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Post by AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL on Sept 3, 2012 18:06:36 GMT -5
 Avery skimmed over paper work, his eyes only scanning the pages for a few seconds at a time before tossing them back on his desk, fully and immensely not in the mood to do anything work related. Days like these, he preferred to laze around in his office and just take a nap or something. The beds were awfully comfortable too, so it wasn’t like he was complaining. Avery thanked the heavens that school was almost over, but he couldn’t help but wonder why he was still here. It’s not like he had a lot of patients today, and if one were to wander into the medical wing looking for help, there were other nurses/doctors to help them. Better safe than sorry. There was an incident about a few years ago when Avery was new to the medical staff where he left early (mind you, it was only a few minutes before his shift officially ended). Unfortunately, that was the day when the “higher ups” decided to check up on the medical wing…and Avery just so happened to not be there. He still cringed looking back on it. Avery hated being scolded, so ever since then, he stayed, even after a few minutes his shift ended, just so he wouldn’t have a repeat of that day.
Glaring up at the clock, he waited as the seconds ticked by.
Dammit. Avery tapped his fingers on his wooden desk, the sound both echoing in his empty room and thoroughly annoying him, even though he was the source of the sound in the first place. Now, don’t get him wrong, he was usually a patient guy who would be happy to stay after his shift if someone needed him to be. But that’s that point, there was no one who needed him at the moment. Just to confirm his thoughts, he poked his head out into the hall, frowning at the emptiness, but he cracked a smile at the reception before heading back in, flopping down onto the bed. It was as if Avery could hear the agonizingly slow ticking of the clock and he flailed/flipped over onto the side, shoving the pillow over his ears as he glared at a spot on the pasty white wall that boxed him in for about sixty hours a week. He loved his job, really. But Avery had issues with his inconsistent schedule.
Sighing, he flipped over onto his back again, staring at the ceiling before peeking at the clock. He frowned. Seriously, it had only been a minute? That’s it. Avery scrambled out of bed (somewhat unsuccessfully as he got tangled in the sheets, therefore flopping onto the ground with a thud) and grabbed his things, threw off his white coat and flung the door open hastily, not entirely watching where he was going. Avery said that, because he ran into something really hard. And kind of warm, actually. Rubbing his nose, Avery pouted, looking up at the obstacle that prevented him from leaving (and almost potentially breaking his nose). He blinked back the watery tears for a moment, peering his eyes to get a clearer view, but that was kind of hard when Avery's nose stung like hell. “Oww…whyyyy...”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Sept 4, 2012 21:53:25 GMT -5
"Isn't a little early to be considering references?" Joshua sat in the mess hall with one of his classmates, drinking black coffee as he drummed his fingers on the table and told her of his plans. He shook his head. "I don't think so. Applications start soon and I want to make sure I have people I can count on." He couldn't say that he was scared about getting into medical school. Josh had always been confident in himself, he knew what he was getting into and he didn't have many doubts. That didn't mean he wasn't nervous. If he didn't get good people backing him and someone else with the same base credentials did, maybe they'd get in first. He didn't want anything to come between he and his dream. "Guess you're right. I'm kind of glad I don't have to worry about that." His friend wanted to go into science and so their paths would soon split. "Good luck, though. Do you have any ideas of who you'll ask?" He had an answer for that one right away but he settled for nodding and taking another sip of his coffee before he gave a verbal response. "Dr. Schultz said he'll put in a good word and I'm thinking of asking Avery, too." Seeing her confused look, he said, "The nurse, medical wing?" Well technically Avery did a doctor's work but Josh called him what he liked to be called. Friendship. "Ohh. I don't go down there much. Shouldn't you get going?"
A glance at the clock told him that she was right and that he had classes to attend, so he bade her farewell and hurried toward his next one. His last class for that day went on a little longer than most of the high school classes so by the time he left the room the hallways were quieter than usual with only a few others bustling around. He offered no smiles or greetings. He wasn't in a bad mood, he simply wasn't a friendly guy without reason. The medical wing was on the central floor with the logic that someone on the final floor might not make it all the way downstairs in time and vice versa, so he went down a couple of flights and found himself in front of the door. He was only just beginning to reach for the knob when he heard it turning from the other side and backed off a couple steps so that he didn't get hit in the face with it. He had opened his mouth to give a brief apology to the person behind said door and brush past them to the interior but before he could do anything in the form of a reaction, someone was slamming quite hard into him. He backed off another step, this time from the force of it, blinking and glancing down at his friend as he uttered a whine. "You have all the grace of a stampeding elephant," he said dryly, not sounding amused. When did he ever sound authentic? He was not actually angry at his friend but whether Avery picked up on that all depended on the other man.
He was in significantly less pain than Avery, it seemed, just a little ache in his chest from the point of contact that was easily ignored. Despite being stoic and serious he had a heart and he was a loyal friend so he asked, "You're not dying or anything, eh?" It was said with the sort of joking affection that was common when he was trying to show concern without getting all mushy. "Where were you going in such a hurry, anyway? I came down to talk to you but I could clear out if you've got somewhere you need to be." It had sure looked important with the way that Avery had nearly tore out of the room but then again, how could you tell with the doctor nurse? Leaning against the wall just outside the door, Josh was relaxed and unbothered for the most part. He had nowhere important he needed to be. His expression bore the tell-tale signs of exhaustion due to the late night he'd pulled but that was common of the Fire graduate and nothing really alarming.
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Post by AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL on Sept 23, 2012 16:57:10 GMT -5
Yeesh. It really did feel like he walked into a brick wall—that, or he was just really intolerant to pain. Avery curled up his hand and rubbed the stinging tears from his eyes and looked up again, realizing it was Josh. Normally the nurse would be all over the Fire graduate at this point, attacking him affectionate hugs and snuggles, but he was disoriented at this point from the collision. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But it hurt and Avery didn’t like thinking clearly. He ignored Josh’s comment and poked his chest with his finger, narrowing his eyes at it as he took a step closer. “Geez, what do you eat every day? Concrete?” Avery rubbed at his nose again, silently hoping it wouldn’t bruise. He’d be horrified if he did, because he was as superficial about his looks as every other teenager was about theirs. He huffed, his lips in a permanent pout, and he opened his mouth again as he recalled Josh’s earlier comment. “And I have the grace of a freakin’ dolphin, thank you very much.” Avery sniffled, tilting his chin upwards as he stepped back into his office again. Mirror, mirror, mirror. He walked over to the corner of his office where the sink was, the clean mirror hanging over it and he inspected his nose, sighing in relief. There wasn’t any damage done, but Avery silently cursed himself. He just jinxed it, didn’t he? Watch the purple spread through his skin like ink a few hours later.
After a moment of silence, Avery jumped at the sound of Josh’s voice, realizing that he forgot about the Fire standing near the door. The nurse toddled over and pouted up at him, poking his nose. “In situations like these, you’re supposed to kiss it to make it feel better.” Avery nodded, blinking innocently at Josh. He was kidding of course, but sometimes it was hard to tell considering the well known fact he loved receiving and giving affection. He shrugged a moment later, pursing his lips. “Nowhere in particular, just was bored all alone.” Avery then grinned cheekily at Josh, taking his hand and swinging it back and forth in manner that would remind one of a kid. “But now you’re here!” He nodded again, this time more frivolously and his dark brown hair shook at the sudden movement. Avery let go of Josh’s hand after a moment, still grinning. “And of course! I always have time for you~” he cooed at the Fire. It wasn’t like Avery was looking forward to going home just yet—rather, usually after his shifts, he’d wander off into Maple Hallow and walk around mindlessly until it got dark. Hey, it beat going back to an empty apartment. And now he had company!
Avery shuffled his feet, picking up the things he had dropped when he bumped into a brick wall Josh. He absently asked, “What’cha wanna talk about?” He glanced up after a moment and instead just sat on the ground, his things bundled messily in his arms. Meh, no use in trying to be organized or something. He was just going to toss it in some random direction when he got home anyways. “Is it about our friendship?” Avery pouted, his eyes looking as if someone took away his lollipops. “Because I told you I can fix it~ I can change!” Inside Avery was starting to panic. ‘I want to talk to you’ never had any good connotation. His eyes widened and he scrambled onto his feet, latching onto Josh as he buried his face into the very thing he smacked his nose into. "I refuse!"
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Sept 23, 2012 21:53:50 GMT -5
He had to laugh as Avery poked his chest. "No, that's far too crunchy for my tastes." He made a face akin to what a child might pull when talking about spinach or green beans or some other vegetable. His tone was level and incredibly serious. "So I drink smoothies of cement mix and let it harden over time." Avery had set himself up for that one but he would be shocked if his fellow elemental didn't expect such things from the Fire. His serious humour had been the death of a couple friendships thanks to people taking him literally but it was also the life of some others. He lifted his eyebrows and considered 'dolphin', then decided that it made sense. Guy's a Water, after all. Swans, the cliché animal associated with grace, made more sense for someone that controlled wind as opposed to Water. He took a couple of steps into the room and watched as Avery went over to the mirror, wondering what he was checking for. There had been no damage from what Joshua had seen. Maybe it really hurts? That caused a stirring of unease in his chest. He wasn't the type to apologise but nor did he like causing grief and injury for the people he was close to. Avery had taken a lot of getting used to with how clingy and affectionate he was but now Josh wouldn't want their friendship to be anything else.
At the start of said friendship, comments like the one that the nurse made then would have caused Joshua to give him a strange look and subtly put another foot of space between them as soon as possible. He'd have wondered whether Avery was interested and felt very uncomfortable by the thought. Now his face was impassive and he scoffed. "You need to work on your subtly if you want to seduce me. I'm not one of those flexible rulers." Those rulers were weird in his opinion but whatever. They still made measurements like every other ruler and so he had no qualms with them. Leaning against a table, he said, "Hitting on a soon-to-be-married man? Shame." He shook his head and then a smirk slowly crept onto his lips. "Oh, right, I never told you, did I? Wedding's October 16th, you better be there." He and Nell had finally set a date for the wedding that most of their friends were probably doubting would happen at this point and he figured now was as good a time as ever to slip it into the conversation like a roofie. Without the negative connotations and consequences, that is. Apparently Avery had been getting bored being left to his own devices in the medical wing and Josh supposed he could understand that for someone of Avery's personality. Josh liked his alone time and so he could not truly understand the desire for company but he also liked being around his friends. He didn't bat a lash when Avery grabbed and swung his hand. "Here to save the day, yep." He smiled briefly in response to the grin. It was nice to feel welcomed, really. He wasn't nearly as affectionate or expressive as the Water elemental but he appreciated his friend all the same.
He would have told Avery what it was that he wanted to talk about if the other man had not come to a possible conclusion of his own a moment later. Joshua didn't process the concern fast enough to avoid being clung to like a burr and he blinked slowly and calmly at his friend. "If you hold me any tighter, bro, we're going to be talking about how suffocating someone tends to have a bad effect on their brain cells. They never teach you that in medical school?" The teasing might have sounded serious but it was almost gentle in a way. He shook his head. "You'd be all boring if you changed." He chuckled. It was true, he kind of liked how weird Avery was now. After he'd realised that it was how the man treated everyone he liked, Josh had come to accept it. "Nah, it's got nothing to do with us. I need a favour, is all." He wiggled his eyebrows and spoke in a seductive tone, pressing his lips together to stop from bursting into laughter. Good as he was at the poker face, that was a difficult one. His gutter mind would be the death of him. Laughing it off after he'd paused long enough for a reaction, he said, "Funny I mentioned medical school, actually, 'cause that's what this is about." He lifted his brows and tried to sound casual as he asked, "Ever written a reference letter before?" He figured his friend would understand what he meant. Avery had gone to medical school himself, after all. "If you really love me..." Avery was one of his good friends and he trusted him to be fair... if he'd agree to it.
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Post by AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL on Oct 13, 2012 21:47:12 GMT -5
Avery scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest, his lips in a permanent pout. He poked repeatedly at Josh’s chest, somewhat in admiration, though he quickly pushed that thought backwards. This was no time to be impressed by his pecks! ”I don’t think that’s healthy,” he said, his face just as serious before he cracked a grin. ”I don’t think it’d taste all that great either!” Avery smacked his lips to emphasize his point, raising his eyebrows as he poked him one last time before sniffling again. It still stung, but at least his eyes weren’t watery again. The worst thing about watery eyes is that people always assume that you were crying. And Avery doesn’t cry! In public at least. The only time he let others see him cry was when he lost his puppy he had when he was younger. Avery spent hours searching for his puppy and ended up crying in the middle of the street, calling out its name. Other than that… nope. He had good control of his emotions and rarely let them get the better of him. Besides, whoever heard of a serious Avery? It’s like a bunny trying to be intimidating. It just didn’t happen, no did Avery let it. Ever.
Every time Avery thought about the first few times they met, he had to bite his lip to prevent himself from laughing at the pure hilarity of it. He sensed the awkwardness, even back then, when the Fire would try to establish a bridge between them. It didn’t really work (obviously) and Avery liked to spite him for the hell of it. Well, hey, look at how they turned out! Close friends and soon to be co-workers. ”Seduce you?” Avery blinked at him innocently. ”I’ve never done such things.” Lies! It was true. The nurse liked flirting a little too much but it never hurt anyone! At least, he’s never intended to. And his flirting was just something he couldn’t change. He just wouldn’t be Avery without his flirting. And his childishness. ”Pfft. Am not! Besides, it’s not like it’s going to make much of a difference,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. It really wouldn’t. Josh was as straight as a ruler, there was no changing that. Not like Avery wanted too—ugh, he shuddered at the thought. Don’t get him wrong, he loved Josh in a friendly kind of way. No way near the romantic kind of way. Josh and Nell were perfect together anyways. ”You guys finally picked a date?” Avery began bouncing up and down in excitement, his eyes lighting up in happiness. Nudging him, the nurse began wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. ”What do you have planned for the honeymoon?” He repeatedly nudged Josh’s side with his elbow, honestly curious, but in no way wanting any details. He didn’t want to know what they did behind closed doors.
Great. Now he was thinking about it.
Okay, so Avery assumed a lot of things, mostly jumping to horrible conclusions but it was just a bad habit of his he never seemed to grow out of it. It was better to think negatively and be pleasantly surprised, right? That’s the way Avery liked to think about it. ”I’m not even holding onto you that tightly!” he exclaimed, his voice muffled, but he did tighten his grip around him unconsciously. The worst thing Avery thinks would happen to him? Being abandoned. He hated that. He was lonely enough. ”A favor?” Avery’s head popped up and he blinked at Josh, slowly smirking as he caught onto his tone. ”Well, I can say now that these walls aren’t sound proof,” he played along, his famous flirtatious smirk on his lips. Avery tried to keep himself from laughing but failed soon after, shaking his head and stepping away from Josh. Distraction, success! ”A reference letter?” Avery repeated, tilting his head as he pondered. Had anyone asked him? ”…No. People think I’m weird.” He nodded once firmly, saying it as if it didn’t affect him. And now that he thought about it, it didn’t. At all. Avery shrugged it off. His years at the Academy got him used to it. After all, he is the school nurse. He pursed his lips, swaying back and forth as he thought about it. ”I see where this is going. You’re going to soften me up in hopes I’d write you one.” His face was serious, voice flat, as he started at Josh. Avery wasn’t that soft. In fact… ”I’ll do it.”
He was more like jello.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 15, 2012 2:16:27 GMT -5
He considered it, then nodded. "Probably not." He was vegetarian, he knew all about eating things that most would consider unappetising, but he didn't think that concrete would taste good under any circumstances. At least tofu was edible! He lifted his brows at his friend and resisted the urge to laugh. He was good at keeping a straight face. "Haven't you?" The flirting had scared him at first, not because he was shy or awkward but because he'd never dealt with a guy hitting on him before. Now he was on the other side of the spectrum—he got to laugh at all of the people who ended up in the uncertain position that had once been his. It was funny to watch people react to the attitude of the Water elemental. He didn't cut anyone a break and assure them that Avery was only playing, that it was in his nature, because where would the fun be then? He loved to watch people squirm in uncertain discomfort with the knowledge that Avery wouldn't actually do anything harmful. He only wished he'd realised it sooner himself. "Nah," he agreed, a smile playing his lips. Straight as a ruler for sure. "That we did. I hesitated to make it so close to Halloween but it was the soonest date we could get and we didn't want to put it off any longer." They'd been engaged for well over a year, he was ready to tie the knot and get it over with. He whacked his friend on the arm—not lightly but not hard enough to be considered harmful. "Pervert." He kept his serious expression but showed that he understand his friend was being genuine by telling him, "We're spending it in France. I've always wanted to go and Nell was all for it." They'd been to Spain together already.
Often times when he talked with Avery in the relative seclusion of the medical wing, he wondered how their conversations would be treated if the administration ever overheard. Would it be considered inappropriate for students and staff to talk to one another the way they did, even if Josh was twenty-one and had a mind of his own? Ah, it was probably for the best that they didn't go shouting about their little jokes. They both understood that it was all in good fun no matter what anyone else might believe. "You are a burr in human form," he insisted, though he made no move to pry the Water off. It was easier to just wait for his friend to let go. He wasn't actually suffocating—if he had been, Josh would have been a lot more vicious with his threats. And they'd have been actual threats, no jokes. "Ah, so that's why you never make an actual move on anyone, huh? What, do you have some soundproof room in the back, your equivalent of a windowless van? 'Cause I'm not falling for the lost puppy trick." He seemed to give a thoughtful pause. It was very difficult not to laugh and blow his composure. "I don't know, though, if you promise me candy it might be all over for me..." He laughed then, deciding it was a good place to relax his act. Candy really was a weakness of his but he was obviously kidding. He wouldn't act like Avery was a pedophile if he was being serious! He had a lot more respect for his friend and future coworker than that.
Avery didn't seem bothered by the fact that he wasn't trusted as a reference but the revelation brought a brief frown to the lips of the Fire. "Well they don't know what they're missing, clearly." He was more serious than he'd been for the rest of the conversation. It bothered him to think that the other students wouldn't trust his friend, even if it didn't affect Avery himself. Joshua was a protective individual, it was in his nature. Still, he shook it off. "Ah, well, weird or not, I'm asking." He cracked a brief smile. So maybe the resident hermit crab lover and the weird 'nurse' in the medical wing weren't the best two people to ask first but hell, Joshua made his own decisions. He trusted Dr. Schultz and he trusted "Nurse" Avery just as much. "Soften you up? If you were any softer, bro, you'd be liquefied." His words were teasing and affectionate. He paused and looked expectantly at the Water as he waited for an answer. He didn't think that his friend would be cruel enough to deny him but he was nevertheless gladdened into a bright grin when his fellow elemental agreed. "Dude, awesome! Knew I could count on you." He wasn't the most affectionate guy in the world but he did spare a nice, brotherly hug for his buddy at that moment. "No way they'll turn me down with you on my side, eh?" He was still smiling, glad that he had the support. Medical school was a nerve-racking experience and it was good to know he could easily find people that would back him up. He was a good student and a credible guy but they wouldn't take his word alone.
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Post by AVERY JUNNOSUKE KAEL on Oct 21, 2012 0:35:52 GMT -5
Avery rolled his eyes. “Probably not? Totally not!” He shook his head in mock disapproval, clicking his tongue. In every day conversations like these, no matter what the subject, his doctor nurse instincts tended to get a little sensitive. Avery didn’t mean for It to happen, but it just… did. One of his many quirks, but he couldn’t help but think about if someone really did consume cement mix. Would they just digest it normally, and it hardens over time in their body? Or would their body reject it as soon as it was consumed? And if it didn’t, would the person literally shit bricks? Ah, so many questions, so little answers. Or maybe there was—he didn’t know. He didn’t know if anyone was actually stupid enough to try to drink cement mix. “I have,” Avery replied nonchalantly, then pouted. “As if any of it actually worked.” Ah, the early days. Avery remembered it so clearly—the Fire would try to avoid any contact (physically, anyways) and it was just so funny watching him squirm when the nurse directed a flirtatious line to him. It was the exact same discomfort almost everybody had when they first met Avery. Now most people brushed it off, and some (including Josh) played along with him. Those were his favorites.
“I’m so excited for you!” As if him bouncing up and down with a wide grin on his face didn’t give that away. “A student marrying before me,” Avery sniffled, wiping a fake tear from his face. “What have I been doing with my life?” He sniffled again for extra measure, his lips in a permanent pout. What has he been doing with his life? Flirting with jail bait? Precisely. But it’s not like Avery ever wanted to settle down… okay, that was a lie. It’d be nice to come home to someone instead of being greeted by silence. Now that he thought about it, it’d be really nice… too bad he didn’t have enough desire to try for one. Blame his upbringing for the bad image of love. “Am not!” Avery paused for a second, pouting again as he hung his head. “Okay I am... but I don’t want any details. My image of Nell is adorable and cute and innocent so I don’t want to hear anything that could pop that!” He nodded frivolously. He really didn’t… but he could help but add the innuendo of popping a cherry. Yeah… Avery never said he was the best influence. Or all that great with his words.
“Am not!” Avery repeated, clutching onto him tighter. “I’m cuter!” And it was true. He was not those spiky annoying things that clung onto clothes. He was actually a human being who just so happened to love affection… and clinging onto people. And insist that they loved him. Yeah. Avery wasn’t awkward at all. Just… a lonely person. If that didn’t sound creepy or anything. “If I wanted to make a move on someone, I’d bring them to my apartment.” Avery rolled his eyes, scoffing playfully as if Josh was an amateur or something. He’d never seduce anyone during school, nor would he try to on any of the students, despite contrary belief with his flirtatious tendencies. “I’d finally be able to break down your guard?” He grinned at him happily, placing an arm around his shoulders. “Too bad my candy only goes to special people~” Special people = himself. But he made exceptions, especially to his patients who cried. He hated crying. Not in the bad way, but it just hurt him to see people crying, even though he may not know them personally.
All Avery did was smile back at Josh, choosing not to address the small frown on his lips. Avery was used to it, no need to get upset about it, but he was somewhat touched that the Fire was. Josh was one of the few who got used to the nurse’s crazy antics (and probably one of the few Avery considered he was close to), so he guessed it was normal. It just didn’t sit well with him that Josh was more bothered about it more than Avery. “Obviously. I’m amazing~” he joked, trying to make light of the situation. “But at least you recognize it. That’s enough for me!” And it was, truthfully. “Liquefied Avery.” He pondered the thought, laughing to himself and placed a hand over his heart. “It’s what you do to me, Josh~” He snuggled against the tall Fire, his eyes closed and his lips curved into a smile. He was soft to almost everybody, but even more so to those who actually gained his trust. Josh was one of those lucky ones. “Of course you can! I’d do anything for you~” Avery emphasized “anything” because it was true. And it didn’t hurt to add a playful, suggestive tone to it. C’mon, this was Avery we’re talking about! He’d take any opportunity when given, not that he’d actually have any serious intentions of actually pursuing anything other than friendship, which he and Josh already shared. He grinned cheekily at Josh, taking advantage of the brotherly hug Josh gave him and clung to him, burying head into his chest. “I guarantee you’ll be accepted. And then we can take over the medical wing together!” ‘Cause, you know, they were such a badass duo that taking over the medical wing was just an obvious thing to do.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Oct 21, 2012 3:31:57 GMT -5
Joshua could not help but to chuckle at Avery's tone, amused by how literal Avery was being. He sounds like me. Or was it Joshua that sounded like Avery, given that the latter was older? He didn't concentrate on this for too long before dismissing it as irrelevant. "Dude, if anyone is stupid enough to drink concrete the world is probably better off without them." Hardly consoling words but Josh believed them to be partially true. He did not adopt the cold standpoint that all idiots should commit suicide but he certainly believed that someone dumb enough to drink cement had their suffering coming to them. You didn't see Josh going around and sticking his finger into a light-socket to see if the shock was really all that painful, now did you? Nor did he experiment with drugs—he quite liked his brain cells, see, and he wasn't all that fond of murdering them. He patted Avery on the arm in mock sympathy, glad that he had such solid control over his emotions so that he didn't burst out laughing. "You tried your best." Josh was pretty sure he didn't want to know what Avery's best actually was. He loved his friend in the strictly platonic sense and for all his joking around and playing along, he was certain that he didn't want it to go further than that. He was content to be the friend and to allow other people to see the real side of Avery's flirting, if indeed his friend had real life romantic interests. For all the times they joked around about it, Josh had never thought to actually ask.
Avery was much more animated and outwardly enthusiastic than his Fire counterpart, who for his part offered a smile and a look of appreciation. It was good that his friend was happy for him, especially because he did not rattle off any reasons why the marriage was a bad idea. "You're too young," sure was getting awful old in Josh's book. It wasn't like he hadn't heard it once and a thousand times. "Hitting on everyone in your line of sight?" he replied, feigning innocence as if he were actually responding to the question. But then he grinned, the devious light sparkling in his eyes. He always assumed that Avery's fun and flirtatious nature meant that he could pick people up for real if he wanted to and that the only reason he didn't have someone to spend his life with was because he wasn't looking to settle down. Joshua had never thought to delve any deeper into it than that, had never asked questions. "You know, there are a lot of things I could say to that," he pointed out, several of the dirtier options skipping through his brain and stripping away whatever scraps of innocence clung desperately to the walls, "but I think I'll settle for, 'that's for us to know and you to never find out'." And he winked, still smirking devilishly. As much of a perverted joker as Joshua could be, he still kept his sex life relatively private. It was also a damn good thing that Avery couldn't read his thoughts because they were a lot worse than the things that came out of his mouth at times.
He regarded his friend with a seemingly bored expression, though of course it was all an act. "Cute isn't exactly a word I'd use." Avery was cuter than a burr, though, there was no arguing with that. He remembered several incidents in his childhood that involved slowly picking individual bits of the things out of his socks when the burr as a whole decided that the removal process was going to be difficult. At least when Avery did let go of him, Josh wasn't left with a finger permanently stuck to his arm. That would suck. "Oh?" challenged the Fire. "And how exactly are you getting them there? 'I don't have any band-aids but if we make the trip way across town'..." He laughed as he imagined how well this might (or might not) go over with a potential victim love interest. It was funny, actually—Avery had done a better job of wall-breaking than a lot of people in Joshua's friends list, albeit in a different way. He didn't know about the gang, about Nell's trial (to Josh's knowledge), or about any of the other things that the stoic Fire had endured over the years, but he was allowed to touch him. Joshua wasn't big on people hugging him or clinging to him like Avery was now doing until they'd established a definite trust between one another. Perhaps it was the fact that he preferred the joking contact to when he'd thought it was serious and thus treated it with less alarm. "So what you're saying is that I'm not special? I feel the love." He put a hand over his heart as if he were wounded and rolled his eyes dramatically.
The fact that Avery was so much less bothered by the whole deal than Joshua definitely didn't stop the Fire from being shocked but it did help him to calm down about it much quicker than he otherwise would have. No use crying over milk that hadn't even been spilt, right? If Avery was fine, he didn't need to make a scene about things. "Meet me in the bathroom, that's what she said~" Joshua recited when Avery spoke of doing anything for him, wondering if his friend would catch onto the fact that it was a song. The Strokes were not alarmingly popular, the song itself less so, but maybe Joshua's almost sing-song tone would clue him in. And the fact that other than that, the sentence was a bit confusing. "First the medical wing and later the world," Joshua agreed. Not that anyone half-sane would aspire to world domination. Imagine all of the micromanaging you would need to do! The world was a big place. A little more seriously, he said, "I'm really hoping I can score a job here after I graduate. It would feel weird leaving for good, y'know?" He'd attended school at the Academy for eight years. Why not work there while he was putting himself through medical school? It made sense to Josh, anyway.
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