-- TIME WILL SEE US REALIGN && [skye]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua hated being tired while he was in class. As some of them were several hours long, it was hard for him to judge going into it whether any caffeine he might have drank was going to last him throughout the whole lecture. By the end of that advanced biology lesson, despite how interesting he found the subject matter, it was getting harder and harder to focus on what his professor was saying. Focus! he scolded himself. Damn it, he should have known better than to stay up later than usual when he was studying for that exam. But the exam was important and counted toward a large portion of his grade! Ugh, he hated the decisions he was often forced to make as a college student. On one hand he lost sleep and gained a lot more information than he might have with a study session that was cut short at a reasonable time. On the other, he went to class with all that knowledge packed into his brain... while said brain drifted off into thoughts of how amazing it would be to simply lie down on the floor and pass out. He shook his head to clear it and wrote down some of the things that the man was saying. Normally he'd trust his brain to retain certain things and so his note-taking would only encompass the core stuff but now he found himself writing more than usual. It was both a welcome distraction from exhaustion and a necessary evil so that he didn't miss anything.

At long last the bell chimed loudly and mercifully from the tower, jolting him slightly. Damn it, he'd nearly drifted off there. Coffee. It was his first thought and definitely vital. As great as the Academy's food was, he wasn't a big fan of their coffee and would much prefer the familiar smell and taste of Tim Hortons blend. At the same time, he didn't know if he trusted himself to drive more than a few feet in his current state. His coordination was off and he didn't want to risk falling asleep at the wheel. Joshua understood the meaning of responsible. Deciding to put one foot in both fields, he grabbed a small coffee from the mess hall and downed it on the way to the car, pulling out his phone before he backed out of the parking space and sending a text to Skye. It read, 'Coffee and donuts at Timmies? I'm tired and we should catch up.' Since they were college students, he figured it would be safe for them to meet even in a public place like Tim Hortons where they might be recognised by the Academy's students. It was far off campus and so even if people saw them sitting and talking, they probably wouldn't care much about it. He sure as hell wasn't sacrificing his need for a good ol' cup at Tims and getting some average joe simply because of the alliances. Tim Hortons was something Canadians swore by. You didn't fuck with Timmies.

He met Skye in the coffee shop and offered her a languid smile. He was still tired but at least the two extra larges he'd ordered were bound to do something, he just needed them to kick in. "I'm surprised I managed to spell everything right in that text," he said, then smirked. "All right, so I double checked. I almost sent 'Times'. Imagine going all the way to New York for a coffee." He shook his head and chuckled, taking another long sip of the bitter black blend. Thank god. "I was so out of it in class, ugh. I'll need to ask someone to lend me their notes so I can double check mine." The last thing he wanted was to find out that he'd misconstrued a particular piece of information thanks to his state during the lesson and wrote it down completely wrong. His grade might take a hit due to the inaccuracies and that was the last thing that Josh wanted. He was obsessive over his grades, anyone who knew him understood this. "What's up with you? Hope you're not as much of a mess as I am." Another laugh, another sip of coffee. What would he do without Tim Hortons, seriously? His brain was thanking him for it, he could almost feel his thoughts stirring themselves and rousing as things started to make vague sense again. He also planned to tell Skye about some pretty big news in his life that he'd promised over a year ago but that could wait until a minute or two into the conversation.

[going from like, multiple posts in a row as dr. dale to aote!josh so if anything seems strange or off just warn me >> it's 5AM and my brain is mush!]

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

Without a car, it was really difficult for Skye to get from place to place whenever she needed to. Well, it was probably poor form for her to complain that it was really difficult, because that made it sound like she had to trek uphill both way sto get to and from anywhere, and that just wasn't the case at all. It was just a little more of a hassle than it would have been if she had a car of her own to drive. Her license was essentially just sitting there wasting away in her wallet, honestly, but it was at least good to have in case she did have to drive. Cars weren't even at all fiscally reasonable for her, however, because there was not only a car itself but also insurance, gas, and all the extras that would have to come with it. Without help there was no way she could do that as it stood right now, still a student who was going to have to work off tuition and all kinds of other nonsense. At least having a job did put some more spending money in her pocket. It wasn't nearly enough for everything she'd need for a car of her own, though -- something her parents wouldn't do for her by any means, and she didn't expect or want them to -- and so, most days, she was confined to the Academy mostly because it was a hassle going back and forth from town.

Today it wasn't an option because she'd had to dash out and grab a couple of books from the store -- class things that she needed but had been putting off for far too long as it was already, if she'd be honest with herself. As such, she was already in Maple Hollow when she received Josh's text, and it was a lucky thing too, because she probably wouldn't have wanted to make the trek all the way to Tim Hortons if she weren't already in the area. Then again, there was an iced capp over there just crying her name, so she might have still done it if Josh was throwing donuts in, too. Tim Hortons was serious business. She sent a quick text back -- Meet you there, and that was all -- and then took off, deciding to just walk the short way. There were a couple of Timmies joints in the city despite its small size (because hello, Canada) but some were in the mall or were mainly just drive-thrus. Skye would appropriately assume that Josh just meant the biggest one, the one where they usually met up for such things. She spotted Harper outside and knew immediately that Josh was already there, but it was unsurprising that he'd beaten her considering she'd been walking -- the walk wasn't long but she'd been in no rush. She ordered a large French vanilla iced capp supreme (oof, mouthful) and got her drink before turning to seek out her friend wherever he was sitting.

Her immediate thought was that he really did look tired, but she smiled in return anyway, walking over and taking the seat opposite him. "I'm almost a little disappointed now that you didn't let autocorrect mess up the text," she said, shaking her head a little. "And Timmies is nice but not that good, I can't break bank to go all the way to New York City." It was closer to where she lived in Ottawa but even then that was a solid fourteen hours or so at least, driving. Skye wouldn't have even been able to take it, quite frankly. From here... it would take literal days. Josh could go wherever the heck he wanted for his coffee runs if he pleased, though -- she'd just laugh when he returned from the drive in about a week. "Plus all the Tim Hortons places in the States are actually never as good, you know." She wasn't sure if this was based on fact or if she was just making it up in strange, subconscious patriotism, but she was going to claim it anyway. "Anyway, how many weeks has it been since you last slept, Josh?" Skye was obviously exaggerating, kidding, but her face was serious. He really did look exhausted.

Though today was actually her day off in the week, Skye knew how it felt to be tired in class, and she gave him a small but sympathetic nod. "I'm sure your notes are fine, but that's probably a good idea. What class was it, anyway?" She would have offered hers up but obviously, she hadn't been in the class -- they didn't have too many classes together in general, actually, though a number of times their History classes had lined up. History was still sort of related to her major. "You didn't actually fall asleep, did you?" she asked after a second, curious though she was pretty sure that the answer would be "no" regardless. Josh was a pretty responsible guy and, though everyone had their off days, she couldn't see him legitimately dozing off at any point during a lecture... or anything else even remotely important to school. Academics were important to him, she knew, probably more important than they were to most other students. She took a moment to consider his question, but her answers to these things were generally the same. "Not much. And it'd be hard to be as much of a mess as you are right now. I was just picking up books," she said, gesturing at the plastic bag she had set on the floor next to her chair. "What's up with you? Other than the obvious." "The obvious" was his lack of sleep, of course. Skye was glad that she was faring better in that sense.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Some signs of his exhaustion were obvious, like the darkness under his eyes or the sluggish way that he moved. Others were a little more subtle. His posture wasn't as good as usual and it took him a second or two to process Skye's words. Ugh. It felt like his brain was functioning in slow motion and he didn't appreciate that. He hoped that the coffee would start to liven him up soon. "So you want me to suck at spelling for your benefit?" He sounded tired, too, but the amusement was present in his tone. "Asshole." Josh wasn't bothering with his poker face today and so he chuckled to show that he was only kidding around. Skye probably would have realised either way but he wasn't in the right state of mind to act a troll. "I've only been to New York once," he mused. He said it casually, like he'd gone there for fun. In reality it had been for the trial and it hadn't painted the place in the nicest light but that day had eventually brought relief. "You think?" He'd never had coffee in a Timmies that wasn't Canadian and he wondered if the Americans would fuck it up somehow. He knew that chain restaurants usually had differing menus depending on the country and he frowned at the thought. No, he didn't like the idea of them screwing up Tim Hortons. "Well that's cause Canada does it better." They did everything better. Well, all right, Josh wasn't as hardcore patriot as he joked about being but Timmies was their thing and so it probably was better from home.

Another yawn punctuated the conversation and he was not surprised by Skye's question. He covered his mouth and then pulled his hand away with a lazy grin, brushing his hair back from his face. "Probably like... three," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Still smiling, he shook his head. "Stayed up most of the night studying for an exam. Fucked me over." He took another few sips of the coffee. At least it tasted good, if nothing else. He hadn't been the biggest fan of coffee when he'd first started drinking it but now he practically lived off the glorious beverage. He was sure a lot of his fellow college students were in the same boat. It was hard to stay up all night unless you had something to help fuel your energy—be it energy drinks, coffee, or something similar. "Bio," he answered when she asked after his class. "And nah, but I got pretty close to it. Not that the prof is boring or anything like that, I just—" Another yawn and he rolled his eyes. "—just couldn't focus for shit." He had a couple professors who were terrible with lectures and made him want to shoot himself. He was glad that none of those classes had been held that morning or he might have dozed off despite his best efforts to keep his eyes open. He almost wished that the class had been one of the rare ones that he had with Skye because he knew he could trust her to make sure his notes made sense. He didn't know if she'd understand all of the advanced biology babble. He certainly wouldn't get much about politics—maybe a word or two because of his mother.

He could feel the coffee kicking in at last and so he was able to concentrate a little more on their conversation. He had to agree that Skye looked in a much better state than he was. He didn't resent her for it. "Books, huh? What for?" He figured the question was innocent enough. He didn't pry into the personal lives of his friends but books were generally safe subjects. "Other than being this close to dropping off, y'mean?" He grinned. "Ah, I'm great, actually. Everything's been pretty relaxed. I mean apart from school but school is never relaxed. I can't wait until I'm free of it." It was something that usually wasn't heard from a guy like Joshua but he meant it in a different way than most. He was tired of college, sure, but that didn't mean he was fed up with school. He wanted to be in medical school, a change of pace. A mischievous look stole over his features, smirk replacing the aforementioned grin. "By the way, what are you doing mid-October on and around the sixteenth?" He could have been direct about it but where was the fun in that? He was glad at least that he could finally break the news to everyone in their friends list. Hey, they hadn't called it off. He figured his mother wasn't the only one who'd gotten a little bit confused about the length of time that they'd been engaged without so much as breathing a word about any plans to their friends.

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

Being in college too, Skye knew what it felt like at a certain point of exhaustion -- it felt like death looming over her head, basically, so she wasn't happy to see that Josh looked like he had hit and then bypassed that point entirely. The coffee wold probably wake him up, but caffeine could also really mess a person up -- she'd be surprised if with those two cups he wouldn't be skittish for the rest of the day. Rather than pointing out the obvious, though, she shot him an almost darkly serious look. "That's right. Making yourself useful and all that." Josh was worth more than that, but he probably knew that and Skye didn't care to tell him at the moment. She did at least offer a small smile. "Yes I am." No, not really -- Skye wasn't what she'd call nice or friendly but she was at least a semi-decent person. "Yeah? Was it nice? Seems really... big city-ish," she said for lack of a better word -- there were plenty of words to describe cities like NYC or even Toronto or Vancouver, but they would have probably been sitting there all day. "Canada does everything better," she said, echoing his thoughts, but she knew it wasn't true -- there were merits to living in or even visiting the States as well, but Skye would have almost certainly chosen Canada above anywhere else. "Or at least coffee, anyway, because I'm not paying like eight dollars just for caffeine." Fancy stuff like Starbucks -- from America, of course -- was fine but it wasn't even worth it when there were iced capps to be bought.

She smiled at how perfectly casual his response was. "Only three? I expected at least five." He looked pretty awful. Skye was pretty sure nobody would be able to stay awake for quite that long at a time, though -- there was only so much the human body could take, even if everyone was different and Josh did apparently seem to run on less sleep than other people. Skye would have probably gone straight back to bed in her dorm after class if she were in his position, but maybe caffeine was a suitable alternative -- maybe. She wouldn't be so sure, but it was his life. "Exams were just invented to screw everyone over in the first place, so I think that's just how it goes in this case," she told him, but not without sympathy. She really did understand it all -- the desire to do well and even the ambition, even if she didn't know the specifics of what she was working toward. That was just... life. "Ah, science student," she said, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly at him, but she didn't mean it. There was something to be appreciated in people who could actually wrap their minds around science -- Skye wasn't one of those people and, to be quite honest, would have been happy never to have to touch any remotely scientific class again, but the world needed people like this. "Stop --" now she yawned too, damn it all, Josh, "-- yawning, you're making me tired. But it's good you managed to stay awake. Always helps when they're not boring." She'd had some painfully boring professors before.

Books were usually a good topic for Josh, and she glanced down into the bag at her feet, where the few of them sat. There weren't many but she hated how expensive books could be sometimes. "Just a couple of things for class. So I get to look forward to a couple of hours reading up on political theory," she said, honestly kind of dreading it -- she liked the subject matter but reading it for hours on end was seriously one of the worst things ever. She could never focus for that long on very academic writing -- an hour or two and she'd probably be doing what Josh had been in his lecture that morning. "Okay, and a novel. But that's not half as difficult to get through as a textbook." It also just so happened that the novel was also political satire, but hey... Skye wouldn't study the stuff if she didn't like it herself, too. "That's good to hear!" she said with a nod once he said that things were going well. "But really, aren't you still going to school for another... what, twenty years?" That was an exaggeration by far but that was what it sounded like to someone like Skye, who had no concrete plans beyond this. Grad studies might be interesting to do... There were plenty of options, however. She liked to keep those open. She did at least know at this point that her job would most likely keep her in Maple Hollow for a little while.

Her thoughts were shaken away quickly by the sort of abrupt topic change. "That's an oddly specific question," she said, raising her eyebrows a little and thinking about it. "I don't think anything yet, probably just work. Is the sixteenth on a weekend?" The mischief in his expression was honestly a little bit worrying, and she looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, why do you ask?" She remembered that he was engaged -- it wasn't really the type of thing she could forget, to be perfectly honest, considering the mess of drama that had revolved around Josh and Nell ages ago -- but it had been long enough ago she'd learnt of the engagement that it was no longer her immediate thought.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

He was never phased by the insults of his friend. She had a similar sense of humour to his own and they worked well off one another. Instead he chose to ignore the comment, smirking when she admitted to her cruelty. "Ah, well. Like every five year old will tell you, it takes one to know one. I have no shame." He thought back to his childhood then, to all the insults that had been used against him. If someone called him a bookworm now he'd probably give them a long look before asking, "What of it?" Back then it had been wounding. Just as four-eyes and carrot-top were senseless insults. Oh, to be a child again. He didn't miss it like some did. "Decent," he said of New York, "though I wasn't really there for long. A lot of assholes there. You'd fit right in." Stereotypes were fun to mess around with in conversation no matter how true or false they were. If anyone actually got insulted they needed to grow up and learn how to take a joke. He made fun of himself sometimes. It had been easy for him to shrug off the question about New York as if there were no memories associated with it at all. He was a good liar. He'd told Skye the truth about the gang but this secret was not his alone. "Man, fuck Starbucks," he agreed. "And their names for everything are ridiculous. They even mess up the sizes." He avoided Starbucks if he could. He had the eight dollars to blow on coffee and then some but he was a Canadian and all Canadians knew that Tim Hortons reigned supreme. Their coffee was good, their donuts were good, and the prices were excellent. What more did anyone need?

He could only imagine how incoherent he would be if he neglected to sleep for five days straight. You started hallucinating past a certain point and Josh hated the idea of not knowing what was real and what wasn't. The mere thought of losing control over his perception was frightening. "Sorry to disappoint." He deadpanned as he spoke, easily holding back smiles and laughter both. "I do value my sanity, you know." He might not have reviled studying like some people but staying up for a work week because of it? He'd sooner shoot himself. Of course, when an important exam came up he was known for getting only a few hours sleep in a night and sometimes none, but he didn't deprive himself completely. "After the MCAT, I think I've lost the right to complain about tests ever again." It had been incredibly hard, harder than even Joshua had been expecting. He'd gotten a score near the top percentile but that didn't mean it had been easy for him. He'd quit his job so that he'd had enough time to study. "Ugh, political student," he shot back, flashing a grin. Apparently his exhaustion was rubbing off on Skye, as she yawned after he did. "I'm not trying to deprive my lungs of air, thank you," he said, keeping a straight face as he scowled. "Gosh." He tried to be more serious after that, though. Literally serious, not his feigned expression. "Sometimes I wonder why they let boring people teach. It's like they want people to fail. Or fall asleep, either one." High school had been the worst, when you'd been given detention for falling asleep in class.

Book stores were a dangerous place for a guy like Joshua. He'd go in with the intention of buying one book and come back out with ten. Textbooks were a little different. He was capable of enjoying his reading for class but that did not mean that he liked being forced to read something in a constrained amount of time. It made him feel like he couldn't linger on chapters that he needed to work through slowly in order to gain a better understanding. He always accomplished whatever tasks were set in front of him but there was much less stress to be had when reading on his own time. "Sounds like a lot of fun." His sarcasm was evident and his strained smiled expressed his sympathies. "Only four years of medical schoo but god knows how many years residency, then maybe a fellowship. If I'm lucky I won't be retired by the time I'm ready to start working." He didn't seem bothered by it as he smiled easily, shrugging it off. He had always been a patient sort and it was no wonder. He had to wait for everything good to happen in his life and so he was not opposed to going to school for a large part of his life if it meant getting what he wanted. "Enjoy your freedom after we graduate," he chuckled. "I'll try not to hate you too much for it." He sighed as if predicting a gargantuan effort on his part. He actually didn't envy others the freedom to do whatever they wanted. He had that freedom, too, he just chose not to take advantage of it. Why would he hate others for something he controlled? It wouldn't make sense.

It was hard not to laugh at her suspicious expression but he had enough control over himself to prevent such an outburst. He thought about it, then shook his head. "It's not." That could pose a bit of a problem but hell, it was only one day, right? "I don't exactly condone skipping class, or work, or anything like that... but this is important." He was smiling like a hyena, wide and full of mischief. He wouldn't ask her to make time for the date if it was anything else but seeing as he planned it to be the only wedding he ever had, it was a once in a lifetime deal. Skye questioned what he was on about and he continued to smile, pausing to chew and swallow a bite of donut before he replied. "I vaguely recall promising you a wedding invitation. So, consider yourself invited." It did not matter to him that she was a Thunder. Alliances be damned, he was inviting anyone close to him to the wedding. "I realise it's a bit abrupt but we didn't set the date that long ago. We figured it was about time." He couldn't wait until the day arrived at last and people could no longer ask questions about their long period of engagement.

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

Skye wasn't a bully, even if she was a little (or very) intimidating, especially for those little younger kids that were always running around now. To be fair, it wasn't her fault they were born a few years younger than she was, but looking at them sometimes it was weird to think that only a little while ago she was the same age as those kids. She didn't bully, though! That was way beyond the line and honestly, Skye sort of just thought those people were pathetic. The insensitivity really only came out as jokes, and it was really only when people were capable of understanding them. Luckily for her, Josh was one of those people. There were too few of them. "Oh? Are you calling me useless now? Such a functional friendship." Never mind the fact that she'd basically said it first. "Probably. Not surprised you liked a city full of assholes, though. They probably made you mayor," she quipped, raising her eyebrows at him a little. She had visited other big cities, though, and she could attest to that -- on the whole, people from any giant city were kind of assholes. NYC was nothing of a stand-out. "Yeah, we don't need that. Double double makes way more sense," she said, shaking her head as if in legitimate distress about the way Starbucks named their drinks. "Who told them they were so special anyway?" That was sort of the impression she got, anyway, but that was probably because she associated the franchise with hipsters.

She just waved a hand as if to dismiss his comment as silly, not worth her time and energy. "Sanity is overrated. Always has been," she pointed out, but she didn't sound very committed to what she was saying. Like Josh, though perhaps in a different way, she did actually value intelligence and logic and the like, even if the areas they could apply these things to were vastly different. In the end it was the principle, though. Insanity was all nice and fine to talk about but legitimately going crazy would make Skye... well, lose her mind, ha. "That bad, huh?" she asked, frowning when he mentioned the MCAT. "Did you do well, though?" She was sure he had but she didn't think she had actually asked him about it at any point. There was always too much going on lately -- she felt kind of bad when she started neglecting things like that. For Josh, the test was obviously a very big deal. "I know how yawning works, Josh, you don't need to be a Bio student to know that," she said testily, narrowing her eyes at him before going back to normal and stealing another donut. Hey, if he had like, a dozen, there were plenty to share. "Probably both, if people's marks are any indication when they sleep through classes." She avoided it if she could but sometimes it was hard not to just doze off a little bit. Politics could be either very interesting or very boring. "The interesting ones are always good, though. Especially in History classes. It's like they're telling stories all period!" She smiled a little. There was some common ground in history, at least. They weren't too likely to have any Biology or PoliSci courses together.

Even when something was interesting, there were very few times she found something legitimately fascinating enough to actually get engrossed in any kind of assigned reading. She didn't always do all of it, either, and she was always happy to find professors who didn't assign too much of it. "College problems," she said, her tone mockingly serious. "Honestly, I don't know what most of that entails, so all I'm hearing is 'lots and lots of years'," she told him with fair honesty, looking sympathetic even though it didn't seem to her that he would mind doing all of that extra studying and the like before actually getting to what he wanted. "Well, do try," she said, sounding genuinely concerned but the grin was a little too troll-ish to be serious. "And I'll make sure to rub it in whenever I see you, too. Just to keep it interesting. You know how it is." No... She was pretty sure nobody knew how it was, because she'd just made up whatever... it... was. Alright, this train of thought made no sense. Joshua's tiredness had to be rubbing off on her, if that were even possible.

Weekends were, of course, always better for her than weekdays were, because there were classes and all those things, and she generally worked weekdays more often too. Constituency offices didn't need to be open twenty-four/seven, and so of course Patricia's wasn't. "Well, I'll be the judge of how important it is," she said, raising her eyebrows a little at the wide smile on his face, but that was mostly just because he looked so mischievous that she wanted to rain on his parade a little. Truthfully she was curious -- just like anyone else would be when friends started acting mad sketchily like that. She was about to open her mouth to ask him to stop smiling like that and say it already when he did so, probably as casually as it could have been possible, and she blinked to take a second to process the information. "Oh!" Now she was smiling too, happy for her friend. "Hey, that's awesome! I guess that might be important enough to skip class for..." She was teasing, though -- come hell or high water, she'd go to that wedding. It wasn't every day a best friend got married. "Seriously though, that's really awesome. I'm happy for you, you know." The words were weird to say not because they weren't true, but just because neither of them were particularly sentimental people. It was easier sometimes pretending to have a heart of stone -- but this was probably one of those situations calling for, uh, proper feelings.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Like Skye, Joshua had never been the type to take part in the hazing of the younger generation. They had all been little niners at one point in time, they'd all been college freshmen back in the day, he didn't see the point in bullying the younger kids to make himself feel better. Oh, he saw no problem with pretending he was going to haze them (all in good fun?) but it was the fact that he never followed through that mattered. Unless it was something truly harmless, Joshua was content to leave the fresh meat alone. He was not a dog to go tearing at every bone that crossed his path. "I'm calling you an asshole," he corrected with all the eloquence the curse word would allow. What was this conversation? They had long since slipped past the point of sensible chit-chat but that was totally fine with Joshua. He was tired, he would excuse himself the lack of sense he was making. "Mayor of N.Y.? No thank you." He pulled an expression of distaste as if this were the last thing on the list of things he wanted from life. Really, though, American and New York were chill with him to a point. His supposedly strong feelings were played more for laughs than anything and any bitterness toward the state only came from the trial that he'd learned to associate with it, the fact that Nell's cruel past had been spent there. The city hadn't fed his dog chocolate or killed his family. "I have no idea. Who wants to spend their soul for a coffee? Maybe that's where gingers come from..." He chuckled briefly at the weird thought. I am so tired, he realised. The words that were coming out of his mouth at this point.

Insanity in its literal sense frightened him, though this was something Skye was unaware of and thus something that crossed his mind but was not added to the conversation. They were not being entirely serious and so there was no point being Dan the Downer. Poor Dan must be the outcast in his group of friends. No one liked the complainer. "Oh, yeah," Josh assured her, a brief smile touching his lips at the thought. "I did, uh, really well, actually." He was sheepish for a brief moment, not wanting to brag. Josh wasn't the most modest person in the world, nor was he the most egotistical, but when he scored high on one of the harder tests out there he did not want to seem too over the moon about it. No one liked a braggart. "I mean, I think my chances of getting into MHU are pretty great, put it that way." He'd scored high enough to try for McGill if he'd been willing to travel that far for college but Joshua was not going to leave his wife behind as he studied in another province. For he and Nell would be married within weeks, months before he graduated, and he had already made his choice. The schools were already applied for. "Haha, true," he agreed. They also stayed on the same page about interesting teachers, not that it came as any shock to Joshua. Who liked a boring teacher? "To think that it all actually happened... or so we think. It requires a lot of thought. Writers can be biased, stories can be lost to time... it's fascinating, really, the way different people can have such skewed visions of the same event..." He trailed off for a moment, then caught himself and laughed. "And there goes the History major in me again." Tired or not, he recognised his own passions.

'College problems' elicited a twitch of his lips, the beginning of a smirk. He really did find it amusing. Everyone had their issues and college students had the grounds to argue that they had a lot of them. Class, work, sometimes rent and a car on top of everything else. He considered himself lucky—he was able to handle his double major but he didn't have a job or the stress of car and house payments weighing him down. Rich people perks? He supposed so. "It takes a long time." He didn't deny that. He wasn't blind to the commitment it was going to take to be a doctor. Not that Skye had suggested as such, of course! "Then again, makes sense. You wouldn't want to trust me with a scalpel right now, would you?" He grinned at her. No, he definitely didn't blame hospitals for wanting highly trained doctors. He wouldn't want someone operating on or treating him if they didn't know what they were doing. Exactly what they were doing. Images of medical documentaries with surgical scissors sewn into peoples guts crossed his mind. No thanks. "And I'll rub in my higher education. Out of love, of course." For why did they do anything but because of how awesome they were as friends? Assholes One and Two, like the Things from Dr. Seuss except with swear words and badassery.

Apparently Joshua's mischief was getting to Skye based on her retort, though it was not enough to wipe the smirk off his face. He was still riding the high of the upcoming wedding and the reveal to one of his closest friends. Most everyone he was close to was going to be there to witness him tie the knot with the girl that he loved. He didn't want Skye to be left out of that important number. His news wiped the look off her face and replaced it with a smile—now Josh was smiling too, unable to help himself. "Hell, I'm happy for myself," he chuckled. "I'm a lucky guy. Here's hoping she doesn't realise and leave me at the alter." He winked and it was clear by his light-hearted tone that he did not mean it. Much as he did believe that he was lucky, he was confident that he was a good match for Nell. He'd done a lot for her, more than Skye or any of their friends would likely ever know. They did not need to know, they only needed to trust that the young couple knew what they were doing. And so many didn't, so many people judged them for their age and their values, but he was quick to brush them off. He knew what he was doing. He loved Nell. He had brought one of the wedding invitations along that held all of the information and he slid it across the table with his right hand, the one that had not been holding a donut. He didn't want it to be all sticky. "That has all the details. But I wanted to let you know in person." His smile said it all: I wanted to troll you, no big deal.

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

Skye narrowed her eyes at the word "asshole", though it pretty obviously wasn't anything that she took legitimate offense to. "Oh, very articulate," she said in far too grave a tone to even be considered serious. At least, Josh wouldn't -- someone else might, but those people were probably irrelevant to her life anyway. "Poor NYC, they're missing out on such a great mayor," she said dryly, clearly amused at the idea. She didn't think Josh would be an incompetent one or anything, but his obvious disdain showed already that he wouldn't be a suitable candidate at all. "Hey, you never know. You might even be able to do good things for them over there." A big city like New York could probably use some help in a few fields, though they undoubtedly did very well with other things, too. Josh, however, had probably been born for the field of medicine, and even municipal politics were a far cry from that. "I don't know, I mean... Not having a soul isn't such a bad deal, you know. Life's way more fun without that whole pesky conscience thing in the way," she told him, nodding seriously. God, his tiredness had to be rubbing off on her or something, because what was this conversation?

Though it didn't come as any kind of surprise whatsoever, it was still really nice to hear that Josh had done well, because she liked her friends and she was always, of course, happy when they did well in whatever endeavours they chose to pursue. Medicine was something that she could recall Josh wanting to do for years and years, and so it was pretty great for him that he had both the intelligence and the work ethic to actually get to something like that -- she was sure that, with whatever high test scores he had now, it was closer to being a reality than it had ever been before. "Hey, that's awesome! Are you applying anywhere else besides MHU?" she asked curiously, not knowing what would have been standard for something as serious as med school, or even then if Josh would have strayed from the norm. "And it's different from country to country," she added on. "Perspectives on global events, I mean. Like... the American Revolution is probably taught way differently there than it is here." She'd learnt a little bit about it in school as early as seventh grade, but she imagined that kids in the United States learnt things very differently. It was probably even worse when it came to global things like the World Wars -- but typically, the world had various understandings about bigger things like that. "The winners write history, though. Typically." She smiled a little bit when he laughed at himself. "Way to like a totally obscure subject. Who likes history?" she said with a tone that would have indicated disdain, but it was purely sarcastic, because Skye liked it too, though she obviously hadn't chosen to study it quite as closely.

"A long time" was a good way to put it, but Skye was sure that if this were something that she had wanted, then she would have been alright with it as well. Well... it wouldn't have been anything medical, that was for sure, but law school wasn't too out of the picture. Either way, whatever she wanted she would have been willing to wait and work for too, but she just... didn't know what that might be quite yet. "No, please don't come anywhere near me with a scalpel,"[/b[ she said, shaking her head at him. He was right, though -- doctors needed to be highly skilled professionals and she wouldn't have expected or tolerated anything less. "Yes, but you'll be old, so it wouldn't even matter," she pointed out, but she was smiling because she knew beforehand that there was a gaping hole in this argument. "Then again, we'll all be old." By that point most everyone she knew would be well into or approaching their thirties, and that... was a pretty frightening thought, actually, even though it didn't seem that far in the future when put otherwise. "Wait, let's not do this right now, I don't want to think about wrinkles." She was mostly kidding, but it really was a weird thought, and not in the good way.

It was a good thing that he'd finally just said it when he did, because Skye was... well, a fairly patient person, actually, but it also depended on who she was with. She and Josh had probably grown to that kind of stage in a friendship when it really didn't make sense to withhold information like that. At least... it would kind of be a dick move, but she knew that Josh was just trolling, which actually made her more impatient than usual. When he finally said it, she was of course happy for him -- genuinely so, too. "Please, you know that's not going to happen," she said, smirking a little. She didn't know Nell very well at all but she knew that she was far too nice to do such a thing, even if people did get weird about marriage and things like that -- understandably so, considering how big a step it was. "Did you guys just start planning and pick a date recently, or...?" It was possible they'd known for a while but had been waiting to cement it or something before telling anyone, but she didn't know what the case was. Either way, she didn't think that extended engagements were too strange. She made sure that her free hand was clean before taking the invitation -- wedding invitations were always beautiful -- and glancing it over quickly, then placing it gently on the table. "Good call on telling people in person," she said, saying "people" instead of "me", but that was kind of what she meant -- it was always nice to be thought of. "A little classier than a Facebook invite, yeah?" Then agian, if that was what Josh would have wanted, she supposed that everyone else would have had to deal with it. In serious matters like this it seemed that he'd stick to the relatively traditional, though.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

In youth, Joshua remembered a mother who always seemed irate about something or another when she returned home from her job, muttering under her breath about difficulties she was having. Josh had spent his days begging Donovan for stories about the hospital and the array of patients he dealt with. It had always been rather clear to Joshua and the rest of the family that he was his father's son and Patricia had never particularly fought for his loyalty. It was for this reason among others that politics had never been an interest of his. He made a face and shook his head. "Me, run a city? It'd be doomed." He flashed a bit of an amused smile that faded as quickly as it had come. Though Josh thought he had some pretty good ideals, they were more personal and never something he'd aspired to apply to an entire population. Politics involved social interaction more than was considered acceptable for someone who just wasn't that fond of other people to begin with. He wondered sometimes how Skye had the patience. "I'll leave the politics to you and my mother," he laughed. It was all a metaphorical discussion anyway but he still couldn't so much as bring himself to joke about being interested in politics because he didn't know enough about them. His sister might have done all right with how good she was at dealing with people but he could tell her interests, like his, lay elsewhere. "I'm sure I'd make a wonderful doctor without my soul." He spoke seriously and hid his smile. He could see it now, breaking bad news to a family with all the sympathy of a serial killer. Pesky as his conscience was, in serious discussion he would acknowledge that it was a necessary evil to stop him from turning sour.

Though neither of them had ever been the sappy sort to cling to one another in joy, Joshua appreciated Skye's delight for him nonetheless. He knew that it was real and he also knew that he'd feel just as happy for her if she succeeded. He dipped his head. "Applied to BCU as well, and a couple others. I almost applied to McGill but... figured it was best not to tempt myself." Would she understand the temptation that the number one medical school in Canada would have for him? It was almost the Canadian Harvard of medical schools and he just didn't think he could resist the temptation to actually go if he got in. "I always kind of wanted to but... Nell." The small smile that touched his lips said it all. He did not know if she would stop him from going but he also knew that he would not find out. Josh refused to force his bride-to-be into a decision like that. MHU wasn't nearly as prestigious but it was still medical school and it still meant he'd be a doctor in the future. If, that was, he got accepted. His gray eyes were bright with interest as he voiced his agreement with, "Oh, I'm sure. Everyone likes to brag about their accomplishments and kick their failures under the rug." It made sense, too. He knew that he'd want to be remembered for victories in a war and not defeats. If he couldn't ignore the battle outright he'd probably opt to make the other country look like the bad guys. And thus convoluted and biased forms of history were formed and it was only through listening to all of the sides that a more neutral version of events could be pieced together. It was what he loved about the subject. "Right? Who cares about a bunch of dead guys?" And girls, of course, but he figured the generalization wouldn't bother his friend too much.

It was funny how everyone perceived time and the future differently. Nell feared it, Skye preferred not to think about it and Joshua embraced it as the eventual accomplishment of everything he'd ever wanted. It was why, when his friend mentioned wrinkles, Joshua chuckled. "I like to think about working in the hospital, actually working in it, marriage, kids, y'know, the good stuff." Kids. Though he put no emphasis on the simple word and said it as casually as the others, the emphasis was there in his mind. He wanted to be a father. Not now, he was young yet, but in the future. He wondered if Skye ever thought about stuff like that or whether she settled for thinking about wrinkles. The thought almost made him laugh again but he held in the urge to avoid a weird look. He did laugh when Skye brushed off his comment, though. "Nah, I trust her," he assured his friend. The affection was there in his voice, softening its usual neutrality. Sometimes he was sheepish to realise how much of an effect she had on him but then he realised that this was his future wife, it was only natural to be a little soft. He debated for a short pause on whether or not to tell Skye the truth, then displayed his silent trust in her by nodding. "We had the money, we had the ideas, it was all a matter of picking the date." Wedding planning normally wouldn't have been his thing but anything he did with Nell made up for it. They'd wanted it to be perfect. He smiled at his friend. "Course. You deserved more than the wedding equivalent of a text-message break up." They would probably send a couple invitations out to people who they couldn't contact in person, but Josh was trying his best to tell his friends in person. It was a wedding, not an every-weekend hang out at the bar.

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

Skye wasn't sure that, in actuality, "doomed" was the word she'd use -- Josh would probably do an alright job. Most politicians weren't, after all, experts in the field of politics -- most were lawyers or something along those lines, who happened to be good at public speaking. Public speaking was generally considered good in a politician -- it was pretty awesome to be articulate if that was the goal. "Well I doubt that -- people have elected way worse," she said, thinking of several notable instances. Even just the United States' history of presidents was questionable enough. "Your mother can give other politicians a run for their money," she said with a laugh. Patricia was definitely a Fire through and through, and this was definitely intended as a compliment in this case -- her confidence was just what they probably needed. "Plenty of doctors have lousy bedside manner though," she pointed out with the trace of a smirk, almost vaguely remembering a conversation they'd had about something like this before. "As long as your hands don't slip with a scalpel I think I'll get over it." Surgeons had to be very good at what they did -- for obvious reasons.

She was no science anything, but she did know that McGill was a good school, and not only for medicine, either. It was just kind of an incredible school overall, famous across the... world, really. There had been a part of Skye that had wanted to apply to McGill for her undergraduate, when she'd been about to finish up high school, actually -- it wasn't a decision that she thought would have been terrible to make. It was about a two and a half hour drive away from her parents, it was a really excellent school, and it would have probably been nice to get away from the Academy after spending four years there. In the end she'd settled for the Academy, however -- as had Josh, obviously. "You would probably have gotten in," she told him plainly, but she more or less understood the decision. "MHU's not a bad school at all, though." It just didn't carry with it the same kind of prestige, but then again, Maple Hollow probably couldn't even be found on the map, so it didn't make much of a difference, she thought. "Well, the study of dead white men, right?" she said dryly, because really that was what history was known for being. That was probably one of the problems with the way History was taught.

At twenty-one, Skye had given some thought to marriage and kids and the like, but she'd yet to establish any kinds of plans for that kind of thing. She was young still! There was time! Well... she was getting older by the day, or so it seemed, but that wasn't the main issue -- there were years yet. "Yeah, but I'm thinking you have a leg-up on the rest of us as far as everything like that goes," she pointed out, smiling. There was an entire legion of jobless young adults now -- or careerless would have probably been a better word, but it was the principle. As for the marriage and kids part, most of her friends weren't married, so that was indication enough. "I'd imagine you do." It was said almost snidely, but it was most certainly a joke, too. She figured that it was good for him to, er, trust the girl he was getting married to in a few weeks, dang. "Yeah? It's nice though, probably. Not rushing into marriage, I mean." Twenty-one and however-old-Nell-was (nineteen or something, but Skye didn't know for sure) was still plenty young these days, but they'd been together for... a while. She wouldn't know that for sure either -- she just had a rough idea of when Josh had switched alliances. She didn't bring this up in conversation, obviously. "Try to make time for hanging out when you're busy driving around the kids in a minivan in the future, okay?" Skye smiled. "And I am really not attending any wedding that I get invited to on Facebook." She probably still would since it was a best friend, but that was entirely too sentimental.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

It was funny—Josh was good at public speaking. He was good at it because he was confident in himself and his own opinions. He could vouch for his own ideas because he truly committed himself to them. He was fairly sure he could sell someone on an idea if they were willing enough to listen and they didn't come with a previous opinion. But he didn't want to. Working with people, at least in that sense, had never been his goal. He much preferred the idea of saving lives and having people respect him for it than to have them hate or love him based on whatever the hell ideas he supported or shot down. It was a lot more pressure than he'd like having on his shoulders. "Maybe they have. But at least they elected people who wanted to be there." He chuckled. How bad would a politician be if they hated or simply didn't give a damn about politics? "Oh, don't tell her that," he joked. "I don't want to have to deal with her inflated ego." His light tone was enough to suggest that he was kidding. His mother had an ego, as did most people, but it was not over-inflated. Which was a good thing, really, because he hated dealing with cocky people. "Well, you see, Skye, I'm trying not to get sued in the future. You don't do that by pissing people off before you cut them open." Again his tone was light but there was some truth to the words. People would complain incessantly about doctors they didn't like and he didn't want to become that guy. Regardless of what people might believe, Josh really did want to become a doctor because he liked the idea of saving lives and not antagonizing people.

Much as he was confident in himself and had silently entertained the idea that he probably had a good chance at McGill if he'd went for it, there was something to be said about how good it felt to have a friend say the same. He was never arrogant about his intelligence and he didn't talk big about himself all the time around those he hung out with so the fact that they took notice regardless flattered him. "I like to think so," he said, lips forming a brief smile. He nodded when she backed up MHU, not about to argue with her. If he'd heard that it had a terrible reputation he might have been forced to talk to Nell about going elsewhere for graduate school. "It's the person that makes the good doctor, not the school," he said. "Or at least that's what they tell us all. I'd better hope they're not full of shit, eh?" He was trusting his intelligence and his future to Maple Hollow's medical school and he was banking on the hope that they weren't going to let him down. "Not that I wouldn't have tried for Harvard if the circumstances had been any different, but..." He smirked and shrugged. They hadn't been and so here he was. "It's not the best subject for equality," he snorted. "I like to find the books written by the other side sometimes, figure out what they had to say about it." If there was a war between any two countries, both would want to paint themselves as the good guys fighting evil. It was how things worked, he knew that.

When he thought about it, he really did have an advantage on others his age when it came to his goals in life. He'd be going to medical school if all went well and he got accepted, he was married, and when it came to kids... well, he and Nell had talked about that already. She wanted kids, he wanted kids, it would all work out if they could stay together. He was confident that they would. "Ha, well, that's your opinion I guess. Not everyone agrees." He'd gotten the "you're moving too fast" argument more times than he could count and it gave him a headache the more people tried to stress it. Did they not realise it would happen whether they liked it or not? "Don't get me wrong, though, glad you've got my back for this one or I might just have had to uninvite you." Whether or not he was kidding could be left up to interpretation. He got pretty irritated when others shoved their noses into his business and tried to talk about what was right for he and Nell as a couple but then, Skye was his best friend. Would he really turn on her if she judged him? She wasn't, so they wouldn't find out. "Are you insinuating that I'm going to morph into Mr. Soccer Mom? Because frankly I am offended." He laughed, though, and it was made clear that he was not offended in the least. He could have pulled off serious if he'd wanted to but he didn't bother for this. "At least I don't have to buy a sports car for my mid-life crises. Bright side, y'know." He was able to make light of such things because he really didn't feel like they'd be an issue for him. "Ooh, rejection. So harsh, Skye." He smirked, looking entertained.

[SKYE JESSICA FORD]

She wondered if there had been particularly reluctant politicians in history before, in any country, forget just Canada or the United States -- and she was sure there must have been a few, scattered here and there. Still, it was likely that any reluctant rulers would have simply stepped down -- abdicated or resigned or whatever the case would be for each one -- and so, more often than not, what history remembered were those crazy dictators that seemed to love power far too much. That made sense, but was a little disheartening all the same in a political sense; the twentieth century alone had been a mess, for instance. "I'd imagine most of them do like it enough, I guess," she murmured, trying to think if she could come up with a list of reluctant politicans throughout the years, but nothing cam eot mind. "But it's a hard job, I bet lots of them don't want to be there anymore after a while." Some of them stuck to their guns, obviously -- like Patricia -- but there had been many throughout the years who'd simply quit. It really was more stress than it was worth, Skye believed at least; though she studied politics, a very big part of her wanted to keep herself distanced from becoming an actual politican. The study of it was the important part. "Hey, honestly, if you do the surgery without accidentally disfiguring them, I don't think anyone has a right to complain about how you annoyed them beforehand." She didn't really think that he would be so awful a person as to actually bother any patients, but it was true -- there were many jobs that required people skills. In doctors, Skye cared most about actual, uh, medical skills -- whatever those entailed, anyway.

Skye smiled a little bit in amusement. "They basically tell you that the school's not good but you should go there anyway if you think you'd be a good doctor?" she asked, perhaps reading between the lines, but implications were important! Especially when it came to the ridiculous education system, among a few other industries, image and marketing and what-not were the most important things, actually. Schools were all so flashy these days. She understood, though. It wasn't like UMH was a particularly well-known school, but in the end, certification was... certification, regardless of where it came from. "Only Harvard? Come on Josh, at least aim a little high," she teased, her tone giving away her joking when her face didn't. The circumstances were a little bizarre, though, for some pretty much otherwise average kids in college, so she just nodded her understanding. "Depends on the war, I guess. And what happened after it," she pointed out. "Western influence was so powerful in Germany after World War II that they definitely wouldn't think they were in the right back then." That was one example where the rule wouldn't apply -- but again, history was determined by the winners. Had Germany won that war, things would be very different. It was the little things like that. "It'd be interesting to find a North Korean book, though." That was one country still strongly convicted in their correctness, at least as far as she knew -- which was pretty much as far as anyone knew.

It wasn't like there wasn't that part of Skye that believed that they really were very, very young for marriage, which was a big step, but really, it wasn't her life to intervene in. She had never been the type to really pry, and she wasn't the type either to poke around and constantly try to offer any unwanted opinions. That was just annoying and unnecessary, and she didn't need to go around pestering the people who were supposed to be her friends. Besides which, she didn't know and didn't want to know the intimate details of her friends' relationships, and so in this case she trusted that Josh knew what he was doing. Not considering this information prudent to disclose, she instead said, "I didn't realize my invitation was so conditional." She wasn't judging him either way, honestly, so it probably didn't matter much even if he was being serious about this. "Not at all," she told him dryly, but she was laughing too. The image of Josh in some ridiculous track suit driving his kids and a batch of brownies to some Timbits sports game or something was actually kind of hilarious. "No, it's just that when you hit thirty-five or something people will start laughing at you because it looks like you hit a mid-life crisis." Actually thirty-five wasn't that old, but she was just making fun of her friend. They were the same age, anyway -- Skye was actually a few weeks older or something like that. "You deserved it. Try harder." She sounded cold and mean but, obviously, if she meant it, Skye would have probably gotten up and left already. She was the type whose actions meant more than her words.