InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "banana hammock!"

leighonidas yaxley aka fableighann prewett. (gypsycunt) wrote in molecular_level,
@ 2009-03-17 16:01:00

Who: Elli Capulet and Dax Sherlock
What: General awkwardness (and flirting) after rehearsal
Where: The Wando High school auditorium
When: December 7th, 2031

Today's rehearsal had been horrible, to say the least. Their Mr. Mushnik has showed up stoned again, the two best friends who were playing Chiffon and Ronnie were having a spat because it seemed one of the girls slept with the other's boyfriend, three of the stage hands who's sole job it was to run the large third and gigantic fourth incarnations of Audrey II didn't show up causing their teacher, Mrs. Shurlds, to stamp around backstage for a good ten minutes bitching. It was decided in the end to go ahead and do a run-through of Sominex/Suppertime II, but just as Audrey II was moved, the row of mattress foam teeth that ran along the top of the plant fell off. As the only stage hand who had stuck around for rehearsal, Dax got the job of fixing such. He was handed a bottle of gorilla glue and told to fix it. There had been quite a bit of grumbling on his part, aimed towards the art department that had designed all four versions of the plant. Not one to raise a scene, he had grudgingly forced the oversized creation into the back with the help of some of the extras. Sitting on the floor sandwiched between old backdrops from last years production of Run For Your Wife and a set of steps that he had been working on, part of a scene for the play the one of the lesser drama classes was putting on, he had set to work gluing back the floppy teeth.

This was were Dax liked to be, behind the scenes. He'd always been fascinated by theatrical productions, but wasn't really one to stand in the spotlights. Somehow he'd gotten it into his head while signing up for freshman classes years ago, to try his hand at drama. The first day of class had called for a monologue to be gone over, and he had nearly cried when he got up on stage in front of his class. As time went on, he had gotten the smallest bit more comfortable in front of people, which he contributed in taking part of his brother's band, but still couldn't will himself to get up on stage and actually act. An improv exercise in front of his peers was pushing it... So he had been banished to be the perma-stage hand for whatever production was going on, which he was completely fine with. The advanced drama class was smaller than the other drama classes; the best of the best supposedly. There were certain people he suspected had just gotten into this class for being complete kiss-asses, but there were others who truly had talent. For example: the person they had playing Seymour Krelborn. Before this year, Dax had never been in the same drama class with Elli, but sure was glad he got to be this year. He was an awesome actor, a cool guy to be around and great candidate to stare at whenever the chance presented itself.

Elli's father had also tried to kill both his mother and his father on various occasions. It was a small detail, that seemed to put a bit of strain on the crush he harbored for the other male. Over the years, he had heard plenty of stories from both his parents, as well as other members of T.E.A.M. about the dastardly duo of Asher Lehtner and Grant Capulet. He really couldn't get away from it; hell, his own aunt had even had a kid with Asher. All-in-all the fact still remained that Elli was a Capulet and he was a ~~Montague~~ Sherlock, as such he had realized that his stupid little crush was forever going to be one of those horrible situations that made for great Lifetime movies. Such was life and yet again, he wasn't really one to stir up trouble, he left that to his older brother and Lorna.

Even though he couldn't see what was happening on the stage, he had been keeping tabs on the minds of his classmates and their teacher. It was when Mrs. Shurlds' starting having thoughts of strangling their Mr. Mushnik for laughing incessantly, that he knew this rehearsal was drawing to a close. That was all good and well with him, seeing as he had promised to help Madison find the perfect gift for Ethan's upcoming birthday, as well as he had to figure out what he was getting his cousin and the twin's for their birthdays that weren't too far into the future. Standing up to his full unimpressive height, he capped that bottle of glue and made his way back out into the auditorium. It really wasn't fair, both his father and older brother were at least six feet tall and there he was, barely taller than his mother. Again and again- c'est la vie.

The second he stepped out onto the back of the stage, their teacher exclaimed that she had enough with them and they had better be more prepared for rehearsal tomorrow afternoon. There were groans and eyes being rolled as everyone cleared the stage and packed up to leave, while Dax took his sweet time going towards the middle of the auditorium where his bag lay. When he went to grab his book bag, he found that his key ring had somehow gotten caught on the seat and sighed. He tried to yank it away, but heard the strap of his bag start to rip. With a resigned sigh, Dax bent over and started to remedy this problem. Something he found out from his mother years ago, was that talking shit always seemed like a good place to start. "Stupid keys, why are you stuck on the damned... where the hell are you even stuck? Now how the crap did that happen? I really don't see how you managed to do that... Stop being so geedee incorrigible. Just... how is that... see, there we go. Was that so hard?" Standing up once more he looked around to see if anyone had heard the little 'pep talk' he'd just given his keys, and found that there was one person left- Elli. Great, awesome, fanfuckingtastic.

A grimace almost crossed over his face as he looked towards the other a way off, and spoke in an unsure manner. "I don't usually have conversations with inanimate objects, this was just a special occasion. Promise." It didn't take long for him to avert his gaze away, and start out of the row of seats with the knowledge that he had just made a fool out of himself in front of him.

(Post a new comment)

dont_panic
2009-03-18 01:35 am UTC (link)

That rehearsal had been less than optimal. Still, Elli had been doing this long enough to know that it wasn't real theatre unless absolutely everything was going wrong. He tried to keep that in mind so he wouldn't snap and kill any of his fellow actors. Not that Elli was likely to do that. He was about as mellow and non-violent as you could get. His live and let live attitude was like a defense mechanism, pretty much the only way he could survive his father and his sister without losing his mind. He loved them, of course, but he could have done without their tendency to overreact to things quite so much. He was much more like his mother or his uncle that way.

Once the director dismissed them, Elli hopped off the edge of the stage. He found his messenger bag and carefully tucked the dogeared script into the back pocket, humming the tune to Sudden Changes all the while. He was in a really good mood. No matter how poorly a rehearsal or a performance had gone, it was always somehow reenergizing and afterwards he felt about as happy and confident as he ever did. There was just something about slipping into someone elses skin, pretending to be someone else for a while. He wasn't Grant Elliot Capulet the Fourth. He was Seymour Krelborne, or Billy Claven, or John Proctor, or Antipholus of Syracuse, or anyone. Or they were all just messing about running lines or doing warm up games and he was just Elli. It was nice.

Most of the other students made a run for it before Mrs. Shurlds could yell at anyone. The only other person lingering was Dax Sherlock: brilliant theatre tech, hot musician, and sworn enemy of the family. Or something like that. Elli wasn't too sure how this multigenerational vendettas were supposed to go, and he wasn't sure that he actually cared. Dax was a cool guy, whatever his family was like. The story was that Dax's father had tried to kill his father on at least one occasion, but those stories were probably just as exaggerated as the ones about his father were.

He watched Dax trying to do... something? "Everything okay there?" Elli tilted his head curiously ~~and was totally not staring at all~~. He smiled at the slightly awkward explanation. "Well, it looks like it worked. Maybe you're just really persuasive?" He kept smiling, although he cringed inwardly. That had sounded much wittier in his head.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

gypsycunt
2009-03-18 04:26 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Everything's good," he spoke a little too quickly in a strained voice, that he hoped didn't convey the fact that he was regretting talking to his keys. Looking up once more, that smile brought about one of his own, that he quickly tried to quash. "Nah, not really. Telepathy and psychometry." The second those words left his mouth, he made a face of discomfort when he realized that he hadn't heard him correctly, seeing as he'd been too busy ogling the other. "I know of someone who does... who is... who has that. Persuasion. My cousin, Vinny, can sense those kind of things." Okay, it was quite obvious that he just needed to shut up. For one, surely both his parent's would have his ass if they knew he was talking so candidly about powers in such a public place, even if it was seemingly deserted. Two, it probably wasn't in his best interest to tell the guy he liked that he had the ability to find out everything he wanted, starting with what was going on in his mind. Just to be safe, Dax blocked out Elli's mind on the off chance he picked up something he wasn't supposed to, or projected something onto the other that he didn't want to be heard. He seriously doubted that talk of powers would throw Elli off that much. It had never been discussed between the two, but if nothing else he knew for a fact that both of his parent's had them.

You know how you sometimes wish the Earth would just open up, and swallow you whole? It was one of those times right now for Dalton Sherlock. A hand was brought up to scratch his head nervously, a habit that his mother said he got from his father, and let out a small chuckle for no obvious reason. "So are you going to be here tomorrow afternoon?" There was a pause as he realized just how stupid that question was. "Well, that would make sense. You being here tomorrow and everything, you're Seymour. I don't really think the play could go on without you. Not to say that the production weighs entirely on your shoulders, I'm sure if you felt like taking a day off they could just get the understudy to cover for you. I really doubt he could do a good as job as you could though," he just wouldn't stop, his mind was screaming for him to shut the hell up, but he just couldn't. His hands dropped to his sides, as he just gave up and let himself babble on. "Because, you've been working on these lines since day one, and Mrs. Shurlds didn't decide to even have an understudy until a week or two ago, because you've never missed a day of class or a performance before. Then you got sick the day we had to do the presentation of those monologues from Spoon River Anthology, and you were doing Barry Holden... so Patricia couldn't do her Nancy Knapp one, because they relied on each other for the full story." It was like watching a horrible accident, you could do nothing to stop it, and just couldn't look away. "So it's understandable, why," by now his voice had grown very small. "She'd want an... understudy for you." When he finally stopped talking, Dax let out a nearly inaudible sigh and just looked at Elli with a pretty pathetic look.

"Yeah." There really wasn't anything he possibly left out there, and all he could do was stand there fiddling with his lip ring while willing for himself to be smited for something or other. He usually didn't get like this when he was nervous, quite the opposite, but the fact that he talking to Elli Capulet seemed to have that effect on him. The kind of effect that turned him into a rambling idiot.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dont_panic
2009-03-18 11:11 pm UTC (link)

"Tele... wow." Elli knew that Dax's father was a telepath, how could he not know after all those rants and stories, but he hadn't ever considered that it might have been passed down. Dax didn't act like someone who could find out absolutely anything he wanted to. While he wasn't thrown by the talk about powers, he was suddenly very concerned about what he was thinking. He was trying to think about what he'd just been thinking and what he was thinking now, but that just got him all twisted up because thinking about thinking was like trying to see your own eye or lick your own tongue, it just didn't work very well.

Right, focus. What were they talking about? "Er, yeah, I know someone who does that too, persuasion. Pretty much the last person who should ever be allowed to have a talent like that..." Elli shrugged, not even sure why he was talking about that, or why they were talking about powers. Dax had shared his though, so he should probably share his? To be fair. "I'm better with stuff than with people, actually. So, you know, if you ever have trouble with your keys again..." The keys jingled as Elli gave them just a little magnetic tug.

He nodded then, grateful that Dax had changed the subject. Talking about the play was way easier. "I was thinking I'd probably show up. I mean, I guess I could ditch, maybe drag my understudy along with, and then you guys could do a surrealist version of the play with no Seymour and just long pauses where the lines should be. I don't know, maybe no one would notice. We all know Audrey II is the real star, so as long as you keep her looking good..." Elli was no the sort of actor who assumed that props and sets just magically appeared. He paid attention to what went on backstage. Of course that was especially true this show, since he'd been paying rather close attention to Dax. And it seemed like Dax had been paying pretty close attention to him, to know when he was there or not and what parts he'd had. That was a good thing, right? "Uh, did you manage to get her teeth back in without getting eaten?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gypsycunt
2009-03-20 01:34 am UTC (link)

Elli's words mirrored exactly what Dax was thinking. Johnny Butler was the last person you'd want to have persuasion; it was even more humiliating to throw yourself into a locker simply because someone told you to, than to have them shove you into it. Coupled with the fact that the asshat was such a lucky bastard... Dax wouldn't be missing his freshman year of high school anytime soon. He could have shared this verbally, but figured if he did anything other than nod, he'd start blabbering again. That was something he was trying to avoid.

He wasn't going to lie, he was staring at the other. It was pretty hard not to, and look at that combination: looks and wit! How could it get better than that? Dax really didn't think it could. As he felt his key's tugged on he looked down, a smirk breaking out on his face as he went back to watching the other. Magnetism, now that could come in handy. And at least he didn't have to worry about his dreams being invaded... unless Elli had that too, and secretly was like his father. This one was going to keep his finger's crossed against that. "Well, since you offered, I think I should tell you that my keys are always getting into everything. I just figured you should know before you get yourself into that commitment," he said, and felt the need to further clarify just what he meant. "With my keys, helping me out with my keys, you know." Okay, he still sounded like an idiot, but at least he wasn't rambling as much. Any improvement is good improvement.

Yes, the play. The play was a good neutral subject that wouldn't tread onto any ancient mutinies, plus there was less chance for civil blood to make civil hands unclean and all of that good stuff. "Don't get me wrong - Andre Breton and me are like two peas in a pod - but at the risk of sounding like a square, I think a few people would notice your absence." Such as he himself; which he'd subtly hint at, but couldn't bring himself to outright say. "Besides you can't do that to me. How am I supposed to catch the cue for Suddenly, Seymour and the like? As head tech, I'm sorry I'm going to have to nix this surrealist idea in the bud. No pun intended, with the obvious correlation to plants and all." Why did that so less lame in his head? Was it possibly because it was so lame, that his brain that was set on auto-lame hadn't noticed until it was too late? It was plausible.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

gypsycunt
2009-03-20 01:37 am UTC (link)

Short of telling he needed Elli to come to class and rehearsal so he could stare at him dreamily, he thought he got his point across nicely. Ish. When asked how he'd fared with the giant plant, he looked down at the nice gash that ran along the palm of his right hand near his thumb. "'Tis a flesh wound, yet still I say- Audrey II, may you die at the hands of a large amount of Weed-B-Gone. And will make a mental note to ask the art department to use a little less rebar and mesh wire the next time they build us a giant talking plant." His father had taught him how to play guitar when he was old enough to hold the instrument, and nine years ago he took up drums. This wound would just be another scar to add to the already existent ones that graced his hands. "I've done worse to myself," Dax muttered as he brought a nail to scratch at a callous, that ran right under his left ring and pinky finger. The start of another awkward attempt at a conversation was interrupted by the bridge to Tamacun blaring from his phone. Who didn't love flamenco-inspired folk rock?

"Sorry, lemme just... get... this." Fumbling for his phone, he nearly dropped his keys, but thankfully kept them in his hand as he read that text message from Madison. It appeared that at the last minute, her dad needed her to come into work after school and they would have to reschedule. An idea sprang to mind suddenly, and before he even had the chance to think it over, he'd blurted it out. "Hey, are you doing anything?" It wouldn't have surprised him if a look of pure horror passed over his face, as he realized what he was about to do. "Because I was supposed to go help a friend get a present for her brother, but now she's got to work, and I don't work today. I was thinking about still stopping by the bookshop and picking up these books that I have on hold. An analyzation of Lewis Carroll's work and then a collection of Suzanne Vega's poetry, not that it really makes any difference." Thankfully he caught himself before he veered too far off topic. "Basically, I was wondering if you wanted come along? It's not going to be anything too exciting, but... I'll be there?" It was a bold move, or at least a bold move for Dax. "Although, I completely understand if you've got something else to do, or don't want to come with. It's totally fine." It was no big deal, wether Elli came along or not. Really. Besides, the worst he could do was say no. ~~And crush Dax's soul.~~

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dont_panic
2009-03-20 07:42 pm UTC (link)

"I think I can handle the massive commitment of being your key-helper," Elli said calmly, an amused smile on his face. Dax was really cute, especially when he was being all rambly.

Even if it was lame, Elli laughed at the unintentional plant pun. "Well, okay. I mean, if you insist, I'll just have to show up. Since it's you asking." He blushed, something there wasn't much chance of hiding with that fair complexion. That wasn't quite what he'd meant. No, it was what he'd meant, but he hadn't meant to just say it like that. He tried to cover by talking more. "You know, since you're head tech and all. That's the number one rule for smart actors: don't upset the techs. After all, you guys are the ones making us look good. And controlling the mics, which you could totally switch on at any time, like during intermission so that the whole house hears private backstage conversations, not that you would ever do that, of course, or that that ever happened to me, other than, you know, that one time..." It was like the sentence that wouldn't end. And Elli wasn't going to live down the incident in question any time soon. Dating the sound technician sophomore year had been a bad idea. No, scratch that. Dating the female sound technician had been a very bad idea, when he was already quite sure that his interests did not lie in that direction. She had taken the inevitable rejection badly, and honestly, he'd probably fully deserved that little act of vengeance. Even if it had been incredibly embarrassing.

Focusing once again, he smiled at Dax's little soliloquy about his harrowing battle with the fake plant. "So, you'll live then?" Not really thinking, he took Dax's hand in his own, examining the 'flesh wound' along with the other scars and callouses. Despite all the marks, or maybe even because of them, Elli couldn't help noticing that Dax had really nice hands. Which he was now holding... Shit. Elli let go instantly and just barely resisted the self-conscious urge to take a couple steps back. Thank god the phone started making noise then. Yay distraction.

If a look of horror had crossed Dax's face, it was met with a look of total surprise and excitement from Elli. "No. No, I'm not doing anything." He couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than hang out with Dax for awhile and he was amazed that he'd asked. Talk about good luck. "I'd love to come along. There's a new novel out that I've been wanting to pick up, actually." He smiled shyly. "And you'll be there. So, yeah..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gypsycunt
2009-03-20 10:02 pm UTC (link)

Christ lord almighty, that was the cutest laugh ever. Was it possible to have a laugh that was that cute? It should be illegal or something, in Dax's opinion. And then, he noticed that Elli was blushing, and really hoped he was still doing a good job keeping that giant smile in check. So the other was going to be coming to class and rehearsal... because of him? That was nearly grounds to start blushing himself, but he was able to avoid that by telling himself that he must have heard those words wrong. An unsure chuckle left his lips as he listened to Elli now stumbled over his words. "Yeah, I heard about that. Well not all of the details... She's a bitch anyway?" He didn't outright hate the sound tech in question, but since she wasn't here at the moment he didn't feel completely horrible about saying such. "Don't worry, I'd never do anything like that to you. Karma pretty much hates me too, so even if I did do something like that, I'd probably lose an arm or something. ...And, I rather like my arms." Well this wasn't the weirdest conversation he'd ever taken part in, but it was slowly but surely becoming rather out there.

"Yeah, I'll be--," his voice trailed off when he realized that Elliot freakin' Capulet was holding his hand. Okay, he may not have been holding it in a traditional sense, but the fact still remained that his hand was most definitely touching Elli's. His heart started beating so fast, that he was sure it was going to jump out of his chest and start bouncing around on the floor. "I'll be, I'll be, I'll be fine. Yeah." He was nodding the entire time he spoke and didn't stop after his words had. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Don't forget to breathe, Dalton. It was a good thing he had the sense of mind to remember to do such things as that. But, his current state of mind was what made his ring tone that much more alarming, and his actions that much more scrambled. Damnit, couldn't he have just kept thinking about how Elli was so cute, and it didn't really matter if their father's pretty much wanted each other dead?

Dax was amazed he had asked too, to be perfectly honest. The go-get-'em attitude had never really served him well, but from the answer he got from that question posed... he was wondering if maybe he shouldn't look into it a bit more. "Really," he asked incredulously, having already started to prepare himself for rejection. It was safe to say that the kid was pretty hard on himself. "Great!" That may have been a little over enthusiastic, but he really didn't care right now. He felt like pounding his fist into the air and hollering, but that 'great' would have to do for now. "I will, yeah, you're right. I'll be there, and so will you... and books. All of that." There was a small triumphant laugh that couldn't be hidden, as he grabbed both of his book bag straps in his hands.

"So, uh, do you know where Hamlet's is? That rinky-dink little place back on the Island? Because, I could meet you there? Or if you don't know how to get there, you could follow me? Either or is fine?" The rambling had just reached a whole new level, because now not only was he nervous, he was now excited as crap. Holy god, he was going to the bookstore with Elli. It may have been a rather mundane outing to most - maybe he was looking too too far into it - but to Dax, this was going down as a success. Now if only he could calm down enough so that he didn't scare the other off...

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dont_panic
2009-03-22 10:57 pm UTC (link)

"Right. Well, no, she's not really. But we're going to say she is? For the sake of my poor wounded pride?" Elli didn't really blame her, but he wasn't really happy about how that had worked out, so that seemed fair. This was a really weird conversation. He wasn't even going to comment on the potential loss of limbs by karma.

"Yeah, I love that place." Elli spent rather a lot of time lurking around the pokey little bookshop. It was a good place to hang out, or to hide, and sometimes. Hiding was often the sane choice, with his family, especially when his father or his sister got in a mood. The bookshop was usually blissfully quiet and full of interesting things. Besides, it had a great collection of scripts, which made sense given the name of the place, and sometimes they had autographed copies of stuff by local authors. What else could he ask for? Besides someone cool to hang out there with, which would be a fun change. It was almost sad how excited he was at the prospect of hanging out with Dax for a while. He still couldn't believe his luck that he'd asked. "I could definitely meet you there."

He took a moment to find his own keys, trying to think calm, confident thoughts as he did so, although there was absolutely nothing he could do to shake the stupid-happy smile from his face. "So, um, yeah..." He fidgeted nervously with his keys for a second. "I guess we should go then. I'll see you there?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gypsycunt
2009-03-23 04:10 pm UTC (link)

"I can deal with that, for your poor wounded pride of course." This may not have been the time to be smiling like some little school girl, with the topic of conversation at hand, but Dax really couldn't help it. He was also very glad that the other comment he was made was dropped; that could most definitely lead to a rather awkward track, and he was trying not to come off as a complete loser.

"Me too." Early on in life he had discovered that his passion in life wasn't visual arts or music like the rest of his family, but writing. He had nothing against either of the others, and sure he could play a few instruments pretty well and knew basic art history, but they just weren't his thing. He'd taken piano and beginner's sculpture to appease his mother, and his father had been so gung ho about him learning guitar that he went along with it. The bookstore was were he'd much rather find himself, and went there quite often. Usually he was alone, but there was no way he was going to pass up the chance to go there with Elli. Hell, he couldn't think of a single place he wouldn't go if Elli was involved. Okay, maybe there were a few places that he'd never set foot in, but he wasn't going to dwell on that at the moment. "Cool," he said with through that giant grin, as he wrapped his fingers tighter around his own keys.

"We probably should, that'd be a good idea. I'm parked over by the front office, so I guess I'll go get my car... and meet you there. Yeah." Oh, he was just so eloquent wasn't he? "And then I'll see you there. At the bookstore." Right now the fact that he was going to hang out with Elli, made the fact that he still sounded like an idiot not matter so much. "Yeah," there was that nervous chuckle as he turned and made his way out of the auditorium. Before he left a glance was thrown over his at the other. "See you in a bit." As he rounded the corner out of sight, a disbelieving laugh left his lips. Holy god.

Dax practically ran to his car, and didn't even bother messing around with his radio when he got there. He made it to the bookstore in record time, some teen queen pop song blasting the entire way, because he was too busy to bother with changing it. Pulling into Hamlet's, he saw that there were a few other cars, but he didn't see Elli yet. That made sense, seeing as he himself had practically sped to get here. Stretching from the front seat to the back, he grabbed his hoodie and took it with him out of the car. An arm was shoved into it as he quickly locked his car, and then the other as he made his way towards the bookstore.

That smile hadn't faded in the least as he leaned against the side of the building next to the door, and tucked his hands into his pockets. The thought did occur to him that it was unusual for him to not show up the second that rehearsal was over, and he pulled out his phone to text his mother that play rehearsal was running a little late. He didn't like to lie to his parents, but knew that neither of them would approve of him hanging out with a Capulet. Somethings were worth not being entirely honest for, and this was definitely one of those times.

(Reply to this) (Parent)