Collide;;; Josh

[farleigh]

It felt good to be working again. She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed her work, how good it made her feel to make progress. It was nice to have things to fill up her head with other than her own thoughts.

It felt good to have her own space, as well. She’d had the office adjusted to suit her tastes prior to moving into it, adding a large tank full of tropical fish to one wall. She’d also shopped, and looked every bit the business woman. She was dressed in a knee length red pencil skirt, black dress shirt, and black heels.

Stretching, Farleigh shut her laptop and slid it into its bag, and gathered up her books and notepad. She stood, arms full, and scanned the office one more time to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything she’d need tonight. Despite being done in the office for the day, Farleigh would work some more once she got home and had some dinner. Her mind was already working away, turning things over and toying with ideas and questions. It felt good to have a purpose.

She locked the office door behind her, dropping the keys on top of the pile in her arms and starting down the hall. She’d stop at the Indian place on the corner to grab something quick for dinner and bring it home with her, then relax for a bit before dealing with a couple of loose ends from her father’s estate and digging back into work. There were a few things she wanted to brush up on her knowledge of, and a couple of things she needed to double check.

As wrapped up in her own thoughts as she was, Farleigh wouldn’t have even noticed if someone shouted her name. She definitely wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, so when she rounded the corner, she walked straight into someone coming the opposite way. Books and notes dropped everywhere, and thank god the laptop bag was over her shoulder, or she’d have dropped that too as she lost her balance.

[JOSH CLARK]

It had definitely been a bad day. Dropping things, forgetting others, rowdy students that refused to cooperate, the darkroom door getting stuck and trapping one of the students for a while; there was a big list of things. The most important thing to him on that list, not surprisingly to anyone that knew him, was that he'd left his guitar and case in the teacher's lounge in his rush to not be late for a class. Luckily enough for him, his baby was unharmed and still where he had left it earlier in the day. Joshy had spent a while in the teacher's lounge checking it over just to be sure. He honestly hadn't realized how late it had gotten until he'd received a text from his best friend asking where the hell he was. After he'd sent a quick text stating he wasn't going to be able to make it that evening while apologizing for getting distracted, Josh had left the teacher's lounge to start home. He was greatly looking forward to the moment he could walk into his apartment and shut the door, locking out the rest of the world sans the cat he shared an apartment with. His friends had gotten him the cat a few years ago when the animal had still been a kitten as a joke, but the little shit, as Josh so lovingly called it, stayed around anyway. Josh liked cats much better than dogs or anything after all. Sure they could be annoying attention whores, but you didn't have to do too much to take care of them, which was the best part.

There should have been absolutely no surprise that Josh turned the corner in the hall, only to run straight into someone because he wasn't paying attention to anything beyond the want to just get out of there. "Shit," he swore under his breath as books and papers fell out of the young woman's arms, reaching out to help steady her before she fell over or something. "Fuck, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Once he was sure she wasn't going to join the objects on the ground, he immediately set aside the guitar case to be able to bend over and start picking up the spilled papers and things. Just leaving there was wrong and Josh always felt a compulsion to assist in helping pick up messes he even unintentionally helped to make.

tag;; farleigh
word count;; 403
notes;; ohai ^^
muse;; oblivious and... well, no, that sums it up
credit;; graphics and form: alice. lyrics: "celebrity status", marianas trench.

[farleigh]

[

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry!”

Farleigh laughed, shaking her head at herself once she regained her balance –with help. What an embarrassing way to meet someone for the first time, especially since it was her first day on the job. Hopefully it was no one too important, and conversely, hopefully it wasn’t a student. She tucked her hair behind her ear and bent down to pick up her scattered books and notes.

“Totally my fault, I should pay attention to where I’m walking.”

With help, it didn’t take long to gather her things up again, and it was only then that she looked up to see who she’d run into.

“I’m Farleigh, anyways, and you?”

She figured now was as good a time as any for introductions. Standing, Farleigh straightened her shirt and adjusted her laptop bag on her shoulder. She assumed this guy was a teacher, he didn’t look young enough to be a student, and she hadn’t met him before so that meant he was not an administrator.

Getting a better look at him, Farleigh thought she might have met him before. She couldn’t put a name to the face though, or remember an occurrence...

“Have you... lived in New York long?”

She frowned for a second, thinking. If he had, there was no way they would have met, because she’d never lived in New York. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d met him before...

[JOSH CLARK]

Josh couldn't help but laugh over the vague similarity of the situation. Only this time there wasn't a book cart involved and he wouldn't have a bruise from the blasted thing. Shaking his head a little, Josh gave a smile and said, "Nah, can't take all the blame. Wasn't paying much attention, either." Once again, it was a situation where neither person was truly at fault. Josh made a mental note to go bug Ros sometime soon, ambush her with his friends maybe. After the books and papers had been returned to their owner, Josh stood up and grabbed his guitar case, never trusting it on a hallway floor too long because someone could trip over it. He flicked his bangs out of his eyes as she introduced herself and replied, "I'm Josh." With a smile, he shifted his weight to one side slightly and fixed his hold on the guitar case. Looking Farleigh over, Josh couldn't help but think she looked really young still. It possibly meant she was knew to the staff as well, but he didn't feel the need to mention anything about that assumption.

At her next question, Josh nodded with a smile, trying to ward off the feeling that he's forgetting something again seeing as he was clutching on to the most important thing he'd forgotten."Yeah, I've lived in this area my whole life," he said in answer. Josh hadn't ever been one of those types to run far away from home as soon as he could. He liked the familiarity of the area along with the fact there always seemed to be something new to see. "You?" His response was mostly to cover the fact he wasn't quite sure what to say as he rested the guitar case on the ground, carefully holding it upright with one hand so it wouldn't fall or become a tripping hazard. Josh wasn't in an overly social mood and would much rather be at home, picking away at his guitar; but, he wasn't about to be rude and just kinda blow the girl off when he had run into her, even if they were both at fault. Plus, he could all but hear his best friend reminding him that social interaction was a good thing and other bullshit like that he'd been told repeatedly as a way to get him out of his apartment.

tag;; farleigh
word count;; 396
notes;; i've got mtn.dew \o/
muse;; still oblivious, though forgetful and slightly anti-social at the moment
credit;; graphics and form: alice. lyrics: "celebrity status", marianas trench.

[farleigh]

“We’re even, then.”

Farleigh smiled, all traces of embarrassment gone. She shifted her armload of stuff so it was more comfortable, and gave up trying to remember if she had indeed met him before.

Josh? No, she couldn’t remember ever meeting a Josh before. Maybe he just looked like someone she’d had a class with or something like that. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been important. Especially since he’d lived in New York his whole life. That blew the class theory out of the water, and Farleigh decided it wasn’t important enough to think about too much.

“I moved here yesterday.”

She’d been to New York City once before. That was all.

“I was staying in Brazil, before.”

Paris, before that. Madrid for a month. Then Germany. And so on. She hadn’t lived anywhere longer than three months in the past few years in a deliberate attempt to avoid needing to deal with any sort of reality. Her father’s death had, of course, ground that to a halt, and coming home to settle his affairs had woken her up a bit.

“Are you on your way out? I’ll walk you to your car, to make sure you don’t take anyone else out.”

She was teasing, clearly, playful grin on her face. They could walk to the parking lot together, instead of standing awkwardly at the corner of the hallway. Besides, as much as Farleigh wanted to make friends, she was also starving –as evidenced by a small growl from her belly- and had a few things she still wanted to do tonight.

[JOSH CLARK]

He nodded a little when she said she'd just moved there the day before. It definitely reconfirmed his thought that she was new to the school staff, though he wasn't about to try to guess her position because he knew he'd probably end up being wrong. "Well, welcome to Cinders and Lux Lucis," he told her with a friendly smile, flicking his bangs out of his eyes. Joshua couldn't quite stop the look of surprise that crossed his face when Farleigh said that she'd been in Brazil. He couldn't figure out why someone would want to come to Cinders of all places if they'd been somewhere else. It'd always been his goal to move out of the country, but he'd put that one on the very back burner in comparison to some others. "That's quite a change," was all he said in response, however. It was a way to leave it open to explain why she was there if she so wished without him asking something that could be more personal than something you'd just openly share with a stranger.

When Farleigh asked if he was on his way out, Josh nodded a little. The tall man couldn't help but laugh at her statement of walking him to his car to avoid other collisions. "How chivalrous," he stated with a laugh. "Does that make me the damsel in distress...? Or the damsel causing distress, whichever the case may be." Josh laughed slightly at his lame comment but smiled and flicked his hair out of his eyes, picking his guitar case back off the ground, gesturing toward one of the many exits. "Well, if you insist on walking me to my car to stop any accidents, you should lead the way or at least start walking 'cause just standing here's not doing much good." He flashed a friendly smile in her direction and waited for her before actually starting to walk toward whichever exit was needed.

tag;; farleigh
word count;; 325
notes;; kinda short but eh
muse;; so lame it's kinda cute XD
credit;; graphics and form: alice. lyrics: "celebrity status", marianas trench.

[farleigh]

“Thanks.”

Farleigh smiled charmingly, shifting her books in her arms. She debated for a split second what and how much to explain about why she was back in America now.

“It is. I’ve been travelling for a long time though, so it doesn’t feel as strange as it might. I suppose it’s time for me to get on with life, you know? Start a career and all of that.”

She didn’t feel ready for it. She was still so young, but so qualified. She’d done so much that it was a bit frightening to settle down. She owned a home for the first time ever (two, if you wanted to be technical, since there was no real reason to sell the house in California). She had a job. A car, and some semblance of stability. Something she had not had for years now.

“Damsel causing distress, most definitely.”

Had her arms not been full, she would have held one out for him to place his hand on, all in good fun, of course. She stuck out her tongue at him, and started walking towards the parking lot. At least, she hoped she was heading the right direction. She thought so, but since it was her first day...

“I don’t know my way completely, so forgive me if I steer us wrong by accident.”

[JOSH CLARK]

Josh nodded a little as she explained about traveling. He couldn't really relate, but could understand that thought process. The farthest he'd ever gone from home was Las Vegas a few times in the past few years. It'd always been a want to actually do something with his music and get to tour, but so far there wasn't much luck. Josh still had hope, but it didn't take him away from his photography or film either. Somehow he managed to balance his strengths really well and still spend most of the week in a classroom. Lack of sleep could definitely be accredited for that. Damsel causing distress, most definitely. Josh laughed and smiled at that, flicking his bangs out of his eyes again. "I think I can handle that role quite well. Might needta grow my hair out a bit or something, though. 'Cause don't damsels have like... long, beautiful hair or something like that?" Josh actually had no idea what he was talking about. At that point he was just talking to talk, and hopefully get a laugh or two along the way. After all, he might be older but he was still very much the "class clown" wanting to make people smile and laugh.

At her statement of not quite knowing her way around, Josh flashed her a warm smile. "Fear not, Lady Knight," he told her. "You're not the only one still completely lost and turned around here." Josh hadn't been at the school very long, just since the start of the term, and he was still learning his way around. He knew where the library, the teacher's lounge, and his classroom was. Other than that he easily got all turned around and he often forgot where the parking lot actually was. Somehow that location seemed to want to slip his mind. He blamed the fact he was practically a zombie when he got to the school in the mornings. Yes, that was definitely to blame. "I'd offer to play Tour Guide Ken for you, but I'd probably just get you all lost or something and then I'd feel bad. Plus, I'm not quite sure I can pull off those shorts Ken wears."

tag;; farleigh
word count;; 373
notes;; lol i've no idea
muse;; dorky and just dorky
credit;; graphics and form: alice. lyrics: "celebrity status", marianas trench.

[farleigh]

“Generally, yes, they do.”

Farleigh agreed with a nod, purely out of amusement at the idea of this man with long, flowing hair. She couldn’t picture it working at all. It showed in her grin. She didn’t think she’d laughed and joked around so much in years, and it was a strange feeling.

She turned down the hall she thought led to the parking lot, walking slower than her usual brisk pace in order to maintain a relaxed conversation.

Tour Guide Ken. She couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head at how brazen he was, how easily he just threw the randomest words out there like they mattered not at all. It was an attitude that was completely foreign to her, so used to playing the poised and proper doll.

“Well, you can relax, Tour Guide Ken, because I’ve got it under control.”

Farleigh joked back with a smile, stepping out of the school and into the parking lot.

“You don’t look like the Ken-shorts type, though, I will agree with you there.”

Farleigh shifted her books again, spotting her car in its spot towards the back of the lot. She’d spent a fair bit of money on the car, and gotten it in silver to balance out its flashiness. It was perhaps a silly purchase, but she’d needed a car, and she’d been so stressed that a bit of shopping therapy hadn’t seemed like such a big deal. The next thing she knew, she was driving across the states to her new home in New York, in a Porsche.

“Think you can take care of yourself from here?”

She teased, smile easy and bright on her face.

sucky post is sucky. i sorry.

[JOSH CLARK]

A thoughtful expression crossed his face after Farleigh agreed that damsels usually had long and flowing hair. With an overly dramatic sigh, Josh shook his head a little and said, "Well, then, I guess the whole damsel bit is gonna have to wait a while. Got an appointment to cut and recolor my hair soon. After that, then maybe I can start on the whole flowy hair thing. Until then I can manage the "causing distress" part just fine."

Josh smiled and nodded when when she said that she could handle the whole leading around thing. You don’t look like the Ken-shorts type, though, I will agree with you there. He couldn't help but laugh again, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I don't quite have the legs for it." He mocked a sigh of disappointment though there was a smile on his face anyway. Josh honestly wasn't one to care too much about appearance, especially his own. It was really always just used as another reason to joke around. Joshy was actually kind of surprised to find that they were at the parking lot already, mostly 'cause he'd been too focused on his thoughts to pay attention to where they were. His gaze focused on the slightly beat up, older car that he owned. It was a beast, but it ran and it still got amazing gas mileage. What else could he ask for? It wasn't the most attractive of cars, but he'd rather spend money on music or film equipment than a vehicle. He smiled as he looked from the car he and his friends had lovingly called "Fat Jesus" back to Farleigh. "Y'know, I think I'm good from here. Thank you, Lady Knight, for assuring I caused nobody else distress." He made and over-dramatic bow before straightening up and saying, "Oh wait... damsels don't bow. Eh, close enough." With a slight laugh, Josh started walking toward his car, though still facing Farleigh. "Guess I'll see you around, then." He didn't want to be rude or anything, but he was so close to being able to go home, and he just wanted to get out of there.

tag;; farleigh
word count;; 356
notes;; \o/
muse;; awkward, dorky, and still anti-social
credit;; graphics and form: alice. lyrics: "celebrity status", marianas trench.