|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 20, 2012 20:36:56 GMT -5
It was always weird when a friend moved away, especially when you were not used to the long distance relationship. When this person was someone who had sat beside you in countless high school classes it was even stranger. Their friend hadn't moved, exactly, more like they'd decided to go back home to America once they graduated high school. No college for them, at least not an elemental one. That had been the end of a rather good friendship. He'd caught Josh on Facebook (rather luckily, too, since the social networking site was not one he often used) and asked if the Fire would be willing to take the weekend and come visit. "I live real close to the border, it wouldn't be too much, would it?" Well, considering the length of the drive it was quite a lot but he hadn't wanted to let a friend down. "Not at all," he'd replied, and that had been the decision made.
Skye was coming along, for the three had all been class friends and they'd both been invited. It seemed a little weird to go all the way over the border for a friendship to some but Joshua was a loyal guy that didn't forget friends very easily. Or at all. It was not a big deal for him. Now he was on his way from school to the office where his mother spent most of her time and where Skye now worked. It was a little strange at first to know the both of them when he walked in but he'd gotten used to it easily enough.
The receptionist that worked down in the building's lobby offered him a smile. "Hello, Joshua." She knew of him well, as she'd worked here for several years. "Are you here to see Patricia?" It was not weird for him to hear people call his mother by her name. He was used to his father being 'Dr. Dale, MD' (he used to always tease Donovan about that, he remembered) and his mother being a popular face on the television screen during elections and other political events. He was even used to other people blinking when they heard his last name as if they were trying to place a vague familiarity. He never explained. "Is she busy?" He was actually dropping by to pick up Skye so that they could get going but he figured that sounded a little unprofessional. The receptionist shook her head. "Not as far as I'm aware. Go on up, you know the way." That he did. He tried his best to shake off his distrust of elevators as he got in and pressed the button for the correct floor.
He knocked on the open door and offered a languid smile to the both of them. "Hey Mom, Skye." Trish seemed in a good enough mood. It was rare that she wasn't, despite being a Fire. She was scary when she was angry so he considered this a good thing. She returned his greeting and he turned his attention on his friend. "Hope I'm not too early, I'd hate to interrupt your intense political discussions," he joked. Politics were never something he'd been interested in himself. He'd taken after his father in most things, including desired profession. "You ready to get going or do you have anything you need to get done first? Long ass drive." It was ridiculous, really, around a full day to get over the border. Not that he hadn't done longer road trips before. The one across the country to Newfoundland had been beyond ridiculous.
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jul 23, 2012 19:53:36 GMT -5
It had been weird at first, working for the woman she'd met first and foremost as Joshua's mother, but Patricia had turned out to be nice, friendly, professional all at once. It was something Skye liked about her -- she wasn't exactly a stranger to the game of politics and she had to say that politicians, Members of Parliament like Patricia, weren't always quite as likeable. It was sort of irritating, honestly, but luckily for Skye, this was way easier to deal with. She had gotten to know the woman on some kind of professional level since she'd started working at the constituency office, and it was a job that she liked, for sure -- or well, she couldn't imagine anyone really loved their part-time job or anything, but she didn't dread going, and it was definitely better than flipping burgers or waiting tables, things Skye was really not equipped to deal with.
Really, at the office, she'd just had the title of 'Assistant' tacked onto her. Mainly so far this had just meant she had her own desk without much on or in it, she went on occasional coffee runs, she directed people who came upstairs looking for Patricia, she was the go-between for the downstairs receptionist and anyone upstairs, she sorted things, and perhaps the most actually politics-oriented, she looked over and discussed the things that needed to be sent out -- fliers and ads and the like. It was nice of Patricia to actually consider her opinion in these things -- Skye knew that she probably had better, more experienced people to deal with these things too. By the time Joshua had gotten there, she was actually done work for the day -- her hours and all the fancy stuff had of course been figured out when she'd started working -- but she was wrapping up what she was doing, storing files back away in a cabinet as she chatted idly with her employer about... well, nothing related to politics, just random things going on around Maple Hollow.
Chatting was what it boiled down to sometimes on slow days at the office, and Skye was pretty much done here, but she'd take her time as she waited for Josh to get there. They didn't have many friends both of them kept in touch with anymore, so this was definitely some kind of special, driving a good few hours to see one of them across the border. She smiled a little and nodded when he knocked and came in. "Hey Josh." She turned away just briefly to file away the last couple of folders -- all alphabetical and organized -- before shutting the cabinet and turning back around. "Nah, right on time. I wouldn't call this intense political discussion," she said, amused as she looked over at Patricia before her attention back to her friend. "Nah, I think I'm good here."
She had shoved her things, luckily all fitting in a bag rather than a whole bulky suitcase or anything, under her desk just outside of Patricia's actual office, but she didn't go over there just yet, hesitated a bit and asked, "Do you need anything else here?" This was, of course, for Trish and not Josh, but when the answer was a no, she nodded. "Alright. I'll see you on Monday!" Skye headed for her desk then, grabbing her actual luggage bag as well as her purse -- her Christmas present from Josh, actually, which was always nice to remember. She stretched her arms a little bit over her head. "Looking forward to driving all the way there?" she asked, smirking a little. She wasn't excited for the actual travelling part at all, but her friends meant more to her than many people would have guessed.
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 24, 2012 3:13:34 GMT -5
Having your friend work for your mother could be a little strange at first but it was not something that really bothered him. He had been the one to offer the connection, after all, and he was glad that it had all worked out and that Skye was happy where she was. His mother spoke fondly of his friend whenever she came up in conversation. Trish was such a friendly woman. She definitely had her enemies, political and otherwise, but she was much more social than her son by far. "Oh, really?" He feigned some sort of surprise, then smirked. "What about semi-serious political discussions?" Patricia rolled her eyes but looked amused, used to her son and his sense of humour. He was in a fairly good mood seeing as he and Skye were going to get to spend the weekend together and hang out with a good friend so he was in the right spirits to joke around and have fun. No need to be all sullen and overly serious.
Patricia's smile was amiable and easy-going. "I'll be fine. Have fun." He was relieved that his mother didn't seem to mind letting Skye get where they were going. He wanted to get a good start on the road so that the drive was a little more bearable. Since it was so long he figured they would need to rent a hotel room for the night (he didn't like driving when he was supposed to be sleeping, just in case) and continue the journey in the daylight hours. "Bye, Mum," he said fondly. She hugged him briefly. "Drive carefully, all right?" He had a quip saved up about how he was not five years old nor challenged in the area of operating vehicles but he stopped himself. She was his mother and she was always going to worry about him, he was used to it. "I think Skye'll kill me for reckless driving long before I'll kill myself," he said lightly, casting a glance and an amused smirk at his Thunder friend.
He recognised the purse and his lips tugged into a smile that would not really seem to have much of a point unless one was inside of his head. At least it could be attributed to the situation and the eagerness of driving out to visit a friend. It would be a little weird if he were smiling in an inappropriate situation. "Oh, yeah," he said. "It's always been my dream to sit in a car for hours on end. I'm so enthralled by the prospect." He chuckled and shook his head. "If only there were no such things as speed limits, we could get there in like half the time. Maybe less." Joshua's Aventador was his baby, his pride and joy, and with a listed top speed of around 217 miles per hour it really was a fast car. Certainly faster than speed limits could handle. And he'd experienced that speed when he'd raced it down the street with Nell, thankfully avoiding being caught. "Course we'd also probably like, die." If there were no speed limits then all the cars could go at their own pace and that would not be cool.
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Jul 25, 2012 23:26:52 GMT -5
She rolled her eyes a little at the kind of lame joke. "If you count gossiping about other politicians, then sure," she said, smiling. It wasn't like this was actually any kind of common occurrence, not unless there was something that was going on. Skye was a fairly opinionated person, though, so it was the way things went -- and obviously Patricia was as well, being a politician. It was sort of her job as a Member of Parliament to have opinions and make decisions based off of them... which was simplifying the process severely, but Skye though tthings were too stupidly complicated anyway. This was supposed to be for everyday people to follow -- her Political Science major self could barely stomach it sometimes.
It was definitely nice to work for someone who was so easygoing. The fact that it was a friend's relative was also helpful -- the fact that she kind of sort of knew who the woman was outside of her work environment. That said, it was something that she would have known at least a little anyway due to the fact that Patricia was after all their MP, but if she knew anything from her dad -- a speechwriter -- it was that a person's public persona could be a far cry from what they were like on any more intimate a level. "Thanks, Patricia," she said, smiling. "Don't worry, if he gets out of hand I think I can take him." She smirked back. She probably wouldn't really do anything super drastic or anything, but she didn't expect that this would be a concern for Josh. She wouldn't agree to riding with him all the way across the border if she didn't trust him to drive, at least. Then again, Skye could drive too, even though she didn't have a car -- but jeez, she'd just feel awful in case something did happen if she were driving his car. Nah, they'd figure something out so long as they didn't actually end up speeding and dying on the way.
Skye caught his smile and returned it, whether or not she was right about the fact that it was regarding the purse. "Oh, I'm sure. You've looked forward to this moment your whole life. Prepared a speech and everything, I'd bet." She shot him a look at his joke, though. "I'd really like to live past twenty-one if I could, thanks." Hey, twenty-one was still pretty young, all things considered. Then again, it kind of felt like they were getting really old, too. She knew that Josh's birthday had been ridiculously recently. "Alright. Well, we should at least probably go see Charles before we die some kind of untimely deaths." She headed for the elevator. "Did you need anything in town or anything first?"
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 9, 2012 22:54:07 GMT -5
Having never been into politics himself despite who he had as a mother, Joshua's experience with bitching about politicians was very minimal. They ran the country as far as he knew and according to his mother most of them were horrible at their jobs. That was her own bias, of course, thinking that she could do better than her opponents and all. His lips twitched in amusement and he lifted his head. "Ahh." He didn't have much of an opinion other than that but that was fine. He had no problem with his friends having interests different to his own. Hell, most of his friends fit that bill quite nicely.
Joshua raised his eyebrows and folded his arms, stepping and leaning back to give her an almost appraising look. "Oho, so you think you can take me, eh?" The smirk on his face might have appeared serious but there was a glimmer of humour in his gray eyes that he could not hide, nor did he make any effort to. He wasn't too bothered about maintaining his stoic appearance right now. "Let's go, then. Right here, right now." He uncrossed his arms for a moment to point at the floor beneath their feet, emphasising. His mother looked exasperated but she was smiling, betraying the fact that his antics did amuse her. "Well good luck with that because I sure couldn't," she joked, then went back to what she'd been doing before. Josh chuckled and dropped his act as he prepared mentally for the road trip with his friend.
He scoffed. "Eh, speeches. I'll leave that to you guys." Though they had since left for the elevator he figured she'd pick up on the fact that he was lumping his mother and Skye into a joking stereotype. Hey, politicians did have to be good speech-givers. Joshua was pretty good at them and very confident in himself but they weren't his thing. He preferred to leave other people out of his thoughts and feelings on things. "I'll give myself another eighty years at least. I'm going to be one spry motherfucker when I'm old, let me tell you." He chuckled again. This felt good, this hanging out and having time for friends. He didn't get moments like these very often.
"Pft, Charlie'd probably be relieved," he said. "You seriously think he wants to put up with us crazy Canadians all weekend? Nah, man." As far as he knew, Charlie didn't actually have a problem with Canadians. Wouldn't be very good for their friendship if he did, thought Josh, since he was relatively proud of his homeland. He wasn't insanely patriotic but he would be offended if someone poked fun at him because of where he was from. There wasn't anything wrong with Canada. "What do you figure we should do once we get down there? I kind of want to hit up a bar just because we can, y'know?" Because doing things solely because they were legal was the right way to go. He'd been drinking since he was about ten years old but there was something about being able to simply waltz into a bar and present your perfectly legitimate ID to get served that was satisfying. To him, at any rate. "Poor bastard, though, we're allowed to drink before he can." He grinned, clearly not feeling all that sorry.
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Aug 11, 2012 1:14:30 GMT -5
Skye raised her eyebrows right back. Could she take Joshua? Uh, no, actually, she probably couldn't. They had to be relatively decently matched on an elemental level, though fire was perhaps more obviously destructive... but electricity could do some pretty serious damage too. When it came down to it, though, Josh was just bigger, stronger. Skye wouldn't be able to do a thing if they were in any kind of close proximity. "Bring it on." The smirk on her face gave her away, though -- but at least Skye wasn't full of any kind of pointless arrogance. They left Patricia to her own work (despite being there herself Skye didn't actually know about what all of it was) as they left. Ah, jeez. Skye couldn't say that she was a big fan of road trips, but this wouldn't be so bad she didn't think.
"Should I write you one, then? I'll make sure to put lots of sappy sentiment in it." Josh was such an expressive person, after all. It'd be such a shame not to let him show all of that raw emotion. No... no, Josh was possibly even worse than Skye when it came to that kind of thing. It was lucky they were able to figure each other out about this, or else their friendship would be in for some extremely awkward moments. "I'm sure you will -- old and senile but still very fit I'm betting," she said, smiling a little. It was always way too long between the times the two of them actually got to hang out -- luckily neither were very clingy or needy people. Skye really wouldn't be able to tolerate friendships like that. "You're still getting up there in years, though. How was your birthday, anyway?" She felt kind of bad that she hadn't asked about it before now but literally, it had been too recently for her to have really talked to him before then. Phones and the like were convenient but it was never, ever the same.
Well, she certainly hoped that Charlie would be happy to see them, because it was a really long drive and it'd be kind of a waste if they made it for no reason. Of course... the trip would hopefully be good and fine and all that either way but it would be a pretty huge disappointment if their friend actually didn't want to spend any of the weekend with them. She and Josh didn't have very many mutual friends left at this point, all things considered. It was kind of a big deal. "Please, he loves Canadians. We should bring him a gift, maple syrup or something. Whatever he gets down there probably sucks." Back at home, Skye lived a few mere minutes' drive from Quebec. Maple syrup was important... Alright, there was much more to Canada than that, but they were nothing without humility and a few good-natured jokes about themselves. "Hitting up a bar sounds good, actually. It's been way too long." What with having to live an actual life and shit, Skye didn't actually have time to go off drinking whenever she felt like -- even though that wasn't often anyway. She'd probably last been drinking over break when she'd gone back home for Christmas break. "And that just sucks for him, living over there. If he'd stuck with us he'd have been drinking for... what, a year now?" Skye wasn't as bitter as she might have sounded, but Josh probably knew that. She definitely understood the desire to head back home after all that. "Though it probably doesn't stop him, knowing Charlie."
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 13, 2012 19:36:35 GMT -5
He took a step forward and balled a fist as if he were about to lunge at Skye and clock her across the jaw, then stepped back with a languid grin as he dropped the act and relaxed his posture. He'd probably looked completely serious in the moment but he trusted Skye to know he wouldn't do that to her. Not that he'd never punched a friend before but he usually had a very good reason for doing so. Other people? No, he didn't always need as much of a reason for them.
The idea of being sappy and sentimental made Joshua's lip twitch in amusement. It was not his personality at all and both he and Skye were well aware of this. "I'm sure you'll make it beautiful." He mimed wiping away a tear with a choked sob. He was glad he had good self-control and that he could stop himself from laughing, it would have ruined the moment. The idea of Joshua giving a tearful speech was one that could barely be so much as imagined.
He scoffed and recoiled as if offended by her words. "Oi! Who says I get a free ticket to the nut house?" There was actually a strong chance of health problems both mental and physical when one got older. Joshua was so young and fit that he barely put any thought to it, nor was he about to start. If he convinced himself that he'd be in a wheelchair with Alzheimers, unable to walk or remember anything of what was important to him in his life, he figured he'd shoot himself before he got the chance to break the barrier of sanity and start to slip downhill. He didn't want to life a half-life, or at least his definition of a half-life. "If I'm set to lose my marbles I at least get to drag you down with me, yeah? Best friends forever and all." He winked at her. When questioned about his birthday he flashed a brief smile. "Oh, it was good! I didn't break anything or burn my house down in an alcohol-induced stupor so I count that as a success." Chuckling, he answered a little more seriously, "Nah, really, it was great." Another year older but that was nothing new. Happened every year, right?
He'd be pretty ticked off if he wasted an entire weekend driving out to see a guy that didn't even want to hang around them, especially since Charlie had been the one to get the ball rolling by inviting him. Not that the gas money was any issue for Josh but he still wouldn't be very happy about it.
Canada's stereotypes were definitely fun to mess around with. Sometimes he didn't understand why people believed some of the shit that was put out there. Because igloos could operate computers and technology, couldn't they? Well, according to some gullible folks they must be able to. "We could buy him a pet polar bear but I think the breeder's all sold out," he said without any noticeable sarcasm. "Maybe syrup is the best way to go. Buy a bunch of bottles and turn his house into a literal pancake house or something." His ideas were farfetched but that was the point. If he were trying to be serious it would have been quite alarming to hear him say such things, especially because it was Joshua. When he was being his serious self, logic and reasoning were high. There wasn't much reasonable about drenching your friend's house in syrup. "Speaking of the house, I've heard it's pretty nice." Charlie might not have been as rich as Josh but his parents were pretty well-to-do all the same.
He gave a wry smile. "Can't say the same, really." He was sure she remembered the days of Josh getting drunk more often than not and showing up to class with a killer hangover. He always did show up to class but he'd had to work exceptionally hard to keep his grades up during those times. It hadn't been fun. He drank a lot less now but still marginally more than Skye. "Still excited, though."
He got into the car and began to fiddle with the stereo, not looking up as he said, "Two, I think." He got good reception on one of the channels, which was currently playing a song by Marianas Trench. BECAUSE CANADIAN REASONS. "Well, here we go. Prepare for a long-ass drive, yeah?" He laughed and pulled out of the parking lot.
[Maybe time skip with your post or my next one?]
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Aug 16, 2012 2:14:36 GMT -5
Skye smirked. "Great, we'll grow old and senile and call each other up in a couple decades to complain about... uh, whatever old people are going to complain about by that time." She figured that much of it would be the same usual nonsense about the kids never calling and dentures and wrinkles and don't you remember that time when we were young, but there were plenty of things that could change in these decades. Skye wasn't looking forward to getting old, though. It was weird to think about when they were still, actually, pretty young. "Good! Always nice to hear that nobody's burnt their house down recently," she said wryly. Admittedly it would have been easier for Josh, too, than it would have been for most others. Having the power to actually create Fire from nothing and out of nowhere probably did make it easy to set things on fire. "But seriously, that's good, I'm glad."
Being from the country's capitol, Skye was no stranger to Canada's stereotypes. It was funniest trying to convince people (Americans mostly, due to proximity) that they were true, because sometimes she'd be amazed at people's sheer stupidity. "What, you mean he didn't buy his own polar bear before he left to move back home? Shame, Charlie." She looked almost actually wistful. "I guess maple syrup's the way to go. It'll be a shame if we ruin that nice house of his with all the pancakes, though." Actually, the idea was pretty hilarious, but she deadpanned it all just the same. Anyone passing by would have probably thought the two of them were having a completely serious conversation, but that was probably the part that she'd find the most amusing later if she ever looked back on this. Her lips twitched into a brief smile at the Marianas Trench song on the radio BECAUSE ALL CANADIANS = MT FANS, THAT'S WHY and then just relaxed, leaning back against the seat. "Uh huh. Charlie better make this trip worth it, I'm just saying." She was sure he would, despite how long the drive really was -- seeing old friends was usually pretty rewarding.
As it turned out, after a drive that was far longer than Skye would have liked, Charlie's hometown was a pretty dreary, kind of boring place. It was a city, but not much of one like Toronto or anything -- it reminded Skye of Maple Hollow a little in that. It was raining when they got there and it kept raining throughout the day -- Charlie assured them that this was normal. Their friend's house was nice and not wet at least, and after they handed over their gift (actual maple syrup that they'd picked up at duty-free crossing the border) they went out for dinner. Unfortunately it was after dinner that Charlie mentioned he'd have to go thanks to some kind of (apparently godawful) night shift that he was forced to work, and it was so that Josh and Skye were left there. It was still pretty early, honestly, too early for her to retire for the day when she'd just gotten to a city she'd never yet been to before. Skye wasn't quite that old yet, okay. "You know what we should do?" she asked suddenly as they clambered back into his car -- avoiding the rain. At this point a car was the last place she really wanted to be, but it wasn't like they knew the city well enough to walk to the nearest place of interest. Plus... again, they were avoiding the rain. Fucking rain. It wasn't even a thunderstorm either, just a drizzle, which just took all the fun out of it for her considering Skye was a Thunder. "We should go get drunk," she continued. "Like the dumb, irresponsible college kids we could be." But aren't, she added in her head, but hey, they were on a vacation of sorts. They could do what they pleased.
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 22, 2012 7:02:43 GMT -5
He was convinced that he was going to be badass when he was old and that health problems would be your typical stuff instead of, you know, scary shit like Alzheimers. It didn't help that he'd studied a lot of diseases in his off-time out of general interest and some of them were more common than anyone would like to think. One of the down sides to wanting to be a doctor, he supposed. "I think it goes without saying that I'll be that old guy," he said. "You know the one with the scary huge house that everyone thinks is haunted? And I won't even give out awesome chocolate bars on Halloween because fuck the world, I want my chocolate. Diabetes be damned." He actually liked kids so he'd probably be nice around Halloween. And the rest of the year, because general decency shouldn't exactly be seasonal. He wasn't Scrooge in disguise.
He thought of Lark and the fire that had claimed her house, almost instantly feeling a twinge of guilt for joking about it. He brushed it aside like some irritating cobweb, though—he hated feeling guilty about anything and besides, it was just a joke. It would have been a lot different if he'd joked about it to Lark. Awkward, he thought. It was a testament to his stoic nature that none of the inner turmoil that had passed over a few seconds became visible.
Joshua thought that owning a polar bear would actually be pretty scary. They were big motherfuckers and he was pretty sure they could maul a human without incident. Why did people always joke that they rode bears? "He could have used it for protection, too. Attack bear." Y'know, instead of an attack dog. Moose looked more suitable for riding but that was probably because they resembled horses. They were a member of the deer family, though, and he didn't think he'd ever seen someone riding a deer. "If he doesn't, he's never invited up north," said Josh with a brief, almost breathy chuckle. "Already told him he can't drive my car. Last I remember he was a shit driver." It was weird to consider that they'd last seen him in person when they were all seventeen and he'd only been driving for a short while. Charlie had probably gotten better at driving since then but Josh still wasn't letting him drive the Lambo. No one drove his car.
No one.
The rain didn't phase Joshua much at all, being that he had always been a fan of it. All the same, it was a little disheartening to see it coming down in a light drizzle as they entered the city, knowing that Charlie hated the rain and probably wouldn't want to do much outside or about town. "The United States of Shitty Weather, eh?" He was joking and added the 'eh' on the end automatically, not actually doing it for comic relief. He noticed a second later and rolled his eyes at himself. They hung out with their friend for a while and Joshua flat-out refused letting him try driving the car on the way to the restaurant they ate at. Other than that it was a pretty generic and fun hang-out and it was nice to see a friend again. "What? You're working? Couldn't have asked for a day off, could he, Skye?" He looked away from Charlie and at the Thunder. "Can't you sense how much we're loved?" He'd always liked trolling their friend with his serious tones. After assuring him that they didn't mean anything by it and parting ways, he ducked back into the Aventador and looked at Skye as she spoke.
A slow and mischievous grin spread across his lips when he heard the word. "Never heard a better idea than that," he said, and pulled out of the restaurant parking lot. He was almost on his way to Blackjack before he remembered that they were not in Maple Hollow. He told Skye this after chuckling to himself. "We're not in Kansas any more, Toto," he said, then his brow creased with a frown. "Wait, fuck, I don't want to be Dorothy. I'll be the cute and furry one." He was actually more like the Tin Man—if he only had a heart. He located a bar with the help of GPS and sat down at the counter, tapping his fingers on it. "What're you thinking?" He glanced at her, then away at the bartender when someone appeared to serve them. "Whiskey, shots," he said, because that was his usual and why deviate?
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Aug 22, 2012 23:30:11 GMT -5
Skye actually laughed a little at the image she got of Josh, in some scary old haunted house, staring at the neighbourhood kids from his creepy, cobwebbed window as they broke through the gate of the house for fun. It was like some kind of Halloween movie where the old man turned out to be some kind of badass who saved them from whatever was really out to get them. "Not even any candy on Halloween? You are going to be the worst kind of old man to live near," she said, shaking her head. "What kind of guy has the money for a huge, scary house and yet still doesn't give out the huge chocolate bars? We are not friends." She gave him a look that would have been something like undisguised shame, if it were serious at all. It wasn't, of course.
"Like a guard dog." She tried to imagine what she'd do if she saw a sign that said "warning -- bear on guard" on a house somewhere. It would definitely discourage her from trespassing... not that she made a habit of trespassing on anyone's property in the first place. "Bears are huge, though. Doubt anyone would mess with him if he had one of those guys in the backyard just waiting to attack." Their friend was American, but had (obviously) spent a good number of years in Canada, so she figured that he'd probably be able to make Canadian jokes right along wtih them if he were there or if they started spouting them later when they met up. No one can like Canadians though. It was a weird fact about the people from their country. "Yeah, but he was like... what, seventeen. We were all so young." They were far from old, as their earlier conversation had demonstrated, but it was weird how much had changed in the span of a few years. "Probably still sucks at driving, now that I think about it. Didn't he hit that fire hydrant the one time?" Charlie had always been a pretty amusing dude... though probably not on purpose.
Watching the rain outside rather than looking at her friend, Skye did smirk a little. "I know, eh?" Unlike Josh, she said it on purpose. She exhaled slowly out of her nose as she turned away from the window, but smiled a little when she saw him roll his eyes. "Might as well pin signs on our foreheads labelling us as Canadians." The British Columbia license plate was enough of a dead giveaway anwyay, but they really weren't far from the border -- she wondered if this kind of thing was common for the townspeople, for random Canadians to pop up and visit them. If the weather was always like this, she couldn't imagine that many people would want to, but then again, she didn't know anything about what there was to do around here. Hanging out with Charlie, at least, was nice and familiar -- all three of them had grown in the past few years, she figured, but there were a few things that never changed. "Don't be a jerk, Josh," she chided, but she was just amused. "Even though we did drive all the way here... and now you're blowing us off for work... but really, it's fine." It was stupidly passive-aggressive, but she was kidding, and it was only after assuring him of this and making sure he'd call them later that they left. She didn't envy Charlie at all, having to work such awful hours.
He seemed pretty keen on the idea -- which she was glad for but not really surprised by. Josh definitely drank more than she did... and he had pitched the idea, after all. It kind of sucked that they were going with Charlie but, she reminded herself, he wouldn't make it through the door anyway. "Sucks that their drinking age is so high down here, though. But lucky for us..." Lucky for them, they were both officially twenty-one now. "No, guess there's probably no Blackjack around here," she acknowledged with a nod. She wouldn't even really be able to afford most anything there anyway -- like Northern Lights, it was definitely one of those too upscale places. Josh probably barely dipped into his wallet for that kind of thing, but she had long, long ago stopped envying her friend for his family's wealth. "Yeah, you're adorable, Toto." Then she made a face briefly. "Do I really have to be Dorothy though?" She had never really liked Dorothy much, but then again she probably wasn't like any single one of the characters. At least she didn't have to be Glinda -- Skye would probably throw herself down a flight of stairs before then. She hummed a little as she slid into a stool at the bar. "The same," she said simply, rather than bothering to think about it. "Anything as long as I don't have to drink that godawful beer Corrosion serves," she added to Josh, remembering their chance encounter that one time.
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 23, 2012 7:38:44 GMT -5
Joshua also spared a chuckle or two at the image of being the old guy in the house on haunted hill, then considered the chocolate thing a little more seriously and said, "Kudos to the kids that walk all the way to mansion country for a chocolate bar." He cracked a smile to show he wasn't as scathing as he sounded. Mansion country was the term a lot of people had coined for the long strip of road that curved away from Maple Hollow and contained the largest and most expensive homes in the city, including but not limited to the one in which he lived with Nell, as well as her father's house and that of their next door neighbour, Knox. "I could throw a wicked party, though," he mused. It was true, a house of such proportions with the money he had at his disposal had a lot of promise. He liked parties even if he'd never thrown a large or open-invitation one himself. He had also grown up a little and didn't consider large groups of people getting drunk off their asses and jumping from roofs a party. Nah, that was a gathering of idiots. Not that those weren't fun in their own right. He smirked when Skye 'shunned' him. "All right then, enemy, get the fuck outta my car." Since the road was deserted enough that he could get away with it, he pulled over to the side of the road and opened the door, raising his brows at her. He was not serious, though, so after a brief smile he locked it again and resumed the drive.
Even Josh, who was pretty brave and had trespassed on a few occasions, would think twice before jumping over a fence and into a yard with a bear patrolling the premises. He didn't fear snakes or spiders or anything like that but there was something about the bear's impressive size that intimidated even him. Too bad it wasn't legal to own a polar bear or anything. "Right? And I was an idiot at seventeen." He grinned as the memories came rushing back. Most of them were all right but some were bittersweet, like all the good times he'd had with the guys (and girls) of the Fire element. A sense of community had existed back then that he could only reminisce about now. "Haha, yeah!" The memory of the fire hydrant spraying water stopped him from internally moping as he remembered Charlie's mortified expression. "I've never seen a guy turn so white in my life. He went paler than I am!" He didn't have a problem with joking about his fair skin. It was mostly just amplified by the fact that he didn't tan even in the summertime. It wasn't like his skin was translucent or deathly white or anything.
He raised his brows at her when she included the 'eh', though he appeared more entertained than offended. "I don't know, I think my accent is as effective as a megaphone announcing our arrival." Not that Canadians had super prominent accents unless they were from a few choice areas but he certainly did have the stereotypical accent from his province. He huffed at her when she scolded him in front of Charlie. "Sorry, mother, I shouldn't forget my manners," he snapped, scowling. It was part of the act but apparently their friend thought it was real by the way he glanced between them as if expecting a fight. He and Skye had basically created their own entertainment just based on how serious they could act. It was fun. "Enjoy the daily grind, Charles~" He spoke with a too-cheerful hum in his voice that was meant to be mocking but also joking. Hopefully Charlie understood that after their explanation but Josh wasn't going to bother wasting his breath on reassurances.
He loved being able to walk into the bar whose name he'd never heard in his life, flash his legitimate ID, and expect service. Though they were gone now, he still remembered the days of trying to sneak into Corrosion with a fake ID and sweating nervously as the bouncer stared him down. It had worked a few times thanks to his height making him look a bit older and more mature but it certainly hadn't been fool proof. There had also been the option of stealing whiskey from his father but that had been a rarity thanks to what had happened the first time he was caught. "Uh. I mean, if you want to grow a dick you can be the tin man or something, but..." He was clearly trolling—the mischief danced in his gray eyes as he grinned at her. He never really hesitated much with jokes like that, especially not around people he knew so well. "Ew, no," he said in disgust, making a face at mention of Corrosion. "It tastes like diluted piss in a glass—oh, thanks." He added the last part speaking to the bartender when the shots were placed in front of him. He lifted one. "To being able to drink wherever the fuck we like," he toasted with a lazy grin, tossing it back.
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Aug 25, 2012 11:32:39 GMT -5
Were there kids who walked all the way out there? She imagined that by the time they got there, Halloween would pretty much be over and done with, so hopefully all the old rich dudes like Josh would be able to make it well worth the trip -- five pound chocolate bars and the like. "Did you go out trick-or-treating in mansion country as a kid?" she asked, kind of curious now that it was brought up. It had been years since she'd gone trick-or-treating -- she was pretty sure she'd basically stopped the year she'd started attending the Academy. Before that it'd always been pretty fun to go out with friends, though -- even though, getting older, it was mostly about having fun wandering around in the dark. "Even when you're old? Partying it up like it's still 2012?" she asked, smiling a little. She couldn't even picture Josh being much older, though she had thought the same of him when they were young teenagers, and... well, plenty had changed since then. Skye was mostly amused when he pulled over to the side of the road and opened the door, and she made as if to unbuckle her seatbelt and leave the car pitching a fit. "Fine, I'll walk all the way there, then." Josh wasn't that awful though, and soon enough they were driving off again, both of them still definitely in the car -- which was good. Skye was very unprepared for walking all the way across the province to get to the border.
"Almost everyone's an idiot at seventeen," she pointed out, smiling a little. She wouldn't say that she'd done anything quite as brave and reckless was Josh had as a teenager, but she'd definitely done a hell of a lot more than she did now. None of it was really appealing anymore, though. Skye was in no particular rush to start having to be a responsible adult out of school and with a proper job and everything, but she wasn't a kid anymore, either. Twenty-one was a strange age to be at. Every age was a strange one to be at. "And then the police showed up. I thought he was going to have a heart attack," she said, actually giggling a tiny bit at the memory. Things like that were hopefully what she'd remember in the future, rather than all the kind of awful shit that had happened at times too. Attending the Academy wasn't always a walk in the park. At least there had been things like that, though -- hanging out with Josh and Charlie and a mesh of other friends at the time. Many of them were no longer around, having taken off to various other places after graduating. "Where were we even going that day...?" She wasn't even sure why Charlie had been driving in the first place.
Being from Canada and thus used to the Canadian accent, she didn't think that it was a big deal in the slightest, but obviously other people would think otherwise. She wondered how used to it people would be this close to the border, but it was hard to say -- American accents were just too common on TV and the like for her to notice very easily. She often noticed Canadian accents more. "Yeah, you know, I don't think we could be any more obvious even if we tried," she said, smirking. Maybe people would notice more if they came wielding hockey sticks or something, but Skye didn't really care. It wasn't her fault if hockey was better than all their nonsense American sports -- baseball, what the hell? "Damn right you shouldn't," she griped right back, but she almost laughed and broke character when Charlie looked genuinely concerned. "I don't know how you're not used to it at this point," she said, eyebrows raised in amusement. To be fair, though, it had been years since they'd seen him, and had she and Josh always joked around like this? It was hard to remember random details like that.
Skye rolled her eyes and mimed thwacking him on the side of the head, but didn't actually make contact. Hitting friends was generally a bad way to go about life, and it wasn't such a big deal -- she was used to Josh. Always keeping it classy, Josh. She smirked, though. "He's made of tin anyway, don't imagine it'd make that much of a difference." She didn't know what the fuck this conversation was except for all kinds of ridiculous, but Skye was in a good mood. It was one of those days. The thought of Corrosion was still kind of awful, though. Things like that did make her wish she had enough money to get into Blackjack and the like instead. "Not worth the couple of dollars for it, definitely," she agreed after thanking the bartender, shaking hair from her face and laughing easily. It was nice being comfortable and not on edge all the time for once -- she never realized how tense things could be at the Academy sometimes until she got away from it... each and every time. "To best friends forever." It was half sarcastic and half... not (neither of them were overly sentimental people, after all), but she didn't figure it would matter much anyway once they'd both gotten enough alcohol in the system.
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 25, 2012 13:12:37 GMT -5
Embarrassing as it was to remember getting excited about dressing up and walking down the long street, Joshua was confident enough that he nodded. "Dude, free candy. And they do give out amazing shit. I'd still go if I thought I could get away with it." He was kidding now, it wasn't like he didn't get enough candy every other day of the year. He hadn't been lying about the generosity of most of his neighbours, though. He had to wonder about some of them, though, the less than kind ones that he hadn't known as a kid. Were they cruel old bats? Not that all of them were old, but. "Our house was pretty boss too." His mother had loved to decorate the large yard of the mansion for Halloween and Christmas and she was just as enthusiastic about providing candy for the kids. The house belonged to him and Nell now but he figured he'd be nice and do something, he wasn't as much of a dick as he pretended to be. He chuckled, hit suddenly with the mental image of an old guy clubbing. It was pretty funny to say the least. "I will be forever young," he said dramatically. He might have backed this up with some kind of dramatic gesture if he wasn't focused on keeping his eyes on the road. When he pulled over to the side of it and threatened to kick his friend enemy out, he was pleased when she went along with it. He loved having friends like Skye who could work seamlessly off his joking around. "I hope your legs fall off and you die," he said in monotone, huffing and looking away from her while trying not to smile.
He thought about it, nodded. "True." A lot of seventeen year olds would be offended at the suggestion they were anything but perfect. Skye and Joshua knew the truth about getting older and realising all the silly mistakes you'd made in your life. It was worth it for all the fun times, though. There was a lot of shit he'd probably do different if he could but since he didn't have that choice there was no harm in enjoying the memories, like the one of Charlie panicking when the cops showed up on the scene. "It was great. His mother went nuts, too, you could hear her screaming at him through the phone." Charlie's mother was a pretty nice woman but it wasn't surprising that she'd been a little upset to find that he'd gotten himself into trouble over the border. Joshua laughed, grinning. Good times. When he'd been seventeen he'd probably been more concerned with all the bad shit that was happening in his life but there had been a lot of good, too. "Is it sad that I can't even remember? I was so amused by Charlie practically pissing his pants that I totally blocked out everything else." He did know it hadn't been Josh's car they were driving, though, or he was sure he'd have remember flipping out and threatening to strangle his friend with a belt. He got possessive over his things. It wouldn't have been the Aventador (oh god, if anyone messed up his expensive car now) but he still would have been pretty pissed.
He wouldn't have minded much if Skye had thwacked him upside the head, mostly because he was the type of person that would physically strike a friend as a joke and think nothing of it. It was probably a good thing for her, though, because he'd definitely have hit back and sometimes he underestimated what 'light' was and went a bit overboard. The drawbacks of forgetting your own strength. "Gotta wonder how the guy takes a piss without getting all rusty." All right, maybe he should have kept that joking observation to himself but this was Josh and he really didn't have much of a filter most times. "Have fun with that." Not that the Wizard of Oz claimed to be scarily accurate to biology anyway. You couldn't live without a brain or a heart. You could live without courage, you'd just be a chicken shit. "Guess you could argue that Blackjack's not worth it, either. Not many bars are but hey, they gotta make their money somehow." At least Blackjack kept you happy and drunk while they whittled away your hard-earned cash. Corrosion wouldn't leave you broke but their beer disgusted him either way. He laughed at Skye's toast, more for the wording than anything because they were best friends and he certainly didn't plan on that changing but it was amusing to think of Skye as all mushy and junk. Neither were like that so both could probably see what was funny about it. After several more shots and more than just one-too-many, he was laughing at everything and nothing made sense. "Poor Charlie doesn't know what he's missing. Mr. Night Shift. Who gives a shit about being responsible?" He was kidding and it was a good thing, too, else he'd have been making a hypocrite out of himself.
|
|
|
Post by SKYE JESSICA FORD on Aug 26, 2012 22:16:29 GMT -5
As someone with a pretty huge sweet tooth of her own, there was no way Skye wasn't able to agree with that. Getting older had also meant that she was able to walk way further than she had been able to at like, five also, so the best few years of her life trick-or-treating had probably been in middle school. She'd also been kind of short, and that made it easy to get away with it. At this point she was way too old for that, though. "I can imagine. Now you have to buy your own candy, that's ridiculous." She said it like this was a serious problem adults had -- but hey, far too much of her paycheque went towards sweets at this point. "Did you decorate on the inside too and give haunted house tours?" she asked, smiling a bit, not expecting a yes but she would have been impressed if that were the case. Still, the nicely decorated houses were always great. "You're going to feel awfully bad if that actually happens on the way, aren't you," she said, but it didn't come out as a question and she just raised her eyebrows nastily at him. This wasn't serious at all, no.
At seventeen, she'd been very convinced that fourteen-year-olds were just very incredibly stupid, and so Skye was sure that at twenty-five or so she'd be looking back and thinking about how dumb she'd been at twenty-one. Actually, she was positive there were things that seemed important now and would no longer be by that time, so that was how it was. It would be far worse to go through life without learning and changing her mind about certain things. Everyone changed on a yearly, monthly, maybe daily basis. "Bet she could be heard all through his city, she went totally crazy," Skye agreed with a laugh. Charlie's parents had visited a couple of times, and they'd always been awfully nice, but she was glad that his mother hadn't deemed it worth a visit when he'd crashed the car that one time. Skye wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere in the city when that went down. "Ugh, so the police show up and his mother's screaming at him and we're... dying of laughter," she said, piecing the memory back together in her mind and laughing again now. "We've always been such supportive friends." No, if she had thought it was something more serious -- if they'd hit a pedestrian or even someone's pet cat or something -- this would have probably been way less funny, but it hadn't been, and watching him freak out had been hilarious.
There was something about being in a good mood, and in good company, that just made everything funnier than usual, and Skye smiled in actual amusement. She wasn't as awful and humourless as strangers or random classmates at the Academy would have thought. "I don't think the Wizard of Oz cared that much about science, though, considering the rest of that movie," she pointed out, frowning a little. "Green and melting and all that." The Wicked Witch was kind of creepy, though, she'd admit. As a child watching that she'd been very confused and mildly disturbed at this frightening green lady. Now... the movie mostly made Skye laugh, but it had been ages since she'd seen it. "Haven't been in Blackjack, but it has to be on a whole other level compared to Corrosion," she said, shaking her head a little. She had been in nicer places than Corrosion, that was for sure -- but Blackjack was not one of them. "And at least it doesn't taste like shit. I'm guessing." Josh could probably attest to that more properly, seeing as he had the actual money to head in there... probably whenever he wanted.
A few (or many...) drinks later, though, this conversation was more or less forgotten as she had dissolved into a fit of giggles over something Josh had said. Something. Skye couldn't actually remember what anymore, but it was pretty fucking hilarious. "Oh my god, fuck responsibility," she said, waving a hand in a random direction as if Charlie was actually standing there doing something responsible as they spoke -- filing his taxes or something random like that. Of course he wasn't, seeing as he was at work, but that wasn't going to stop the two of them, apparently. "Being old and shit sucks anyway. I miss high school," she whined, before laughing again. "I mean like -- the only good thing about being twenty-one is drinking aaaanywhere we want." Damn straight that was an upside, though.
|
|
|
Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 28, 2012 12:04:41 GMT -5
"Kids get loads of free shit," he mused. "Free admission to a lot of places, too. So unfair." He shook his head as if disappointed in humanity because he wasn't allowed to enter the summer fair for free. Thinking back on his childhood, Joshua realised it wasn't nearly as horrible as it had felt at the time. He'd been made fun of a lot and he'd had no friends, which had eventually led to the entire fiasco with the gang, but he'd been spoiled and he'd never had to worry about his family life. "Nah, I don't think my parents had the time to plan all of that out. Mum used to go wild at Christmas, though." They'd have huge parties with fake snow in all the main rooms, multiple huge Christmas trees, wreaths and decorations 'decking' the halls. It was his favourite holiday because of its importance to his family. "A haunted house does sound pretty cool, though. Maybe next year..." He'd be too busy fretting over senior year this year but that didn't rule out the next. Or the year after that. It was strange to consider that the house was his for the rest of his life. No more parents, no more rules, just freedom. It was kind of nice. "What did you guys usually do for Halloween?" Some houses handed out candy and others stayed dark, whether it was money or anti-social issues causing the problem. Joshua deadpanned in both expression and tone as he said, "I will feel fucking great, Skye. Fucking great." He could never actually wish harm would come to a friend but joking about it was still fun.
He had liked Charlie's mother when she wasn't screeching like a banshee, mostly because she'd been one of those parents that didn't immediately assume that an intimidating guy like Josh was some street urchin that would land her baby in jail. It was probably a good thing she'd never found out about his past with the gang, at any rate. "Hey, in our defence it was fucking hilarious," he said, flashing a brief grin. He remembered trying to keep a straight face when the cops had showed up so that he seemed less immature and more responsible and disappointed in his friend but it had been too much after a while and he was sure he'd let more than a little chuckle or two escape. "We weren't the ones who crashed the car." He laughed, almost wishing they had Charlie here right now so that he could tease him about it. He could be quite the troll when it came to teasing his friends but Josh couldn't help himself sometimes. He could be a bit hypocritical, too, because if someone made fun of him he tended to get quickly offended and snap. "Yeah, the writer clearly wasn't even close to being my soulmate." Josh loved biology and science and all things connected to it. He didn't bother going into a ramble about it, though, deciding he would spare Skye the babble of jargon. He certainly wouldn't understand her if she started going on about politics. Well, he'd get some of it thanks to his mother but it was best they kept their interests separate most times.
He was still determined to drag Skye into Blackjack some night or another so that she could see what she was missing. He figured it would need to be a special occasion in order to take out the guilt aspect of spending money on her. He was rather careless with money but then, he didn't have a need to be careful. He had more than most. "Blackjack is the best," he enthused. "It's really big and... open, I guess you'd call it. Nothing like the fucking clusterfuck that is Corrosion." Of course, Corrosion was also a club and Blackjack didn't cater to the dirty dancing aspect. This meant that the stink of sweat wasn't nearly as prevalent in Blackjack, either. It smelled like alcohol, go figure. "Though I gotta admit, the casino's pretty great, too." It was where Nell worked but apart from that it was a place to drink and gamble, which meant that Josh usually ended up spending double what he'd spend at Blackjack. No, probably triple. Nevertheless, he was more of a responsible gambler than a lot of people. No addiction here. "Definitely doesn't taste like shit. It tastes like it should." Good. Soon their sensible conversation dissolved into a babble of slightly slurred conversations and lots of laughter. He couldn't even remember what he'd said because the next thing he knew, Skye was laughing and he was laughing at her laughing and thank god the other patrons were as drunk as them or they'd have been attracting some pretty weird stares at this point.
Joshua shook his head vehemently, the movement so sharp that they almost made him slip sideways off the stool. He gripped the edge of the bar counter and had to take a minute to laugh at himself before he insisted, "No, Skye, being old is awesome." He had actually hated high school and so this was his opinion coming through in a very drunk and almost incoherent way. "I mean like... fuck high school. I like to be free." It was funny, really, because he'd suddenly become a lot less free once he'd hit college and had the wonderful idea to take on a double major. His glazed eyes shone with a mixture of intoxication and delight. "Anywhere," he repeated. "Cept underwater, wouldn't drink there if you fucking paid me. Nope." Mostly because he was hydrophobic but also because, uh, it was really difficult to do.
|
|