Results of a Leader (Carson)

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

Another April, another day. The afternoon was upon on them and a beautiful one at that. There had a light shower that morning but since then there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Jacob was done with his morning classes and was just waiting until after lunch for his next class. Until then though Jacob decided to step outside and enjoy the cool breeze. It was one of those days that he didn't feel like being cooped up in the castle, especially since the day was as beautiful as it was. So once he was out in the open he took a deep breath before finding an empty bench to relax on.

Jacob liked moments such as these when he was just on his own and at peace. It was when he could get a breather from being a student as well as the water leader. Being leader wasn't as easy as some may believe. It wasn't as if he was going around ordering people to do stuff. It was much more than that and held a lot of responsibilities. He was happy that he didn't have to do it alone since both a male and female were chosen as the leaders. His fellow leader Carson was a good person and the two meshed well which wasn't too surprising since water elementals tend to that anyways. She was a year younger than him so she'd probably stick around as year after he graduated. They were in their fourth month of the school year and he was thankful that for the most part his job had been relatively quite. He'd have to hand out a few detentions but nothing drastic aside from making sure that the dorms stayed clean which reminded him there was a cleaning check this weekend.

A sighed escaped his lips. This was Jacob going through the motions which wasn't unusual for this water since his mother died. He looked around the wet glass and with a swish of his hand watched as small water droplet rose from the ground and began to combine to form one big drop. He played around with it. Forming various shapes and just moving around himself and the air for as long as his stamina allowed him to.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

That rainy April morning had been just like any other. The light drizzle that swept in was just heavy enough to leave a lovely fresh smell in the air, something that Carson absolutely enjoyed. Of course, as she walked down the hall from her most recent class, her jeans went from light to dark just below the knee from where she decided to jump around in the puddles right outside of the school. Childish perhaps but she was not one to care what others thought. It was fun and it put her in a good mood, which was all that mattered. She wore a chipper smile on her face as she made her way to the front doors, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet; she was a naturally cheerful person and today was not going to be any different. A few people passed by and waved, giving her a chance to greet them and make short conversation before going on her way. Soon it would be lunch time and boy, food sounded really good right about now.

She pushed the doors open and decided to find a place to relax for a while before heading for the mess hall, perhaps finish some schoolwork or something of the like. Distractions were always a possibility though so Carson went into studying expecting to drift away from the task at hand and find something else to do. Her mind always liked to wander. It was a downfall to grow bored so easily, too. At least she had people in her life to keep her on the right track!

The grounds were alive with students, many of them waiting to go to their next class and some working on assignments. As much as she wanted to go and find a large group of people to hang out with, she knew that it would probably be good to do a little work on her history paper. Or at least try. As soon as Carson took a seat on a bench nearby, she glanced over to see a familiar face. A smile formed. "Hey Jacob!" The girl greeted with a small wave, scooting a little closer to him so she wouldn't have to talk so loud. "What's up? How were your morning classes?" So full of questions but she was not really one to take people's privacy into consideration. Besides, he was her co-leader and they needed to be open with one another and have good communication, right? She was still new at all of this--having only been in the position for a few months--but that seemed logical to her.

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

Jacob was in his own little world as he played around with his small supply of water. He'd look up every now and then when he hear his name called by someone and he'd give them a small smile and nod of his head but would always return to his own world. That was until another feminine voice pulled him out of his bubble again. Not loosing his focus of moving the water around he turned his head to find one Carson Garroway in his eyesight. Carson was his fellow elemental leader. He gave her a smile and nod just he had with everyone else only instead of returning to his own world he put some of his focus on her. It was only fair right? "Good afternoon Carson. I hope the afternoon is treating you well." he said gently.

Looking on Carson he felt a bit refresh with her cheerful presence. He remembered when he used to be like that. Always cheerful, found enjoyment everywhere and could always be found with a smile on his face. Sometimes had to be told to put a lid on it. The memory made him crack another little smile as he reminisced a bit. "Nothing I'm not used to." he said casually. His classes were just another thing he had to go through and he did very well. He'd admit that he kind of envied Carson and her lively personality. He had lost that piece of himself the day his mother died and hadn't been able to completely retrieve. Perhaps he wasn't meant to. Oh well. After a couple more seconds he was beginning to feel the affects of using his powers and after another few moments he released the water from his control and watched it fall upon the grass. "How about you?" he asked with some curiosity in his voice. He had a soft look as he listened and that was when he took notice of the bottom of Carson's jeans and had to giggle a bit. "I take it you had some with the water again." he said with a smile that he only war every so often.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

Had Carson been more aware of the fact that Jacob was off in his own space and taking the time to relax, she might have been a little less intrusive. Might. She was never good at paying attention to things like that. There was a nod shortly after his well wishes for the day, the smile still present. "It's treating me pretty well so far, thanks! The rain this morning was really nice so it was a good way to start my day." She looked up into the sky and blinked; the weather was slowly getting nicer. "I don't mind the snow too much but I like spring weather." There was a happy sigh and a content look on her face as she spoke. Spring was happy and bright and all of the fresh flowers and lush green grass had a bit of a boost to her mood, if that were even possible.

She tilted her head to the side to glance at her fellow Water before giving him a 'Mmm' of approval and leaning back on the bench to watch the few little clouds left in the sky float on by. "It's been okay so far! As well as it can be, anyway. School is school, right?" Her shoulders rose and fell with nonchalance, a gentle portrayal that she was not extremely enthusiastic about school. Education was important and she knew that, but her focus always tended to shift to things she would prefer to be doing as opposed to things she knew needed to be done. Carson's gaze drifted down towards the wet jeans when Jacob took notice, a giggle following shortly after his own. "Yep! Can't go wrong with a little puddle hopping. I'm sure my mom won't be happy about me getting my good jeans muddy but she'll get over it." After examining the spots of dirt on the dark denim, the girl glanced up at her friend and flashed him a smile. "You should smile more often. It suits you."

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

"The rain was nice. Would have liked if it would have stuck around a bit longer or at the very least the clouds." he said referring to the sky that was continuously getting clearer. Not that he was against clear days of course because they allowed him the chance to take trips to the lakes for his usual swims, but just sometimes he preferred for the rain to be falling on the earth. Like Carson he liked to stand out when it was raining and just feel the water wetting his skin. It was a good feeling for this elemental. He nodded his head in agreement with Carson. "Aside from freezing up the lake and keeping me from my swims I have no problem with the winter weather. It can definitely have it's moments." he said thoughtfully. His mother used to call him a merman considering how long and often he liked being in the water. One of the things that he had loved that he hadn't lost.

"Right." he said. He was grateful for the academy. It gave him a place to be where he could be at peace which not something he got whenever he took a trip home to his father. His relationship with his father had never been perfect but it only got worse with the death of his mother. With her gone the two had lost their only connection to each other and thus now whenever he was at home it was always awkward and most of the time he was alone. He only took a few trips a year as a courtesy but always looked forward to his return. The academy was more a home to him than his actual home. His friends more a family than his father. School just added the extra distraction his grades remained exception out of his respect for his mother. She always stressed the importance of trying your best and thus he did so in her honor.

The idea of hopping in puddles was amusing. Yes it was childish but it was fun none the less. He should know. He does it when no one's watching. He saw nothing wrong with it. His smile didn't fade at the mention of her mother because remembering his mother brought him joy and not sadness. "More important things to worry about than muddy jeans, especially for the two of us." he said a bit cheerfully. He wasn't surprised by her next statement for it wasn't the first time he had heard it. The same line had been said a thousand times over by his longest friends. The ones that knew him prior to his mother's death and were witness to the change that befell the young water. So another small smile fell on his lips before he spoke. "Thanks. I'll try to remember that more often." he said casually. "Maybe you'll rub off on me and I'll be smiling non stop." Anything was possible right?

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

There was a contemplative smile on her face as he talked about the clouds, clearly confused by it but listening none the less. Even when she didn't understand something it always seemed like she was in an all-too-cheerful mood. Sure, Carson had her down times and there were days where smiling wasn't exactly in the cards, but overall life was good and...honestly, at the moment there wasn't much of a reason not to smile. "I like sunny days," She noted happily. The clouds were slow moving but the sun was clearly there and you could see the blue beyond the white fluff. "But clouds are okay too! They keep the day cool in the summer for sure. I can appreciate that." Unless she was at the beach, in which case a full day of sun was best. That meant a good tan and plenty of time to swim.

Of course, although Carson was an inquisitive person and asked after people often, she never thought to ask after Jacob's parents or his life beyond the Academy. Still, she enjoyed it as much as he did, because there were a lot of good people and friends were usually pretty awesome too. At least she thought so. She tried to encompass herself with as many people as possible. Independence from others was never a strong suit.

"Yep! Definitely more to worry about in our positions than muddy jeans. Though I have to admit they do chafe after a while..." She said, tapping a chin to her finger before chuckling. He was right though; being a leader had a lot in terms of responsibility and sometimes they had more on their plate than she'd care for. Ah well, she liked it. As dependent as she was, it did feel nice to have others look to her for things too. "We have that cleaning check this weekend don't we?" There was a look of remembrance on her face, mingled with something akin to 'oh shit'. Her memory wasn't all that great. Whoops. At least talk of their duties jolted her a little. Then as soon as the conversation switched her mind switched too, pushing leadership work aside almost instantly. "Good. Smiling is really healthy, y'know? They say that smiling, even when you don't want to, can actually help you feel better overall." She didn't say this because she knew he was coping with his mother's death, more just babbling about random facts. "Aww, I hope so! But--" A loud voice from somewhere across the grounds caught her attention, sentence cut off halfway through. Carson stood up and recognized at least one of the people in the argument and frowned. "What's going on?"

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

Sunny days weren't bad. Obviously they were perfect weather for swimming which was nothing that Jacob could complain about. So as much as he did enjoy the clouds he preferred his swims. So sunny days were beginning to sound a lot more better than he had originally been thinking. He was probably making no sense. After all a water that preferred darker weather. Not probably very typical considering how bubbly and sometimes carefree they were. "As long as the clouds don't keep me from my swimming then it's all find and dandy." he said casually.

Since Carson was a year younger she had only met Jacob after his small change in personality. Some could say he was watered down because of the death of his mother. So as friendly and sociable as Jacob was he use to be a lot more bubbly and energetic. He appreciated it though when people didn't pry into his life. He preferred not to talk about his life all that much not that he didn't if he was asked. It wasn't like he had anything to really.

Another smile grew on his lips when she said that her pants were chafing some. He could imagine how after a while the pants could become rather uncomfortable but it could be worth it a bit. He nodded his head at her question. "Yup. At the dismay of everyone." Cleaning days were actually something that everyone looked forward since all of the dormitories they had to keep clean. Jacob was an organized person so his room was basically kept clean, of course with the help of his roommate but there was also the rest of the dormitories as well as the common room. It was an requirement of the school and one that the leaders had to enforce. It was the rules.

His smile remained as she spoke again. Words similar to what his friends have always told him. Nothing new but in part he was thankful. Carson was someone that didn't know everything about him and her words were meant to be the result of anything. Just something she was saying which was refreshing. "That's good to know. Thanks." his smile and attention remained on Carson until Jacob heard a loud voice come behind them. His focused then turned onto a very unwanted sight and his smile fell with a sigh. "Duty calls." he said referring to their positions as he led the way to where the trouble was happening. Jacob recognized both guys that were part of the commotion. One was a fellow water, 11th grader and the other was a fire he knew in his own grade. Jacob walked over to the small group and got their attention. "What's going on here?" he said looking between the younger water and fire. 'Nothing that concerns you Jacob. Just trying to get an apology from our young friend here.' Jacob's attention turned to the younger water who had scoffed. "He bumped into and made me drop my books." he said glaring at the fire. Jacob looked at soaking books and then quickly looked at the fire who was beginning to walk towards the young water before Jacob stepped in between the two, giving the fire a glare of his own. "Why don't you back off Xavier." he said sternly. Leaders were to try and be keepers of the peace, of course unfortunately that wasn't always the case. Hopefully this wouldn't be one of those times.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

"I don't think it should! Unless they're rain clouds, which I guess could ruin a good swim day. Thunderstorms are probably the worst." It wasn't something she was deathly afraid of but she knew the dangers of swimming during a storm. She was not interested in being electrocuted, thank you very much. Still, now Carson was thinking of summer and all the warmer weather and going to the beach, and wanted so badly to go on a vacation. Maybe talking to Achelle could help encourage some sort of summer vacation when the time came for their month off from school. And hopefully it won't be a trip to see her family in the states; she wanted to go somewhere tropic. Like Cancun.

She sighed a little and looked slightly disgruntled, though it didn't last long. Her emotions were normally chipper and up beat and she didn't want to complain too much about a job she took willingly. The worst thing was dealing with the dorms simply because she wasn't around them all that often. She lived at school because of her position but most of her time was spent at home if the chance arose. "It won't be so bad, though! Better than both of us cleaning everything by ourselves." That would be so tedious. But if everyone in the dorms pitched in and made sure everything was in tip top shape they'd be fine. Her room was fairly neat, of that she was certain. Seeing him smile really was encouraging, though; he had been smiling quite a bit during their conversation and it made her happy. Carson liked people to be happy. "You're welcome!" Sadness was not uncommon by any means but if you have the ability to smile, why not try? She understood that some days were difficult though.

And their job could not wait until the weekend. The voices sounded quite unhappy and at knowing at least one of the boys standing there she knew that she and Jacob should probably step in. Fire versus Fire would have been different, most likely. "Yeah," Carson replied, following Jacob towards the small group of guys. They seemed to be at a stand off, the boy in her grade--the Water--was standing next to his muddied books. The Fire told Jacob to back off, her own eyes narrowing. "I hardly think this is the time to try and force an apology out of someone. If you knocked his books into the water then it should be the other way around." She shot back, looking as unhappy as she sounded. Fires. Ugh. The boy tried to advance on their fellow Water, to which Jacob stopped that abruptly. She nodded in agreement, eyes dark with frustration. "It's probably best if you leave," The girl advised with a heavy tone, moving next to Jacob to show that she was also a part of this. Would this end well? She had no idea.

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

Carson definitely had a point. One of the benefits of the waters is that they were very good about helping each other the majority of the time which made the cleanings simply to get through. Of course it wasn't as if everyone in the world enjoyed cleaning but thankfully they were able to get through it without too much moaning and groaning. Plus the majority of the water elementals were relatively clean anyways so it wasn't as if there was a ton to do. So at the end of the it wasn't all that bad and it could be done rather quickly.

That was this weekend though. At the moment the two water elemental leaders had to deal with something else. Keeping another fight from breaking out. Jacob kept his stance between the younger water and the fire that seemed to be really causing the problem. This hadn't been the first time he had to deal with this particular fire but normally it didn't go past some heated words and Jacob preferred to keep that way. Plus this time he had Carson here so it was two leaders against him which gave him an extra confidence boost when she stood next to him. This only made Xavier scoffed. "Funny how once you're leader you think you need to poke your nose into everything. Like I said. It's none of your business so why don't the two of you just move on?" and he said a tad harshly. It was then Jacob noticed that Xavier was holding a lighter and playing with it. He hadn't noticed it before until he saw the flame. Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Do you really want to try that?" he said, moving his own hands. It had only rained a few hours ago and thus the grass was still filled with water droplets plus a few nearby puddles. As Xavier started moving his flame Jacob began flowing a few lines of water his way in case of anything. The two twelfth graders had had stare down waiting to see who would make the next move.

After another second of silence Xavier let another scoff. "I have better things to do than waste my energy on the likes of you." and with that the flame was gone and the fire along with lackies began to walk away. When they were out of sight Jacob's stare softened and he turned back to the young water he had come to help. "Sorry you had to deal with that." he said apologetically. The younger water simply shook his head. It's not your fault. At least it wasn't my school books. he said referring to the books that had fallen in the muddy puddle. The young boy gave them boy a smile of thanks before stalking off. Jacob let out a sigh when the two were alone again. "Why some fires think they need to bully to get there way is the best option is beyond me?" he said with a tad of annoyance in his voice.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

Confrontation was not something Carson directly avoided; hell, she spent a lot of time pranking people and wasn't particularly fearful of pissing people off. However, there was a difference--in her mind--in tossing a water balloon from a second story window at whomever passed by, and knocking a kids' books into the muddy rain water just because they thought it made them big and bad. Everyone had their own thoughts on the subject, though. Judging by the response the Fire gave Jacob they at least knew one another, but that was the extent of her knowledge. She glared, a hand clenching into a tight little fist. Standing at five foot four, she wasn't all that intimidating. "You made it our business," Carson replied, ignoring his request for them to leave the situation alone. "You might want to take your own advice and leave before things get messy." It didn't sound like a dangerous threat but considering the fact that the fight would be two against one, and two of them were Waters, Xavier would be dim witted to try and actually instigate something.

She stood her ground next to her fellow leader and waited for a response, smiling a little too triumphantly when he decided to back down. "Waste his energy, right," She mumbled with a dramatic eye roll. "We could have put out his fire without hardly even trying." There was plenty of water available for them to use and then some. The time during and after a rain were always a nice time to toy around with the droplets and puddles that littered the grounds. A smile graced her lips as the other boy picked up his things and left, offering a small nod. "I have no idea. You'd think that some of them would have learned their lesson by this point, especially against Waters who can use their powers." Oh well, if things were always peaceful and happy then that would be strange. Having a change of pace was actually nice, though she felt bad for the boy for putting up with Xavier. She glanced down at her jeans and placed a finger on her lower lip in thought.

"So what are you doing for lunch? Do you wanna join me in the mess hall?" She asked with a faint tilt of the head, looking at her friend hopefully. The smile on her face was upbeat and unwavering as always. Thinking on it she clasped her hands together and gnawed on her lip, as though realizing she had forgotten something. "If you have other things to do I understand! I just...figured some company would be nice. I have class in a couple of hours, so.." Carson rocked back on her heels a bit anxiously in anticipation for answer.

[JACOB RYO NAGANO]

Jacob could only hope that this would be the only time today that he'd have to deal with meaningless fights or arguments like this. Was that too much to ask for? Perhaps but he didn't care. Carson did have a point. Considering the fact that it had rain not too long ago they were practically standing a pool considering how much water surrounded them. So if Xavier really had wanted to start a fight his odds were bad considering it was 3 waters against a fire. Xavier had to be smart enough to realize that and thus why he back down. Jacob knew that Xavier would be the type to not back down from a fight if he knew the odds were in his favor. "True. Then that's why they have us leaders, too make sure we don't take advantage of our powers like, even if some fires may deserve it once in a while." he said nonchalantly and shrugged. Each element had it's strengths and weakness. One of the strengths of the waters was that fires were weaker against them. Thus why so many waters would pull pranks against them.

To be honest he hadn't expected not the invite. He hadn't even thought about lunch. He had a lot of free time at the moment one because it was a lunch and also because he had the first period after lunch off. He hadn't even thought about eating yet, he probably would have gone up to his room until his next class if Carson hadn't come up to him the first place. Thinking about it though the offer was very appealing. He didn't spend much time with Carson outside of when they met up for something involving their position but never really as just friends. A small smile grew on his face as he nodded. "Sure. That sounds good. I'm actually starting to get a little hungry myself." he said and then began to walk over back to the bench where they had been sitting previously to grab his backpack. With his backpack on his shoulder he turned to Carson. "Ready when you are."

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

"I suppose so," Carson agreed with a faint nod, not sure if every leader placed in their position was equally capable of controlling themselves. She wondered briefly how the leaders before them functioned, if anything had changed over the years in regards to what leaders could and couldn't do in their positions of power. Did they fight a lot? Were any ever stripped of their title for abusing what they had? A lot of questions and some had answers that most people she knew couldn't answer off the top of their heads. "Do you think anyone has, though?" She finally asked after thinking on it. Maybe Jacob could offer insight even if they were near the same age. "I mean, you and I don't go throwing our powers around but I wonder if other leaders have before. Or do now." She didn't talk to the other leaders on a daily basis (except the Earth leaders), and when they did talk it wasn't exactly friendly.

She smiled and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "Yay! Now to decide what I'm hungry for..." Her finger pressed to her bottom lip as she thought. Maybe it was going to be one of those 'see it and crave it' days. She spent the time between then and him grabbing his bag thinking on this before neglecting the train of thought to join Jacob, shrugging lightly. Whatever she found appetizing, she would eat! "Okay!" She chirped, almost skipping to the entrance of the Academy and opening the door. The mess hall wasn't far away and she could smell the food. "What classes do you have this afternoon?" There was only a brief bout of silence between them but she was not too fond of silence if it was avoidable. She walked into the mess hall and wandered to the line, grabbing a tray before looking at her friend with a smile.