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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 19, 2011 16:03:27 GMT -5
He gave one of his half-expressions again—this one being half-amused. And that’s what Josh was now—the half-expression guy. ”My only piece of furniture is a futon. Enough said.” That wasn’t the least of it, but she wouldn’t say anything about how it was a step above a tenement house or how her pipes were frozen and she couldn’t bitch about it because she was used to it. She again had to wonder about Josh, though, since he should have been a rich kid. Right? Maybe his cleanliness was something he brought into living on his own. He might have been a good roommate because of this, but she didn’t see him as the type to want to do that simply because he was so anti-social. But she tried not to think too hard on his private life, no matter what her curiosity did to her.
It was true she barely knew how to take care of herself, really. The basic things she was good at. She picked up after herself, got everything done on time, and improvised when things didn’t work—she conditioned such skills into herself from a young age. She knew how to shoulder burdens and take what the world gave her without complaint. But when it came to actually being adult, she was rather stunted. Nell was at a lost when it came to the bank, to speaking to her manager, to keeping her apartment smelling clean—she guessed these were skills she’d have to learn eventually. With her ability to adapt, she at least hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult.
Just the three? It was still three more than she had expected. But there we go. Nell observed the Fire student with interested brown eyes as he told her about how he got Apache, the cute little white cat. ”I didn’t know shelters did that,” she said, wide-eyed, then winced. Maybe that was something she should have known about if she had any real-world experience. Euthanasia was a common practice after all, in spite of how morally wrong it is. These shelters didn’t sound like shelter at all. More like prison and capital punishments. Prison is a bad word. Thinking of the conditions for these cats and the entire idea of euthanasia made her gut twist and turn.
It was still strange to see Josh having affection for anyone or anything, but here was his little sister and his cats and it was all very…weird. There were no other words. She couldn’t help but think of how when she met him he’d gotten shitfaced and whipped out his handy-dandy switchblade. And yet during the day he found the time to be a hardcore studier, kind big brother, and an owner of downtrodden cats. She wondered how often he went out and got drunk, but she’d never seen him again at the bar, as expected. ”That was really nice to do,” she said about him taking the cat in, which is pretty strange considered that Josh wasn’t one she’d label as ‘nice’. Or one to keep kitties because they ‘grew on him’.
The three-legged one was apparently his first, and had been—rather clearly—mistreated. That also sent a wrench into her gut, but a different kind. A punching bag. She had been a defenseless creature before, too. Maybe not as much as a small animal, not as much as torture. It made her wonder why people were drawn to that kind of weakness and felt the need to take advantage of that. Nell understood her mother’s abuse on some level. In Nell, she saw all the people who hurt her. The girl herself had hurt her mother. It made her worse thinking of that. But a cute little animal? No, there was no reason for that. It was too scary to try and get into the mind of an abuser of any sort, so she didn’t want to know what drove people to hurt their pets. But you’re a murderer, that’s a step above abuser. Stupid, mean thoughts. ”Yeah, I don’t understand either…” she said softly.
Nell took note of the way Josh’s voice sounded when he spoke about the cruelties that had befallen his cats, and smiled a bit. But she had to wonder…Why cats? Why is it that cats got something out of him other than apathy? And his little sister, too. Perhaps he just liked little, cute things or something. She truly didn’t understand him, but she guessed she also didn’t understand being very passionate about anything either. What was she even fiery about? Eating and running away, her thoughts taunted her. She could understand Josh, though, for wanting to take care of animals that had such crappy existences so far. Her protective side was brought out for the young and defenseless—she’d been a victim before, too, though for Eris she was a victim of the streets and Apache a victim of wanton carelessness.
Annabel reassured her about Apache, and Nell nodded. The blind cat nudged her outstretched hand, and she giggled as she felt his wet nose. The he decided she was a-okay and curled up beside her and ohmygod, she now knew what it was like to have a cat’s affection and it was wonderful. She smiled wide, scratching behind Apache’s ears. They liked that, right? Nell hoped she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She didn’t feel too uncomfortable or nervous, but since these cats seemed to have been through a lot, she didn’t want to mess up due to her inexperience. ”Josh and I were planning on studying. He’s been helping me out with my schoolwork.” Nell was still determined to keep he hands to herself when it came to the girl, but it was kind of hard with her being so cute. ”Interrupted? Nah, you just made them better.” She was keeping up the illusion of her and Josh being good buddies, she didn’t say anything like now I don’t have to deal with him alone. But if she were to be honest to herself, she didn’t mind his company, which is why she sat with him in the lunchroom.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 19, 2011 17:48:34 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 780px; background-image: url(http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/213467/pink-plaid-white-cubes.png); -moz-border-radius: 100px; border-radius:100px 100px] HE SEEMED IMPRESSED BY THE WAY YOU CAME IN "TELL US A STORY, I KNOW YOU'RE NOT BORING" NOW EVERY TIME THAT I LOOK AT MYSELF "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THIS WORLD IS NOT FOR YOU"
"Ah," Joshua replied. It made a little more sense to be self-conscious about sharing your place when you hadn't really fleshed it out yet. But he'd hardly hold it against her. His apartment had been bare bones when he'd first gotten it and in quite a horrible state, too. He'd had to paint the walls, clean the surfaces, buy some furniture, the like. The reason he'd started with the burning of 'incense' was because the place had smelled faintly of drugs and some other disgusting odour that might have been stale something-or-other. Its previous owners clearly hadn't known how to care for an apartment, after all. "That makes a little more sense, then." He shrugged, a mute assurance that he didn't care if her apartment was a shithole or anything like that. Living on your own and caring for your own place was hard. It was harder than Joshua had even imagined when he'd been sheltered by the seclusion and shelter of the Dale mansion. He didn't even have a balcony, let alone a private lake or a separate guest house. His room was actually smaller than this closet back home. He missed the expensive wardrobe--who'd have ever thought he'd have misgivings about fashion?--and the credit cards, the comfort that you'd always have the money for something if you wanted or needed it. He wondered what sort of background Nell came from, but as was becoming usual in these situations, he withheld his curiosity and did not ask.
Annabel easily bought into Nell's act about friendship--after all, she loved her big brother dearly. She didn't know how he behaved around other people and merely assumed that he was as nice to everyone else as he was to her. Childhood naivete really shone through in her unquestioning adoration. "He studies a whole lot," Belle remarked, wrinkling her nose a bit. "Daddy says it's because he wants to go somewhere in life or something." She shrugged. "He taught me how, too. He's good at teaching things." But of course to Annabel Josh was good at everything. "I don't get why he didn't just invite you over," she then huffed with a roll of her eyes. "I doubt Dad or Mom would've cared if they were home. He never brings people home, though. I have friends over sometimes but I don't get why my big brother doesn't. He's probably just shy or something." She wasn't even considering the idea that Josh didn't have friends, or that the reason he hadn't invited Nell over to their freaking mansion was because he was no longer welcome within fifty feet of the property.
She kept Nell entertained with her endless chit-chat whilst Joshua was busy in the kitchen. A lot of pointless and friendly questions were asked. "What grade are you in? Do you like the Academy? What can Earth students do?" After all, Annabel was used to Fire elementals and their bending of the flame to their will. She'd often watched Josh and Patricia match their powers when her brother was studying for a test of some sort and that was what she wanted some day--to be able to practice with her brother rather than just watching on the sidelines.
After some more chatter, Joshua emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of Kraft Dinner as well as some of the food he'd prepared for himself and Nell. "How'd you make them both at the same time?" Annabel marvelled, then giggled a bit. "It smells really good." He chuckled and threw her a mischevious wink. "Maybe I'm magical," he teased. He figured she'd find that a little more amusing than, 'Well I cooked them both on the same stove, it's not that hard.' Then he went back and got his own place and sat down on the couch. He did have a very small kitchen table but it was only big enough for two and so he didn't mind using his living room as a sort of dining area as long as nobody wrecked his nice clean floors or got cheese all over the couch or anything.
Of course given that he was vegetarian there was a lack of meat in his house, but he did quite well with what he'd found in the fridge. Roast potatoes, vegetables, even gravy (though of course it was a meatless gravy, but it still tasted quite good). "If anyone's still hungry after dinner there's apple pie in the oven," he mused as an afterthought, salting his food a little and then placing the shaker on the table so that Nell could grab it if she wished. He'd salted Annabel's for her in case she accidentally shook too hard and dumped half the contents into the bowl. "It'll be another half an hour or something before it's done." He'd had a bag of apples nearly full and an empty pie crust from when he'd been planning to make something last week, so he'd simply improvised. "It seems Apache's taken a liking to you, Nell," he remarked, nodding at the fluffy white bundle of purring cat. It made him feel a bit more reassured about the girl--if his blind cat didn't hate her, she couldn't be that bad, right? |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 19, 2011 20:14:43 GMT -5
Josh seemed to understand how the whole apartment thing was going. She didn’t really like inviting people over, either, because for one it wasn’t in the best area. And for two, she would have to say, “Please, have a seat on my futon. You can just place your refreshments on the orange crate while I go unclog the toilet.” She could be a good host—or she assumed since she always had others best interests in mind—but she didn’t have the apartment to back it up. Oh well, it’s not like complaining about living standards even in her own mind will help. She just kept reminding herself that living in a crappy apartment wasn’t really adjusting, it was just surviving on her own. Her mother had cleaned and fed her and sheltered her in the woman’s own warped way, so Nell was fully ready to take her life into her own hands. It’s been too long of waiting.
Nell’s grin widened as he spoke of Josh and his father, still wondering at what their relationship at this point. She remembered him tensing up in the car when Annabel pointed out how much the two looked alike. She didn’t want to do anything to tarnish the image of Annabel’s big brother in her eyes, because by the way she spoke of him it was clear how much she loved him. ”His intelligence is well-renowned at the Academy,” she agreed. And so is his volatile temper. And there went Nell’s curiosity again, wondering how he behaved around his family. His sister clearly adored him, as he did she, so he must have behaved himself well? But Nell already had it in her mind that Josh and his parents weren’t on the best of terms right now and that Annabel wasn’t aware of this. So maybe she was completely off. Because she never knew with Josh. And he wanted it that way, she knew that much.
Nell didn’t even say that the fact that Josh didn’t bring home friends a lot was because he didn’t have many. Shy? Well that’s a word. More like standoffish, but again, Annabel was so sweet and innocent and she loved her big brother. She had never imagined she’d be in this position when first asking Josh for help, that she’d be sitting in his apartment lying to his sister about his social life. ”He can be shy at times,” she agreed with Annabel. ”We usually hang out at my place anyway.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. At least they were harmless fibs to protect a little girl’s innocence and to make her not worry of her brother and not major ones like flying under the federal radar. Even her last name was a lie, so she figured she was just pro at it by now. And now you’re lying to a little girl, do you know how creepy that is? She really needed to get rid of that annoying little voice in her head.
More than glad to answer Annabel’s questions, she kept a hand on the little cat next to her and everything in her view right now was just adorable and almost too much to bear. She told the little girl how she could grow flowers when it wasn’t so cold out, and with those flowers she made crowns or bouquets. When it came to actual earth, she wasn’t so prolific—there wasn’t much of anything to use in the city, so she mostly just practiced making tunnels in the grounds and creating little slides and the such. She tried not to go too far when she was younger, and the one time she did… Stop it. And now that little voice was being reasonable because these vicious thoughts were going to kill her. Focus on Annabel. She reminded herself that because the girl existed, nothing could be wrong with the world. Nothing at all.
”Thank you,” Nell said as she took the plate when Josh emerged from the kitchen. She chuckled at Annabel’s words, and guessed she shouldn’t have been so surprised when he teased her with possible magical cooking abilities. He was not supposed to be a nice guy, so she supposed that in the same way her hate was reserved for her family, his niceness was reserved for his sister. And maybe parents, she didn’t know. Nell was a bit surprised that he let everyone eat in the living room, but her name for today was surprise, surprise, surprise. ”I think you are magical, Josh, this is pretty good,” she complimented. Though, anything was better than what she’d been eating lately. And this was probably healthier, too. Her budget liked fast food and tv dinners, but if she could afford the ingredients, she’d make an attempt at some of the Spanish dishes her father used to create. He’d tell her to come over to the stove so he could tell her what he was doing, and then warn her not to touch it when he saw her fingers straying. Yeah, like I’ll be making paella any time soon. Seafood was definitely out.
And she very much doubted her cooking skills too, so even though she remembered how to make the dishes, they would most likely end up burnt. But Josh was apparently the opposite in that, and she blinked when he casually mentioned apple pie. ”….you made apple pie?” She had that surreal feeling again, but shook it off. Right, Josh could make apple pie if he wanted, he was a strange dude. Some sort of Martha Stewart clone, but that was okay. It was a lot better than his usual sardonic and intimidating behavior. Though his entire being was sardonic and intimidating. At the mention of Apache, she smiled down at the cat. ”I suppose he has,” she said with a light laugh. ”I’m glad I didn’t scare him off or anything since I’ve never had a cat before.” Wait….was that strange too? She always felt so measured about these sorts of things, in case they were out of the ordinary in the eyes of others. But no, it couldn’t be. Some people liked dogs, some birds, so what if she never owned a cat? She really needed to stop being so afraid of letting on too much.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 19, 2011 22:57:03 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 780px; background-image: url(http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/213467/pink-plaid-white-cubes.png); -moz-border-radius: 100px; border-radius:100px 100px] HE SEEMED IMPRESSED BY THE WAY YOU CAME IN "TELL US A STORY, I KNOW YOU'RE NOT BORING" NOW EVERY TIME THAT I LOOK AT MYSELF "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THIS WORLD IS NOT FOR YOU"
Annabel seemed to enjoy the fact that the Academy knew about her brother's intelligence. "Mom always likes to tell her friends about him," she giggled in amusement. "She told me Josh said he wanted to go to Harvard or something--I think it's some school in America--but that he wouldn't because it's too far away." This was totally fine with Annabel, of course, as she didn't want to lose her brother to some school miles away from home. "I think he wants to be a doctor," she said proudly. "Whenever I ask him he won't tell me but I've seen him reading our Dad's books and looking stuff up online so I'll bet he does." She could be a little sleuth when she wanted to be. Of course, Annabel was a nicely sneaky sister. She didn't look for drugs so that she could go running to their parents and get her older brother into trouble. She was just too curious for her own good, so she watched him from the doorway as he typed away on his laptop or curled up with some sort of a book.
"Ha, I knew it!" Annabel sounded triumphant when Nell agreed that her brother was shy. "He's always so quiet. There's no way he can hide it from me, though!" Nell then said that they usually hung out at her place and the little girl nodded as if this made perfect sense. She bought so easily into Nell's lying that it was almost ridiculous. She believed that because her brother was fond of Nell--he wasn't that fond, but she didn't realise this--that the Earth girl was obviously a good person. Her bright blue eyes were wide with fascination as Nell explained what she was able to do. "That's so cool! Has Josh ever seen you do it? Have you ever seen his fire?" Though her family were all Fire elementals, pretty much all of the elementals fascinated Annabel simply because the fact that they had magic was like a childhood dream. She really hoped she'd get a power, too. She wanted to be Fire like her big brother, though, most definitely.
Nell was just full of compliments today and Joshua really didn't know how to take all of this. Was she the type that did that, simply threw out nice remarks left and right? Or were her words genuine? He dipped his head in acceptance of the words nonetheless, not replying because he had his mouth full. The food was hot and burned down his throat, filling his stomach and replenishing his energy. He didn't realise how hungry he actually was until he started to eat. He was amused by her question. "I have several cook books," he said, by way of explanation. That was how Joshua learned everything--books, rules, structure. He followed directions well. If he were to just improvise things he likely would have been a terrible cook. "Do you like apples?" he inquired. "You're welcome to have some, if you want." He'd made it to eat, after all.
Shortly after he'd swallowed his last bite of food, the phone rang. "I'll call them back later," he said, not wanting to answer the phone when he had guests because that was rude. He wasn't too shocked by the idea that Nell had never owned a cat. Some people preferred different pets and some didn't own pets at all. "I've always been a cat person," he shrugged. "We've got a dog, too," Annabel piped up cheerfully. Joshua might have continued conversation if the phone hadn't rang a second time. Rolling his eyes, he said, "I'd better see what they want, it might be important." He took the phone into his room and closed the door before checking the number, his stomach nearly dropping to the floor when he realised who it was.
CALLER ID: DALE, DONOVAN P.
Joshua almost chickened out and left it alone, but he knew that the answering machine would go off if he left it too long and then both Nell and his sister would be privy to the words. Aware that his mouth had went dry, Josh picked up. "... hello?" He had tried not to sound timid or anything, but there was a slight shake in his voice that betrayed him. He mentally smacked himself, then had to hold the phone away from his ear a moment as the answer came from the other end, "What the fuck do you think you're doing with my daughter?" The way he snarled made it sound as if he wasn't considering Joshua as part of the family, which stung. "Nothing," Josh replied, almost defensive. "The school called me and said that no one had been by to pick her up--"
"I was delayed at the hospital," Donovan snarled. "Imagine my anger when I arrived to find that you had driven off with her! I don't know what you're planning--"
"Planning?" It took everything Joshua had not to raise his voice. "You make it sound like I was conspiring to kidnap her!" he snapped. "You had better not be," Donovan threatened. "I'll drive her back if you--" But before he could finish, Donovan cut him off again, "You will not come within one hundred feet of my door again, boy," he snarled. "You are not welcome here. I said so once and I'll repeat it as many times as I must until you get it through your sorry skull." As much as it made Josh's throat tighten and his eyes sting, he persevered. "Fine. She can stay here overnight and I'll drive her to school in the morning. You can pick her up." There was a hard edge to his voice. "She had better be there, boy," his father threatened, and then the line went dead.
He went back into the living room and gave a bit of a smile in his sisters direction, trying to convince her that there was nothing wrong. "They had a wrong number," he said with a shrug. |
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