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Post by ASHTON CAMDEN RALEIGH on Jul 5, 2012 16:46:23 GMT -5
Working at the flower show was a pretty rewarding experience in some aspects, especially since Mr. Fields ("Call me Andy," he always insisted to anyone who tried to address him formally) was a fellow Earth elemental who fully encouraged the use and development of his powers. "As long as you don't give the tulips zebra stripes or make a giant daisy, you should be alright." Ashton had no plans of putting himself in any danger by doing risky things like that and so he'd laughed it off and took the advice to heart. He was watering the plants now, hands covered in dirt from repotting a couple of them that had grown too big. They watered the plants and cared for them as normal gardeners were for the most part to keep up appearances but there was a noticeable different in the quality of their work. "I'm not called the best florist in Maple Hollow for no reason," Andrew winked as he brightened the leaves of a drooping plant to a verdant shade and made it a barely noticeable bit larger than a standard plant. "You'd probably be the best one around even without your powers," Ashton complimented cheerfully, which caused the older man to smile, though he didn't reply.
Once he'd finished up at work, Ashton went home and took a long shower to scrub away all the dirt from his hands and forearms and freshen up, then grabbed his bag from beside the door and called out, "Staying at school tonight!" to anyone in the house who might be around to listen. He hadn't bothered to check. He liked to stay in the Academy whenever he was meant to be catching up on a bundle of homework and papers because then he could nip down to the library if needed or borrow notes from his friends if he was feeling especially lazy. He still wasn't an incredibly confident driver and so the ride to the Academy was a little slow thanks to congested roads. When he did get there, dusk was starting to settle over the snow-patched grounds and there were only a few stragglers to be seen hanging out by the forests or the lake. A pair of Earths he recognized disappeared into the entrance of the gardens. He paused, thinking about following them, then decided against it and continued his trek up the path to the school itself. The heavy wooden doors groaned as he pushed one open and thunked shut behind him.
The mess hall was also bypassed, despite the tantalizing smells that wafted from within it, until he found himself stepping inside the comforting environment of the Earth dormitories. The grassy floor, earth-toned furniture and numerous plants felt like home. He flopped down on one of said couches and grinned when he recognised one of the others in the room. "Rory!" he called enthusiastically, mostly to get her attention. He kicked his bag with his foot under the coffee table, deciding (as always) that homework could wait. "How's it going? Whatcha up to?" His bright, curious tones were practically characteristic. Ashton was a friendly fellow in every sense of the word. He could get to the point of prying sometimes with his questions but he really did mean well. Usually when he overstepped some kind of a boundary with someone he would not realise unless they pointed it out. Oops! At least this was an innocent enough inquiry. "I just got off work like, an hour ago," he said. "So I'm exhausted and I smell like strawberries." Not because of his place of employment (they grew flowers, not strawberries) but because that happened to be what the bottle of shampoo had smelled like. Oh so manly.
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Post by rory on Jul 6, 2012 1:15:49 GMT -5
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSEDit's getting hard to be someone but it all works out- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[/color] Her friend just laughed and shook his head. "Not a chance, Rory. Do your homework yourself." And then he left, after announcing to the common room that he was exhausted and would be retiring to bed. Christopher was one of those people that liked to catch an early sleep. Rory frowned and looked down at her trigonometry homework. It wasn't like she had not been listening in class... alright, so maybe she had zoned out every so often... but honestly, how did teachers expect their students to stay attentive if the material being covered was so bland. She disliked math. Not because she felt that it was too difficult, but because she found it boring. Literature and poetry was her field of expertise. At least the words painted pictures and created worlds... numbers just... sort of sat there and did nothing. At least they did in her opinion. She groaned and glanced back down at the sheet of paper they had to complete for homework. Everything just looked like hieroglyphs, and nothing made sense. With a frustrated groan, she pushed away the homework and looked around the common room. She much preferred being here, now that it was slowly filling up. Her hand was getting better. In the medical wing it had been bandaged up after all the procedures were through and now she was just not supposed to over-exert herself. She felt that trying to do homework was overexertion, but she was sure that her math teacher would disagree. Tony had been jubilant when she returned from the medical wing, confirming his suspicions that her wrist was broken. He now insisted that she had to be grateful until the end of time. She looked up, startled, when she heard her name being called out. If it were Tony or Robin, they likely would have smacked her upside the head in order to get her attention. They weren't known for being polite. "Oh! Ashton! Hiya," she spoke up cheerfully upon spotting the source. She waved with her left hand and stood up - all too happy for a distraction - and crossed the length of the room to sit next to him. She grinned. "Ah, nothing much. I was trying to finish - as in, start - my trig homework." She gestured to the sling. "But it's difficult with this, I forgot to pay attention in class, and Chris is being cruel. He won't do my homework for me." She yawned and leaned back against the couch. The room was slowly growing quieter as some students had already left for bed. Some of the local resident students also liked to stay at home in Maple Hollow, especially the graduates. Rory had no intention of ever staying at home. She liked to keep her visits sparse. She perked when he spoke of strawberries, and leaned in to smell his hair. Rory was a pretty forward spirit and didn't think too much about personal space issues and things that may be deemed creepy or inappropriate. "Ooh, you do smell of strawberries! I used to have this kiwi-scented stuff, but then Tony borrowed it, and I simply can't smell like Tony! I think I use this coconut shampoo now. I can't be sure. If it's too early in the morn', I usually nick some of Lydia's accidentally anyway," she said with a laugh. "So... what do you work?"[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify] strawberry fields forever |
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Post by ASHTON CAMDEN RALEIGH on Jul 6, 2012 14:07:32 GMT -5
Ashton had not noticed the sling that her arm was in at first because he'd been too busy rambling and babbling at her as per usual but he certainly noticed it when she got up and came to sit beside him. She said something about her homework and he heard it but he did not initially respond as he internally panicked over the state of her arm. When she finished and gestured to the bandaged arm, he burst out, "Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?" He fretted constantly over the state of other people and since he loved his friends so much they were certainly no exception. He'd never broken a bone before and so he wondered if it hurt a whole lot. He'd sprained something, though, but those types of injuries didn't usually require slings from his experience. Spraining his ankle had not been a fun experience as he hopped around trying to do normal things. He'd adamantly refused the idea of crutches and so had hobbled and limped around until it had healed. "I hope it gets better soon," he said earnestly, brows scrunching up in distress. He hated to see his friends get hurt.
Recovering from the panic over the fact that she'd been hurt, Ashton was able to focus now on what she'd said about her homework. "Well that's not very nice," he said when Chris was accused of not, y'know, helping her cheat and all that. Poor Chris. "I'd offer to help but, uh, Math." He figured that was more than enough of an explanation. Everyone who knew Ashton at least decently well was aware of his loathing for the subject. He was not good at it, it was boring, and he really wished it would go and die in a fire. That was saying something, since Ashton did not normally promote the idea of things dying. Or fires. Or a combination of the two. The boy just really, really did not like Math. At least he only had college algebra and not calculus or anything else insanely complicated like that. Not that calculus was complicated for people who understood it but since he hated regular Math, well, go figure. "When's it due?" There was no harm in putting it off a little longer, right? It was this mindset that caused Ashton to flag behind in a lot of his classes.
He wasn't bothered at all when she smelled his hair, mostly because the guy was a very affectionate person and tended to hug most everyone he knew on a regular basis. A little hair-sniffing really was not a big deal to him. He had a girlfriend but as long as it was not with any flirtatious intent there was no harm in it, right? He just hoped Lark saw things the same way. "Right?" he laughed when she confirmed the fact that he smelled of strawberries. "Guh, now I want a kiwi, Rory," he told her in a whine, pouting. "Do you see what you've done?" Alright so the guy was eighteen years old, legally an adult, but he was allowed to kid around and act childish if he wanted to. "And what's hers smell like?" he asked, wondering after Lydia's shampoo. What a strange conversation for them to be having, eh? Ashton didn't mind.
He liked talking about his job because he didn't hate it by any means and so he grinned. "Now don't laugh but I work as a florist," he told her. "Well, an assistant to one, but it's really fun." Making flower arrangements and stuff didn't bother him either. He was good at most things to do with the business and the physical aspect of things. It was why his being a botany major did not bother him. There was a lot of science involved in it and he would prefer it was a lot more working with plants and a lot less talking about their functions and cells and shit but he didn't mind too much or he would have simply quit college. Some of it was interesting.
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Post by rory on Jul 7, 2012 6:55:12 GMT -5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSEDit's getting hard to be someone but it all works out- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - She was used to the different kinds of responses the bandage brought her. Some people were sympathetic, others thought it was pretty cool and wanted to know 'how bad it hurt?' and some people laughed when she told them her story. Rory still felt that it was all very exciting and it did get her out of homework for some of her classes. Some teachers insisted that she could use her left hand as well. If Beethoven could compose music when he was deaf, then she could analyze a poem with her left hand. She failed to see the logic, but then again, they were teachers. She watched as Ashton's eyes widened and almost felt bad for not giving him a warning beforehand.
"It's really not that bad. Kind of cool, actually. People open doors for me and everything,"
[/color] she quipped with a laugh. "Wait till I tell ye! I was walking and tripped over bloody nothing. Tried to brake the fall with my hand instead of my face. Anyway. The pain was brutal! I figured it was nothing, Tony still made me go to the medical wing. Good thing he did." She lowered her voice. "Don't tell him that I told ye that! Oooh, I just remembered-"[/color] she broke off, and used her uninjured left hand to cram about in her pocket. With a triumphant smile, she pulled out a black marker. "Sign it! People do that. Tony already signed on this side," she said, pointing out a section covered in blue ink that read Tony wuz hurrr! She handed him the marker and shrugged. "Ach, it will be fine. Don't worry 'bout it too much."[/b] She nodded then, fully accepting his one-worded explanation. Math was not everyones cup of tea. Although she was forever in awe of those people who actually derived joy from multiplying numbers. It would never make sense to Rory who felt that there was no greater torture than math homework. "I know. For a genius, you'd think Chris would be more charitable. I cannot wait for college and then I'll be able to choose what I want to study. Math is plain evil." She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's due tomorrow. I could always do it, you know, when I wake up. Or or or I can just make up random answers. I should have done it earlier," she admitted with a slight grimace. "It was set a week ago."[/color] She sighed. Rory was horrible when it came to deadlines and foresight. People like Christopher had the ability to sit down after a class and do their homework immediately. She knew she'd save herself a lot of stress if only she didn't procrastinate as much. "I could just skip trig tomorrow. Hmm."[/color] Rory actually did not know how to flirt. She was blissfully unaware when other people did flirt with her. It happened occasionally, as well. Which was why she sometimes unintentionally flirted with people, ending up in said person believing that she wanted him. Only her closest friends knew that she didn't swing that way, and Tony liked to tease her endlessly whenever some poor lad fell for her. "Ha! Ash, you're out of luck! Maybe the kitchens have kiwis? We could always sneak in. I wouldn't mind an extra pudding." She flashed a smile at him. Most people weren't likely to have a conversation as strange as this one. The trouble with Earth elementals was that many were very hesitant and shy individuals. It was hard to strike up a conversation and not freak them out at the same time. "Lydia's got heavenly shampoo, I tell ye. Essence of vanilla with a dash of honeydew melon. Alright, so maybe I don't always use it by accident."Her mouth twitched like she was trying hard not to laugh. "A suitable job for an Earth, I would say. Flowers are fun. Does this mean that you can tell me what the latin name of a... let's see... tufted pansy is?" [/size][/blockquote][/blockquote] strawberry fields forever |
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Post by ASHTON CAMDEN RALEIGH on Jul 8, 2012 19:53:43 GMT -5
Ashton tended to panic when other people were hurt and so he expected them to have those same reactions to things a lot of the time. At the same time, the Earth elemental was so stuck on optimism that he was more than happy to nod and go along with the fact that it was 'cool' instead of 'upsetting'. "Aw, that's nice!" He opened doors for people whether they were injured or not out of general courtesy and friendliness but it was nice to hear that she was being treated well in her period of injury. "Isn't it hard to write and stuff, though? Does anyone offer to take notes for you?" He'd done that once for a girl with a broken finger in his class. She hadn't been able to hold her hand right and so he'd copied his own notes onto a second bit of paper for her. He was a kind soul.
He was hanging onto her words as she told him the story, green eyes wide and attention rapt. He winced when she mentioned breaking the fall with her hand, imagining how much it must have hurt. She confirmed that herself a moment later, then mentioned Tony and how he had advised her to go to the medical wing. "Definitely a good thing he told you!" he agreed. "Imagine if you hadn't gone!" He didn't have any personal experience but he imagined that leaving a broken bone broken probably wouldn't be the best. "But I won't tell him," he promised, pressing a finger to his lips with a conspiratorial smile.
After chuckling at Tony's entry for a moment, Ashton signed the cast and added a smiley face to the end for good measure. He liked to add smiles to text messages and such so that people could glean his constant good mood through the internet and mobile phone connections as well. He always preferred face to face conversation for the same reason.
He wrinkled his nose at the mention of college and Math in combination. He had thought that college studies would be his saving grace when it came to the subjects he wasn't as great at but he'd found out, along with many others he assumed, that it was not that simple. "Still gotta take some," he said with a sigh. At least his major was not one that required a lot of Math and so apart from the core classes he was able to avoid it. "You can tell your teacher that you woke up and your arm was in pain or something," he suggested. It probably wasn't a good idea to encourage his friends to skip classes but Ashton had never tried his best to be a stellar influence. He advised his friends to do what made them happy as long as it wasn't excessive drinking or drugs, or anything particularly dangerous. Skipping class was fine, he did it himself.
Oh, he knew it was possible to sneak into the kitchens behind the mess hall. He'd done it once or twice. He rubbed his hands together at the prospect of getting up to no good, gaze glittering mischief. He'd have been a Water if he wasn't so adamant about pacifism and making sure pranks were not harmful. "Ooh, yes! Should we try and get in?" Hopefully they wouldn't get caught or anything like that. He didn't figure that a detention would be any fun. Detention was boring. "Ohoho!" he laughed when she confessed that her accidental borrowing was not always accidental. He wouldn't tell. It wasn't like he'd done the same thing before, no, not at all! Ahem, anyways...
Tufted pansy? He thought hard on that one for a moment, smiling as he did so. He looked cheerfully zoned before he said, "Viola... corona? No, no... cornita? Something like that... cornuta, maybe, that sounds right." If that was even a tufted pansy! He didn't concern himself too much with the Latin names for things, preferred things to be in English so that his poor brain could understand.
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Post by rory on Jul 23, 2012 13:33:20 GMT -5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSEDit's getting hard to be someone but it all works out- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rory really liked how very easy-going and at the same time adorably concerned Ashton could be. His moods seemed very flexible and... well... he shared her view on homework and the eternal inner conflict about whether to do it or not. If she voiced her boredom over biochemistry, she would likely earn a stern and disapproving look from Christopher. Chris firmly believed that laziness was never an excuse for anything, ever.
She threw back her head and laughed at that. Not one of those reluctant, hesitant ones that many girls liked to employ, usually hidden behind a politely cupped hand; as though they were self-conscious of their laughter. Which... may actually not be so far from the truth. Once she was finished laughing, she put on a mock serious face when she looked at Ashton. "I could ask, but Tony would never let me live it down. Plus, now I get to learn how to write with me left hand. Could be worse." She grinned.
Speaking of the devil...
At that moment, Tony - who had been sitting over at the other side of the room and insisting that he was awfully busy, to anyone that asked - popped up next to her and cocked his head to the side. He surveyed her cast critcally and then nodded, "yeah, that's okay. I was worried about you messing up my Picasso-like artwork." Rory raised a single eyebrow. "Oi, steady! Besides, it's just writing," she said, sticking out her tongue. "Not artwork, and definitely not a Picasso." He tousled her hair and then leaned in as though contemplating tousling Ashton's too. "That it is, darling. But it's fantastic writing. One of a kind even. You'll thank me when I'm a famous rockstar." Tony laughed and then reached over to mess up Ashton's hair. He was gone, just as suddenly as he had appeared. Just turning once to call over his shoulder, "and don't believe anything the girl says about me. They're all lies. Dirty, filthy lies!" Rory was still giggling, nearly doubled-over with mirth, when he was long gone.
When she finally recovered enough to string together enough words to create a sentence, she looked down at her cast. "I could. It would be a dead sound excuse. 'Sides, maths a bore and I'd much rather be doing something else." And he was game! She knew that he would be. But still. She grinned and looked over her shoulder in what she hoped didn't look suspicious. The common room really was almost emptied out. "Shall we commence with Mission: Break Into the Kitchens? It'll be dangerous. It may cost us our lives; but the kiwis will be worth it. Are ye in, Agent... hmm... Dragonfly?" After all, just breaking into the kitchens alone would be bland. Code names and stage it as a top-secret mission.
Rory grinned, straightening up for said secret mission. She shrugged when he gave her a number of latin names. All of them sounded like they could be right. "I'll have to take your word for it. I don't know what the tufted pansy is called. Either way, you have me impressed."
strawberry fields forever |
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Post by ASHTON CAMDEN RALEIGH on Jul 24, 2012 1:24:51 GMT -5
He was definitely not the type of friend that would tease someone if they were hurt. Some people had that sort of joking nature and he did not see them as bad friends in any way, he merely was not of the same mindset. If someone he loved was hurt or upset he was the one who would be hugging them and offering a shoulder to cry on. Or offering to write notes for them if they broke their wrist. "I would and all but we're not in the same grade," he said, looking apologetic. It wasn't his fault that his parents had decided to have a kid before hers had, he couldn't help his age, but he still wished there was something he could do. "If you ever do need someone to just write for you, though, I'd do it!" Favours were not something he was likely to turn down. He liked helping.
The idea of learning to be ambidextrous was an interesting one, though. He wondered if any of his friends were. He had so many that it was entirely possible. "Are you any good at it now?" He was curious.
The Earth graduate blinked when Tony seemed to appear out of nowhere to inspect the cast, though in the spirit of friendliness he offered a grin of greeting and didn't seem bothered by the other's sudden presence. He was an amiable guy. "I think mine would outsell yours," he shot at Tony, though it was obvious that he was kidding. Writing on a cast was definitely not artwork. He was not an artist by any means. His expertise consisted of stick figures and rough concepts. That didn't bug him. He had other talents, like gardening. He laughed as Tony left, shaking his head. "Is he always like this?" The other boy was pretty funny if you asked Ashton. He took amusement in a lot of things.
Though he was a decent kid and he didn't participate in vandalism or anything of the sort, Ashton was not above making excuses to get out of class or else skipping it altogether. There were some days when he just was not in the mood. Then there had been Valentine's Day when he'd skipped in order to hang out with his girlfriend at Wal-Mart. That had been a fun, if short-lived, experience.
It was all for the kiwis. That was what Ashton told himself over and over again as he began to get hyped up about their 'mission'. He definitely enjoyed fooling around with friends and getting up to no good. His mother would probably duck her head in shame if she knew some of the stupid things he'd agreed to for the sake of having fun or hanging around his friends. He'd gotten arrested once for trespassing and that had been a bit humbling but the fact that he was up for breaking into the kitchens meant that he had not truly learned his lesson. "Dragonfly? Sweet," he grinned. He liked the sound of that! "What're you then, Rory? Like... butterfly, or something? Maybe a flower, like an orchid." Agent Orchid sounded cool, at least to him. "For the kiwis and for Aslan!" he exclaimed louder than was probably necessary.
Hopping up from the couch, he did not think to dress in all black or anything like that. He wasn't thinking that they had a chance of being caught. He just wanted a kiwi! He hummed cheerfully in his throat as he led the way out of the Earth dormitories, the tunnel leading up and out onto the first floor. It was subconscious to turn left toward the mess hall. A few well-worn paths that he knew as well as his own house. When they got to the main doors they were closed and he frowned. "We've hit a road-block," he said. "We can't abort the mission yet, though! What could we use to unlock this door?" He tapped his chin, wondered if she had any ideas.
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