed, though, that this girl did have that kind of gift, and Skye... well, it wasn't envy. No, she wasn't actually partial to people who were that happy all the time, and in fact she found that, for nine of ten people who were like that, it grated on her nerves a little. Still, if it wasn't envy, then she did wonder about it a little. She liked to consider the kinds of things that would make people like this tick, the relationships they had with other people, the way they went through their everyday lives being so damn positive about things. Of course, these people probably thought the same about her.
Nell's "sup" hardly made Skye blink, but it did puzzle her when Nell went on. Most people would have left the conversation at that, or left it to Skye to come up with some random reason for walking over here and initiating conversation. She wasn't even sure why she was overanalyzing it to this extreme, but the fact that the discussion hadn't ended then and there was a little interesting in itself. "Uh --" she started, then stopped before admitting, "No, not really." From what she could see of the shelves, this was apparently the Philosophy section, which was probably the reason Nell would have asked. Skye glanced back over at her lonely workstation a bit away, but of course she couldn't actually see it through the shelves. Still, it was in that direction. "No," she repeated, gesturing back there, "I was kind of over in the Poli Sci, but it was... boring." Seeing as Political Science was her major, Skye did find it pretty interesting most of hte time -- but today, when she'd been sitting here for a while trying to do actual research, it was possibly the most boring thing she'd ever encountered.
"I'm guessing you do like Philosophy, though?" Skye asked casually, though she couldn't care less what the answer really was. Of course, she didn't have much of a reason to come over in the first place, so maybe small talk was alright for the time being. She was in no hurry, after all. "Skye," she introduced in return, nodding and shaking Nell's outstretched hand. It seemed that Nell didn't recognize her, but this was understandable. Skye wasn't particularly well-known or anything like that, although Nell was lately, what with the trial... but no, just because Skye recognized her didn't mean that it was reciprocal. In fact, it didn't seem that Nell had even yet put together the fact that they were both students at the Academy. Skye debated on whether to let her know of this, and decided against it for the time being. "Nice to meet you. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything." It was always good to be polite -- clashing alliances or not. Rudeness would be especially uncalled for when they'd only really just met and Skye didn't even know she was a Thunder elemental.
(ah, okay! <3 no biggie, ahaha. i hopefully fixed it up to make more sense. :3) |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 28, 2011 23:31:06 GMT -5
Skye seemed to hesitate before admtitting that she wasn’t interested in philosophy, which made Nell curious. Of course, as she usually did, she held back a slew of questions before they made it from her brain to her mouth. No need to be oerbearing. She was a patient person, and willing to just wait to jump down a person’s throat. She was hard on herself—she never questioned anyone intently because that made her nervous herself—but she couldn’t help the self-deprecating manner in which she viewed herself. In any case, she wasn’t about to look down her nose at the girl and deem her not worthy because they didn’t have the same interests. Quite the opposite, really. ”I can understand,” she said with a light laugh. She lifted her eyebrows when the girl said that political sciene was boring her. Nell only knew somewhat about it, and that was mostly through the psyhology courses she took that touched on it. ”What do you like to read then?” she asked in amusement. She could generally find something she liked in every section of the library if she looked hard enough, but that was mostly because she found it hard to dislike anything or anyone.
Her chin propped on her hand before, she lifted it off a bit when Skye asked her about philosophy. ”Oh yeah! I just like people and how they think...and all that jazz,” she finished to prevent any rambling. Philosophy went hand-in-hand with psychology, and they were two things she enjoyed thanks to the fact that she loved the world. Of course, even though she read many nihilists, it was still what people thought—it was still interesting for her. She glanced at the book she had pushed aside, and snorted a little. ”Sometimes I can’t help myself from getting distracted.” She wasn’t one to procrastinated beause her mind would always return to that one thing she had to do until she actually did it, but when she had time to spare she liked to occupy herself with many different things. The lethargy was the only thing that kept her seated, something that claimed her body more often than not nowadays.
Not liking to keep the conversation on her for long periods of time, she was happy to see that this stranger was friendly and introduced herself as well. Then she remembered that it was Canada, and most people were friendly. Just like in New York, most people would bite your head off for stopping in the street. The stereotypes held some truth as far as Nell saw. ”Skye?” she remarked, scrunching her lips as she gazed off in contemplation. ”That name sounds familiar and I don’t know why…” It wasn’t a very common name, and so she felt like she should have heard it around somewhere. Now this is going to bug me, she thought. Hopefully Skye might be able to shed some light if Nell was also a familiar face that she may have seen, but she doubted it. However, after she was formerly introduced to someone, she took care to remember names and details. Nell flicked the swan, smiling as she said, ”Nah, I was actually trying to pass time. Nothing to do on this fine day, unfortunately.” Since conversation was on the list of the Earth girl’s loves, she asked, ”What brings you to the library, anyway?”
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Dec 30, 2011 14:50:58 GMT -5
Skye considered the question with a pensive look on her face, not really sure how to answer. It wasn't that she didn't like reading, or just didn't read at all, but she had no time (or energy, when she did have the time). Because of this, most of the reading she ever did now consisted of requirements for class -- like research for that paper she should be doing. She tried to think back to the last thing she'd read by actual choice. "Mostly fiction, I guess," she said after a second. "Funny things, usually." She read some small amount of non-fiction too, but overall it was it was novels and the like -- in French occasionally, but that was mainly for classes. She didn't divulge most of this information either way, thinking it a little bit irrelevant, but then again Skye didn't say very much most of the time anyway.
Philosophy was interesting, she was sure, but it wasn't something that she had ever been able to get her head around. Nell seemed very into it, though -- it could have almost gotten her attention. Almost. "Sounds interesting, though," she said with a brief smile. Interesting or not, she was glad Nell seemed to have stopped herself from going on and on. Friendliness was nice enough, but rambling... uh, wasn't really. "No, I guess most people can't," she replied, shaking her head. Distraction was the reason she'd made her way over here, actually, so there really wasn't much else she could say about it. She instead looked over at the book that looked like it'd been cast aside in favour of origami, and picked it up. It was fairly heavy, actually -- heavier than it looked, anyway. "I'm guessing this is what you were being distracted from, then?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the origami crane rather than on Nell's actual face.
It was weird to be here standing here across the table from Nell Shepherd, of all people (a name she would have known very well without introductions, to be sure). Nell, the girl with two murder cases to speak of before even turning... however old she wasn't yet. Not very. Skye knew that Nell was younger than she was by a few years or so, and yet there had been the case with her mother and, before that, with the Thunder leader. Skye wasn't going to think about that one. Though she hadn't been one of the ones attempting her revenge -- she'd been acquitted in the end, after all, by people who probably knew more about it than she did -- there was definitely still wariness there. Or perhaps Nell was just lucky that the Thunder leader hadn't been a particularly good friend of Skye's. Either way, she would make nice right now, and hopefully things would work out for the better -- though there was always that stupid "curiosity killed the cat" saying. "Yeah," she confirmed with a nod, though she knew it hadn't really been a question. She thought for a few moments on what to say next -- or how much to say next, really -- and then settled for, "I'm one of Josh's friends." Good enough. There was no need to immediately announce that she was a Thunder elemental -- or any elemental at all, in fact. Hopefully, Nell just wouldn't be creeped out or anything; Skye wasn't even sure why she was approaching her anyway.
"Wish I had time to kill," Skye said with a kind of mock frown, before her face was neutral again. "And just homework, I guess. Research for a paper."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Dec 30, 2011 20:41:47 GMT -5
Nell grinned when she noticed that her companion seemed to actually be thinking about her question. She loved that, seeing people consider themselves. It had always been a big thing for her, actually. She scrunched her lips together as she thought about Skye’s choice. Nell didn’t make comment on it, but she considered information like that to be important. Well, for her at least. She shrugged when Skye mentioned that philosophy sounded interesting. ”Can be,” she said. Nell wasn’t one to say that any form of study was more important than another, that any literature was better. She knew people that liked to be snobs in libraries, and she of course just smiled and humored them. Fights were something she liked to avoid, and she was a generally acquiescent person. Besides, she liked to hear others’ opinions on things. She laughed—of course it was quiet, she didn’t want to get in trouble with the librarian—when Skye picked up the book. ”I like to take Nietszche in small doses,” she said. ”His essays can get pretty long. And besides, had this sudden urge to fold something.” She continued to pull at the crane, and when she noticed Skye looking at it, she asked, ”You like origami?” She wondered if she ever bothered people with her questions, but she hadn’t really gotten any complaints yet.
Clarity showed on her features, and Nell opened her mouth in a silent ‘oh’. She tried not to have a flashback to when two shitheads approached her and claimed that they were old ‘friends’ of her boyfriend. Skye seemed like a nice girl—she certainly was friendly enough to approach her for conversation, which Nell greatly appreciated—and she didn’t believe that the girl would have an affiliation with the gang. Besides, Nell didn’t like to be a suspicious person. She was just a little traumatized after the attack, and mostly worried about Josh’s past catching up with him. ”Ah, probably why you look so familiar,” she said in a breezy, humorous tone. ”A shame we haven’t met sooner.” She didn’t know all of Josh’s friends, so she wasn’t surprised that she’d never been properly introduced to Skye before. She didn’t ask if she attended the Academy, because it would have been very, very awkward if she didn’t. Of course, people in Maple Hollow believed the Academy to be for those gifted in academic areas, and not elemental. However, Nell’s demeanor would have changed too much if she learned of Skye’s status as a Thunder. She was friendly by nature. And she tried to remember that even though the element still held some bitterness because they lost the war after the Fires backed down and the other alliances ganged up on them, they wouldn’t start another war over that. She hadn’t killed Cynthia, the girl herself had framed her, and that was enough to calm most aggresion. ”So I guess you’re aware that I’m his girlfriend?” she said, her tone still light. It would explain why Skye even mentioned Josh and perhaps why she approached her.
Instead of talking more about her boyfriend, which Nell didn’t like to do because of the two yearning for secrecy in their lives, she smiled at Skye when she said she had time to kill. ”Busy, busy.” Nell was glad that her life wasn’t as hectic as it used to be, even though it didn’t feel like it was going good for her right now. She didn’t have supplementary classes even though she took more courses she really needed because she still felt like her powers were underdeveloped for her age—and they honestly were. College was difficult, but papers that the professors liked to hand out were generally easy for her because she enjoyed writing and reading and English in general. ”Needed a little break, huh?” she said, wondering if that was another reason the girl chose to come over. Breaks were nice, and Nell enjoyed them because she knew she wouldn’t end up procrastinating. The thought of something being left unfinished bugged her and made her antsy.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jan 4, 2012 18:24:26 GMT -5
Skye was aware that her own chosen area of study, political science, wasn't exactly what people would consider "real", either, if put into terms of cold, hard facts. It certainly wasn't a science or any kind of math in that sense; the rules were always changing and difficult to define. To Skye, though, it made more sense and seemed more solid and real than philosophy, which was saying something, because it was a bit rich to call any social science particularly real. She hadn't lied when she'd said philosophy sounded interesting, though... but maybe she would leave that to philosophers. Philosophers and Nell. Yep. She flipped open the book to a random page anyway, scanned it for a few seconds, and then shut it again, her lip twitching very slightly. "Long indeed," she said, nodding, returning her gaze to the crane. She jumped a little when Nell addressed her interest in the origami. "Uh, kind of," she said, then paused. "Well, I kind of just love origami paper, it's... pretty. So I have a lot of it. But I never had the knack for folding it." It was probably a bit stupid to have such a collection of something that she would never use, but they were pretty! Even the plain ones were nice (maybe a little less so, though), probably because they felt different than just plain old paper. Plus, origami was cute -- Skye wasn't much for trying it herself, but in general it was definitely pretty cute. Still, she probably sounded a bit stupid.
Though Nell sounded fine enough, like this was just a normal, everyday thing, her initial reaction -- mainly in her face, which Skye finally looked at properly to search for some kind of emotion -- showed a little more than just casual amusement at this common link. This was to be expected, though. She didn't know how well Josh was doing with the elementals on Nell's own alliance (she'd never asked), but she figured that it was a pretty good shot that anyone who'd been an old friend of Josh's was a Fire or Thunder elemental. Skye certainly wouldn't have fit as a Water or Earth -- not only did she not fit the bill personally, but Nell would have probably recognized her. Of course, there were also the Winds (when putting things into terms of alliances, it was somehow easy to forget about them) and also the fact that Josh didn't actually live far from here. Skye could potentially be just some innocent townsperson with no idea at all about the Academy. This wasn't really the case, but if that was Nell's reaction to finding out that Skye was just Josh's friend, then it was probably best not to say anything else. "Yeah. It's nice to meet you, though," she said, smiling. "And yeah. He's mentioned you a couple of times." She realized suddenly that Josh mentioning Nell wouldn't actually mean that Skye should have been able to recognize her randomly in the library, but it was too late to go back and fix any stories now. Oh well. Maybe Nell wouldn't notice -- it wasn't like it was exactly a lie.
"Always busy," she confirmed with a nod. Skye maybe wasn't exactly cut out for full-time education -- there was too much work involved, and she was the type to procrastinate. Of course, there was clearly work to be done in an actual workplace too, but then maybe it would be slightly less tedious than some kind of research paper, and she'd probably enjoy that more. "Kind of, yeah," she said, grinning very slightly. She was sure that she was being pretty transparent about that, actually, but that was okay. It was better for Nell to believe that Skye had come over here mostly because she'd been bored, even though that had been a part of the reason. It was an... insignificant part, though -- there were plenty of other things she could have done because she was bored. "Research was kind of rotting my brain over there," she added to emphasize the point.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 4, 2012 20:45:32 GMT -5
Nell was enjoying the girl’s company, as she did most people’s. It was hard for her not to be in a good mood when meeting new people, and Skye made a very good impression. Then again, she could be a bad judge of character considering how quick she was to trust people. She liked to ensure that she wasn’t going to do what Mia did and close herself off from the world, no matter how much she hurt. No matter how bad the depression got. She wasn’t going to go from clinical to psychotic, and hoped that there wasn’t a connection between the two. What she found very entertaining was the fact that Skye enjoyed the origami paper and didn’t even fold it. ”Oh, that is so cool,” Nell said as if it was the greatest thing she’d heard all day. ”I have to admit, I love going to the craft store and getting different patterns. Scrapbook paper, too.” She didn’t scrapbook, she mostly kept pictures of her friends in her wallet which she now figured wasn’t a good idea since that was how Jane found out she was friends with Ace and decided to tangle him up in her web of lies. ”So…do you just have stacks of paper just piled up in your house?” Nell found this very interesting, actually, since she’d been folding paper cranes since she was little. It was in a fragile attempt to hold onto her sister’s life, as if a thousand pieces of paper could make everything right. Back then, it sure felt that way. Until she burned most of them after Tilly died.
The Earth didn’t find anything off about Skye’s statement about Josh mentioning her a few times. ”Nothing bad, I hope,” she said jokingly. It made her a little happy that he mentioned her to his friends, like she mattered. The small happiness was something she took comfort nowadays, it gave her a little bit of peace. And she supposed Josh himself had been doing that for her with his unwavering presence. It was getting better, she knew, it was just taking time. ”Where do you know him from?” she asked, sounding only curious. Skye didn’t have to answer of course, there was always the option for an open question. And she didn’t sound suspicious, either, even though she had friends who were always wary of the girls their significant others hung around with. Nell was not the jealous type. Okay, there was the time with Brittney, and that was justified because it took a very long time for Josh to turn her down and she knew that he had wanted to go off with her. That stung a little but she had gotten over that. Any suspicion halted after their first major fight when she’d accused him of cheating thanks to a drunken text—she never wanted to fight with Josh like that again, especially since it had actually made her cry.
Since it seemed that Skye was taking a break like her and not really enjoying her homework at the moment. ”How about taking a longer break?” Nell said, folding the crane flat so she could tuck it into her messenger bag. Being as friendly as she was, she had no problems with going anywhere with someone who was pretty much a stranger. Again, she was quick to trust, quick with the benefit of the doubt. And there was no doubt with this girl, even though if she had more information she would have been a little more wary. ”How about getting something to eat? There’s a Timmies nearby.” That went without saying, though, considering this was Canada and Canadians liked their Tim Hortons. It actually excited her to think that in a few years time she’d be a legalized Canadian citizen. Especially because she still carried her city accent.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jan 6, 2012 0:12:47 GMT -5
For one brief moment, Skye wondered if Nell were always this... enthusiastic. The girl was an absolute ray of sunshine, something that Skye couldn't really understand or recognize as being an actual normal thing for people. Nell made it seem natural, though, so maybe Skye was the weird one (not really -- she was still the normal one). "Er -- well, kind of," she said in response to the question. Technically, her house was back with her parents in Ottawa, and when she was gone to the Academy, she didn't leave much back there. "I don't really have enough for stacks or anything, just a box," she clarified, putting her hands across from each at about her shoulder width to show the size of the box, "with all these different papers and patterns and stuff." The box really was there for no reason, and she didn't even take it out (from under her bed, where it usually resided) very often, just let it sit there collecting dust on top. Luckily, the box was closed, so the papers inside would still be alright. Still, she did occasionally take it out. "Maybe one day I'll even find a use for all of them, though." That was doubtful, but it wasn't like the fact that they were just sitting there was going to discourage her from springing on a package just because she was looking for some interesting patterns inside.
Her lips twitched a little. Josh rarely spoke of Nell, and when he did, they were more of brief mentions than any particular details. Skye was sure he'd never even said enough to have said anything bad about Nell at all. Of course, this probably meant there was nothing particularly good either, as Josh wasn't really the type to gush over the greatness of his girlfriend. Most of it was more along the lines of "I'm hanging out with Nell tomorrow" or something minor like that, but it was always at least enough to know that he was happy in the relationship, and sure -- that was enough for her. "No, never anything bad," she confirmed, and left it at that as she considered how to answer the next question. It might not be a good idea to answer too freely, actually -- if she were Nell, she'd be wary too. Skye could lie, probably... or avoid the question altogether. For some reason, though, she chose to be honest instead... though maybe it was better not to reveal everything. Hopefully Nell wouldn't ask further, either. "From school," she said simply, redirecting her attention back to the crane almost out of instinct, like it was the only safe spot to stare at. She probably wasn't doing a very good job of coming off as not-very-suspicious... but then, it wasn't like she actually did have ulterior motives. This was getting confusing.
"I could go for a Timmies break," she answered with a smile. Actually, maybe some brain food would be good to get into her system -- and maybe Tim Hortons didn't actually constitute "brain food", but she was sure any food and a bit of caffeine would get her back on track for this damn paper. That, and this seemed like a good excuse to get out of the library and talk to someone, and Skye did like her breaks and procrastination, even though she knew it would come back and bite her in the ass later. So long as Nell was willing to go, that was fine by her. "I just need to pack up my things first?" She'd worked hard (kind of) on this homework that she'd left sitting over there, after all -- she couldn't afford to have it stolen or thrown out or whatever things could happen to a bunch of hastily-made notes.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 6, 2012 19:29:05 GMT -5
Nell enjoyed hearing about this strange collection of paper. ”I would say you could eventually sell it, but I guess since you like the paper you wouldn’t want to.” She wouldn’t want to sell the cranes, after all, especially since she had folded them with special purpose. She only needed a few more before she got to one-thousand, and she still didn’t know what she wanted. On the topic of her boyfriend, she was still paying attention to hear what was up. She lifted her eyebrows with the revelation that the girl was from the Academy. Probably another reason she was so recognizable. ”What element?” she asked, her voice low because of where they were. She didn’t want anyone to overhear, of course, and she was supposed to be keeping quiet. Nell asked this out of pure curiosity—she trusted Josh’s judgment of people to figure that he wouldn’t hang out with anyone who wouldn’t be a good person to him. That’s mainly what she cared about. She was well aware of the fact that some of his friends didn’t like her, and that some of her friends didn’t like him. That’s just how it was, people were people and not everyone liked each other. She could accept that.
Nell gave Skye time to collect her stuff before leaving the library, checking out the book she had taken to reading. She didn’t have a big collection—certainly not as large as the library Josh had at his mansion—but she was a closet bookworm when it came to things that interested her. She had the Kafka she “stole” from the library back in the Bronx, she owned copies of El Cid and Don Quixote in their original Spanish, and other tomes she kept in a box in her apartment. Most everything was kept in boxes, actually, it was convenient for her, especially since she wasn’t messy about it. The girl dropped her book into her messenger bag and made her way to the nearest Timmies. It wasn’t too long of a walk, but the cold still easily permeated her coat. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and drew her shoulders up around her ears, but making small talk with Skye distracted her enough. ”So are you from Canada?” she asked, and though for some this may have simply been an effort to make conversation, Nell wanted to know. She’d heard about the sort of running joke that no one was native to Canada, and wondered how true that was.
Timmies came up soon, and she opened the door and held it for Skye, relishing in the heat that swamped her as if an enthusiastic host waiting for its guest. She ordered a smoothie—a derivitive from her usual coffee—and french onion soup, and looked around to find somewhere for them to sit. There was always at least one person here, but it wasn’t too bad to find a table where they could sit and relax. ”Soup during winter, my oh my,” she said with a sigh. She was slowly regaining her appetite, something that had been lost when her stomach had made it a point to clench and reject even the thought of food during her depression. It had been normal, her therapist told her, but she didn’t like it. She hadn’t liked anything about the depression. ”What did you get?” Food was something she could always talk about—with the exception being the time spent depressed—and she had to say she had a passion for it.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jan 9, 2012 18:56:56 GMT -5
Skye frowned at the thought of selling her paper. No, she'd probably never sell it -- she wasn't sure who'd buy random sheets of origami paper anyway, and she was actually a little bit attached to the collection. Though it held no real meaning, it was just something a little weird and quirky that was more for herself than for others, and if anyone else found it weird, well... that was just too bad, but it was her life, after all. "Yeah, I don't think selling it is much of an option at this point," she answered, a little bit amused by her own words -- it sounded like something would be keeping her from selling them or something. No, it was just something she liked -- like not wanting to throw out something old, useless, and broken from childhood. The eyebrow raise told Skye immediately, though, what Nell's next question was going to be, so she answered without hesitation. "Thunder." She was aware that her element wasn't one of the friendlier ones, and Nell might not be all too thrilled, actually. If the roles were reversed, Skye probably wouldn't be either. She wouldn't trade away her actual element for most anything, but the element's reputation she could have done without. Life didn't really work like that, of course. "You're Earth, right?" she asked, her voice just as low, hoping that the question -- asked in a very level, nonchalant tone -- would reinforce that she wasn't here as an enemy.
She shoved all her things into her bag -- her books were messily thrown in, but her notes were luckily in a notebook that she tucked in right between two heavy textbooks, so that no harm would befall them. Notes were always important. This done, Skye rejoined Nell to leave the library, bag slung over her shoulder. Food was always welcome in the middle of a homework session, especially one as mind-numbingly dull as this. Outside, Skye shoved her already gloved hands deep into her pockets and burrowed into the neck of her jacket as far as having a head would permit her. Distracted by the cold and the general activity around town, it took her a few moments to process Nell's question. "Yeah," she answered simply, because that was a easy answer, though if prompted she was sure she could recall a bit more about when her great-grandparents had come here in the first place. "Family's been here for... a long time." Still, that was three generations before hers in this country, and that was a pretty significant amount. As far as Skye was concerned, anyway, she was Canadian -- and the question seemed like a bit of a random one, but she had to remind herself that people sort of came from all over to study at the Academy, so in fact it might not be that weird after all. Nell's accent was a little bit different, but then again Canada was full of a truckload of different accents, and she certainly hadn't heard all of them before. "Where are you from?" she asked curiously, deciding that, judging by Nell's need to ask her question at all, it wasn't Canada. Her accent indicated somewhere in the States, but Skye wasn't really well-trained enough to peg her at anywhere other than somewhere East.
Her feet carried her to Tim Hortons almost as if automatically, and she recalled meeting Josh here only just recently. The occasion stuck out in her mind because it'd been so recent, but then also sort of because they rarely got to just hang out these days. She considered mentioning this, but decided it wasn't really important -- a little coincidental that she'd be here with Josh and then randomly show up with Nell, maybe, but that was it. Nell ordered first, and then Skye ordered chili for herself (it would be good in this cold, probably) and a Mocha Latte, bringing it over to where Nell had already gone and taken a table. She looked on at Nell sighing over her food with mild amusement -- hot soup really was always good in winter. "Oh -- chili and a latte," she answered, taking a seat after putting her food down on the table and draping her bag on the back of her chair -- the floor was too wet here for it, what with all the people wandering around in winter boots. "You?" she asked, head cocked to one side in question. It smelled good, whatever it was.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 9, 2012 20:18:20 GMT -5
Nell felt the instant prickling of wariness at the girl’s admission of her element, but she kept her face smooth and her posture easy as it always was as she tried to rationalize this in her head. Thunder. Okay. Out side of the Academy, she could deal with this. The Academy was one of the main issues. Of course, the reasons there were alliances in the first place was because some elements were just more compatable with others. But it wasn’t so tense outside when a bigger concern was the government, unless you cam from a family like hers. The Sinclairs and Fuenteses stuck fast to their elemental differences, but there was a lot of other factors involved there as well—they were at opposite ends of the law, there was some history that Nell wasn’t fully aware of that caused the divide. And thinking of her family, she reminded herself that she came from a strong Thunder lineage. Her father was one, her grandparents were—she was semi-used to her father, and he was quiet and solitary like the students at the Academy. "I guess you and Josh knew each other before the war?" Of course she meant the war when he switched sides, when he made himself an enemy and therefore a target of the Thunders and Fires. She wondered if Josh spoke to Skye in school. No, that would be dangerous, she didn’t think her boyfriend would be that dumb. ”Yeah, Earth,” she replied, an easy smile on her features. ”Wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Nell truly loved her element, and she didn’t think she could belong anywhere else. She’d be a different person and she didn’t know how to treat that.
Nell didn’t hesitate before answering the question, and it surprised her that it was easier than usual for her. She realized it may have been because that she didn’t have much to hide anymore. The fatigue took hold of her again with this thought, but she wouldn’t allow it to bring her completely down. ”New York,” she said. ”South Bronx. Grew up in the projects. Have to say it’s a lot different geographically compared to the Hollow.” She departed to safer ground of conversation, about the Hollow rather than where she was from. The mountainous region was much different than the city she’d come from. There was barely any nature, unless you count the famous zoo she’d never been to. She felt an ache in her chest when she thought of a memory that could have been hers, but because of her parents, it never happened. She knew she wasn’t the only underprivelged child, and so her heart went out to all the other children. It never was about her, and she wished there was a way she could make it easier for kids who had to suffer. She wished she could make it so they didn’t suffer at all. ”Canada is different in general. People wave instead of flipping the bird. It’s kind of nice.” She guessed it suited her better than the aggression often found in the busy-bodies around the city. She was a peaceful person, this was a peaceful city. Sometimes she missed the place that really was her home, but not often. Too many memories plagued that place to actually be her home.
She was glad it wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be after the elemental admission, even though Skye was quiet. Nell accepted her as a quiet kind of person, and it made even more sense knowing that she was a Thunder. She was more than fine with that, loved it actually. Sometimes she got very excited about speaking to people like Skye, to Skye herself. She smiled when they sat together, and thought it almost comical that such two different elements could co-exist. ”Mmm, chili. My friend has a kickass recipe I wish I could get my hands on.” Nell said, glad that the prospect of food actually gave her these genuine reactions again. She had spent so much time faking it for everyone just to make sure they knew she was okay, it made her even more tired. You didn’t have to hide from Josh. And the thought was bitter and glad and regretful all at once. She never had to hide from Josh. ”French onion soup. There was a diner I know that made the best kind, but Timmies comes close. I wish I could remember the name.” It was in New York, something she forgot to mention, and the only time she bought food was after her mother let her out of a closet and she got money for bottles and cans, saved up to treat herself to food. The idea of starving terrified her even back then, and it had slowly culminated to this love of food she now had. ”Ever been to New York? It’s insane—more insane than here—but it really is beautiful.” It was amazing to be talking about a city that tore her down with such fondness. But Nell hated things with great difficulty.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Feb 1, 2012 1:35:25 GMT -5
She nodded, once again thinking back to... well, the old days, though that made her sound awfully old, and she didn't like it much. "Yeah. Years ago, actually," she answered. She couldn't remember how on Earth they'd actually met, but she was positive it had been during Grade Nine, probably during a class. It had been much easier at the time to be Josh's friend (not that she didn't want to be his friend now, of course, but it was admittedly a little more taxing than she might have wanted a friendship to be when she was fourteen and slightly more idealistic). "Well, we started in the same year," she said by way of explanation, whether or not Nell had or was about to ask. Certain information she was perfectly fine, open in fact, about divulging without prompt. She tended, though, never to say much that was personal, something people somehow tended not to pick up on, probably because she didn't come off as overly reserved. "Yeah," she said with a nod. "I think... most of us definitely wouldn't give it for the world." There was, at least for Skye, some limited amount of curiosity about the other elements -- she'd never know from experience what it was like to coax life into a plant, spur on wind or rainstorms, or have complete control over a fire without any tools to help her. However, that was really all -- at the end of the day, she was a Thunder elemental, and her element was something she had no control, which meant that it was as much a part of her as any of her limbs.
Skye had been to New York before, but not for a particularly long time, and she doubted she had ever been near the place Nell grew up. Still, she figured that most places, certainly anywhere in New York City, were pretty different than Maple Hollow. Her neighbourhood in Ottawa was fairly safe and quiet, but it was nothing on Maple Hollow. Compared to actual big cities, it was a teeny, tiny town that had managed to hang onto the nature surrounding the mountains. "Well, I'd imagine," she just said, rather than voicing all of this out loud -- partly because it was a pretty long thought, but also partly because she'd hoped to find out some more about Nell herself. If Nell was now instead bringing up Maple Hollow, though, Skye had to admit that she liked it around here, actually. It was what she was used to at this point, though, having been at the Academy since she was fourteen. Only holidays were spent in Ottawa, at this point... and, of course, after graduation she had no idea where she would be off to, whether she'd be staying or heading back to Ottawa or going somewhere different entirely. Hopefully, she'd be able to figure it out within... under two years, now. "I think it's just Maple Hollow, really," she said with a wave of the hand. "Where I'm from isn't quite this peaceful." Not that Ottawa was anywhere like New York, of course, but it wasn't the Hollow, either. "And then you get to Toronto and it's just a watered down New York, so I guess it's just... where exactly you are. It's pretty peaceful around here." She felt like she was just blathering now, definitely an odd thing for Skye to do.
Yes, Nell definitely seemed like someone who was pretty passionate about her food, which was in fact something Skye could definitely appreciate. She was pretty convinced, actually, that there was nothing, anywhere, ever, better than food... though she actually might not enjoy it as much as Nell did, judging by the way this conversation was going so far since they'd arrived. "They're probably one of those types who never writes down a recipe either, so you can't steal it," she said out of the blue, starting to actually feel pretty random and perhaps a little bit more friendly than usual now that she had some food in her. Well, she felt she'd been pretty friendly before, especially for someone like herself, but when faced with someone like Nell, it couldn't hurt to be a little more open to other people. "That sounds awesome. Hopefully you can find it again someday, though." But of all the diners (in New York, she was assuming, since that was where Nell had said she was from already), the chances of finding a random one, the name of which Nell didn't even remember, were pretty slim. It wasn't impossible, of course, especially if she had lived near there at the time... but then this was possibly just Skye trying to learn more yet about this mysterious girl. She liked to be somewhat more knowledgeable about the people around her, especially when they were people she'd just met. Then again, this was just her nature of mistrusting. "A... long while ago, yeah, but it is a pretty incredible city," she agreed with a nod. Maple Hollow was beautiful, too, she thought -- but it was a peaceful, quiet mountain air sort of beautiful, and New York City was the kind of beauty that came from all sorts of different people being densely packed into a small space, the wildness of it all and the idea that, really, every day was a new adventure... It was, she was sure, even for those who believed they were simply going through the motions in that kind of pre-determined routine. Everyone, everywhere, felt that way. Skye probably wouldn't say no to living in the big city for a little while... but only a little while, she'd still guess. She wasn't about to move there permanently for any amount of money.
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