END OF BEAUTIFUL ILLUSIONS , oliver

Joshua wasn't altogether surprised that he wouldn't be allowed to finish his assignment in peace. It wasn't that he was annoyed by people talking to him, it was the things that they said which tended to grate heavily on his nerves. The graduate glanced up suspiciously, noting the words that the other boy had used. He'd called her by her name, first of all, which was the first surprising thing. The question hadn't sounded vulgar, more like this kid was curious or he just wanted to confirm something that he'd heard. Still, the older elemental was wary of this. Some people played nice in order to make you relax and then turned around to bite you in the ass later. He didn't trust his element easily any more. At the same time, he wasn't about to ask. "Yeah," came the response regardless. He wasn't ashamed of their relationship no matter how much trouble it got him into with the rest of his element. There were a few others in the common room but he doubted that they could overhear the words in the conversation as long as he wasn't yelling. "Who's asking?" It was a challenge of sorts, but it was not one that was altogether threatening. Accompanied by the arch of an eyebrow, it was more of a question than anything else. He'd heard from Nell about the creeper in the bar but he didn't yet make the connection that it was this guy that had helped her out of a tough spot.

Even if he had, would he have been treating this guy nicer? That wasn't exactly something that Joshua always did. He certainly didn't get along with Ace despite the Water elemental being one of Nell's closest friends. The guy was too overbearing and irritating for Josh's liking and he certainly hadn't appreciated the threat. They were under a strained pact, twisted allies because of the girl they both sought to protect, but at least on Joshua's part this alliance did not stretch far. He didn't like Ace and it was only the fact that Nell did which kept him from starting some sort of a fight with the guy. Oliver was different, sure, but it approached the same principle. Joshua didn't befriend people simply because of his girlfriend--there had to be something else there as well before he'd accept some sort of tolerance. However, the fact that Oliver was one of the only few Fire elementals that did not slander his girlfriend upon first talking about her or criticize their relationship within a breath of his greeting was a definite plus. Maybe he's just building up for later, thought Josh with a trace of bitterness. That wouldn't really surprise him. People could be underhanded at this school. It was usually found more in the Thunder elementals, but he knew some Fire students that possessed the qualities.

Deciding to bring the issue to the table, he asked, "What do you want?" He did not say it aggressively and it didn't even have the challenge that his last question had. Instead, it was just a neutral request to state whatever it was that he wanted from Josh rather than being subtle about it. If this guy was going to start taunting him then Josh didn't want to sit through five minutes of pointless conversation to get to the point. However, if the guy was a little more genuine than that it was also inviting him to talk. He wasn't really bothered by the interruption quite yet--it would bug him in a moment if it turned out to be for a fairly negative reason. "I hope you're not here to insult my girl, because I'm afraid I don't have time for that." The challenge was back, just as subtle as it had been when he'd asked for Oliver's name. He was protective over Nell. He didn't like when people went around saying things about her or spreading rumours. He remembered Brett's vulgarity and knew a pulse of satisfaction as he further recalled how he had kicked Brett's ass in response. Nell was just someone that you didn't insult around him. Of course, it's not cool if he insults me, either, though Josh mildly, but didn't say anything of the sort.

Josh had to admit that he hadn't really been expecting a full introduction when he asked who the hell was bothering him. He blinked his gray eyes at the other boy and regarded him critically for a moment, trying to pick up on whether he was being genuine or not. This guy knew Noly? He'd better not be one of the guys causing her problems. Joshua was not friends with the Water elemental but Nell was, so it wouldn't fly well with him if this guy was shoving her around. Still, why would she give him a nickname if he antagonised her all of the time? Then Oliver mentioned that he had helped them out of a tough spot and a sort of understanding dawned on his features. He didn't have to consider whether or not Oliver was telling the truth--Joshua recalled Nell telling him about the guy that had gotten them out of a tight spot and the name definitely seemed familiar. "I've heard of you," he said. He still wasn't being overly friendly but he did relax ever so slightly. If Oliver didn't have it out for his girlfriend or Joshua himself then he was willing to give him a chance at least. People usually blew their chances with Josh pretty quick, or the other way around, but this was different. He had an actual reason to respect this guy and her name was Nell Shepherd. He made a point to ask the Earth elemental more about this Oliver kid if he got the chance. An outside opinion was always a good idea.

He studied Oliver for a moment longer as he stated his business of coming over here and then insisted that he wasn't going to judge Josh because of what other people had said. Well, that was something, wasn't it? Joshua didn't realise that Oliver wasn't yet as inducted into the alliance as most. It was practically drilled into the ninth graders that the Earth students were pussies and the Water students were brats, that Thunder and Fire were the ones with whom your loyalty should lie. Josh had been little exception to this, and he'd believed it for some time. Until Nell had came along. That had changed everything. He glanced at the offered hand and then shook it, arching an eyebrow. "I'll hold you to that." He wanted to believe that there was at least one Fire student that didn't hate his guts around here but Josh needed some proof before he took his word for it. It was nothing personal, Josh just wasn't a trusting guy by default. At least he wasn't glaring or threatening Oliver yet. Some of the others in the dormitory were staring and this bothered the graduate a little, but not enough that he would call attention to or say anything about it.

He snorted a little when Oliver went on to compliment the two girls. "Hannoly and I are merely acquaintances," he said with a wave of his hand. They were actually more like thorns in one another's sides, but because of Nell the two kept their peace for the most part. Water elementals would always be difficult for Josh to get along with. All the same, he wasn't going to badmouth her in front of someone else. Josh wasn't the type that went around spreading rumours and lies about other people and nor did he let his own rivalries bleed into conversations. For the most part, at least. It was increasingly difficult not to rage about Ace in Nell's presence, but thus far he had managed. "Parents? Didn't you get it talked into you by the rest of these idiots?" He gestured around the common room with a roll of his colourless eyes. He still hadn't realised that Oliver was a new student. Joshua had been at the Academy going on six full years now and so it was impossible not to know what the Fires thought about absolutely everyone. "The alliances are a bunch of bullshit," he said. "I never thought so until they went after Nell, but now I couldn't care less about them." Attacking Nell and expecting him to do the same had been the last straw for Joshua. He'd turned his back on his former allies and he'd never really lived to regret it--he couldn't regret something he'd done for the sake of his girlfriend, after all. Even though she hadn't been in a relationship with him at the time.

This was the point where Joshua started to spot the differences between himself and Oliver. Oli seemed to have strong views and morales on what should and shouldn't happen to women. He seemed to have a pretty firm opinion against guys that would creep around and hit on chicks and, judging by the way he'd helped Noly, he would stop them if he could. Josh was a lot different than that. He merely shrugged in response. "Nor do I." That was the truth at least. He didn't like to see it happening and he certainly wouldn't be found doing it himself, but that didn't mean he would do what Oliver did and valiantly step in to help. Joshua didn't normally concern himself with such situations. He didn't play the hero, it didn't work that way for him. Now, if it had been Nell... well, alright, that guy would be getting his head knocked in. You didn't mess with a guy's girlfriend if you had any sort of intelligence about you. Especially not when that guy was Joshua Dale, who was so reckless in his anger that he'd take you on whether he thought he could win against you or not. He supposed that he also might have interfered if it was someone that he knew well enough. He'd certainly stepped in to help Freya at one point. There was a bit more guilt associated in watching it happen to someone you knew. It was a lot harder to ignore that way. When faced with a stranger it was easier to say that you didn't know the circumstances and didn't want to risk getting involved when you'd just taken it the wrong way. When you knew the person well enough to understand they hadn't brought it upon themselves, well... that was different.

A certain sort of understanding flashed behind his gaze as he realised that Oliver, much like Nell, was a late arrival to the Academy. It thus made much more sense for him to be focusing more heavily on power rather than politics. Joshua had came to the school with an understanding of how things worked because his parents had always made a point to be open with him about their powers. They had explained that he might not be gifted despite their strong bloodline and not to get his hopes up, but that if he did have something in him then he would be sent to the special school to learn how to control it. He'd asked questions and they'd told him stories about their days at school and how the alliances had worked back then. Donovan had been the relaxed one, branching out and making friends among the other elements occasionally. Patricia had been more rigid, and that was probably why she'd been elected as female leader in her junior year. For two years she'd led them and she'd been oh so proud of her son when he'd followed in her footsteps in senior year. This coming to mind, he gave a little snort and said, "Don't worry too much about it. I led the bastards and I still don't understand most of them." It was part of the reason they were so offended by his treachery. A former leader was expected to always stay true to their alignment. They tried to shake it off now and say that he'd been a bad leader and they should have seen it coming, but Josh knew it was sheer desperation. He'd done the Fire element as good as he could, he'd carried out his duties, he'd kept them strong. They just wanted more than that.

His lips twitched into a sort of dry smirk which vanished almost instantly. Oliver didn't want to cause trouble with the other Fire elementals? He was certainly going about that in an interesting way. He'd made friends with two girls in the enemy alliance and he was having a hearty chat with their resident traitor. It was an ironic way of trying to fit in. "Are you sure you want to be seen talking to me?" he asked smoothly. He was not going to kid himself and pretend that they didn't care if he made friends with some of them. The Fire elementals were usually convinced that he would turn the others soft if he hung around too much. They blamed Nell for taking away his fiery attributes and turning him into a pansy just like how they viewed her element. He knew this wasn't true--he still had his temper, his aggression, his stubborn and proud attitude. Just because he hated them didn't mean that he didn't act like them. "I got along with them once," he shrugged. "Not any more." 'Gotten along' was something that could be debated. He had never had a circle of friends or as close a companionship with most of them as a lot of the elementals did. He had instead just tolerated them and stuck up for them where necessary. They'd returned the favour. It was practically just Fire student behaviour--attack one, you attack them all. He didn't live by that now. At the same time, he didn't want to have Oliver cast out simply because the guy wanted to talk to him, so he was giving fair warning about the fact that it might not be a good idea.

Joshua laughed, but it was not any sort of laugh that marked amusement or entertainment. It was bitter and sounded chilled. "Yeah," he affirmed. Did he regret accepting the position when the Academy had pitched it to him? Only somewhat. He hadn't foreseen that he would fall for an Earth elemental and have the entire alliance turn on him in the future, for Josh wasn't psychic. He'd never been as close to the Fire element as they usually were to one another but there'd never been a whole lot of hatred there, either. Josh was simply a loner. In fact, the Fire kids had been better to him than most of the other elements. They hadn't been his friends but they'd at least refrained from spreading the rumours about him. There had been a sense of camaraderie. Even still, he knew that 'friendship' wasn't the reason they'd elected him. "I made people nervous, they wanted the intimidation factor." Joshua was such a volatile person that his temper was completely unpredictable, so a lot of people worried that he would go off and get violent if they so much as said hello to him. They'd been afraid of him (not without reason, for sometimes he did let his anger get the best of him) and the Fire elementals had loved that. They'd used it to their advantage and chose Josh as leader so that no one thought to mess with them. It had half-worked--the enemy alliance also hadn't messed with them because he hadn't given them a reason to. He hadn't provoked them. It only had a small bit to do with fear.

He shrugged when Oliver spoke. "They can be decent if they like you," he said. He wasn't being fair to them or anything, he was only being truthful. He knew that they were a lot less cold toward you as long as you were on their side. They treated him with such disrespect because he was a traitor. He supposed that he could sort of understand, if he really looked at it from their point of view. At the same time, Josh would never allow himself to forgive them. If the war had been for any other reason maybe Joshua wouldn't have been so bitter, but they'd been trying to kill Nell. She wasn't his girlfriend at the time (he hadn't even really known he was in love with her then, either) but the same principles applied to his friends. You didn't go after the people he loved. He remembered that his parents had been a little disapproving at first when they'd found out that he'd ditched his loyalty to the Fire element. He had been raised with talk of alliances and as a proud Fire clan dating back centuries, the Dales were not ones that often approved of such things. However, he was also their son, so when he explained his reasoning they had accepted it. This was yet another point that he and Oli would disagree on. When--no, if Joshua had children he most definitely wanted their generation to have the genetics. He didn't think he could bear the shame if he killed his lineage or anything. Not only that, but he was proud to be an elemental.

Oliver brought up a good point, and one that many people made, but Joshua already had an answer for him before the guy had even opened his mouth. "It's more of a mutual tolerance," he said. "They see you as an ally so they don't take their anger out on you." It was perhaps one of the only admirable qualities of the Fire element, their sense of loyalty. They all knew that most of them had anger issues and they themselves had problems with rage, so a lot of them understood how to go about not invoking the wrath of their fellows. In fact, looking back on it, not a lot of his kind had ever set him off before they'd became distanced. Over stupid things there had been a few confrontations, but never anything random like when some of his friends in other elements hung around him and said the wrong thing. Yes, there was definitely a sort of understanding there. "And wait--who do you know that's pulled a bulls tail?" Oliver's accent had certainly not slipped Joshua's attention, especially not since he was rather fascinated by accents and dialect and so picked up on such things. Still, he was curious as to who in Oliver's list of friends and acquaintances had been dumb enough to go up to something as large and intimidating as a bull and yank its tail. Unless it was just a figure of speech, which was also understandable.