bright like lightning [alina]

[NELL DOE DALE]

Leaves fell into Nell's hair as she walked through the backyard, rustled from their branches by a gentle breeze. Gently, she picked one out of her hair before turning back to look at the maze. She'd spent most of the day making repairs on it, shifting the hedges, breathing life back into the wilting foliage. She'd sent Josh through it last year to test it out, before they opened it up for the Halloween party. What must have been the entire Maple Hollow population had made it; well, at least the people who knew the Dales.

Now, she watched as the walls lowered, deciding she would take care of it at a later date. She had yet to talk to her husband about another Halloween party this year. It would likely be a relatively easier time for them, since last year they had their wedding and honeymoon just a week before the party. It had turned out very well, even so.

Entering the house through the back door, she kicked off her shoes and pulled her jacket off, a new purchase for the cold months ahead. She'd had her previous coat for three years, and so she had decided it might be best to retire it for something new. And upon hanging it up in the foyer's closet, she remember that she had been left alone, a frown tugging at her lips. With both Josh and Annabel out, the only people she had for company were the pets. All billion of them.

It wouldn't last long, and that was what she took for comfort. She had invited Alina over that day, and she was rather fond of the younger girl. Not only adorable, she was incredibly bright despite her learning disability. Actually, there should have been no "despite", since Nell knew that dyslexia did not make someone unintelligent. In any case, she was a lovely girl and she felt honored to tutor her. With the little free time Nell had nowadays, she used it to help out in any way she could, volunteering wherever she could.

After pulling on some sweats and throwing her hair up, the words 'we are blessed' now visible just underneath her hairline, she spent half of her time creating the chain of paper cranes that she planned to hang on the balcony and the other half collecting pillows in the sitting room downstairs. Her pig, Winston, became curious about what she was up to as she stood on her couch. She bent down to pick him up in his arms, the air wooshing out of her lungs as she realized how heavy he had gotten, and jumped off the couch onto one of the pillows. "What have you been eating, vato?" she asked him, setting him back down on the floor.

The doorbell rang then, and she threw the pillows on the floor, all of them different sizes and shapes. She stepped from each to each as she went to the door, and leaned over from the last pillow to open it. "Come in," she said, stepping back. "But remember the floor is lava!" She started to hop her way back to the sitting room, where Winston sat on one of the pillows on the way to the couch. She pouted at him. How rude!

[ALINA RAE LEXUS]

Outfit

Alina pulled on her shoes, preparing herself to head out to Nell’s. Nell was a college girl, a friendly Earth element who had been so nice as to tutor her since Alina had arrived to the school. Alina’s dyslexia, while it didn’t make her stupid in any way, did slow her down, and Alina tried as hard as she could to answer her problems before bringing her questions to Nell’s attention. Though going to see Nell today wasn’t really for one of the normal tutoring sessions. Alina had done well with Nell’s instructions, and she had a good grade to show off because of the girl’s help. That, and it was just fun to hang out with Nell. Alina needed some companionship, and Carson couldn’t be with her all the time – she had siblings and a boyfriend to tend to. Alina didn’t really even have a roommate, let alone all of those other people, so she tried to see her friends as much as possible. It had dropped quite a bit in temperature. She’d actually taken the time out to bundle herself up a bit. You’d expect a Wind elemental to be used to the cold. And she was. But for some reason, she was ALWAYS cold, whether she had taken precaution or not. She took a breath, fixing her jacket before heading out, walking to Nell’s. It was so nice to be able to just spend time with Nell instead of focusing on any problems. They’d had the test this week, so she didn’t have any new homework to bring the girl yet. She was sure Nell would still want to go over something, but they could cover that later, when Alina actually got there.

She reached the house, pushing the doorbell in gently, hearing it go off on the inside, waiting patiently. It took a second before the door opened, Alina grinning at the girl. ”Hi!”

[/color] She laughed a bit, ”What’s this?”[/color] She tucked her paper into her pocket, moving to remove it and hang it up before being told the floor was lava and she jumped back as quick as she could to the safe spot. Or in other words, the pillow. She held her arms out for balance, looking up at Nell. ”That’s probably a problem, your floor being lava. You should have that checked out.”[/color] She giggled, moving to step timidly from each pillow, Winston in her way and she moved to pick him up, placing him on another pillow to get him out of the way. ”Excuse me, Mr. Winston, but I must get through.”[/color] She laughed, moving after Nell and perching herself on the couch. ”Phew. There. That was quite a trip.”[/color] She smiled, smoothing her shirt before looking up at Nell. ”Do you have anything planned for today beside seeing me?”[/color] She just wondered what the girl was up to, that was all. She supposed she could’ve asked what was up. So she did. ”What’s going on, lately?”[/color] She smiled, waiting to talk with her friend.[/blockquote][/size]

[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell had never gotten to learn "the floor is lava" as a child, instead learning it from the kids she'd worked with at the daycare. They had scattered the mats used for floor activities over and spent their time trying to keep off the floor that was apparently covered in lava. She missed being around them, but she still found ways to get some of that childishness out. The girl needed to convince her husband to make a giant fort with her so they could watch movies. Her life was spent rebuilding the childhood she had never gotten, and Josh seemed to understand that enough to humor her in some of her more outlandish pursuits.

She tipped her head back and laughed at the blond's words, holding her hands out for balance. Winston clearly was also worried about the state of the floor, having sat himself on a pillow. When Alina sat, she scooped him up into her arms and pulled the pig onto her lap. He squirmed a little before settling to be pet by her. Over the time she'd had him, Winston had gotten marginally better at not being a grumpy little ball of pink all the time. He even seemed curious about Alina, leaning forward so that he could sniff at her leg. The other animals may have been shy. The cats tended to scurry, and the dogs were outside. Otherwise, they'd be all over the girl and licking at her face. "I guess next time I shouldn't make the volcano gods angry," she said. Unfortunately, she wasn't very keen on making virgin sacrifices. Or sacrifices of any sort. Maybe they would be satiated with a hamburger.


At the question of what was going on, Nell let the lax smile settle on her face. "Things have been going pretty good. Josh is really busy right now--" she seemed a little put out by this, a pout on her lips, "--but things have been going good!" She'd chosen to study a little early for finals so that she didn't stress herself out by cramming. Her little charts and notecards with doodles on them actually served a purpose in her schooling. And speaking of schooling, there was the matter of Alina's own education to discuss. "I was wondering what your plans are for school, you know, now that you're twelfth grade year is wrapping up." It was fall, and come November, Alina would graduate. Nell felt a kindling of pride to see her succeed. "Are you planning to go to college?" It wasn't for everyone. Unlike high school, college was not mandatory. She knew Ashton had decided to drop out to seek out a career in pro snowboarder. It didn't fit in with his plans. For her, she wanted time to figure out what she wanted from life. Now that she had this opportunity for education, she wanted to take it for all it was worth.

[ALINA RAE LEXUS]

Alina was kind of convinced she had never grown up. She still loved to play childish games that people constantly told her she was too old to play. She never understood how a person could “outgrow a game”. Where did that rule come from? Was it some kind of unspoken thing? Why was it that people had to grow up? She hadn’t found many people who actually LIKED the fact that they had to grow up. Life only got harder. She was sure it would go smoother if a person could keep some fun in their lives. That, and money was just annoying. With everything. If she and Nell wanted to have a little fun, pretend the floor was lava, finger paint, learn to juggle…why the heck not. She settled next to Nell, looking over the pig a bit, petting his pinkness. ”You know, I’ve wanted a lot of different pets when I was little, but I never once thought about a pig. He seems like a very gentle kind of house pet though. Such a little thing. Now I’m certain I’ll have to think about it. Of course…when I’m not living at the school and can actually have pets.”

[/color] She had also thought about ferrets…or even just a kitten. Kittens were cute. She kind of wanted something that wasn’t really considered a pet though – and that seemed to always make things harder for her so she wouldn’t think about the pet subject until she could actually do something about it. Honestly, Alina wouldn’t have minded a lot of animal kisses and greetings. She loved them.

She grinned, letting out a laugh. ”I guess not! Whatever was it that you did to upset them?”[/color] She wanted to make sure she never did the same. She already had enough trouble with fire elementals, she wouldn’t want to anger the volcano gods as well. She pouted along with Nell as the girl answered. ”I’m sorry…maybe he’ll be unbusy soon and then you two can spend more time together.”[/color] But she was glad to hear everything else was going well. The only thing she wasn’t really glad to hear about was the subject she had been painstakingly trying to avoid. She sighed a bit, a finger getting tangled at the ends of her hair, thinking a bit. ”I don’t really know…I mean…I’m passing…that’s good. As soon as I’m done, I at least know I shall graduate.”[/color] She thought a bit. ”I’m certain I’ll be staying in Maple Hollow…”[/color] She took a breath. ”I’d love to learn more about my element, but I think…it might be too hard. For me. Maybe a trade school with more hands on activities would be better? What do you think? I’d really value your input.”[/color] She chewed on the end of her hair a bit, murmuring, ”I have a little time to figure it out, right? I don’t have to decide right away…”[/color] She just hoped she wouldn’t rush into making the wrong decision.[/blockquote][/size]