YOU'RE IN A STRANGE PART OF OUR TOWN (tag; ged)

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

For lack of better things to do, Joshua had found himself on the grounds that afternoon. Where to some they were an endless treasure trove of possibilities, Joshua actually didn't feel much better outside in the sunshine than he did when he was holed up in the library with a book. The only difference was the added effects of the weather, which could be either pleasant or absolutely miserable considering. A glance at the sky through gray eyes shaded by a pair of expensive sunglasses suggested that it would not be too bad today. The sun was out and the skies were mostly clear, even if it was cooler than the muggy and humid weather of August or the searing heat of June. Not that Joshua minded if it rained--in fact, his favourite season being Spring, the Fire elemental was fond of the so-called 'April showers'. And he could just use his powers to warm himself up if you got really picky, but he would rather it not be cold at all so that he didn't need to put forth the effort. Joshua was not a lazy personality, far from it, but there were some things that he resented in the winter. Like the fact that his powers suffered as much as the plants did. The frozen months plagued the Earth elementals and froze the Fires, so for a few months each year the elements were almost united in their distaste for the long Canadian winters. Not that it made them get along any better, for it didn't.

Sighing, Joshua cast his colourless eyes around the grounds in search of something with which he could occupy himself. A group playing soccer caught his attention--he'd never been really into sports, himself, but it couldn't hurt to keep his eyes on something. Watching a game would at least be better than sitting and being bored out of his mind. He could have gone back to the Academy and worked on some sort of assignment, but even Josh wanted a break. This break came in the form of the impromptu outdoor excursion. He followed the ball at first, not paying much attention to the people that were kicked it around other than to smirk at someone's misfortune if they kicked a foul or else otherwise messed up their shot. Josh wasn't a person who got sadistic enjoyment out of others' misfortune... but then, neither was he someone that was sympathetic. Finally drawing his attention from the muddy sphere to the players in the game, he was surprised by the fact that he recognised a few of them--and in particular, a Wind student whom he'd spent a couple drunk nights with and pulled a couple crude tricks with in the past. Josh could stand him, even if he didn't always agree with his mannerisms.

When the game had reached its conclusions, it was Ged who Joshua sought out, offering him a small smirk. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised to find you here." Honestly, finding Ged kicking around a soccerball was like finding Josh in a library. It was something that should just be assumed, rather than questioned. They didn't know one another all that well and yet even Joshua understood that the guy was into sports. It was just one of those things that you knew about people, common knowledge. "Up for doing something? I'm bored and I have time to kill." The good thing about Gerard was the fact that Joshua trusted him to come up with something interesting. He might not have much experience in dealing with the other boy but hanging around seemed an excellent way to melt away the hours in which he planned to do nothing but lounge about. If there was anything Joshua hated, it was sitting--or standing--still. Doing nothing felt like wasting time. He was something irritated by the attitude of the Wind student but at least if they could get up to something entertaining Joshua wouldn't care in a couple hours when he could get back to his own life without hazard. What did it matter if you didn't necessarily adore the people you hung around? He had a lot of drinking buddies that he'd never be caught dead with sober. It wasn't all about who you got along with--sometimes it was just about how you could have the best time.

[ged]

Ged frowned, staring at the retreating backs of the opposing team. A couple of his teammates jogged by, and he offered them a smile and a high five if they mentioned his name. A few patted him on the shoulder, and he offered the appropriate responses of condolence. No one liked to lose, especially not Ged. Soccer was what he was good at, and he’d gone through more pain than he liked to think about to regain most of his old skills. He was arguably one of the best players at the school, yet he couldn’t help but think of how much better he’d been two years ago at the height of soccer season. There had been talk of his team making it to states that year, but Ged’s unexpectedly extended vacation midway through the season put an end to that.

The redhead shook his head, dispelling the might-have-beens. He didn’t turn at the familiar voice, but a light smile appeared on his face. Ged motioned with his chin at one particular group of students who were gathered around their bags, drinking from their water bottles and putting their shirts back on. Ged’s team had been shirts, the other skins, though Ged had been forced to trade a few of the better players for that privilege. He always manipulated it so his team was shirts, no matter the cost, and the other team captain had recognized that fact and taken advantage of it. Ged would have to be subtler about his preference next time.

“They cheated,” Ged told Josh by way of introduction. He finally turned to look at Josh, and rubbed at his right hip with his hand. “A couple of them are waters. They froze the ground, made me slip. I would have made that shot,” Ged complained. He’d gone to plant his foot to blast the ball at the other team’s unprepared goalie when it had slipped out from under him. It was bad luck that he’d gone down on his right side, where he couldn’t catch himself. His shoulder hurt too, and Ged was trying his best to ignore the pain from an area of his body he constantly attempted to ignore.

“We coulda won,” Ged sighed regretfully, then fully turned his attention to the older boy. “So what’s up? You’re bored?” Ged smirked. He began walking over to the other side of the field, not bothering to wait for Josh. He knew the fire graduate would keep up. Most of the rest of the students had dispersed for class, food, or showers, so Ged’s backpack sat alone at the edge of the field. The redhead walked with a bit of a limp from the growing bruise on his hip, but he bent easily to extract the water bottle up from his backpack. Ged clutched the water between his chest and upper arm, twisting his wrist and hand around so he could twist open the cap and lifted the bottle to his lips. Only after he’d taken a long drink did Ged say anything else.

Ged’s mind had been busy during his uncharacteristic silence. “You up for extracting a little good old revenge on the water folk?” Ged asked. He already knew the answer. Josh might not appreciate all of Ged’s brand of humor, but he was always up for Ged’s ideas, especially when they involved something that would annoy a water elemental.

“How good is your control?” Ged asked, then changed his mind. No matter how good the graduate’s control was, Ged didn’t want to risk fire plus flour in the same building. He changed courses smoothly, “Nevermind. Got any cornstarch? Or Mentos? Water balloons? Need to know what supplies I have at my disposal. What about food coloring? Or, of course, we can go the low-tech route and steal their clothes while they’re swimming. Most of those guys are on their way to the pool now.”

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Another person might have been bothered by the way that Ged ignored the original question and decided instead to talk about the reason for the loss, but it was not something that Joshua found particularly irksome. He wasn't a talkative guy by nature and so he was more than content enough to listen to what Gerard had to say about the other team. "Tch," he said by way of expression his distaste, shaking his head. "Waters." He had never tried to hide or soften his dislike of their kind. There were a select few that he could get along with, but they were just that--select. He wasn't fond of them in general and a lot of people that knew him were aware of that. Hell, a lot of people that didn't know him (at least not on a more personal level) were aware of that. Fire and Water just didn't mix well. It was common Academy knowledge. Ged was a Wind student and maybe he had friends among them. Josh didn't care. He wouldn't pretend to like someone just to assuage someone else--the graduate didn't work that way.

Given that he didn't play sports and didn't understand the delicacies of the foul or whether Ged's team really could have won if not for the trickery of the Water elementals, he simply said, "I'll take your word." He would. Not that he really gave it much thought either way considering he was not someone who thoroughly enjoyed most sports and athletics. He was good at things that he could do on his own, things that involved independence and self-control. He could play tennis because it was only he, Joshua, that had to face his opponent. Unless he were to play doubles, of course, which he only ever agreed to if he was playing with a friend. Someone that he could cooperate with--but an entire team? No, it would be disastrous. Was disastrous. He'd been on the soccer team in middle school for about a week before the coach had kicked him out. It must have been some sort of record.

The silence fitted him enough that he waited patiently for Gerard to speak. Joshua never felt the urge to fill silences with pointless ramble--that was more of a Water student thing, in his opinion, with their bright and bubbly nature. Ged talked quite a bit, too, at least compared to Josh, but it hadn't started to annoy Josh yet and so he had not taken to avoiding his company. "I'm always up for bothering them." He wasn't as keen on tricks and practical jokery as the Water folks themselves, but he still hadn't forgotten what they'd done to him all those years ago. Joshua held a sort of residual bitterness and so even though he hadn't had any major conflicts with them recently, it was still appealing to plot revenge. Joshua guessed that Ged had some sort of idea in mind already, so instead of offering anything he merely asked, "Along what lines?"

He was decent with his control and was about to inform Ged of this--I am in college, after all--when the other boy seemed to rapidly change his mind. Josh blinked calmly and listened as the Wind elemental listed off a bunch of potential items. Patiently, he said, "Much as I'd love to show you my secret stash of cornstarch, I'm afraid not." He rolled his eyes and smirked a little. He was joking around, of course, because he obviously didn't have a secret stash of something so obscure. Joshua might have had some odd habits but he would like to think that he wasn't that strange. "I'm sure the kitchens would have some," he pointed out. "I wouldn't be opposed to stealing anything in the name of vengeance." Not like I've never stolen before, he thought with a twinge of momentary discomfort. He'd done a lot of rather stupid and reckless things under the influence of the gang, of course. He tried not to think about those.

[ged]

Ged’s mind was working overtime. He might not plan ahead for much, preferring to take it moment by moment, but when the moment struck him, he had the experience to throw something together at the drop of a hat. “It depends on how painful you want to be,” Ged answered Josh’s question as to the extent of the prank with an absent-minded tone. He put his water bottle back into his bag and hoisted the pack to his good shoulder.

“You mean you’ve never made Oobleck before?” Ged shook his head in mock disapproval. “That was science class for grades one through five. My childhood, man.” Cornstarch was cheap, and the gooey stuff kept the classes amused for long after the hour was over. After a bit more though, Ged disregarded the idea. The viscous liquid was hard to get right, and cornstarch didn’t stick quite like flour did. No, he could think of something much messier.

“Well, you’d need a lot for what I’ve got in mind. And you need to catch them while they’re wet. Swim practice works, right?” Ged asked. “Most of them were on their way to the pool. Alternatively, we can target the dorm. Most people are off at lunch,” Ged pointed out. His own stomach was rumbling, but he ignored it. He’d eaten earlier that day, which was more often than he’d eaten for most of the last year. He was spoiled by three square meals a day. Some people might complain about the quality of the food, but it was better than Ged had eaten for most of his life. His father was far from a good cook, and Ged had actually taken over kitchen duties as soon as he was old enough to reach the stove without killing himself. As long as it was edible, Ged was good to go.

“I don’t want to bother the kitchens,” Ged said. You didn’t want to make food-givers angry. Cafeteria ladies liked Ged’s charm, and sometimes gave him extra snacks for him to squirrel away. That was a relationship Ged definitely did not want to risk, as it held too much for him to benefit from.

“So,” Ged looked up (and up and up and up) at Josh, “Do you want to risk the dorms? Harder to get in, harder to get out, but so many more possibilities once you get in there. Or we hit them when they’re outside, in which case I might need some more supplies. I vote we hit them where it hurts.” His hip hurt, goddamnit! Ged didn’t need another bruise adding to everything else. Ged hadn’t done many pranks while he was roaming the east coast. He hadn’t stuck around long enough for anyone to prove themselves deserving of a prank in most cases, though sometimes he pulled one to keep in practice. Most of the supplies he preferred could be shoplifted from a convenience store, or purchased with loose change he picked up. He could do wonders with a piece of string or Styrofoam cup.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

He shrugged when Ged replied to him. "I'm not that bitter." Oh, it wasn't for the sake of the Water elementals that he held back on pranks that would cause any pain. No, it was running the risk of them being traced back to him in some way. He knew that the Academy could most definitely expel their students if they so wished--especially those who had graduated their high school years and were learning mastery rather than control. Once you were a graduate they figured you didn't need to stay and reserved full rights to kick you out if they saw the need. He didn't want to be chucked out of school because of a student prank (it would look rather bad on his record) so he would stick to harmlessly hilarious things that might land him a few weeks in detention at very worst.

He arched an eyebrow at Ged but shrugged off the comment. Whatever the hell 'Oobleck' was he wasn't sure he wanted to know. His childhood science classes had been very serious and morose most of the time. His parents had sent him to a private school that took education ridiculously serious. It had taken a lot of fun out of the school experience for Joshua but it had also helped to shape his study habits into what they were today. It had ironically taught him a bit of respect for his teachers, as well, though he had slackened that slightly after years of the Academy where you were less likely to be expelled if you made a snarky comment.

The other boy sure talked quite a bit in comparison to the silence of the graduate. He was in a mellow mood today and so didn't mind Ged's attitude as much as he might on another occasion. "I suppose," he said with a shrug, nodding when the Wind elemental mentioned swim practice. He hated water and didn't like the idea of going near it (especially not around a bunch of assholes that knew how to control it) but he wasn't going to back out. It would look suspicious and Joshua had hidden his hydrophobia for six years since coming to this school. Actually he'd hidden it for around eleven, considering he'd been the ripe age of eight when he'd nearly drowned in his own backyard. Ah, the memories. Then Ged mentioned the dormitories, however, and Josh seemed intrigued. He'd never broken into the Water dorms before. Earth, yes, and he'd been to Thunder before as well, but never Water.

He gave a bit of a snort when Ged said that he'd rather not bother the kitchens. "Why? Afraid they'll spit in your sandwich?" The dry comment wasn't exactly polite but he wasn't trying to be insulting either. Joshua had a rather blunt sense of humour and it wasn't always obvious he was joking around when you didn't know him well. Around someone like Nell he would smile and laugh, making it clear that he was pulling their leg, but around people he was less trusting of he sometimes just let the comments stand on their own. "Whatever, then," he shrugged. "We can skip out on the kitchens." It didn't really bother him that they were choosing not to go with a kitchen raid. He didn't really care what they ended up doing as long as they weren't caught and it wasn't too much of a serious offence in case they were.

A mild nod suggested that he was interested in risking the dormitories, though he allowed Ged to get out what he needed to say before he provided any verbal input. He was not a long-winded person himself and so he only said, "I can get us in." He didn't bother explaining why or how or saying anything else on the matter, he was just confirming his agreement by offering to get them past the door. He had spent around half a decade hanging around a bunch of older guys that favoured crime--he had nothing against picking a lock. Besides, he wasn't going to do anything too harmful to the sorry bastards. He just wanted a laugh once they'd put their plan (whatever they were planning) into action. "Should we do it now?" he inquired, arching a brow. He didn't know whether Ged had decided anything else or whether he wanted to wait, so he figured it was best to check.

[ged]

“Ok, so I’ll skip the hot sauce, Ged noted. He didn’t really want to hurt the water students too badly either. As much as he’d disliked the underhanded trick, Ged would have done the same in their position (only he would have been more subtle with it and gotten away with it, of course). He still needed the students to play against next time so he could beat them. Ged also made a mental note to introduce Josh to the wonders of Oobleck at another time. Maybe he should make some to bring to the next party…Oobleck plus drunk people equaled lots of fun in Ged’s mind.

“I’m a teenager, I like food. I give them flowers, they give me cookies,”Ged pouted at Josh. Cookies were very important in Ged’s book. He was a teenage boy, and for the first time in his life, Ged could afford to think with his stomach. But Ged didn’t think Josh would understand the importance of keeping your source of food on good terms with you. He could tell that the other boy did not hurt for money, mostly because of the car Ged had caught glimpse of Josh exiting once. Instant man-shivers and eternal jealousy. Ged was trying to find the opportunity to ask Josh for a ride in the awesome car of cool, but most of the time they were too drunk for that to be a sane idea.

Ged nodded at Josh’s assurance that he could get them into the dorms. He started walking towards the castle, hiding his smirk, knowing that Josh’s long legs would let him easily catch up with the much shorter Ged. The redhead knew he could also ensure entrance into the water dorms. If his hand wasn’t steady enough to pick the lock, Ged could call one of his many contacts within the dorm. Actually, he’d prefer they didn’t get caught before they had a chance to cause some trouble, so Ged pulled out his phone and typed out a quick message on the on-screen keyboard.

“The front door will be unlocked, but I’m leaving it up to you to get us into the senior dorms,” Ged told Josh, “The freshies just had midterms. They deserve a break.” The chaos Ged planned on causing would be constrained to the upperclassmen, as the ones who had defeated him were seniors at least.

As they walked through the hallways, Ged outlined his plan to Josh. Most things would have to be decided upon once they made it into the dorm, as Ged wasn’t sure what things would be available in the room. His plan was fairly simple, and assigned Josh most of the heavy lifting and errand running of course, leaving Ged with the fun things.

He stopped in front of the entrance to the Water dorms. The hallways held too much humidity for Ged, especially after exercising. He slicked back his hair and hitched his backpack further up onto his shoulder. “My contact should have left this open,” Ged noted, pushing the door slightly. The door was indeed propped open, and just like a proper thief, Ged slipped inside the door without making a sound, removing the pencil someone had shoved between door and frame to keep it open. “The upperclassmen dorms are up there,” Ged nodded at a hallway. He gave the girls’ hallway a wide berth, and darted up the boy hallway quickly before a group of giggling water girls managed to catch sight of him. He stopped in front of a series of doors, and turned to Josh. “Well, which one do you want to start with first? The janitor’s closet is that way. You should grab some buckets and fill them up in one of the bathrooms. It sounds like everyone is off at lunch or practice,” Ged noted, though he kept his voice quiet so he didn’t attract the attention of the nearby underclassmen dorms.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua arched an eyebrow but made no remark on the comment about food. It was true, though, that Joshua didn't quite grasp how much some of the Academy students relied on the food in the mess hall. He'd grown up in a mansion situated in the Hollow, he had enough money to get whatever kind of extra food that he wanted. The family also had a chef, though Joshua had learned the basics of cooking from (where else?) books when he'd lived in his apartment and hadn't wanted to rely on TV dinners. Most frozen food had either tasted disgusting or incorporated meat so he had just found his own solution. It had been a step down from living with his parents, but he'd still had as much food as he wanted. And now he was staying with Nell. It would concern him if she didn't have food in her house. He didn't understand why it was so important to Ged but decided against questioning it simply because he didn't really care. Gerard could do what he liked.

He shrugged when Ged decided they should target the seniors over the freshmen. "Fine with me," he said nonchalantly. He didn't really care who they pulled the prank on, his grudge was against their element as a whole. It wasn't often that there were large pranks pulled in the Academy by a whole group or element and he was sure he wasn't the only Fire elemental that remembered this less-than-fondly. He would have been up for pranking the guys around his own age as well but he knew that the schedules of the college students were much more difficult to predict and thus it would have been dangerous to go ahead with a plan without doing research first.

He didn't ask who Ged's contact was or why they had been so willing to let the two into the dorms, either. He figured that Ged hadn't told them the plan or at least had said only a few words of it, because only an idiot (in the Water element, at least) would let someone like Joshua into their dormitory. The Earth elementals would probably welcome him in their midst and he knew a lot of them anyway, but Water were like a collective enemy. He followed with equal quiet, making sure that the 'click' of the closing door was as soft and muffled as possible. It was hard for even Joshua to hear standing right next to it and so hopefully no one else would be alerted.

Gazing around the Water dormitories, the graduate cast a distrustful glance toward the ceiling. It was glass, just as he'd heard. Part of him was tempted to reach up and tap it in order to test the thickness, but he knew that doing so would make sound and draw attention to him. Instead, he stared for a moment and tried not to think too hard about the immense pressure the water would be putting onto the ceiling. How often do they check it for cracks, I wonder? As he'd never heard of the ceiling cracking before he doubted that there was any real risk, but as a hydrophobic Joshua couldn't help but feel ill at ease. It was impossible to tell by looking at him, however--he merely appeared curious as he stared around the room. The water from above cast patterns on the wall and he could still see light from a distant point overhead--he could hazard a guess that it was under a more shallow part of the lake. That'd help with the water pressure, too. It should have relieved him but Josh didn't feel much different.

When Ged started giving orders, however, Joshua folded his arms and gazed coolly at the younger boy. "I should?" he said smoothly. "And just what are you going to do?" He had been up for the prank because he wanted to have fun and see the looks on their faces when they got hit with whatever the two boys had prepared for them. He hadn't agreed to this for the slave labour that would be involved. He knew of Ged's injury, of course--he hadn't noticed it immediately upon meeting the boy, especially as he'd been pissed drunk at the time, but it was something that couldn't slip past the radar forever. Even still, that didn't exempt him from everything but the enjoyment of the prank, in Joshua's mind. He pulled something from his pocket and slipped it into the door, working as quietly as possible. It took a moment but he did manage to pick the lock and the door swung open to reveal an unlit and dark room.

[ged]

Ged barely spared the glass ceiling of the dormitory a second glance. He’d been in there before, and being under tons and tons of a substance that would kill him immediately if the architectural integrity of the building was compromised was nothing new to him. He’d been in deeper mine tunnels than this. Sure, the idea of the ceiling breaking scared the crap out of him, but until he saw a crack or any indication the glass wasn’t incredibly thick and up for the challenge, Ged wasn’t going to worry. The water did make pretty patterns on the wall.

The redhead stared at Josh with slightly narrowed eyes. Was Josh serious with his refusal? This was much easier when they were both drunk. “You need to get the buckets,” Ged said as if explaining a very complicated concept to someone much, much younger than him, “Because it would take me three times as long to get a single bucket of water filled up. We’re on a time limit here.” He put his hand on his hip and glared at Josh, daring him to misunderstand Ged’s point. He hated having to explain the limitations of what he could and couldn’t do with one hand, though usually it was more what he could do if given more time than other people. Josh had two perfectly good arms, and he was the older and stronger one of the pair. It was obvious, in Ged’s eyes, that Josh should do the heavy lifting.

“I am going to snoop around and figure out what kinds of things I can find around here since someone doesn’t carry string around with him everywhere,” Ged told the fire graduate in a cool tone. He pivoted on his heel and slunk into the room, moving stealthily over to the desks without disturbing the usual teenage boy clutter scattered on the ground.

Ged wondered how most of the school thought of elemental students outside of their group. He’d heard all degrees of what he could only call elitism. From thinking the opposing elements were monsters, to thinking they were the smartest and strongest of them all, and he’d even heard at least one person complain about the earthies stinking up the place and suggesting they should kick all of the lesser elements out of the school. Maybe that was a part of being raised knowing you were an elemental. Ged had always known he was different than the other kids (including declaring he was an alien between the ages of 4-8). Fairy changelings were still a valid reason for Ged’s appearance in his book. He’d never met his mother, and no one wanted to talk about her, so how did he know she really existed? He’d seen a few pictures, but no one in the family had been there when she’d given birth. She could have just found a fairy baby in the woods and entrusted it with Ged’s father to raise.

Of course, not everyone at the school was as biased as Ged had described, but he still wondered what those who were would think if they saw the rooms of the opposing elements. They were all just a bunch of kids when it came down to things that really mattered. They couldn’t afford to fight amongst themselves with the threat of the government looming overhead.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Perhaps if Ged had explained himself in any sort of tone but the one he actually used, Joshua would have been alright with it. If he'd been drunk he probably wouldn't have cared either way considering neither one of them would have been much fit for most tasks and he'd have a real laugh just trying. However, Josh was one hundred percent sober at the moment and he decided immediately that he was not as fond as Gerard as he had been under the influence of alcohol. He'd only had a mere tolerance for the guy to begin with, he wouldn't trust him with any information about himself, and that was now starting to slip. "I don't much like that tone, Jackson," he said dangerously, his own gray eyes narrowing in reply. "I'm not five and if you were listening, I asked what you would be doing, not why you thought that I should be carrying out the hardest of the work." Internally he was keeping control of heat distribution and making sure he didn't accidentally send a heat wave through the room. That was fine when he was outside and not trying to sneak around but turning the Water dormitories into a sauna would be a pretty good way to blow their cover.

"You," Josh muttered under his breath when Ged slunk out of earshot, "are this close to being the victim of the next trick I decide I want to pull." Rolling his eyes, he decided to just go with it for now for the sake of trolling the Water students. He wasn't, however, very keen on the idea of hanging around Ged again soon. His temper was a strange thing and he was easily angered, especially when someone younger than he was decided to treat him like a child. He blinked thoughtfully at the water in one of the buckets and thought for a moment about heating it and scalding the unlucky victim, then reminded himself that it would be a bit too cruel and that his irritation right now was toward Ged. He didn't like the Water kids but he wasn't in the mood to hurt them at the moment. Nell had a lot of friends in this dormitory. His girlfriend didn't stop him from picking fights with people that actually deserved it--in his eyes--but her existence at least made him pause and see sense.

Joshua would once have been much more spiteful toward his natural enemies. In high school when the Fire element had still had their influence over him most of all, Joshua had behaved like most of the other parts of the whole. He hadn't made a lot of friends even amongst his own kind but he had at least believed most of their values. Water students were the enemy, Earth students were weak and easy to brush aside, Wind elementals were alright and Thunder were pretty damn awesome. They'd even chosen him as their leader in twelfth grade. He hadn't, however, taken this chance to cause turmoil. Joshua was not sadistic in personality. He didn't gain some sort of sick pleasure in hurting someone for no reason--when he fought someone and caused them pain, it was usually to get his point across rather than for some sort of elation. Those times were past in the event of the war, and now his distaste was merely residual of the things they'd done to cross him.

In a tone that was much cooler and less friendly than it had been when he'd first run into Ged, he asked him when they were once again in contact, "Did you manage to find any of that string that neither of us happened to be carrying?" It was a slight jab toward what Ged had said earlier about Joshua not having the necessary supplies. What the fuck did this asshole expect? Alright, so his thoughts toward the Wind elemental were getting progressively more irritated as time wore on but that were merely a side-effect of his anger. It would burn longer considering he'd never actually considered Ged a friend, more like a drunken partner in crime.

[... Josh and his anger issues xD -sigh-]