-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME [Raine]

It had been a long time since Lark had had any sort of elemental release, a way to mess around with her powers without startling her new allies; a lot of them still hesitated when she came around because they knew what she wielded and knew what she was. If one did not know her they would assume she was just a time bomb waiting to explode. Temper aside she was not the type of person to throw her element around. Some people at least understood that. She would fight if she had to, but not simply to harm others. Raine, to the best of her knowledge, did not seem to think that she was that type of person. Why would she join her out here if she did? That seemed logical enough to her. When the other girl approached, Lark glanced up at the sky when Raine made note of the color. It was nice, she thought. Maybe this attempt at a distraction would work out nicely after all. "Yeah, it's pretty nice outside." She glanced at Raine with a raised eyebrow. "Did you run here or something? Damn do I feel like a lazy bum now." The car had made the trip much easier though, not to mention the fact that Lark would more than likely be tired after their sparring match and would prefer not to walk all the way back up to the Academy afterwards. That did not sound the least bit appealing.

There was a hint of laughter in her eyes as she matched her friend's gaze. "I'm so ready, you have no idea. I love setting shit on fire, you know. There's something cathartic about watching a patch of grass go up in flames." Although her expression looked serious, the comment was meant as a joke. Lark liked to toy around with fire but had no intentions of using it to burn down a building or the park. She had enough control to avoid that. Maybe if she were truly enraged and had no way to hold herself back but that was something she hoped would not happen. It was only sparring today. The fighting was no where near real. That was definitely a good thing. Lark smirked and looked amused; did Raine really want her to give it her all? Might not be the best idea. Water versus Fire meant that, despite the strength of her element, she would and could be at a disadvantage should Raine return the strength with her own power. "I don't think that defines me 'starting off easy', but if you really want me to I can." The water could very easily douse the flames and leave nothing but a wisp of steam between them. That was sort of how Lark hoped this match would go anyway. Two girls enveloped in a faux battle of elements shrouded in mist and steam. Sounded like an epic movie.

She watched as Raine dropped into a sort of crouch, her own body reflexively doing the same. Instinct? Perhaps. The question left her to drift off in thought for a moment though, and Lark tried to think of anything important that would keep them both out of the medical wing and from actually falling into a real fight. Despite the fact that this was simply for fun, her temper and competitive nature did tend to get the better of her at times. "That sounds good," Lark concluded, still rattling her brain for any other additions. "Uhh...outside of that I guess I just need to avoid having the park go up in flames." That was a fairly important thing to dodge. Even though the elementals had reign over the city now it would not exactly be a prime example of control. She smirked mischievously and narrowed her eyes in an attempt to focus on her "target", muscles tensed and ready for the match. "Is that an assumption that I won't? Because I'll accept any challenge head on." She was the type that rarely backed down from anything tossed her way. If you told her she could not do something, she usually did just to prove a point. This occasion was no exception. Locking her jaw to the side, Lark swung her arm out to the side and unleashed a whip of fire towards Raine. Now the games had begun and it was only a matter of time before they witnessed their elements clash against one another in mid-air.

The glazed look in her eyes was not really because Raine was boring, but more that her focus was a bit strained as she listened to the girl talk about the best mode for exercise. Was walking really the best? Hm. Lark thought on it for a moment and figured that running and slamming your feet against the ground could potentially be bad for your knees, especially on the hard pavement. Was that why treadmills existed? Now she had to wonder. "Well, I guess if I decide to make a habit out of going for a run I'll have to keep that in mind." There were times when she went for a nice run in the afternoons, but they were actually runs, not walks or jogs. A great way to burn off the excess energy that tended to build up if she sat around for too long. Maybe college would allow her more time out of the classroom. She intended to become more fit and strong, it was just going to be a matter of how. Raine's question drew her out of the random train of thought, Lark's dark eyes trailing back towards her car with an amused laugh. "That old piece of shit?" She asked for confirmation, lifting a thumb to point at the old white car sitting in the parking lot. "Hell no. It's too old to be anything but good for the environment." She had seen those electric cars though; they were cute, in their own weird way. It shamed her to admit it but the car she was looking into was a Jeep, one of the gas guzzlers that everyone seemed to look down on. Oh well. Lark liked them. "I'm hoping to get something new eventually though. I guess we'll see how this new job turns out."

She had been working at the music store for less than a month so she supposed it still held that "new job" scent. Teaching guitar was a rewarding experience and the sense of accomplishment always managed to put her in high spirits. Leaving work in the evening did leave an edge to her wariness however. Paula certainly knew how to make Lark feel uneasy. She smiled and kept up with the conversation as though the thought in her head did not bother her even a little. "That's actually debatable!" Lark argued lightly, shaking her finger at Raine like she were preparing to give a lecture on her personality. No, Lark was not a very lazy person, at least not in comparison to some people. Chilling out for a few hours and lounging around all day were two totally different things. "Oh, that's true. I didn't even think about it like that. So I guess I potentially have the upper hand, eh?" She quirked an eyebrow and smirked, a confident gleam in her eyes. "I mean, if you want to back out and wait until you have more energy I'm all for it. I'll just say that I kicked your ass and took home the medal." She leaned forward slightly, rolling on the balls of her feet like an overeager child. That would not be much fun though. She wanted to practice.

"Lunch sounds epic," Lark agreed with a nod, already feeling the urge to skim through a possible menu that her stomach had on the ready at times like this. Hamburgers, fries, Mexican food, anything. She thought on Raine's question for a moment before shrugging. "I say we just wear ourselves out and then go and get our energy back with food. Have a place in mind?" Avoiding any heavy competition was a good idea; after all, Lark was a competitive person by nature and she did not want to leave this in a foul mood. The one advantage of having a temper is you (sometimes) knew what could set you off. Never the less, she still felt a competitive streak that was hard to subdue.

The element of Fire, despite it's tendencies to destroy everything it touched, was such a fascinating power. It could damage the sturdiest of establishments while, if contained, could keep one warm on the chilliest of nights. Lark loved what she wielded. While the people on the side of her element did not prove to be the people she wanted to be around, the fire itself was easily embraced. She was not ashamed to have what she did, even if some people around her felt nervous and apprehensive. Her temper could be volatile; a few of her friends had witnessed it already, but it was never because she wanted to harm them. There were simply some things that one could not control, even if they knew it existed. Like anger issues.

She would not be surprised if Raine felt anxious about her element either. Had no plans on holding it against her. A lot of people seemed to feel the same way and by now Lark was accustomed to the anxious glances and the distance people placed between themselves and the Fire elemental. Maybe it could give her an upper hand today, maybe not. Lark laughed and kept her focus trained on the girl opposite her. "I've never met an obstacle I couldn't get over," She shot back with confidence streaming off of her by this point. Water could be unnerving but because this was for fun her hesitance was not as great. She just hoped that Raine wouldn't make any attempts to drown her. That would be scary as hell. She ignored that thought and started the match without any verbal warning. As soon as the fire shot from her hand the other girl made an attempt to counter it, ducking out of the way. The water extinguished the flames quickly at the source and Lark scowled. "Damn!" At least she had two hands. There were times when she could summon the fire without using her hands as a means of extra control but that was without distractions. Lark used her other hand now, this time making a bigger flame. Whips are too thin, She thought to herself. Practice or not, strategy was everything. A few steps to the side and the flame was fully released on her opponent, the backlash of heat welcome on her skin. "Come on, you can do better than that!" The scary part was, was Lark knew that Raine probably had a great deal of power. Challenging her to up the strength? Stupid. Yet the look on her face said that she was enjoying this entirely.

Although there were times where Lark wished she could go without work and still live independently, she knew that it was not even remotely possible so she sucked it up and decided to make her own money and her own way without the aid of either parent. Frank was hardly there even though things were being settled in his new home and his rehabilitation had been successful. Paula did not even fully register in her mind because the minute the name popped up she quickly shoved it away. Lark nodded at the question and did not even offer a full answer until Raine asked about her occupation more directly. It was not too personal a question but she was never one to offer up portions of her life as conversation willingly. "Ah, the music store in the city," She explained, glancing over towards the parking lot as though she could see the store from where she stood. "I sell instruments and give guitar lessons there some days." About three afternoons out of the week she dedicated a few hours to lessons. That was about all she could offer without overloading herself. School still existed and that meant homework and studying. It was not too difficult to balance currently but the stress of family matters did tend to slow things down a bit. Lark laughed. "That would be hilarious, actually. Though right now I don't hate any of them. Give it a few months though and that will probably change." All it would take was a few slip-ups to get under her skin and then every shift with said co-worker would be torture.

Birdbrain? What sort of a name was that? At first she could not even fully understand what Raine was trying to get at before realizing that Lark was actually a type of bird and the girl was playing off of that fact. It was actually irritating, to say the least, and it was evident by her change in demeanor that the name was not well appreciated. They were friends but not so close that deciphering whether a nickname was a true insult or not would come easy. With Josh she knew he did not mean them and so could laugh them off with the greatest of ease. Raine...she was still feeling out the friendship and it was difficult to swallow the comment with a smile on her face. If the girl's name was easier to use as the butt of a joke she might have shot a comment right back but nothing came to mind. Instead, Lark snorted and expressed her dislike for the nickname through posture. Oh, tempers.

Ugh. Homework. Some people understood how important doing their schoolwork was but Lark was still trying to come to terms with the fact that it was a necessity if you wanted to graduate and move on in life. Josh had been a wonderful inspiration and she wanted to strive to do well in school but that did not mean she squealed in excitement whenever her teacher handed out an assignment. That was overkill. "Fuck homework," The Fire replied eloquently, screwing up her face in strong dislike. It was always turned in on time but she grumbled all the while doing the work. Her ability to focus did make things simpler and her drive to make something of herself helped move things along. Lark shrugged and smiled at Raine. "Yeah, that sounds good. I don't really mind either way." Food was food and after their sparring match the mass depletion of calories would surely catch up to her and eating just about anywhere would sound appealing.

Lark was a naturally competitive person; she did not like to back down, did not like to admit defeat, did not like to lose. Who did? This match-up was going to be difficult considering water had a hold over fire in that it could extinguish it rather quickly and without much energy. Like licking your fingers and snuffing a candle. She tried to train her focus intently on the water streams, ignoring Raine's comment in the process. Her friend would be a formidable opponent but admitting that aloud was not in her character. She needed to keep a winner's attitude to stay on top of things. This was all in fun but at the same time she did not want to be beaten down so badly that her ego ached every time she thought back on it, either. Not to mention her competitiveness might lead her to resent Raine and she wanted to avoid that if possible. The water came right towards her face, which Lark managed to block some with her forearm but that left her temporarily oblivious to anything going on past her own appendage. That realization allowed her to drop it quickly and enough of the water bypassed her block attempt to temporarily blur her vision. Fuck. She refrained from sounding disoriented or flustered aloud. "Tweetie?" Lark echoed, not appreciating the nicknames being tossed her way. She used the frustration and anger to her advantage and instead of repeating the last attack she unleashed two more whips of fire that were larger and instead aimed at her body as a whole instead of reaching out to the sides. That would hopefully prevent her from anticipating the move and the flames could not be so easily doused. Her muddled vision would make it difficult to decide whether or not it would make a hit.

"Give up yet?" Lark asked after withdrawing the flames, keeping the jagged breath out of her words as she spoke. It was amazing how quickly you could lose energy, even when you had decent control over your element. It did not help that her last attack had been considerably larger than the last few. She did take brief notice of a few passerby who stopped and watched the match, but did not stay focused on them for long. They were equally matched by grade but not by element. Lark had to stay on the alert.

Lark had never experienced anything like this before. Her life at the Academy did not have a clean record when it came to fights, and most of hers had been spent with the opposing elements. But this was all in fun, and even though she was focused there was no hint of malice in her movements. When she was younger she relished in beating down the Earths and despised the Waters for their upper hand. Then, near the end of tenth grade and into eleventh, Lark suffered from not only the opposing elements but her own as well. They witnessed her talking with Josh and accused her of being a traitor when (at the time) she was still a part of the Fires and Thunders. It was a trying time and she felt confident that her decision to switch sides was the best one. Sure, her element and their Thunder allies were probably bitter and resentful, but her happiness was important. She was happy, even now as the breathing became labored and clothes were soaked through to the skin from water spray and sweat. Raine did not seem to be going easy on her and because of her disadvantage Lark's attacks were not difficult to counter. Elements could only be expended so much before they absorbed too much energy and it did not take long for the Fire to tilt her head back and rest her hands on her hips as she caught her breath.

The play-fight--or whatever this was called--had gone over better than Lark anticipated. She silently wondered if Raine would step off because of the fact that she was a Fire, the fact that they had tempers and most people seemed to hold them all in a negative light, but the girl persisted and ran her energy into the ground. There was a new sense of admiration for her friend. Lark was still settling the rush of adrenaline when Raine sat down and called off the match. She smiled, chest heaving, sweat and water dripping down the side of her face. "Five minutes it is. I understand that you need to recompose and everything." She teased, the labor in her breathing obvious as her sentence hitched every few words. Recomposing would need to be done on both ends. When Raine offered the space next to her, Lark took it and fell back to stare at the sky above. Her breathing finally settled enough to expel through her nose as opposed to laying there like a fish out of water, mouth gaping open in attempts to take in enough oxygen to function.

"You know I can pay for myself, right?" Lark pointed out, glancing over at her friend in time to catch the smile. There was a faint smirk playing on her own lips, one that did not seem perturbed by the fact that this was the second time someone offered to pay for something that she could afford on her own. Josh and Ashton did things for her, sure, but one was her best friend and the other was her boyfriend. First Pacey, now Raine. This will take getting used to. With a relenting sigh, she ran a hand through her hair and chuckled. "But alright, if you insist." She was not going to argue. Sure, it felt like a hit at her pride that someone was taking care of a meal she could afford but at the same time she was understanding that this was how friendships functioned. The next time they went out maybe the roles could be reversed and the gesture could be reciprocated. Lark thought for a moment, pondering the results of their match. The arrogant part of her wanted to say that she was the victor, but elemental statistics would normally put Raine on top. "Well, I kicked ass either way. I think I was pretty awesome. but I guess if this were real...I'd lose." She admitted grudgingly. It was difficult for a Fire to gain the upper hand of their opposing element, so even if they were the same grade and similar level of power there was no way Lark could very well overwhelm Raine. She could only turn water into steam so many times before growing tired and even then it was not always a successful defense.

Her body was aching now, the effects of the fight now beginning to take effect. Waking up the next day was not going to be fun. Maybe a hot shower would help alleviate some of the tension. She sat up and felt her hair sticking to the back of her neck. Her arm rested on her knee as she glanced over at Raine. "Well, now that I've burned off everything I've eaten in the past three days," She said with a light laugh, "I guess I'm ready to stuff my face somewhere." Now the question was 'where'. Her cravings were always sporadic and when she was really hungry it was hard to tell what she really wanted. "Maybe we should just pick whatever is closest and go with that." It would save them from driving around for forever and keep her from deciding on which craving was screaming the loudest.

By this point, her breathing had begun to find a regular pace, but her chest felt as though a fire was slowly spreading from below her ribs and up towards her collarbones. It contracted and dispersed every few seconds or so until finally it diminished into nothing. That was a nuisance. Lark was fit; she played sports if the chance arose and enjoyed staying active but still physical activity on top of elemental activity was sure to wear anyone down a little further than an average jog. Lark saw Raine puff out her cheeks and refrained from laughing, knowing that with the tightness in her chest she would probably start coughing. Still she was amused and expressed that in her smile. "That would probably be really helpful right now. I wonder if they can even help themselves when they lose their breath." Lark wondered aloud, now pondering this briefly. She had never had a lot of Wind friends and so never thought to ask. Still it was an interesting thought. She still preferred Fire over Wind any day. Probably because that was what she knew and understood.

"Five days. Five weeks. Five months. Five years..." Lark continued the babble, stopping every few words to inhale. It still burned a bit but it was slowly ebbing away. Enough for her to function. At least it wasn't in the dead of winter, considering that would make breathing even more difficult. Lark fared well in the cold considering her element but inhaling frigid air was still difficult when you were exerting so much energy. Before she could even respond, the girl found herself being smothered by another body. Uhh... She was not accustomed to affection by anyone other than Josh or Ashton (and on occasion Nell) so this was a bit unexpected and she was clueless as how to respond. Say something? Hug her? Everything seemed so strange. Eventually Lark settled for stroking Raine's back for a moment and laughing off the unease. "Like a human pillow or something." How weird it would be to see something like that one someone's bed. Not a friend hanging out at their house, no, but a human pillow adorning the head of their bed.

Independent and self-sufficient would be proper words to describe Lark, and because of this it was difficult to accept the offer instantaneously. Raine was sweet for doing so, but she would probably feel the need to pay her back out of habit. Maybe it was nice to let someone else do the work on occasion but she had always struggled with allowing others to give her gifts and dote on her in any way. Still, Lark nodded and agreed with her friend. She liked to do things for others so she supposed other people would want to reciprocate every now and again. It only made sense. "Well, if you say so." Lark replied, shrugging. She did smile at Raine's story; if not for anything else she supposed this treat to lunch could slide by simply because the excuse was amusing. "That's awfully nice of them, paying off your friends to get you out of the house." That sounded horrible but that's how Raine made it sound. She was sure it wasn't like that, but funny none the less.

And then the complement was icing on the cake. Raine could have laid her out if they had decided to go full force, completely render her defenseless, but didn't. That was the way a practice fight was supposed to work, she supposed, but still many people did not enjoy playing fair. Lark had a weakness that could have been exploited, yet it wasn't. There was a spark of admiration for the other girl. She blinked. "The whip? Huh, I just kinda...made things up as I went along." She chuckled. "I guess it could be pretty useful though so I'll need to keep it in mind. Glad I could give you the idea though." Instead of using a full frontal attack on her opponent, she could bring it out to the side and use their vision against them, especially if she had one attack from both sides. The practice not only allowed her to have fun with a friend and expend a little (or a lot of) energy, but a few fight tactics did rise to the surface. "If only we had anti-gravity. Then we could just hover our way to food." That would be glorious, but lazy. Then again, Lark was feeling pretty damn lazy right about now. A nap was in the foreseeable future. She stood up fully, also grunting and groaning about the aches and pains in her muscles before rotating her left arm to loosen up her shoulder. That last whip attack jolted it, it seemed. "Well, I know there's Timmie's and a few little diner places...uh, some restaurants but I can't remember their names," She tried her best to list them off but fell short; going out to eat was usually pretty basic so anything past a diner or Tim Horton's did not usually register in her mind. Instead of noting one in particular, Lark slowly made her way to the parking lot and gestured to her car. "I'll drive us. Save us from falling apart halfway there and having to alert the medics."

Lark tried to imagine what it would be like to have a different element. She thought on the subject every once in a while but most times it was brief and fleeting. Having been a Fire all her life, anything else was hard to comprehend. Would she like being an Earth? Or a Thunder? Or was it something you embraced because that was your element and that was all you knew? She loved being a Fire, but it did have it's downfalls. They were weak against Waters, they had incredible tempers, and their elemental downtime was usually the winter. Others took up strengths in those weaknesses and thrived where they withered. Lark knew that every element had positives and negatives so although she was willing to boast her element, she understood that everyone would do that with their respective elements too. Raine's question startled her from the train of thought, though it somewhat matched up with said train rather well. She looked thoughtful. "Hmm," There was a hum in her throat, loud enough to hear. Proof that she was thinking and not ignoring the question. "Outside of bias, I really don't know. Fire is good for warmth and cooking, Water is sustenance, Earth can be used to make shelter, Thunder can be used to create electricity for lights or electronics, and Winds are good for wind power if Thunders aren't around..." All of them had their strengths, their contribution as an element. They all would need to depend on one another to make survival work to the fullest extent. This was amusing considering the rift between Fires and Thunders, and Earths and Waters. Both sides were at odds, yet if there were ever a post-apocalyptic world they would probably need to work together to survive. Odd how things worked. "I guess they all can work to help but they would each be missing something."

Now that Raine put the image of the human pillow that way...Lark felt a faint shiver trail from her lower spine to the base of her neck. What if some twisted psycho actually did something like that? "Oh god, let's not even talk about that..." Because she was not a fan of horror movies and while some of them were okay, more often than not they were a bit too creepy for her taste. All Lark could see now was someone standing over a corpse, laughing maniacally as he cut it open and stuffed it with cotton to turn it into their own personal pillow. That was simply something she could not unsee. Great.

The discussion of parents always managed to instill a spark of bitterness in Lark's chest, a deep seeded hatred that seemed permanent. Frank and Paula had caused so many problems in her life over the past two years and she was done with them. One hundred percent done. She still smiled and chuckled, watching the sky for a brief time. There was not much she could say without drawing attention to the fact that the relationship with her parents was practically non-existent, so kept silent instead. It was a sensitive subject and Lark did not want to spoil their good time with any possible rant about her crappy childhood, the divorce, and the arrival of her half-brother Carter. The only people were were privy to the information was Josh and Ashton, for obvious reasons. There were certainly times when she felt the pang of envy when she saw her friends had good standing with their parents.

"Anti-gravity sounds marvelous," Lark replied wistfully, now willing herself to just...float wherever she wanted to go. "Timmie's sounds good." She agreed with a nod. That was a great default place to go when deciding on a place was either too difficult or other things were too expensive. She went there quite a bit with her friends, actually. There was no popping on her end when she pulled herself into a small stretch, but she could already feel her muscles coiling up and becoming difficult to manipulate. Ugh, definitely needed a hot bath or there would be a great deal of soreness tomorrow. Her finger pointed at Raine as she looked at her, smiling. "Now that I can do. We'll have to set aside an afternoon to do it." It would require shifting around her work schedule, and Saturdays would probably be difficult because of Carter, but she could make it work. She slid into the driver's seat of the car and unlocked the other door for Raine to get in, waiting for her to get settled before backing out of the parking lot. "Here, here," Lark agreed enthusiastically, glancing at Raine with a smile before driving over to Timmie's. Upon going inside the smell of food was drawing her towards the counter and it only took but a few minutes before she had her meal and was sitting down in a nearby booth.