SAVE YOUR BREATH -- BENNY

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Jesus Christ, did I really work here? Joshua eyed the front window of the tattoo parlour critically, finding it hard to believe that he'd once walked through that door every day to endure the hell that was known as a minimum-wage job. He had hated working under the radar because it meant the owner could make ridiculous demands of him and then threaten to fire him or tell the authorities if he didn't comply. Josh had looked for another job back in those days but there had been none that had paid enough to keep the apartment. Even at minimum wage, the tattoo parlour had made decent money. It was the only one in the Hollow after all. Josh used to pretend that he was older than eighteen, using his height to his advantage to fool people. "What's up, Josh?" Annabel caught him staring and diverted his attention away from the shop. "You're not thinking of getting another tattoo, are you? Daddy said it's not allowed." She frowned doubtfully as if she was looking down on him for considering something like that. "And Mum says you can't wear make-up. So?" This silenced her for a moment and she glowered at him, making the graduate chuckle. "No, I'm not. Let's keep going."

They were headed to the mall in order to pick something out for Christmas dinner. For Annabel, of course. Joshua had gotten the desired formal wear the same day he'd went out to purchase something for prom and so he didn't need to worry about it. Annabel had her sights set on a red dress she'd seen in a shop window but Patricia had insisted that it was too short for her age. The twelve year old had protested adamantly but in the end had not gotten her way, leaving her older brother responsible for helping her out. What did they ever do without me? he thought sarcastically. There was no real exasperation behind it, however. He liked spending time with his little sister and so he didn't mind that his parents were asking him to come over and stay with her for a few hours sometimes. It meant he could spend even less time with Nell than usual but at the moment that was alright seeing as school was out and he didn't need to juggle classes and studying on top of that. I'd never have time, he mused to himself. "Why did you want to walk again, Belle?" he asked as he pulled the zip of his expensive jacket further up his throat. "It's a nice day!" He didn't really think that three feet of snow classified as "nice" but shrugged it off and kept going.

After a long walk that seemed even longer thanks to the fact that it was cold, they found themselves approaching the row of doors that marked the main entrance to the mall. Annabel skipped ahead and pushed the handicapped button that made the doors open by themselves. Josh rolled his eyes and followed, catching the door with a hand as it threatened to close on him. She always has so much energy. He envied his little sister for that sometimes. They stopped briefly in the food court to get Dairy Queen--though Josh was an adult and could consume all the fast food he wished, for Annabel it was still a rarity. He had more refined tastes than Burger King and Taco Bell most of the time thanks to the fact he'd grown up in a mansion with a chef to cook his meals but even he indulged on occasion. Especially when it was for ice cream. After they'd ate their sundaes and spent a few minutes chatting about the various people that passed by their table Annabel impatiently urged him onward. If he'd finished first he knew she would have insisted he wait for her but he didn't mind the hypocrisy. This was his sister and that made it okay.

Spotting the store that sold CDs and instruments (he didn't go to the Music & Video in another part of the Hollow due to a grudge against its owner) he hesitated and glanced at his sister. "Do you mind if I...?" He could already tell by her expression that it was going to be a 'no'. Looks like bribery is the way to go. Fishing into his wallet, he handed Annabel a small stack of twenties (likely around three hundred dollars or so, the Dale's had expensive taste) and gestured toward her favourite stores in the mall. "Get whatever you want, just don't tell Mum. I'll meet you back here in... half an hour? Then we can go get the dress." She hugged him around the middle in appreciation of his cash bribe and then dashed off without another argument. Free to do as he wished, he strode inside and immediately made his way over to the guitars. They were all nice instruments. He had a few already but that didn't mean he couldn't look, right? Admire?

[Trust me to slip music into it anyway.]

[nitwit]

So many good bands, but alas, he couldn’t spend a lot of money on music that day. Benny was planning on spending most of the day at the mall, mainly due to the fact that he had nothing else to do. He needed money for some lunch, something small for “dinner”, and for a snack. He only brought a hundred dollar bill with him to the mall. So he needed to save money for some food. Plus, what if a cute girl came into the picture and they hit it off? It always good to send a girl away with a gift while he walked away with her phone number; but of course, money wasn’t the only thing a guy like him needed to get a chance with a girl. He needed charm too. Benny never really knew what girls thought about him. Hopefully they thought good things about him after meeting him. Ben didn’t really think about himself that much. He didn’t want to lower or raise his self confidence, because normally he’d think more negative things than positive. That was what pretty much everyone thought, right? He didn’t know too many people who described their selves in a good way all the time besides cocky bastards and bitches. His brother used to be one of those. He thought he was everything, but after their mother died, Michael became a whole lot quieter about himself. Ben was sure though that up in Michael’s head were many self absorbent thoughts.

Speaking of his brother, the wind student wondered if his brother was an elemental or not? If he was, would that mean he’d go to the Academy? It would, wouldn’t it? Huh. If Michael were an elemental, Benny’s best guess was that his little brother would be a fire elemental. That was just his guess though. Going through the many CDs, his eyes passed one that caught the boy’s interest. Picking it out, he looked at the cover. It was one of his favorite bands, Breaking Benjamin. Dear Agony? Huh, how did an album of theirs come into stores without him knowing? Ben guessed he needed to browse through CDs more often. 2009? Shit, yeah, he definitely needed to browse through CDs more often, carefully. When his father told Ben that he was oblivious to most things, he didn’t know that he was that oblivious. Keeping the album at his side, he browsed for a couple more minutes and then decided that he was just going to get “Dear Agony”. That meant more money for later, right?

After buying the CD, Benny went to the next thing he wanted to look at, the guitars. The wind student had a guitar, but he had it for three years now and it looked like a piece of shit compared to the ones in the store, especially after all the things that had happened to his own. He just had a plain acoustic guitar, nothing special. One day he’d get an electric guitar. He probably wasn’t going to get it till next year. For the time being, he’d just stick with his piece of shit. Suddenly, a familiar face walked into the store. Well what do you know, it was Josh. Ben had known Josh since the beginning of tenth grade. He was a hell lot older than him. He was in college if he recalled. He didn’t remember how many years the fire elemental said he was in college for. He just remembered college. That was all he needed to know. The wind student wondered what the fire elemental could do with fire using the knowledge he had gained through all the years of school. Benny guessed Josh could pull of some sweet tricks with it. Once the fire elemental approached the guitars, Ben tried to start a conversation. ”Hey, Josh.

[/b] He hadn’t seen Josh at all during their vacation, so he was curious on what was new with Josh. ”What’s up?”[/b]
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[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Joshua trailed his fingers over the dark cherry finish of one guitar, admiring its colouring for a moment before carefully lifting it from where it was placed. It was in immaculate condition and obviously brand new—the desire to test it out was almost overwhelming. Josh did not have good impulse control when it came to spending. He tended to buy things and then realise what an unnecessary purchase they were later when they sat in the attic collecting dust. This thing is amazing, though, he argued stubbornly with himself. He considered going over to the clerk and asking her if he could try it out. She didn't seem opposed to his handling it, at least. He knew that some people got a little antsy about that. It wouldn't go to waste. Rationality crashed like a wave over his thoughts, however. He'd just started to repair his relationship with his family, just gotten access to the family fortune again. Did he really want to jeopardise that by showing Donovan how adept he was at draining that fortune? We've got tons of money. If Dad can buy me a Lamborghini, I can get myself a new guitar. Hmm. That was true. The Aventador sure was an incredibly expensive purchase, after all. This single guitar didn't even come close to the amount spent on it. Still... I don't know...

A greeting distracted him from his internal turmoil about the guitar, the graduate turning his head to fix a steel-coloured gaze on the intruder. His expression was wary and a little guarded by default but it relaxed into an amiable sort of half-smile when he recognised the speaker. "Benny, hey," he returned, nodding in greeting. The distraction helped him to realise that he could do without the guitar—after all, how would I hide something like this from Annabel—and he put it back where he'd gotten it from in the first place. "Just some pointless browsing. You?" He considered the Wind elemental as somewhat of a friend. This was quite an accomplishment seeing as Josh was rather hostile and hard to get close to unless you had a good amount of patience so he tended to develop a bit of respect for anyone that stuck around long enough to try. He was not an idiot—the Fire elemental understood that he could be callous and ignorant at times. It was a part of his personality to be abrasive, insensitive. To his friends, however, he was a different person. He found it much easier to maintain a politely positive demeanour as he chatted with someone like Benny because he had no reason to feel uncomfortable or suspicious.

"I'm here with my sister, actually," Josh decided to explain in case the little blonde came back earlier than expected. He realised then that he'd never even told Benny that he had a sister. Most people, even friends, didn't know the next thing about him. That was the way that he liked it. The less things people knew, the less they had to work with when they were trying to manipulate or blackmail you in some way. Call his suspicions ridiculous if you will, but Josh was confident that they could save him from messing up again like he had in the past. "Haven't seen her, have you? She's blonde, kind of short, always smiling about something or another..." He trailed off with a bit of an amused smirk. He loved his baby sister, he really did. He wondered if Benny had perhaps passed anyone meeting her description. Even though they'd parted ways for the moment that did not mean he wasn't worrying about the girl and her well-being. He was her big brother, after all. He'd happily kick the shit out of anyone that harmed her—or try to, anyway. When it came to those he loved, he was both ruthless and reckless. He'd stood up against a full-fledged Water more than capable than kicking his ass before when Nell was threatened and it wouldn't be the last time he acted on impulse like that. "You here with anyone?" Benny looked to be alone, but Josh couldn't be sure.