-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME [Raine]

[LARK MARIE HARPER]

For a good portion of the day, Lark had spent her time just sitting in her dorm room. She had only recently found out about her mother's return to Canada and the news that she was now a sister. Too much to take in at once, and no one knew yet. She wanted to keep it on the down low for a while until she could effectively sort through all of this. What sorts of decisions she would make. Ashton, Josh, and maybe even Nell would find out eventually, she just did not know when. Everything needed to be exposed delicately and with her temper issues it was best to let the initial shock and anger ebb away first. For now, Lark was looking forward to going to see Raine for a while; they were decent friends, only recent considering her switch from her old alliance was still rather fresh in retrospect. It had not even been a year. With a huff, she rolled off of the bed, shut off the TV, and made her way to the car. The park was a good walk from the school and she was in no mood to waste her energy just yet. Her upcoming defense/offense match with Raine would be draining enough. She sent a text to her friend just as she started the engine; who knew how long it would take the other girl to arrive at the park. When she finally got there, she waited until she saw Raine before getting out of the car and waving with a smile. "Hey, what's up?" This would definitely be interesting.

After a moment, Lark wandered onto the grass and looked around; it was not very busy at all and most of the people lingering around seemed more intent on taking their walks than sticking around on the playground or the swings. Ah, the swings. Lark's lip twitched fondly at a memory. She turned to look at Raine and nodded.

"Okay, okay, let's do this," Lark focused solely on the girl standing in front of her, trying to decide what they should start with first. Why was she doing this again? Oh, right. Boredom, shirking homework, avoiding the dorms, enjoying the afternoon, everything. It was a good distraction and she did not have to be alone. Normally Lark enjoyed being alone, enjoyed the solitude but lately her friends were the only things helping her stay sane. Raine was kind enough to go out with her for the afternoon and have a little fun. Elemental sparring used to be something that they could only do on the grounds of the school, something they had to hide away from world, but now that the city was a place only for elementals and their families things were different. Lark liked the new found freedom. "Uh...do you want to defend first, or me? You'd probably have an easier time defending because of your element but we can go either way." The fact that Raine was a water silently intimidated Lark on an elemental level. The girl was a nice person but Water versus Fire was a bit of a lopsided match-up. "We just need to remember to go easy on one another. I don't want to end up in the medical wing or the hospital." She'd had enough of the hospital, and she adored Avery but she was sure he would not want to add another patient to the list.

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 1 414 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

Ever since the humans had moved out of Maple Hollow (by force, admittedly), Raine had felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn’t need to pretend anymore. She didn’t need to degrade herself and make believe that her powers didn’t exist. They did. She reveled in them. Why could she use them? Because it would scare the humans and she would become an international phenomenon, ripped apart in some lab so they could figure out what made her the way she was. She’d probably get everybody in town and their dog investigated, too, and she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Temporarily moving out had been totally and completely worth it. The rouse had quite amused her. A nuclear meltdown. How would the mortals react if they found out? They’d probably attribute the elemental abilities to the meltdown until someone righted their suspicions. But now, she could use her powers in town. Of course, she had to be careful sos eh wouldn’t get in trouble if she started a fight or something, but she wasn’t worried about that. She wasn’t worried about getting in trouble for the little sparring match either. They weren’t assaulting each other, after all. A gym just wasn’t the right place to do this. If Lark accidentally set something on fire, Raine would just extinguish it with her own powers. There was no problem she could foresee that they couldn’t handle. They weren’t even technically fighting. Just practicing not on the school grounds. Sure, they could practice there, but it was the weekend and no one wanted to be in school on the weekend. Besides, if they destroyed school property, that could get them expelled. Out here, they’d just need to pay for it. Raine wasn’t sure what kind of dough Lark had, but she was willing to take responsibility since this had been her idea in the first place, and she didn’t want her friend to get in trouble for simply agreeing to it. That friendship was an odd one, for her. Lark was a fire elemental, and normally she hated fires as much as she disliked humans. That was just ingrained in her, considering her element. According to the alliances that practically ran the school—even teachers were sometimes involved—she wasn’t supposed to be friends with Lark. Except Lark had betrayed her element to date someone on Raine’s side of the miniature war. She wasn’t even sure how those two had met or what had possessed them to like each other. The elementals allied with each other because they clashed with the other side. So how had two people from different sides managed tog et along well enough to date? It baffled her. It confused her. It made sure she didn’t always know how to handle Lark, most commonly when the girl demonstrated very specific fire traits. They always unnerved her a little, because part of her was just waiting for Lark to go back to her own freaking element so they ended up in a real fight. Of course, she didn’t really want that to happen. She wanted to be friends with Lark. She liked the girl, most of the time. It was impossible to like anyone all of the time, after all. There were bound to be things about a person that irritated you and made you want to be away from them for a little while. There were things you disagreed about. Decisions you thought were stupid of them to make. Mistakes you foresaw that they didn’t and other little issues that managed to strengthen friendships because you were supposed to be able to move past them. Like Raine was doing her best to move past the fact that Lark was a fire and she was so expected to be burned—both literally and figuratively. The sparring match was supposed to be a day for friends to hang out and get rid of some excess stress. It was also supposed to be fun, though Raine wasn’t sure if Lark liked playing with magic as much as she did. Raine just couldn’t get enough of using her powers—she was nearly as addicted to them as she was to kissing people. She just loved the exhilaration as she manipulated such a powerful force. Of course, it would have to wait until she got to the university level before she really got dangerous, but it was still amazing. It made her feel special, and she valued that feeling above so many others. It was probably why she disliked humans so much. They thought they wee special, when she was the one who was, but she wasn’t allowed to tell them off for being wrong because they weren’t supposed to know. But Lark knew. She was special, too. Today was just an epic battle of specialness. The thought made her snort as she pulled on her sneakers and tied them. Epic battle of specialness. If someone filmed it, she’d recommend that title for the YouTube video and hope no one thought it was real—that it was only special effects. Her jog to the park was smooth and slow. She’d left early enough not to worry about being later than the time they’d agreed to meet. She got there a few minutes early, retied her ponytail because her hair just hated obeying her whims, and stretched until she noticed Raine approaching. She grinned broadly and waved back, bouncing over. The adrenaline rush was wonderful. “The sky. It’s so blue. Isn’t the weather today wonderful? Just the right amount of chill for a work out.” She grinned at Lark, mischief alight in her eyes. “You ready to set the park aflame? Pun intended.” Poor pun, probably, but Lark would have to deal with it. Raine was too excited about their little battle to not make bad jokes. Besides, bad jokes could still be funny. Sometimes it was funny that the person making the joke thought the joke would be funny. Or sometimes it was the sort of bad joke that made you regret laughing because it really wasn’t funny when you thought about it. She pondered for a minute, considering their abilities before she answered the brunette’s question. She was right, of course, that water would have an easier time defending against fire because it could extinguish the flames and choke them of gaseous oxygen. But fire, when hot enough, could also make her water evaporate—she just didn’t know how hot Lark could make her fire. Of course, she didn’t want to waste their energy right off the bat either, because their sparring match would then be short-lived and less fun than either of them would want it to be. She looked around, glad that the park was relatively deserted at the moment. Playing with fire (literally) wouldn’t be too dangerous as long as Lark didn’t fire for the trees. Could potentially be a strategy for her, though, if Lark knew the danger of setting something that flammable on fire. “Let’s start it off easy then,” she suggested, still grinning. “Hit me with your best shot.” The blonde sank into a slight crouch, knees bending as she found her footing in the ground beneath her feet, then stepped back a few meters to give Lark some room and so her hair wouldn’t catch fire—though with the trouble it caused her, she’d probably feel less sorry if it did than some might expect otherwise. “Fine. No foul shots. If either of us hits someone else, that person automatically loses. Uhm… any other rules?” She lifted an eyebrow at Lark, inviting her input for the sake of fairness. “Oh, and nothing outside the park. That’s a foul.” She considered, wondering what other rules needed to be agreed on. It was pretty clear that they weren’t supposed to actually hurt each other. Like Lark had said, they didn’t want to end up in the hospital, though she had a feeling Lark’s burns were more likely to get Raine there than the other way around (regardless that water didn’t technically burn unless it was heated). “So, you gonna kick my ass or not, Robin?” Because Lark was so the boy blunder. Man, she was getting a bit mean in her excitement. Better push that away. She stretched out her fingers, relaxing her muscles and finding her center, trying to feel the magic rush she had learned to expect. Oh, this would definitely be fun.

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notes ! Raine's excited about this~ and Lali's muse exploded because of it >> << ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 872 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

She shook her head, still cheerfully grinning at her friend. “Nope, I jogged. Running is such a bore. And it’s bad on your knees because of the force you hit the pavement with. Walking is technically best, but I was too excited to be all slow.” She glanced at the car from which Lark had come, studying the model for a minute. Cars were interesting contraptions. She’d never been as obsessed with them as some people she knew, but she understood them to be fascinating and dangerous, useful and worthless at the same time. They were worthless mostly in the sense that, to some, the environmental price of their usefulness was too high. Yeah, cars were bad for the environment. They weren’t the only things—and companies were working hard to make them friendlier, like those neat little vehicles you could just plug into the wall, rather than buying gas for them. She thought those were awesome. “Is your car electric?” Maybe it was a bit of a weird question (to Lark, it was probably out of the blue at best), but she was curious. Was it the smoke-puffer or the power-sucker? Another shake of the head cued her off. “You’re not a lazy bum,” she added, trying to tug herself back to the conversation before she got too distracted. “You might actually be at an advantage because you conserved your energy.” She lifted a finger as if she was about to make an extremely profound point, even tilted her face so her nose stuck in the air a bit. Her voice, when she continued, was nasally, the guise of a snobby British professor, though the words hardly fit the tone: “After all, we’re about to have a work out, and I’ve already depleted my energy reserves.” She opened one eye, but the look on Lark’s face had her losing her composure and she was grinning again. This would most certainly be a riot. Which was fine as long as they didn’t cause a riot. An actual riot would be a really bad thing. People would actually get hurt. No one was supposed to get hurt here. This was just supposed to be a fun little day. Like a play date, except it wasn’t a date. “Oooooh, we should go to lunch once one of us wins. By the way, what are we saying the criteria for that are? Or are we just going to practice till we’re pooped?” She laughed. The question just sounded funny. Dear god, she probably sounded a little drunk. But she’d swear to high heaven that she hadn’t consumed even a swallow of alcohol—not even in her mouthwash that morning. What better way to start a morning than with a fire? Every way. Raine wasn’t too fond of open flames. They made her nervous. Especially around flammable things. Fire, while it provided life in the warmth and the light it offered, was dangerous in the way it devoured the sources on which it fed. It even devoured the oxygen in the air that all humans and elementals needed to breathe. Wind elementals couldn’t suck the oxygen out of the air—but a well-trained fire elemental probably could with a bit of intuition and practice. Raine hoped never to go up against that sort. She didn’t think Lark was that sadistic, but then, the best sadists were pretty damn good at hiding how hideous their habits were. Ack. She hoped she never ran into a true sociopath or a true psychopath. She didn’t care if she’d see one or the other of them coming, she just knew she wouldn’t feel well to her stomach afterward. You just couldn’t know what those sorts of people had done. She still didn’t think Lark was among them, though, even if she was a fire. Damn prejudice. Trying to ignore that little factor until she actually saw the flames, Raine instead listened to lark’s take on the rules she’d set up—err, offered. They weren’t really her decision, after all, except for the park boundary thing, which she didn’t think Lark had any reason to argue. It was a reasonable rule. She chuckled at Lark’s comment, but it was quiet as she tried to find her center and connect with her magic. Where was the metaphysical water inside her? She really hoped there was a lot of moisture in the air to make her job easier. Lark didn’t really need much to burn except the oxygen. This would be really interesting. “A challenge? Jeez, I hope I’m more than just a challenge,” she barked a laugh, still grinning. “I want to be an obstacle!”

[/color] Nonetheless, that grin had taken on an almost devilish glint as her mind calculated the best way to get at its opponent—magically, psychologically, or physically. She wanted to win, even if this was technically just a stupid little game. She still wanted to win, and she would if she could. The whip tore her from her thoughts—interrupting a mantra of “eye on the nonexistent prize”—and she quickly ducked out of the way, doing her best to pull at the water and trying to extinguish the whip at its source: Lark’s hand.[/div][/color][/size][/font][bg=000000][atrb=align,justify][atrb=border,0,true][/td][/tr] [tr][td]

notes ! I really hope this makes sense because I’m dehydrated and tired but I wanted to get a post out xD if you want changes or a redo because this is crap (I really don’t want to read to fine out) just lemme know <3 ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 1 057 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

Work. Ew. Raine, for one, was incredibly glad she didn't have to get a job. She wasn't even 18 yet. She still had a couple of weeks before she was an adult. While she was still a kid, as long as she could still be called one, she wanted to enjoy her childhood. It was almost over simply based off age, though that depended on where you were, in her experience. Different countries considered kids of different ages to be adults. Sometimes, it was 18. Sometimes it was 16. Sometimes, it was 19 or 21 or 25 or some other number. Either way, reaching adulthood was like reaching another world entirely. You had more responsibility, more things you needed to know and do and take care of. Until she was an adult, she didn't want to work. She was fine messing around and just continuing with school, which might have been a job after all but she wasn't paid for it so she didn't really count it as one. She did, however, expect that Lark was probably paid for what she was doing. "New job?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow. "What new job? Why wasn't I told?" Another mischievous grin replaced the previous expression, a new twinkle in her eye. "Maybe I'll apply and then we can torture your least favorite colleague together." Tag-teaming was definitely something to be proud of, in her opinion. It could be unfair, yes, but it proved something more than that. It proved teamwork, when you succeeded, that you could read your partner and understand her intentions. Of course, this wasn't tag-teaming. This was a war with two sides and only two sides. She really hoped no else was going to interrupt or intervene. That could either be hugely embarrassing--what if they got in trouble for fighting in the park even if they weren't really?--or just plain inconvenient. This was a private party. No one else was invited (as far as Raine knew). Well, she hoped that Lark hadn't gone and invited somebody else to be late to their sparring match, especially without telling her. She knew waters and fires were typically at odds, but still. She was trying to trust her friend. If she honestly hadn't invited anyone else, that would help. If Lark had invited another, Raine wouldn't appreciated it and her trust level would fall as a result. Her confidence remained nice and high, however, as Lark started teasing her. "I am so not backing out, birdbrain," she retorted, which sounded a bit mean even to her, but she also knew she wouldn't normally say something like that. This was merely pre-fight exchange of insults as she believed was customary. besides, a lark was a bird. Raine, on the hand, wasn't. She needed to eat well because she was an energetic young lady and she loved moving. Like the stereotype regarding most guys, she ended up being hungry all the time. Maybe she just liked food a little too much. At least she worked to keep it off. That's why she was always moving and bouncing around and practicing with her element. Like this little scenario, for example. It was the fun kind of thing she did. Fun like epic poems and Greek mythology, to which her mind instantly jumped when lark mentioned that lunch would be epic. She couldn't stop a grin of amusement from crossing her face as her mind wandered. Lunch would definitely be one of Homer's epic poems, taking up hundreds of pages as they described the most minute details of what they were eating, how the weather was, whether the water was perfectly clear and how many ice cubes there were in each glass. It would be ages long and probably so detailed as to make the boring entertaining, or at least funny that anybody would bother caring. "Yeah, and then we'll go ahead and do our homework after we're revived ourselves." She rolled her eyes, snorting at her own poor joke. "As for lunch... lets figure out what we're in the mood for when we're actually in the mood for it," she added, smiling. Why plan on eating Chinese if they wanted burgers later, after all? Just seemed like better planning to her, personally. Besides, she was itching to get moving and start splashing around. "If you don't mind?" She was exactly the kind of girl who would mind being seen as the sort of obstacle that was easy to cross. If Lark won, chances were Raine was fighting to the death. She wouldn't give up easily. It would be a fair fight, though. "There's a first time for everything," she replied, grinning. She relished the curse from her opponent, maybe even enjoying it a little too much as the fire extinguished. This whole thing was probably stupid to a more rational elemental, but Raine wasn't known for being the most rational or logical person out there, and, quite frankly, she didn't give a rat's ass about this thing being stupid. It was fun. It was good practice. Hell, maybe they could get extra credit for this or something. She could definitely ask. Maybe she'd have a couple of nice burns to show off, too. More flames buffeted her way, and she dodged at first, drawing water from the air and glad that it was a relatively humid day. There was plenty of water in the air, and she was going to use that to her advantage. She shoved the water in the direction of Lark's eyes, hoping to blind her friend for a moment so she could get in a better attack. Besides, she could aim for the whole face and possibly still accomplish the disorientation for which she was striving. Yes, this would be fun. She had no problems being a bit cruel. She was paying for lunch whether Lark wanted her to or not. That would be payback enough, right? Hopefully. "Oh, I can so do better. You're just not pushing me, Tweetie." Damn, this bird thing was going to go to her head in some way. What other nicknames would work well in this case? She'd already used "birdbrain" and "Tweetie," now, so what else was there? She'd probably come up with a little bit more as she continued to battle for pride and dignity. What a noble cause.

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notes ! THERE IS A POST AND I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG;; SHE ALSO SEEMS TO BE WAXING RATHER MEAN, SORRY Dx ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 1 002 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail, sweat ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

Water and fire were naturally opposed forces in nature, though they were also incredible intertwined, like life and death, like light and darkness, and the other pairings of the present and the absent. Fire made water evaporate. Water would put out a fire. Both were necessary to life, and both could extinguish life. There was a balance in their fight for dominance, a concession in it, and she knew masters of either would understand the terrible importance of one and the other to the balance in life overall. That was why it puzzled her sometimes as to why the alliances were so strong. Did the older and wiser not see to understand that eventually these opposing sides would have to reconcile for everyone’s better environment? Well, it was a noble thought, but she couldn’t manage it. She was having a hard time with Lark, and they were friends. They were fairly good friends, too, as far as Raine was concerned, but maybe that was wishful thinking. She’d never asked Lark how close of friends the other girl considered them to be. After this, she would. She was confident enough to ask a question like that without knowing whether the answer would be pleasing or not. She was assured enough of herself to know that, even if Lark didn’t consider her a close friend, there were worse things out there and she couldn’t make such friends with everyone even if she wanted to (and there were some people with whom she really didn’t want to be friends). After this, she would buy Lark lunch because she could afford to and she didn’t want the guitar lessons to go to waste on something like that. Besides, she was doing her goddamned best to win. She threw water and whipped with it, taking a page out of Lark’s books and translating it into her own element. She let water rain down on the both of them, even getting herself wet with some of the maneuvers she attempted, but she was okay with that. Lark’s heat was good at warming her before she managed to get cold, and, even better, it succeeded in somewhat drying her when she let the fire get even a little bit too close. But she was careful. That left them both panting, both fairly tired, both wet form her water, wet from sweat. It was a workout, which was good. It was what she’d wanted. She needed to use these muscles that she didn’t use often enough, because she was lazier than she probably should be. Knox had asked her to run with him, but she really didn’t want to get up as early as he did and then run for a few miles. First of all, she loved sleeping. Sleep was a fantastic invention. Especially when you were holed in a cushion of blankets and pillows, and it was just cool enough to keep you from sweating but warm enough to make you want to do anything but move. God, would she give anything for that moment of bliss. It was just the sort of thing she’d enjoy went she went home after this little… what was she supposed to call it? There was more to it than a workout. Even she could admit that, though she didn’t really want to. She knew there was more tension than just in their muscles and whatever let them control their elements. There was the tension of competition, of wanting to win. There was the fight between their elements, the alliances to which they were supposed t belong, which Lark had abandoned, and the hesitance this caused in Raine. Did that make her a bad friend—because the fact that some considered Lark a traitor made her cautious about trusting the girl? She hoped it was simpler than that, that it was actually just that she had been raised to despise the fire and the thunder element. Even that prejudice was wrong, but she was the hypocrite who bore it nonetheless. Yeah, it probably wasn’t very nice of her. But there was little she could do. She held up her hands in a cross, indicating a timeout, and plopped on her butt in the grass. “I’m pooped. Can we go eat lunch… in like five minutes? I want to catch my breath. My lung capacity is all used up.” She flopped backwards, not caring if dirt or bugs got into her hair from the carpet of green beneath her. It wasn’t like her hair liked to behave anyway. A little more wildness and misbehavior wasn’t going to make much of a difference. She patted the dirt beside her with an open-palmed hand, inviting her friend to join her. “Where should we go? My treat. And I swear, you pick any goddamn place you want and don’t you dare look at prices.” The invitation was completely serious, and she smiled at her friend to make it seem more friendly than the demanding tone that she might have accidentally incorporated. It wasn’t because she thought Lark was poor, god no, but because she knew her parents were rich and she knew they wouldn’t mind (if they even noticed) paying for her to have lunch with her friend, even if that included flying to New York City (Paris was probably pushing it, though). When it came to dirt, her parents were filthy. She didn’t take advantage of it often—she lived in the school dorms for the majority of the week, mind you—but sometimes it was nice to have a treat. “Who would you say won?” she wondered, staring up at the sky. Surely someone had. She was the one who had given up first, but she was pretty sure that Lark was just as, nearly as, or more exhausted than she happened to be. Even lying on the ground was probably more comfortable than standing up. Man, she would definitely be sore in the morning. But hey, it would so be worth it.

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notes ! I would like to thank hip hop music for this particular post. As well as procrastination, because I’m tired of current events and that’s what my homework is on for tomorrow. ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 911 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail, sweat ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

God, air felt like fire in her lungs. It burned going in and out. The underside of her jaw hurt and she was pretty sure she was getting a cramp in her side. Man, she was unfit. She really needed to start swimming on a regular basis. That, too, would probably be good for her use of her powers, though it wouldn’t be too much to do in the winter. The water would probably be cold, unless she convinced her parents to heat the pool in their backyard. Oh, that sounded like a good idea. It could be a giant hot tub and she and Issy could… well, that she would leave to the imagination. To be honest, it was rather cliche anyway. Romantic relations in a pool. What romance or horror movie did not have that? Yeah, she was scrapping that idea. Besides, it was totally not the thing to be doing after this little fight or whatever it was. She needed to slow down her breathing, and she was going to try to do that. She took a huge breath, inflating her cheeks and probably making herself look like a chipmunk. She looked over at Lark, holding the expression as long as she could, then let it out and gasped for air. God, that was a mistake. She seriously should not have done that. “God. Air. I need air. Too bad I’m not a wind, huh?” She grinned at her friend. She flopped back with another groan. The grass was way too comfortable. It really shouldn’t be like this. It should be more along the lines of… uncomfortable. Crawling with insects and just generally ick. “God. Five minutes. Five hours.” She needed a lot of time. To catch her breath, namely. Yeah, she was out of shape. She needed to get that back as soon as possible. But she was also incredibly lazy. That daily swim was so not going to happen. The blond rolled over and on top of Lark. “You’re comfy.” She was touchy-feely. She was also very comfortable around her friends as a general rule. After all, why would she want to be uncomfortable around her friends? It was like a rule. If you weren’t, there was a problem. She just really hoped that Lark wouldn’t complain. That would make things seriously awkward for them. “I do know,” Raine retorted, grinning at her. “But I also know that sometimes it’s good to let someone else do the work.” She shrugged. People couldn’t do everything themselves. That was why they were going out to lunch, and not going to cook it themselves after growing and or slaughtering the ingredients. She shuddered a little at that mental image. Man, she was glad for the existence of restaurants and pre-prepared foods. She was glad that she didn’t have to kill a cow or grow her own tomatoes. “ And it’s not like it’s my money anyway.” She hadn’t stolen it, of course, but it honestly wasn’t hers. She didn’t have a job. But she should probably get one. “Why should we use your money when we can use that of my parents? They were happy to have me out of the house anyway. They’re grateful to you. And lunch will be their thank you. I’m just ensuring that they show their manners.” It was complete and total BS (except for the part about them being glad she wasn’t in the house today), but she hoped it sounded either completely believable or ultimately silly, as she intended it. She really hoped that Lark would pick up on the fact that she being mostly silly, though not quite facetious. After all, it wasn’t a serious matter she was taking lightly. She could take their little fight lightly, however, because that was what it was supposed to be, right? She grinned at Lark and elbowed her lightly in the side, not intended to hurt, but merely to tease, a nudge to acquire acknowledgment. “You were totally awesome,” she agreed, nodding. “That idea you had… with that whip…” She made the motion with her hand, imitating it but not putting power into it. She didn’t have the energy to put power into it. She was just appropriately exhausted. “I don’t think you’d be saying that if I hadn’t figured out how to do that by watching you. That whip thing was epic. So thank you.” She grinned at her friend. She enjoyed the win a little more than perhaps she should. After all, it was only a friendly kind of “spat,” not even a real one. It wasn’t even a real win. Just an agreement between two people that one element had outdone the other. Lark’s idea, however, had certainly outdone hers. “I like the idea of wasting as little energy as we can. I think I’m moving into the negative space when it comes to that.” She hoisted herself up, groaning and grunting and making a show of it because she could and it was meant to be funny. “What’s close ‘round here?” she wondered aloud, blinking and trying to see past the trees to the curb and beyond. She didn’t eat out here often enough to have any clue what would happen here. She rarely ate out unless her parents were dragging her somewhere, or she was on a date, or she was going somewhere with Knox. Going out to eat just wasn’t something people generally did on their own.

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notes ! There is way too much text in this and I feel like I’m repetitive. Sorry >< ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 973 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail, sweat ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

“I’d hope so. Seems like it’d be a bit useless otherwise…” she mumbled between breaths. She glanced up at Lark, propping up her head with her elbow digging into the chilled dirt. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but at least she wasn’t lying on a rock or a branch or something. At least the dirt was a little soft and there were no bugs beneath her. At least the grass wasn’t poking her. She wasn’t really worried about grass stains either. In fact, she couldn’t care less if she had grass stains on these clothes. They were just sweats, after all. She’d probably start smelling a little on the way home anyway, from sweat and such things. It was nothing a good washing machine cycle couldn’t fix. And if one cycle didn’t fix it, she’d run it again. And if that didn’t work, it’d go to the dry cleaner, and so on and so forth until the clothes were clean or she gave up and decided to wear them in their state of green stains and sweat smelliness. “In an attempt to take personal bias out of it, which element do you think is the most useful for survival?” she wondered, looking at her friend curiously. Personally, she felt each had their merits. Water could probably help you in surviving a drought, remaining hydrated, maybe even in gardening. Earth did the gardening, and it could help you build a shelter. Fire was good for cooking food to kill the bacteria and just to make it more digestible, but also for the warmth that was necessary to life. Wind… what did wind do? She didn’t know. She didn’t know what electricity was good for either, except the obvious things about keeping light bulbs alight and refrigerators running so food wouldn’t spoil. They didn’t seem powerful enough to be very remarkable in a fight either. The whole point of their existence sort of confused her. Of course, she also sometimes wondered how it worked out that elementals even existed in the first place, but she didn’t question her existence too much because she quite enjoyed being alive. Of course, life sucked sometimes, but for the most part it was nice. Especially her life. Her life was not one she wanted to complain about. Where would her life be fire years from now? People tended to ask that question in interviews for jobs, she’d heard, which was interesting. Why did it matter where you thought your future was going? Maybe you wanted to die young and young meant within the next five years. No one would hire you if you said yourself six feet under in five years. Hell, you wouldn’t be able to see yourself at all, if you were dead. Either way, she didn’t like the question. Nor did she like the idea of a human pillow. She shuddered. “God, that would be mega-creepy. Like, horror-movie level. Can you just imagine that? I’d picture it sort of looking like someone was doing the bridge and that just reminds me of that one horror movie with the kid on the ceiling whose head is backwards and gah…” She shuddered again, sitting and shaking herself. Her ponytail flopped from shoulder to shoulder. That was such a freaky moment. She wasn’t really one for horror movies anyway. She much preferred soap operas. The over-acting in them amused her to no end. Of course, reality TV had a similar thing, but that was just of way lower quality. At least soap operas had some killer twists. Literally. They killed off so many characters and brought them back to life by making up something crazy way that the character had avoided death in the first place. She shook her head, both at that and at the joking story about her parents. “Yeah. That is why I love them.” Did she really? She sometimes questioned whether it was love. She knew you were supposed to love your parents, just like you were supposed to love your kids and your siblings, but sometimes she just had to question if it was really love. Maybe it was just like. From the way she and her parents got along, it was a little hard to believe that there was really love between them. It made her feel like a horrible person to be thinking so, but still. It was a little hard not to do that. It was a little hard not to doubt and not to question. Yeah, she probably was terrible. But whatever. Her parents weren’t very nice to he either. Yes, let’s redirect this thought process to something a little more interesting. Her stomach rumbled in complaint. “God, anti-gravity sounds like heaven right about now. No movement necessary. Just food. Let’s head to Timmie’s,” she suggested finally, grinning at Lark again and stretching, feeling something pop. It was the wonderful sort of pop, though, and not the painful one, which she appreciated. She’d be in enough pain when this was done with. She needed to take a hot bath when she got home. Just lie there and soak in the tub. Man, that would be wonderful. She could manipulate the water to perfectly suit her needs, maybe create a gentle current to massage her aching muscles… maybe get her boyfriend to massage her for real…. Yeahp, that would be fantastic. Which also reminded her. “Hey, maybe next time, we should do a spa day instead.” She laughed, heading in the direction of the car and really hoping the seats would be comfortable. She wasn’t going to race Lark even if the fire paid her to do it. She would gladly lose and then give her a hundred dollars. She was grateful enough that the brunette was driving them. “Thank god for automobiles. And fantastic friends.”

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notes ! -bounces off the friggin walls- I hope you like the post ^^ I have to admit, I’m sort of happy with most of this one ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

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

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

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

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

[RAINE SOPHIA ELLISON]

-- WHEN WE STARTED THIS GAME ! [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

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tag ! po && lark ;; word count ! 862 ;; setting ! Maple Hollow park ;; outfit ! jogging shorts, tank top, sneakers, ponytail, sweat ;; [cs=2][bg=060606][atrb=border,0,true,b]

Raine appreciated the note that Lark was at least listening, knowing that some people wouldn’t give any such notice and then would be rather aggressive if they were asked again or nudged for an answer. She never understood those types. How was she supposed to know they’ve even heard her question if they didn’t acknowledge her in some way? They didn’t say they were listening or asked for time to think or asked her to repeat the question. They just got mad if she dared to ask again or poked them because she honestly wanted an answer. Of course, there were those questions that didn’t really matter. Those, she simply let go. Those, she didn’t bother asking again on. Why should she? They weren’t important in any way or form. In a way, one could argue that no question was important, but it all came back to the definition of what one thought was “important.” Oh, language. It was always about intent and interpretation and the miscommunication between the two. Between Lark and herself, however, there seemed to be little miscommunication, which was good. Raine also happened to agree with the fire elemental. They were all good for something, and that created the balance in their lives. That was why there were five elementals, and why no one element was stronger or “better” than any of the others, even if the occasional bully thought so. Of course, they were strong or weak against one another, but no element was strong or weak against all of them. In that was the balance, and balance was good. Lord, she was getting repetitive in her thoughts. It ought to be time to speak, then, right? “I think that’s why it’s good that all exist, you know? Without any one of them, the others would be lackluster. And why the alliances issues are sometimes so ridiculous. I mean, what happens if one alliance exterminates another? The world would be thrown into utter chaos.” Of course, she was taking it a bit far, going to mass murder by high schooler and college student. She grinned at Lark in hopes of communicating that she didn’t think it was even close to likely. The grin spread widely enough to make her cheeks feel as though her face would break, and she burst into laughter at Lark’s reaction. The laughter itself made her ribs hurt simply because of the breath it required, and she composed herself sooner than she would otherwise only for the sake of maintaining some oxygen in her system with which to function. That was the best way to deal with horror, she felt—that is, to simply laugh it off. Laughter was good for many things, among them lessening the ill feelings of the world when it did not draw attention to them. Yes, laughter could harm, and sometimes did. Laughter could be mocking, could be painful when expressed by those who took pleasure in bullying and the like. Not that she was about to complain. She wasn’t one to suffer bullying quietly. When someone dared, she fought back with the heartiest of laughter and the sharpest of wit she could accomplish. She was of the strong sort. She was more likely to play a prank than to let someone do so to herself. Maybe it had a little something to do with pride. She wouldn’t know. Nor would she know about flying. She had never been interested in airplanes or anything of the sort. For the most part, she just wished she were filled with helium sometimes, so that she might float rather than walk, feel as light and as airy as the beginning of a romance did, those moments of bliss before things could even begin to fathom a turn for the worse. What a ridiculous thought, perhaps, but nonetheless one she enjoyed. She could just imagine it, lying on her back and floating through the air wherever she wished to go, not truly working muscles of any sort. She imagined that it would be fun with winds to try to attempt something like that, but she had her doubts as whether such a thing could be done. She didn’t know the extent of their powers. After all, she was still learning those of her own, though she felt quite near mastery—and certainly proficient at that which she had learned. Spas, she had also learned, were wonderful things and worth their immense costs. But then, the wonderful thing was that an amateur spa could be held at home, with a hot bath and some facial cream and other things along the sort. The ride was quick, and being seated with food drawing her to wish she could inhale it was even quicker, and therefore much appreciated. She took a large bite before she spoke, but then composed herself as she chewed, wondering how she could phrase her question so it would be honest and not quite seem offensive, were that even possible. Finally, she decided simply to let it be organic, and failed to formulate anything specific, asking after she swallowed, “So… I mean… what are we? We’re friends, right? But what sort?”

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notes ! I feel like my movie influenced my language in this particular one Oo ;;

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[LARK MARIE HARPER]

Being taught that the opposing elements were enemies, it was odd to think that, without one of the five, the others would be without balance in some way. Fires felt they were the most important, Thunders felt the same and so on and so forth. They all knew they had some sort of contribution to the elemental world. What they did not realize was that losing one of the other elements things would probably not be quite the same. The Fires and Thunders could hate on the opposing elements as much as they wanted but in the end all five should probably exist to prevent chaos. That was the order of things, right? Lark felt she was getting too deep into this discussion but her mind would not allow anything else at the current time. It was such a revelation, really, and wondered if her friends and enemies understood this the way she did now. And if they didn't? Nothing I can do to change anything. Mentally she shrugged it off and decided that people could feel however they wanted about the other elements. After all, people changed and opinions changed over time. She never thought she would find better friends and happiness among her previous enemies but here she was co-existing with them better than she did her own element. Lark missed the camaraderie at times; the Fire's loyalty knew no bounds and she had a feeling that, if her plea was good enough, they would welcome her back with open arms. It would not happen but the thought was warming none the less. One could not fully anticipate the future.

Lark laughed at the word 'extermination', knowing that her friend was exaggerating but still finding the thought amusing. "I think people thrive off of the conflict is all. But hey, nothing can be done to change what we have, yeah?" She raised an eyebrow in question. "Things are the way they are. Fires and Thunders hate Earth and Water, and vice versa. Some of us have seen both sides but there aren't many." She and Josh were some of the only exceptions she could think of off the top of her head. She was happy where she was at, though. Life was pretty good, all things considered. Sure the drama with her mother was a bit of a weight on her shoulders but Lark had good friends and a good job and things could potentially be worse.

Either Lark was incredibly hungry or the food really was as good as it tasted, because she was digging into her meal like she had not eaten in days. There was a murmur of content between chewing but nothing extremely audible over the noise of Timmie's. She loved this place; it was the one food establishment she would miss if ever a time came when she went back to Hawaii. That was something she would like to do in the future but the trip required money and although her job payed decently well she could not make enough for a round trip without going broke. Mid-bite, just as she was about to chew and swallow, Raine asked a question that was a bit unexpected. Not necessarily bad, but unexpected none the less. The food nearly lodged itself in her throat before she managed to clear it and swallow quietly. Lark had never really been asked that before. What sort? There were levels of friendship, she supposed, but when asked directly an answer was difficult to create. She mulled over the question as she mulled over her food, using her hunger as an excuse for the silence.

There was the acquaintances, the friends you hung out with and enjoyed seeing but hardly saw because of life/work/school, the friends that were more of a love-hate relationship where you bitched and argued and then were fine a few minutes later, the ones you enjoyed going out to lunch with on occasion, the ones you saw every day and talked to but were not really close, and then you had really close friends and then best friends. At least, that's how it worked for Lark. She put her sandwich down and leaned back in the chair, looking contemplative. "Well, yeah we're friends," Lark finally said with a chuckle, not quite sure what sort of question that was. "I don't hang out with people I don't like." Which was the truth. If Lark did not like somebody, she was not exactly good at feigning kindness. She scratched at the table. "But to be perfectly honest I never thought about it. I mean, we aren't best friends but I'm not against going and doing stuff and working towards closer friendship." It took her a long while to trust people to the fullest extent; with Josh there were quite a few years between their initial meeting and her realizing that he was the closest friend she had, someone she could trust with anything. She did not exactly look uncomfortable but uncertain that her answer was the right one. Subconsciously she labeled friendships with people but never had she been asked to define it out loud to someone.