nobody said it was easy | morgan

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua glanced up as his phone lit up and vibrated to alert him to a new text message, creating a buzzing noise as it moved slowly across the bedside table. Setting down the textbook that he'd been reading for school, the Fire graduate reached over to the iPhone and smiled to himself as he saw who it was. His wife informed him that she was going to be a bit late coming home from work and he sent a quick reply to let her know that he'd received the message.

Hmm... maybe I should make dinner tonight, he thought, yawning and stretching before he rose from the bed. It was far too comfortable when he hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. He'd been studying for a while anyway and he figured that he deserved a break. Besides, he was hungry and he would need to get an early start on dinner if he wanted to have it ready before Nell got home. He fed the pets quickly before heading into the kitchen and pulling the ground beef out of the refrigerator as well as some carrots, peas, onions and potatoes. He went through all the prep work and was just sliding the dish into the oven when the doorbell rang, it's melodic chime reverberating throughout the house.

He gave his hands a quick wash in the sink and dried them before going to answer the door. Upon pulling it open he was greeted with a familiar face, if one that was a little unexpected. "Oh, Morgan, hello." His tone was pleasant enough. He was in a good mood despite having a long and tiring day and he liked the fellow Fire elemental enough. He might not have known her that well but a friend of Nell's that did not cause him any problems was welcome on their doorstep. He thought bitterly of Serena for a moment before brushing the thought aside. He hadn't seen the ignorant Water in a while, anyway. "Looking for Nell, I'm guessing? She was supposed to be home by now but apparently she's running a little late. She should be home within the hour, if not sooner." He couldn't give an exact estimate on time seeing as his wife had not given him one but Nell had always been true to her word. If she said she'd be home, she would. She'd no doubt tell him if something else came up.

Stepping back from the door but continuing to hold it open so that it did not swing shut in her face, Joshua invited, "Why don't you come in? It seems a waste to head all the way back in this cold if you'll just be back later. I could make some coffee." He paused, then added, "Or tea, if you'd prefer." He loved both and so he would be fine with anything. He could use a little pick-me-up himself thanks to his exhaustion. "I was just making dinner." He did not look as if he'd been slaving over peeling and mashing potatoes just five minutes before. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a dressy shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows to avoid the water. He had replaced the gold Rolex on his wrist when he'd finished the preparation of the dish.

[outfit, to give you an idea how he dresses xD]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

i knew you were trouble

Morgan couldn’t entirely understand her three-year old daughter’s mind. The little girl, it seemed, was determined to be the epitome of innocence and childish delight. That very moment, as Morgan attempted to make her way self-consciously down the row of upper class homes and mansions, Emmaline was skipping and hopping along. It simply wasn’t enough to skip or hop. The little girl had to do a combination of the two. She pranced about, from one foot to the next, over cracks and humming off-key to herself, all while holding tightly to her mother’s hand. She was all bundled up in her winter jacket, complete with a matching hat and scarf, and two tiny mittens of course.

She found herself slightly more distracted than usual. She preferred to have Emmy stay at home with a babysitter. But tonight she was desperate, and Nell unable to make it across town to her more modest home. But Morgan’s boss had called, not two hours earlier. Apparently the little diner was in dire need of extra staff. Underneath her heavy winter coat and gloves, she wore the pinstriped dress she loathed with a passion. And, on this rare and unfortunate night, Mr. and Mrs. Farren were out of town – Elizabeth on campus at the Academy. And as much as Morgan trusted her little sister, a high school campus was no place for a talkative three-year old.

It wasn’t all that hard to tell which home belonged to the Dales. It was massive, looming over the other buildings. Morgan found herself nearly jolted to a stop, staring in awe at the behemoth structure. She could only imagine getting lost in the hallways. She quickened her pace, tugging lightly on Emmaline’s hand. The little girl had a backpack on, light, but stuffed with her favorite necessities – namely a superhero cape and her oldest most worn stuffed giraffe. Morgan reached down as she climbed the stoop to the front door, swinging Emmy into her arms. The little girl looped her arms automatically around her mother’s neck, only two happy to bury her cold cheeks in Morgan’s warm neck.

She found herself juggling Emmaline, shifting the girl so she could jab at the doorbell with her single free finger. She heard heavy footsteps, heavier than Nell’s. A moment later the door swung open, revealing Mr. Joshua Donovan Dale. They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Morgan was able to do no more than nod mutely at Josh’s explanation. She was tempted to drop Emmy, to turn and all but sprint away from the place. But the warmth was inviting. And the mere hallway seemed to glow with an inviting sense of riches and lavishness. Wealth was a world unknown to her. Her family was fine, they had the money they needed, but not an excess to the amount the Dales did.

“I..” She paused for a moment. Despite her relatively volatile temper and nature, she was loathe to offend perhaps the most powerful member of her element. She nodded, clearing her throat. “Thank you. Though I’m afraid I can only stay for a moment.” She self-consciously pulled her coat tighter around her, reluctant to reveal the diner waitress uniform hidden beneath. She wasn’t exactly ashamed of where she worked – at least she was employed. But surrounded by his eloquence, by the beauty of his home, well she felt like a pauper among princes. She bent down, setting Emmy gently on the floor. She wouldn’t dare accept anything from him, her flighty nature prevented such formality with any sort of ease.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

A lot had changed over the years. The man that would once have hesitated to let even his closest of friends cross the threshold of his home was now ready and willing to invite a woman who was little more than a friendly acquaintance in for a drink. He'd slowly grown from a bitter and brooding loner into a guarded but less judgemental person—still intimidating, yes, but more unintentionally than anything. There was a touch of uncertainty when he first opened the door to see the young woman and her little sister standing beyond it but he recovered quickly enough so that any awkwardness could not stretch on for long.

She seemed hesitant at first, trailing off after a pause. He wondered what was going through her head but did not ask, merely waited to see if she'd say anything else. Instead of coming up with some excuse and quickly backing out of the home as he'd expected she might, he was met with a nod and an insistence that she could not stay for very long. He met this with a dip of his own head. "Understandable. I doubt you'd be leaving your sister with Nell if you didn't have somewhere urgent to be." Morgan and her sister seemed close, at least from what he'd seen of the two and their interactions. Knowing how he felt about his own little sister, with whom he shared a decent age gap, he figured that his fellow Fire would not simply pawn her sibling off on others with every chance that she got. She didn't seem the type. Then again, he could have been wrong. He'd been wrong about people before. He tried not to think too much on those faults.

He offered the little girl a smile when Morgan set her down, his expression warm. Though it was not common knowledge or something most expected from him, the man had a fondness for children. He'd always liked their innocence and charm and it was a strong desire of his to have children of his own some day. "Hey there, Emmy." She was awfully adorable and he remembered with fondness how she had given him a candy cane upon their last meeting. He'd wished the siblings a Merry Christmas and then went back to his car but the memory would stick with him.

He had not missed the fact that Morgan had said nothing on the offer of a drink, wondering whether or not he should mention it again to be sure. He decided against it in case she had been quiet in order to be polite about declining and instead took a step toward the kitchen, which was to the left of the front lobby. Realising something, he stopped and glanced at Morgan. "Oh, you could hang your coat up if you'd like. I know you're not staying for long but it's rather warm in here." That was the glory of a mansion, especially one owned by a Fire. It was toasty warm even during the winter time. After the general pleasantries were out of the way, Josh went into the kitchen and sat down in one of the stools surrounding the large island. "Don't mind the mess, I haven't cleared up yet." His idea of a 'mess' wasn't much of one at all. The knife from peeling potatoes was sitting on the counter and there were some dishes in the sink, as well as an area of the counter that needed to be wiped down, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for a kitchen in the process of making a meal. Still, he always liked his home to look its best when guests were over.

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

i knew you were trouble

She should never have agreed to come in the house with him. This she knew with absolute certainty. It wasn’t as if he’d forced her. He’d wheedled, offered, suggested. And in the end, she’d had no choice but to say yes. Well, no. There was always a choice. She’d simply made the wrong one. And this wasn’t an easy thing for her to admit. She hated her own failures, those wrong choices in life. More appropriately, she downright abhorred them. So this afternoon she would be faced with the entirety of her wrong choice, would have to stare it in the face – or rather in the face of a man who could destroy her with the flick of a wrist, She should have just lied. She’d known, when he asked if she wanted to come in that there would be something more coming – something he wanted from her, and something she didn’t want to give.

She really should have predicted it. It wasn’t as if Joshua was all that sly. But Morgan had let her guard down, hadn’t followed through with her thought process. It was inexcusably unintelligent really, downright embarrassing. She’d answered candidly and that very candidness, her own desire for some intellectual stimulus or companionship, had been her undoing. She’d always been sketchy on conversing, on allowing others to gain any sort of hold over her. And for the most part, no one ever asked. Why oh why didn’t she lie? Of course then he’d appeared almost thrilled to offer his words, his kindnesses and opinions in an attempt to perhaps extend a relational hand to her. His face had lit up with this sort of excitement, as if he genuinely wanted her there. Usually she found her relationships to be something of convenience. They had a certain camaraderie occasionally, but only rarely, as with Nell. But she never fooled herself into thinking that if it came down between a cup of coffee with her and, well any other choice, he would choose something different. And why shouldn’t he? His relationship with Morgan, well it was nothing. That was it, the bare truth.

She grumbled quietly under her breath, moving on into the main hall. She had concluded that this particular sentence, at least, was acceptable if not entirely accurate or detailed. She’d read it once, offhand, in some piece of literature or another. “An opinion is the culmination of excuses to express either great hate or great love.” Now her lips twitched slightly towards a smile, something akin to approval. This was the line – the sole thought – that described this very moment, this moment between Morgan and Joshua. You see, this, this one line, was perfection. It was truth in purest form. It was insight. It was wisdom. It was what she had always seen, and thought the others blind to. Not that she would admit this of course. It was a simple observation. Opinion had made her a monstrosity – something that lingered on the outskirts of society in Maple Hollow. She lived the life of a loner, one amongst many. She was abnormal, an aberration. She didn’t fit. She was forced outside by opinion, yet opinion itself kept her captive.

She shrugged off her coat, biting back an attempt to refuse his offer. Despite his attempts at friendship, she still feared a wrong word could put her in his hospital. And the correct combination of wrong words could end her – worse still – in the morgue. Emmy, for her part, seemed to have decided that the carpet was particularly pleasing. She’d shed her coat and boots and dumped her backpack of toys on the ground. She was busily attempting to fix her over-sized superhero cape to her favorite giraffe. She waved up at Joshua, smiling a slightly gap-toothed grin. Morgan knelt, gathering her daughter’s boots and coat and put them to the side. She cleared her throat, “I, I could wait for Nell to return, if you would be more comfortable that way.” She clasped her hands in front of her, avoiding looking Josh straight in the eye.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Morgan was quiet, quieter than even Joshua himself was usually known for being. His silence was more out of choice than any feeling of discomfort, however. If he had nothing to say then he would not speak, if a question could be answered without words then it most likely would be. He was uncertain of what to do with the silence that stretched between them—would she be more at ease if he broke it or if he merely kept his lips tight and said nothing? He settled on the latter, unable to come up with anything that would not sound forced and out of place. It was not like Josh to try for the sake of trying and this would be no exception.

It was probably for the best that he did not know what sorts of thoughts were going through her mind. Had Josh been aware of how little the woman actually trusted him, how expectant she was of him flying off the handle, their encounter would have gone very different indeed. He was tolerant of those who were intimidated by him. He understood that he gave off an image of cold toughness and impenetrability. The idea that he would cause serious harm to someone based on simple words was another matter entirely. He had stabbed Nell's brother in a fit of anger, yes, but that had been a stupid mistake. The idiot Thunder had given Joshua's wife a black eye, he'd snapped. Morgan had done no such thing. He didn't mind her, little as he knew her, and so if he'd known her opinions of him he'd have been more than a little offended. He was blissfully unaware, however, and thus assumed her silence was more due to the fact that they were on such uneven terms and less that she had any real problems with being near him.

He did not complain as Emmy dropped her bag onto the ground, his lip twitching fondly as he watched her. "The closet is just there," he told Morgan as she stripped off her coat, gesturing. He'd have offered to hang it up for her but she already seemed uncomfortable enough that he figured he'd allow her the choice of what she would do. He was fairly at ease and didn't mind the idea of sharing his kitchen with guests and so he blinked at Morgan's words. She was not meeting his gaze and so might not have seen the way his brow furrowed with uncertainty, a frown creasing his previously neutral expression. "I don't think my sense of comfort is the issue here, if I'm honest." He did not sound upset. His words matched his expression, hard to read as ever. He was not angry or offended, merely a little confused. If I were uncomfortable, I would not have invited her inside. Can she not see that?

He might not have known the sorts of issues she had with him but Joshua was no fool. He could tell when something was amiss and this encounter was setting off all of the alarms. He could not think of anything that he might have done to make her so uneasy around him and so he was grasping at straws in his mind, trying to figure out what it was that bothered her. Alliances, perhaps? But then I would think that her problems lay with Nell, also. "If you'd prefer, you're free to leave Emmy here until Nell arrives. It's my day off work, I wouldn't be opposed to keeping an eye on her. I merely figured you would be more at ease with leaving once Nell arrived." Morgan did not know Nell's stoic husband very well at all and so leaving her little sister in the care of an almost-stranger probably wasn't something that she would be up for doing. That was part of the reason Josh had invited her to come inside, to wait. "Though if I've done something to unsettle you, feel free to make it known. That was never my intention. I assure you, you're welcome here." He couldn't remember saying or doing anything that might upset her but perhaps it had slipped his own attention.

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

i knew you were trouble

Exhaustion weighed on her, heavy like a mantle. It settled over her shoulders, down her aching back. It made each step an effort. The prints she had left in the snow were deep, labored. Yet she continued to move. To stop, to collapse, to allow herself respite, was something unfathomable. Once upon a time, yes, she could have slept for days on end. She could have had the option of never waking to a new sun. But somewhere, in the sands of time, fate had chosen a different path – she had chosen a different path. And days of naps in bundles of quilts and pillows were gone, replaced by responsibility. Yet, for everything in the world, she wouldn’t give it up. Once, this had been due to ambition, to a desire for power. Now, something new stirred in her. There was a rightness, something she couldn’t truly name. Standing with Emmy, holding her hand, seeing her neck crane as she looked up to her mother – there was something undeniably right about the whole thing. She felt as if she had fallen into place. She had been wandering, sticking her nose down rabbit holes. And for the first time, she’d fallen into the right hole.

She breathed in deeply, heaving a quiet sigh she stifled with a hand. Her breath rasped slightly. The flu that had been plaguing the students that winter had settled slowly but surely in her lungs, lingered in her throat. In a way, as pathetic as it was, she liked to think that if she acted healthy – she would become healthy. She hated to admit the fear that wormed its way into her heart. Life was a precarious fragile thing, and she wasn’t quite ready to be rid of hers, not that she would lose it to a flu of course. But a panic gripped her, seething in her belly. It was far too early. She could not stand before her maker with nothing to say for the life she had been given. She had accomplished nothing. It was worse than nothing, if anything she had been a drain on her family. No, she could not perish – not before she was able to prove her worth. She swallowed heavily, looking down at Emmy, anywhere but up at Joshua. The little girl was oblivious to the slight tension in the room, happy to hum off-tune to herself and walk her toys across the carpet.

Morgan looked up sharply at Joshua’s words. She still clutched her coat to her chest. It felt good to have something in her hands, something to hold on to. She watched him carefully. As uncomfortable as she was, she was loathe to think Joshua had noticed. Would he take it as an insult? She had well and truly done her best not to offend him, mostly for the sake of self-preservation. She bit her lip, shaking her head finally. “No, no…I..” She paused, waving a hand. She wasn’t sure what she was trying to indicate. Them? The house? Herself? “I’m not used to this.” She bent over quickly, coughing into her crooked arm. She couldn’t find the words to explain, explain how Joshua was the one person she couldn’t treat, well she couldn’t treat badly. She was used to driving people away, or at least giving them a taste of biting sarcasm. And without that action, that knowledge of action, she found herself at a loss, standing – literally- awkwardly on the threshold. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me.” She paused, clearing her throat. “Thank you.” She glanced up at him, meeting his eyes if only briefly.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Though he'd been fairly oblivious to it at first, not knowing Morgan's feeling about him, Joshua was starting to acknowledge the awkwardness that had settled over them like a thick blanket of snow in winter. It seemed that neither party knew what to say or do to steer things toward a more comfortable ground and so he cleared his throat very slightly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He was not used to situations like this. The confident young man was not one easily put off by conversation but when a certain level was reached, even he had no easy way out. He had tried to be good to her, treat her as he would any other sort of guest in his home, but her responses puzzled him to the point of uncertainty.

He persevered however, refusing to give in completely. The only way to end the chat would be to ask her to leave and while he had no issues with being blunt, she'd not offended him enough for the Fire to feel comfortable being so rude. His brow furrowed ever so slightly at her response. He was confused. This? He wanted to ask but didn't want to slide back into the weird silence from before. What isn't she used to? Being invited inside? That only made slight sense. Perhaps because I've never been the one to answer the door? Nell was usually home whenever Morgan dropped her little sister off to be babysat and so this was a foreign situation. It might not have been the right assumption but he was more comfortable with being wrong than with asking the fellow Fire for confirmation. It made sense, if nothing else.

Joshua blinked, her words unexpected but not unpleasant. How was he meant to respond to that? He hadn't been given a reason to treat Morgan any differently and so he'd never regarded his polite behaviour toward her to be anything special. She seemed to think differently and he felt a brief pang of sympathy as he thought more on it. Is she not used to that? He didn't know her very well and so he didn't know what all she had been through in her life. There was also the possibility that she'd heard bad things about him and was surprised to find they were false but he tried not to go for the worst assumptions first. "Why wouldn't I be?" The question felt innocent enough and was more rhetorical than anything. "It's not a problem, of course, but you've done nothing to offend me or cause me to behave otherwise." Oh, he wouldn't be nearly as kind if she acted like her usual self around him but Joshua had never seen her at her worst. They were awkward acquaintances, nothing more.

Realising that, strange change of topic aside, they had not fully established the arrangements, Joshua asked, "So... what would you prefer?" He would leave things in her hands in the hopes that she would feel more comfortable making the decision without any extra questions tacked on from his end. He glanced briefly at his watch to affirm that Nell would not be home in the next five minutes, thus forcing them to make some kind of a decision so as not to be standing in the front foyer for the remainder of the time. Morgan was still holding her coat and Josh was just glad that Emmy seemed oblivious to everything that had transpired thus far.

[ASDFGHJK, I did not realise you posted until now, I'm so sorry! xD]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

i knew you were trouble

There were a hundred and one things she should have done. They ranged from how she dressed to what she said. And in an alternate world, perhaps she would have been in some elaborate ball gown at that very moment, curtseying low, and giving an illustrious answer in flawless French. But the simple fact of the matter – there was only one universe, at least only one that Morgan currently inhabited. And in this universe, she had on a ratty pinstriped dress, her hair up in a bun, and she was stammering through a poor attempt at English conversation. She glanced at her feet. She wasn’t sure at all how to explain herself. She admired him, for his skill of course. She was intimidated by his wealth and merely by his figure and renown. She was suspicious of him and his proximity to Emmy. She was unsettled. Yet she also felt strangely safe with him, in his entryway. She felt like she’d entered a safe zone. The monsters might bang at the door, howl in the night, but they couldn’t get through. It was ridiculous of course, it all was. But these were her feelings, that mix of emotion and hormones that was blending to create an awkward silence between them.

“Allegiance.” She blurted out the word in reply to his question. Considering his marriage to Nell, it was obvious he was a traitor (not that Morgan cared). But perhaps he did care. She was a Fire, she was supposed to hate Nell. She didn’t though, Nell was one of the few people – perhaps the only person outside her family- that she trusted. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips nervously. A light color rose to her lips. She wasn’t used to stammering like this. It wasn’t at all her personality. She was strong, defiant, sarcastic. Her lips set in a line. And she couldn’t do this weak act anymore. If anything, it repulsed him. She could see it in his body, the way he held himself. She frowned slightly, glancing at Emmy to make sure she was still playing happily. She was. “Look you scare the fuck out of me.” She lowered her voice slightly to protect Emmaline from her profanity. “And I’ve been working my ass off not to offend you or give you any reason to incinerate me. Honestly, I don’t usually bother. I don’t like people.”

She wasn’t sure where that little speech was meant to go. And her moment of bravado was running out. She swallowed. She lifted her hand, running her fingers through her hair. She shook her head. She was being foolish now. But at least she had gotten it out, in a moment of bravery and rare courage. “I’ll just go, I’m going to be late. I’ll be by as soon as I can to get her.” She was hoping to escape without confrontation over her quiet outburst. She could vanish into the night. At that moment, in the face of her words, she wasn’t sure whether she’d rather be with him, or out beyond his door with the monsters.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua did not think about alliances when he was at home. When in the comfort and sanctuary of the mansion, all were equal so long as they did nothing to upset him or his loved ones. He would always carry the bias that years at the Academy had instilled in him but he was also willing to give a chance to anyone that proved worth it. Morgan was one such person, as she had always been kind to Nell and thus won him over through this kindness alone. Anyone who was good to his wife would stay in his good books until they gave him a reason to place them elsewhere. It was for this reason that he did not immediately grasp what she meant by allegiance. His brow furrowed and he frowned, pausing for a moment before it clicked and understanding settled over his features.

He shook his head. "Your allegiance does not concern me." Deciding that this was the wrong way to phrase it, he did not give much time for her to respond before he amended, "You have never said anything against my wife or I and I can respect you for that. Who you are at the Academy is not important." Would it have been if he were still in school and under the rules of alliances? He thought not. Though he would not let Morgan in on this, he'd always kept at least one friend on the opposite side. During his loyal Fire days there had been his childhood friend that turned out to be an Earth elemental. They'd known one another since before they were old enough to think about their high school days and so he had not broken off the friendship when Devin had discovered his Earthen powers. After his betrayal, things had become more complicated when it came to Lark and Skye, his still-loyal but long-time friends on the other side. And then there was Nell, the most important of them all. He'd switched sides for her. He had no right to complain about loyalties.

The sudden turn in the conversation was unexpected and Josh was silent and stone-faced as he listened, expression still. The idea that her polite attitude toward him was merely a ruse to protect her from his fury was frustrating in and of itself. He did not like being treated as if he was some kind of animal that could snap at any moment. He knew that he had anger issues and it was empowering to think that people stayed out of his way out of fearful respect rather than choosing to bother him but he had given Morgan no reason to be afraid. "I have been nothing but nice to you, have I not?" A chill had settled into his tone as if it had crusted over with frost. What made her think that he was going to 'incinerate' her, as she'd so delicately put it? He understood that he was a Fire elemental and that they were known for their tempers but Morgan was one and the same. It should have put them on equal ground.

Gray eyes were critical as he watched her, expression as stoic as it had been a moment before. After a brief consideration, he blinked and gave a short nod. Though the man had a temper, she had said nothing to make him snap. He was displeased by how things had gone but he was not going to fly into a rage about it. "I'll let Nell know that you came by as soon as she returns home." He had no issues with watching over Emmaline for the short time until his wife returned from work. He liked children and the fact that her elder sister had some issues with him would not affect the way that he treated the young girl.