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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 6, 2011 12:07:06 GMT -5
It was cold outside, the first thing he noticed when he pushed open the Academy doors and made his way onto the grounds. The teenager wrinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes--he was wearing naught but a t-shirt and some weathered jeans, so the cold bit his skin and the snow whirled around him. Joshua Dale was a Fire student, however, and with a mere flick of his wrist a wave of heat spread outward around him, melting the snow in a broad circle and dispelling the cold from his skin. The cloud of heat dispersed, but he kept a natural warmth pulled tight around him, keeping his clothes dry and the snow from falling on him. He hooked his thumbs in the pocket of his jeans as he headed toward the treeline, noticing how a couple of Earth freshmen scattered out of his way despite his having said not a word to them. I see my reputation precedes me, he thought, smirking dryly as he spared a glance their way.
But he wasn't out here to start a fight, surprisingly. (Well, alright, not really. He didn't usually start fights, but it was rare to catch him out in the cold). No, he had much more professional matters to be taking care of. He'd spoken to the girl whom he'd agreed to help out with school and the like earlier in the day, and they'd agreed to meet up in the forests surrounding the Academy. He had chosen the place not only because it had trees and all that, but because it was secluded and not many people would bother them there. Plus, there was always politics to worry about. Nell might have been fine to flaunt her relationship with anyone under the sun, but as a Fire student who had done well not to piss off the current hierarchy of the Thunder/Fire alliance yet, he didn't want to provoke their ire.
Not that he'd ever really been too concerned about it. Joshua himself had led the Fire element in his twelfth grade year (how long ago it seemed, now!) and he had managed to avoid any wars with their enemies. Of course, Josh was not your typical Fire student in every way. He had the temper (tenfold) but he did not have the desire to attack or pick on someone just because. He knew that those of the Alliance did not have to go after anyone that displayed loyalty to someone outside the two elements--he had managed well enough without doing so. But it was just how things seemed to work. He wouldn't let a couple eleventh and twelfth graders boss him around; he was an adult now, there was no need for that. But if he could avoid hearing about it daily, then he would. Thus the location. He wasn't necessarily hiding from them as much as he was trying to avoid them. 'Keep the peace' if you will.
Would she even be able to find him? Joshua realised that he probably should have left some kind of marker along the route he'd taken, but it was too late to head all the way back now. Instead, he emerged into a small clearing and set to work on what he'd planned. Calling upon the power of his element, he melted the snow in a broad circle and allowed the wetness to soak into the now-thawed grass, another swift wave of his hand causing the heat to melt the snow from all the trees surrounding the place as well. He thawed the ice on the section of the river that ran alongside it and generally just made sure it was void of the signs of winter. Then he focused his heat and spread it outward from the centre, turning the frigid clearing into a place that might have been in the middle of a warm spring day if not for the barren state of the trees and the white winter sky. He couldn't fix that, but this would do. He dried the moisture from a fallen tree and sat down on it, admiring his handiwork with a bit of a smirk. As long as Nell could make it this far, she wouldn't be able to miss it.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 6, 2011 14:17:24 GMT -5
Nell hummed softly as she paid for the food in the mess hall, glad that even in the school they sold junk. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have been spending her money on junk food, but it as a guilty pleasure. It’s not like she was a fatass, anyway. She was always running around, so it thankfully kept the weight off and she could enjoy whatever she ate. Usually, she thought of food as being a way to stay healthy. She couldn’t help that she also liked the junk. At least she wasn’t too bad with it. Checking her cellphone, she remembered that she should be meeting up with Josh and went on her merry way onto the academy grounds, taking out a bag of Bugles and chowing down as she looked around at the snowy landscape. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to change any time soon. She sighed when she finished the bag, throwing the litter into a garbage can as she made her way to the woods.
She probably should have been more cautious to go out into the forests to meet a guy who tried to cut her once before. But it wasn’t like she was without her naiveté in some cases. She wasn’t suspicious that he’d lure her out into the woods to dispose of her or anything—as much as it didn’t benefit him to help her out, it didn’t benefit him to cut her up, either. So she simply approached it with a bit of wariness for the fact that she didn’t exactly trust this guy. But she’d give him a chance, at least, since he was doing this for her.
In any case, Nell liked forests, they were her stomping grounds. A chance to go out into one of her favorite places to be? Not too bad, even if it was to meet up with a shady character. Unfortunately, the forest wasn’t exactly showing off its greenery. It looked so empty without all the foliage, and it saddened her a bit as she focused on her boots trekking through the snow. It was only expected when she didn’t lift up her foot fast enough and ended up tipping over into the snow. Still, she didn’t get frustrated, merely giggled a bit because it was a funny. Good thing not a lot got to her. She continued on her journey, not really minding that Josh didn’t give her coordinates or anything. It’s not like she could program a GPS to get her through. At least she was better suited for travel outdoors—inside was the problem.
“That’s not right….” She murmured as she spotted the clearing. It was…dry, to say the least. No snow to be seen. Nell made her way over to it and smiled when she saw Josh sitting on a fallen tree. Ah, it made sense now. She approached, glad that the snow this area was at least free of snow. She felt a lot more comfortable without it. “You did this, huh?” she said, looking around at the clearing with a grin. Nell placed her free hand against the trunk of a sleeping tree, focusing her energy until she saw a few buds opening up, green leaves stretching out along the branches. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she didn’t want to push it too far.
Turning back to Josh, she swung the bag dangling from her pointer finger. ”I got snacks,” she said as if she had hit the jackpot. Then, peeking inside so she could make a list of what she had gotten. ”Cookies, chips, candy…” Nell wondered if he enjoyed any of it, but she placed the bag next to him on the log anyway, just in case.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 6, 2011 15:07:30 GMT -5
He heard her coming before he actually saw her, so Joshua was ready and waiting with a mild expression of nonchalance when Nell found her way into the clearing. He gave a quiet laugh under his breath when he heard her confusion voiced aloud, then dipped his head when she noticed him and inquired about the state of the clearing. "I did," he confirmed, smirking a little. He hated the snow and the cold and so this environment suited his mood a lot better right now. Since he was a graduated Fire elemental and in his second year of college, clearing the snow and warming the place had barely even taken an edge off of his energy. He knew that if he'd been younger and perhaps still in high school that something like this would have been much more difficult and draining, but it was not.
There was still a barrier between them, Joshua always had such a thing in place when he was dealing with someone he didn't completely trust. He didn't outright smile and he was guarded as he gave her a nod of greeting. "I wondered for a moment if you might have gotten lost." He hadn't neglected to give her directions on purpose, but knowing his callous attitude and his reputation he wondered if she'd assumed as such. Nevertheless, she'd gotten here without too much difficulty and that was what mattered in the end. He certainly wasn't going to apologise even though it had been his mistake. Josh did not apologise.
His gray eyes observed the tree as his acquaintance put her hand up against it, watching with mild interest as buds began to push themselves into being and opened into the leaves of springtime. It was quite a fantastic site, but he showed little for it except to broaden the smirk on his face by a small amount. "Nice." At least the warmth in the air and the lack of snow allowed her powers to flow through the dormant tree. That had been part of his motive for creating the scene--the other half of course being that he just hated the snow and wanted it gone. She made no move to further brighten the landscape with greenery, but that was okay with him. He really didn't want her to try too hard and pass out or something, because that would suck and then he'd have to carry her all the way back to school or something. Not that he'd have any problem with doing that physically--he was tough, she looked light, and he could probably lift her with ease. There was just something awkward about the mere idea of the situation. Sleeping people were vulnerable people. Or, erm, unconscious people at least.
She indicated snacks, however, and his gaze brightened by a small amount. Candy...? He tried not to look too pleased about this, but the smirk seemed a little less chilling as he replied, "Candy, awesome." Honestly, if there were bigger sweet-tooths than Joshua up at the Academy, he would be surprised. He'd always been obsessed with candy and junk food--good for his health or not. He figured that it was okay as long as he applied good dental hygiene and kept with with his strict diet--which he did. He had accidentally allowed his sister to become part of his candy addiction as well. He normally did not share in his candy stash, but Annabel was one exception. He'd been babysitting her once and they'd been hanging out in his large room back at the mansion. He'd taken a notion for some candy and he'd offered her some of it to be fair. His parents no doubt blamed him for the fact that she, too, now opted to indulge in sugar whenever necessary. It made a little more sense considering she was a child, however...
Even still, despite implementing self control he was very tempted to dip into the stash of whatever she'd brought. "May I...?" he asked as he arched an eyebrow, nodding at it. It was a surprisingly polite request, but hey--candy.
They had came here for a purpose, however, so Joshua did not allow himself to forget this just because there was some of the sweet stuff within his reach. He'd take candy over alcohol any day if only it could just provide the numbness that a couple of shots could. It wasn't fair that something so good couldn't replace something so evil. "So, how's it been going?" he queried--he was asking about school, but it could really go both ways.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 6, 2011 18:38:33 GMT -5
That smirk again. One that must have struck fear into hearts of many, she bet. After all, he was a scary guy. Not only was he of decent stature, but after meeting him she had actually heard others speak of him like he was some sort of demon. She didn’t doubt his temper problems, though she’d only experienced a version of them when he was hammered. Too bad she didn’t scare easily. Unless it came to physical threats, which he had proven himself. “Good thing too,” she said to his affirmative reply, scrunching up her nose a bit. Nell tried not to hate many things—she never really hated anything, actually. But the snow did bother her some when it was preventing her from doing pretty much anything.
Nell couldn’t help but feel awkward around him, because he made it so. He addressed her with a nod, and she shrugged lightly when she said, ”Nah. I find my way around forests well enough, even though I haven’t come out around here much…” She really hadn’t had much of a chance to explore the forests as she would have liked, what with her workload. But now was the perfect opportunity to do so. Sure, it sucked that the trees were all bare and there was barely any foliage around, but it was nice out here in any case. And there might even be some animals around, and she did like her wildlife. Anything that had to do with outdoors.
He gave her a simple one-word compliment, which is probably a lot coming from him. She shoved her hands into her jeans’ pockets as she said, ”Thanks.” Nell inspected the area around her, wondering if she should be pushing herself to get stronger. If she kept holding back, would that mean she’d never get to the point she wanted to be at? But if she pushed too hard… She shifted with the thought, looking down at the thawed ground. Eventually, she might get to the point Josh is at. But that felt like it was far into the future.
He seemed strangely optimistic about the snacks, it showed in his grey eyes, but she made no comment on it. Sugar tooth, mayhaps? That seemed rather odd. The lush who almost shanked her in the alley and who has a constant ‘I just might eat you alive’ expression was also in possession of a sugar tooth? Nah, couldn’t be. Could it…? ”Yep,” she replied, still wondering whether it was possible that he had some kind of love for the sweets. ”Can’t go a day without junk food.” Though she should seriously try, considering her budget restraints. But she was still a new soul, experiencing life on her own for the first time. How could one expect her to get the hang of things so easily? She had been doing good so far, what with being able to get her own apartment and job and getting into the Academy in such a short amount of time. It was nice to spoil yourself after what could be considered ‘success’.
He seemed hesitant to get into the bag, so she said, “Go ahead, dig in.” As she said this she pulled out a bag of cookies, and sat next to him, bag between them. Nell swallowed a mouthful of cookie before replying to his question. “Can’t complain. The snow is hampering any big progress, but…” She pulled out a packet of seeds from her jacket pocket, shaking them so they made sounds. ”Took your advice. They help out quite a bit.” She leaned over and pressed her thumb into the earth to create little holes, then ripped off the top and sprinkled the seeds onto the earth free of snow. Nell focused her attention on the ground as the Hydrangeas began to push through in all their blue-clustered glory. ”Ha, it’s the first time I’ve actually had this much success.” In Canada, at least. Yes, Josh clearing up the snow was quite beneficial for her powers.
Nell sat back and regarded him then, asking, ”And you? How’ve you been?” She meant it in general, but she had a feeling his reply would be something along the lines of ‘fine’ or maybe not a response at all. It wasn’t like he talked all that much, even simple pleasantries such as this. The truth was, she was actually interested to know how he’d been holding up.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 6, 2011 19:27:45 GMT -5
She mentioned being good with forests, and even though he just nodded slightly in reply, this made Joshua think. Was she the type that truly enjoyed the outdoors, or did it have something to do with having been around a lot of forests? Suspicion and intrigue prickled at the back of his mind like always. She's an Earth student, they're all a bunch of fucking flower children, he reminded himself with a bit of an internal scoff. You're probably thinking too much into this. That was Joshua for you--over-analyser extraordinaire. He'd map out every possible road to a solution and then debate over which one to take; actually getting anywhere was an accomplishment. When it came to decision making, however, Joshua was quite firm. He might hesitate in making it at first as he weighed his options, but once he placed his money on something he saw it through. It was one of his good qualities amongst many a bad.
It seemed that whilst they were very different Joshua and Nell shared one definitive thing in common: they loved candy. He could almost catch himself smiling when she said that she couldn't go a day without junk food, but he caught the gesture and withheld the urge before it could ever make its way to his lips. No, he mustn't get too comfortable around anyone. Never again. He was never going to put his trust in someone so easily again. You know what happened last time, he scolded himself. Memories returned of being dragged into the dark alleyway, of their kicks and punches and the bruising, the pain. Several ribs had been broken and his lip had been busted so that all he could taste was blood and the dirt from the stale ground as he lay there, probably dying. Bless the old woman who'd been tottering through the alley and who'd nearly tripped over him on her way to the convenience store.
She'd had candy, he remembered in a strange flashback of events. The old woman had kindly insisted on staying with the battered fifteen year old on the drive to the hospital, telling him stories about her cats and slowly savouring a dark chocolate bar. Daisy and Muffins and Cinderella were apparently a litter of kittens she'd rescued from a fire, and Cinderella was named as such for the fact that her white fur had never quite come clean of the ash. The lady had probably been a mad old bat, but he had been grateful for the company as he'd drifted in and out of consciousness. I wonder where she is now... The entire thought process only lasted a moment, and he was once again fully aware of the current situation when Nell granted him permission to dip into her candy stash. It was as if he'd never left at all, naught to tell for it save for the fact that he'd been silent--and as he usually was, it wasn't really much of a warning sign.
His moves were delicate and careful as he selected a cookie from the bag and bit into it, resisting the urge to close his eyes or give any other sign that it tasted as good as it did. It may have seemed odd to withhold such human and normal gestures, but in Joshua's eyes it portrayed him as someone who was just as easy to defeat and take advantage of as anyone around him. He didn't like people to view him in such a light, even if they were like Nell and probably would never hold it against him.
She pulled out a bag of seeds and shook them slightly, revealing that she had at least taken something out of their conversation the previous time they'd met. Joshua was actually mildly surprised she'd taken his advice at all, but also oddly pleased with himself for being able to help. It was almost like being smug, but there was something a little more genuine behind it as well. "Good." It sounded more like nonchalant dismissal than anything else--like he was just speaking for the sake of making sounds, but he really did care (surprisingly). He wouldn't have led her astray and given her some totally shit piece of advice that did absolutely nothing for her. That was not Joshua's style. If he didn't like you he was usually rather up front about it rather than making subtle gestures. Not that he liked this Nell girl, he just... well, maybe he didn't hate her.
He watched with intense gray eyes as the blue-clustered hydrangeas broke through their earthen barrier, bringing with them a pleasant scent of flowers that reminded him of spring. Spring, surprisingly, was Joshua's favourite season out of the four. One would think it would be summer as this was the favourite of most Fire elementals, but he preferred the milder weather and the bright greenery that had an absence of bees and mosquitoes. Joshua loathed mosquitoes with the burning passion of a thousand suns. "It definitely seems to help."
She asked after his own well-being, shocking him as always with the fact that she really cared at all. He was not going out of his way to make his presence warm and welcoming and yet Nell still pressed onward like she could just befriend anybody with enough patience. He didn't know whether to be amused or wholly exasperated by this fact. In the end he proved her predictions right with a simple, "Fine." Then, to get the subject away from himself and his own well-being considering he didn't want to risk saying too much about himself, he asked, "Professors giving you loads of trouble about your work, yet? I could help you with any of it if need be."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 7, 2011 16:56:43 GMT -5
A silence settled over them as they ate, which wasn’t all too surprised. She wondered what Josh was thinking about, but didn’t voice such a thing out loud. Nell was fine with silence, anyway. Okay, she liked to converse people, but she didn’t just talk for her health. If she knew her companion would be unresponsive, than she knew better than to try to fill quiet with mindless chatter. These things she figured out with intuition—it’s not like she had too much experience with people, anyway. Never having time to stop and chat with people—who would be thugs and crack addicts anyway—when she was sneaking out at night, the only people she ever talked to was her sister when she was younger and her mother.
But still, she managed to have empathetic connections with people even with her limited experience with them. Perhaps because of her isolation, she’d developed this kind of instinct. Nell considered this as she munched on a cookie. She knew Josh probably didn’t like her. And that was all right with her. Dislike was easy to handle—at least he was helping her out. She nodded at his simply one-word reply, which she was beginning to realize was routine. Whether he believed it or not, she actually did listen to what he had to say. There would have been no point in seeking him out for help if she wouldn’t take merit in what he said.
Nell looked at the flowers and scrunched her lips to the side, resisting a sigh. It was still quite cold out—they would wither all too soon. Josh didn’t seem bothered by the cold, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, but she guessed that had something to do with him being a Fire elemental. She herself wore a thick second-hand sweater in defense of the cold. As much as she tried to like the cold, she as an Earth student wasn’t too fond of it. She wondered how far off spring was, how long these Canadian winters actually lasted…. Thinking of her pathetic-looking plants sitting in the windowsill, she did sigh a bit.
"Were it spring, I could be able to grow flowers just with soil." That's how she first discovered her powers, after all. "But they're usually tiny and wither quickly. Seeds are definitely good catalysts." Like Josh and his lighter, the seeds were an excellent way to focus her energy without going overboard with it. Definitely helps with control. She truly wanted to get down to the problem of her control, what made things get out of hand for her so easily. Was it her lack of previous training? Most likely. It’s not like she had the Academy back in The Bronx, not that it would have helped with her mother around anyway. But I’m here now. And that’s all she had to worry about in order to get stronger.
She noticed the shift away from him after his statement about being ‘fine’ (and who knew if he really was, it was just a standard reply, after all). She didn't like talking about herself either, but she was able to inform others of her day if they wanted to know. There’s nothing for her to hide in that. But Nell didn't push for information on that, and instead answered his question with an easy smile. "Eh, it's not too bad." Nothing was too bad for Nell Doe Sin- Shepherd though. The professors were doing quite the pile-up on her, though, and a part of her felt as if they got some sick sort of thrill from it, but she attacked it with determination nonetheless. ”There’s definitely a lot I need to catch up on, so they can give me all the work they want. The more, the better. That way I can get the best out of it.”
She thought it odd again for him to be offering such a thing when he was clearly not of the helpful sort. Or maybe she was wrong about that. Who knew? There was a lot about him she didn’t know, and he pulled off the enigma quite well. ”Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Though she felt as if she were already asking too much of him already. No need to push that even further. She brushed crumbs off her lap as she stood. ”Since you thawed out the place…let’s see what else I can do.” Nell chose another tree to see if she can get the leaves to spring forth, too. Bare trees are sad trees, in her mind. Nell pressed her hand against the tree, and feeling the energy in it, tilted her head. ”How did you manage to melt all the snow without burning the forest, Josh?”
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 7, 2011 18:55:31 GMT -5
He nodded slightly as Nell spoke, though his gaze was a little distant and deep in thought as he stared at the previously dormant tree that had budded under her influence. "This time next year you'll be able to create it in any weather, with or without soil." His long fingers tapped steadily on his thigh, a small gesture that usually indicated that he was distracted by the thoughts in his own head. He certainly wasn't looking at Nell as he continued to speak. "The Academy tries to bring everyone up to the same level by first graduation, seeing as not a lot of us go for college." Not that he could really blame any of them. He understood that not everyone enjoyed school as much as he did, after all--Joshua didn't believe that everyone should have to suffer through even all four years of high school, let alone college. Some people were different. "Of course, some fall short. But if you try hard enough... I suppose you'd do well enough." His tone was mild and nonchalant. He wasn't the type that would cheerily preach, 'You can do anything if you put your mind to it!' because no, you couldn't. All you could do was try. If he wanted to go to fucking Pluto, he could wish until his brains bled out his ears, it still wasn't possible.
She seemed unwilling to further press him for help--even Joshua picked up on this without much effort. Was it because she didn't really enjoy his presence? Can't say I blame her, he thought to himself with dry amusement, nor can I pretend the feeling isn't mutual. Being around other people was never comfortable for Joshua because he always had to keep his guard up all of the time. He had to put on a façade so that nobody could figure him out, and it was tiring. Still, he'd committed himself to helping her as much as he could, and even if Nell didn't realise it right now it was equally for his own benefit as it was for hers.
"I don't mind doing this," he pointed out, deciding to be straight with her so that there were no awkward misunderstanding. Hell, everything was already tense enough without adding more stuff to the mixture. "We college students have less of an academic workload--" Joshua was also enrolled in online classes outside the Academy, but he hadn't told Nell that and didn't plan to, "--so I've got the time. It gives me something to do." He said it casually and ended with a shrug as if it didn't matter either way. But really, it would be helping him more than Nell might realise. Even with his schoolwork and his job keeping him busy, Joshua still found himself with free time that most would allocate toward relationships with family and friends. Joshua didn't have such things to keep himself occupied, and so these free spaces in his schedule were dangerous things. When he wasn't busy, he became bored. When he was bored, he worried. When he worried, he drank, and when he drank... well, that never went anywhere good. He missed the nights of being able to have a single beer to take the edge off without drinking until he blacked out and couldn't remember fuck all in the morning. So yes, having a little extra stuff to do would help him. He would never admit this to Nell, however, and so he somewhat selfishly hoped that she became stressed enough by the workload that she'd let him assist her in some way.
Joshua nodded. "Go for it," he said, selecting another cookie from the bag as he watched the younger girl stand up and head toward a nearby tree. When she placed her palm on the trunk, the Fire graduate was expecting it to bud and become lush with leaves as the last one had... but it did not. His brow furrowed in mild confusion and he glanced questioningly at her, wondering whether her power had failed. Nell cleared up this misunderstanding a moment later by asking him about the warm clearing, however, and he chuckled under his breath. The laugh was not upbeat and happy as laughs should have been, but rather as dark and mysterious as the boy that it came from. There was no humour behind it, even though the question had amused him slightly. "I could tell you," he mused, then popped the last bite of cookie past his lips. He made sure to swallow so that he was not talking with his mouth full, then continued, "but I'll do better than that. I'll show you." The Fire elemental gestured to an area past the clearing that was still thick with snow. "Come over here for a minute."
He stood up and brushed a couple of cookie crumbs from the cheap fabric of his jeans, still missing the creature comforts of an embellished wardrobe and a wealthy lifestyle. Once upon a time he had ran with the scum of the earth, but he had taken comfort in the fact that he would return home and once again life amongst the upper-class folk of society. No matter who he made friends with, Joshua would never be as low as them because he had money (or rather, his parents did). People would never look at him as low-class scum. But now he was part of lower-class society, and this bothered him a lot--possibly more than it should. Pushing the thought away, he made his way over to the spot he'd indicated, taking care not to get snow in his hiking boots or letting it soak through the bottom of his jeans.
He gave pause to allow Nell to join him, then spoke. "I used heat, rather than fire," the elemental explained. "It's a bit difficult to manipulate certain aspects of an element as opposed to the actual thing, but definitely possible with a lot of practice." Water students could manipulate moisture, Thunder students learned how to influence static and the like. "Be warned, this might be a tad warm," Joshua cautioned with an almost mischievous smirk. He then focused his energy and drew it in close to his hands until the scorching heat of the tiny ball would have been unbearable to any but a Fire elemental. He held it there for a moment, then expelled it outward in a circle that literally melted the snow and soaked the clearing (and the two of them as moisture fell from the trees) in a broad circle. This time he felt the drain ever so slightly simply because he hadn't been as precise and careful as he had with the clearing (in which he'd melted the snow off things individually) but it was still only a very small edge off his energy. He chuckled and flicked his wrist again, instantly drying the two of them of the nice little soak the overhead trees had produced. "Something like that."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 8, 2011 14:28:40 GMT -5
Fingers tapping away, Josh seemed to be swimming in his thoughts even as he responded to her. "Hmm..." She murmured as she contemplated this, the future possibilities of her powers. Even if she gave a longwinded reply, she doubted he’d even take much merit into her words being so distracted. "Well, I hope so." And Nell had a lot of hope. She made sure to always stay determined and to never falter. When she faltered she made mistakes and mistakes were bad. Simple. That’s how it was with all things in life. She figured it was a good thing she wasn’t leaning on Josh for moral support, since he was lacking in that department. But she only smiled—Nell didn’t mind at all if he didn’t give her optimistic reassurance of graduating with flying colors. She didn’t need that sort of reassurance. ”Now trying hard, that’s something I can do,” she said cheerfully. She was a hard-worker and she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to try and manage to become stronger by the end of the year. It was why she even came to the Academy. That, and the fact that she was hoping all the secrecy surrounding the Elementals would keep the law away.
She tilted her head to the side as he explained that he wouldn’t mind offering his assistance. Of course not, he proposed this! He’s offering you help, Nell, stop being stupid! Still… Nell was independent, she got by on her own. It’s all she’d ever known. She lived for other people and seeing them happy, and she offered her help to others. That’s how her world worked. But now she knew that had to change, because there was a lot of stress and it was something she couldn’t keep buried. Nell pressed her lips in a decisive line before sighing, ”Right, right, of course,” as if to reassure herself. She cast a smile in his direction. ”I guess I can keep you busy then. Honestly, I do have quite a bit of schoolwork to focus on…” If she was going to get by, she couldn’t do it all on her own, no matter how much she wanted to try to. But she wasn’t the type to call a study buddy up for help on question number four because “I fell asleep in class, so could you pretty please with sugar on top help a slacker out?” Nell paid great attention in class as with everything else she did, so she liked to believe herself decently capable at schoolwork.
Josh apparently wanted to show his powers in action, so after finishing his cookie, she followed him to where snow was still packed onto the earth, curious about what he was up to. When he explained, she tilted her head. She’d figured it was something like that, but couldn’t be sure it was within the realm of possibility for Fire elementals. ”…like a space heater?” That was the best comparison she could come up, thinking of Josh like a human space heater. Okay, that was a little weird, but it most definitely worked for her perception of his powers. It also reminded her that she really needed to go out and buy one. Or have a Fire student sit in her apartment until winter’s end. She was brought back to the present at his warning, and Nell stepped back—giving him an eyebrow lift to his mischievous expression—to provide him with a wider berth for whatever he was going to do.
Good thing she did, considering the heat already felt as if it were singeing the hairs on her arms and she was almost two feet away. The snow melted under the touch of the heat, causing moisture to fall on them from the trees above. She laughed at this, but was thankful that Josh also used his power as a sort of towel. More like an industrial heater, rather than a space heater. Nell's muscles unwound in the warmth and she rolled her shoulders. At his comment, she nodded. ”I see…” Nell said, studying the newly thawed area around them with her elbow propped on her hand, fingers tapping against her lip as if she inspecting where to put a couch in a new apartment. Also something I need. A couch. She stayed focused, pushing through concerns about her ‘home’. She had nothing as impressive to show off with, of course, but she could use this area as a sort of test for expanding her powers… But what could she do? There were much too many ideas since this forest was like a playground to her, especially since it wasn’t frozen tundra anymore. Still, she didn’t just want to keep growing flowers, no matter how much she loved them
Nell scuffed her boot on the ground, giving form to a ramp of earth. She tended to do well with flowers, but when she was younger she was forced to use concrete because of the city. So she believed that she could also do better with the ground itself. With her foot on the ramp, more earth formed around it to form a rather tall hill, before dotting with white flowers that quickly withered. ”The warmth is definitely helping,” she said with a bit of glee even though the flowers just died. ”Eventually, I want to be able to make a much larger hill. Sort of…a goal for the end of the year.” Since she wasn’t as adept at working with actual earth, the hill would help with that. And growing the flowers would assist in creating them simply from soil, and by the end of the year they absolutely would not die. This was just the preview of the actual thing.
”Hmm…what else can you do out here besides melting snow?” she asked Josh, curious about his own abilities. This place was like Disneyland for someone like her, but she took care not to push it too much. Usually she lost control when she was afraid, but she still wouldn’t risk it. So she wondered if he had good range in this place, even though he was a Fire elemental.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 8, 2011 19:42:47 GMT -5
She still seemed as if she was having trouble with the idea, and for some reason this amused Joshua ever so slightly. She seemed very independent and determined to shoulder everything on her own. Kind of like me, he mused, but immediately shoved the thought far back in his mind. What am I even thinking? She's nothing like me! They were polar opposites: dark and light, earth and fire, sweet and sadistic. He refused to start comparing their like qualities to one another, because that was the traits of a friendship: things in common. "It's not like I'd do it for you," he pointed out with a raise of an eyebrow. "That would be cheating; I'm offering my assistance in studying and the like, nothing more, nothing less." Joshua would never and had never cheated on a test in his life. He would much rather forget the answer and make a failing grade than to stoop so low as to give himself the easy way out. He wondered if Nell was the same way, but he didn't ask. Joshua withheld a lot of his own prying questions in favour of the fact that he hated being pestered and figured that most others felt the same way. And even if they didn't, Josh didn't overstep boundaries like that. Unless perhaps he was drunk. Alcohol eliminated boundaries.
Joshua raised an eyebrow incredulously as she compared him to a space heater--of all things! It was actually funny, and he might have laughed if he had been the type. As it were, the briefest flicker of a smile touched his face, as if he was about to grin but decided against it. "... Sort of like that, I suppose." Space heater. Ha. Well, he supposed that it did have some credibility. It wasn't like his skin was hot to the touch, but he was never frigid like some people. If you were to hug him--not like he let many people do that--you would feel the warmth, but it was never uncomfortable. If I hear one more fangirl compare it to those damned overlarge puppies in Twilight-- It was different with Fire students. They were not hot. They could certainly make themselves as such if they wanted to, but he found it ridiculous. It was more like cuddling with someone that had warmed themselves by a fire previously, because that was sort of the point.
He watched as the girl kicked out with her foot slightly and a hill of dirt rose up, raising an eyebrow at the creation. It grew larger and produced white flowers, and though they died quickly it was still impressive for someone without much training in the middle of winter. "It does seem to have an affect," he agreed. The air was quite warm still in the after-effects of his small heat wave and Joshua leaning casually against one of the trees, listening to Nell as she continued to speak. "You can set your goals a little higher than that," he suggested, and he almost managed a genuine smile. "You seem pretty determined, and by graduation you'll be much better." He was confident in that at least--the beginning of twelfth grade to the end of it was one of the most important times in an elementals life, it was when they learned much more than they had in the previous three years. From freshman to junior year they focused mainly on control and stamina to stop you from blowing your cover in a public place. In the final year, things got serious. "They might have had a headstart on you, but they won't have for long." Especially not if he could help it. He had trained his own powers an insane amount during his first four years because it was an excellent cure for boredom, and he'd help her with anything she needed, if only she'd ask. They may have had opposite powers, but he'd do his best all the same.
She asked him more about his powers and another smirk played across his lips, masking the genuine side of him that had begun to slowly peek through the cracks once more. "A lot of things, really," he said. "You acquire your own unique style once you graduate..." He trailed off thoughtfully, glancing around him at the trees. "There's something I've been practising a lot lately, though. Hang on, I'll try and get it to work so that I can show you."
He paced away from her for a moment and slightly deeper into the warm area which he had cleared, trying to gauge how easy or difficult this was going to be. It could be catastrophic if he did it wrong, that was the thing. He was confident in his abilities but even he understood that he was not invincible. Nevertheless, he'd said that he was going to show her and he would. This was definitely going to drain his energy more than the simple blasts of heat had, so he mentally prepared himself for that so he didn't shock himself and lose control. "Stand back," he cautioned, "just in case. I've done this before, but..." No more words needed to be said. "We are in a forest, and this is fire."
With his precautionary warnings out of the way, Joshua focused his energy yet again and then put out his left hand, palm outward as it faced a tree. Determination set his lips into a hard line and then without warning a steady stream of fire somewhat akin to a gunless flamethrower erupted from the air in front of it, said air shimmering with the heat that blasted outward. But that wasn't the focus of the move. Instead, it was the fact that the fire was hitting the tree. It was hitting the tree... and nothing was happening to said tree. The effort began to show on his face after he held it for a moment--Joshua stepped back and closed his palm, the fire dissipating in a smokeless cloud. He was breathing a little harder from the effort, but he shot another smirk at Nell regardless. "It's hard to control what it burns," he said, "because fire is a free-spirited thing and it doesn't always like to listen. But I've taught myself how to master it, at least that aspect." He exhaled slowly. Damn, that had a drain.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 9, 2011 14:56:16 GMT -5
”I wouldn’t take you as the kind of person to do that,” Nell said with a barely-there smile, looking elsewhere. ”You’re much too serious about your studies, aren’t you? So honor code violations are out of the question. Besides, I wouldn’t ask that of you. But…I would ask you for study help.” I guess…maybe. Nell didn’t cheat, but she really didn’t have anything to cheat on before coming to the Academy. So it was a new thing for her. She really needed to get over this ‘weight of the world’ mentality, it was going to crush her under its weight one day. Nell would prefer to do it all on her own if she was any more naïve, but Josh would be the best option for her should she become too stressed. Even more stressed, actually.
At his expression, Nell raked her fingers through her hair, laughing lightly. He smiled for an instant, and she was pretty sure it was an "I thought that quite humorous but shall only reward you with a slight facial expression" smile. That seemed to be just how he operated, his method of behavior, and now she couldn't stop imagining Josh with a snobby English accent. ”Okay, that was stupid, I know.” But it was similar, the exertion of heat without flames and all that. Nell didn’t know how he felt to the touch, because she wasn’t planning on doing so anytime soon, thankyouverymuch. But he was a fire elemental, so space heater was the first thing that came to mind. "But when you think of it," she said rather seriously, "The Fire students are all like furnaces, in a way." Except they didn't need to be fed coal or anything, but she disregarded that. This was an easy way for her to think of things...
Nell looked at him inquisitively as he rested against a tree, and she felt a bit of sadness for how bare it looked. She could almost imagine it was spring or summer with the lasting heat if not for the sad-looking trees. Set her goals higher? ”Ya think so…” she said with a distant look in her eye. She couldn’t help her low self-esteem from kicking through the doors of her doggedness, though, because when she set her goals too high, she was crushed. She was going to save her sister on multiple occasions, but each time she only fell harder. And she was going to run away for good, and ironically she had. Higher goals? Nell didn’t know if she should attempt such a thing. She was optimistic, not naïve. ”All right, then by the time this year is over I will be making mountains.” She said this in a light tone with her usual half-smile, but the confidence was there. Then seriously, Nell said, ”Yeah, I suppose I could do better.” She wondered if Josh had any faith in her in that case. He must have, considering that he didn’t think of her as a lost cause and just turn her away. And his tutelage would be the best thing for that. Still have a lot of catching up to do, Nell thought at his words. But that was only a challenge, and she liked that challenge.
His expression covered up what Nell might have guessed could have been some sort of humanity in him, and she kept her eyes on him as he studied his surroundings. Own style, huh? Having that to look forward to made her rather giddy, but she stood patiently, hands in pockets as she waited for whatever he was going to do. Something he’d been working on? Nell tilted her head, thinking of possibilities. But her limited knowledge of everything in this world of Elements caused her to fall short of anything productive. Josh seemed intent on examining the area, as if deciding whether or not it was suitable. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been encouraging a Fire elemental to be doing tricks in a forest. In the back of her mind Nell wondered if Smokey the Bear was the forest fire prevention spokesperson in Canada…
She was snapped back when he cautioned her, and she didn’t need any extra explanation to urge her to step back, careful not to trip and fall over something. But thankfully the snow was gone, and that was usually her greatest nemesis. Nell wondered if there was a game warden around here and if they would get in trouble for what could be viewed as vandalism what with Josh’s flames. But she brushed it aside as she watched him focus, keeping silent. Then, a blast of fire hit a nearby tree, and for an instant she was concerned in all her tree-hugging glory. However, as she gazed passed the stream of fire aggravating the air particles into waves of heat, she saw that nothing was happening to it. At all. Her eyes grew large in amazement. Such control...
When the fire ended and all that was left was lingering heat, Nell stepped up to the tree and rested her hand against it and beamed when the leaves flourished on its branches. ”Well, whaddya know,” she said, taking a step back with her hands on her hips. ”Not a burn to be seen. That’s quite the maneuver. Did it take you a while to master?” She turned to look at Josh, she saw the slight show of exhaustion in his features. Not too noticeable, since he seemed to have this perfect little mask going on for him, but she could tell. He must have been exerting a lot of energy, she knew that. Still, as the flames vanished, he gave her a cocky smirk. ”You…okay?” She knew it was a dumb question, and the scrunching of her eyebrows as she said so proved as such. It the kind of question she’d get a half-assed answer to, she could already tell. Because his pride probably wouldn't allow him to say that his stunt fatigued him even a bit. So, she opted for another root. "I assume when you first start out in college it's very energy consuming power-wise since you're starting on new techniques....does it get better in terms of stamina?"
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 9, 2011 18:38:42 GMT -5
His lips twitched into what might have flourished into a smile or a smirk--it was hard to tell considering Joshua held it back as he dipped his head in agreement about the studies. But he would say no more. He had no problem talking about how much control he had over his fire--that was something he was proud of, after all. But once it came to more personal things like the fact that he'd been passionate about education since he was very young and that he'd been raised through the prestigious system of private schools... yeah, that was when things got a little rocky in terms of sharing. Josh only said what he was comfortable with saying, nothing more. Still, he wasn't going to deny that he was studious and very serious about school--everyone knew that about him, he studied more than he ate or slept it seemed. "And I would give it," came the simple response, his expression smooth and revealing nothing. He would. Even if she called him up in the middle of the night for help with something, Joshua would most likely comply. Unlike most people, he didn't go to sleep at normal hours. He slept only after he felt like he had everything done and accomplished for the day, or after he was just too tired to go on any more and passed out cold. His occasional insomnia was not the result of an illness, it was something he brought upon himself with his fucked up sleep habits and heavy stress-load. It came and went like the tides of an ocean.
Nell still seemed quite intent on her insistence that they resembled furnaces, and Joshua arched an eyebrow. How would she feel if I compared her lot to a bunch of walking greenhouses? he wondered. He actually had the idea for the joke on his lips, but the words never left his mouth. Joshua had a sense of humour but it was very rare that he put it into action, sharing private amusements with himself and not really disclosing his thoughts to anyone else. Unless he was at a party and drinking to have fun--then it was free for all with his witty remarks and sarcastic joking. But he hardly ever gave his name at parties and he didn't usually party with the kids of the Academy. He still had some very loose connections from back when he'd been younger, connections that weren't attached to the gang. They sometimes invited him to their little events and he would show up as long as they supplied some grade A whiskey. His poison of choice, really. In a few months when he turned nineteen he could buy alcohol without a fake ID... but he still didn't have the cash, so it sucked either way. "Whatever you say," he shrugged in response to Nell.
Her self-confidence didn't seem to be very high, and Joshua was both surprised and slightly exasperated by this fact. He had assumed that Nell was of the optimistic sort, the kind of person that breezed through their troubles with a big grin and a load of positive mantras in their arsenal. But that was the thing; even Joshua read people wrong a lot of the time. He was pretty good at guessing things based on how a person acted on the surface, but that was only because he was so used to watching people interact from afar as opposed to actually reacting with them. If people put up a front, things changed. He couldn't always glimpse their soft interior past the thick shell of falsehood. And he supposed it was the same on the flipside: Joshua's mask was hardly ever taken down, not for anyone. Except maybe Annabel, but that was different. They were siblings, bonded by their blood, he could trust Belle. "I've heard earthquakes are difficult but manageable," he said by way of suggestion. "If you want to try for something hard in the long run, work on splitting apart the earth you create. Even some of the college students still struggle with that, so if you get a head start on them..." He trailed off and shrugged.
Joshua watched the tree flourish under Nell's earthen touch after it had survived the fire successfully without sustaining damage. He supposed the heat had seeped into the trunk and brought warmth to the suffering tree so that Nell's influence could be brought about more easily. Without so much as a word he gripped one of the branches in his hands and hauled himself up into the limbs of the thing, balancing on one of the thicker ones that could hold his weight. It bent downward ever so slightly as he shifted but was nevertheless quite sturdy. "Give me a moment," he requested of Nell. The eighteen year old was doing this for a purpose--he wanted to see how high up the leaves went and if they were as top-quality at the, well, top. He climbed up as much as he could until the branches started to thin. It seemed that there were indeed leaves on the whole tree--she was doing pretty damned good, actually. Satisfied, Joshua climbed back down and jumped, landing on his feet. "Looks like spring up there," he reported.
He nodded at her question, however. "Took me ages to master it," he replied. "Still is pretty difficult." He didn't mention how heavy the energy drain was, however--Nell was right about his pride, it didn't let him give that sort of information away. He was still feeling a little dizzy from the effects of it, but that didn't show in the way he stood, carefully maintaining his balance. He was nowhere near passing out, however. He had tested and retested his limits quite extensively over the years--Joshua knew when it was time to stop. He didn't always listen to his nagging conscience, especially when he was in a fight. He didn't know the meaning of giving up--victory or unconsciousness was generally how Joshua played the game. Pride. And it was this same pride that made him nod when she asked after his well being. "Of course."
A nod answered her question, but then the graduate decided to elaborate very slightly. "If you handle it right. The trick is to push your limits slowly rather than all the way to breaking point each time you practice. If you keep making yourself work until you pass out, your stamina does fuck all for you." He shrugged. "Some handle it well, others don't. Some drop out because it frustrates them." Joshua would never drop out. Instead he'd just sat for hours with energy drinks and books about powers and theory. He'd read up on tips and tricks, tried to master these tips and tricks, and then he'd set to work on pushing his limits. He was a determined bastard once you gave him a goal to work on.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 9, 2011 20:59:32 GMT -5
It looked like he was about to smile…or something. She wasn’t quite sure. Nell wasn’t quite sure about anything with Josh, actually, and he was making sure to keep it that way. She could tell by how unresponsive he was, practically catatonic. It seemed even divulging anything about his study habits would be too much for him. And why was that? It’s not like it was information she could use against him, that if he had said ‘yeah, I’m serious about my studies’ she could…what, exactly? Still, she didn’t need affirmation on that part, she had seen him in the library, her professor had told her he’d be in the history section of all places, the cold and desolate space where no one who didn’t have an assignment lurked. Nell could tell that he was some sort of prodigy. Nell nodded at his reply, one of this simple, utilitarian sentences that still meant a lot to her even if it didn’t have much behind it. He was helping her, after all, she kept reminding herself. He could be as quiet as he liked—at least he wasn’t threatening to cut her. Let’s not think about that, Nelly…
Again, it looked like he might have been amused…or might not have. Really, he was about as easy to read as a brick wall, and even more thick. Maybe he had a sense of humor. She couldn’t tell, save for times like these when it seemed he might give way. Again, she shrugged it off. Nothing bothered Nell. Not anymore. After her mother and her family and all the poisonous people in her life, those she met now were like a breath of fresh air. Even Josh. She made sure to keep up a good humor because of this—nothing was as bad as where she’d come from. Nell believed nothing could break her (not unless her past came to bite her in the ass). And so she’d laugh and make her corny jokes because she would enjoy life as much as she could now. Even in the company of a stone-faced Fire student.
Nell couldn’t tell what he was thinking then, that he’d caught on to her lack of self-esteem. She had a mask as well, but a different kind. She’d spent her childhood listening to her mother tell her she was a worthless piece of shit. And as much as she wanted to believe that she shouldn’t be listening to the woman’s words, shouldn’t be remembering them, they still wounded. Possibly even more than her hands had. Nell made sure never to let on that she had these doubts, these insecurities, but it seemed Josh picked up on it. She shrugged it off. She could believe in others—it was an entire issue completely to believe in herself. But these were things she also kept conveniently buried in a lock-box with other memories steadily digging their way up to the surface. He gave a nonchalant suggestion, and she nodded, kicking a pebble across the thawed ground and imagining it falling into a ravine she created. ”Fissures sound difficult…” she started slowly as she considered this. ”But nothing I can’t do.” Getting a head start? Sounds good to me. Just because she didn’t have absolute confidence didn’t mean she wasn’t going to work as hard to achieve this. It just meant that she still deep down thought of herself as a worthless piece of shit.
Surprised that Josh had climbed up into the tree, she nodded at his request and said, ”All right.” She squinted through the foliage, wondering what he was up to. Good thing she resisted snorting at the thought, because he was up in a tree and oh god, she really did have a terrible sense of humor. But unlike Josh, practically anything could make her laugh, even when not funny. He surprised her a bit when he jumped back down, and she grinned at what he said. ”¡Imponente!” she blurted out in her excitement. Oops. She winced as she corrected herself. ”I mean…awesome.” Way to be Hispanically rude, Nell.
She focused on what he was saying about his powers, pursing her lips thoughtfully. ”I can imagine,” she murmured in slight wonderment. ”I must say, it’s definitely worth it.” He sent a flipping flamethrower at a tree and it looked like it hadn’t even been touched. She even managed to make it come out of dormancy. Teamwork, huh. She had to figure that most powers had a drain, though. In the beginning in she was really willing to push herself, she had to be careful not to take it too far. After all, she would be in a park after hours, sitting up in a tree, looking down at people who were most likely gang members or drug dealers or other dregs of society. It wouldn’t do well to pass out there. At all. It still ended bad anyway, a mean little voice in her head taunted. It wasn’t even the thugs running rampant in the Bronx she had to worry about—it was her own mother. He ascertained that he was okay, and she simply made sure to keep an eye on him, cautious and bird-like. Just in case, of course.
Nell listened to him carefully, hands shoved into her pocket to keep them warm. Her clear brown eyes were intense, as they usually were when taking words into great consideration. Not a thing Josh said went by her unheard, or unturned multiple times. ”Slowly, huh,” Nell said, squinting in thought. ”I believe stamina to be something I do well with,” she said with a certain nod. Really, the only problem she’d informed him of had been her control, and that wasn’t so much a problem when she wasn’t threatened and when it was cold as balls outside. Stamina was something she could keep up, especially if she worked slowly. Nell wrinkled her nose. ”Drop out?” Why would anyone drop out of this place, she wondered? It was a safe haven for her, it was everything she needed—she couldn’t imagine leaving it before she knew everything she could. Which would be never, since there would be always something to learn. And even though Nell had run away from her problems, this was different. ”If it requires more energy and effort, that’s only reason to work harder at it.”
She looked around at the area, now another place clear because of Josh’s powers—she wondered if he had enough energy to actually thaw out the entire place. Nell studied the ground beneath her feet with great intensity. ”So if I were to start off an earthquake slow and steady…” Nell lightly tapped her boot against the ground, and a crack stretched from her boot, to a few feet before her. It was about three inches wide and only a foot deep, a miniature scale of a fissure. ”Getting the earth to actually shake is quite difficult,” she acknowledged, but her voice wasn’t discouraged or apathetic. It was resolute. ”But actively practicing it helps me understand the mechanisms better. I don’t think I can really be an intense studier; I’m too right-brained, I suppose.” So luckily she had someone like Josh who practically lived in books to help out on that part.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 10, 2011 19:57:33 GMT -5
She still sounded doubtful even as she spoke with a little more positivity, but having said his piece Joshua would elaborate no more. He wasn't in the business of making people feel good about themselves after all. Not unless they were his friends, and he had a serious lack of those. They were from varying elements and they shared a single thing in common--they knew pretty much fuck all about him save for what had been spoken in rumours and the like. Maybe if they'd read the paper or watched the news they might have figured out bits and pieces, but everyone understood that papers would come up with anything to screw over a career and that he 'probably wasn't involved in gang business at all'. Really, if it were brought up in the Academy Josh figured that some people might actually laugh. Josh Dale? The bookworm Dale? Gang member? Nah, not him. A bit of an asshole, they'd say, but certainly not a thug. He's too into school for any of that. They'd be wrong, but he would tell them that they were absolutely correct if they asked. People liked being right so they accepted the idea that they were quite easily. He worked this to his advantage.
The surprised exclamation from Nell shocked him a little, but there was little to show for it save for the fact that he slowly arched an eyebrow at her. Was that Spanish? he wondered. It sounded somewhat like the language but he couldn't speak it himself--he only knew what few words he'd learned from reading books and watching films. He was fully bilingual in that he could speak fluent French and English, but that was it. Aside from the fact that he was taking Latin classes and was fairly good at them, Joshua didn't have much of a broad spectrum. He'd been born and raised in Canada to parents that had also been born and raised in Canada. Not much interesting there. "What does that mean?" he asked. He was not usually one to ask questions, but he couldn't help but wonder what she'd exclaimed. Nell had sounded rather giddy and excited, especially how she'd corrected herself and said, 'Awesome,' but he was curious nonetheless. He considered queries about the language it had been spoken in as well but decided that it would be asking too many questions and so instead stayed silent.
She'd do well with stamina? Yes, I suppose she would. She definitely seems the type that would excel at the more methodical things. Joshua had pushed his limits to the extreme when it came to building stamina, but he wouldn't say he'd particularly enjoyed that part of his training. He was much more intrigued by the vast amount of things that he could do with his fire after he graduated. He had learned through trial and error that he could manipulate the heat from his own flames, but that he could not take the heat out of the summer air as easily as he could snuff out a natural flame not of his own creation. He could put heat in the air and he could retract the heat which he himself created, but he couldn't affect the summer. Not that Joshua minded this much. Summer was heaven for Fire elementals. It was so hot that creating fire to play with was so much easier, especially in contrast to these bitter winter months when everything was harder than usual. He supposed the Water elementals were in absolute heaven--the bastards. They were no doubt gloating about the fact that both the elements which had a type advantage were down for the count in the cold.
Nell seemed to disapprove of the idea of dropping out, this amusing the studious teenager ever so slightly. "It's not for everyone," he said easily with a shrug. "Some prefer to go their own way." And it was true that they could eventually learn all of the things that the college classes taught you, but it would likely take a lot longer than it would for an Academy-trained graduate to pick up on new aspects of their power. Joshua liked that the Academy focused more on building up further stamina and teaching you tricks to dealing with your powers as opposed to teaching you extra moves. Not all Fire elementals knew how to manipulate their Fire in such a way that it did not burn because he had learned it on his own, not in class. And he'd seen other Fire graduates do things that he couldn't quite wrap his mind around.
She mentioned being right-brained and a flicker of a smirk touched his lips. He was pretty sure that he himself was more left-brained than right, given that he was studious and logical and all of those other characteristics. He did enjoy creativity--he could write, he liked music, his sketches weren't half bad... but these were mediocre skills in comparison to his studies. "Whatever works," he said nonchalantly. Some people studied, others preferred trial and error.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 11, 2011 23:20:41 GMT -5
Nell gave a barely there smile when he asked her what the word she’d so rudely blurted out meant. "It means 'awesome'." She scratched the back of her head, a part of her wondering why he’d asked her that. For knowledge, perhaps? Yeah, that sounded right. "I'm sorry I did that, it's very rude to speak another language in front of someone who does not understand it." It's one of the things that her father had taught her that she still respected, both the language and the fact that one should not speak a different language in front of others who could not speak it. She quickly explained, "I learned English and Spanish at the same time, so they’re both considered my native tongue, and I tend to slip up..." She bit her lip, and even that felt like saying too much. Both languages were her native tongue, but she rarely ever spoke Spanish since the two countries she'd been in had English as the official language. Her grandparents didn't care—they had too much pride to speak English much, even though they knew it. She remembered when she'd grudgingly acted as translator between her doctor and grandparents because the two refused to speak in English. Nell would never do that, even though she had pride in the language, and so it seemed neither did her father. One redeeming quality, she thought, a bit bitter.
Personal reasons were fine to drop out for, Nell believed. She hadn't even gone to school before this, so she wasn’t one to judge. Life got in the way. The thought that maybe she might be forced out of the school because the law could catch up with her made her chest constrict, and she gave a slight cough before she replied to his nonchalant answer, ”That’s completely true.” This school was not for everyone, of course not. But it was perfect for her. It was everything she needed to survive. If these people hadn’t found her… She hated to think of what she might be doing with her life. There would have been nothing for her, no way to get a good education and soon get a good job. Nell would stay with the Academy as long as possible so she could avoid the fact that she had no real-world experience.
Nell looked down at the crack she had formed with her boot, and wondered at how much more she could eventually learn. Her right-brained way of thinking was probably the best for her, growing up. Perhaps Josh had books when growing up, but she did not. And if she could only learn through those, that might have been for the worse. Luckily, she taught herself enough by just sneaking out to practice. Maybe too much… Bad thoughts tended to work their way up over and over and she really did not know what to do with them. She had only one solution, and that was to distract herself. Without a word, she began going from tree to dormant tree, touching their trunks and watching leaves blossom along their branches, green and thick and not at all suiting the cold winter. Nell managed five before she felt the exhaustion kicking in. ”Five,” she said. ”That’ll be my number to beat by the end of winter.” More goals meant more distractions. Focusing on something that didn’t involve her family and the law and everything else that was after her helped her keep it buried.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 12, 2011 0:44:26 GMT -5
Nell told him that the word she'd used meant 'awesome', and by this Joshua was not all that surprised. It had been what she'd corrected herself to saying in English, after all--he'd just had to make sure. Often times things that were said in different languages had similar meanings but were said with different words. He was aware of this because he was bilingual and there were a few things in French that didn't exactly make sense if you translated them directly into English texts. Some languages were absolutely terrible for this, others not so much. He didn't have a broad range of knowledge about Spanish, so he wouldn't have known.
But then she was apologising for speaking the language and Joshua just waved his hand in a sort of dismissive manner. "Don't worry about it," he advised with a bit of a shrug. "As long as you aren't cursing at me or going off into an absolute ramble, it doesn't matter." If she'd said entire sentences in Spanish or started muttering it under her breath, then he might have cared. Joshua didn't like to think that people were talking about him and he always grew suspicious when someone nearby switched to their native tongue. That was rude, but a single word in a moment of excitement was forgiveable to say the least. "It's not likely, but if I start going off at you in French feel free to cut me off all the same." It was a little different considering Josh's native language was English, and this might have been confusing... if not for the fact that the barest flicker of what might have been a smile touched his lips. Dear god, did Josh have a sense of humour after all?
He fell silent yet again as he watched Nell go around to all of the trees, marvelling quietly as they bloomed under her touch. The immediate area they were standing in was warm and green with life, if Joshua just closed his eyes he could almost believe that it was spring time. My favourite season, he thought. And then he reminisced about going down into the backyard and sitting by the lake and his gut twisted with thoughts of home. The yacht would be coated with snow and there might even be a fine layer of ice over the water. That lake had always scared Joshua. It was small by lake standards but still big enough for the boat, with a pier leading out onto it. That same pier he'd been pushed off of and nearly drowned as a kid. He couldn't remember his father rescuing him--the next thing he'd known he was waking up in the hospital with his parents fussing over him. I missed Christmas this year, he thought. What will they have told Belle? His dearest sister was not old enough to grasp what Joshua had apparently 'done' to their family.
"The end of winter, hmm? That's not for a while yet." They usually had snow for all of January and February--it started getting a little better toward the tail end of March, but April was when things really changed. His birth month, it was. He'd be nineteen this year. Nineteen and a father; the thought made him want to cringe. What would he do when his parents found out? Father will murder me. Absolutely throttle...
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