ending in travesty --- [rowena]

[EMMETT HIKARU NAKAMURA]

When he started the new year, Emmett thought it’d just be a relaxing year that didn’t require him to put in any effort whatsoever. He was in his last year of high school. Just one more year left and he could leave behind the lot of idiots. It was a solid, well thought out plan—until he was made Thunder leader.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

At first he thought it was a joke. Then he remembered—Thunders rarely ever joked. He also remembered thinking what the fuck they were thinking, making him leader. Don’t get him wrong, he also liked the title, but with the title came responsibilities he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to shoulder. Emmett’s actually had to be wary of his choices, be more involved (he still shuddered at this thought), and actually give a crap if he saw any threat to the alliance. Not once—until now—did Emmett realize he was put into the limelight. Any weakness he had would be put against him and in this school, it was not a smart idea to show them. An element’s leader who is viewed as weak automatically puts the element as a whole in a disadvantage. They were all targets, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.

Pros and cons. Emmett couldn’t help but fiddle around with the thought as he waited for Rowena—the other leader—to discuss… things. He didn’t really know what, nor did he really care. He’d rather get it over with before she started breathing down his neck. They had talked a few times before, but despite having very similar personalities, they didn’t get along very well. At all. And perhaps that’s why they were meeting today—to at least try to get along for the sake of it. They were leaders, and they had to suck it up no matter how badly they didn’t want to. Hell, it was halfway through the school year. They wasted enough time arguing and disagreeing on things.

Emmett tapped the wooden tabletop impatiently, staring at the clock with narrowed eyes. Fuck, how long did it take for girls to get ready? It wasn’t like he was going to be impressed either way. She could show up, hungover, in sweats, and he wouldn't care. Or maybe this was her form of torture, making him wait—either way, it made him extremely annoyed, and the overwhelming smell of coffee and sickeningly sweet donuts made his stomach turn over. Why did he pick this place anyways? He knew he had a good reason for it. Coffee during June? Whatever. Sitting here, all he could think about how stupid this “meeting” was in the first place. Emmett knew he had to put some effort in, but it was kind of hard when he didn’t even put any in on a regular basis. He was not going to change now.

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

i think we should disagree again,

Adjusting the strap on her new bag, Rowena walked back and forth in her room in front of the mirror to test it's weight and how it sat against her shoulder. Tweaking it a few more times, she was finally satisfied enough to give herself a quick once over before heading out the door. She was already a good five or ten minutes late for meeting her co-leader but there was a reason they called it fashionably late. There was no way that she was stepping out of the apartment looking anything less than fabulous, lest she give the boy a good reason to talk about her behind her back. She was certainly vain enough to believe that he would do such a thing and the last thing she wanted was to commit a fashion faux pas.

Taking the bus as her car was broken down, the girl sat in one of the sideways seats typically reserved for the disabled and elderly and considered what she might say to her fellow Thunder. Emmett, that was his name, as she had not forgotten. She did not care for him enough to remember it in fondness, more out of necessity. They were meant to be polite to one another, meant to cooperate. Ugh. The mere thought sickened her. How could she possibly cooperate with him? They were completely different people with clashing views and opinions about how they should or should not lead their element. She had much preferred the boy who had shared leadership with her in the previous term. Besides, last year she'd had Altair at her side. The sisters had held the alliance together like glue in her opinion. And now there was Emmett. Best get this over with. He had an hour of her time, no more... and, well, a little bit less, as she was twenty minutes behind schedule when she finally stepped off the bus in front of the Tim Hortons.

Smoothing the folds of her blue skirt and adjusting her white-blond hair in the window, Rowena drew a breath and pushed open the door. The effort that most girls put into job interviews and dates was put into every day life for the fashion-obsessed Thunder girl. It helped settle her self-conscious mind if she felt pretty, at least on the outside.

She found Emmett and sat down without greeting him, crossing one leg over the other and setting her bag down beside her, her frozen raspberry lemonade on the table. "I endured the horrors of public transport for you, be flattered." No apology for being late. He didn't deserve her apologies. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recalled that this meeting was meant to be a civil discussion of their element and what they would do come second term but her automatic coldness toward him could not be helped. He should be grateful she'd even bothered to show. With an exaggerated sigh, she said, "I suppose we should get started, then. Is there anything that you'd like to discuss?" Ew, pleasantries. They made her sick but it was better than delaying this stupid thing. She didn't really want to be here.

[Just ignore the 'stache necklace in the pic, that's not like her xD]

[EMMETT HIKARU NAKAMURA]

Irritated couldn’t even begin to describe Emmett’s mood right now.

It was a combination of frustration, anger, and a little on the “fuck you” side. He hated going into Maple Hollow in the first place; he first suggested they meet whenever school started up again. That was reasonable, right? Emmett wanted to save the last of his sanity and make sure to have a Rowena-free month break. A day—no, not even an hour—was wasted with her. She was like public enemy number one to him, and he questioned his luck on having her as his partner, of all the other Thunder girls he could actually tolerate. It was harsh, but it was reality. And reality was, he didn’t like Rowena. At all.

Fifteen minutes late.

He kept his eyes on the ticking clock, his patience wearing thin each time the second hand moved even the slightest, and every time the bell signaled someone had entered the shop, he’d shoot a glare at them for getting his hopes up to finally getting this whole meeting thing was over. Why couldn’t they just avoid each other until the remainder of the year ended, anyways? It was possible that they’d be able to run things separately. It was better than seeing her face and end up arguing the whole time about how they wanted to lead their element and how the other was wrong and an idiot and just I want to rip your head off sort of spiel.

Twenty minutes late.

Emmett sighed, his eyes narrowing, and kicked his feet he had been resting off the chair across from him. He turned his head, though, as the bell on the door rang and the chime of ‘welcome’ from the employees sounded, cueing her entrance. Yeesh. Suddenly Emmett was in an even more horrible mood than when she wasn’t here. “You’re late,” he said coldly, his voice clipped as Rowena sat down. Emmett merely stared at her as she spoke, an eyebrow raising at her comment. Of course, it was no use in expecting an apology. And honestly, if he were late, too, he wouldn’t have apologized. More than likely, if he was already running twenty minutes late, he wouldn’t have showed up at all. He deserved the Gentleman Award of the Year. “That’s too bad,” he replied, all enthusiasm in his voice erased as he played with his crumpled up receipt in his hands. He then shortly flicked it at her, his eyes meeting hers. “I would’ve been more flattered if you didn’t show up at all.” He would’ve been annoyed, yes, but at least she had the consideration not to show her face. That was flattering, knowing Rowena cared so much about him. But of course, that was not the case.

He leaned forward in his chair, crossing his arms on the table. “Yes,” he forced out, trying to be civil with his tone now. The less sarcastic and a jerk he was, the easier this would be. It would go quicker, too, and Emmett could relax during the remainder of break without feeling so annoyed. “You and me.” The look in his eyes grew serious for a brief moment until he leaned back in his chair and slouched, the familiar lazy look in his eyes taking over again. “We’re shit leaders, you know that, right?” Well, their dynamic was. They hardly got along—there was no way they’d ever be able to partner up whenever something ever seriously came up.

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

i think we should disagree again,

Emmett seemed fairly irate at her arrival, addressing her as if they had been rivals since childhood, Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. She was not phased. "I'm aware." What, did he want a medal for pointing that out? She hadn't wanted to do this in the first place, she was the one that deserved the medal for bothering to show. Her time was valuable and she didn't like to think that this idiotic excuse for a leader was wasting it.

Though her reflexes were not sharp enough that she caught the paper, she picked it up when it landed in her lap and held it up as if to inspect it. "What's this for?" The polite innocence in her tone was a dead give-away for sarcasm. "Do you want me to shove it up your ass, or are you willing to do that yourself?" She threw it back at him, more casual than aggressive. It wouldn't hurt even if she whipped it like a high schooler playing dodgeball and so she didn't see the point in putting in the effort. Addressing his words, a short and breathy sound of mock amusement rose in her throat. "Excuse me? So you're wasting my time? I've got better things to do than talk to you all day." She sighed irritably. So she was exaggerating, sure, but that's how long it was going to feel. She'd just sat down and she already felt like they'd been at it for hours.

Emmett appeared to make an effort toward civility, one that she did not immediately return. She wasn't very good at this sort of thing. "Please, hon. You're not all that. If you wanted to fuck me, this isn't the way to go." Elbow propped on the table, the Thunder flicked her wrist back and forth to indicate their situation. She knew what he meant but she was being difficult about it. Truthfully, arguing was easier than getting along—Emmett was not alone in getting on her bad side. People started out as enemies with Rowena, the main reason she had next to no friends. Socializing was difficult. She never knew what to say, how to behave, and so it was much easier to be an absolute bitch so that no one expected something from her that she could not give. Plus, Emmett was a pain. She liked to think she'd hate him even if it wasn't just a 'by default' thing.

He insulted the pair of them and she actually laughed, the sound light and airy. "Speak for yourself. I'm a brilliant leader." What was that they'd agreed to beforehand? Something about setting aside their differences for the space of an hour so they could talk things over as civil leaders of their element? Yeah, that wasn't going so well. A leopard never changes its spots and this leopard was quite happy with the way hers looked, thank you very much. "I've been at this a while, if you hadn't forgotten. Thunder wouldn't have reelected me if I was half-assed. Now, you, on the other hand... yeah, I don't know what they were thinking there." She shook her head. Usually priding herself on how amazing the element of Thunder was, she questioned their judgement in choosing Emmett as her partner. Why? Of all the people she could have been stuck with... him.

[They're so mean! It's perfect.]

[EMMETT HIKARU NAKAMURA]

Emmett took a deep breath, trying to calm the electricity that gathered at his fingertips. Why did he have to civil with someone like her? “Then why are you late?” he asked, deadpanned. And he didn’t want to hear about any wardrobe malfunctions or being fashionably late because he was going to shock someone into oblivion if he did, preferably the one sitting front of him, and he wasn’t going to regret anything. At all.

He stared at Rowena silently as she chided him, wondering how on earth such a spiteful person could even survive this long. Emmett wouldn’t say it aloud but he’d be immensely satisfied to see a Water or an Earth put her in her place. Man, he was an awful leader, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that. He didn’t flinch when she threw the piece of paper back at him; rather, he picked it up again between his forefinger and thumb, tossing it over his shoulder. Emmett merely rolled his eyes. “Why? Is the paper an allusion to your bullshit? Either way it’s stuck in my ass.” Okay, this meeting wasn’t going according to plan. He initially just wanted to sit down, discuss things maturely, and get the fuck out. Obviously that wasn’t going to happen. “Likewise,” he replied, his eyes narrowing at her before he settled his gaze elsewhere. Looking at Rowena just made his blood boil at this point.

He knew it. Civility wasn’t going to work with her. At least he tried; now he can have an excuse for being a complete jackass to her. “Oh, of course not,” he said as he blinked innocently, resting his own elbow on the table, leaning in. “If I wanted to fuck you, I would’ve thrown a dollar at you a long time ago.” And his gaze set into pure annoyance, leaning back into his seat again. If she wanted to play that game, cool. Emmett wasn’t going to take her shit. There was a reason he called for this meeting, after all. If Rowena wasn’t going to play nice, he wasn’t going to either. Simple as that.

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes again. God, he remembered when Rowena was first elected as leader last year he thought the same as she did when he was elected. In simple words: what the fuck. Now that they were partners, it was safe to say the Thunders were screwed. After she was done with her rant, Emmett raised an eyebrow, a bored look on his face. “Are you done? Good.” he asked, yawning, not waiting a second for her reply. “Then teach me, wise one. Tell me what I’m doing wrong,” he said sarcastically, his eyes challenging. “Suck it up.” Emmett scoffed again, his face emotionless. “You’re stuck with me, and I’m stuck with you. Nothing’s going to change.” His voice was deep, his eyes never leaving hers. No matter how much they wished the other would disappear, it wasn’t going to happen. They were going to be partners. They needed to be leaders, or their element would become a part of target practice. “So please, stick your ego up your ass and we can finally do things right.”

[omg i know. i love it.]

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

Rowena fixed him with a deadpan stare. “Do you have any idea how long it takes me to do my hair?” She twisted a few strands of it around her finger as she spoke. “Probably not, now that I think about it. You look like you got into a fight with a Tesla coil and lost.” It wasn’t that bad but she was argumentative. She wanted to have the last word. The Thunder offered no further explanation for her lateness, figuring that she’d said enough. Fashion was far more important than meeting with this boy.

What would their element say if they could see how horribly their leaders behaved around one another? They were meant to be the voices of reason and responsibility for the entire Thunder population and yet they sat in a crowded Tim Hortons bickering back and forth like children. Ignoring his question, she requested in a pseudo-polite tone, “Can you shove your head up there, too? At least then I won’t have to listen to you anymore.” His voice was grating on her ears. Kill me now. She wasn’t meant to cooperate with others. She’d never done well in group projects or team activities because she didn’t play well with classmates, coworkers, anyone. Rowena was selfish and self-motivated, perfectly happy to let others take the fall if it meant propelling herself to the top. This wasn’t as clear cut. She couldn’t throw Emmett under the bus. What a shame. He’d make interesting road kill.

Not many things fazed her as deeply as the implication that she was a whore, a girl who would let anyone in her pants for some spare change. Cold blue eyes flashed with fire for a moment and her lips pursed. She kept her temper but the remark would be remembered. It had rubbed her the wrong way for sure. “To sleep with you? Tch, it’d cost a lot more than that. hon. Add some zeros on the end and maybe we’ll talk.” She flicked her wrist, tossing the blonde locks she’d previously been playing with over her shoulder. Her composure did not betray how much his words had truly bothered her. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction and hoped that the murderous glint that had flashed across her gaze would not be interpreted for what it truly was—hurt.

The Thunder felt a strong urge to slap her partner as he let out a bored yawn, frustration welling up in her chest. Her emotions were on thin ice now and she could feel his words slowly poisoning her calm exterior. I’m not going to let him get the better of me. She could play just as dirty as he could. It was Rowena who had started this whole fiasco after all. She’d thrown the first real verbal punch. The young woman didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. “I don’t have the time to hold your hand,” she scoffed. “Maybe you should pay a little more attention to our element.” True, Rowena had been just as flippant about her role as a leader when she’d first gained the position, but was she going to remind him of that? No way. “We’ve barely gotten anything done since the year started.” Ro refused to take any of the blame, even if some of it was her fault for not trying her best to get on with her co-leader.

Rolling her eyes, she sneered, “Aw, listen to Mr. Responsible. You’re so selfless.” What, was he going to pretend like she was the only one who’d thrown a fit about this? No way. “My ego isn’t going anywhere and neither is my stance. I know how to lead an element.” It was going to take some work, wasn’t it? They weren’t the most compatible people on the planet. “And what do you suggest? You’re clearly full of ideas.” She couldn’t wait to hear this.

[-sob- The year’ll finish before we get to play out the rest of the plot. </3]