* cradle and all, [devin]

In one word: lazy. Devin's head craned back over the chair, eyes shut lightly as he half listened to the professor chat on and on about history. Something about the War of 1812, Treaty of Versailles, other random words fluttering in one ear and out the other. He knew all of this already; the ability to retain information and facts not beyond the mind of Devin James Thatcher. It was why he did not feel bad tuning out the lesson. THWACK. Devin sat straight up, looking down to see a dry erase board eraser sitting innocently in his lap after hitting him in the chin. A few of the students chuckled, the teacher clearly perturbed by his lack of focus. "Mister Thatcher, if you could at least act like you are paying attention, it would be appreciated." Heaving a sigh, the blonde dropped back into his chair and set the eraser on the desk top, mocking him in all his lazy failure. This was daily routine. Most of the time he got away with not paying attention, though, because his grades did not reflect his lack of participation. Scolding a student that had an 'A' in the class? Useless.

As soon as the bell graced their ears, the students filed out of the classroom as disorderly as possible, pushing and shoving to escape the small space. Classes for the day were coming to a close, and Devin could not have been more relieved. Shouldering his bag, the Earth student meandered out of the room without so much as looking in the direction of his disgruntled teacher. He never really did do all too well with doing as he was told--that was what landed him at the fiery hands of Alexander, aside from the Fire's inability to control himself. The hallways cleared out slowly as he walked, not eager to be in any particular pace. Devin never hurried; there was no point in wasting life away worrying and trying to match to someone else's schedule. It was amazing he survived getting to class on time, and made good with getting to work. Just as he was about to turn a corner and wander down yet another hallway, a familiar voice reached his ears. Bright smile in place of the solemn, thoughtful expression, Devin pulled himself around the wall. The smile vanished. Nell was not alone, and whomever it was accompanying her did not do well for the smile that usually graced the Earth girl's lips. That did not do well at all.

Curiosity was a dangerous human instinct, an instinct so strong that even people who liked to stay out of the business of others could not always pull away. You hear a word, a sentence, a fluctuation of the voice, and suddenly you're listening to the entire conversation. There Devin was, doing just that. His throat constricted with frustration for Nell, heart palpitating from the news reaching his ears. Murder? Other woman? The blonde tried to process everything, but it was difficult. Shock had a way of drowning out the world around you. Once the hallway fell silent, Devin decided to make his appearance. A friendly smile was tacked on his boyish face as he approached them, hands in his pockets so as to not appear intimidating. "Hey, Nells!" He called out jovially, nodding to her. "I was wondering where you were. We have that study group we need to get to, remember?" It was an effective tactic to get a friend out of a sticky situation; to remain oblivious and act as though you had heard absolutely nothing, only to intrude and mention something completely irrelevant. A smile never hurt. He placed an arm around Nell and glanced at Rafael without any glint of frustration or anger in hopes that this would get the Earth student out of this situation.

It was one of those times where you wished you could shrink back into yourself and disappear. Devin knew that the conversation had been nowhere near pleasant and tried to help his friend, but Nell seemed very upset. The look in her gaze almost caused him to stall mid-step, but he pushed onward for the sake of the terse words shared between them. He did not know this other student, nor knew that he was an enemy. Hell, he did not even know they were even remotely related. It was possibly for the best. Her voice did not sound anything like her own, and it bothered him but did not press on that just yet. Right now his goal was to be rid of the pest standing before them. Nell rolled with his act, and Rafael took the bait well enough. As soon as he disappeared, Devin let out a slow stream of air before facing his friend. His blue eyes were full of concern. “You’re welcome,” He squeezed her shoulder and pulled her against him for a moment to reassure her that everything was okay. “I would have taken the hit for you, Nells. No one will lay a hand on you if I can help it.” Devin was not a fighter, but if Nell was in danger he would sure as hell try to do something. If peaceful discussion won’t cut it, then he would not stand by and let him touch his friend. Pick on him all day, but he would not do well to see anyone else suffer the same.

Hesitantly he followed the girl into the room, shutting the door behind him and leaning against the cold, polished wood. Devin lifted an eyebrow. “Well, classes let out for the day and I was making my way to the mess hall. Kinda took the long way around because of the mass of kids clogging up the other hallway.” He gestured with his thumb, telling the truth. It was always on the days he wanted to go stop at the mess hall to eat before going home or to work that everyone decided to make a traffic jam. Fortunately he did, because Nell might still be having an issue with Rafael and that was not something Devin wanted to imagine. He watched her for a long moment, waiting for her to speak, turn around, anything. The silence was killing him. He was not sure if she was upset or angry or scared…and if there was anything to be done to remedy the problem. Devin hated when people were upset with him. “Well…all of it,” Devin admitted quietly, not wanting to lie to Nell. “I was about to turn the corner when I saw you two talking, and I could tell you were upset so…I was gonna wait for you and…yeah.” Without waiting for Nell to face him, Devin walked over and stood next to her, leaning against the window. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to listen in. I was just looking out for you.”

Of course, anyone in Devin’s position would naturally be curious about what it was that went on between the two elementals, but he also understood privacy and confidentiality. Even if Nell did not willingly share the information with him, he still knew of it so that made it his responsibility to keep the discussion quiet. Heaving a sigh, Devin turned around and leaned back against the window, reaching over to push a few strands of hair away from her pretty face. “I don’t expect you to discuss it with me, or explain anything okay?” The blonde started off, trying to reassure her. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay, and if I need to keep an eye out for that kid so he won’t mess with you again.” Devin would gladly take a hit for her, for any of his friends. He would even fight back if the situation was bad enough, though that was very rare. He would do it for Nell, though. He was not there to judge his friend for her past, good or bad. That was useless, and did not alter his view of the girl he was looking at right now. The caring, funny, giving, sweet Earth girl whose smile was as soft as the flowers she conjured out of thin air. That was who Nell was to Devin, and that was not about to change.

The air in the room felt stale, suffocating. Devin was not quite sure what to do or say at this point. Nell seemed to believe him, which made him glad; he would have never taken it upon himself to follow his friend around and listen in on her conversations. He would have been upset if someone did that to him. “Yeah, they do.” He managed to say quietly, still waiting for something—anything—to happen. Devin was not accustomed to this side of Nell, and he was concerned. Sure, the conversation he heard was unnerving and a bit of a shock, but this bothered him even more. What did that kid want? He made Nell so incredibly upset, which upset Devin in turn. No one messed with his friends. “Yeah I suppose but…still I feel bad. I’m glad I was able to help you out though. He did not seem all too friendly.” That was the understatement of the century. Whomever this guy was, was not really someone Devin wanted to get to know.

As Devin brushed the hair out of her face, he caught the blank stare. It was those sorts of facial expressions that concerned him the most, because Nell was normally such a happy person. Her question threw him off a little bit, left him to ponder the answer for a moment or two before finding any words to say. Just as he was about to speak, another question came at him soon after, leaving him to think ever harder. So far as Devin knew, his life was pretty straight forward. His mother died, his step-mother stepped in, she was abusive and bitchy, his dad never spoke out much against it…unless there was something from before that he never took the time to notice due to his young age, then he was pretty well knowledgeable of his past. “I mean, not really…I’ve never really been one to try and focus on my past or concern myself with it, because I don’t think it’ll change much for me now.” Glancing behind you only caused you to stumble and fall over the obstacles at your feet, making it harder to get back up and push forward. Then, you pile on more regrets and continue to look back, wondering what you could have done to fix them. All you had to do was turn around. Devin lifted his chin; so, the boy was named Rafael. “Half brother or not, doesn’t give him a right to talk to you the way he did.” He shook his head and dropped is gaze to the floor. “I’m going to watch out for him. I know you can protect yourself but even so, you’re my friend.”

Another brief moment of silence passed between them when Nell asked a question Devin never expected, almost like experiencing a car crash. You never saw it coming, and it left you dumbfounded and unable to function. His bright blue gaze turned back to hers, trying to figure out what to say. If the girl really did lie about everything she was, that did not make her personality false or untrue. It was easy enough to change your past or omit certain truths, but it was a tad more trying to alter a personality. If you had a temper, it was not erasable. Workable, yes, but not something you could just cover up and hide away from the world. All he cared about was the fact that Nell was who she was. It was the same thing he felt about Josh when he found out about the gang. He did not know much, but he did not need to. Joshua was his best friend and that was that. Devin reached out and touched her shoulder, a soft understanding smile on his lips. “Nell, I told you once, and I’ll tell you again. I. could never. Hate you. Ever.” The boy searched her face, his smile still very evident. He wanted Nell to understand that, past or not, she was still his friend.

Devin frowned; he was not very fond of these cryptic questions, whether they were relevant or not. It was hard to answer something that seemed to have meaning to someone else, but not yourself. Generic questions about one's favorite color or favorite food was one thing, but this threw the boy for a loop. "Uhm, well...I don't really know how to answer that Nells. I don't know if I've forgotten something, or remembered it." He bit at his lip, feeling unhelpful. It was obvious that Nell had something on her mind, which made Devin grow curious and worried at the same time. It all sounded so dark, these questions. The blonde nodded a little bit at her next question, knowing he could answer that one with a bit more confidence. "Well yes. I'm not saying our past is forgotten to the point where we fuck up over and over, but it doesn't do well to sit there and dwell on it and let it rule our lives. You'll miss out on the future if you do." And Nell had a bright future, at least Devin thought so. She needed to see that, and embrace that instead.

It was interesting to hear people assume how others would respond to a certain bit of news. 'I'm a murderer' should probably elicit a specific sort of reply or reaction, just as for some people coming out about being gay was scary and at the same caliber. It all depended on who you were, who you talked to about it, and how close you were to them. Devin was close to Nell, like family. That was not going to change. "Nell, look," He started searching her face for a moment. "You need to understand something about me. I don't base my relationships with others on their past. I base it off of who they are as a person, past excluded. Your loyalty, gentleness, sense of humor, soft presence...that's what is important to me. Your past does not define who you are." The smile was there, just as it always was despite how bad he felt for her. He understood what it felt like to have things exposed that you wanted to hide away. "Besides, I don't know all of the details. It would be unfair to make any sort of judgement going off of just the basics anyway." Devin would never judge her, but even if he were that type of person the details were still lost to him. People have killed others on accident before. Only the law would label you as a murderer, even if it was out of self defense or something completely out of your control.

Devin tilted his head a little, not quite sure how to take this question either, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, it can be," He replied, trying to think of how to best answer this. "But we've all been through so much shit in our lives. Things will start to look up, as they always do. Life won't be without its mountains, but fearing it won't do any good. You'll never get to see what's on the other side if you don't climb it." He was feeling awfully metaphorical today, but he figured that was how to work this in the best way hew knew how. Devin had had plenty of those mountains in his life, but figured that stalling was only going to keep him from moving forward in his life. He had learned a lot, grown wiser in most things (except school) and would not exchange his experiences for the world. "The good thing is, is that you have people here with you. You're not alone."

If someone went through their life without good friends to help support them and encourage them, where would half of the people in the world be today? Lifeless, directionless, crumbling. Friends were a sturdy foundation made of the toughest steel, so long as you picked the ones who did not falter. Like Nell. Like Josh. Like many others that were not as immediate but still good friends. Devin was not so sure he was entirely right one hundred percent, but to hear it from his friend made him feel good. "I know I am," The boy teased lightly, smiling to try and ease the moment. It was probably horrible timing, but with him it usually was. He hoped Nell understood him well enough not to take anything from it. The smile diminished into a frown, and the boyish curiosity reared its head. "How do I scare you?" He asked, now feeling nervous. Devin was probably the most harmless person on the planet, so to hear someone say he was scary unnerved him slightly.

"So, because I'm friendly I'm a serial killer?" Devin asked innocently, looking right back at her as though challenging her statement with a soft gaze. "If we all lived with that mentality, we'd all be completely friendless and miss out on the most amazing people in this world." If he thought that way, he would not be friends with anyone he had now, not Nell, not Josh, not anyone. It did no good to live life in fear and assume that everyone was out to get you, or that everyone was evil. He simply could not handle living that way. Devin smiled softly at her and touched her shoulder. "I figured you didn't. I couldn't see you as being someone who would do it on purpose." It was one of the reasons he did not freak out and run away from her when he found out; Nell was such a soft hearted person, so loving and gentle. How could she possibly go out of her way to take a life? That seemed absolutely absurd to Devin. He blinked. "I'll do what I can." Was all he said, not making his avoidance definite. He wanted to look out for Nell, and that couldn't happen if he skirted the halls to avoid Rafael. Smiling softly at Nell, he wrapped her up in a hug and held her tight, just as he did with Athena when she was upset or stressed. "There's no need to say sorry for this. It was out of your control. But I'm here if you need anything, okay?" And he meant that. Devin would always be there for his friends.