who we are - josh

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

Despite the fact that she had a short fuse and the typical fire temper, Ridley didn't get into physical fights often. In fact, she could count the amount of fights she'd been in over the last year on one hand alone and that was saying something considering her less than stellar track record when she'd first joined the Academy. Things had been different then. Her power, like most kids at fourteen, had been completely out of her control and so she'd gone through a period of constant, barely controlled anger. Back then she'd get into a fight with someone just for looking at her funny. Thankfully, it had been a short period and as she learned control over her ability, she learned control over her temper. If she was being honest, she was pretty damn proud of the level of control she had over her temper these days. It was more than most other Fire's had. That wasn't to say she didn't lose her cool, because she did, more than she cared to admit. But there was a difference between losing your cool and blowing up in a fit of rage.

The last time she'd exploded with anger, besides earlier that afternoon, had been last year when she'd gotten into an argument with some moronic Earth kids who had tripped her up in the Mess Hall, sending her flying, food and all. They'd claimed it was an accident, she'd argued that they'd done it on purpose. One thing had led to another and the situation had quickly escalated into a full blown food fight. She'd gotten detention for an entire week for that one. The situation today hadn't been as wide scaled or heated as the food fight. Tanya, an older Water had been pissed that Ridley was flirting with her boyfriend, a Wind. Ridley had shrugged and explained that she didn't know he was taken, because she hadn't. Tanya had exclaimed that she didn't believe her and then went on to rant about how she was a 'stupid, slutty skank-' and well, Ridley had punched her in the face before she'd managed to say anything else. So Tanya had ended up with a black eye and Ridley had ended up with a detention. And was it worth it? Hell yes.

"Sorry I'm... late." Ridley stood in the doorway of the classroom she was to take her detention in, her hand still on the door handle and glanced around the room before leaning back to check the number on the door. It read '208' which meant that it was the right room, but where was everybody? Was she seriously the only one with detention tonight? Frowning she stuck a hand in her jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, checking the time and room number again. She was five minutes late and this was definitely the right room. So where was the teacher? The other delinquents? Folding the paper in half, she glanced back over her shoulder down the corridor. Empty. She glanced back into the room. She could leave. Right now. Just turn around and go. Maybe she'd gotten lucky and they'd forgotten about the detention altogether? 'Doubtful' The chances of that were pretty slim. Because of the hostility and war-like atmosphere between the students, the teachers were annoyingly strict when they gave out punishments. They had to be if they wanted to keep the kids in check.

She sighed, deciding that it was probably best not to make a run for it unless she wanted to land herself in even more trouble. Tucking away the piece of paper, she walked into the room and hopped back to sit on one of the desks. Crossing her anlkles, she curled her hands around the tables and edge and allowed the strap of her book bag to slip down her arm and pool around her wrist. She'd wait ten minutes. If nobody showed up, then she was gone.

(I figured Josh could have been talked into covering detention?)

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

[Love this situation actually!]

The medical wing was slow that day and Joshua found himself with a lack of anything to occupy himself for what felt like the first time since he'd started working there. He didn't mind too much for the first few minutes but after a while he felt antsy and anxious to be doing something, anything but sitting around and waiting for someone to call for him. It was one of the doctors that noticed the way he was glancing around and scowling, looking at the clock as if accusing it of some unforgivable sin. Sitting around and doing nothing was a lazy man's dream but it was the stuff of Joshua's nightmares. He was so bored. "You know, I think we'll be okay around here for the rest of the shift." Josh snapped himself out of his thoughts and looked toward the older man with interest. "If you want to go ahead and clear out, you can." Joshua took a moment to appreciate the attentiveness of his coworker before twitching his lip and standing up. "I think I will, yeah. You're sure you don't need any help?" He tried not to sound too hopeful. He'd rather be in the medical wing and getting some useful hands on experience than wandering aimlessly and trying to find something to do. The other man laughed, shook his head. "I barely have anything to do myself but I don't have the option of backing out." The Fire graduate accepted this with a nod and headed for the door, already formulating ideas for where he could go next.

He found himself in the staff room, the library much too busy for his liking when it came to studying. He was a first year medical school student and it was both a tiring and exciting experience. Even someone as bookish and dedicated as Josh couldn't study forever and so it was during one of his quick breaks to give his mind a rest that he was approached by a coworker he thought he recognised as one of his ex-professors. He blinked, trying to recall the woman's first name quick enough for a non-awkward greeting but before he could so much as open his mouth, she was speaking over him. "Hey, Dale, right? Have you got a minute?" He blinked and actually managed to draw a breath in preparation to respond before she was rattling off again, "Sure you do, you don't look busy." She hardly seemed to notice the books on the table or the open laptop in front of him. In fact, she was looking at her phone and not at him when she spoke. "Anyway, I need someone to cover for detention." Finally finding his voice before she could steamroll ahead, Joshua started with, "Actually I was kind of hoping to go home in—" She looked up from the phone with a pleading and desperate expression. "A favour, please? See, I agreed to it before I remembered this thing I've got coming up and it's really important and—"

"All right," he said, resigning himself. "All right, I'll do it. Don't worry about it. What room's it in?" She gave him the number and thanked him swiftly before racing out of the room, presumably to get to whatever really important event she was missing. I hope I didn't just get talked into covering for her on a date night. He'd never covered detention before. Look how the tables have turned. As a Fire, it would come as a shock to absolutely no one that he'd spent his fair share of time in all of the detention rooms and so it did not take him very long to find room 208. He had geared himself up the entire time for what he might find there. If they were people who disliked him he'd have to convince them that he was in a position of authority now and he wasn't looking forward to it. He hoped his former professor had a nice time with whatever she was doing so that it wasn't a waste of his. Sarah, that's her name, isn't it? His thoughts didn't get any further than that because when he opened the door he was indeed met with a familiar face—but not one he was expecting. He blinked in surprise and looked round to make sure they were alone before closing the door behind him and flashing a grin. "Hey, look who it is. So who'd you whack?" All right, so maybe he was supposed to be all adult and responsible and act like she was in trouble with him or some shit like that but hey, neither of them wanted to be there. It wasn't like there were cameras. "Would you believe I got roped into covering the detention shift? I hope no one else comes in, then I'll have to pretend I want to be here." He scoffed and offered a smirk, sitting on the desk instead of behind it. Real professional.

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

Five minutes into her ten minute wait, (before she bailed) Ridley sat cross-legged on the table, her thumbs smashing against the screen of her Iphone as she desperately tried to fend off the aliens advances with her last ship. "Oh come on!" She threw up a hand, exasperated, as 'game over' flashed across the screen. Scowling because she still hadn't managed to beat her brothers hi-score on Space Invaders, she tucked it away into her jacket pocket to try again some other time, before resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on her balled up fists. Two more minutes and she was out of here. The fact that no other students had turned up was making her doubt that she was even in the right room. Maybe the teacher, whose name she couldn't remember, had written the wrong room number down. She smacked her gum, blew a bubble, popped it and then repeated again. If that was the case then she should just screw waiting and leave now. She would keep the detention note, so that she'd have proof that she'd been sent to the wrong room, if anybody started giving her earache for not showing up to detention. Perfect.

Picking the gum from her mouth, she rolled it between her thumb and forefinger and then leaned over to the side and stuck it against the underside of the table. Wiping off her hands on her jeans, she spun and stretched out her legs and was just sliding herself from the table when the door opened and someone walked in. Well shit. Quickly, she leaned back so that she was half sat on the tables edge and crossed her arms over her chest, mastering a look that was a careful mix of casual and bored - she couldn't have anyone thinking she was about to skip, could she? The person who entered, however, was not who she'd been expecting and immediately she felt herself relax. "Uh, hey." unfolding her arms, she rested her hands on the cool table, curling her fingers around its edge. Curious eyes followed Joshua, a guy she knew from her many trips to the hospital wing, as he closed the door and made himself comfortable on the teachers desk. A small smirk tugged at the left corner of her lips when he spoke. "Some Water girl." She gave a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, her voice bored and unapologetic. As far as she was concerned, she had nothing to be sorry for, Tanya and her big mouth had had it coming.

So he'd been suckered into covering. Ridley felt for him. He was a decent guy, Josh. One of the only members of staff she actually liked enough to sit and have a conversation with him. He wasn't as uptight and snobby as a lot of the staff around school. And he didn't ask questions when she came crawling into the hospital wing, clearly hungover, looking for some pain killers. Sometimes, on the rare occasions where she was so hungover she could barely function, he let her stay in one of the hospital beds for the day with the excuse that she was suffering from a stomach virus. "Well, good news is, I don't think anybody else is going to show." They would be here now, if they were. "And the other really good news is, you were fifteen minutes late." she lifted her eyebrows, a cheeky smile spreading across her lips "So technically, we only have forty-five minutes left." It was true, if you wanted to get technical. Of course you could say that detention only started when the teacher arrived, because, well, it did. But Josh had shown up late and that wasn't her fault. Sure, arriving late probably hadn't been his fault either, since it seemed like he'd been roped into covering at the very last minute. But Ridley didn't think she should have to suffer another boring fifteen minutes of detention because of it. Whether Josh was going to agree was another matter entirely. She hoped he would, it didn't look like he wanted to be here anymore than she did.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Ridley didn't seem ashamed of her latest victim, nor had he expected her to be. Most people who ended up in the detention hall were in there for a reason, though he had learned throughout his own experiences that there were always exceptions. He'd had a Thunder professor whose elemental loyalty had caused him to land the then-traitor in detention using whatever excuse he could scrounge up. A millisecond late? Detention. Breathing too loud? Detention. It hadn't been fair but Josh wasn't the type to whine. And Ridley didn't, either, something he respected as she stated the affiliation of the kid she'd apparently cracked down upon. "Eh. They probably deserved it." Though he was now better acquainted and still technically aligned with the Earths and Waters, Josh was still a Fire at heart. He remembered his high school days full of pranks being pulled on him and revenge being exacted. From his experience in politics, Earths were usually harmless but Waters were absolute pains in the ass. If you weren't their friend or at least allied with their friends they wouldn't hesitate to pull a prank that would either cause major inconvenience or embarrassment—or both. The worst had been when they'd flooded the Fire dormitories in his senior year. It had cost everything in his power not to use his status as a leader to bring a war down upon their heads after that one. He didn't know how to swim. That hadn't been at all pleasant.

She was lucky, really. Joshua was not the type of person to go against code for almost anything when it came to his job. He kept a clean record and he liked the way his superiors commended him on that. He didn't try to win their approval by being an absolute brown-noser and a suck-up—no, that was not Joshua's style. Instead, he was doing the best he could to keep his job free of strikes and his medical wing reputation clean. Rep counted toward a lot when it came to getting a job in the Academy. If he fucked up, he didn't know what it would take for them to let him off the hook. He didn't plan on finding out. He was no stranger to the hell of the hangover, though, having drank excessively in his high school years, so he'd taken pity on the Fire girl a couple times in the past. And when beds were free, well, it was better than having people whining and complaining in your ear all of the time. He simply made sure that the patients who weren't as sick as they should have been were the first to go if someone with a real problem came in. He didn't really care if Ridley held that against him whenever she was booted out prematurely. He did his job.

Joshua raised his eyebrows at her, looking affronted by the accusation. He was not truly upset but the Fire was good enough at acting that it was hard for people to tell. Close friends could with enough practice but even they slipped up on occasion. It was fun to troll. "I was not late. I'm never late." That part, at least, was the truth. Short of when he was stopped by traffic or some other physical roadblock in his way, Joshua was punctual. He would insist that it was not sucking up, of course, only ensuring that his record wasn't in any way tarnished. When you were aiming to be a doctor, he felt these things were important. He wanted a good job once he graduated medical school. "It seems one Ms. James is a terrible timekeeper. I mean I figured she was running a few minutes late but fifteen?" He was starting to doubt that she had anything important at all. This irritated the Fire graduate and unlike his other emotions, anger was not something he was good at hiding. He didn't bother trying. It burned in his gaze and shone clearly through in the set of his jaw and the way he pressed his lips together. "Ugh, it gets us out of part of it at least." Those words confirmed the fact that he was indeed planning to spend as little time in the detention hall as possible. He hadn't liked detention as a student and he didn't figure it was going to be much better as a member of the staff. At least they were alone so they wouldn't have to feign too much enthusiasm.

Still sitting on the desk, Joshua sighed and leaned back on his hands a little. "So what'd this Water chick do, anyway?" Maybe it would turn out to be a fairly interesting story (or rant) that could take up some of the time. He smirked and added, "I mean you didn't think I was actually going to obey the no talking bullshit, did you? I have to follow rules in the medical wing, it's my job. This is not my job." He wasn't exactly a rebel, the term made him roll his eyes, but breaking the rules was a part of life. Especially when you were being technically forced into something you didn't want to do. "If she wanted it done right she should have done it herself. She's seen me in here enough times to know I'm not good at the obedient thing." He grinned almost devilishly. Detention was a familiar place for him.

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

The cheeky smile she'd been wearing faltered and fell slowly at Joshuas reaction. Crap. Had she crossed the line by trying to use the fact that he'd been late to get out of detention early? Probably. He looked pretty miffed, offended, and she couldn't really blame him. Feeling like a scorned kid, she bit back on her lower lip and lowered her gaze, suddenly intent on fiddling with one of her bracelets. Sometimes she forgot that Joshua wasn't one of her peers, that really, she should talk to and interact with him like she would any other teacher. But he was such a cool and easy going guy whenever she spoke with him during her trips to the medial wing that it was easy to forget that he was one of the Faculty. She should probably apologize or something but before she could open her mouth to, Josh was talking about Ms James, the woman who had given her the detention. He looked pissed and Ridley hoped it was more because Ms. James had sent him over late and not because she'd stepped out of line with her big mouth.

Ridley didn't comment when he mentioned that they would be leaving early, since Ms. James' timekeeping was pretty crappy. Instead she just smiled because she still wasn't sure if he'd been genuinely upset with her comment, or if he'd just been playing around. Either way, she was glad that they wouldn't have to be spending another full hour on top of the already slow fifteen minutes she'd sat through alone. Though it wasn't like she would of complained if he hadn't agreed. There were worse people to spend detention with, teachers she really didn't like. If she had to spend an hour stuck in a room with any member of faculty then she would definitely pick either Josh or Jessie, since they were the only teachers / staff that she really got on with. At least he was okay with them talking. And she didn't think he was about to make her do lines or whatever. Yes, it definitely could have been a lot worse.

Following Joshua's lead, Ridley rested her hands back on the table and hoisted herself up so that she was sat comfortably on its surface. Hooking one ankle beneath the other, she huffed a drawn out sigh at his question. He was probably going to think it was stupid and petty. It felt stupid, the more she thought about it. But then if it had been the smart thing to do, she wouldn't be getting punished for it. She knew that she had acted rashly, spurned on by anger, and that realization made her feel a little guilty for what she'd done. But only a little. Tanya was still a bitch with a big mouth. A half smirk pulled at the corner of her lips as Josh went on. Yes, she was definitely glad that of all the Faculty, he was her designated babysitter for the hour. "She basically made me out to be the Whore of Satan." She spoke in response to his question about Tanya. She wasn't going to repeat the names Tanya had hurled at her, they weren't exactly words one said to a Faculty member.

"I flirted with her boyfriend." she went on to explain, "I didn't know he was taken, " she shrugged here, "but Tanya hates me. Any chance she can get, y'know?" They'd never seen eye to eye, Ridley and Tanya. Not since Tanya and her girl friends had pulled a pretty humiliating prank on Ridley and a group of Fire girls back in her first year at the school. The Fires had gotten them back six months later, with a prank as equally as humiliating. Ridley had made sure that Tanya knew she was the instigator, the one who had pulled it off. They'd hated each other ever since. So whenever Tanya got a chance to get on Ridleys case over something, anything at all - she did. Hell the Wind guy probably wasn't even her boyfriend.

"So. How's the medical wing treating you?" It had been a while since she'd last been in there, thankfully. She was pretty sure she'd end up in there sometime this month though, since she never got through a Winter without coming down with a full blown cold. No matter what precautions she took, she always got ill, it was a curse and a major pain in the ass.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Serious-faced humour was practically a staple of Joshua's character. Unfortunately for those who interacted with him, it was a staple that was rarely made obvious. It was not uncommon for Josh to simply allow others to interpret his humour however they wanted—either for what it was or for what it seemed to be. He would not correct them if they grew offended by his words and made little effort to explain himself. This was a tad different, though, for he saw her smile falter and realised that he didn't want to spend the next forty five minutes in awkward silence when there was no need for it. He forgot sometimes that very few people truly understood his sense of humour. "Did I hit the mute button by mistake?" Speaking of mistakes, he almost made one by keeping his tone completely serious as he spoke. He caught himself a moment later and cracked a smile of his own to mirror the one she'd given him when he'd insulted Ms. James. "We're chill, no worries." He waved a hand lightly as if to say it was all water under the bridge. If she'd truly tried to insult him by insisting that he was a horrible timekeeper he might have graduated to literal offence but it wasn't that big of a deal. He had issues with temperament due to the fact that he was a Fire but he liked to think that he wasn't all that bad.

He lifted his brows slightly when she started in on what the girl had done to offend her. I'd be miffed, too. He'd been a bit of a bed-hopper before he'd met Nell and he'd learned all the names that they called him and people of his type, male and female alike. They weren't pretty and sometimes they were entirely undeserved. None of his, ahem, hookups, had been in a relationship to his knowledge and they were usually born of mutual agreement that there would be nothing pursued further. Usually. There had been a few times under the influence of alcohol where he wasn't sure what kind of message had been conveyed. Oops. Either way, he sympathized even if he wasn't about to tell her all about his own experiences. He listened quietly as Ridley clarified.

Normally Josh would have been quick to jump to her defence, insisting that this Tanya clearly had it out for her and that she had no fault in the matter. As an image of some random hitting on his wife, however, he thought he could also relate to the burst of vicious jealousy that had likely reared up in the girl's chest. It doesn't make her a whore. He could relate to the urge to drive off anyone with the slightest romantic interest in your significant other but he could also relate to the accidents that happened when proper knowledge wasn't obtained. He'd gotten into fights at bars before when seemingly single girls ditched their partners to flirt with the other guys at the bar. He had given a brief pause between her silence and his response in order to consider all these factors. Now he spoke. "She definitely deserved it. There's a line between protective and obsessive and she seems to have crossed it." He scoffed, deciding that he didn't like this Tanya. She was on the side of the alliance that he normally associated with but he didn't like when people messed with those he was fond of. Ridley was not a friend in the sense that they hung out after school or anything but he liked her enough to take a side in this fight. "Would have been different if you'd known, but you didn't. Like you said, she was probably just looking for a fight. It's not just us Fires that do that." She knew that. He wasn't pointing out the obvious but instead cracking a joke about how Fires were known as the shit-starters of the Academy. Waters were their opposing alliances counterpart. Their mouths and pranks started fights just as effectively as a swinging fist.

He didn't mind talking about his job. Josh was a secretive guy by nature and he did not like to talk too much about his personal life but he enjoyed his job enough to speak of it comfortably with others. "It's been great. Kind of nice getting a paycheck for all the weight I pull." He smirked his amusement. Not that he needed it. The genuine gold rolex watch on his wrist was enough to tell anyone who paid attention that much. He had a phone, he didn't need a watch to keep time but he had one anyway. For style. Money was nothing to him. "Hardly have a minute to myself with that and school, though." He was a busy guy but that was the sort of lifestyle that Joshua thrived on. He needed to be occupied near-constantly. If not by school then by his job, if not by the job then by the company of a friend or a good book. As long as he was doing something. Laziness didn't suit him. "Haven't seen you in there lately, though, or have I just missed you?" It was possible. He didn't work every day and he worked the later shifts during the week due to the fact that he had medical school during the day.

[OMG she really is quite adorable <3]

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

Ridley was a pretty chatty girl, she usually always had something to say, so she shouldn't have been surprised when Joshua picked up on her awkward silence. She looked up from her bracelet at his comment, a small smile pulling at her lips when he waved it off. "Aha, right." So he'd been joking after all, she felt kind of stupid for not realizing. Normally, she was pretty good at knowing when people were pulling her leg since she liked to tease, poke fun and joke around herself. But Josh's face had been so serious, his voice so deadpan, that she'd fallen for the act. It was a relief to know that he hadn't actually been pissed at her and made having to spend the rest of the detention seem a little more bearable. Although sometimes it couldn't be helped, she didn't want one of the few staff members she actually liked to think any less of her.

Joshua's silence had Ridley thinking that maybe she had gone too far with Tanya, that she should feel bad for punching the other girl in the face and giving her a black eye. She should have kept a lid on her anger, which was what Ms James had said when she’d been writing out her detention. But Joshua would understand, right? He was a Fire too, he knew better than anyone how difficult it could be to keep your cool when being provoked or taunted. Ridley liked to think that she had a decent level of control where her temper was concerned. She didn't get angry over just anything, not the way she used to when she'd been in her early teens. And unlike most Fires she didn't get into fights often. But no matter what control she thought she had, she was still a fire and sometimes she was pushed just too far. Nobody’s perfect. She sure as hell wasn’t.

When Josh finally replied, Ridley nodded her head, happy that he agreed with her – Tanya had deserved it. Had it been the right thing to do? No, she guessed not. But had she deserved it? Yes and she couldn’t say that she wouldn’t do it again if she was put back in the same situation. She snorted on a derisive laugh when he joked about the Waters being just as bad as the Fires and smirked an agreement. "Tell me about it." The Fires weren't Saints by any means, they could be brash and moody and reckless, but at least they didn't pretend like they were anything else. From what Ridley had seen, the Waters could be sneaky and conniving, like little evil water sprites. They pulled stupid pain in the ass pranks and then acted all innocent about it when things escalated and the teachers had to get involved. It was no wonder the Fires were so angry all of the time when they were being blamed for the pranks they'd only been retaliating to. Ridley was almost positive that half of the pranks the Waters had pulled in the last year alone had been setups specifically aimed at the Fires to get them in trouble. They were playing dirty and if Ridley had been invested in the whole Elemental War thing, she might have given more of a crap. But she wasn't and she didn't.

She leaned back onto the palms of her hands and cocked her head to the right, training her attention on Josh as he answered her question. To be honest she'd kind of forgotten that he was still a college student. "I don't know how you do it." she grimaced. Ridley would have hated it - filling her time with hardcore studying topped off with going into work for hours on end - because being a nurse or doctor or always meant long shifts, right? Eesh, no thanks. She had to admit though, she admired his work ethic.

"Last time I was in was.." she hmm'd thoughtfully, turning her eyes up to the ceiling as she counted back the days to when she'd last been in the medical wing. "Last Sunday." That was right, wasn't it? She nodded to herself and looked back to him. She hadn't seen Josh around though. "I was only in there for a little while, three minutes tops." She'd been about to tell him just why she'd been in there when she stopped short, realizing that telling him she suffered awful cramps during that time of the month was kind of a huge and unnecessary over-share. "I had this crazy-awful headache." she shrugged, recovering before he could pick up on anything and think she was lying. She shifted again so that she was leaning forward, her fingers curled back around the tables edge. Josh would probably assume it had been because of a hangover, her headache, because that was usually why she made quick pit stops there but she didn't mind. "So do you want to stay here and nurse at the Academy or..?" she trailed off, letting the question hang in the air.

[ <33 x] Sorry for the lameness. ]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Though he would never say it aloud, it was nice to be able to talk to another Fire elemental from his former alliance again. Someone who understood all of the burning anger, all the common triggers and the disgusted reactions that they usually got for releasing said rage into society. The Earth elementals were some of the kindest and most patient folks he'd ever met and though some Waters had issues controlling their temper, Josh knew that the Fires had it the worst. He'd been told to get 'help' for the pent-up frustration but he was too stubborn for that. So he appreciated the company of a somewhat like-minded soul. "So is this the only detention you got for it?" It all depended on who'd caught her, he supposed. Though the staff were supposed to view all situations objectively and refuse to take sides, they often did. If you were reprimanded by a teacher or professor of the opposite alliance, you were more likely to come away with a harsh punishment. Such was not always the case but it was common enough to bring back bitter reminders of his school days. "If it is, I'd say you got off pretty easy." He expressed no bitterness for the fact. He'd be glad if her only detention was with him. She'd get off practically scot-free and no one would be any wiser.

His lip twitched in amusement at her comment. It was something that he got a lot and thus he was used to it. They'd said the same about his double major in college. Why would he study history alongside biology if it wouldn't help him at all in his career? They'd seemed even less certain when he'd told them it was in a desire to study for both his future career and one of his interests. History fascinated him. "Medical school's a lot more interesting than college was," he said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't mind the core classes or anything but it's nice to finally study things that relate directly to my desired field." He was good at English but it had nothing to do with the medical field. He had proper grammar and spelling, he could read, what more would he need in order to be a doctor? It had even been a relief to be done with the history classes. He wouldn't have taken on the second major if he didn't like them but they had definitely taken up a lot of his time and energy. Now he could devote his life to the study of and eventual practice of medicine. Like he'd always wanted. "Besides, this job's only part time. I wanted the hands-on experience more than anything." Money had never been his motivator. Ridley surely understood how that worked, at least.

He blinked at the date, remembering. "I was in then. I work Sunday, we must have missed one another." It made more sense when she claimed that she hadn't been in the medical wing for very long and he nodded to show that this made sense. He did not notice anything amiss about her explanation of a headache, assuming that she'd either had a long day or a hangover. Or both. "Least it wasn't anything worse." Rather than downplaying her pain and suffering, Josh was expressing relief that she hadn't come down with the flu or anything. This time of the year was the worst for illnesses in the Academy and he always worried that he would end up catching something from spending extended periods of time amongst the sick. His immune system was kind to him, though, and he normally got off pretty easy.

He frowned at the word nurse, wondering at the connotations. He always felt like the duties of an assistant in the medical wing felt more like nursing duties than anything else and perhaps that was why it made him feel strange about it. Nurses were wonderful people and he didn't undermine the job that they did but it was not for him. He preferred the treatment as opposed to the care-taking of patients. He was not offended, merely caught off guard. "Not nursing, per say, but I definitely wouldn't mind staying at the Academy for residency and maybe even full-time once I'm licensed. It depends on what I specialise in. They wouldn't have much need for a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon here but if I go for emergency or or family medicine, I might stay on. I'm relying on clinical rotations to figure out what I want to do." It was a big decision. He'd always known he wanted to be a doctor but choosing exactly what sort of medicine he wanted to practice was a riskier leap. He wanted to make sure it was for him. "I definitely plan on keeping this job through medical school, though. I figure the experience will help a lot on the resume alongside all the other stuff I've done." Confidence and self-assurance seemed to radiate from him and he spoke of his future as a positive thing. He looked forward to it. "What about you, do you know what you're doing for college?" A lot of people had no direction in their lives. Joshua was one of the lucky ones.

[Your posts are fine <33 I really enjoy Ridley!]

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

When Joshua asked if this was her one and only detention, Ridley nodded her head. "Yeah." She'd been lucky, but only because she'd sucked up to Ms James when she'd been writing out her punishments. Sucking up and being a kiss ass were not things Ridley liked to do unless she was going to benefit from it - like how she was benefiting from it now, with only having to sit through one detention. It wasn't uncommon for Fires to end up with multiple detentions from just one incident, sometimes because they had trouble keeping their mouths shut when they were being given detentions. They went on about how it wasn't fair and how the other person had started it and how it was bullshit that they were getting into trouble and the other participant wasn't. And because they whined, swore and were generally unpleasant about the whole thing, they ended up with more detentions than they'd been given in the first place.

But the major reason they usually ended up with more than just one detention was all down to whichever Teacher they were being punished by and whether or not they were biased towards Fires or against them. It was pretty ridiculous and when Ridley had had it happened to her she'd said as much. She'd pointed out that the teacher was only giving her two detentions because he was a Water and he hated Fires. It was true and every Fire that had been in that class with her had backed her up with whoops and cheers. Of course he'd denied it and had threatened every Fire student in the class with detentions if they didn't keep quiet, before he'd actually given her another detention for making up 'malicious lies' about Faculty members. She pressed her lips into a hard line. She couldn't think about that incident without getting pissed off. But Joshua was right, this time around she had been lucky and had gotten off easy. Very easy. Not only had Ms James just given her one detention, (thanks to her ass kissing) but she got to spend the detention under Joshuas watch, too. And spending detention with Joshua was like hanging with a friend for an hour, so really, she couldn't of asked for a better turn out. If only she got so lucky every other time she got herself into some trouble.

She nodded her head as he spoke about how Medical School was better than College and about how he preferred it more now that he was concentrating on the Medical side of things. She could understand that, probably better than most. Ridley didn't like to study, at least, she didn't like to study things that didn't interest her or subjects that she thought were useless, and there were a lot of useless classes they were made to take in High School, like Math and Science - subjects she didn't care for because she was never going to need them. What was the point in studying something that wasn't ever going to be useful to you? There was none, it was a waste of time, unless of course you were studying it because you enjoyed it. But there were few classes that she really, truly enjoyed at the Academy. The classes she did enjoy were more physical, hands on stuff and so she kind of understood what Joshua meant when he said he took the job for the hands-on experience. It was better, easier to learn that way. At least, for her it was. Learning from books and writing down notes was repetitive and boring for her. She liked to be doing, and she was like that with most things in her life. "Oh. That's not so bad." she commented, waving a hand, when he said that he worked part-time. He hadn't caught on to her almost-slip up and if he had, he didn't show it.

"Residency, right." She nodded her head, as if that's what she'd meant all along when she'd mentioned Nursing. To be honest, Ridley didn't know all that much about medical terms and things, because she'd never needed to know. She knew that there were doctors and nurses and surgeons and that was about it. To be honest she'd figured you started off as a nurse and then worked your way up or something, but the way Joshua was explaining things, she realized she was wrong. She felt kind of stupid for a moment and was glad that she hadn't mentioned her theory to him or anything. He sounded confident as he spoke and she could tell by the way he talked about becoming a Resident at the Academy that this was something he was in love with - something he really wanted to do. She admired that because she still had no idea what she wanted to do for a career, not a solid idea anyway. "Wow." she breathed, whistling beneath her breath lightly. She kind of envied him, envied how sure he was, how positive he was. "I hope it works out for you." And she really did. It wasn't often that people found the thing they were passionate for and if they did, they were lucky.

"No idea." she admitted, when he asked about college. Truth was, Ridley didn't even know if she wanted to go to college. She had a plan and that plan was to travel. She wanted to see the World, to see and experience everything for herself - cultures and food and countries. "I want to travel." she shrugged her shoulders, uncharacteristically self-conscious. People had a habit of scoffing at her when she told them her plans. They didn't think it would happen, because unless you were one of the rich or had a fantastic job, you didn't leave Maple Hollow. But their disbelief and discouragement only fueled her desire and will. She would prove them wrong, all of them. "I want to see the world. I want to backpack through a Jungle and sleep under the stars in a desert and dance on the beaches in the carribean and swim with dolphins and see the pyramids an- -" she stopped short, realizing she was rambling and grinned. "Sorry." she grimaced, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips. "It's just. There's a lot to see out there, y'know? Life's too short and I don't want to waste it stuck in one place." She'd probably go to college and carry on working, until she had enough saved to go on her travels but she didn't want to stay in Maple Hollow, not forever.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua assumed that Ridley had thought that he wanted to be a nurse due to the fact that an assistant's duties were often much more related to those of a nurse than those of a doctor. He had no idea that she had the wrong idea about the medical field entirely and so there were no weird looks or odd questions on his part. Instead he merely twitched his lip in a brief smile and nodded, leaving it there.

He chuckled at the whistle and seemed at ease, content. There was no smile upon his lips but the relaxed expression was enough to gauge how he was feeling. It was not as intense as usual, not as intimidating. "Thanks. I'm sure it will." He couldn't predict the future but his confidence could certainly help him try. What could go wrong? Getting into medical school had been the step he'd viewed as the important hurdle. Once his foot was in the door there was nothing stopping him from becoming a doctor as long as he stuck to his goals and studied hard.

Ridley didn't seem to be as certain of her future as he was, coming back at him with a "No idea" when he questioned her plans for college. Some in his position might see fit to judge others who were not as cemented into their passions but Josh understood that not everyone was the same. He had plenty of friends who were still grasping at straws in their lives. He was thinking about an appropriate response when she continued and he allowed his train of thought to slow to a halt so that he could pay more attention to their conversation than the thought process in his own head.

Travelling seemed to be a passion of hers in the way that history and medicine were his. He could tell by the way that she spoke of it, rambling on for longer than was necessary and living out her fantasies through speech. It was the same way in which he'd often talked to his father about his dream of becoming a doctor and it brought a slight smile to the Fire elemental's lips. Ridley stopped herself short and seemed apologetic, to which he laughed and shook his head. "No, it's fine," he insisted. "I can tell that it's something you're serious about. And I get it, really. The world's a big place." He'd only seen a tiny fraction of it himself. Spain, France, parts of Great Britain. He'd been to quite a few places in his home country of Canada but it wasn't even half the places there were to see. He loved to travel but it seemed Ridley had him beat in that aspect. "Are you thinking of finding a career that caters to that or do you think you'll try and travel on your own terms?" Money might be an issue, after all. Even those with wealthy parents couldn't always count on their parents being fine with them taking all of the money to blow on travels with no intentions of putting it all back. He figured journalism might be good for someone that liked travelling but then, he didn't know how much time they had to explore when they were on location.

It would be a good life, he imagined, travelling the world. You would get to experience all of the cultures and sights while living experiences you'd never get back home. He'd never seen a bull fight until he'd went to Spain, after all. "You probably get this a lot, but, well, do you have the funds for it?" A lot of people wouldn't appreciate someone like Joshua bringing up money. His family had enough to let him live comfortably for the rest of his life without ever working. He drove a fancy sports car, he lived in a fancier mansion. But he was not content to be a freeloader. He worked, he went to college, he didn't brag about what he had. So he figured it was fine to ask. "I mean, I'm sure you're aware that travelling's not cheap. I know you're not an idiot." He didn't want her to think he was being condescending or anything like that.

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

The corner of her mouth quirked up into a half smile and she bopped her head at Joshua's thanks. She'd meant what she said, she really did hope it all worked out for him. He was a cool guy, Josh, and she thought that anyone who worked as hard he seemed to, deserved to get whatever it was they were working their asses off for. 'You have to work for the things you want. Work your butt off and then no one can say you don't deserve it' Her fathers words bounced off of the walls of her mind. She'd been raised that way, to work hard for what you wanted and she agreed with it wholeheartedly. She hated the spoiled, rich kids who had everything handed to them on a silver plate and then bitched about the things they couldn't have because money or power wouldn't buy it for them. Josh came from a crazy rich family too, everybody knew that, but at least he was working for what he wanted. She respected that.

There was the briefest of pauses after she'd finished telling Josh of her plans and in that brief moment she had expected Josh to snort or scoff or look at her like maybe she was delusional. But he didn't. Instead he insisted that it was fine, told her that he understood and she could tell by the way he said it that he meant it. Smiling, she relaxed her posture and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She hadn't realized she'd been on defense, sat rigid, ready to snap if he mocked or belittled her dream. It was a pretty bad habit, she guessed, assuming everybody had something bad to say about her plans for the future. She should probably work on that, try to be a little less sensitive about the whole thing. What did she care about what anybody else thought anyway?

"I've looked at a few things." She answered, shrugging a shoulder. There were plenty of jobs out there that involved travel but none that truly got you out there, in the field, knee deep in culture and food and everything else she wanted to experience. She wanted to do things on her terms, like Josh had said. Go where she wanted, when she wanted and she knew that she wouldn't be able to do that with a lot of the jobs she'd looked into that involved travel. But she also knew that doing things on her terms was not going to be easy. She was going to need money and a lot of it. Josh knew this too, because it was the next thing he brought up. "I'm saving at the minute." she answered firmly, because no, she didn't have the money. Her dad might have been a garage owner, but he wasn't a rich man. Most of the money he made went into supporting the family and the rest went back into his business. And even if he did offer her money, Ridley wouldn't take it. She didn't mind that she had to save herself, because it was like her dad said, you have to work hard for what you want.

"I've thought about doing Charity and Volunteer work in a few countries. They give you free board and food, as long as you help out." This was an idea she'd been thinking about for a while now and had looked into in depth. Sure she would still need to take money but this option gave her more freedom than anything else she had found so far and it also meant she wouldn't have to save an absolute fortune. Which in turn meant that she could go sooner rather than later. "I don't know," she started eventually with a shrug and a lazy smile "I'll figure it out."

Swinging her legs forward, she hopped up from the table and paced over to one of the large windows so that she could peek out of it. "You're married, right?" It was a pretty random question and she'd spoken it the second it had popped into her head, just because she wanted to make conversation. "What's that like? I mean, how did it happen?" he was young, really young, too young to be married some people said. Ridley didn't think it was anybody else business, but people loved to talk and judge and crap. "Uh, you don't have to answer that by the way." she said quickly, spinning on her heel and pacing back over to where she'd been sat. "Just making conversation." she sang innocently and gave him a small smile. He didn't have to answer it but she wanted him to. Ridley loved hearing about other peoples love stories and she figured Josh had a good one, since he'd married young.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua understood how it felt to have one's dreams or decisions questioned. He'd never had an issue with his education, for his good grades and dedication to his goals was enough to convince even the toughest of critics that medical school would not be a problem. He had not gotten so lucky when it came to his marriage. From the get-go there had been people telling him that they were too young or spreading rumours about Nell and pregnancy. The couple had some loyal supporters but the bad often outweighed the good. He knew how it felt to be looked down upon and thus tried to view everyone's desires from a fair standpoint. Had she been naive and foolish he might have tried to give her some advice but he would never have cut her down without reason.

Ridley's answer sounded fairly non-committal and so Josh figured it was safe to assume that none of these things had struck her as particularly pleasing. It was better to pass up on experiences you knew you wouldn't enjoy than to suffer through them for the sake of a small victory at the end, in his opinion. Many saw the world differently than Josh did but as a man who'd grown up with a lot of privilege, he had the freedom to make choices based on his wants instead of sticking solely to his needs. "That's good," he said. "It's best to start young, that way you don't end up struggling." If you blew all of your college fund on travelling, for example, you'd regret it when the time to pay for tuition came. Or the bills.

It hadn't been clear how much thought she'd put into her ambitions at first, especially when she'd seemed so uncertain on the career front, but his opinion of her changed when she let him in on another little fact. So she has been doing her research. He found himself impressed by her efforts. A lot of people dreamed of doing things but never took steps toward achieving them, instead sitting around like they expected their lives to come together right there in front of them. Life didn't happen like that and Ridley appeared to have a better understanding of that than most people he knew. "Do they? I never knew that. It sounds like a good plan, especially if you're helping out a good cause while you're at it." No one could accuse her of being lazy or selfish for taking trips around the world if she was helping starving kids in Africa or helping save the rainforest or something like that. Joshua didn't trust a lot of charities that simply took your money—you never knew where it would end up, after all. But if you actually travelled and volunteered yourself, well, then you could see the impact, trust that it was genuine. He twitched his lip. "I'm sure you will. You sound like you've got it covered." He was honest, not patronizing her like some might have.

The Fire graduate blinked in surprise at the suddenness of the question, though he didn't seem upset by it. A small smile touched the edge of his lips and he shook his head when she assured him that it was not necessary to respond. "No, it's all right. I don't mind." Had it been any other personal question, Joshua would have been quite irate, but he was proud of his marriage and had no problems discussing it with a friend. "My wife and I, we got engaged a little over a year ago. It just sort of... felt like a good time to ask her." He could not be truly honest about what had transpired—how he'd gotten the feeling that she was losing her trust in people, how it had seemed as if she might leave him. He'd been afraid and he'd wanted to show her that he would stay, no matter who else in her life had betrayed her. It had worked out well in the end. "It's been... nice, I suppose? It's not too different from before, except for the fact that I've got a ring and she's got my last name now." Their relationship had always been comfortable and they'd lived together for several months before he'd even popped the question. Realising something, he said, "Her name's Nell, she goes to college here. She's an Earth, though I'm sure you've heard." His smile was dry, though the faint bitterness was not directed toward Ridley. Most of the Fires knew that Josh was with an Earth elemental even if they didn't know who she was or that they'd tied the knot. Word travelled fast.

[Ooh, I love Ridley's new sig!]

[RIDLEY EVANNA FREY]

( WE WERE BORN TO BREAK THE DOORS DOWN )

She was glad that she'd had this conversation with Josh, however brief it was. He wasn't patronizing her or belittling her dreams, he was taking her seriously and it wasn't often that many adults did take her seriously when she mentioned her plans for the future. Sure, not everybody had something bad to say about her plans to travel. Some claimed that it was a great idea and wished her the best of luck, and they truly did. But most didn't think she'd be able to get out of the country. So it was always nice when she spoke to someone who didn't think she was completely incapable of achieving her dreams. It had been a good while since she’d last talked with anyone about her plans. It was pretty tiring and kind of depressing when all anybody had to say was something negative whenever they heard about what she wanted to do. So at some point over the last year she’d decided not to talk about it. But she was glad she had talked about it with Josh. He was taking her seriously, really listening and giving her advice, and she really appreciated it.

“Right.” She bopped her head, agreeing that it was best to start saving young, because it was. Especially for someone like her, who didn’t have a trust fund or college savings to rely on. And of course it was the clever thing to do, some people went out with nothing and she didn’t want to end up stuck in the middle of some foreign country, calling up her dad for cash she knew he didn't have so she could get home. Working for charities would be a big help and it meant that she wouldn't have to save anywhere near as much as she had originally planned. She also really liked the idea of helping those less fortunate than her. At least whilst she was out there traveling, trying to find herself, she'd be able to do some good with her time.

Josh seemed to think it was a good idea too and the way he'd been so cool about the whole thing had her wanting to ramble on about traveling even more than she already had. She wanted to talk about the countries she wanted to visit and the cities she wanted to tour and the things she wanted to do, because it had been way too long since she'd last talked with anybody about any of it, but she didn't want to bore Josh with details he probably wouldn't care about. So she quickly brushed off the subject before she ended up sounding like too much of a dork.

When he said that he didn't mind answering her question, Ridley grinned and quirked her head to the side a little, waiting for his answer. It was strange, everybody who was a Fire knew about Josh being married but she couldn't remember the name of his wife. She figured she must have heard it before, because it had been a massive deal when they'd gotten together, something the whole school had been talking about. But then.. Ridley had never been one for gossip or gossiping, so she wasn't too surprised that she couldn't remember the name, or even face, of his wife.

He didn't go into too much detail, but Ridley hadn't really expected him to, she just nodded her head and smiled thoughtfully. She was happy for him. She was happy for anyone who managed to find their someone, their other half. But there was a big part of her that envied Josh. She wanted that too, wanted to be so in love with someone that they disregarded everything, age, elements and anything anybody had to say, to be together. It was that sort of love that was strong, that lasted. It was insanely romantic. "Nell?" Ridley repeated, snapping out of her thoughts and looking across at Josh. "That's so weird, I met her the other weekend." she thought back to that saturday night, to the woman who had introduced herself as Nell. It had to be the same woman. Ridley didn't know of any other Earths named Nell who were married. "At a club. She helped me with this ass- er, guy. He was being a pig but she totally put him in his place." she grinned fondly, "She's really bad ass. I can't believe that's your wife." The world was a small place. "I approve." she nodded her head and gave him two thumbs up. She was playing around of course, but it was also her way of saying that he wouldn't ever be getting any grief from her about the whole earth married to a fire, thing. She liked Nell, even more now that she knew Josh was her husband, and sure, she wasn't supposed to, but she didn't care. Ridley had never really bought into the whole elements at war deal.

(thankyouu <3 =D It's not a great reply, i'm sorry!)

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Though some were more responsible about it than others, Josh believed that everyone deserved a shot at achieving their dreams. When he truly faced the reality of attending medical school, following the path to become a doctor like he’d always wanted, he couldn’t imagine his life going any other way. Where would he be if he listened to naysayers that told him he should settle for something a little less ambitious? Miserable, he thought. Medicine was his passion, it was what he wanted to pursue. He wanted to care for those that didn’t have the knowledge to care for themselves and he wanted to do his part to make the world a good place to live. He wasn’t always a good guy but he wasn’t a bad one either and at the end of the day, his intentions were solid. He was on his right path and so he refused to be the person to discourage someone else from travelling theirs.

Though he genuinely liked Ridley’s company, he felt a certain wariness in awaiting her reply. It wouldn’t be the first time a Fire elemental looked down their nose at him for marrying an Earth elemental. She had been all right about it up until this point but what if Nell’s name brought her to what the other Fires would call her senses? What if she had some sort of feud with the kind-hearted woman Joshua called his wife? Then she’ll have one with me. The fierce desire to protect his wife and defend her honour flared up at the mere thought of someone putting her down. It was never a wise idea to speak ill against Nell in Joshua’s presence, no matter whether you were a close friend of his or a bitter enemy. Any insult against Nell would have him seeing red.

That insult never came, however, nor did any sort of disapproval. Instead, Ridley seemed quite surprised by the name and his expression was curious and guarded as he waited for elaboration. “Did you?” It was rhetorical and not meant to be answered, of course, an expression of his own shock. Maple Hollow was small for a city but it certainly wasn’t so small that everyone knew everyone else. That Ridley and Nell were acquainted prior to her conversation with Josh was an amusing coincidence indeed. Joshua did not fully relax at this point, wondering at the circumstances under which the girls had come to meet each other. Had it been a fight, a random conversation, something else entirely? He waited, wondering if Ridley had anything else to say on the matter. He was not disappointed. There was a soft pang of jealousy at the word club, the idea of horny males around his wife upsetting him, but he trusted Nell and thus the feeling was brief. His neutral expression turned fond. “Yes, she’s rather good at that, isn’t she?” She had quite the mouth on her for such a pacifist. He knew that she couldn’t always back up the things she said but it still amused him to think of her standing up to some dick at a club. It was something he could see her doing. Secretly he was also relieved that she and Ridley had not got into some kind of a confrontation, for it would be a very awkward detention from here on out if his friendly feelings suddenly turned sour.

Gray eyes glimmered with a mixture of amusement and pride. “I can hardly believe it myself sometimes,” he joked, affection evident in his tone. “And it’s a good thing you do. I’d hate for something to… ah, happen, to the detention schedule, you know?” He snapped his fingers and a small flame danced above them, gaze mischievous as it died away. He was a staff member now, he was supposed to be responsible, but he’d certainly go out of his way to make his fellow Fire’s life miserable if she’d said something against Nell. No one could prove how long she’d served in detention if no one could find the paperwork and fire was a very useful tool for getting rid of unwanted papers. He was sure many a students disposed of their homework in this very manner.