* BURN YOUR KINGDOM DOWN, [gale]

[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell was always doing something new every day, always trying something. There was no flavor to life if you couldn’t experiment, not in her eyes. And she loved to experiment, whether it was actual experimentation in a lab which her father was iffy about allowing her to go to, or in a mansion where she should not have been experimenting. She was actually very careful about it. She didn’t consider it her mansion, after all, it was more like a public space she was just occupying. And sometimes it certainly felt that way with the staff and just how large it was. Like living in a mall or something. She still needed to get used to the grander things in life, having something like this to call her own. Except it wasn’t really her own. She could consider the garden her own, now, what with the maze she created out of it, a part of the mansion that was always in flux, always changing. She guessed it was pretty representative of her as a person. Fickle and impulsive, that was a good way to describe her, even if she didn’t think about it like that. She didn’t think about herself, so how could she choose proper words to describe her? She certainly didn’t understand herself, mostly because she didn’t try.

That was espcially not her focus in this moment, as she held the sticks in her hand, touching the butane lighter to their tips so that they ignited and their scent filled the room. ”I went on a trip with my friend, recently,” she explained to Gale as she placed the incense around the room in their little holders. In the center of the floor she had set up mats for meditating, a book like the one she had on yoga that she had read once. ”We went to Chinatown, and I got these.” She waved the sticks around. ”Along with, you know, food.” Couldn’t go anywhere without getting food, now could she? Gale knew her well enough by now to understand that. There were definitely things you found out quickly when befriending her. A love for eating, for cars like the one she was fixing up in the garage, and a love for mischief. She didn’t usually bring people over because it didn’t feel appropriate sometimes, but she was getting a bit better with that. And she trusted Gale to be over here. Even though maybe she should not have been trusted too much. She didn’t even know about his fear of fire, she was just focused on lighting them up. What was the harm in incense.

Clearly, there was some as the room was getting hazy. How any sticks had she lit now? It had to be about forty, she believed. But they were just scented sticks. ”Getting a little headrush, now,” she said, blinking. And the smoke was getting thicker by the millisecond. See, Nell didn’t think these things through very often. She thought of something, she liked it, and she went about to see if she could accomplish it. She should have learned her lesson with Devin, when they lit the smoke bombs in the abandoned store and got taken in by the police. One of her most lovely nights, if she remembered correctly. Well, it was made better by her friend’s presence, that was for sure. Being locked in always made her feel uncomfortable. The grey smoke was becoming hard to see through, and she coughed, blinking. She really should have considered the fact that whenever she lit one individually, she could see the grey plumes of smoke from the single one in its holder. And now they were around the room, on the floor and on tables and cushions for that whole tantric Chinese thing. The smog was heavy, and she opened the window, waving a hand in front of her face. She pulled Gale along with her as she climbed down to the next landing roof, letting the smoke exit through the window. ”All right, I guess we should wait her for a little bit.”

[robbie]

Meeting new friends was something Gale always enjoyed. Nell had practically saved him from her half brother. He still felt almost in her debt. The bruise was still visible on his face, but not nearly as bad as it had been when it first happened. These things took a while to go away, so he didn't let it bother him too much. People had finally stopped asking where it came from, so that made it better. It had gotten quite irritating with people always bugging him about it. About how he should put ice on it, go to the nurse, etc. He eventually did go see a nurse and put ice on it, and took some pain pills for a couple days. Around here, the nurses where used to things like that. People where always getting into fights around here. Gale just wished he had fought back.

Someday. He thought to himself, as he watched Nell pull out the in cents. The fact that he was terrified to death of fire wasn't apparent yet. His heart was already starting to race, and he fiddled with the edge of his shirt a little bit. Everytime he saw fire he just thought about his dad being burned alive in a fire. He was a water elemental, too. And he couldn't escape. Fire and smoke, just the thought made him want to start hyperventilating. He looked at Nell and nodded as she spoke. "Oh yeah?" He replied, more as just something to add in. Not really a legit part of the conversation. "Well of course, I couldn't see you going too long without food." He laughed, almost sounding a little forced, but not too much. "So, Chinatown? Where exactly is that?" He asked, hoping it didn't sound stupid. He had hardly ever been out of the hollow his whole life. Duh, Gale, it's probably in China.

The smell of smoke was starting to fill his lungs as she lit more of the inscents. It was suffocating. Probably more so to him than anybody else, because he felt like his lungs where going to collapse. He tried not to breath, and practically froze as the smoke started to fill the room. Was this what it felt like for my father? "Y-yeah just a little bit." He sputtered out. He didn't want to seem like he was scared of the fire, of the smoke. Everybody had fears though, right? His wasn't even around until his father was killed in that fire. He always imagined the same thing happening to himself. And while that wasn't happening now, obviously, the smoke made images flash through his mind. Images that he couldn't shove down. Images of his father.

He was practically frozen stiff, the smoke just engulfed him. His thoughts where clouded. Images flashing through his mind that he couldn't stop. That was until Nell opened the window, snapping his thoughts out of him. He took a deep breath, ending in a minor coughing fit. She started dragging him out the window and he followed, making sure not to look down. His fear of heights was something else he didn't like. His head hurt, from the rush of images that had flown through his mind at a million miles an hour. "Al- alright that sounds good." He stuttered out, coughing a couple times as he stepped onto the roof. Just to see how far up they where, he decided to peek down, and the sight almost made him fall. He sunk against the wall, his eyes wide as he blinked a few times, his heart thumping as he glanced up at her. Y-your sure there isn't something.. you know... closer to the ground? " He almost choked out. He hated showing people his fears, but he felt almost like there was no getting out of this now. Either go back into the room filled with smoke, or sit out on the roof. At least the roof wouldn't suffocate him. At least not on purpose. He felt like his heart was pounding faster than ever at this moment.

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[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell snorted at Gale's question. Where is Chinatown? "Everywhere! You can find them in every province, I bet. Several cities even." Usually tourists found them when getting lost, actually. She'd never been there before, so she was glad she got the chance. It wasn't the same as actually going to China, but it was still interesting to see the language all over. Like in the neighborhood where she used to live, they'd all speak Spanish, mostly Latin American Spanish from what she could hear. "We went to the one in Vancouver. It was huge, and had pavilions and everything." Nell liked different cultures, and their architectures were something that constantly astounded her and why they were so different everywhere she went.

At least the incense smelled good, unfortunately now it was overpowering. At Gale's words, she thought he was just concerned about the fact she was going to burn the place down or something. "Don't worry, we just have to let the smoke out, it'll be fine after a while." Luckily, none of the cats were around, she didn't want them to inhale all of the smoke. It couldn't have been healthy for animals. He was still stuttering when they went out to the roof, something that she thought was strange. She had no problem being on the third floor and looking down below at the back of the house, at her garden maze and the lake in back with the yacht. God, sometimes it really was crazy thinking about where she'd been and where she was now.

She scooted up a little bit so that she wouldn't fall off the slanted roof. It was rough underneath her butt. At least the sun wasn't very hot, and it was a pretty climate autumn day. She wore her yoga pants and an Underarmour shirt, so that kept her warm enough. The girl grinned cheekily at his question and said, "Not unless you jump, vato." A lot of her friends liked sitting out on the roof of their house with her if they had a way to get there. It was thrilling and dangerous feeling, especially if one had to climb over things to get there. "Are you all right?" she asked the Water student, concerned about how choked up he sounded, how wide his eyes were.

[robbie]

Gale was really starting to feel like he lived a pretty lame life. He had hardly been out of the Hollow. Sure, they left to visit family in other area's, but he hadn't really been out of Canada. He had been to Vancuver, as she was talking about, but hadn't ever been to said 'China' town. "Interesting." He responded, twisting his lip up for a moment as if he was thinking. "Maybe I will have to check it out sometime. It sounds neat." He said with a small nod. It did sound cool. He liked learning about other cultures, and he could only assume Chinatown was based off Chinese culture. That would be dumb to name a place Chinatown only to have it based off, say, European culture. He just couldn't fathom that.

Gale hardly noticed the fact that the inscents actually smelled good. It was strong, and the smoke was suffocating. He thought it was more so the fact that he could hardly breath that was making it feel that way. He could hardly breath because his terror was at level 100 right now. He was trying his best not to show it, but he could hear his heart beat thudding in his ears, and his stuttering probably wasn't helping that much. "S-sounds good." He said, trying to steady his breathing. Everything was ragged and uneven and he wasn't sure his words where even coming out coherant. That was the difference between a dislike and a phobia. A phobia made you shake and sweat, and something that you really couldn't stand. Made you feel like you where going to have a heart attack.

That was where Gale was at right now. The air made him feel better, but he would feel a lot better if the air was not on the roof. He thought as long as he didn't look down again it might be alright. He swallowed before speaking, trying to calm himself down a bit. "Think I will skip on the jumping." He let out a bit of a nervous chuckle, before biting his lip. He tried to smile a little at Nell, and nodded as she asked him if he was okay. He didn't want to tell her that he was terrified to death of heights. Fear made you weak. "Y-yeah I'm okay. As long as I stay here anyways." He said, running his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to go anywhere near the edge. Falling off the roof would not be fun. At all.

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[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell had a great idea then, when he said that he wanted to go sometime. "Bro, I can totally take you," she said. "Well, if I remember where it is. I'm usually good with driving directions." Most of the time. Though one shouldn't trust the girl who could get lost in her own house. Directions weren't her forte, but she knew how to get from place to place, she was clever enough. Hell, she made it from New York to British Columbia, she could make it back to Vancouver and find Chinatown. Or she could get intentionally lost, because people seem to find it pretty easily that way.

Nell was getting really worried about Gale. He seemed to be having some sort of panic attack, though she couldn't be sure if that was actually it. She'd had a few of her own, one of the most recent being when she was kidnapped and the two shitheads locked her in a closet. No, the jail cell with Devin had also freaked her out quite a bit, as well. Why did small, locked spaces have to exist? "Well good, don't want you to go breaking something." She may have lived with an aspiring doctor, but he wasn't around, and she didn't want her friend to get hurt. She had been considering pushing him a little as if she would push him off the roof, but now she didn't think so. Was the roof scaring him?

She blinked at him before a small smile found its way to her lips. "Well, don't plan on moving you or anything." Nell looked over her shoulder, toward the room with its billowing smoke. "It think it'll be okay in like...a half hour once all the smoke gets out." The Earth girl scratched the back of her head. "Guess I shouldn't have lit all them, huh." Well, looked like they were going to need something to occupy their time, since it would take a little while for all the smoke to circulate and go out of the room. "How about we play I spy?" she suggested. She loved games. "I spy with my little eye...something green." She smiled slyly. There was a lot of green out in the backyard.

[robbie]

Gale was glad he had met Nell. She was a nice girl, and although she was a few years older, she was fun to be around. Her and Josh both where, and it was almost an honor to having been invited to their house. He had no idea that they lived in such a nice house. He knew Josh was fairly well off, from the sight of his car, but still. A house like this didn't just fall into somebodies hands. Well, not usually anyways. He had no idea how Josh actually acquired the house. He was a college student. It was rare for a college student to actually have a lot of money. Hell, it was rare for -any- student to actually have a lot of money. "Really? That would be awsome!" Gale said, a smile spreading across his face. "Who needs directions? Getting lost is half the fun!"

He was always looking for some way to have fun. Getting lost wasn't on his list of favorite things to do, but it would give them a reason to explore. Even if Nell had seen it all there was to see around there, there was always something new. Even if it was a new tree, a new blade of grass... there was always something new. This here, was new for Gale. He had been on heights before, that was how he knew his fear of heights. He always told himself as long as he didn't look down, it would be okay. He however made the mistake of glancing down when he had gotten out here. That set him into an almost sensational sense of panic. Two things in the whole world that made him feel this way and both of them where happening at the same time. Fire and heights. "Heh, yeah. Guess not." He said, his voice sounding almost a little choked up still.

His palms where sweating a little, as he wrapped his arms around his knee's. It wasn't from the heat or anything, it was from the sheer panic that was racing through his veins at this moment. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. He didn't want Nell to think he was a chicken or laugh at him for being scared of heights. Or fire. It was stupid, right? The fire he had a real reason for. After all, his father had been burned alive in one. The flashbacks. The memories... He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thought and focused back on Nell. "Probably not." He said, trying to force a small laugh. He wasn't sure how convincing it came across. Then she suggested playing eye spy, and he raised an eyebrow, forcing a small smile. "Green... hmm..." He said, biting his lip a little. He kept his eyes as level with the horizon as possible, really not wanting to look down. "Is it that tree?" He said, squinting and pointing to a tree a little ways away. "Or that one... or that one..."

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[NELL DOE DALE]

Gale's words brightened Nell. He knew exactly how to live. Well, in her mind. They both seemed to be optimists, and she appreciated that. "Like an adventure!" she cried out. Oh how she loved an adventure. That's how she usually considered it when she got lost, and she was glad that the Water elemental held to a similar standard as she. And feeling this kinship with Gale, she felt distressed as she noticed just how panicked he was. She slid over closer, pressing her side against him to provide physical comfort. It was something she always appreciated, the companionship of another person, so she figured it'd be the same for Gale in his time of need. The girl didn't like to see him this way, so off and upset. It always struck her deeply to see someone suffering, especially a friend. And she felt powerless to stop this suffering. They could only wait until the smoke cleared up and they could climb back in. She hoped it was soon as she looked over her shoulder, watched the haze. It seemed to be clearing up, or maybe that was just her hopefulness speaking. She didn't know.

I spy could be a fun game. She remembered when she learned it, on her "roadtrip" from New York to Canada when she hitched a ride from a frazzled looking blond woman. Nell remembered the lines around her mouth and the way she tapped her hand against her mouth when frustrated. Her name was Dolly. She had four kids, was a teamster who rarely saw her family. The girl had luckily chosen some of the best people to hitch a ride from. So many times she could have ended up in a terrible position, but she came out alive. As a fugitive. She didn't like to think on her past too much. Nell smiled as he pointed at the landscape, seemingly focused on it. "No, no, no, no," she told him each time he pointed out a tree, grinning devilishly. "Jeez, you suck at this game." Friendly ribbing, she only ever had compliments for people. Like how she enjoyed how cool Gale was, his calm demeanor that played so well off of hers. There were a lot of things about him she could compliment. "It's that patch of grass over there," she told him, pointing. She could definitely be a troll a lot. "Your turn."

Thinking of ways to take Gale's mind off all this, she decided to talk about something pointless. "I know a lady who can breathe fire. Not even a Fire elemental." She nodded her head as if to verify this. "She said she'd teach me some tricks. You wanna come?" It sounded dangerous, but woman had told her that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Even a novice could be good at it. And Nell caught on quickly enough, which was a good thing for her. Hopefully she wouldn't burn her mouth or anything like that, but she doubted it. "Has Rafael been causing you any problems lately?" was her next tactic, because this was something she was honestly concerned about. He was a problem that she wished would disappear, but such was not possible. She felt weak in the path of his destruction, and all she could do was ask trivial questions like this.