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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on May 15, 2012 16:59:20 GMT -5
Skye was thanking all the sentient beings she could think of that, finally, exams were over and done with. She hadn't done too badly, at least she didn't think so, except for perhaps on one of the essay questions, but if nothing else it was all over and finished and she wouldn't have to do it again for another six months. In fact, there was just one more year, two semesters of exams, and then she'd be... done. That was definitely a weird feeling. There was always, still, potential for grad school and more to do in her life yet, but Skye didn't have any current plans, and so for the most part she was kind of just looking forward to the end of her final year. It was weird to think that there was now literally just one left, with her Junior year done with and nothing to do now but wait for marks and what-not. It was break now, though, and over break she tried to think about it all as little as possible. Breaks were definitely time for relaxing, especially in December when the entire year was winding down to a close, and she went back home for Christmas and all the family things that came with it. Christmas dinner was apparently at their house this year, her parents had told her. The idea was a little bit frightening considering their house really wasn't that big.
She hadn't yet left Maple Hollow, though, and was still hanging around for a few days before she was heading back to Ottawa. After a few months it'd definitely be nice to be back home, but for now she was dealing with a few things in the Hollow. Well... that made it sound kind of awful, but in reality there wasn't anything bad, just the usual running around scrambling to see friends before she left. Christmas was definitely a time for family, but it was for friends too, and a good deal of her friends would obviously be sticking around in the Hollow, unlike herself. Now it was Josh -- she was pretty glad it was break, actually, because it was easier to see him over breaks. They generally didn't have to deal with other students at the Academy, and there was no class or anything to deal with. That said, Joshua still had work, and Skye had a pretty narrow time frame before she was departing for Ottawa again, but without homework and the like it was definitely easier. She still kind of felt like Josh overworked himself sometimes, though, but that definitely wasn't her place, especially not if he was happy doing it. "Hey!" she greeted once he opened his front door, before she quickly stepped inside and out of the cold. She could handle it alright, but she'd definitely choose the warmth inside.
She slipped out of her boots quickly (as quickly as anyone could slip out of winter boots, anyway) and held up towards him a gift bag. "Merry Christmas!" The bag was heavier than it probably looked, actually (not that it was too heavy or anything), mostly because inside was a pretty thick book -- The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity by Roy Porter, in all its nearly nine hundred pages of glory. It had struck her as something, while she'd been wandering the bookstore, as something that Josh would seriously enjoy, though Skye herself hadn't been able to make it through much of the book at all. She guessed that it would make more sense to someone like Joshua though.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 15, 2012 22:22:55 GMT -5
Though he didn't like the cold and he didn't like the snow, Joshua loved the holidays. It was an excuse to give gifts to all of his friends, which he was quite fond of doing. He had money, he had friends, and he liked to show his appreciation for the people that stuck by him. He was a thoughtful gift-giver and thankfully very observant with a good memory to boot. He'd crossed most everyone off his list near the start of the month, having saved up ideas beforehand. Most of the gifts were waiting for the holidays themselves and some were just waiting until he saw the person in question next. "Are you gonna throw a party this year, Josh?" The Fire graduate blinked in surprise at his sister's question, having totally forgotten that their parents wouldn't be around this year in order to throw the usual lavish Christmas celebration. "Uh, maybe, actually," he mused. "I'll have to ask Nell." He would, too, because he asked his fiancée about a lot of things when it came to doing stuff around the house. The way he saw it, his name was on the lease, but she was living here too. It was their house now, no longer his alone, and so while he had the legal authority to make the final decisions he was firm in his belief that Nell should have a say in it. Living with his fiancée was very easy, though, they clicked well together, and so it wasn't like he was worried. "I like parties," Belle mused, grinning. "Know what else I like?" He raised an eyebrow inquiringly. "Presents." The older Fire snorted and ruffled her hair. "Oh, I didn't forget presents, don't worry." Made sense that she'd be worried about that.
Answering the door when it went, Joshua found himself face to face with a familiar figure. He grinned at Skye and immediately stepped aside so that she could come in out of the cold. Hey, it was almost Christmas and she was one of his best friends. Similar to how she'd been ecstatic about his engagement to Nell last year (wow, had it really been that long?) he was happy to see her during the holiday. He wasn't even drunk, what about that! "Skye, hey! I didn't except you! What are you doing here?" It was said in the jovial tone of someone who was curious as to why a friend was so far from home rather than the demanding one of a person who simply did not want company. Joshua was the complete opposite of a grinch on Christmas. It wasn't the holiday yet but it was the season and that was good enough. He was also suffering from post-exam glee, glad to finally have the stressful part of the year over and done with. Next year he'd be looking at medical schools and applying and that would be something to handle. Oh boy. "Not that I mind, no, of course not! You're always welcome here and all." He was grinning, ridiculously happy, there was something about Christmas that worked like crack on his mood. Not a care in the world, a few months of bliss. He had work but he enjoyed work, so it wasn't too bad.
His eyes lit up when she handed him the gift and his grin broadened when he saw what it was. "Holy shit, Skye, this is awesome!" He hugged her to show his thanks, something that couldn't be accurately described in words, or at least not words that weren't punctuated with noises of excitement. Holy shit, the size of the thing! He'd be reading for ages and that was amazing in his book. "I got you something too, of course," he said cheerfully, for what was Christmas without a good ol' gift exchange? He went upstairs and got the bag from amongst the large group of gifts he had get to give, handing it off to Skye with a hum of, "And Merry Christmas to you, too." They'd been hanging out in the fancier district of Maple Hollow during some day or another when he'd been shopping for clothes and Skye had said something about a bag. While some friends would just nod absently and forget the very next day (if not hour) Josh had decided quite simply that this would be Skye's Christmas gift. It was expensive, after all (most things designer were) and he had the cash to deliver.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on May 20, 2012 12:34:13 GMT -5
It was always weird, somehow, to see Joshua looking so... so obviously happy. It wasn't that he was always angry or something (damn, that would be tiring and she'd probably just get irritated and leave him to his own life) but he wasn't generally an expressive person. She was sure that he was content on a day-to-day basis, at least when that Fire temper of his didn't get the better of him, but it was a totally different thing to see him suddenly grinning and happy. As it turned out, this was also kind of infectious, because she just grinned back as she stepped inside. It was, obviously, much warmer in here. That was always good. "Just thought I should drop by, I'm going back home in a few days," she explained -- it really was as simple as that, and the Christmas present would speak for itself. This was kind of standard procedure for Skye once December rolled around anyway, to start meeting up with friends in the Hollow before she left to go home for most of the month. The same could be said for summer. "Sorry though, guess I should have called first or something. You're not busy, are you?" That had probably been a bad call on her part, but she supposed that, not having called ahead, she was just lucky that Josh was even home right now and not at work or something. She'd have liked to say that she'd planned the timing, but really she'd probably just gotten lucky. It was, though, always nice to hear that she was welcome, even when she just happened to show up and basically barge into his house.
She wasn't bothered when he opened the gift immediately -- well, she was kind of happy, in fact, that he seemed to like it so much. That was good. Her gut feeling hadn't failed her this time; the book might as well have had Joshua's name written on the front cover, honestly, for how much it'd seemed to be fitting for him. Skye smiled and returned the hug easily. "I didn't know what was going on in it by the time I'd skimmed the first three pages, so I knew you'd like it," she teased, though obviously intellect wasn't something to make fun of at all. She kind of envied that in Josh sometimes, actually, but only in passing, when she got the occasional poor mark or something. For the most part they dealt with different things in their respective fields of study, though, she was pretty sure. She perked up a little to hear that he'd gotten her something too (though it wasn't actually surprising, considering how much Josh really did like to buy things for people), and settled for standing there to wait as he went upstairs. Skye wouldn't trust herself to wander around to find the living room or something. She'd probably just wind up lost in his mansion -- she'd been here a few times before, but not often enough, nowt hat she thought about it. However, she chased these thoughts from her mind when she saw him returning with a bag, and she grinned broadly. On closer inspection, it was definitely a pretty familiar bag, though only in the sense that she might have seen and admired it from afar; she was pretty sure she'd spotted it first when they'd been out shopping in the fancier part of town.
"I... thanks!" she said, not sure what else she could really say. The purse was kind of gorgeous, and more than that, it was... honestly just kind of incredible that he'd remembered this kind of thing. She was pretty sure she'd only mentioned it the one time as they'd been passing by a store or something. "Seriously Josh, this is awesome, thank you." It must have cost a small fortune too, at least by Skye's standards, but then again Joshua had plenty more money than she did. She hoped that her appreciation extended through in her smile and her few words, at least -- she was usually pretty good with words, even, but sometimes they failed her. "I love Christmas," she said, a little out of nowhere, sighing contentedly. It was such a beautiful time of year, and that didn't have anything at all to do with presents or anything of the sort.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 21, 2012 19:15:28 GMT -5
Having not forgotten the fact that Skye was not native to Maple Hollow, he twitched his lips into a smile of understanding. Most went home for the holidays and so it made sense that she, like so many others, would do the same. "Sounds fun. Do your family have anything planned?" His own were having their usual Christmas party and he was considering attendance if he didn't hold one of his own with Nell. It was strange to realise that he really did have a family of his own now, albeit one that consisted of a little sister and a fiancée. He liked it. He still hung around his parents sometimes on the weekend but it offered a sense of independence. Leaving the nest at last, despite the fact that he'd "left" over a year ago. It was just that he was getting used to the idea. "Was thinking about some sort of party myself but I don't know if Nell's on board or if something else will come up. Hell, I just like parties." And he grinned again, more than usual, his gray eyes sparkling. He really did have the whole Christmas spirit going on. Perhaps it was partially due to the fact that there had been so much drama during this time last year that this Christmas felt like... freedom. He felt light and happy and the stress of exams was off his chest and now all he had to worry about was making sure that all of his friends recieved their gifts before it was too late and they lost their meaning.
He shook his head and waved a hand when she apologised, clearly not bothered in the least. He hadn't been doing anything that he was upset to have interrupted. "Hell, not at all. It's my day off so I've just been hanging out with Annabel." Because all cool guys hang out with their kid sisters when they're bored. She was actually pretty cool to talk to when she avoided the things they didn't have in common (like video games, her friends, his friends) and just... talked. It was nice. He liked that they'd built back up the trust he'd shattered. "Really, you came at the perfect time." He wasn't exaggerating because Joshua was glad of the company at this point in time. He was in a good mood and he wanted to share that mood with friends rather than just sitting around and letting it go to waste. Josh was perfectly comfortable in solitude but that didn't mean his friends were ever unwelcome in his presence. "Why were you in town; just hanging out, or?" Some people chose to stay around for a week or two and hang out with friends before they flew or drove back to wherever they came from. The Hollow kids like Josh really had it good. It took roughly ten minutes to get from the Academy to Maple Hollow. Not long at all compared to several-hour flights and lengthy road-trips.
He laughed at her teasing, understanding that she didn't mean anything negative by it. He was flattered, really, because he knew that he probably would be able to understand all the medical jargon and that. "Always a good judge of a book, eh?" He appreciated it, really, and he was incredibly genuine when expressing this. He glowed with a sort of pride and satisfaction when she expressed a love for her own gift as well, relieved that she'd recieved it well. He always got the pre-reaction jitters like anyone would. He was a confident person but not psychic, he couldn't be certain that a person was going to love what he'd got them until he saw the look on their face, heard the glee in their voice. "I remembered you'd said something about it so I figured hey, why not?" It would suit her well and she'd make more use of it than some of the women who had about six billion bags and only used one or two of them on a daily basis. That and shoes. He'd claim to not understand, but Josh and his sunglasses were in the same boat. Over a hundred pairs. "Any time, really." He was glad that she liked it and it was obvious. A chuckle brushed past his lips at her comment. "That makes two of us. You want something to drink, or?" Always a good host, Josh was (or tried to be).
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on May 23, 2012 20:28:44 GMT -5
Skye guessed that it was a pretty lucky thing for Josh to be able to live in the Hollow as he was attending the Academy. It meant that he never had to make long trips to visit home, at least, whether it was via plane or car -- in Skye's case, it changed each time, but she figured that this would probably change with a car. Unfortunately, this probably wasn't likely to happen any time soon, but maybe with a job it would be closer than before. There was still plenty else to pay for, though. "Just regular old stuff, Christmas dinner and family things," she said, kind of cringing a little. She liked Christmas, but the idea of having every single one of her relatives there in their house, which wasn't all that big, was a little bit frightening. A party sounded nice, though, and after all Josh definitely wouldn't have the same kind of problem even if he invited the entirety of Maple Hollow to his place, probably. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but Skye never failed to be kind of amazed at the sheer size of his mansion. "Why do I get the feeling you like this time of year just to have an excuse to throw a party?" she asked, grinning a little bit in return. Seriously, Josh needed to stop doing that, because it was infectious or something. She wasn't seriously complaining, though.
She was, at least, glad to hear that she wasn't actually interrupting anything, because that would... kind of be incredibly rude. It wouldn't have been too much trouble to call or text ahead or something, but the walk and bus ride weren't actually that bad, and she wouldn't have minded in that case heading back into town if he had been busy. Well, it was a little cold, but as a Thunder, this was nothing she couldn't generally handle. Still, hanging around here for a little while was definitely better than bumming around on her own. Something about breaks made her feel weirdly content and at ease with just hanging out with... well, friends like Josh, for instance -- people she didn't really get to see often during school. "Must have read your mind and planned the timing or something," she said, smirking a little. Obviously she'd just gotten lucky, but she'd be pretty impressed if her subconscious would have been able to do that. She'd hope that after so many years she'd know Joshua pretty well, but definitely not that well. "Yeah, kind of. Well, I planned to stop by and bring by your gift, actually, but other than that just hanging out. Christmas shopping for some people, still." Her parents were the sort of tricky ones because, spending months away, she didn't know what they had gotten or might need or want at this point. Some people, like Joshua, were easier to buy for.
Something about the holiday season was seriously amazing. She got the same kind of feeling during summer break too, actually, so it had to be something about the freedom that came with everything, but maybe it was even better in December. There was Christmas and all of that back at home, and seriously, Ottawa might pale in comparison to other cities, in many ways, but it could be pretty stunning in the winter. "Well, books are always hit or miss," she said, thinking this over --books definitely weren't always a good call as a gift because it was hard to tell if the recipient would like them. "Hopefully this one's a hit!" She really did hope he'd like it once he actually read it, initial reactions aside -- she knew that she would, for sure, love the bag. "You always were good at remembering that stuff." She slid it onto her shoulder, testing out how it felt, grinning all the while. There was definitely something about Christmas, quite apart from presents and snow. "I'd love something to drink! Have anything warm?" she asked, running a hand through her hair -- the remaining snowflakes seemed to have melted, but it left it kind of wet. Urgh. Ah, well, at least she was inside now.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 25, 2012 18:48:31 GMT -5
The grin turned to a smirk in response to her question. He didn't mind so much when his friends teased him jokingly like she was now. And hell, Skye was kind of right. Josh really did like parties if only for the fact it meant he could drink and have fun with his friends. He was a little more wary of open-house parties where just about anyone could walk through the door. The Fire graduate didn't like large crowds, even if they were crowds that he knew. He'd usually be the guy at the party who would go over and sit with a couple other dudes to play poker rather than standing and chatting in the thick of things. "You know me well, Skye." Alright, so maybe she didn't know any of his secrets or the things he'd gone through but they'd been friends for many years. They were seniors in college, almost ready to start their post-college lives. (Well, alright, for Josh post-college was just more school, but go figure). "Hey, people can't complain. This place is great for parties." He gestured around the foyer with a smile. He wasn't modest about his house because he was proud of it, even if it hadn't always been his. There were changes since his parents had moved out, though it wasn't as evident in the foyer or kitchen which looked much the same. The living room had changed, the entertainment room had gotten a make-over and he'd added the addition of a bar, the sunroom had been revamped and the attic underwent repairs.
He touched a hand briefly to the side of his hand as if he were in great discomfort, glaring distrustfully at his friend. "Thought I told you not to do that after the last time." He held the glare for several seconds before he broke façade, smiling again. His face was going to start aching from all of the smiling he'd done in the past five minutes if he wasn't careful. He wondered what Skye was thinking of it all. Holidays made him friendly. Well, no. More approachable. He was always friendly to the people he loved but he found it hard to express this. For some reason it was easier during this time of year. There wasn't so much doubt. "Really, though, I don't mind. I'm glad you dropped by. I've been waiting for a good time to give you your gift." He liked giving people things in person but if he hadn't run into her he'd have just called and asked for her address so that he could ship it to Ottawa. First-class, priority mail. Joshua would not allow anything less for one of his best friends and if the package had been lost he'd have flipped his shit. Thankfully all of that had been avoided by this simple visit. Happy day! "Yeah I haven't got all my list done, either. It's tough work!" He wanted to find something that was right for everyone.
He pondered her words for a moment before nodding his agreement. I guess she's right. There was always the chance that the writing style was bad or the information was inaccurate or it was too long-winded and boring. This was history and medicine combined, though. How could he dislike that? He didn't think it was possible. It meant a lot to him that she'd put such thought into the gift. Joshua smiled when she remarked on his good memory, glad that she'd noticed. He liked the fact that he could retain the little things as well as the important ones. Josh had a brilliant memory, one of his greatest strengths. "Hm. Artificial warmth or actual warmth?" He laughed before explaining, "We have a fully stocked liquor cabinet but maybe that's not the best idea if you need to leave later on. Uh... cider, hot chocolate, coffee, tea?" He tapped the fingers of his right hand with those of his left as he listed off these things. "Any of those sound good?" And they gave you real warmth as opposed to the artificial warmth of all your blood vessels rushing to the surface of the skin.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on May 27, 2012 19:09:30 GMT -5
She'd hope that after seven solid years now of knowing one another, she did know Josh. It would be a little too weird if it turned out that this was all a lie or something -- it would have been the most well-played lie she'd ever seen or heard of, anyway. She definitely didn't expect him to spill all of his secrets or anything like that, but that was probably the good thing about their friendship. They weren't the pushy types of friends. That was all a bit too deep (if it could be called that) for the topic at hand, though. "It'd be hard not to realize that, at this point," she just said instead, shaking her head. Josh was definitely right on his next point, though. She couldn't really think of a better place for a party. "Well, I definitely wouldn't." She wouldn't complain, that was. It was definitely pretty weird to have a friend who now not only had rich parents, but personally owned a mansion himself. She guessed it was nice not to have to worry about that kind of thing, though. It was kind of enviable, but there was nothing that Skye could do about that. She was pretty content with her own life and family, and that was enough for her.
The ridiculous part of Skye's mind wondered for a second what she would actually do with the power if she could read minds. Well, she probably wouldn't use it on Josh... probably. They did kind of have cell phones so that she could just ask about that stuff. Plus, she'd probably just be seriously paranoid that other people could do the same to her, and Skye's mind was really not a place for other people to look, regardless of who they were. "Sorry -- can't always control it. You know how it is," she said, figuring there was no harm done considering this was all really just... a joke. It was nice not having to be serious. She did nod at what he said, though. It would have probably been kind of shitty to just wander up to someone's house and demand entrance or something, but he hadn't seemed all that angry about it so she would assume that there was no problem. "Good, I'm glad." She nodded her reinforcement of this. If she hadn't been able to get it to him... Well, she'd have been back a few days after Christmas, but it was probably better earlier than later, she always figured. Christmas really was pretty much the end of the month, though. "I guess it's lucky we kind of have time without school... Would have been a nightmare trying to find gift exchange time while exams or classes were on still or something." One month wasn't very long of a break at all, but she would just have to deal. "Tougher for people you haven't seen in a while, too... Like my parents, I mean," she clarified. Well, they'd been to the Hollow to visit for a weekend just a few weeks ago, actually, but that was a little bit different than actually being at home.
Artificial warmth she took to mean alcohol, and so she wasn't too surprised with his explanation -- she just grinned a little bit. She could probably handle alcohol okay, not having to drive later or anything (something that would require actually possessing a car to drive in the first place)... but then again, it was definitely cold out, and the last thing she needed was to get hypothermia. Alcohol had a way of fucking up people's internal body temperature. "Ugh... Actual warmth is probably better," she decided, nodding. "Hm... hot chocolate? If it's not trouble." He'd offered, but even so. She tried not to be a burden on friends when she was visiting, and it wasn't like she was going to die without something to drink anyway.
(urgh sorry this is kind of bad, i can't find skye for some reason...)
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 28, 2012 22:59:01 GMT -5
He made a brief face at the thought of trying to track everyone down during the school year. He was a busy person and even busier when he had classes and exams to worry about so it would have been a nightmare just trying to find the time to go running around the city after his friends. Especially friends like Skye whom he could not simply hand things off to at school. He had a few people that he knew from outside the Academy that were on his Christmas list and so it was good he had the break indeed. "Ugh, exams," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure as hell glad they're over and done with." He loved learning and he put up with school a lot easier than some but that didn't mean he welcomed the anxiety-inducing last week of school. He wasn't the type of student that would settle for a 'pass'. He had to go above and beyond, get great scores instead of just good ones. That meant a hell of a lot of studying on his part. It wasn't uncommon to see the Fire graduate completely vanish from friendships during the last few weeks of school, only to be found in the library when he didn't have other commitments. Most of his friends had learned in their years of knowing him that they shouldn't be offended by his abrupt absence from their lives—he always came back after the stress was over. Break was a great time to get together with all the friends he'd stopped talking to during exams. "Speaking of, did you do okay on yours?" Ah, Josh and his curiosity.
He nodded his agreement. "Yeah, and then you don't want to just ask them what they'd want because it seems like a cop-out." Joshua always tried to come up with a gift idea on his own before he'd give up and talk to the person about their interests. Gifts on Christmas were supposed to be a surprise. If you knew what you were getting it wouldn't be nearly as fun! That was how he looked at it, anyway. "How are your family, by the way?" Since they lived all the way in Ottawa, Joshua had never gotten a chance to meet the parents of his close friend, but he figured it was only polite to inquire. Skye being a friend of his, he could claim to generally care about her well-being and that of her loved ones. People tended to be unhappy if those they were close to also suffered and so it wasn't too odd a question. His lips twitched in amusement and he nodded. "Sure thing." He gestured toward the kitchen and then led the way into it, the blinding white walls and floors matching the snow outside. The counter and kitchen island were white, too, though they were topped with marble. The stainless steel double door fridge stood out a little. He went into the cupboard to get mugs and the mix for the hot chocolate, putting some water in the kettle to boil. While they waited, Joshua sat down at the island and leaned against it. "So, any luck on the job front?" He resisted the urge to drum his fingers on the counter, knowing how annoying that could be.
[Sorry it's a bit shorter xD]
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on May 30, 2012 18:09:19 GMT -5
Skye was no particular fan of school, aside from the things that she actually enjoyed learning about -- which did exist, at least, so she wasn't completely hopeless in an academic environment, but aside from that she couldn't claim brilliance or anything. Still, she was pretty sure she'd be much more okay with school if it weren't for tests. Well, then again, she would have liked to procrastinate all over the place anyway, but exams were a little bit different. She couldn't exactly afford to fuck up on an exam. "Honestly, you have no idea," she told him, shaking her head a little. Skye wasn't a huge fan of tests in general, but obviously things this culminating were more serious. "I think I did alright, yeah," she confirmed with a nod. By the end of her Junior year, it was nice to have classes that weren't, for the most part, mandatory -- things like Math and any of the Sciences had been her most hated subjects back in high school. Luckily, studying Political Science didn't require much to do with those, despite the label of "science" on it. "How did you do?" She was sure Joshua had probably done just fine, wouldn't be stopped from getting to his most pressing goal of medical school at all. Even without the exams, she was sure he would do fine overall in the year anyway, actually. Still, she always thought it best to ask rather than make assumptions about how other people had done in... anything, actually.
Save for the presents for a few people, who were easy, Skye actually kind of hated Christmas shopping. She kind of loved the holiday and the actual giving gifts itself, but when it came to shopping, she was kind of hopeless. Luckily, when it was for someone she knew well, she was pretty good at taking stabs at it. She was pretty sure she was, anyway, but then again people probably wouldn't have been that likely to tell her when they hated a present or something. (Well, maybe. It probably depended on who it was.) When it came to people she knew less well but still had to or wanted to get a gift for, it was... worse. "Pretty much. At least a few people are easy to shop for," she said, her pointed tone making it clear that Josh was one of said people. At least, it was clear to Skye, but that wasn't saying much considering it was... herself. "They're doing well, I think -- same as always." It occurred to her again that Josh had never actually met her parents. "Oh! They were in the Hollow a few weeks ago. Not for too long though, or you could have met them." Then again, for all she knew, they could have run into each other in the street or something and not even have noticed a thing.
Skye followed Josh into the kitchen, leaning against the counter comfortably and then taking a seat across from him at the kitchen island once he finished getting everything. She brightened up a little bit (not that she hadn't been happy before, but anyway) when he brought up jobs. Usually, work wasn't exactly reason to be overjoyed or anything, but this was slightly different. "Actually, yes!" She beamed at him. "Well... I called your mom, and uh, we talked for a bit and then I went up and met her in her constituency office. Turns out she'll be needing a new receptionist come the new year. Something about the last one moving away...?" She hadn't yet been briefed on many of the details, something that she expected would happen when she actually started -- but she did know that, for a twenty-year-old not even out of college, it was a pretty decent deal with opportunities yet down the road: an assistant or something, and then... onward. She didn't know where yet, but it was nice, the way things seemed to have just... worked themselves out, kind. "So I also just... wanted to say thank you." She meant it.
(sure! sorry it's so... not as short but feel free not to match it. XD there's just a lot of skye word vomit, i think.)
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on May 31, 2012 4:01:56 GMT -5
One could make a pretty fair assumption in asking Joshua how he did on exams that they were going to get a similar response each time. The boy's work ethic really was nothing short of phenomenal and it really showed when it came time to showcase all that he'd learned over the months in one huge test. He had good study habits and good memorization skills. Really, it was like the Fire graduate was built for learning. He knew it, too, and while he tried to avoid bragging too much he certainly wasn't going to be modest about his accomplishments. Why should he? It was something to be proud of. "Aced them all," he said confidently, grinning. "I was a bit worried about the elemental exams since I was so focused on my majors but I did good on those too. Thankfully there weren't too many since I didn't take Elemental Studies as a major or minor." Quite a lot of students chose to minor in Elemental Studies if they were interested in picking up some extra tips and knowledge about their element but he did not care enough about his powers to do that. He loved his elemental abilities, wouldn't trade them for the world, but he was not interested in pursuing a career in them and so he didn't care for studying them that much in school. Only as much as was necessary to pass. Joshua was absolutely fine with his element taking a few extra years to master since he hadn't studied it in college. He was willing to wait another nine years to become a doctor and he'd have mastered his element far before then. It was nothing.
He laughed at Skye's direct tone, amused that she found him easy to shop for. That was a good thing, he supposed, it meant that in her many years of knowing him she'd realised what sorts of things he was most prone to enjoy. A lot of people found him difficult to shop for given the fact that he was rich and could really buy himself a lot of things but as Skye had learned, books were a safe bet the majority of the time. He'd be completely happy to be locked up in a library. All books, all the time. Until he got hungry or something. That would be a problem. "Ah, that sucks," he said, a bit disappointed that he hadn't gotten the chance to meet Skye's parents. They sounded like decent people. He was a bit biased and all but your friends parents were usually pretty chill so long as they didn't have an issue with their kid hanging around you. As Skye was twenty they didn't have a say in who she hung around but hell, age didn't stop some parents. He thought about the way Donovan had kicked him out for dating Nell and quickly brushed the thought aside. The Fire graduate retrieved their hot chocolate and set down the mugs, warning, "They're probably really hot but I can't tell, so." He figured a word of warning was nice and all. He couldn't tell because he was immune, Fire elemental and all. "Want marshmallows? I'm pretty sure we have the mini ones." They had a lot of stuff in their house. It was like an adventure every time you opened a fridge, a cupboard, a closet.
He grinned earnestly when Skye said that she had gotten a job, so glad to hear that his mother had been able to pull through. He had been hopeful that Patricia might be able to use her influence to hook Skye up but the fact that the woman had managed to hire her herself was even better. It was almost amusing to think of one of his best friends working for his mother but it was kind of cool at the same time. Trish was a nice, sociable person. He was sure she'd be pleasant to Skye. "Oh, Skye, that's wicked cool. I'm glad you got a job!" It had been a long time coming, really. Joshua had been 'working' since he was fourteen, albeit only volunteer work, but his first job had been at the age of eighteen. The tattoo parlour and all. Then he'd quit that when it was no longer necessary to pay the bills and he'd finally gotten another job at twenty years old working in the retirement home. It was nice. "Hey, no problem," he said easily, still grinning. "I'm happy for you, glad I could help." It was always nice to have money of your own. A paycheck was an amazing thing, money that was yours and yours alone. Not a gift, not a loan, but yours to do with as you pleased. He did feel that every time he got his at the end of the week, even though he was rich. Earning his own money was... special, an acknowledgement of his hard work.
[Holy shit muse, hello o.o]
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 1, 2012 21:44:11 GMT -5
In a world with so many idiots, Skye was kind of glad that there were people like Josh. Well, she didn't expect everyone to be like that (it would probably be even more damaging than having these morons around running everything) but... seriously, she didn't even know how to explain it in words. She wasn't the most intellectual of people either, but then again some people just made her want to repeatedly bash her head against a wall until she passed out. Of course, Skye was the judgmental type, so this... might not be saying much. Anyway, she envied Josh on the rare occasion, yes, but overall seeing someone with actual goals and somewhere to get to and plans to get there and the talent and drive was kind of like a breath of fresh air when compared to most students at the Academy, whether high school or college. Granted, she didn't expect any high schoolers to have life plans. Josh was definitely a rare breed in that respect. It being that she considered him a good friend, though, she was glad to hear that he'd done well on his exams all the same, even if it didn't come as a surprise whatsoever. "That's good! Though yeah, the elemental exams are always a bit trickier... Harder to study for," she said, nodding her agreement. She'd come back to the Academy for the sheer purpose of what was really just seeing through what she'd started, to be honest -- by this point she'd kind of abandoned the idea of doing much of anything with her element in the future. Maybe these alliances had just made her cynical towards it all, though. "What elemental classes did you have this semester?" she asked, kind of curious.
She nodded at his words but also shrugged a little bit after that. "Ah well. Next time!" Well, Joshua could always swing down to Ottawa too, she supposed -- his mother was probably in and out of there often enough, but Skye didn't know enough about the whole thing to really know for sure. She assumed that it was the type of thing that came with the job, though. However it happened, she sort of hoped a little that it would eventually, because it was weird having been friends for this many years without his ever meeting her family. That said, she'd only met his a handful of times. That would probably change a little bit with the job. She reached out a finger and touched the side of the mug hesitantly, finding that it was indeed pretty hot. "Lucky Fires," she grouched under her breath, though it was loud enough for him to hear so she wasn't really that serious about it. That was one sweet immunity, though. She wouldn't mind being shocked on the odd occasion if it meant she could be resistant to heat... and cold, for that matter, since Josh was able to do that too. She got over it, though, picking up the mug gingerly; her fingers were still kind of numb from being outside... She should really find those gloves she had somewhere or other. Her eyes did, at least, light up a little after that. "Sure! I'm always up for marshmallows." Skye had a pretty terrible sweet tooth, actually, but hey, she'd managed to forge entire friendships off of nothing but a bag of marshmallows before, essentially. She definitely wasn't complaining about it.
The prospect of having a proper job while doing her Senior year was kind of frightening -- she'd thought the past three years and twelfth grade were stressful enough as they were, but that was that. Actually, it would be weird to have a job that wasn't just over the summer or something. She'd never minded that so much, but it would definitely be nice having a bit of extra pocket change. Having to limit her own spending was pretty annoying. "Thanks. It'll be weird having a regular job, though," she said, smiling a little -- by "regular", she meant with consistent shifts and all that jazz, as opposed to normal, "Try not to disapprove too hard if I fail out of school or something." That wasn't likely to actually happen, but damn it all, Skye could foresee way too much stress in the next year. Ah, well... It would be worth it in the end, maybe -- hopefully. Plus, people had managed it before, and Joshua for instance managed that kind of thing on a day-to-day basis it seemed, so she would just have to suck it up and deal with it. Being in school was, after all, still probably easier than being out there in the real world, though it might be slightly less rewarding. It depended on what she considered "rewards", though. "Yeah, seriously, I have no idea where I'd be right now without that." What she really meant was without Josh, as one of her best friends, but that sounded too ridiculously sappy, almost, for Skye's taste. She didn't need a stupid best friend movie scene to get across her feelings, she hoped. "I don't know. Kind of feels like everything's working itself out at this point." She had a job, she kind of sort of had Teddy despite their six months without really talking, she had a mug of hot chocolate and the company of a friend, she was about to head home for a few weeks, and hey, it was Christmas. Life was pretty good at this point.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 3, 2012 10:03:12 GMT -5
fElemental exams were definitely a lot less of a breeze when it came to studying. It was frustrating to someone like Joshua who liked to come as best-prepared as he could. It was much more difficult to ensure that his power would work right under all conditions during the exams when he couldn't predict what kind of conditions those would be. Like how he hadn't gotten a good sleep and so he'd been paranoid about his performance. Joshua was resilient, though, and it was probably the fact that he was used to running on little to no sleep that had saved him. It was always nice when little things like that could come through and save the day. "Knocked myself out a lot when I was studying. I push limits a bit too far sometimes, it's why I used to study before I fall asleep." That was a little harder now that he had Nell living in the house (and sharing said bed) so he would usually only do that sort of practice when she was on suicide watch at the group home or when he crashed before she did. Either that or he'd simply practice until he felt close to passing out and then go to sleep. "Great cure for insomnia, too," he joked. He was glad his insomnia had been transient and not a recurring thing. It would be difficult with a job. There were people who did handle it in their day to day lives, though, so it wasn't impossible. "For this semester I just had a class on Fire in general. It kind of went over a lot about the element, tips and tricks, the works. Thank god it wasn't the weakness-based class I had the last time. I'd have failed for sure." He was exaggerating of course. Joshua didn't think it was possible for him to fail an exam, he was smart and gave himself credit for that, but he'd have done a lot more poorly for sure.
Joshua fetched two large bags of mini marshmallows out of the cupboard—one plain, one coloured. He didn't really get the point of the coloured ones but Annabel liked them and he liked anything sweet so they made do with having both. "Take your pick," he said, dropping a number of the white ones into his own drink and then popping some coloured ones into his mouth. They were gooey and delicious as marshmallows should be. He made sure that he'd finished chewing and swallowing before he answered her words with, "It was weird for me too at first. I mean, I started the job over the summer, but once we went back to school I realised how difficult it actually was. I managed, though, so you probably can, too." He shrugged and smiled very briefly. He believed in Skye since they were such good friends and so the encouragement was genuine. She only had one major and didn't have to volunteer in hospitals in order to get into graduate school so she'd probably be able to at least cope, if not do well. Maybe not, though. Everyone was different. Just because Josh was doing well did not mean that everyone else would. "Pff, I will so disapprove." His scoff was jokingly severe because he didn't think it would actually happen. Skye didn't seem the type to drop out, especially not when they'd made it as far as senior year. Senior year. The end of the road at last. Ah, he was still getting over it. "That's great," he said, smiling. It was good to see everything work out for a friend. That was how his life was going at the moment. Things were good. There were minor ups and downs but everything seemed at least... okay.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 3, 2012 18:17:13 GMT -5
She raised her eyebrows at him a little bit in disapproval. It wasn't like she could really tell Joshua what to do or anything -- it was his life and not hers, after all -- but wearing out the body that much couldn't be healthy, even when it was done for studying. Elemental powers were tricky in that way. It was hard to find the balance, of pushing the limits just enough but not quite so much to actually start exhausting themselves. "Well, at least you kind of found a good time to do it, right before bed," she said anyway. She definitely wasn't about to go lecturing him or anything. Josh was smart enough to make his own decisions. Skye did smile a little at his joke about insomnia. If anything, she guessed, doing that would keep some form of a schedule, but it was hard to say. "Hey, if it works." Even then, it probably wasn't such a good idea. She blew softly over the surface of her hot chocolate before even trying to take a sip. She didn't really feel like a burnt tongue or anything. Urgh. While trying to get this down to a slightly less scalding temperature, though, she listened as Josh described his class. "The weakness-based ones are the worst," she agreed, her lips twitching a tiny bit into a frown very briefly before it was back to normal. She was too happy to really let something stupid in the past bother her. "They're just... exhausting. Kind of glad I got that over with pretty early, that was a pretty shitty semester... Though I doubt you would have failed." The class was pretty awful, but there was slim chance of that happening. She knew that he knew it too.
She grinned when he brought over the marshmallows. They were the mini ones, but considering that these were the jumbo bags or something, it was still pretty awesome. "Thanks! They're all the same, aren't they?" she asked, gesturing from one bag to the other. She popped a few in her mouth from each bag before dropping a couple into her mug of hot chocolate. Hm... It was probably cool enough now. She raised the mug to her lips and took a hesitant sip. Eep, nope, still too hot. That was okay -- she had the marshmallows to hold her over, and at least the warm mug was keeping her fingers from freezing over. Her hands did definitely feel better now that she'd been inside for a while. "Yeah, summer jobs are probably easier," she said with a nod, "but I guess working only... what, month-long periods isn't that helpful in the long run." It was good, actually, for focusing on school, but when she took into consideration the fact that she'd be graduating in just about a year now, it was probably time to get used to the fact that the real world was coming up hard and fast. "Well, as long as there are no lectures," she said, giving him a look as if to say that this was absolutely forbidden, but she knew that it was a joke. Josh wasn't really the type to be annoyingly persistent like that... at least, she didn't think, but then again she'd yet to do anything that would really require that much of his disapproval. She smiled a little bit in return. "Yeah... How oddly sentimental of us, though."
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 4, 2012 11:21:19 GMT -5
Noticing the way that Skye raised her eyebrows at him, Joshua stared back with an almost contemplative expression for a moment. He didn't do good with people telling him what to do and all and he wondered what his friend would do. He was thankful for the fact that she didn't try to give him a long lesson on how irresponsible he was or anything like that. The last person who'd tried was no longer a friend of his. They'd ended up arguing and arguing with someone that had anger issues didn't tend to go well. "Don't worry, I never do anything too dangerous. It's not like I try to erupt volcanoes before bed or anything. Just sort of practice until I fall asleep from the exhaustion." As stubborn and determined as he was to test the limits of stamina and strength he was not foolish enough to attempt something incredibly dangerous. Then again, Skye was probably right to disapprove in a way. He did a lot of things that were not good for him for the sake of education. He was responsible in different ways. Not these ones, clearly. He chuckled at her opinion. "You think so? I liked them a lot." He liked to feel that he had some sort of a weapon against his foes that were stronger than him, even if that weapon was simply a bit more endurance than usual. It had been a really difficult course, though, she was right about that. "Then again, I like a challenge." He didn't like things to be easy. It was why he took harder courses and more of them at that, studying a double major while working a job. He was a bit obsessed with keeping busy. It wasn't always a good thing. It wore him down some days.
He considered the bags before shrugging. "Pretty much, I think. Shouldn't matter." One bag was full of the coloured minis and the other were just the regular old white marshmallows. He still wasn't sure about how serious the difference so it didn't matter which ones she ate or put into her drink. The coloured ones looked fancier, though. Pastel pinks, blues, greens, yellows. Orange and purple, too. "Nah, I wouldn't imagine so, especially not if you want to get your own place eventually. Do you?" He knew a lot of people liked to get their own apartments after college and break away from the nest for good. They got used to living away from their parents and all so it wasn't too hard to go from living at school to living in a place of their own. Joshua's 'breaking in' period had come when necessity forced him into an apartment with Nell. "And if she works you too hard, call me and I'll tell her to get off her high horse." He winked and laughed, obviously kidding. He was pretty fond of his mother and trusted her not to be a total bitch to one of his best friends. The woman had a temper like all Fires and a short patience but she was nice enough, friendly. Annabel had inherited that friendliness and increased it tenfold. "Sentimental isn't necessarily a bad thing. We're awesome and shit. We're allowed." He shrugged as if this explained everything. Being 'awesome and shit' was clearly enough to justify being sentimental about a few things. Besides, they were best friends. It counted.
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Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jun 7, 2012 15:53:37 GMT -5
Skye didn't always back down, but she generally made it a point not to argue with the people she was close with. That rarely worked out -- with few exceptions, she was too proud to apologize. She would have liked to say that Josh was an exception for that kind of thing, but then again... it was pretty difficult to say until something actually happened, and luckily the two of them had never actually gotten into a fight before. That was always lucky. Skye and Josh were... probably too similar when it came to that kind of thing. It wasn't something she'd even consider lecturing him about in general, though, not only to ignore a fight. What her friends wanted to do was none of her business, up to the point where she though tthey were ruining their lives or something. "You'd probably have levelled the Hollow by now if you tried to make volcanoes erupt every night," she pointed out instead. She wondered if he actually had that kind of capability -- Skye was no expert on Fires and the development of their powers, despite being on their side of the alliance. It wasn't the kind of thing that came up. Studying at the Academy and focusing on her own element during college, she'd realized that it... really didn't run her life, and while she enjoyed it here, really did (and wasn't half-bad as an elemental either), part of her couldn't wait to leave the school. Of course, the other part of her wanted to stay, too. "Oh, they were good... just tiring, I think. Luckily I always had it last, so after class I could just go and crash into bed or something." Going to another class or anything afterward would probably just be awful.
She nodded her understanding and stole another few marshmallows just to eat. Her sweet tooth was probably awful, but hey, she'd lasted this long... and besides things like these, she had a pretty healthy diet -- it wasn't her fault if she had a weakness for it and friends brought it up. She chewed on the marshmallows as she thought over the question. Did she want her own place eventually? "Eventually's a very loose term," she informed him, though her tone implied that there was more coming. She wasn't being sassy or anything -- it was just the truth! Eventually could have been in the next year, or it could have meant after graduation or even months or years after. Many college students moved back in with their parents even if they'd lived on their own during school... but Skye rather thought it might be nice to have her own place. "Probably after college," she said with more conviction, "but honestly, it depends on so many things... I don't know if I'll even be staying in the Hollow or not." She just might, depending on how things went in the next year. "Thanks, but I doubt that'll be necessary," she said, laughing. Patricia was a pretty nice lady, honestly, and she didn't seem like a crazy employer or anything. Then again, it wasn't like Skye had started yet, so she was probably just taking shots in the dark. Thus far, though, she liked Josh's mom. "Hey, we totally are. I mean, I can't think of anyone else who deserves it more." She had no idea what this conversation was even about anymore, but she was in an almost unexplainably good mood.
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