-- HANDS HELD HIGH && [brigid]

The mess hall was the heart of the Academy, the one place where students of all elements and ages came together. If only it could be in harmony, then all would be well. At first glance the hall would almost always appear peaceful and calm but if one knew where to look, subtle arguments (and some less than subtle) could be witnessed. He saw a couple arguing, probably about something that had nothing to do with the alliances, but he also saw several elemental enemies leering at one another or trading insults back and forth. He tried to stay out of such things as often as possible. Joshua was content to stay with the Waters and Earths but that didn't mean he was eager to pick fights with his old allies. They were vicious and would come together in a group in the mess hall, something that was incredibly dangerous. He didn't know whether he'd have the backing of his current alliance if a fight broke out.

His attention was diverted away from a quarrelling pair (Water and Thunder, respectively) when someone neared his table, and the Fire graduate turned his slate-gray eyes onto the figure of a girl that he recognised and could even call a friend. He offered her a light smile and did not object to her sitting with him, deciding that he wouldn't mind the company. He usually sat with Nell and whatever group of friends joined them for the day but that was a later lunch break than the one he was now on. "Hey, Bree. Looks like we've both caught the early morning rush, huh?" He resolved never to skip breakfast like that again but he guessed that resolve would be broken the moment something his academic brain considered to be more 'important' came up. It was a good thing he had a fiancée that loved food, he realised, or he really would forget to eat a good percent of the time. He was highly intelligent but his studies tended to consume him as a result. "I'm guessing you have a spare?" He'd loved that back in high school, though of course being Josh he'd spent them studying rather than messing about with friends.

Josh was a very easy-going vegetarian and so the fact that his friend had meat on her plate didn't bother him at all. Heck, he'd never told her about his meatless diet before and so he wouldn't blame her even if he did have a problem with it. It wasn't something Joshua usually tacked on in conversations unless it was important. "The salad's pretty good," he said, noticing that she had some as well. The school certainly didn't disappoint when it came to their food. He always had to chuckle when he heard jokes about nightmare cafeteria food because the mess hall had high quality food the vast majority of the time. Most of the best stuff went quick and so you had to arrive early for the best cuts of meat or the crispiest potatoes but they were good nonetheless. "What class did you get out of?" He wondered what kind of courses she was even taking.

At first he was surprised that she knew when he had his usual lunch period, then reminded himself that she was a part of their 'crowd' and so it was only normal for her to know that. "Usually, yeah. I didn't have breakfast this morning so I decided to take an early lunch." Smiling a little, he said, "Don't tell Nell." His tone was light and he wondered if Bree would pick up on what he meant. Most people who hung around Nell would notice how much she ate, he figured, and so he didn't explain the statement. "You do, too. What's your excuse?" It was more a figure of speech, considering she wouldn't need an actual excuse in order to take her lunch break early. He liked the freedom that the Academy offered. Joshua had gone to private school when he was younger and though it was in his past now, he remembered their rules being very strict and rigid. The Academy had rules and expected them followed but they were sensible rules and he (usually) did his best to respect them.

He did not take much notice of her off-hand comment until Brigid called attention to it herself by acting flustered and correcting herself. He seemed almost amused as he looked at her. "What makes you think so?" His tone was not challenging, more curious than anything. He didn't know that she had a passion for cooking. For all he knew she just really liked salads and considered herself an expert on making them. "I don't think I could do any better, but then that's just me." He shrugged. Joshua had never been particularly passionate about cooking. He was good at following instructions and so he could cook if he had a recipe but he followed the book rigidly and wouldn't dare experimenting. Anything he cooked was usually generic and without an added flare. Hey, it was food. That was usually all he cared about. He really needed to hire a chef for the mansion, though, because cooking on top of his work and school was starting to become a problem.

Though many hated Math, Joshua found that he loved it. It was not difficult to him because it really did involve following instructions for the most part. As long as you followed them correctly, you were all set. It was one of the classes he got top marks in the easiest, though it was far from his favourite. He much preferred his history classes and that was why he'd taken it as a major. He had to take some math-related courses for the pre-med requirements, though, and there was no complaint there. "Oh? Do you think you'll do well?" Joshua was pretty good at studying. It was one of the things he could take pride in, for his intelligence guided him and made the process a bearable one.

Ugh. Partners. If there was one thing Joshua hated about school, it was being forced into a partnership for anything other than labs. He was terrible when it came to group projects because Joshua had a controlling attitude with his work. He wanted to do things his way and he wanted them done 'right'. What was right to him was often different than what was right to other people and for that reason he tended to clash horribly in a team. He always grew paranoid when a group project was assigned, fearing that his marks would get pulled down for how bad he was at team spirit. Thankfully there were less group projects in college with the exception being a lot of his Biology classes that involved labs, like Anatomy and Chemistry. He was alright with working in a group then, though, because that was how it was meant to be. Besides, if he was a surgeon he'd need to cooperate with nurses and other doctors in the future. He was okay with that. The only reason he hated teamwork was because his creative freedom felt limited if he had to compromise it for the ideas of other people.

Pushing this minor frustrated thought aside, he kept his demeanour light for the sake of their conversation. He was easily riled up thanks to being a Fire but maturity meant that he could (sometimes) control whether or not he got incensed about the little things. "Sounds like a pain. Does it bother you?" Josh was the type that spoke his mind when something didn't sit right with him. He was an easy guy to get along with until it came time to cooperate and compromise. He worked well with Nell in this case but that was because she was easy to get along with, too. "What sort of project is it?" He was good at keeping a conversation buoyant by asking questions that were easily answered, ones that didn't involve getting too personal.

It surprised him to know that Bree wanted to be a chef, as this was information he had not known previously. It allowed a new perspective on the girl and he smiled. "You know what you want out of life, huh? That's a good thing." She'd apologised for stating her opinion but he thought she had every right to claim she could make a better salad if she thought so herself. Then again, Joshua was rather brazen and confident so maybe it was his personality talking. He would definitely be the type to speak his mind if he thought he could do something better than someone else. Not in a rude way, merely in an honest one. "I don't doubt you could. You can prove it to me some time, if you want." He didn't mind eating the cooking of other people. Hell, he'd done it most of his life. Joshua found cooking to be too much of a hassle on top of his other commitments but that was because it was not a passion to him as it was to Brigid. "Good luck on it," he said, speaking about the test. "You like cooking; do you take cooking classes?" It was merely a curiosity, seeing as he liked history and had taken it as his second major.

Earth elementals were so amiable, so patient. Joshua was accustomed to it thanks to the fact that his fiancée and his best friend were Earths but it still amused him whenever a situation came up and it was realised yet again. He was a very patient person but agreeableness was something else entirely. He did not do good when it came to compromise. Perhaps the quality in Earths could be seen as admirable but Joshua had no problems with embracing his flaws. He did not hate himself as a person and so he found it very hard to envy other people and the various unique qualities they possessed. He did sometimes wish he could be without such a terrible temper, for that did get in the way. "Sounds like fun," he said, and unlike others who might have said this with sarcasm, Josh was completely sincere. His love of learning wasn't something he tried to keep hidden.

He wondered briefly why she'd never signed up for the high school cooking classes if she was so passionate about them, then reminded himself that many took the classes for a free credit and so they filled up quickly. He'd never expressed a desire to take them himself when he'd been in high school, nor had he taken home economics, theatre, art, or any of the other classes classified as an "easy" grade. It was in his opinion that nothing about learning should be taken for granted or considered easy. That was his stubborn academic side talking, though. "Culinary school, eh? Is that very hard to get into?" A lot of specialized schools were difficult to gain acceptance into but he did not know enough about cooking schools to know their acceptance rates. "I'm planning to go to medical school in a few years time, once I finish up my bachelors. It's really competitive in terms of acceptance." He wasn't bragging, just stating facts. He was actually a bit nervous about getting into medical school. He knew he had more than enough credentials but this was his passion. He didn't know what to do if he did not succeed.

Stabbing a potato and popping it into his mouth, he made sure to finish swallowing before he chuckled and said, "So are your potatoes superior as well?" He was joking around, wanting to let her know that he didn't see her love of cooking and confidence in her abilities as conceited. Heck, he was probably a lot more forward about his talents than she was. No shame. "Unfortunately I'm vegetarian so if you ever do cook for me, I can't judge the meats. A tragedy, I know. My amazing judging skills will go to waste." He was only kidding, yet again. He was in a good mood today and so it seemed the jokes would be abundant.