"Here." he said, handing Aria a covered glass of her favourite pineapple juice. Aria took the glass and uncovered it before taking a huge sip. "You're a lifesaver Joseph! Where did you get this?" she asked.
Joseph shrugged as the two made their way away from the classroom, "I just saw a vendor selling juices while I went to the capital to pick up the thing you asked for. Knowing how much you loved pineapple juice, I decided to get it."
Aria nodded as she gratefully sipped on the juice. She highly doubted Joseph had seen a vendor selling pineapple juice. Pineapple was another one of Aria's favourite that was a luxury along with shrimps. It had slipped out once when they had been talking about the things they liked and Helen had said she liked pineapples.
Thankfully Joseph didn't press about how she had tasted pineapples while living in a small village as the two made their way towards a common room. The day was far too hot to be roaming around in the sun.
Aria was glad it had not been this hot when her wind bending exam had taken place, and thanked the heavens thst she wasn't one of the students giving practical exams today.
"You didn't answer my question." Joseph's words broke into Aria's thoughts and she turned to look at him, surprised.
He rolled his eyes, wondering if the heat had gotten to Aria's head as he repeated, "How were your exams?"
"Oh. Wind bending was of course a breeze. I'm pretty sure I'll pass water precision. And am pretty sure I'll fall earth bending." Aria replied, counting off the exams she had given this month on her fingers.
"That bad huh?" Joseph asked wincing. Aria waved her hands as she spoke, "It's fine. I'll just take it the next month if I fail. How was your exam?" she added, turning to look at Joseph.
Joseph finished his own glass of juice and smacked his lips before answering. "I'm pretty sure I failed again. I'm just not able to figure out how to pass this exam." he replied, trying to look nonchalant, but failing spectacularly.
"What's wrong?" Aria asked, she knew that Joseph had taken the final fire bending exam twice now. What was so hard that he was so sure he had failed?
Joseph took both of their glasses and placed them on an empty counter in the common room, most probably to give himself time to think. Aria knew how much importance he placed on bending skills, and admitting that he was struggling with something would definitely be very hard for him.
Aria was beginning to think that Joseph wouldn't reply as the two made their way to an empty table and he sat down. "Fire is not like the other elements." Joseph finally began once he was seated, leaning back in his chair. "You usually require some power or high precision to hurt anyone with the other elements. Like water, it is hardly dangerous is someone dumps a bucket of water on you right?"
Aria nodded, talking the chair opposite him as he continued, "But fire's different. It's deadly. Even a slight touch can cause major and lasting damages." His eyes wandered to Aria's hands, still covered in scars, and she fought the urge to hide them under the table.