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Post by TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA on May 18, 2012 18:38:47 GMT -5
He sighed as he pulled out another box of cds that had just come in. He grabbed his box cutter from his pocket and opened the box. He grabbed a stack of the packaged discs and took them out to the main floor. There were a few people who were waiting for these cds in particular so before he started putting them on the shelf he handed out some of the cd cases to waiting customers. When they dispersed he shelved the remaining packages in his arms onto their rightful places on the shelves. He looked up at the clock. Five minutes. "Takeru, can you handle the register for minute?" the voice of another of the employees asked him. He nodded his head with a smile. He hardly ever said no to any request. He didn't have reason to. He made his way behind the counter and got straight to work helping check out the people in line.
When the final person had left he let out another sigh when his coworker. "Sorry about that. Had to make sure that my daughter was okay." Takeru looked at her with concern. "Is everything okay? If you need to go..." he asked with nothing but sincerity and concern. She waved her hand in front of him. "No, no it's okay. It seems like food poisoning. My husband's with her so she's okay. No worries. I'll finish my shift in a few hours and then head home." his eyes only showed relief from her comments. "I'm glad. I'm gonna go on my break now. I'll be quick so you can head home earlier." She shook her head. "Please don't rush on my account. It'll be fine. Enjoy your lunch." she said returning to her place at the register. He just smiled and nodded and then went to the backroom to get his coat and stuff. Once he had it he left the music store and headed over to BK.
Takeru had been working at the music & video store for about 3 years now. Time really flew by. He put on his earbuds as he walked down the street. Like usual he danced a bit to the beat of the music. It was hard for him to not move to music. He crossed across the street and entered the fast food place quickly wanting to get out of the cold. There's a small line so he just stood, rocking back and forth to the music playing in his ears. When it was finally his turn he ordered a Whopper with large fries and a chocolate shake. Not exactly the healthiest meal for a dancer but he would work of the calories later. The shake came first. He stood on the side until his meal came. He tapped his feet as the music continued to play and drake his shake. "If it isn't the great earth ballerina." some voice said over the music. He didn't have it very loud so he was able to hear the voice clearly and recognized it without having to turn around. "Hello to you to Carson." he said before he actually turned to face the voice. It was a fire that Takeru had never gotten along with. Of course by default he didn't exactly make friends with fires and thunders all the time but at least normally he kept his distance. Carson here with his lackies were for some odd reason the thorns on his side that he couldn't seem to get rid of.
"Now is that anyway to talk to former class mates." Takeru just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "How about you guys grow up and get lost?" he said standing straight now to face the fire.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 18, 2012 19:36:55 GMT -5
For someone who was so used to having a fancy car that could take him from place to place, Joshua had almost forgotten how inconvenient walking could really be. Especially in winter. In the cold. In the snow that was currently covering the ground. He wanted to wave his hand and warm the air like magic, like usual, but the fact that a mortal walked about a foot in front of him made this far too difficult. People would notice. He scowled in discomfort as he squared his shoulders and folded his arms, the beige jacket he'd bought a couple years ago blocking out most of the cold but doing nothing for the wind that battered his face. His natural body heat blocked out a good deal of the chill but not all of it. On top of that, he was thirsty. He could have gone for a nice coffee in Tim Hortons but it was a bit of a walk from here and he wanted to get in from the cold. Spotting a Burger King, a place he would normally not frequent under any circumstances, the Fire deemed it 'good enough' and ducked inside. The respite was immediate and welcomed, the warmth of the fast foot establishment certainly ideal.
He was surprised to spot several people that he knew, liking some more than others, but he did not saying anything immediately as he got into line behind them and waited patiently. Apparently Carson and his buddies had not noticed Joshua and nor had Takeru. He didn't know whether to be happy about this or not. He didn't want to cause a scene, after all. "I'll take a large Coke," he said to the server, already pulling a five dollar bill out of his wallet to pay for it. "Is that all?" He wondered why they always insisted upon asking that. If he'd wanted something else he would have said it. Still, maybe the servers got bitched at a lot for taking the money without asking. He'd never worked fast food so he wouldn't know. "Yeah," he confirmed. "To go." He didn't figure it was necessary to specify for something as portable as a drink but he figured he would say it just in case. She nodded and rang it up on the till, handing him back his change. Joshua moved up in line and cast his gray gaze toward Takeru and company once again, catching the conversation.
Maybe he should have stayed out of it. Actually, he probably should have stayed out of it. However, there was something about the Fires and Thunders with their need to pick on people who really didn't deserve it that rubbed him the wrong way. If he hadn't considered Takeru a friend he would likely have let it slide but he had a loyalty to his friends and he often could not hold himself back. "I'm with Mastuzaka on this one," he said coldly, turning his back on the servers bustling about behind the counter to glare at the group. God, they irritated him. He knew Carson like he knew most of the Fires: by association. The Fire elementals were a tight-knit group and everyone got to know everyone else, from the smallest ninth grader to the burliest college senior. It didn't mean that everyone got along or even interacted but you knew names, knew faces. Such was the cliquish nature of the group. "Yo, Takeru," he greeted the Earth, cracking a smirk and nodding. "How's it going?" Josh took his drink when it was set on the counter and stepped closer to the Earth elemental, a silent display of camaraderie. He was on the side of the Earths, not of his old allies.
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Post by TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA on May 19, 2012 20:03:25 GMT -5
The alliances were something that grew into from the start. Of course he was made aware of them long before he himself entered the Academy but of course he could only imagine it. At least he arrived to the Academy and was pushed into it himself. Right away you could understand how the alliances worked. It wasn't rocket science after all. Earths and Water with Fires and Thunders. Winds were Switzerland and chose their own friends. He wasn't really saddened by any of this. Since he was a child he hadn't been too keen on fire and thunder and so when he learned of the alliances he was affected by it. He didn't have anything against them of course. He just kept his distance. It seemed that despite his best efforts there were some that just wanted to cause conflict, like Carson and his lackies. Takeru didn't get it. Takeru had never done anything to the guy that would warrant this kind of response. Of course aside from being an earth.
It didn't seem like Carson was going anywhere anytime soon and he just sighed. Takeru wasn't violent by nature. He didn't like conflict and tried to always avoided it. It there was absolutely no other alternative then what must be done must be done but thankfully he never got to that point. Carson just always had to push his buttons though. Never letting up and always coming back. Takeru just sent him a glare when he heard another familiar voice. This time from someone that he could actually enjoy their presences. Josh, friend of his who happened to be a fire. That was a long story. Point was that this fire sided with the earths and water alliance. "Hey Josh, it's been a while." he said with a small two finger salute and smile. This interaction just made Carson scoff. "The traitor friends with the ballerina. Not surprised. How the mighty have fallen." he said, his last statement directed at Josh with a glare. After another moment Carson waved for his monkeys to get going and it was another moment til they were gone.
By this time Takeru had gotten his food and sighed in relief to see them gone. "Some people just don't know when to quit do they?" After another moment he just let go of the little incident and forgot all about it. "How you've been Josh? Keeping warm I hope. How's Nell?" He asked with a playful curiosity and enthusiasm. With the loss of Carson and his crew Takeru could return to the very happy and enthusiastic Takeru that he normally was.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 21, 2012 20:06:52 GMT -5
He had not always sided with the Earths and Waters. During his high school years, Joshua had been intensely loyal to his alliance, to the point where he neglected his own childhood best friend during school hours in order to obey it. Once he'd graduated and reached college, he'd stayed with the alliances but not minded them half as much as he had in high school. After the drama that came with being an elemental leader, Josh had needed a break. When Nell had come along at the start of his sophomore year, everything had changed. Slowly but surely. Now he had a bunch of friends he never would have dreamed of having back then. It was a bit of a culture shock at first, people being nice to him rather than snarking back if he tried to start something. He'd been so used to the personalities of his old alliance that it took some adjusting. It was well worth it for the social circle he kept now. "Traitor and ballerina, huh? I guess I shouldn't have kept my hopes up about your creativity." He rolled his eyes, obviously not bothered. It took quite a lot of insulting to actually phase the Fire graduate. It wasn't like he hadn't heard it all before. Hell, he'd dealt with bullying as a kid before he even fully understood the alliances he'd need to deal with later in his life. "Nice seeing you guys, too. Have fun." Again with the sarcasm but he wasn't nice to those he didn't like.
The Fire graduate took a drink of his soda and shook his head. "They're idiots, all of them." He had lost most of the respect he'd once had for the Fires and Thunders because when you switched sides, you got to see the bad side of your ex-alliance. He'd once looked down on the Earths for being "weaklings" and the Waters for their irritating pranks but now he thought the Thunders were stupid with their grudge-holding and that the Fires really needed to get over themselves. All sides of the spectrum, really. "I've been great," he said, answering honestly. If anything had been wrong he'd probably have answered with the usual 'I'm fine' and just lied to protect himself. Like always. But he really had been doing good lately and so the fact that there was no need to come up with lies (or default to the usual ones) felt like a very good thing. "Nell's pretty good, too. Have you talked to her lately?" Obviously Josh had, he was engaged to her, but he wondered if Takeru was on regular speaking terms with his fellow graduate. Of course, Josh couldn't really attest for how "good" Nell was doing with her father and Rafael and Jane making things difficult but he always lied to protect his fiancée as much as he did himself. Instinct.
"As for keeping warm," he said, for he hadn't ignored that, "I mean, it's not like that's hard." He threw his fellow graduate a bit of a wink, knowing that Takeru would understand this where normal mortals would not. Joshua was a Fire elemental, keeping warm for him was a matter of wishing he was warm and letting his body heat adjust itself accordingly. It was highly convenient, really. And if that didn't work there was little a nice blast of heat couldn't solve. Man, he loved his power. "Have you been enjoying the holidays? It's kinda nice to have a break before the new year kicks in, eh?" He voiced it more as a question than a statement, wondering if Takeru felt the same way that he did.
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Post by TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA on May 22, 2012 18:19:47 GMT -5
Takeru snickered at Josh's remark to Carson and his goonies. Who would have thought? A while back he wouldn't have thought that he would been reacting like that with a fire. Josh's words were true. The only reason he put up with Carson in the first place was because he was a dog that didn't learn new tricks. It was always the same gimmicks with him so after a while Takeru had just grown immune to them but it also made Carson more of an annoyance. It was reasons like this that he normally kept his distance from fires and thunders alike. Sometimes the occasional wind as well. Takeru was too much of a positive guy to want to be around people like them. That was why he was pleased when Carson and his putties left. With them gone it had felt like the black cloud had dispersed as well.
Now here he was with Josh, a fire but difference being that this was a fire that he could actually enjoy being around. This wasn't just any fire though. This was a fire that had chosen his love for an earth over his alliance. Takeru could only imagine what kind of choice that must have been. He assumed that Josh was still loyal to his element but just chose to side with the water and earth alliance. Takeru was not one to have been able to have done that. Then again he had never really met a fire or thunder he'd like, let alone could fall in love with. It was one of those situations that you have to go through to really understand it. That was happening though for Takeru in the near future. He chuckled when Josh called them idiots. "I know I can be an idiot too sometimes, but at least I'm a loveable idiot." he said making fun of himself. That was why it was so easy to deflect the insults of others. Since he was willing to make fun of himself he didn't get bothered by the remarks of fires and thunders.
On a brighter not he was happy to hear that Nell was doing well. Nell was a friend of his as well, fellow earth and in the same year. They had hit it off rather quickly since they had a lot in common. They were kind of dorks but they loved it. "Actually I haven't lately. I got very caught up with school and exams. Apparently even the dance exams were brutal." he said with a bit of an amused voice. Some people may think that those majoring in dance had it easy but would they be wrong. Takeru just smiled at Josh's sly comment. He understood quickly what he meant. Of course anyone that could be overhearing would probably not get it unless they too were an elemental. "Well, lucky you while the rest of us are freezing." he said with a bit of an amused tone. "Well sort of. I've had to work and with Christmas coming up the place has been a bit busier. Plus I've helping down at the rec center a bit more since I now have more time on my hands but it's been fun so far. Gotta make the most of it. Would you like to sit for a bit or did you have some place to go?" Takeru asked, pointing to an open booth nearby.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 22, 2012 19:08:15 GMT -5
Joshua gave a scoffing sound of amusement in his throat when Takeru called himself a loveable idiot. The Fire had never been one to insult himself for the amusement of others but that didn't make it any less hilarious when his friends did it. "Loveable? You sure about that?" He was only teasing, really, even if he sounded serious. He hoped Takeru didn't get offended by the words because they had not been meant to cause offence, but then again the Earth graduate had never struck him as the easily insulted type. Joshua could respect that. Thick skin was a good quality in his opinion. "The fuck'd they want, anyway?" He was often baffled by the fact that Fires and Thunders would start fights simply for the sake of starting them. Then again, he'd only caught the tail end of the conversation. He didn't know if there had been more of a reason for the fight. In thinking on it, Joshua was almost willing to bet that there hadn't been. What reason did they ever need other than to cause problems for other people? Sometimes he understood the need to start a fight if someone angered him but to fight for the sake of fighting seemed tiring, pointless, and unfair to someone like Takeru who really didn't deserve it anyway.
Oh, dear, exams. Joshua's expression immediately shifted to a grimace of understanding. They had been brutal indeed, especially since he was juggling so many courses because of his double major. He'd had to switch his thought train from Biology to History to Biology again, to some other mandatory class he was taking, back to Biology. He had handled it well enough and passed all of exams with flying colours but it had still been a pretty stressful time for him. "Totally understandable, man. Did you do alright?" He hated to be that guy, the one who spent the post-exam days talking about the exams all the more, but he could not help his curiosity. Because this was a conversation and not an interrogation, he offered, "I did really well. Better than I thought I would. Now if only I can pass this years with as much success... medical school, here I come." Well he'd get into medical school for sure, he thought (not short on confidence, this one) but getting into the one he wanted? That was a bit more of a gray area. It would not just be four years away from his family but eight. He couldn't deal with that. "Thought I'd fuck up on the physical testing of my powers, though. Couldn't sleep well the night before and I was worried I'd pass out or something. It went alright, though, I just had to eat a whole lot and sleep the rest of the day when I got home." He'd literally crashed the moment his head hit the pillow.
The Fire graduate smirked, quite proud of his powers and the fact that he was, as Nell said, practically a human space heater. She was still a greenhouse. He was adamant about that. "Tell me about it. The hospital's same as ever. People don't stop dying just because it's Christmas." Well, that was grim, wasn't it? Joshua didn't think much of it as the words left his lips. Working in the place for so long had desensitized him to a lot of things. It was not that he didn't care, just that he could talk about it without feeling disturbed now. He might not have been the easiest to befriend but Josh had a conscience. He didn't like death. "What do you do at the Rec. Centre?" He knew that Takeru worked at the music store in terms of an actual job but he wondered what he got up to at the sports centre. Perhaps teaching dance classes or something? Josh wasn't certain. He shook his head. "Nah, I haven't got anything better to do. I can hang out for a while." He sat down even though he only had a drink to finish. He'd stick around for the company. It wasn't like they could kick him out, he had bought something and all.
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Post by TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA on May 29, 2012 18:28:45 GMT -5
Takeru just smile at Josh's teasing tone. It still kind of surprised him sometimes when he was around Josh and moments like this when they were talking like best buddies, or maybe not best buddies but at least like they've been friends for a long while with Josh being a fire and all. Normally Takeru was one to avoid the fires when possible and when he did talk to one, they weren't exactly talking about the latest movie that had come out. So when he found himself in moments like this where he could say something that basically insulted himself and a fire was speaking in a teasing way then it was pretty cool. He just shrugged at Josh's question. "I really don't ever know. You know Carson's type. They really don't ever have a reason." if he had been talking to someone else then he would have probably said "fires don't ever have a reason" but since it was Josh that would have been kind of rude and awkward.
When the topic changed to exams Takeru began to think back on his classes. "I think so. Had to come up with two minutes of choreography for one of my dance classes. I know I passed all my exams. Some probably better than others but definitely passed them all." he said thinking back. Takeru had always been a hard working student. That's not to say he's an straight "A" student but he wasn't a slacker or anything. There was just some areas he was stronger in that others. One of his worst grades would have been a "C" but that was one of his low points. Aside from that normally it was 'A' or 'B' work which he was happy with. "How about you?" he asked curiously. He sat down along with Josh as the fire began to explain his own exams. "That must be exciting. One more year and then off to medical school. I mean yeah it's more schooling but it's that much closer for you to achieving your goal. That's really exciting." he said in his usual bright voice. He ate a bit as Josh talked and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Oh I know. I was nervous too but I think all right with the physical testing. Gotta really work on my stamina though but I got that covered with my dancing I guess."
Takeru just nodded as he dipped some french fries into his ketchup. Sadly Josh was right. Even Christmas couldn't stop people from leaving this world. He perked up when Josh asked about the Rec Center. "I teach a kids tap class and help out with the more advance hip-hop classes. It's great, especially when you see more and more kids joining and staying off the streets. And a lot of the kids are really talented so it's really good to see them putting their skills to good use."
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 29, 2012 21:05:52 GMT -5
Thankfully for Takeru, Joshua did not suspect a thing about the Earth graduate's choice in wording. "Ugh, true. I hate that kid." If Takeru had said 'Fires' instead of Carson then he definitely would have had a little more to say about it. He was still a little sensitive to the negative stereotyping of his element because he was sick of people seeing him as just another Fire who'd cook you as soon as look at you. He wasn't like that and he knew that there were decent Fires even on the side of the opposite alliance. Not all of them had to be traitors to be decent people. He had his parents to think about as well. They'd never turned tail on their element. His sister probably wouldn't either. Traitors were rare, decent people not so much. "Is it hard?" he asked. "Choreographing, I mean." Joshua was not in a field where he was required to come up with complicated routines and the like so he did not know how difficult or, in reverse, how easy it might be. Perhaps it was like song writing, or story writing, where only some people were capable of doing it well. If you had it in you, you had it in you. Joshua could play the music written by other people on the piano but he couldn't even think about composing something of his own. Guitar was a little more reliable but still slow-going.
It seemed his friend in Earth was of a similar opinion when it came to the prospect of medical school. He was so excited for it he didn't quite know how to put that excitement into words. Well, he could try, but it would end up a mess of chipper rambling. He always tried to save face in front of his friends and keep cool. Usually it worked. "Yeah. It's a lot more hands on than college, really. Even a lot of the pre-med courses don't focus solely on medicine." Some people took biology courses for reasons other than wanting to become doctors and so they didn't treat their entire class like prospective medical school students. He was excited to do rotations and lab work and real experience. He was also going to get research experience because Joshua was training to become a physician-scientist, dual doctor and researcher. His ambitions were high and his motivation was, too. "Ah, stamina can be a bitch," he sympathized. "I always found that practising before bed is ideal because then you can practice until you pass out and it won't matter." It had also helped him a lot with his sleep schedule in high school. If he knocked himself out he ended up sleeping through the night most times. Convenient.
His lips twitched into a brief smile when he listened to Takeru talking about his work. There were some times when you could really tell that a person was involved with their work and this was one of those times. He considered it a good thing. The Earth seemed like one of those types that would do really well in working with people. Nell was, too. Did it run in the elemental family? Then again, Josh was pretty good at dealing with people too. A bit unapproachable in a social setting but when it came to his job he was efficient and dedicated. "Hip hop, huh? Sounds pretty cool." It wasn't his thing but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting. "I mostly go there for tennis and the gym." If Takeru did not know that Joshua played tennis, which he probably didn't since Josh didn't talk about it a whole lot, well, now he knew. He was slowly getting more comfortable talking about himself around people. "So, got any plans after Burger King? I'm mostly just set for hanging around the Hollow."
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Post by TAKERU KENTO MATSUZAKA on Jun 15, 2012 23:41:41 GMT -5
Takeru may be one that could be really obtuse a lot of the time but he did know when to choose his words carefully. This was one of those times. If he made that slip he would have totally made things awkward for him and Josh. Of course he wouldn't have probably treaded so carefully if he had been with a fellow earth or water. Then again thanks to the likes of Josh Takeru and a few others have come to realize that not all fires were that bad. It was just the way people though by default because of their elements. So he just nodded in agreement with his comment. His mood changed when Josh asked about choreography. "Well, it's definitely easier to just follow someone else than come up with your own but then you're not limited to only their ideas and style." he said shrugging his shoulders. It was far easier just taking down the steps that someone has already made for you than putting together your own but Takeru loved it. Being able to create your own choreography you got to show people your own style based on it.
Takeru was one that always found interests in things with others, even if they weren't things that he normally wouldn't talk about. It was probably because he enjoyed to hear other people talk about the things they love or are passionate about. So he listened enthusiastically as Josh talked. He was like a kid, always wanting hear about and learn about different things, even if they didn't really interest him at first. "That's how I feel with my classes. Really don't like my lecture classes since it can be hard for me to sit around so long without moving. Much happier when I'm in my actual dance classes." Takeru wasn't one that enjoyed having to sit around in a chair for over an hour listening to a lecture. Of course it was different if he was sitting down with a friend but if it was a teacher that had the most monotone voice he had ever know then it was a whole nother story. "That sounds quite convenient. I may just have to try that out. Then again being an earth it may be bit harder indoors. I remember the first time I did an earthquake. I think my brother said I was out for a good forty minutes before coming to again." That hadn't exactly been his brightest moment but he had gotten better about it since.
Takeru always wore a bright smile when he thought about his job at the center. Seeing how those kids loved to dance was worth every second that he spent with them. "It's a blast. And the kids love and that's what's most important." he said proudly. He always took great pride in his work. "Tennis seems fun. Never thought about trying it myself. More of a soccer guy myself." Soccer was the only real sport he played. Of course his dancing kept him in shape but since he moved around so much with his legs as it was he surprisingly found it really easy to move around with a soccer ball. He finished off his burger and wiped off his hands. He swallowed and took a drink from his soda when Josh asked about what he was doing next. "Actually I'm on my lunch break." he said looking at the time on his watch. "Technically I still have about thirty five minutes left but the daughter of one my coworkers is sick. And as much as she rather me not, I want to get back so that she can leave early." he said getting up to throw his trash. "I hate to eat and run but I should get going. It was great seeing you. Say hi to Nell for me." Takeru said with a bright smile and silent wave before heading out with his drink and back to the music store.
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