GET OFF ON THE SAME FLOOR , eliana

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Things between Joshua and his father were... tense, to say the least. Ever since the man had approached him with an attempt at resolving their problems they had not been able to so much as look each other in the eye without some sort of awkward confusion. Well, Donovan looked awkward at any rate. Joshua felt betrayed, angry, maybe a tad relieved in the far back of his mind. The point was, his father had hurt him. He'd really needed the support of his family when Nell was going through the trial and instead he'd gotten the exact opposite. His father kept trying to bring up the family funds and the fact that he'd need to sign some things (being a legal adult now) in order to get full access to the money again. He'd signed them off (hey, he might have been angry, but it was his right) but he didn't want to discuss anything. 'Later,' was what he always insisted, walking away and never really getting around to it 'later' no matter how many times Donovan tried. He was going to have to accept that Nell meant more to Josh than he'd realised and to call her a cold-blooded killer was to sever his son's trust.

One thing he had requested, however, was to get a job at the hospital for the new year. Not just volunteer hours but an actual job there, one that paid money and gave him a sense of responsibility. His father hadn't quite understood the necessity considering that they were already as rich as they could ever have wanted and that Donovan himself owned the hospital anyway. "If you want money, Joshua," he said impatiently as they discussed this in the dining room, "all you have to do is take it." By their customs and traditions he'd gained full access to the family fortune when he'd turned eighteen a couple years ago. "I know that," Josh said. "But I've been volunteering for almost six years, father, don't you think I've earned the right to get paid for all the work I do?" This argument seemed to actually impress his father or at least stump him, for he didn't immediately reply. In fact it was Joshua's mother, Patricia, who answered. "I think he's right, Don."

Nothing was set in stone yet but Josh was at least optimistic. His father had said he would look into it and until then Joshua could either resume volunteering as per usual or just continue his extended break. He'd chosen the latter for now because he wanted to be there for Nell. As for right now he was hanging around the hospital and waiting for his father to get off work. By all the luck Donovan had in the world his Ferrari was having issues and so it was Josh who'd given him a lift to work that morning instead of the other way around. He'd then went to school and hung around with friends and such until it was around the time he knew his father was free. Donovan didn't have absurdly weird hours any more thanks to the fact that he was the owner and had the luxury of doing as he pleased but Josh knew that he still left it up to his lackeys on occasion (running the hospital, that is) in order to help out in surgery. At odds though they might have been, Josh always respected Donovan's work ethic.

At present he was lounging in an empty waiting room. A couple of the staff had gotten confused at first and asked him if he was being seen to by anyone before he explained that he was waiting for someone instead of the other way around. Some of the people that knew him from his years of volunteering said hello as they crossed paths and he usually returned the greeting politely enough. He might not have been the friendliest guy on earth but he was not always callous, either.

[ellie]

"Bye Mom," Ellie said, getting out of the vehicle in the drop off section of the hospital, a white Manila envelope tucked under her arm. Noelle was in the backseat chilling out to a song on her iPod nano. Ellie's mom was taking noelle to an appointment in town, and Ellie was tasked with getting the contents of the envelope signed by her dad, one of the surgeons at the hospital. She didn't know the contents, nor did she particularly care. Lately her parents had been speaking in hushed whispers when she was around, and if she had to guess, it had something to do with her grandpa who had recently passed away. 

So, with the firm instructions of "It needs to be signed ASAP," she walked into the hospital. While it wasn't like a second home or anything, Ellie was quite familiar with the hospital on account of spending hours waiting for her dad to finish an emergency operation that he had been called in for while her mom was at work. With nowhere else to go, the four kids were duly packed up and told to behave themselves as it wouldn't be too long. 

As she walked into the practically deserted waiting room area, Eliana walked straight to the waiting room and asked if Dr. Thompson was available, the nurse told her that he was in the middle of a surgery and asked if Ellie wanted to put the envelope in his mailbox for him to get after surgery. Ellie politely declined, insisting that she would wait and deliver it personally. With a nod the nurse agreed to call her when her dad was available, and so Ellie went to sit in the waiting room. She scanned the room, looking for the optimal spot, and her eye spotted someone she knew, Joshua Dale. His father was a surgeon too and they had met a while ago, Eliana didn't even remember how, but with a smile, she walked over. "Hey Joshua! How are you?" He didn't look like he had an injury, but you never knew. "Are you here waiting for your dad, or are you here for the health care?" she inquired. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Ellie motioned to the chair beside him.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

The cheerful greeting surprised him but not enough that he showed it outwardly, merely glancing toward the person who'd spoken with questioning gray eyes. They relaxed into understanding a moment later and he managed a small smile when he recognised who it was. "Hello, Eliana." There was around a six year difference in their ages but none of that mattered when you were introduced because of your parents, now did it? Besides, he was used to dealing with people around that age because of his sister, Annabel, who was a year younger. "I'm well, thank you," he said. It was all very formal and polite but that was what you got from him when he was in a professional environment like the hospital. He could put on a nice demeanour for the sake of his father's work, regardless of how incredibly awkward things were between them right now. "And you?" He returned the question mostly to be polite but also with a slight air of interest. He had nothing against Eliana and so he did hope she wasn't in a bad way at the moment.

It was always strange to have people outside of his exclusive inner circle ask him about his father with such ease. Most of his friends that had not yet gained his full trust had no idea he was the son of Dr. Dale and his wife because he just didn't say much about himself to other people. It took only a split second to recover from this initial reaction before he dipped his head in agreement, however. "Yeah, we're heading home together." That sounded so normal, so family-oriented. It sounded as if father and son were completely at ease with one another and that Joshua was still living in the lavish mansion he'd grown up it. There was no hint to the fact that they no longer talked like they'd used to and that Josh was living with his girlfriend because things were not quite alright at home just yet. "What about you?" Her father was a surgeon as well, he recalled.

He gestured amiably to the surrounding chairs with an agreeable, "Go right ahead." He didn't own the waiting room, after all, she could have sat wherever she liked. It is nice that she asked, he reminded himself carefully. Most people didn't have the manners any more and he had to remember to appreciate that when it happened. "How's your break been so far?" Josh asked conversationally, not wanting to leave it silent. With his good friends he was comfortable for just sitting hours without words spoken between them but as they were only loosely acquainted he didn't want the wait to drag out for ages on both of their parts. He had no idea that Eliana was an elemental and that she would be attending the same school as he was in the new year or he might have asked about it.

[ellie]

Eliana sat down in the chair, placing the envelope carefully on her lap, pleased that she had someone to chat with while she waited. Not one strong in patience, she knew talking would pass the time faster. "I'm doing quite fine. The weather is a bit cold, but I guess that's to be expected in December." Having lived in the cold all her life, it wasn't a shock to her system or anything, but it still was chilly. She smiled, as if it would be more convincing. In all honesty, she was coping. It was months since her grandfathers death, and everyone had moved on but her. She knew she should be over it by now, but sometimes, the hole in her life would become all-consuming and she wouldn't know what to do with herself. This past week had been way better though. 

"I'm here to drop this off to my dad." she pointed at the envelope on her lap. "My mom says it's important that he signs it immediately ." Eliana said this with a note of pride in her voice. Getting accepted into the Academy was a huge stepping stone in her life, and her parents had been entrusting her with bigger responsibilities, and to the thirteen year old, it was a cherished improvement. Normally, her mom would have made her to Noelle's appointment and then have the three of them go together to the hospital. Ellie wanted to make sure nothing went wrong and that her parents could trust her with anything. 

"My break has been pretty good. I'm sooo excited to go to the Academy next month. Tony and Kat have told me so much about it and I can't wait. I'm an Earth elemental." she added, doubting that he knew, and informing him anyways even if he did. Subconsiously, she fingered the necklace hanging around her neck. Doing the mental math in her head, she inquired, " Did you just graduate?"

[/b] From what she heard, it wasn't uncommon for people to fail, but Joshua seemed fairly smart and she didn't think he would have. [/justify]

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Meh. Cold. It had never been something that Joshua was fond of. He wanted to move to one of the rainier parts of Canada where they barely got any snow during the winter--Josh loved the rain. For this reason and the fact that it meant warm weather was to come, spring was his favourite season. However, December also meant Christmas and that was a holiday his family always celebrated with fervour. It was something to look forward to despite the biting cold. "I'll be happy to see the end of the winter." It had only just begun and yet the Fire graduate was willing it to disappear from his list of things to complain about. He could fend off the cold easily with his powers but that didn't mean he had to like it. His fire was more stubborn in its responses now than it would be in the blazing heat of August, when in contrast it was completely and totally simple to will the flames into existence in his mind. Elemental powers were a complicated and many-layered thing but they were also highly fascinating. If he didn't spend his studies on becoming a doctor he might have been interesting in finding out more about how the brain of an elemental functioned. He was sure there were books about it somewhere, he'd just need to know where to look.

His lips twitched into an amused sort of half-smile as she indicated the envelope, detecting the pride in her tone. She reminded him of his sister sometimes. It really had to be because they were so close in age--their personalities might have been completely different. Gray eyes lit with mild surprise when she mentioned the Academy, something he had not expected. "Careful," he cautioned when she mentioned that she was an Earth elemental, looking around the place suspiciously. It didn't look like anyone was around and close enough to overhear their conversation but he still didn't want to risk anything. "We can't let normal folk overhear us." She had taken a pretty big risk in babbling about the Academy to him considering he could have been anyone but the fact that their families knew one another made it a little different. It was nice to hear that she was Earth. It marked them as natural enemies but not enemies by alliance and so there would be no quarrels. Keeping his voice low for the reasons he'd specified, he said, "I'm Fire."

The question about graduating surprised him a little. He hadn't worried about graduation since he'd gotten out of high school and it would be a couple years until he was out of college. "Not this year, no," he said. "I'm going into my junior year." He figured she could infer that from his age he meant junior year in college. It would be concerning for an aspiring doctor to still be in the eleventh grade when he was almost twenty years of age. He was majoring in History and Biology with the hopes that when he did graduate he would be accepted into the medical school in the Hollow and be well on his path toward his future career. "When did you find out you were going?" he wondered. It was different for everyone, after all, but usually around the same stretch of time.

[ellie]

When Joshua cautioned Ellie, her breath caught in her throat making a quiet gasp, and her heart almost stopped. "Stupid" she muttered almost inaudible to herself. Of course she knew that she couldn't talk about it out in the open. That had been one of the first lessons she had been taught. And hadn't that been the reason why her dads family fled England? She wanted to kick herself for being so careless and getting caught up. Instead she mumbled a lame apology, crimson covering her cheeks. Oops, sorry. I forgot." and quickly looked around with Josh to see if anyone was near. Luckily there was no one near enough. 

Her chagrin faded when he mentioned he was Fire. That was the same house as Kat! She knew that normally fire and earth weren't supposed to get along, but Eliana had never fully understood why and what the big deal was about it. 

A smile played on Ellie's lips as she remembered when her elemental showed itself."It was during the summer break. Kateri, Noelle and I were outside just hanging out and Kat was being a jerk and I got really mad, and before I really knew what happened, half of dads flowerbed was uprooted and flowers and dirt were flying right at her! Luckily it didn't hurt anyone as she was smart enough to turn and duck the missiles.  Dad was pretty mad about his flowers when he got home though." Since then, she hadn't had any other major blowups.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

His lips twitched into a light sort of half-smile as she apologised. "No harm done," he shrugged. "I don't think anyone heard." He was relieved about this because Josh understood only too well the dangers of the government. His mother was a politician, after all, and she used her connections to gain insight for the elemental world. Growing up, she'd stressed upon him the importance of keeping the secret. He hadn't always been the best at listening to her but at very least he remembered her warnings. He understood the excitement of one's first year of the Academy and so wasn't too concerned about Eliana's words since they clearly hadn't endangered the pair to exposure. He had grown up with the knowledge of the family secret—his parents had never believed in keeping their children in the dark—and so had anticipated the surfacing of his powers with bated breath around his thirteenth birthday. It had been months after his birthday that the powers actually presented themselves, temporarily depressing him as he assumed that the power might have skipped over him.

Josh chuckled when she told her story, amused by the mental image of a garden attacking someone. "I wish I had something that interesting to brag about." He was mostly joking—Joshua really didn't mind that the discovery of his own powers had been mundane. It only meant that nothing serious had to occur in order for them to present themselves. Fire was a dangerous power to have and he shuddered to think of how much damage it might have done if they'd revealed themselves during a moment of anger. His power coupled with his incredibly bad temperament had caused many issues in his high-school years when he did not yet have sufficient control over it. Random fires had been common and he'd gotten into massive trouble from his father for accidentally setting fire to the coffee table in the living room during an argument. It had been put out in rapid speed by Donovan—preserving everything but the table itself, which had to be replaced—but his father had still been infuriated. "Which elements are your siblings in?" he wondered. Though he knew her family and siblings through his own, he had never really talked about elemental powers with them.

Envelope catching his eye, Joshua recalled what she'd said about it needing to be delivered. "Was your father busy with work when you went to give it to him?" He gestured lazily at the object to indicate what he meant. Though Joshua was never known to ask very personal questions he did not count this to be something invasive or uncomfortable. After all, he knew as well as she did that both of their parents worked here. It would only make sense for a doctor that worked in a hospital to be busy a good ninety percent of the time. He knew a flicker of amusement as he remembered something Donovan had once said, "I feel like I'm spending too much time behind a desk these days. I fill in for my staff sometimes when I miss the excitement." He admired his father for all the hard work and passion he put into his job. He wanted to be like that one day. I wonder what Eliana wants to do? He did not ask, however, feeling that this would be a bit personal.