RUSSIAN ROULETTE [OPEN]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Well. It wasn't like detention was an unusual thing for the arrogant and temperamental graduate, but it was certainly shaping up to become a much more common place for him to be found. This time it had been a little more deserved, however, considering he'd been both the instigator and the one who'd come out on top at the end of the fight. He'd heard a Thunder student bad-mouthing Nell and talking about how good it would feel when they'd took her down, and the rage that had filled him had surprised even Joshua himself. He'd felt like he could rip the guy's chest open and not regret it, and that was why you didn't mess with a close friend of Joshua Dale. Once he got it into his head that you were his friend and he was going to protect you, he took that notion as seriously as one could take something. He'd not only punched the boy square in the face, but he'd sent him to the medical wing with a variety of nasty burns and blistered skin. Unfortunately for Joshua, one of the professors had turned the corner at a most inconvenient time. Though they were a Water elemental and thus likely opposed to Nell's slaughter, they were also opposed to Joshua trying to cook one of his enemies alive.

Totally drenched, shivering, and about ready to stab something to death, Joshua just glowered at the woman. He was usually respectful of his teachers, but Josh was hydrophobic and the sudden onslaught of water had nearly caused him to panic. Not only that, but he was already exhausted enough without a snide, "Oh, dear. It seems you've made me soak the hallway, Dale. We wouldn't want anyone to slip, would we?" She could have just waved her hand and gathered it all up before fixing the problem herself, but she was obviously feeling pretty smug about busting him in the act. "I'd suggest you used those powers of yours to do something useful." He was still shaking from fright, freezing cold, and utterly exhausted, but he managed to summon enough of his energy to sweep the hall with an intense heat. There was a loud sizzling sound and a lot of steam as the water evaporating, the steam causing him to cough and making it hard to breathe. At least the professor had the same difficulties. She wasn't the one that had to lean against the wall for support, however. A full-scale assault, a drenching from an element he was weak to, and then a usually-defensive tactic with double the usual drain? No thank you. "Detention," she added quite cheerfully. "Don't do that again."

Thankfully his heat wave had also dried off his clothing, but he still wasn't in the most pleasant of moods by the time he reached the detention hall. He could have been defiant out of spite and skirted the order to sit here for the next hour and wallow in his anger over the situation, but he was too tired to fight. Yawning, he thought about how nice it would be to just sleep, but he never slept in the detention hall because that usually resulted in--guess what?--another detention. Instead, he settled for trying to stay awake. Normally he'd read a book but he didn't have any on him; in hindsight, this was a good thing, considering water damage would have ruined it even with the ability to dry the pages. Shit just didn't work that way. So instead he settled for the next best thing--talking. "What did you get stuck here for?" he asked the person sitting closest to him, not bothering to register their element in his head. Didn't matter. He just needed a distraction.

[marci6]

There were several teachers with better control over their powers than Tatyana. Since she had not been through the years of college at the academy, her power intensity was probably at the level of a sophomore in college. However, she was probably the best at fighting of all of her fellow faculty. She had trained herself to endure pain, her body was in peak condition, her all around stamina was something to speak of. And the fact that she was actually trained in combat by the military of the united states gave her a big one-uppage. Not many people could say they had military training.

It was for all these reasons that she was often asked to supervise detention at the school. She'd only just started teaching this term, but she already had half the students in her PE class scared shitless. It might have been that one time she broke the fire student's nose against the wall. She'd been called out on that by the teachers, but her reasoning was sound—he had been trying to badly burn one of the earth students during class hours. So she'd levered him into a wall. Too bad for him his bones weren't stronger. At the time, she'd suggested he drink a lot of milk.

She was surprised, however, to see Joshua Dale enter the room. They'd know each other for years, on a casual friend basis, until that past year. Then she'd been a psychotic mess and he'd been the only one so far to hear anything of the story of why she came back. But since then, she hadn't had much of a chance to speak with him. First, she was busy getting used to actually teaching—even if it was just PE—and then the stupid war had broken out, and lasted over a month so far. She had, however, heard from many of the other teachers that he was one of the best students in the academy.

Which was why it surprised her that he was here. She wasn't into politics, so she didn't listen to how the war was going on. She just broke up fights when she happened upon them. Her gray eyes looked him up and down, taking in how incredibly exhausted her was, then she looked away again. She could question him about things later. This would be a good excuse to actually hang out with the guy again. He spoke, and she turned her head to give the kid next to him a restraining look. Then she looked at Josh and said, ”Being very scary, I think.” She answered for herself. Her face was blank, but it was always like that. ”It's something very similar for you, I imagine.”

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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua jumped a little in surprise when someone other than the student he'd been speaking to replied to him. Josh was normally very level and calm, not one to give a start unless you frightened him half to death. When he was tired and disoriented as he was now, however, exceptions were sometimes made. Turning his head to glance at the speaker, he was quite surprised to find himself facing someone he hadn't spoken with face-to-face in several years. They'd kept in touch through email and the like, as they'd been friends, but he hadn't really gotten the chance to approach her again. Of course he'd known she was teaching, however. Like the good student he was Josh knew the names of the teachers and the like, and even if he hadn't, Tatyana had gained herself quite a flattering reputation of the scariest teacher in the school.

He chuckled a little at her words, not about to deny it even though she had authority over him now and could go off on a tangent about how violence was bad. He figured she wouldn't, because Joshua was aware of the fact that Yana was a fighter and that she'd even went to a military academy. Having her lecture him about the evil of his ways would actually be quite hypocritical. Plus, he was defending a friend. He'd stick by the belief that it justified his actions. "Perhaps a little," he said, sounding amused despite how tired he was. A large yawn broke his concentration for a moment. "Not so frightening now, I feel like I could sleep for a week and I'd still be absolutely exhausted." He was also feeling the chill of the room more than he normally would. Given that his powers had been thrashed and spent by the snide teacher, his automatic temperature control was also off its hinges.

"I may or may not have broken someone's nose and given them a bit of a makeover..." As in, they had some nice burn marks to flaunt now. Not that they'd stick, unfortunately. The student had run fleeing to the medical wing and within no time at all they'd be exiting with a still-broken nose, but at least the burns would be reduced to shiny red marks that looked like sunburn as opposed to blistered, bubbling skin. "Bastard was asking for it." He figured that Tatyana knew about the war because she was a teacher and all, so he didn't explain. He would probably go into more detail if she asked him, however.

But he was less concerned with the war at the current moment and more about the well-being of his friend. Despite the four year age difference, he still felt comfortable in her presence and not at all like she would start acting like he was an inferior child. "Enough about me, though. How has teaching been treating you?" He sounded sincere enough about his curiosity, and that's probably because he was. If he was fond of you then Joshua would gladly ditch his jaded and cynical attitude for a moment to hold a conversation. "I've heard a lot of opinions about you, Yana," he chuckled dryly. "The students seem to be incredibly fond." He was being sarcastic of course. He liked her, at least.

[marci6]

”Actually, you look like a teddy bear.” She said, nodded when he told her of his exhaustion. Leaning forward in her seat, she put an elbow on her knee and peered at his with a tiny smirk, ”You know, the person they put on kids shows to make everyone watching sleepy. It would work to, by the look of you.” Internally, she did have a slight concern for what had happened to him, but seeing as he had been the one to land in detention, she figured he'd been the victor. That was usually how it goes—the one who hurts the other the most was the one who payed the price.

Yana actually laughed once or twice when he said what he'd done She liked to have been there, either watching or fighting, she didn't much care. Although it might not have been much of a challenge. Tatyana could guess that he'd been subdued by a teacher, and that was why he was in such bad shape. But hey, no pain, no gain. At least he got to beat the sucker up. The teacher blinked. These were thoughts that no student of hers would gain access to. Ever.

She raised a brow quietly at his question, not answering for a couple seconds. ”The kids work harder than they did at the beginning of the year.” Though it was a simple fact, there was a whole lot of depth in that comment. For one, she was strict. For another, she was motivation enough to get every student of hers to obey. And for the last, she was a powerrful enough force to have gained respect in a relatively short amount of time. She still attributed that to the breaking-of-nose event.

”Fond.” She said blandly, every inch of her tone conveying that she didn't believe it. Of course, she could tell he was being sarcastic, as well, so she just gave him a rare, dangerous smile and nodded slowly, ”Yes, I'm am every student's favorite teacher. They do every ounce of work I give them—no complaints, no problems.” There was a pause, and then she leaned back in her chair and swept her gaze over the entire room and the handful of kids within. Josh was the closest to her, but for this last bit she raised her voice so that everyone could hear. ”Except for a broken nose or two.”

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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

A teddy bear. Joshua blinked slowly at her, unsure of what to make of this. He'd never had anyone liken him to a freaking bear before that, especially not a teddy. His image of teddy bears were of cuddly and soft plushy things, not angry Fire students who spent their mornings breaking people's faces. "Have you been drinking, Yana?" he asked, keeping his voice low enough so that no one else could catch the words as he smirked at her a little. He was joking, or at least half-joking. He knew she was a drinker and sometimes they indulged together, but he figured he'd be able to smell the alcohol if she was drunk. Plus, you weren't allowed to drink on campus. Not that it had stopped anyone before.

It didn't surprise Joshua that his violence amused her, for he was accustomed to Tatyana's love of fighting already. She was a strange candidate for a teacher, but it was not like he was complaining--better a friend than a stranger, that was his standpoint on the matter. "I'm glad my excursions entertain you," he half-teased, his gray eyes light as he chuckled softly. In his opinion, the Thunder brat had deserved his broken nose and the blood all over his face. It'll heal, he thought darkly, but for now I'll let him enjoy what it feels like to be on the losing side. How it would feel if he was the one being targeted. He knew the Fire element was ruthless, but he'd never thought them killers until now. It was hard for him to accept the idea of being amongst them once more if the war was over, but he knew he'd go back if just for the sake of his dormitory. It was too awkward having to hang around another element all of the time.

He dipped his head in acceptance of her words. "I don't doubt that for a minute," he said. "I'm sure you're quite good at what you do, no matter how it is that you go about doing it." Sometimes you needed violence to control unruly children. That was what Joshua's father had--willingly or not--taught him. When Josh's temper got out of hand and he challenged the older man, it wouldn't be long before he ended up backing down or else pinned to the wall and threatened against taking the argument any further. Donovan had never thrown anything at him or broken a bone, so Joshua didn't even count it as abuse. Sadly enough, he just figured he deserved it. His numb feelings toward most mundane violence stemmed from this fact. He'd been taught that if you had it coming, well, tough shit.

A light sort of smirk played across his thin lips as she dropped her voice quieter, stifling a laugh by pressing them together and ducking his head, not wanting to call too much attention to himself. "I heard about that," he nodded, because rumours and tales spread through the school like wildfire, "but unfortunately I don't know the circumstances behind the matter." He propped his elbows on the desk and leaned forward slightly, clearly amused. "Would you care to enlighten me?" Nothing like a tale of schoolyard violence to brighten up your day! Especially when you were weak, exhausted, and half asleep suffering in the detention hall.

[marci6]

”No.” The young woman answered, an eyebrow raised. Still under autopilot in some parts of her life, Yana was unable to break certain rules of the academy. She had just recently come from a place where she would be sentenced to fifty push-ups and a month maintaining gear for coloring her hair. She didn't drink while 'on duty' as a teacher. ”If you would prefer, I could call you a puppy.” Joshua seemed very taken aback by this description of him, which she found very amusing. At the academy, however, she'd been called a kitten by many of the men. It was like a little nickname they gave to make her seem less threatening.

”Oh, they do.” She nodded slowly, that same dangerous smile flashing again. One of these days they would both be at the bar and she'd start a fight, of he'd start a fight, and they'd just own everyone. In fact, she was very much looking forward to it, wishing to see his skills for herself, maybe even get the chance to teach him a thing or two. She liked to see whether she and another person could keep in sync during a battle—very few could with her, because she was rather a lone ranger. If they could, however, it was always much more interesting.

She tilted her head the slightest bit, considering the boy. After a couple of seconds she leaned forward, ”I don't abuse the kids.” It didn't sound defensive at all, more of a matter of fact, ”It really doesn't take much to get them in line. I'm not half as bad at my drill sergeant was.” She really didn't resort to brute force most of the time. If it was a matter of getting them to obey, she could use scare tactics, power of will to subdue them. She only resorted to physical (or elemental) violence—during class hours—when they did. Mostly. After all, she did want to keep her job.

”I'm not much of a story-teller.” She said, a barely-there frown setting into her features. Much like Josh, she didn't speak very much. Unlike Josh, there were many times even with friends that having to speak got her intensely uncomfortable. It hadn't always been that way, but hey—she'd returned to the academy a changed woman. However, in order to oblige, her long-time friend, she scooted her chair forward and put her elbows on the table. ”One of the fire students was trying to give an earth girl a hard time a week or two back. He thought I wasn't watching. I leaned against the wall nearby to make sure it was nothing more than words, but he used his powers.”

She shrugged, leaning back into her chair. The amusement in her tone was lost in her expression, ”So I came up behind him and shoved him face first against the wall. There will be no students killing other students in my class. Told him to drink a lot of milk—his bones really shouldn't have broken that easy—and sent him up to medical.”

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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua was a little too exhausted to laugh or anything like that, and his tone was somewhat dry as he replied, "Are you trying to imply I'm a dog, Kitten?" He'd heard what the boys of the Academy called her and he was bringing it up just to remind Yana that she wasn't the only one with a strange and possibly insulting likening to an animal. Joshua didn't like being compared to a teddy bear because they reminded him of soft, mushy things, and a dog? Women called men dogs when they were disgusted by them. He was too tired to take any sort of joke too far at the moment. Curse Joshua and his serious nature.

Like Yana, however, Joshua took most of the Academy's rules very seriously. "I didn't actually peg you as a rule breaker, you know." It sounded like she had taken him a bit more seriously than he'd intended. She wouldn't have gotten the job if she drank all the time, and if she'd signed up as an alcoholic she certainly wouldn't have managed to keep it for all this time. It was the same thing with Joshua and his strict adherence to most of the rules barring the one against violence. As long as his temper problems didn't get in the way, Joshua wasn't a shit starter. All of his detentions that were for legitimate reasons and not just the teacher spiting him had been violence related. He was punctual, he turned his homework in on time, and he hardly ever challenged their authority unless they managed to piss him off. He'd never attacked a professor, because he knew full well they could likely kick his ass. No, they could, provided they had went through the full course of their power training.

A brow arched. "I never accused you of abuse," he said. "I don't doubt they've deserved whatever they get from you." There had been teachers who had allowed their control to get out of hand before, and those teachers were the ones who ended up kicked to the curb, luggage and all. Joshua had seen teachers fired before. He usually didn't care. Even though he knew most of them from classes and a lot of them tolerated him because of his good grades and work ethic, he'd never had a teacher he was attached to. He didn't suck up and he wasn't a teacher's pet. His hand didn't fly into the air every time a question was asked, even if he knew the answer. Josh knew he was smart, he didn't feel the need to prove himself in that sense.

"I'm not much of a listener," Joshua shrugged. He was not as comfortable around Tatyana as he was some others, but it wasn't like he was uncomfortable either. It was more of a friendly tolerance than anything else. She wasn't friendly enough to make him feel relaxed and not hostile enough to make things tense. A balance, he supposed. "That doesn't surprise me," he grimaced upon finding out that it had been a conflict between Fire and Earth. There were a lot of those even before the war, but now everything had just increased tenfold. "This war's probably making everything even worse, huh?" PE wasn't exactly the most structured and hands off class. Power control was even worse. Any class where the students were outside was a dangerous one. Especially during a war.

Joshua wondered how Tatyana's superiors had reacted when they'd found out the boy had his nose broken, but he figured that they hadn't been too harsh considering she was still sitting here and able to talk to him. "His fault for being a brat, I guess," Joshua concluded.

[natt]

So, here she was. Righ at the door of that place they sent kids who had in some way disrupted the peace of this facility. Honestly, not like the school was a country. What was the need for the detention. You just go in and get the teacher to let you go away. No biggie. Yet, she would like to know just how to approach this one. She'd only talk cash if she couldn't handle it any other way. Recently, getting herself out of trouble with money had become a habit. Natt was determined to prove she could get out of those situations on her own. This would be done by annoying the teacher. Indeed, not like she could abuse her in any way without getting fired. So, she must have a breaking point. Natt was going to abuse that breaking point.

Now, standing at the door, she couldn't help but to listen to what was going on. Wait, did she hear something about a student getting called a puppy? And that other voice just called the teacher a kitten? Seriously? Ooooh, she smelled an affair! This would work out great for her. Then again, she had not taped it. Crud... Well, the other chatter was meaningless. The girl had more than enough distractions in her bag to get sent away without a bribe. Well, it should last, at least.

Finally, opening the door, she entered that classroom. Oh god, the teacher was the same woman who thought PE? Crap. She had never dona anything in PE. The girl had just pretended to do something. Well, she didn't know if this teacher was one of those money-sucking leeches. Since the papers were full of Natalya's father and how he dug up oil once again, it wouldn't be a miracle if she would've caught a whiff of it. And to think, she was here about breaking into a classroom.

"Good day..." she gave out, before walking up to the teacher's desk and slapping down that sheet of paper telling her about her crime. Oh gee, perhaps she was disturbing something right there. "I hope I'm not intruding on anything..." the girl said, glancing at her blond teacher and then letting her gray gaze slip to the guy. Seriously? The infamous traitor? What was he in here for? Fighting for his honor? The thought made her smirk, actually.

Turning on her heels, the girl went over to the second desk in what one would call the 'window row'. She sat down and threw her bag on the desk with a 'thud'. The girl did proceed to pull a mp3 player from her bag and shamelessly put the ear pieces in, cranking up the music loud enough for the class to hear. Lady Gaga, was it? She actually sang along... "Pa-pa-pa-poker face, po-po-poker face.. na na na naa...". Well, this battle should be fun.

[marci6]

Tatyana merely smirked when Josh called her kitten, knowing full well that he was aware of her own expertise. Of course, almost every other teacher and several of the older college students were better with their powers than she was. However, the young teacher had not yet found a soul who could outdo her physical training. Her match, maybe. She was ruthless, much more than most people, and that was what usually won the fight for her. Other people had qualms with injuring their combatants too very badly. Tatyana did not.

Joshua seemed unused to her way of communicating. Well, it was understandable. The young woman didn't take too much trouble with making sure other people understood her, and never said anything extra to give context. Josh was very similar, but he seemed not to be able to pick up on the correct undertones of her words. Yana had not once thought he was accusing her of abuse. She was just about to open her mouth and make an attempt at a clarifying answer when a female student barged through the entrance as if she owned the place.

Yana's brow raised, but she looked thoroughly unimpressed as the new girl slapped down her detention slip and walked haughtily to an empty chair. She was late. Well, other kids had been late too, and it was sometimes because of the fact that they hadn't been busted until after detention started. But Yana had a policy that however many minutes the unfortunate student was late, that was how many minutes they had to stay late. So she stood, looking at Josh for a second with a tiny smile. ”Give me a second, please.” She walked over to the desk, looked briefly at the paper....

...And then was blasted by the most obnoxious noise she'd heard in a very, very long time. Her lip twitched a second, then she looked up at the singing Nataly, as the paper had named her. It wasn't hard to figure out that the girl was actively trying to be annoying, and Tatyana easily assumed it was for the sake of getting let out of detention early. Well, that may have worked with other teachers, but Yana was new, and Yana was unrelenting. She put the paper down and nodded toward Josh, ”Think you have the energy to look like an intimidating henchman?”

Several of the other students in detention looked either apprehensive or relieved when Tatyana started walking toward the newcomer. Her had a curiously blank expression on her face as she stopped next to the desk, reached out, and yanked at the cord the the headphones none too gently. Staring into the thunder student's eyes, she said quietly, ”That MP3 player is now confiscated until you are dismissed from detention. Give it here.”

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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

[dsfghj short.]

Joshua didn't really have the energy to be as caustic and bitter as he normally would have been toward the Thunder girl as she made a snide comment, but he certainly glared slightly. "Very funny," he remarked drly, shaking his head. He thought it was almost childish that she was speaking as if she'd interrupted something dirty. "You're interrupting detention. Sorry to bust your damn bubble." Honestly, what did it look like he was in here for, sucking up to the teacher? He was dry thanks to the wave of heat that he'd swept over himself, but he looked like he'd been through a war and back with the fact that he was leaning partway over the desk, elbow braced against it for support. So tired!

He nodded slightly when Yana excused herself, laying his head down on the desk and wondering how much longer he had to endure this before he could go and sleep. He would probably head home to the mansion and crash--he was much more comfortable in his bed at home than staying with the Earth elementals. They were nice people, but it wasn't warm enough in their dormitories and it smelled of fragrant flowers--it gave him a headache if he sat in there for too long. He supposed the Earth students were used to it because they lived and slept there, it just wasn't really for him.

He couldn't decide whether he cared about the music or not. Normally it might annoy him, but he was so exhausted that the energy it took to be even irritable erased the choice of doing something about it. He lifted his head and turned to glare at her, but he said nothing. Tatyana seemed to have it handled anyway. She asked him if he could be intimidating and he raised his brow before glancing to the Thunder stupid. "I have--" he yawned, "fire. I think that says enough." Not to mention the fact that he was older than her. He couldn't do much at the current moment but making threats... well, he could always carry them out at a later date when he didn't feel like he'd been run over by a mach truck.

There was sudden silence as Yana yanked the cord and the MP3 fell quiet, and he decided that it was indeed better without music. Shaking his head slightly, he pushed away from the desk a little so the temptation of the flat surface to lay his head upon was lessened. He said nothing, just sat back with a tired expression and watched to see what might unfold between Tatyana and the annoying twelfth grader.

[natt]

Well, she was hoping for a sharper reaction. A bark, a blush… whatever but the one reaction she got from Dale. That guy was boring with a capital ‘B’. She had heard so many rumors about him too. You’d think that he’d at least get mad. Oh, fire kiddies… so easy to tick off. Sometimes, it might be enough to just poke them. No really, just take your index finger and give them a little poke. See how it turns out. In Dale’s case, use a stick. You won’t get to do it three times, that’s for sure… But then, why did he look like an old dog? Sure, it seemed like he could bite, but no spark, really… ”Oh, poor Josh. Not in the mood to bark?” Well, excuse the dog metaphors but she saw all those ‘warriors of justice’ as nothing more but doggies. Sure, she sided with the fire kids, but honestly… what was this for again? That girl? Her name started with a ‘C’ right? Or was it an ‘S’? Oh, she didn’t care too much. The inferior critters could work it out themselves.

Intimidating thug? Seriously? I’m sorry, but the girl couldn’t help but to laugh. ”Really… I’m supposed to be scared of a fire kid? Don’t worry; I think I’ll be able to find a bottle of water somewhere. That should suffice as my defense… But no, wait, you know what? I’m sorry. I truly am. I mean, what would I do without a lighter if I was in dear need of candle light, right?” Didn’t like him much? Well, of course! The girl had heard of his family, at least. You’d think that someone who actually had a family name to hold wouldn’t go off and play a reckless hero. Ah well, there went loyalty. Wasn’t his family full of fire elementals? Well that subject would be great for later. Perhaps… another time when she’d feel like getting him in detention. It was obvious there couldn’t be a trace of friendship between the two. Well, unless a freak accident happened. Natt really doubted that would be the case. Then again, it was a war… yeah, funny. As if that changed anything! Man, at times she cracked herself up.

Sure, she expected the teacher to nicely ask for the p3 player instead of ripping the earpieces out like that. Truth be told, it did ring in her ears for a little. The young girl didn’t show it, though. That would be too weak. Her family didn’t do weak. Only raising a brow at the teacher, she felt the mp3 player fall to the ground. Hmm, how to approach this situation? Ah well, no violence could be used, well that was nice, wasn’t it?

”Oh, look. It’s currently not in my possession, you know… I’d pick it up but I have this back problem, you know…” Well, no matter which way that went, in about two to three minutes the girl would find herself propping her legs up on the table(oh look, new shiny heels!) and leaning back in the chair. As soon as she did, it gave out an irritating noise. Wow, was she lucky or what? So, of course she’d abuse that squeaking or whatever one would call it. Rocking back and fort in the chair. At first it even had a rhythm and then it turned into taunting. She’d stop to let some sort of silence roll in and then she’d just move the chair again. Oh look, some of the students already hated her now. Well, not including Dale. That piece of work probably hated everyone from thunder or fire, as long as they were not prancing around with pretty flowers in their hair.

[marci6]

”Mmm.” Yana only made the sound, looking at Josh with hooded, amused eyes. That yawn had done a lot for the force of that statement. It really had. Well, she'd just have to rely on her own intimidation tactics, as she always had. It really wasn't going to be that hard, she thought. After all, it was just a spoiled little highschooler. Gray eyes moved slowly toward the girl when she started taunting the tired college student. Her brow raised slightly. Really? Fire was already strong against thunder. And this was Josh.

Even with the warning for prudence in her mind, the young teacher let it be. It was the girl's funeral really, and it wouldn't be a big loss for the world, anyway. Whether it be by Joshua or some other man that this dumb girl angered, she was bound to take a mighty fall in the next while. Tatyana rather hoped she was there to watch. It would be fun, actually.

Though it was a surprising move, dropping the MP3 player on the floor, it was really only meant to work on those with the good humor enough to be mannerly. Yana was not that sort of girl. If Natt wanted to leave it on the floor to be stepped on, so be it. The young woman walked back to the front of the room, sat back in her chair in front of Josh, and opened her mouth to speak. Then another sound hit her ears like a battering ram. Unconcerned and stoic as she was, she didn't flinch. But her eyes did snap toward the offender, and she gained a look with much less...humanity.

”Joshua.” She said, making a temporary effort to ignore the sounds, ”You'd best tell me now whether she happens to be a friend of yours.” Because that would determine exactly how ruthless she would be. Tatyana didn't very much care about the loyalties of her 'friends', but with Joshua it was more of a matter of not invoking his wrath. She could beat him in a fair fight, yet, but he was one of the few people she knew with whom she'd rather not have to try.

Eventually, the sound grew to be too much for her. Rather, she might have been able to last, but a few of the other students were starting to make little sounds of anger or whimpering, or hitting their heads on their desks. As she was tasked with keep the kids quiet, awake, and sitting down, Tatyana decided she'd better make a move. So once again, she was up and walking toward that seat, two down by the window. She stopped just before them, took a deep breath....

...And slammed her boot down on the MP3 player that was on the floor.

When she pulled her foot up again, it was most definitely KIA. With the barest hint of an insincere smile, she gave Natalya a dark, warning look. ”I tripped.” Obviously not true, but no one ever said the girl was completely honest. After waiting a second to let the girl have her undoubtedly indignant reaction, she continued, ”You may want to think about how much of a glutton for punishment you really are. Because I'm not going to run out anytime soon.”

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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

A dark flicker of barely suppressed anger moved through his gray eyes as the insistent Thunder girl attempted to provoke him. Really? Was this girl stupid, or what? Not only was he a Fire elemental, but he had allies in Earth now. He wouldn't bring his friends or allies into a petty argument like this, but she didn't know that. Plus, he was confident he could best her of his own accord. "I've been told my bite is worse than my bark," he replied, still tired but now a little more willing to make a retort if only to remind her who she was messing with here. "I don't suppose you want to find out for yourself." Joshua was a college student. Even if Natt was a Water elemental he'd stand a chance against her. What was she playing at?

Things went from irritating to downright ridiculous when she continued to brag and make threats. What the hell was she going on about? A bottle of water? That wouldn't do fuck all unless you were a Water elemental and knew how to use it, which Josh knew full wall Natalya was not. No, she was Thunder. Normally his ally and now his enemy--not to mention pissing him right off. He wasn't petty or anything, but he did believe this chick needed to get off her high horse and learn that he could probably best her nine times out of ten on a bad day. Perhaps she was powerful for a Thunder elemental, he wouldn't know, but he was a strong Fire elemental and his element had the advantage. "Would you like to test your water bottle theory?" he asked, glowering. He was tired as hell but he'd certainly meet her when he'd recovered. "Unless you're an idiot, I'd suggest you swallowed your pride now, or there won't be anything left of it soon enough."

The noise of the chair tipping back and forth only further increased Joshua's ire, grating against his ears and his conscience. Oh, how badly he just wanted to lunge over the table and throttle her right now! The room temperature seemed to rise by a few degrees--a subtle shift that was noticeable enough, but not strong enough to burn or cause any sort of exhaustion. If he wasn't so exhausted himself it probably would have been a sweltering heat wave. At any rate, it was entirely subconscious and he didn't realise it himself because temperature changes needed to be more dramatic to affect a Fire elemental. "We're definitely not friends," he said testily--he wasn't angry at Tatyana, it was Natt that the hiss was directed toward. "Not in the least." He wondered why Yana wanted to know, and guessed that she was probably getting just as irritated as Joshua now.

It was actually hilarious to Joshua when Yana brought justice down upon the offending MP3 device, but he didn't laugh. He wasn't in the mood to laugh at much of anything. However, in irking him Natt had at least ensured he wasn't going to drop off to sleep. He didn't trust this girl. Yana, yes. Ex-military or not, he wouldn't feel any worries about letting his guard down around her. But Natalya? He wouldn't count on her to give him the time of day, and he certainly wasn't going to miss any of this.

[Um, Eli, how would Natt know Josh's family are Fire? The Dales don't publicise the fact that they're elementals.]

[natt]

When Josh replied, the girl shamelessly glared back, her gray eyes piercing into his. The girl had a reason for disliking that boy. Not only did she dislike Dale for the fact he betrayed his element but also did she find that he acted like a commoner. Running around, getting into fights. If it were her, father would never forgive her. Never would she get to take over his business and even, if he didn’t cut her off, he’d still remind her of it all the time. Some silly war… what if she would’ve wanted to take part? For a moment there, she considered the possibility to do whatever she damn well pleased. I guess, the real reason she disliked Dale was for the freedom. That bastard. How was he better than her? Of course, he didn’t know anything about her and he didn’t need to and want to know anything about the girl. Good. If you’re still wondering how to describe all this, she was jealous. What would she give to forget about the manners, really talk trash besides the few Russian curse words that slipped. What she would give to play hero or just laze around in some green meadow somewhere. Yes, she believed everyone else had those opportunities. Alas, it wouldn’t be possible. It was either an independent future or her choice now. So far it was about trying to avoid bonds and showing everyone how proud she was. I mean, she was good at it, than you very much. The girl was angry. This hit her now and then. She found herself disliking the constant outer image. Sure, she loved the clothes, but at times she just wanted to make big mistakes. Which is what she was doing now, and why she had broken into that classroom. Well, she didn’t really plan on going out there and attempting to get herself beaten up. It was probably her subconscious action with a goal to try and wreck the walls she had built up around her. She was even getting friendly. For example, she found herself interested in Mss. Storm. Well, interested is not the right term. To be completely hones, she thought that Lissa was nice… and naïve. To Natalya, it seemed sort of cute, she assumed. But the again, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about this.

After that fire boy replied to her latest remark, she didn’t really respond. The girl actually snorted. Look at him, all tough and getting flared up. ”Well, you can try if you wish. I don’t feel comfortable about hitting the opposite gender. Yet, I don’t mind going up against someone who doesn’t feel the same way.” She spat at the guy. Look at that, he even suggested this. No manners at all. The girl couldn’t help but think about why his family would even keep this immoral monkey around. If he had a father like hers, he would’ve been kicked out and forgotten. Before people would start saying that the Demetri’s praised themselves in beating up the supposedly weaker gender. Yeah, that would be rich.

Oh, how flashy. Stepping on her mp3 player. As if she wouldn’t get a new one within the next 24 hours. ”Ochinj zhelj…”(Too bad) she gave out, lacking emotion in her voice. So great, the teacher could smash stuff. Yay. Amazing. Do that again. Honestly, she didn’t even give a damn about some mp3 player. The brunette let her cold, gray gaze slide to her teacher, then away again. To think she was Russian. Usually, the people from the motherland stood for each other, not for the rest, but this one was perhaps a lost cause? Well, then again, Natalya did make sure to annoy most of the people there, already. She couldn’t take sympathy. That, after all, would be weak. So no matter that Tanya was broken and knew nothing of why Nataly would act this way, the girl wouldn’t go and explain. A part of her had been hoping that this woman would have a hint of what it’s like, growing up in a Russian family and seeing the other kids prancing around, while she had to work on manners, learn to shed any form or shape of that accent and learn to listen to every word he said. And sure, raising involved certain methods. Some say domestic violence, they say ‘making a character’. No, of course, without scars. But the kid went through her fair share of pain.

“Right… punishment. I’ll tell you if it starts feeling like one”

[marci6]

Tatyana nodded, ”Well that's good.” Fortunate, actually, was the word. Now that she didn't have to worry about Josh getting angry at her if she hurt the girl, she could be just a little more free with her actions. Only a little, though. It would not be good for her record if she maimed a girl while supervising detention. Still, she gave the boy a slight smile as she moved off to give Natt what for. Or something like that. She went through the motions, the MP3 player, etc. Then she scoffed at the words coming out of the girl's mouth.

She locked her gray eyes on those of the offender, and shook her head slightly, ”That boy has the capacity to kill you without breaking a sweat. And he lacks most of the inhibitions that would normally keep him from doing. So take my word for it, you should really just stop what you're doing now.” It wasn't usual for Yana to speak so plainly, openly, or so much. But there was a bit of prudence in her, and it told her that bad things happened to the students who wronged Josh. Much worse than to those that disobeyed her.

Russian? A little interest caught Yana's expression when the girl spoke in the foreign language. She didn't know it fluently, but she had the gist of it, thanks to her grandfather. His family had moved to the US after he was born, so he had learned the language, and had a habit of talking to her in it, even fifty years afterward. Anyway, those two words were easy enough for her, and she just gave the girl a patronizing smile. ”Your tactics are rather amateur.”

Straightening up, Tatyana addressed the girl without further ceremony. Her keen eyes glared at the difficult person as she said, ”For every second that you misbehave, talk, harass people, make yourself an annoyance, or do anything save sitting there quietly and waiting until the end of detention, I will keep the whole class a minute later.” She paused, then looked at Josh. After a second, ”Except him, because unlike the rest of you, he's actually proved to me that he has merits that outweigh his problems.”

The teacher looked back at Natt, ”So, if you want to both eat dinner and avoid a roomful of dire enemies upon your dismissal, I suggest you sit tight and wait.”

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