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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 5, 2013 1:48:25 GMT -5
Last night, Nell had a dream. She usually remembered them, but sometimes upon waking up only fragments came to her. Or she felt eerily uncomfortable, in the case of a nightmare -- those she never remembered. However, she vividly recalled what she'd dreamed of last night. Like most dreams tended to be, it could be best described as trippy. Existing inside of an animated film could only be described as such. She remembered a lot of it, even the movie it had been though she did not acknowledge it while actually being in it. Spirited Away, and she had to give her subconscious props for choosing a good film, even if it had been a very odd one to dream about.
But it gave her an idea. She'd loved Spirited Away for its scenery, like any Studio Ghibli film. Even animated, it was beautiful. So she figured, when she had a break at school, why not recreate it?
So there stood Nell Dale, holding out a photo from a scene with Chihiro and Haku in the gardens of the bathhouse. She lowered it slightly. For this experiment, she wanted everything to be exactly the same, as close as it could be, everything from shape to color to size. Tall shrubs were dotted with various colored flowers, lush white flowers, all a part of the small outcropping off a path. Winter's thaw was beginning to thaw, and her powers felt like they might be near refreshing. Spring was rebirth, and she took the opportunity to practice.
Nearby on a bench sat her schoolbag with all its papers and folders. As she slowly stepped back, holding the picture out for reference, she didn't realize just how close she was until the back of her calves bumped against the marble and her knees buckled, causing her to topple over backward with an, "Oof." Her legs over the bench, she still held the picture up, now aimed toward the sky as she took deep breaths to regain her bearings. She realized it must have been a strange sight, even stranger that she refused to move.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 13, 2013 14:22:36 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted She hated winter. It was just one thing on a long list of things she hated. It would have been easier to make a list of things she didn’t necessarily hate, or even the few things that she liked. But Morgan wasn’t given to being optimistic, she was uniquely pessimistic, and thus formed her view of the world as such. And as such, she did not like winter. It was unnecessarily cold, forced her to wear an exorbitant amount of clothing, and whats more, she was always cold. She was a Fire elemental, she should have been able to make due. But as everyone was more than happy to point out – well she was a bit underdeveloped, now wasn’t she?
At that moment, she was stalking through the Academy Gardens with a rather unpleasant expression. Her books and papers were clutched to her chest, a big hat and fluffy mittens on her fingers. She only went through the gardens as a short cut. Usually she veered away from them. Those peace-loving good two-shoes Earths were always drawn to the gardens. And it seemed like, no matter how hard she pushed, they all seemed to want to give her a hug or something. She wasn’t a hugger, and she wasn’t particularly pleasant to be around. And she had no problem making this clear.
Her feet crunched on the snow, flattening the white crystals into boot prints. She would have continued on her merry way, seething inwardly and grumbling under her breath of course, but she was startled by the sound of shifting snow and a quiet explanation. She would have continued on, perhaps even thrown some biting comment, but she recognized the voice. And despite the expansive list of things Morgan hated – the woman who owned this voice was someone Morgan rather liked – not that she would actually admit such a thing. She paused, biting her lip before taking a short detour. She spotted Nell in an instant, lying awkwardly on a bench with some photo of cartoon characters held towards the sky. Morgan would have been surprised, but somehow this seemed utterly fitting of Nell. “Nell? Everything alright? Frozen to the bench?” There was a grumpy sort of sarcasm to her tone, but it was only half-hearted. After all, she’d asked after the other girl’s wellbeing, which was almost unheard of. She shifted from foot to foot, watching Nell carefully.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 14, 2013 22:40:56 GMT -5
Nell had to admit, lately she's had quite a bit on her shoulders. One thing she learned to do overtime, however, was deal with the stress and handle it well. Unfortunately, a big source of her stress was out of her control. Jane was out of her control, and she supposed the woman had always been that force that had been pushing against her since the beginning. She's always been her enemy, even before she realized it. Now that the woman had gotten Josh involved, that had pushed her to top priority.
She heard the voice, familiar with that hard edge to it that made her certain it belonged to Morgan Farren. Nell didn't bother lifting herself up, legs draped over the bench and her back on the cold ground. "You know, Momo, there comes a time in the day when you think 'screw it' and just let things happen." She lifted her arms up and spread them apart with her palms up, the gesture saying what are you going to do?
After a moment, she moved and pushed herself up on her elbows and blinked, before pushing herself up to sit on the bench. She cradled the photo between her hands, and looked in front of her, tilting her head to the side. The endeavor had taken a lot out of her, for sure, but she was nothing if not intrepid. She wanted it to be perfect, and nothing would stop her from doing that.
Blinking at the Fire girl, she lifted her hand and pointed across from her. "How does that look?" She held up the photo in her other hand, against the bushes and trees, blue and white flowers blooming. "Think it matches?" She was like an interior designer, comparing the paint on the wall to the paint on the strip of paper. It would be a very good occupation for her considering all that went into it, the creativity and the effort.
"What are you doing in here, anyway?" She didn't necessarily consider it a haunt for the Fires, and a part of her was afraid talking to her on school grounds. She'd gotten in trouble for this before, but she didn't want to be rude. So she let it happen, and would plan this out carefully.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 15, 2013 16:36:02 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted
She truly should have been happy. She didn’t have particular reason to have such a negative outlook. This was something Elizabeth was always happy to point out. Unlike some people, some students at the academy – Morgan had experienced no scarring trauma. Her parents were alive. Her sister and daughter were healthy. She had Nell, even Joshua at times. She had no trauma to lean on, no great sorrow to blame for her perceptions of the world.
But that wasn’t the way life worked. It tended to be blind, in a sense. It picked and prodded seemingly at random, choosing whomever it felt like visiting its wrath upon. It was delightfully cruel in that sense. Many believed heaven chose who would carry the greatest burdens, to increase their emotional strength or some such nonsense. Morgan had never been able to believe this. She couldn’t believe heaven would be so cruel, would gleefully pick and poke at who deserved sorrow and despair. In her mind, there was no such thing as a deserving soul. And yet, for Morgan, this picking and prodding had come, sneaking up before she could chase it away.
It had been slow, creeping over her like tar. By the time she realized her hair was slicked against her skin, she could do nothing but struggle and screech in vain. She had been trapped, remained motionless, powerless. Cowardice, anger, envy, fear, bitterness – they had come to consume her. They had settled quietly in the back of her mind, so quietly she had barely been able to notice their presence – at least not until they were far too powerful to combat. Not until they had their hold, had sunk their claws into her. And in a sense, perhaps, she was somewhat willing to submit to them.
She was too weak, too tired to fight back. She welcomed the repose, the excuse. She figured it would consume her, a welcome sort of death. It would settle over her, lull her to sleep, and it would all end. This was a depressing sort of outlook. And a part of her knew she didn’t truly wish for her own death. Yet there it was, that thought, that realization that she could have fought. She could have pushed it away. She could have been something – someone – different. But a part of her, a cowardly weak part, had chosen not to.
She snapped her attention back to Nell. She, for once, didn’t contradict the imbecilic nickname Nell had chosen to give her. Her lips folded into something she hoped conveyed her total lack of interest in whatever strange endeavor Nell had chosen to pursue. She arched a brow, shaking her head lightly. “It looks like an upside down photograph to me.” She shrugged, hugging her books to her chest, muttering slightly. “And I’m just passing through, people do like to walk in the gardens, you know.”
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 16, 2013 11:45:46 GMT -5
Whereas Morgan had no tragedy, Nell viewed tragedy as an old friend who sometimes stopped by for dinner, who sometimes immobilized her. Tragedy had become responsible for the fissures in her psyche, but she made sure to never reacquaint herself with that word. Or rather, she tried her best. Because sometimes, when it was out of her control, tragedy came in the form of a woman in black. And while she tried not to let it take control and let it become her, she knew it would always be with her. It would be a painting or a portrait hanging in her mind to remind her of what used to be, no matter how far she came now.
But the key, the reason she smiled all the time and laughed and had a painful optimism whenever talking about anything, is because tragedy taught her that there would always be something better. She never got down about anything because whatever she has now is better than what she'd got back then. The world may not have been perfect, that's what she learned so far, and that meant she had a purpose -- to make it better. Not all at once or all together, but in little ways.
With thoughts like these always in her head, it was no wonder that she gave little thought to being bitter or hateful about what happened to her just three years previously. She'd had her time to grieve.
So she laughed when Morgan spoke, shaking her head. "Not just a photograph, a cap from a movie with some amazing cinematography. I want to find movies just like this and make them into real life dioramas." It sounded silly out loud, didn't it? But the girl had come to accept that pretty much everything that came out her mouth would be a silly thing. She was a silly person. "It's good practice, though. Discipline and that sort of thing." She squinted. There was a lot of green of course, mostly white flowers blooming out, spread wide even in the cold weather. Soon it all would wilt, though she hoped some other kind students would help a brother out.
With how bright her eyes looked, it was as if nothing could put a damper on Nell's mood. Not even Morgan's, though she'd come to view 'crabby' as her general personality. And there was nothing particularly wrong with that. "You're right, it's nice for a walk out. Snow's been melting." She stretched out, supple like a cat, cracking her shoulders and realizing that she had been in stable positions for much too long now. She turned her head to Morgan, wrapped up in her own jacket. "And I'm glad you're out here, becauuseeeee...." she hopped up. "I'm done with my art project. So any classes today?" She thrived on company, and so she would be very glad to have Morgan's. If anyone knew anything about Nell, it was the fact that she was a social creature.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 16, 2013 16:24:05 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted She used to watch cartoons, almost ten years ago. But she still remembered some of them. There was one with a little girl, lots of freckles, wild red hair, and round glasses that seemed to take up her entire face. The little girl had travelled around with her family in an RV, exploring Africa and India and Asia – places Morgan had only ever dreamed of seeing. And, as if this wasn’t great enough, this little girl could take to animals. She would chatter about, solving mysteries and saving animals. Morgan had gone through this whole craze where she’d spent what seemed like endless hours staring intently at the family cat.
She would squint, purse her lips, give herself a headache. And the cat would sit there unperturbed, lick a paw, take a nap. It never said a word. And those occasional meows and purrs meant nothing to Morgan. She never solved a mystery or saved a drowning bird or some other such mystical adventure. And she’d still never been out of Canada. But seeing Nell holding that photo, an animated clip, dredged up those old memories. She shifted, clutching her books tighter. She tilted her head, trying to simply comprehend what truly it was that Nell wanted.
She moved closer, peering at the photograph, then at the surrounding trees. “You want to convert made up cartoon characters with eyes far too large for their heads into real life?” She was clearly skeptical. She glanced again at the picture. She didn’t recognize it, but she’d never been particularly fond of that Japanese art. She wasn’t a racist, but there was something about it that just didn’t mesh well with her. Even their tears looked like they were mocking someone. She simply felt like she was missing some joke, that they were all laughing at. And somehow, it turned into her that they were laughing at. It was foolish, but many such childish interpretations were foolish.
Morgan glanced at the park bench. She would have liked to sit down, but was loathe to get her jeans wet. Denim stayed wet for hours, and she wouldn’t enjoy the quiet taunting behind her back. She moved towards it, shooing Nell to the side. She wasn’t nearly at the level Nell’s husband Joshua was. She couldn’t control heat, and had a difficult enough time controlling fire. But practice was supposed to make perfect. She held her palms out, letting fire lick a small section of the bench. The snow melted immediately, sizzling, then evaporated. She sat down on her section of perfectly dry bench, quietly proud of herself. She nodded absently to Nell’s question and shrugged. “Nothing I can’t skip.” She wasn’t given to skipping classes. Despite her bitter aggressive temperament, she was a truly excellent student. She had to be. She was tired of being held back, of seeing those that had once been her classmates graduate and receive diplomas and head off to college. But she didn’t really expect Nell to understand that.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 17, 2013 6:42:15 GMT -5
To say Nell had a thing for movies would be a gross understatement. Film was important to her in the way that that learning about the world was important. It was why she enjoyed her history classes and why she enjoyed reading and why she enjoyed talking to people -- cinema provided another facet of learning about everything around her, and that's something she loved most about it. The movies she'd watched had always been her connection to the world when she couldn't actually go out and experience it.
Thus, when Morgan spoke of how anime tended to be, she shook her head with the fervor of a child who was trying to state their side of an argument. "You have never seen Spirited Away, have you?" Nell said, a slight gasp in her voice. She held the picture in two hands in front of her, blocking her mouth. Lowering it, she said, "I need to show you it!" Because she was all about watching movies, it was one of her favorite things to do when not running around and having too much energy for someone of her age. Especially re-watching some of her favorite movies. "See, Hayao Miyazaki draws heavily from Japanese art styles, but he has his own auteur that makes it unique! I especially like his use of scenery." Not only that, but he had a penchant for strong female leads, something not often seen in film. She'd enjoyed his work from the moment she saw it.
Fangirling aside, she knew it might not be everyone's cup of tea. But nothing wrong with giving something new a chance, right? That was kind of her dig, finding new things and discovering them. Indoors or outdoors, wherever she was, she made sure to have a new experience every day. Because what was fun about being in a rut? Even though she had school and job and volunteering, she didn't want to say even the same words every day or have the same conversations. Something as simple as that to keep her from growing bored in the niche she had.
She scooted to the side, watching as she saw the Fire in Morgan's hands, always astounded with that kind of power. A part of her felt that she should have been more frightened -- fire beat earth every time -- but she had never been the type for fear. Which was not a good thing, especially since she knew exactly what a Fire elemental could do to her. She'd made her fair share of enemies, even though she had never meant to. She supposed she was just an easy target because she never defended herself when she should have.
She looked at Morgan and saw the girl shrug. "Ooh, someone's being a big bad hooky player," she said. Nell wasn't going to play the 'you should be in school' card because she couldn't exact that sort of power over anyone. Instead, she said it with slyness and a light jab in the side as if they were being delinquents when in fact, Nell had no more classes today. "We should do something fun," she said, a flush on her cheeks. And fun with Nell usually meant something not usually considered fun and even possibly illegal.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 18, 2013 11:48:09 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted She wasn’t a particular movie fan. She watched them, on occasional. She tended to prefer the mindless things – action mostly. Bruce Willis kicking ass onscreen was easy. She didn’t have to think, didn’t have to identify the good from the bad. Another beauty to them was the utter repetition. Each move was pretty much exactly the same as the one before it. Bruce Willis was macho and way too athletic for his age. He’d kill anyone who got near him, usually with some aspect of heartbreaking betrayal to it. He’d kind of seem like a bad guy, but the lesser of two evils. And he always had that narrowed eye look to him, that was supposed to look, well possibly tough or something? Morgan didn’t know. And she didn’t much care. She didn’t watch the movies for some great insight on life. She doubted Bruce Willis had any deep insights left to give. But that was exactly why she loved him. She would go to sleep at night, and likely the next morning would remember nothing important of the movie. Some of them, the chick flicks and dramas, well they could hit a little too close to home. And really, what kind of movie was appropriate for a three-year old?
She arched a brow. Of course she hadn’t seen Nell’s weird ghost anime movie. Most of the movies she watched were Bruce Willis or cartoon characters – not anime characters, but good old fashioned cartoon characters. She knew some Spongebob Squarepants episodes by heart. And Emmy was particularly fond of the Ice Age movies. She liked the talking animals, and anytime that sloth thing got hit on the head she would giggle herself to tears. They owned all the movies. Emmy could never sit still for the whole thing, but sometimes they would sit down together and watch an hour or so of it. Morgan pursed her lips. “How about not? Three-year old kid, remember? I get my fill of cheesy cartoon characters.” She zoned out partially. She wasn’t at all interested in Nell’s explanation of Japanese art. She might have liked to study Architecture someday, but some Japanese guy doodling ir-proportioned people was of no interest to her. She shifted, one leg over the other on her now dry portion of bench. She was oblivious to Nell’s eyes on her hands, the other girl’s quiet admiration. The way Morgan saw it, she was laughably despicably weak for her age.
She rolled her eyes, setting her books on the last square of dry bench between herself and Nell. Perhaps she liked the physical barrier. Perhaps she was just setting her books down and it meant nothing at all. “You know me, badass mother fucker.” Morgan didn’t really think of herself as a badass. She was a bitch, but a bitch and a badass were two very different things. She glanced at Nell, arching a brow curiously. She should have gone to class, but the prospect of escaping, going off with Nell – who for some outlandish reason had earned an inkling of Morgan’s trust – sounded eons better. “I don’t want to go watch cartoons with you, if that’s what you think fun is.” She didn’t bother to put it nicely, but it was half joking at least – if that meant anything.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 18, 2013 12:46:11 GMT -5
By all standards, Nell was impossibly childish. Well, by most standards. It tended to balance out in some ways more than others. While she had always been independent from the time she'd been a child, she now indulged in many childish things. One of her favorite shows was Dora the Explorer, meant for children. She had gotten a doll house from her husband for Christmas, and that occupied her quite a lot. And while she used to work with children, she couldn't imagine getting enough of them and what they watched. She missed her days at the day care, a lot when thinking of how easy it had been for her, but she had since moved on. When she started working at the concert hall it had been for better pay. And now she was a poker dealer, and it wasn't the most amazing pay she had ever gotten, but she never asked for much. She may have lived in a mansion, but her tastes were surprisingly frugal.
However, Morgan was certainly not the same person as her, and did not have the same feelings or tastes. It's a reason why Nell had always found her so interesting; they were very different from each other. So the Earth would enjoy finding out more about her friend and her interests and what she enjoyed. She let out a heavy but playful sigh at her words. "You're killing me, Smalls," she said, effectively using another movie quote. But of course she didn't push. If Morgan didn't want to see it, she didn't want to see it. Nell figured it would be very hard to force someone to watch...well, anything that they didn't want to. Unless she tied them down, which she did not see at all in her future.
She thought nothing of the girl putting her books down, instead nodding lightly at the other's words. She was too badass for her own good. And in actuality, Nell did envy her quite a few of her qualities. But then again, she thought that everyone was better than her in some way. She didn't have a very good self-esteem thing going on. Nell supposed it had gotten better in some ways, but she still didn't like thinking about herself. "I have many definitions of fun, actually," she said lightly to Morgan, knocking her boots together. Never could sit still, could she? She smiled over to the other brunette, filled with the strange feeling that she was incredibly happy to have a friend in her. Sometimes her emotions for other people surprised even her in how strongly she felt them. "So it's more about what you think is fun. Because I have alllll the time in the world. Until six, when I have to go to work." She shrugged, tilted her head a little. Working on the weekdays, how about that. She took as many hours as she could. Not only did she enjoy keeping busy, but she liked having the extra money. And she was doing something she enjoyed.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 19, 2013 17:30:15 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted Nell would have been perfectly suited to be a mother, Morgan realized with a start. She was a child, at heart, as cliché as it sounded. It was as if she had never grown up, never gotten that adult cynical edge that so many had. Despite the reality of the world, she hadn’t been corrupted. Morgan’s own home was filled with toys, but for Emmaline’s amusement – not her own. When not playing with Emmy, Morgan didn’t go near them, unless to clean them up or sweep them away. But she could see Nell being one of those people who spent hours with little trinkets and gadgets. She frowned to herself. Perhaps it would have been better if Emmy had grown up with Nell and Joshua, in their massive mansion, without the stigma of a teen mother. But it was no good imagining what the little girl could have had – or dwelling on her own mistakes. She couldn’t give Emmy what Nell could, couldn’t ever have that youthful fascination Nell had clung to. But she did her best. Hopefully, her best would be enough. Her lips twitched slightly. And she doubted Nell could paint nearly as good a giraffe as Morgan could.
Morgan cocked a brow at Nell’s words. The Sandlot was another movie she hadn’t seen. It was a bit beyond Emmaline’s comprehension, and she’d never been a sports fan as a child. She’d preferred animal movies – like Secondhand Lions, that was a brilliant movie. She rolled her eyes, folding one leg over the other and propping her chin up. She settled her elbow on her knee, a certain grumpiness to her words. “Why don’t you keep quoting movies and we’ll see who kills whom.” She wasn’t honestly threatening Nell. She liked the other woman, and was petrified of Joshua. Plus that whole life imprisonment and loss of abilities thing wasn’t all that appealing to her. She enjoyed her freedom.
“Well only one of us is legal,” She frowned, staring at the snow-covered grassy ground. Her lips pursed pensively. What was there really to do in Maple Hollow. There were movies, and food. And the way she saw it, things just about ended there. She straightened back up, shrugging. She had never been a creative soul. She took time to warm up to things, to really mull over her thoughts. This was why she would have been well suited to architecture. She glanced at Nell, waving a careless hand. “You choose. I don’t much care.” She shrugged again, her lips twisting upwards in a sarcastic half-smile. “I’ll end up feeding you shit no matter what you choose.” She flashed Nell a grin, one brow cocked in that half-mocking half-challenging expression Morgan had mastered long ago.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 22, 2013 21:59:57 GMT -5
While Nell was naturally empathetic, other people didn't tend to affect many of her views. She felt what other people felt, she was sad when others were sad, but at the same time she wanted to cheer them up. Maybe it was because she felt so empathetic toward other people that she felt that way. And if people seemed happy, she would be happy too, even though she tended to be naturally happy as well. That was her default mood, painfully cheery, like the world was bright. She figured it was the best mindset to have.
One thing that was true for Nell, at least, was the fact that she did not only watch movies. She had other interests, many of them, too many as a matter of fact. Sometimes it became difficult to actually follow through with them because she was so busy. She had work and school and volunteering and she enjoyed those things, but they impeded a lot of her free time. Like this, that she could spend with her friends. She lifted her eyebrows as Morgan spoke. "So you do know the movie," she said, seemingly unaware of the death threat. She knew that Morgan was more than capable of frying her. The thing she didn't realize was that when she had gotten pissed off, Josh's existence was the only thing that kept the Fire girl from setting her alight.
Nell laughed, even though nothing had been really funny. She just thought it was funny that Morgan thought of illegal fun first. "Pshh, drinking isn't much fun. Or clubbing. But hey, sneaking around places can be fun." She wasn't the type of person that enjoyed it, even though she had worked as a bartender before. The girl drank socially, and sometimes to excess, mostly because of her miscalculating just how much she could handle. Nell jumped up when her friend said that she could decide, and she looked down at the other girl with a sly expression at her next words. "Is that so? All right, then, come with me and I'll take you somewhere you'll definitely have fun." She'd make sure that she had fun. She had a feeling that Morgan actually needed it.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 23, 2013 13:36:43 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted She glanced away from Nell, in the distant direction of where at that moment her class was gathering. Even now, her teacher would be taking attendance, her eyes scanning the rows. And in one seat, next to Sebastian Martinez, there would be no one. A little tally would go beside Morgan’s name. And that would be that. It was almost too easy, too easy to be insignificant. She wasn’t particularly concerned about this class, it was an English essay writing course, and almost entirely unnecessary for Morgan. She shrugged mentally, pushing the thought away. Whatever she missed, she had a feeling these minutes with Nell were somehow more important.
She grumbled under her breath in response to Nell. She wouldn’t admit to anything, it seemed like giving her a victory of sorts. And conceding to the point, well that was just too easy. Morgan was sarcastic, she was bitter and unpleasant and abrasive. In essence, she was difficult. And perhaps her sarcasm and bitterness towards Nell were meant more kindly than towards others. But it didn’t mean she would, or could, make things easier – magically become someone else. And as far as she could tell, Nell didn’t care either way. It was what made them match, what made Nell tolerable in Morgan’s eyes.
She glanced up at Nell jumped to her feet, her eyes clearly skeptical. She doubted whatever Nell categorized as “fun” would match with her own ideals. She hauled herself to her feet, settling her books back in the crook of her arm. She shot Nell a look that clearly read “Don’t make me regret this”. “At least find me someplace I can leave these behind.” She gestured to the books in her arms, curiosity piquing despite her best attempts to quell it. She couldn’t help but wonder at Nell’s plans, at what thoughts raced through her youthful mind. “Let’s hear it.” She half expected Nell to keep it a surprise or something, like planning a child’s birthday party. It would give Morgan something to complain about, if nothing else. She forced herself to follow the other woman, shooting a last backward glance. If she hadn’t found Nell, if she hadn’t known the woman, she would have been in class. She couldn’t decide how to feel about this realization.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 24, 2013 19:44:24 GMT -5
Nell nodded when the other girl presented her books. Yep, she was definitely a bad influence. She did that sometimes, mostly with her younger friends. Sometimes she didn't have a very clear view of the law and figured she could get away with things that she really could not. Other times, it actually worked out for her. However, she was not planning on getting Morgan in trouble. Not yet, at least. Morgan asked after what she had in mind, and Nell smiled. "Well, let's just say I hope you like the outdoors." And not just being outdoors, but the great wide wilderness. Nell spent a lot of time being, well, lost but sometimes she got lucky and remembered certain places and certain things. The time she spent not being lost was spent outside exploring. She liked discovering new things and considered every movement an adventure.
Nell stuffed her picture away in her bag, brushing herself off just in case she'd missed anything before, and felt the anticipation racing through her veins. She was actually excited to do something like this with Morgan, even though the girl would have no real idea of where she was taking them. Of course, she'd given a hint so as not to be completely creepy. Or maybe the hint had been the creepy thing? Oops. In any case, she walked over to her car and got in, the purple paint job on it still shining bright. She made sure to keep wipes in the car in case a bird thought it would be a good place to move its bowels. The drive toward the hiking trails from the Academy wasn't too long. They were already high up in the mountains, making Nell wonder sometimes why she didn't get nosebleeds so often.
She didn't make too much small talk, instead opting for the radio before pulling up on the dirt, leading to a path further up into the mountain area. "I've got snacks and everything, in case we get lost," she said with a grin as she made sure to lock everything up, looking toward the mountains with a mischievous expression. She started up through the mountain path, telling Morgan, "Found this place one night on accident. I was trying to find a shortcut home and decided to check it out." She wondered if Morgan had any clue about where they were headed. Nell knew that she would be able to find it, given that it wasn't very far away at all.
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Post by MORGAN JANE FARREN on Jan 26, 2013 17:36:46 GMT -5
i can't go back, i'm haunted She was becoming quite skeptical. Perhaps actually going to class would have been the wiser of her two options. This feeling was only reinforced when Nell mentioned the wilderness. Morgan had never been particularly fond of the great outdoors. She was a civilization sort of gall. Hell, she dreamed of being an architect. She wanted to design the buildings, great big tall ones – ones that would probably start with clearing a bunch of trees and using the lumber for floorboards. Environmentalists hated her. But it was how she was. There was a certain safety to the city, to rows of home and familiar concrete pathways.
Yet, despite her misgivings, Morgan followed Nell to her shiny purple death trap. She threw her books in the back seat, clambering into the front. She was a tiny woman, about equal to little Nell. She settled in, her legs tucked beneath her. She reached up almost out of habit, brushing a few strands away from her face. She wasn’t exactly frowning, but she wasn’t smiling either. She grumbled quietly, “You’re lucky I’m dressed for the occasion.” But Nell had already turned the radio on and they fell into a companionable sort of silence.
Morgan found herself watching out the window. She’d worn boots and her warmest clothes. Though the worst of winter was behind them, mud and rain still sent a chill through her bones. The buildings whizzed by, campus faded in the distance. Soon the buildings dwindled, more and more space between them. They were climbing in altitude. The trees around them became denser. Morgan could have sworn she could smell pine through the little slotted vents in Nell’s car. She craned her neck, trying to see the tops of the trees. Sometimes, she liked to imagine sitting in them, the very tops – but only so she could see Maple Hollow laid flat before her.
Morgan climbed out as they pulled up, wrapping her coat tightly around her. Nell was already off and running, figuratively. Morgan ran to catch up, puffing slightly. She’d never been fond of exercise. She stopped short at Nell’s words, shaking her head with a frown. “Lost? Nu uh, Nell. I have a kid at home remember?” She thought of little Emmy. The girl had just discovered hide and go seek. Her favorite thing now was to hide in closets or around corners. She would wait for Morgan to come home, then pop out and shriek. Morgan gave Nell a skeptical look, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t you have a map or something?”
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jan 30, 2013 16:43:52 GMT -5
Nell chuckled a little at Morgan's words, taking not that she said that she had a kid, not just her sister. That made her feel surprisingly warm, and she wore an easy smile. "Course I wouldn't intentionally get us lost, mija!" Ironically, she used the Spanish word for daughter, a term she reserved for people she was particularly fond of. "And I'm sure a game warden would find us eventually." She seemed in very good spirits as they headed up, glad that Morgan had in fact worn clothes good for it. She worried about other people too much, and would have been concerned had she not been dressed well enough. She wouldn't even have brought her here.
They hiked up the path more, or what they could make of the path strewn with boulders and stray sticks. Nell tried to make the best of it for them, moving stray plants and clearing some of the wildlife. She enjoy the control she had over her powers now, how easy they came to her. Ten minutes of hiking and she directed them in a left turn, still using her powers to keep maintenance now that they were getting into the thicker copse of the area. It was mostly silent save for scattered bird calls and scuttling in the high branches. Nell knew there were bears around there, but she wasn't worried. The two girls were elementals, they could take care of themselves. Plus, this was the woods -- Nell felt at home here. She may have lived her entire life as a city girl, but she yearned for nature a lot. This was fun for her, adventurous. She even pointed out some plants for Morgan, telling her if some of them could be used for coughs or medicinal treatments.
Eventually, a few more minutes later, a lake came into view, trees all around the banks. There was even a small waterfall, about three feet high, feeding water into it. "And here we are!" Nell spread her arms grandly as she continued to walk toward the bank. "A mountain spring. This is where I assume they bottle water." A lot of labels said "bottled directly from the source" which was rather concerning. But judging by this spring, it wasn't such a bad thing. As a matter of fact, she could see down to the bottom, and it had to be about five feet deep or more at some points. Nell dropped her bag, far enough away that it wouldn't accidentally fall in. Leaning over, she started searching the ground for something. "You know how to skip rocks?" she questioned.
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