Farm Girl

Earthbender || 29 || Ascendor Grad

[dakota-nash]

Library Wakeup|| Dakota&Leo

[lascendor]

"Whatever it is that you’re so nervous about, I promise I won’t do it, ok?" Leo did his best to try and calm Dakota before she did something she’d regret in her frazzled frame of mind. Really he didn’t mean to, if he’d known it was her up here he really wouldn’t have offered to be the one to check. 

Play nice. It was literally the one and only thing they had agreed between each other when they broke it off. Be nice, be civil. If that wasn’t possible then just turn away. But despite the awkward tension that hung in the air, Leo would try his damnedest to be the adult here. I mean, how mad could she still be at him? It had been a few months… there was no way, she was still as angry as she had been, right? Fuck, who was he kidding?

"Yea, hi. Want coffee? I swear it’s exactly how you like it." He shook the coffee cup he’d gotten from the cafe a few ways down before setting it down within her reach to take or reject. By some coincidence, or maybe it was just an acquired taste he picked up from her, they liked their coffee in the same way. 

"Look, I think we need to talk."

[dakota-nash]

Her ears perked up at coffee. While she had to admit this was awkward as anything coffee would help to make things at least more manageable. She reached out to grab the coffee. Inhaling deeply before she took a healthy sip. It was the perfect temperature and he had made sure to keep the perfect balance of sugar to coffee. 

She set the coffee back down. Sliding it over to him. He obviously hadn't brought it just for her so she knew well enough not to take away someone else's coffee. 

"Look, I'm sorry for falling asleep. I just lost track of time. I didn't mean to bother you. We can just forget the whole thing." 

She knew that wasn't what he meant but she couldn't totally bring herself to have that conversation just yet. At least not without a lot of push, or maybe just a really stiff drink. Or 50 stiff drinks. The whole situation was enough to send off the 'This is awkward' bells in her head. 

[jamie-cheung]

"Nice to meet you, Dakota," Jamie smiled, then watched as she began to dance. "Is that some sort of, ah, dance?" They asked, confused. Back at their home, there wasn’t much of that sort of thing. But once the airbender moved here, friends they acquired took them to ‘clubs’ to slowly educate them, especially since they did compose music.

[dakota-nash]

"Oh no. I was just..." Dakota stopped herself. She ran a hand through her hair and couldn't help but feel her cheeks blush. She had a knack for reading the situation in correctly.

"Anyway. Where you having fun with the handstand thing?" Jamie looked familiar but she just couldn't quite place it.

[axel-alstrohm-deactivated201808]

Pursing his lips, Axel furrowed his knitted his brows together in confusion. “And what good do you think studying a book that isn’t mine — and one that I’m assuming doesn’t follow my course outlines — would do me?” With a slight shake of his head, he leant down beside his chair. It annoyed him when people left things lying around the library desks, especially when he needed to study — preferably at a desk by himself, as he would rather study alone. Grasping a bag, he lifted it towards the woman. “Looking for this?”

[dakota-nash]

"Oh no I doubt anyone would be interested in these books rather than me." She reached out and grabbed the bag. She felt like she had to explain herself to someone who was basically a stranger to her. But that was just her nature. 

"See the thing is I kind of ran off in a hurry earlier this morning and forgot the books." Again she used hand motions. Granted she shouldn't have cared about what he thought about her. But after having run into her ex after spending all night in the library had been enough to frazzle her. 

[axel-alstrohm-deactivated201808]

Sitting hunched over a table, Axel turned the pages of his textbook. Though he weren’t really paying attention to the content, he sighed loudly as he noticed someone standing before him. Rolling his eyes, he looked up. “What do you want?”

[dakota-nash]

Dakota had been searching the library for the book she had left. While it wasn't very important to her research but she didn't like the idea of her books just being left some where. When she had questioned the student worker they claimed no one had touched her the desk she had been resting at the night before. When she noticed that there was someone at her desk she had tried to wait it out hoping that they would get bored but sadly they had not. 

"Oh um.. I just.." She pointed toward the book, rolling her lips under her teeth before pulling them back into a smile. 

"That's my book."

[jamie-cheung]

"Thanks," they smiled as they regained their balance. "I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I’m Jamie."

[dakota-nash]

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I'm Dakota and this is about all I can do." 

[dakota-nash]

Library Wakeup|| Dakota&Leo

[lascendor]

He wasn’t expecting this. Talk about a way to start the early morning. When the first years that were working in the library part-time asked if he could check on the lady that never moved from her spot, you know… make certain she was still among the living and all, Leo hadn’t imagined it would be her. What he had been hoping for was just any old student that was working too hard and hey, he couldn’t blame them for wanting to catch a cat nap.

Technically he did get what he’d hoped for.

As he was nearing her, just a few tables over, she held up her book. Oh uh hi. Really good book. She must have been still half asleep. Cross pollination in swamp communities, that was so …. like her. “If you say so, you were always interested in things like that.” He said in afterthought. 

"You know you’d probably sleep a lot better if you slept in your own bed." He lamely suggested. 

[dakota-nash]

Dakota began to nod her head  as a small smile spread over her lips. She could slowly feel her body begin to wake up. She had always been a slow riser one that needed coffee within five minutes if she was going to be any sort of aware for the rest of the morning. But knowing that her french press was all the way back in Graduate village she tried to make due by rubbing her eyes. 

"Mmm, you've got a good point." She ran another hand through her hair. As her eyes started to focus she could feel her heart come to a crashing halt. 

Oh shit.

Her hands stopped in her hair before the fell onto the table. She dry swallowed as her mind raced with what exactly it was she was supposed to do in this situation. Granted they had left on pretty cordial terms but that did not mean at all that she was completely fine with the idea. 

A string of curse words began to rattle off in her head as she tried to formulate a plan. Her and Marls had spent a few night discussing what she would do in this plan. But to be honest those were plans that had come about after a lot of alcohol. And bending her way out of here while ficking him off would probably not work in this situation. Plus she liked the library too much to destroy it. 

"So... Hi." She bit her lower lip and looked back up at him. 

[jamie-cheung]

"Look at what I can do!" 

[dakota-nash]

"Oh nice very nice." 

[dakota-nash]

5, 6, 7

5.Do you chew on your straws?

No. People do that? I must not notice very much. 6.Have you ever been called a tease?

Well, um there was this one time. Um. Yeah skip!7.Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?

Have you tried to take the Herbology 222 exam? HAVE YOU? That thing is murder. 

[dakota-nash]

10-20

10.Are you a heavy sleeper?11.Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months?

Right now? Probably not. Honestly I've got enough on my plate. A six month relationship would take a big chunk of my time. And well it wouldn't be fair to the other person. 12.Are you mad at someone right now?

No. Nope. Why would you think that. 13.Do you believe in love?

I believe in all sorts of love. Yes I just dodged that question. 14.What makes you laugh no matter what?

Oh lord, it's the weirdest thing. But my family has this thing they do. Where my dad would take these little mounds of earth and basically make them talk. It's hilarious I promise. You'd have to be there. I promise no it really is. 15.Who was the last person you talked to?

Some person at the library. I may or may not have fallen asleep and they may or may not have caught me. It was awkward and lets just ignore the whole thing. 16.Do you get butterflies around the person you like?

Um, I don't have a person I fancy at the moment. But when I do see someone that strikes my fancy it's more of  glow all around me. If that makes sense. 17.Will you get married?

I have no idea. Being able to see the future is not my gift. I could go ask though. 18.When was the last time you smiled?

Like two seconds ago thinking about the whole talking mounds of earth.I promise it's funny. 19.Does anyone like you?

I wouldn't know. Do you know? Secrets don't make friends my friends. 20.Do you secretly like someone?

I'm assuming you mean like as in fancy and no. Not really. A few pretty faces have caught my eyes. 

[dakota-nash]

35-40

35.If you could move somewhere else, would you?

No strings attached? I'd love to tour Africa just in general. I'd love to see all the different types of people and culture and then on top of that it would be so much fun to see all the jungles and deserts. 36.Who was the last person you took a picture of?

Hmmm,. I don't take many photos of people. Normally just plants. I guess I probably took a picture with Marls the last time we went out. But I can't remember. 37.Can you live a day without TV?

Yup. Lived most of my life without one. But now that I've had one for a few years I have to admit they are night. 38.When was the last time you were extremely disappointed?

I thought I had bought the dark chocolate covered raisins but it was actually white chocolate and well that was just disappointing. 39.Three names you go by..

Nash, Dakota, and my brother's used to call me poopyhead but I don't know if that counts. 40.Are you currently in a relationship?

Nope been single for... a while... gotta love work. And other important things. I should go get a drink. 

[dakota-nash]

Library Wakeup|| Open

"Oof," Dakota picked her head out of the library book that she had apparently slept in yet again. Her late nights at the library have been coming more common now than ever. She felt silly for it being what appeared to be all night. Given by the early morning sun that was streaming through the windows. 

She ran a hand through her hair as she scanned the library. She thought she had made a clear escape when her eyes caught sight of someone just a few tables away from her. 

"Oh uh Hi. Really good book." She smiled awkwardly as she lifted the book attempting to show the person that she was serious.It was only then she noticed that the book she had been reading was "Cross pollination in swamp climates." 

[carinayvesa-blog]

Lean, mean and Green || Carina & Dakota

[carinayvesa-blog]

Dakota described another plant, oysterplant, but Carina shook her head at the thought. To put it simply, she did not like the name as much as cloudberry, and she had already set her mind on one kind of plant. “I think I will stick with cloudburry. In Luxembourg, I never saw one of these, so I am glad it will be a surprise.” In her head, Carina made an oath not to Google the plant when she got back to her dorm room.

"Fantastic! I could not possibly do much more than that for it. I am quite busy these days." She matched her smile with Dakota’s, grinning widely, and instantly felt lighter in her heart. "Take your time, I could not possibly imagine rushing you."

Remembering the past few days, and the impact that the nightmarish events had had on everyone, Carina considers Dakota’s current position. “How are you? I mean, after the past day or so. Maybe I am prodding, but I would like to know that someone is doing alright.” Carina herself had been quickly adjusting, as she was prone to do; after all, her baby was back in its rightful place and at its rightful size, and she could not be happier for that. Besides, many more people needed help coping with past events than she did, and she planned to assist them as much as possible. Dakota might be a good start.

[dakota-nash]

"Oh I'm doing fine. Been studying a lot for this test I have. And I've been doing a lot of focus on my research lately." Dakota fought to make sure that her true feelings were not unearthed while mentioning her research. It was not simply focus it was becoming her obsessed with, she was not going to let that dream go any farther than a dream. 

"What about you? Did something happen to prompt you to want something green?" Dakota pushed off of the  window sill and rocked slightly between the balls of her feet and her heel. Going slightly into Mountain pose. The grounded strong position was one of the first meditative moves she had learned regarding her earthbending. Using yoga to center herself had been her favorite. Getting in touch with herself and the earth had been amazing for her.

She had such control over what she could do and while she had been able to do small things before Clearbrook she felt like now she could even rival her brothers. Dakota wasn't sure when she was going to visit her home again. She hadn't been back for almost a year, but the idea of seeing her father and trying to explain why she had to go away in order to learn more was important than staying at the farm had never been a conversation she particularly enjoyed. 

"As for the cloudberry I'll do some research over the week and I'll probably go out looking for it next weekend if that if that's okay with you?" Dakota turned her head back over to the blonde. She half wanted to ask if Carina wanted to come with her to look for the cloudberry but she didn't know if the girl had other plans. Dakota wasn't one to push her plans on others. 

[dakota-nash]

Picking up the aftermath || Marls and Dakota

[marloes-bythesea-blog]

At Dakota’s words, Marloes blinks. The truth is she hadn’t noticed the weather once since she’d entered the castle to head for her afternoon classes. Even now she looks out the window and can’t properly register what she’s seeing. There are clouds, a sky. It’s overcast, the most common type of weather for northern England and snowflakes are beginning to fall from the heavy clouds. Again. “Lovely,” she intones flatly. There’s no more emotion left in her. Just numbness. A feeling of failure and a crawling stickiness in her gut.

Why did she run from them? Why evade the end that she justly deserves?

"Dakota…" Marloes begins. It takes another moment of steadying her breath before the were can go on. "Dakota. I don’t think I’m any good for you. I just—I’m dangerous. I know that. I’ve tried to deny it but it’s true."

Shaking her head, the woman moves to drop herself down onto the edge of her friend’s bed and buries her face in the palms of her hands. The merfolk had been upon her and she’d been convinced she was going to die. But then they’d vanished. Her fathers who stood in the background disappeared, though their self-righteous laughter still rang in her ears even now. It had been a dream, right? Or rather, a hideous living nightmare. Yet everything about it struck nerves in Marloes, cracking her usual confidence and self-assurance in who she is. She hadn’t been aware of how fragile it truly was until now.

[dakota-nash]

Hearing her friends words almost snap her out of the nightmarish fog that she had been in. The lives and heartache from the other families started to fade as the house mate she had known for most of her school career was falling apart in front of her.

"You are dangerous and I know that." Dakota pushed herself out of her chair, feeling the veil from the nightmare start to lift off of her. When she had focus she could be as stubborn as any earthbender.

"But that was something I knew when I signed up to be your friend. It was something I knew when I signed up to be your housemate." She moved to her bed and laid one hand on her friend's shoulder. The words were a bit clichéd and even she had to admit that but they seemed to fit.

As she moved closer she started to notice more of the subtle differences in Marloes' appearance. Her posture was that of someone who had just run a marathon against wolves. It flashed images of the night that Marloes had been attacked into Dakota's mind and it caused her heart to stiffen at the idea.

Dakota wrestled with the idea of asking what happened but didn't know if now was the time. If her friend wanted to relax and just forget or if she needed to process what had happened to her. Something had obviously happened. Her normally happy, snarky friend would never act like this without some sort of provocation. Instead she opted for silence at least for now.

[carinayvesa-blog]

[dakota-nash]

"Die Außen" Dakota tried the words out on her tongue. They were odd yet they sounded familiar and comforting to her. She hadn’t heard much German in her life. In fact the more she thought about it the harder it was for her to remember when she had heard it before. She knew it...

[dakota-nash]

Oh, well it's green with a orangish, yellow, red berry. Is that okay? There's another one that's also

really pretty called oysterplant that's more green and red, with these big leaves." She tried to show

with her hands the size of the leaves that could range from 5-7 inches about 2-3 inches wide. They

were pretty but were mostly green and red and not all that interesting to look at if you were just

passing by.

Dakota turned back toward the German girl. The language was very pretty and if it was long-winded

as Carina claimed. It felt odd that more people didn't speak it, since it took such craftmanship to

really work at the language. "But if it works for you, caring for it is really easy. Considering back in

Scotland it's almost considered a weed. You basically have to keep it in indirect sunlight an water it

once a week if the soil is dry. You could probably even go away for a week without anything

happening to it. It's a rather interesting little thing." Dakota smiled. She felt silly for smiling over and

over again but it was how one showed that they were friendly. And Dakota had always been

described as a bubbly. She still felt rather silly constantly smiling at the girl. But there was something

about her that just made someone want to smile.

"I might take a day or two to get it for you. If you don't mind. I just have to research the best spot to find it and then go out and look. I don't think many places sell cloudberry seeds anyway." Dakota didn't want to rush Carina away but she didn't want to think she could just make the plant appear out of thin air. She might be able to bend earth to her will but trying to pull something out of thin air was way out of her comfort zone.

[carinayvesa-blog]

Lean, Mean, and Green | Carina + Dakota

[carinayvesa-blog]

As Dakota stacked all of the books on her desk into a neat pile, Carina smiled widely, suddenly remembering the way that her sister Willow used to keep all of her things straight. She misses the first few words of Dakota’s answers because of her memories flooding in her mind, but she quickly puts her attention back on the brunette.

Rubus…what? The description of the plant sounded much better than its name, and so was the passion that immediately erupted on Dakota’s features as she spoke about plants. Carina assumed that she was practically an expert on anything and everything green.

"Oh! I forgot about that. Harvesting, that is. I would like to harvest something of my own. So perhaps this… Chamaemorus? Perhaps it will work for me. Yes." She takes a few steps toward Dakota’s desk and runs a finger over the cover of one of her books. At the mention of her native language, Carina furrows her brow. Why would anyone want to learn Deutsch? It sounds so violent. "Uh. Die Außen?” She catches herself sounding almost pretentious, the way that she forms the word, and tries to make up for it. “It is the German word for outside, yes. Another pretty word is… Feierabend. End of work.”

Carina smiles at the implication of her sentence, that the reason it was the most beautiful word in the German language was because of its English translation. “I mean, because of how it is said, not because of its meaning.” She was facing away from Dakota, looking at the cover of the book on the top of her pile, but she turns around to flash a bright smile at the other girl. Carina supposed that perhaps Dakota wouldn’t be such a bad friend. She quite enjoyed the fidgety, improper ways of her; they made her feel as though she didn’t have to be perfect. Besides, she would need someone to help her care for her little Pflanze.

[dakota-nash]

"Die Außen" Dakota tried the words out on her tongue. They were odd yet they sounded familiar and comforting to her. She hadn't heard much German in her life. In fact the more she thought about it the harder it was for her to remember when she had heard it before. She knew it sounded so familiar the more she said the word over and over in her head. But nothing was ringing true in her memory. 

"German is such a pretty language." She smiled as she kept her body facing the young woman. Dakota really started to notice just how much younger Carina was, obviously she was old enough to be going to Clearbrook but there was no way she was in the graduate or PhD. program. She would have noticed her at the mixers, if she didn't than Marls certainly would have noticed her. 

"Oh I should have used the common name for the plant shouldn't I? It's called a cloudberry, or mulberry depending on where you are." She had to give herself a small laugh. 

"Sorry, just odd that an earthbender would like a plant named after air which is the opposite of my element. Odd how the world works." She looked off into the window smiling at the small things that made the world work. 

"Now to think of where you could get some around here." Dakota mused as she began to chew on the inside of her cheek. She knew where it would be easy to find back in Scotland but she hadn't seen any recently. She knew it wouldn't be hard to find but she'd have to look for a bit. 

[carinayvesa-blog]

[dakota-nash]

"Oh," Dakota ran a hand through her hair and began to fidget with the flannel shirt she was wearing. She knew the girl hadn’t meant to be rude but Dakota had never really been one to wear nice things and taking in the clothes of the other woman Dakota really wished that she had...

[dakota-nash]

Dakota smiled at the blonde against the window. There was something about her. She brought light into the world and it was the oddest thing. Dakota had always been one to notice the natural beauty in things. It was one of the more normal things about herself. Granted she found a lot of beauty in the more workhorse plants of the world she could not deny the beauty in an English rose.

"Depends on the sort of person you are I guess." Dakota said, finally stopping herself form all the awkward fidgeting she had finally caught herself doing. "I would trust me. But then again I'd like to think I know myself pretty well." Dakota finished putting all of her books back in a neat stack at the corner of the desk.

"Hmm my favorite well that's not easy. I've got lots. And for many different reasons and uses. But probably the one that encompasses a lot of the different category would have to be Rubus Chamaemorus. It's such a cute plant, that has these delicious berries if you pick them at the right time. And the crazy thing is that they aren't farmed yet. At least not in mass for the most part people just pick them off the sides of the roads. They are just the oddest little berry plant flower. Rubus Chamaemorus yeah I think that would be my favorite. At least at this moment." Dakota leaned against the desk facing Carina. She grinned at her before she looked down at her feet, crossing them in front of her.

"But there are so many plants. There are actually a ton around here. If you wanted we could transplant something into a pot for you maybe? Get more of that. What did you call it? The outside for your room." Dakota shook her head, she felt like she was being so condescending with her wording and she had to correct herself. "You used a specific word for it, it was rather pretty. What was it?" She looked back up at the girl with the sun shining into the pale gold hair.

[carinayvesa-blog]

Lean, Mean, and Green | Carina + Dakota

[carinayvesa-blog]

Carina had not meant to startle the girl, but it had happened anyway. When the brunette lurched forward at the sound of her voice, Carina shrank back herself, feeling as though she had intruded on something. “I’m sorry.” Her words were small, and probably did not reach the girl as she turned around in her chair.

The girl’s stunned expression was something Carina expected; about half of the people that she met were taken aback by her appearance. “I am looking for a plant for my room,” she explained, “because I miss, uh, die Außen. Uh, outside.” As Carina lost a grasp on just which English word she wanted to use, she curled her lip up in disappointment. Some words just didn’t stick in her head, and because she prided herself on smooth speech, Carina was rather hard on herself when she slipped.

As the brunette takes a step toward her, her hand outstretched, Carina matches her movements and closes the space between them, grabbing Dakota’s hand in her own and shaking it softly. “I am Carina. I do not think we have met before.” After introducing herself, she nods her head softly and drops Dakota’s hand, as she was prone to do when meeting someone new. At a closer range, Carina takes a brief look at Dakota from head to toe, picking up on the red color in the pattern of her button-down.

"Your shirt is lovely. I wish that I could wear something like that." Carina had always wished that she could avoid wearing blouses and trousers and skirts, but she couldn’t, mostly because of the way that she was raised. She always felt a little foolish in comfortable clothes. Catching herself mid-thought, she brought her mind back to the matters at hand. "About that plant. I think I would like something green. Something easy to care for."

[dakota-nash]

"Oh," Dakota ran a hand through her hair and began to fidget with the flannel shirt she was wearing. She knew the girl hadn't meant to be rude but Dakota had never really been one to wear nice things and taking in the clothes of the other woman Dakota really wished that she had worn something other than her old farming clothes. 

True they were the most comfortable out of all her other clothes and she hadn't exactly planned on seeing anyone. "Well, a plant something green and easy to care for." She turned and looked out of the window behind her. 

"Well you certainly wandered into the right room. This is kind of my thing." She walked around the desk closing up the books she had around her. They would do nothing to help Carina. Unless she also wanted to breed her plant, but Dakota highly doubted that was on the girls mind. 

"What sort of plants do you like? Do you want more of a flower? Fern? Succulent? Cactus? There are lots of options." Dakota felt like she was rambling but she knew that there were so many options. All palnts were reasy to care for if you had the right touch. It shouldn't be all that difficult to find something for her.