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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Sept 24, 2011 9:39:09 GMT -5
Technically speaking, you weren't allowed to bring candy into the library. Of course, with the librarian being none the wiser, Joshua had been defying this little rule since his freshman year in high school no less. There was just no Joshua without his sugar fix and it helped to keep him content when he was studying for finals, exams, quizzes, anything really. He didn't really need a reason to study. His fervour when it came to academic success was likely because he feared that his good grades might just vanish in an instant if he didn't provide constant maintenance. It was the only thing he'd ever really excelled at--he was good at a small handful of things but 'good' was never good enough. He had to be brilliant at something. Once he had found that something, Josh had promised himself that he was going to stick with it. He'd tried for a while to get into sports for the sake of being more 'masculine', but had given it up after not even a year had passed. Athletics had never been his thing. He much preferred to gain his enjoyment from reading a book. His father had disapproved at first--
His thoughts halted in their tracks and his hand paused in it's slow motion toward the bag of candy on the desk beside him. Do not think of that man. The mere idea of Donovan made Joshua sick as of late. All he wanted to do was erase memories of his father from his mind so that his family and the way he'd been forcibly removed from their ranks would just... fade away. Wouldn't it be nice if you could select which memories you retained? He thought about this as he selected a sour candy from the variety and popped it in his mouth. He didn't exactly make a comical face, but there was a moment in which he blinked and seemed distracted before he became more accustomed to the flavour and went back to his book. He was reading from a thick volume that was said to be quite helpful to those with his major (Biology, not History). He would have preferred to have been indulging in a History textbook considering his other major had been chosen from enjoyment rather than necessity, but he would not allow himself to slack off.
The library was rather quiet today. This suited him nicely, seeing as he was able to pick up on things much faster when there was little to no background interference. From years of this came patience with the occasional giggling, chatter, and whispers from nearby tables, but it was always a relief when he didn't have to exercise this patience. His tolerance of others was very limited, after all, and it was best to avoid blowing up on other people as much as possible. The librarian was fond of him but that didn't mean she'd hesitate to promptly show him the door if he started being too aggressive toward the others in the room. Yawning a little from fatigue rather than boredom, Joshua pushed the book away slightly and looked to the half-finished but very large bag of candy that he still had left. It was not entirely store-bought; he'd emptied half of the original contents and thrown in some of the other selections he'd had available so that it was in essence a customized trail mix of sweets, mostly with individual wrappers. Joshua was picky about the flavours mixing with his foods. He was also rather selfish--unless you were a very good friend of his, he wouldn't share even if he were talking to you. Of course, this bag of candy was so large that maybe even Josh could be generous today.
[We can play it like they already know one another because Josh wouldn't be nice otherwise xD]
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Post by lili3 on Sept 25, 2011 15:09:54 GMT -5
Pyson had been wandering the isles of the library all morning and had gotten absolutely nothing done. He had papers to write and a pretty big test in music theory to study for, and here he was just lazing around the world history reference section. This was one of his favorite places to read from, aside from the massive section devoted to music theory and history. He loved reading about other nations, cultures, and even his own and sometimes he let himself get a little too distracted by it. Back to work Py.. He huffed silently and pushed his hair out of his eyes and he turned around to go back to get the book he required to study. He hummed quietly to himself as he scanned the shelves for the book he needed, his face turned a bit cross when he couldn't seem to find it. He hated when people would take a book down and not put it back in it's proper place. He chuckled to himself when he thought of the daily struggle the librarian must have with this. He imagined it probably drove her bonkers what with how strict with library policies she was.
Finally laying on its side behind some other books he found the volume he needed. gently he picked the book up and blew the dust off. Seemed like no one but him ever used these, not that he minded, he knew his major probably wasn't something widely studied at this school. He tucked the book under his arm then grabbed another to go along with it and made his way down to the end of the isle. Did he want to study in his room or the library? As he recalled Ged was still back at the dorm, and Py knew he'd get no peace because as soon as he'd go back there they'd start talking and nothing would get done. Library it is. He made it to the end of the isle, books in hand, ready to study.. And he froze.
He took a deep breath as his eyes fixed on Joshua sitting at one of the tables across the room from where he stood. Maybe the dorm was a better idea, because if Ged was a distraction for Pyson, Josh was more of one. He normally wouldn't react to just any person sitting at a table reading a book, but for some reason Josh always made him anxious. The thought of turning around and taking some wide way around him to get out crossed his mind, but then he shook his head lightly. What was he doing? Pyson was no chicken. He didn't avoid people. He took a deep breath and walked out into the open area and towards Josh's table. Then he spotted the candy, sweets were Py's ultimate weakness. A grin crept over his lips and he stopped at Josh's table. He put his free hand down on the book and turned it so he could read the title. "Biology huh?" He tipped his head to the side, a few feathered locks of blond falling over his face. "I always thought you were a history major."
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Sept 25, 2011 15:39:46 GMT -5
He was not one to be easily startled, so when someone placed their hand on the book he had in front of him Joshua merely glanced round with a half-curious and otherwise neutral expression. This turned into a bit of a smile when he recognised the other boy, however, as someone whom he'd spent long nights studying with in the library. Perhaps they had never been the greatest of friends, but he still had some fondness to spare for the Wind elemental. He was decent to talk to even if there wasn't the trust that Nell and Harlow had with him. "I am," he said, surprised that Pyson knew that he loved History. Then again, it wasn't like he tried to hide it. They had hung around one another in a library and so perhaps it wasn't so shocking after all. "But I study Biology as well," he added after a pause, in explanation. "Double major and all." His head versus his heart, that had been the reason for tacking two majors at once. He knew that Biology marked his best chance for getting into medical school but History had always been a favourite subject. So he'd compromised, he'd taken both. It was causing him a lot of hell with the amount of studying he did per day but he figured that it would be worth the effort in the end.
Joshua could have went out of his way to explain this reasoning to Pyson, but instead he just allowed the comment to stand as it did. Josh was not a person out of whom you could usually expect more than was necessary. He might answer a question if he liked you enough but unless you were incredibly close it wasn't likely that he would elaborate on that answer. However, that didn't mean that he had anything against Pyson. No--Joshua was actually in a rather good mood right now. Studying didn't make him bitter or irritable, it didn't really change his mood at all. Candy always served to boost the spirits though, and seeing as he had so much of it there was no surprise that he wasn't miserable. He reminded himself to go look for some more when he passed some of his favourite stores, then further reminded himself that his favourite stores had only gourmet candy and were thus rather expensive. Shit. He decided then that he would take it a little more slowly, but he also didn't want to eat too much in front of Pyson. He wasn't always a jerk. Pushing the bag toward him slightly, he asked, "Want any?" It was polite by Joshua's standards. He wouldn't go out of his way to be nice even to friends, but his mood was reflecting upon his friendliness today.
Gesturing to the table, Joshua offered, "Why don't you sit down?" He wouldn't mind the company. He really did have to get back to his studying, he'd only pushed the book away for a five minute break so that he didn't overwhelm himself with all of the text. But he'd studied with Pyson before, and he studied with Nell all of the time. He didn't mind sharing his space with other people as long as they didn't try to distract him too much from his work and as long as they didn't talk loudly and bring the attention of the librarian. He'd never been kicked out before and he didn't want to start now. "What are you in for?" Geez, the way he said that it almost sounded like he was talking about a prison sentence. Libraries were at least a lot nicer than prisons, he thought with an internal smirk. Then he thought of Nell and the impending trial and the amusement was suddenly sucked out of that situation. Don't think, he chided. His thoughts always seemed to take a grim turn if he was left to his own devices for too long. In an effort to avoid getting any deeper into the internal dialogue, he focused his attention on Py, his gray eyes curious.
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Post by lili3 on Oct 1, 2011 13:03:21 GMT -5
Pyson had sat his own books down on the table, having grown tired of holding the rather large volumes while he just idly stood there making small talk with the fire elemental. Still glancing down and the biology book-- which he'd now started flipping through the pages of, he cracked a small smile when he heard Joshua mention that he'd been taking double majors. Py thought that sounded very much like him, being that he was always in the library with his nose dug in a book, not that that was a bad thing. Still though, history and biology had to be two of the more complicated subjects of study one could decide to cram into one year together. He admired Josh very much for that. "Ahh I see." He answered finally, that smooth voice of his rolling out more like a whisper then actually talking, respecting the quiet of the library and all.
The wind student had momentarily lost himself in the biology book, he thought it seemed like a mildly interesting subject just by the glance he'd been taking at the book, though not near as interesting as his history or musical comp, so he'd come to the conclusion that Josh had been taking this subject more as necessity then pleasure. Finally he closed the book, finished with his literary snooping for the moment, it was only then that he noticed the rather large, half empty bag of candy sitting on the table next to Josh. His dark eyes positively lit up from behind his black rim glasses. If there was one thing Pyson loved in the world aside from the piano it was candy, or anything sweet really. He subconsciously bit his lip while he looked at the bag, not even realizing or caring how silly it might make him look to be fawning over a bag of candy like he was. Bright eyes turned up quickly when he heard Josh's voice, not realizing what he'd said at first, only feeling the hot flush of a slight blush streak over his pale cheeks from having been staring at the bag so hard.
And offer of candy and a seat, how could the wind elemental say now? He smiled a little wider and pulled the chair diagonally across from Josh out and sat down with a little wider smile. He pushed Josh's book back in his general direction and pulled his own in front of him. He really hadn't put studying off so long, but at least now he wouldn't have to do it alone. He reached a delicate hand into the bag of candy and pulled out a piece of what appeared to be sour candy. He pulled the wrapper open and popped the sweet into his mouth, instantly his face screwed up into that face you make when you eat something sour, though he got over it pretty quick. He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and laughed a little, partly because of his own silly face and the other part being what Josh had said, him making the library sound more like a punishment sentence. "Just studying for a music comp exam." He replied finally as he slowly opened the rather large book sitting in front of him, he looked up for a second and noticed Josh's expression had gone rather blank, for a split second he had wanted to ask what was wrong but he'd decided not to pry and act like he'd seen nothing. Py knew good and well Josh wasn't one to discuss his own problems, atleast not when he didn't want to. Instead he changed the subject back to the previous. "Not to state the obvious but, what about you?"
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 3, 2011 21:34:05 GMT -5
Joshua did not miss the fact that Pyson's expression lit up at the sight of candy. It really was rather amusing, he thought, but didn't make fun of the other boy for it or else point out that he had noticed at all. Instead, he merely smirked slightly and turned his attention to the bag before making his offer, having realised that to resist sharing would have made him quite the jerk. Not that Josh cared about the way others perceived him, but he was fond of Py's company when he had a long night of studying to do. He doubted he would be compelled to hang around him outside of school or invite him over to his mansion--indeed, he wouldn't even let Pyson know what kind of car he drove. But he would, however mistrustful of the Wind elemental he might be, at least be tolerant of his company in the library. It wasn't like he expected the guy to start prying into his personal life. That hadn't happened yet and he doubted their odd sort of companionship would survive if it did. Josh didn't work that way. He might tolerate someone's presence, but it would never extend beyond tolerance unless there was a reason for it to, or if that person was tolerated for many months, even years. Building friendships with him moved slow as ever, even with Nell on his side. She was his counterbalance, but it didn't mean her presence changed him. Made him a bit less bitter and wound up, perhaps, but not changed him, never changed him...
He nodded slightly to show that he'd heard when Pyson told him what he was up to in the library. It didn't come as much of a surprise to Joshua. Just as Py had picked up on the fact that Josh liked History from watching him study for it, Joshua was pretty sure he had heard music come into it somewhere. He'd never heard the Wind elemental play anything and he didn't know if he even could play very well, but he figured that he must have some shred of talent if he was taking composition classes. "And how is that going?" His tone was mild but slightly interested as he raised his gray gaze a little to survey his companion before dropping it back to the book. He wasn't completely anti-social, even with people that hadn't fully befriended him. His curiosity was genuine--he was being honest when he asked whether or not it was going well. However, he also wasn't the type of guy that would launch into a full-scale breakdown of everything he was doing in return. You usually had to ask in order to get anything out of Josh and--sure enough--the question was posed slightly afterwards.
"Just some Biology coursework," he said with an almost lazy wave of his hand, as if this was in some way to be expected. Joshua had never been the type to shirk his studies. Perhaps another one of the reasons he respected Pyson was because the other boy didn't seem to be all that lazy, either. Diligence was a respectable quality in a person. So was the ability to keep quiet, which was always something you needed in a place such as this. Just like Pyson, Joshua's voice was soft and low as he added, "I'm leaving History until later." He figured, as always, that it was best to get the worst work out the way first. If he did everything that he enjoyed and that provoked little effort on his part then he would be lesser motivated to finish everything for Biology when he was done. By leaving the favoured work until the end, he was confident that he would not find himself slacking as much. It wasn't something that would work for everyone, of course, but it worked for Josh and that was enough for him. Simply to show that he wasn't ignoring him--though he didn't look up from his books as he said it--Josh asked of Pyson, "Is it quite difficult, this work you're doing?"
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