uncharted waters [josh]

[serena]

Just because Serena spent ample time at the Dale residence now did not, under any circumstances, mean that she liked all of the occupants. Nor did it mean that she would be willing to get along with said occupants. Sure, she was friends with Nell, and she loved spending time with the Earth, too. But that did not mean that she was prepared to be anything less than hostile toward Nell's husband, a Fire. Josh Dale was supposed to be 'nice' and a 'changed' man, according to Nell and others, but Serena didn't believe it. It wasn't as though she thought Nell was lying to her- she just didn't believe it and that was that. Rena had never liked Fires, and she doubted that would ever change. Due to the fact that she was a water, it was expected for her to not get along with fires anyway, wasn't it? In that case, then, shouldn't it be understandable? Even more so with her past, she'd think. She always shivered to think of fires. She both hated and feared them. Josh was no different, nor would he ever be.

Many people, given Serena's appearance and current disability, would assume that the young Water was kindhearted, warm, accepting... maybe a bit troublesome and mischievous at times but nothing too bad. This was true for the most part, but they were also wrong. When it came to Fires, Serena could be cold, hateful, and extremely judgmental and prejudiced. It was just how she was now; she could not help it (or at least, she didn't try to). She would never, ever give a Fire the benefit of the doubt. Her mother had done that to her father, and so had she and her sister for a while. It had only turned out badly. Rena refused to make that mistake again.

All anti-Fire thoughts aside, here she was in the Dale residence again, trying her best to wait patiently and calmly as she looked around the house for Nell, and trying also to avoid Josh. Vengeance was a Thunder trait, yes; but that did not mean, however, that she was any less vengeant toward Fires because she was merely a Water. Still, a smile was on her face as she wandered around the house, peering around cheerfully every once in a while looking to see if Nell was there or not. She knew Nell was somewhere around the house; it just mattered as to where, exactly, that was.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

[Gonna assume this is during break since the bulk of the thread will be written during it >>]

Winter break had brought with it an almost unusual feeling of calm. He was graduated from the Academy, he had no job, he had the holidays to spend with his wife and sister. While Joshua appreciated the rare time off from his normally hectic schedule, the absence of a busy life left him feeling aimless and uncertain whenever he found himself at a loss for what to do. He was normally so occupied by his studies that time spent with friends was a rarity, a commodity that was to be treated with care. Now he had most of his days to spend with other people and while those others were off with their own families and he with his, he often found himself restless. He would read for several hours each day but even books lost their appeal after so long, his eyes growing tired and muscles stiff from laying still and scanning pages for the better part of the day.

The hours he spent with Nell were the most cherished but even a married couple sharing the same house did not need to invade one another's presence at all hours of the day. She was spending her time with friends and Joshua was, once again, in his study, poring over the pages of a medical textbook and wondering if any of the information was going to be of help to him in the new year. That he was going to medical school had not quite yet sank in for while he knew it was happening, it did not feel real. Not until he stepped across the threshold of his first class at MHU would he finally accept it as truth. It was his whole life coming into its purpose, after all—a big step.

Yawning, Joshua realised he had reached the point at which he should take a break to avoid zoning out and neglecting to take in what he was reading. Deciding that coffee sounded like a good idea, the Fire graduate stood up and rolled his shoulders back to soothe his tense muscles, cracking his fingers against the back of his neck and then striding out into the hallway with his usual sense of purpose. Unaware that Nell had brought her friend over to the house, Joshua was caught off guard when he turned a corner and was met with a familiar and unwelcome face. His expression flickered from neutrality to discontent but for a moment before he regained his composure, determined not to show any immediate signs of the tension that had taken hold of the atmosphere. Serena. He did not like Serena Fletcher, though it was not for his usual reasons. She simply despised him for, as far as he could tell, no reason at all. He didn't exactly enjoy the idea of being hated without cause or concern and thus he'd never been particularly fond.

Still, she was Nell's friend and he did his best to stay out of delicate matters such as friendships. They were each allowed to have their own friends and he wasn't going to be the one to break that rule. The only sign of his ire at this point was the fact that he did not smile, did not greet her in the neutral but somewhat amiable what that he would if she had been any other friend of Nell's that he did not share. Instead, his only words were, "Looking for Nell, I'm guessing." His words were not friendly but nor were they cold, maintained at his closest-to-perfect neutral level.

[serena]

Winter break... to Serena, it simply meant more time to spend with her sister (when, of course, her sister wasn't working), more time to spend with Nell or another friend, or more time to spend with her birds when she wasn't doing either of the other two things. And, of course, it meant no school to worry about, which was a huge relief to Serena. She liked school very much, of course, but like any student, she could only take so much of it before she was quite ready for a break. It seemed winter break could never come fast enough for her or any other student, really, and now that it was finally here, like every time it came (or any other break came for that matter), Serena knew she would have to treasure it.

She was spending some time today with Nell, or at least, she'd planned to. Then later that day when she returned home, she'd probably hang around the bird sanctuary for a while until her sister came home from work sometime in the late evening. They'd probably eat dinner then, unless it was nine or later when Karina returned, and then they'd talk for a while until they decided to go to bed. Karina worked hard, and frequently as well to support the two sisters and for her own likes and benefit, so she had to get up early every morning. Serena liked to get up early too sometimes and make a nice breakfast for Karina before she went to work. Sunday mornings were the best, because Karina took most Sundays off, and they would both get to sleep in before making a big breakfast together and then going out somewhere and spending the day together. Serena treasured those moments. Her sister was, after all, the only family she had left. She was lucky that the two got along so well and cared so much for one another.

Serena had been in this mood today; blissful and unaware of anything unhappy, cheerfully going about her daily routine and not having a care in the world, for it was winter break, after all. Unfortunately, it did not last. Suddenly, she felt her cheerful demeanor shatter when she saw an unwanted person coming in her direction... Josh. Serena hated him as she hated all Fires, and there was nothing that would have her feel otherwise about him. He was a Fire, and that was good enough reason for her to hate him in her opinion. It was one of the only things that Serena was horribly judgmental about, and the only thing that she was very prejudiced about. She had good reason, in a way, but then again, is there ever really a good reason for prejudice? She did not know, for she did not consider herself to be that way.

He spoke to her, and though he was not cold, he was borderline so and it was obvious that he was not really that happy to see her, either. Serena merely looked away from him, not afraid to be cold to someone that she hated, but glared at him before doing so and even a bit through the corner of her eyes. She would not speak to him even if she could speak- that she knew for certain. He was a Fire, after all. Fires were all evil.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

The mansion had always been his sanctuary. No matter what sort of people he had to deal with at school thanks to the alliance, Joshua could always count on the quiet and peace of his home at the end of the day. He had Nell and Annabel for companionship and none of his enemies could so much as step foot on the front porch without his permission. Serena had changed that. He did not like her being here. This was supposed to be his house, his rules. Nell, however, had her own group of friends. He'd never protested to the Earth elemental bringing people over because in living together and in getting married he had easily accepted the idea that it was their place, their rules. Nell doesn't know. How could she? Serena acted perfectly pleasant when his wife was in the room regardless of whether he was nearby or not. It was only when they found themselves alone that the chill entered the air and the tension mounted. It annoyed him. Can't be honest and tell her you can't stand me for no reason, eh? Not surprised. What would Nell think if she knew one of her friends loathed her husband? Joshua had never breathed a word of the rivalry. He didn't to put her in that situation.

The change in demeanour was not hard to detect in either of them as they crossed paths and the Fire graduate found himself wishing that Nell had went out with Serena instead of bringing her over to the house. He felt like he was being put on the spot, forced to play nice with a girl that he couldn't stand because she happened to be on good terms with his wife. He wouldn't care quite as much about her hatred if it had been the least bit justified. Ethan had been another problem friendship but Joshua had not resented him the friendship with Nell because the Fire had punched the Water graduated in the face and then proceeded to kick his ass. There had been a confrontation, the rivalry had been deserved. He hadn't done anything to Serena, at least not to his knowledge. The girl did not speak and so even if he'd been the type to ask, he doubted that she'd answer him. The fact that she was mute garnered no sympathy from Josh. He didn't give a shit whether she was blind, deaf and dumb—she had an undeserved grudge against him and so the intense dislike was returned in kind.

His jaw shifted and set in frustration as Serena glared at him and looked away. Who the fuck do you think you are? He didn't speak the words that he so wished to, instead taking a slow and careful breath in through his nose. Nell, was all he thought, tensing his shoulders for a moment before releasing the breath. "Are you lost?" The seemingly innocent question was not quite so and he didn't give her enough time to "answer" the question in any way before he smoothly continued, "Because if I'm not mistaken, this is my house, isn't it?" He gestured around the hall and resisted the urge to say something much more biting than the words that had already slipped past his lips. It was Nell's house, too, he wasn't denying that. Instead he was suggesting that it wasn't a wise idea to act so coldly toward the owner of a place you were visiting—two people owned the house, not just one. "I just asked a question. You sure as hell aren't here for me." If Josh had his way, Serena would not be allowed within one hundred feet of the mansion. You're fucking lucky I love my wife, you know that? He wanted her to be happy and her friends made her that way. He liked to think that she would side with him if worst came to worst but he knew that starting arguments between loved ones and friends hardly ever ended well.

[serena]

She really couldn't be blamed, after all, could she? Fire and water were supposed to be enemies. They weren't supposed to get along. Furthermore, it shouldn't be expected of them to get along no matter what the situation. Josh may have been a traitor as far as sides-vs-sides went, but that meant nothing to Serena. In fact, if anything, it made her like him even less. He could not be trusted amongst the people he was supposed to be affiliated with, after all, so why should that mean he should be trusted anywhere else? It shouldn't, of course. And so she didn't trust him. It was true that her hatred and fear of fires did play a large role in her dislike of him and other fires, but that was beside the point.

Wasn't Nell an earth, though? And earth was an enemy of fire and an ally of water, wasn't it? And yet... no, Serena would never think badly of Nell. She did think, however, that Nell had made a rather bad (or at least odd) decision in associating with Josh, and there was nothing that would change Rena's mind on that matter, no matter how much she liked Nell. She never expressed these thoughts to Nell, of course, not wanting to offend her, but it was obvious at least to Josh that she disliked the man quite a bit. It wasn't really anything personal, really, and nor was it merely Joshua Dale that she hated- she hoped that he didn't feel special by any means in that regard. It was all fires, it would always be. Oh and probably thunders for good measure, she didn't really care about them.

Ah, the trademark fire rudeness. She of course did not realize that she was also being rude. Rena never did. She smirked a bit as Josh seemed irritated with her. It was so easy to get him going! Even so, it made her nervous. Angry or irritated fires would always remind her of her father, a memory she would rather leave behind her forever. She shook her head to say she wasn't lost, and rolled her eyes while doing so as if it were an obvious answer. It was, after all. Josh knew why she was there and knew very well that she wasn't lost, or at least she thought so. She raised an eyebrow slightly when he emphasized that it was his house, as if to say in the most sarcastic way possible, 'really? I had no idea'. She smiled just a bit when he voiced that he knew she wasn't there for him, giving a little shrug as if to say 'well, obviously'. She was never this way, so it was strange, probably, if another person who knew her well saw her around a fire. She was like a different person, really. No longer was cheerful, happy, friendly Serena, a bubbly water, available. Nor would she be so long as this miserable fire was in her company.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua didn't know her past. Even if he did, it was doubtful that the Fire elemental would give much of a damn. In his mind, the mistakes of another who happened to share his element were not good enough reason to reflect hate on him as a person. He had done nothing wrong to Serena except to respond in kind to her rude behaviour around him and so he did not care whether she thought her hatred was justified or not. It bothered him all the more that this bitch was a friend of his wife's who couldn't even let the sweet and friendly Earth elemental know how much unreasonable hate she held against him. He wasn't going to be the one to cry and whine to his wife about Serena but that was out of respect for the fact that Nell had her own set of friends. To Josh, Serena's secrecy about how much (and why) she hated him was an insult to Nell. He believed that she deserved to know what people thought of him so that she could more correctly judge their character. He often thought that she trusted too much in others and while that was one of the things he most often respected about her, given his inability to do the same, it caused some problems, too.

Problems like Serena.

Anger was one of the emotions the Fire had the most trouble hiding but this time he did not even bother trying. Her smirk was interpreted to be cockiness by the already irritated man and it only served to fan the flames of his rage further. Was she trying to get on his nerves? Possibly. Was it working? Too well. He had never liked his anger (who would?) but it bothered him even more when he got angry about things he knew were meant to get a rise out of him. When someone provoked him he would always go out of his way to remain calm with a smile on his face so that they ended up the fool when their own temperament was provoked. Unfortunately that didn't work nearly as often as he wanted it to. Serena's attitude was able to push him close to the edge almost instantly and he hated her for that more than anything else in that moment. "Oh, cut the attitude, Serena," he said with a tone that dripped sarcasm and disdain. "You're not cute." He didn't think she was the slightest bit cute even if her lack of speech might be considered to some as endearing. No, he took no pity on her for that. The only emotion the Water elemental managed to draw from him was anger. Pure frustration.

Another wave of it brought with it the sudden and violent urge to punch her but it was one he easily brushed aside. The urges to turn a confrontation physical were common but not so uncontrollable that he would turn into a fist-swinging maniac with every insult breathed in his direction. Besides, he was confident that he would easily overpower Serena. He didn't hit girls unless they either really deserved it or he knew they could give back as good as they got. A lot of people thought you shouldn't hit a girl at all if you were male but he thought that was a load of bullshit. A cop out. If a girl was stupid enough to provoke him, then, well, he figured they could deal with the consequence. "Are you deaf, too? This is my house. You're only here because I allow it. Don't think for one minute I won't throw you out if you keep up this bullshit." He felt like an adult lecturing a small child and while his tone was more harsh than stern he supposed that was sort of the case. This was his house. He could kick her out in an instant and he wouldn't be ashamed to tell Nell why. Oh, he wasn't the type to tattle and whine but if she pissed him off enough he wasn't going to cower and let her have anything she wanted. No, he was too proud for that.