InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "But this one goes to 11."

Sarah Clarke (sarahhh) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2012-06-15 14:29:00

Entry tags:

june 2012, prompt table 1, sarah clarke, toby silverman

Who: Sarah and Toby
What: Having the house to themselves (OHHLALA)
Where: Sarah's house
When: Thursday evening
Rating: PG
Status: Complete

Sarah wasn't entirely sure where her head was at. She was excited that Toby was coming over, a little giddy and slightly nervous about the fact that they would be at her house all alone, and in a state akin to panic about the fact that he was apparently, according to her aunt, a mutant walking into the house of two of the most fervent anti-mutant protestors in Brooklyn.

She was trying to focus on the first of these as she clipped her hair into place, giving herself one last once over in the mirror. She looked nice, she decided, in the flowy skirt and top, so if somehow everything went to hell and back, at least she'd look half decent running for the hills.

"Breathe, Sarah," she instructed herself, bracing herself on the bathroom counter with both hands and ducking her head. "You don't even know if it's true yet." Okay, so she could think of absolutely no reason why her aunt would have lied about it, and the odds of there being another Toby Silverman around the same age were slim to none, but Sarah had to have something to hold on to. Dating someone Jewish would have been hard enough for her parents to deal with, but a Jewish mutant? Her parents probably had the name of every mutant in the entire state. They'd never be able to meet him, and sooner or later, Toby would figure out exactly who her parents were and how horrible they'd been about the entire thing and-

The doorbell rang, and Sarah nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Coming!" she shouted, forcing herself to stand up right and look calm and collected. George Bleeping Washington. Shaking her head, she hurried down the stairs and paused briefly outside the front door to take a deep breath and paste a smile on, before tugging the door open.

The sight of him had her weak smile transforming into a perfectly legitimate one, and she moved forward to hug him with more enthusiasm than she'd planned on. "Hi," she breathed into his shoulder, before pulling back and moving to let him inside.

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sarahhh
2012-06-16 07:35 pm UTC (link)

It was taking an awful lot of self-control for Sarah not to blurt out something about the 'whole mutant thing' herself. Sarah was terrible at lying, and though her keeping quiet about knowing Toby was a mutant wasn't exactly a lie, it sure felt like it right then. At least she hadn't gone completely deer-in-the-headlights when she'd first seen him on her porch.

She led him up the stairs, and at the last second diverted course toward her room. If she managed to somehow bring up this whole mutant conversation, she wanted to have it in the privacy of her own room, even if nobody else was home. "So this is my room." It was a fairly simple room- a full sized bed with a purple floral comforter, one wall littered with posters of her favorite athletes and another coated with photos of her friends (a collage into which the picture of her and Toby had be inserted). There was a small desk and bookshelf, and in the corner was an untidy pile of soccer gear that she quickly moved to nudge into her closet. "It's not very exciting, you know, but it works."

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iamthelegacy
2012-06-17 02:37 pm UTC (link)

Props to her for that restraint. Toby was too nervous to blurt anything out.

He gave her a reassuring smile when she said her room wasn't very exciting. It wasn't too far off from his. Except less purple, a little messier, and the posters in his room were mostly from action movies and bands Jack had gotten him into (as well as a poster Presley had made for Corporate Lobotomy), "It's nice. Much cleaner than mine, that's for sure." He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to sit on her bed. Was that totally weird or suggestive or... What? So instead he pulled out the desk chair and sat down.

Now was as good a time as ever, right? Just get that out in the open, especially if her aunt had already spilled the beans, "Look... Uh... Your Aunt Josie texted me the other day."

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sarahhh
2012-06-18 12:51 am UTC (link)

Sarah watched him sit down in her desk chair, resisting the urge to overanalyze his choice of seating for the evening. It wasn't an issue for long as Toby suddenly brought up the one topic she had been both wanting to avoid forever and bring up immediately.

"...Did she?" Sarah moved to perch herself on the edge of her bed, fingers digging nervously into her bedspread. "So... it's... true, then? You're..." She wasn't sure what the proper term was. Josie had used the word mutant, though, so it wouldn't be offensive, right? "A mutant?"

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	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 01:18 am UTC (link)
	So that was what people meant by "tension you could cut with a knife". It was beyond unpleasant. Toby shifted in the chair and gave Sarah a weak smile. He had no knives for this. Except maybe his sense of humor. That was the only way he knew to diffuse tension. "I guess that's the technical term." He shrugged, "I prefer genetically altered super human." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarahhh
2012-06-18 01:25 am UTC (link)

Okay. So it was true.

For the first time in a long time, Sarah cursed internally (even in her own head, Sarah had a clean mouth). As much as she didn't mind people with mutations- her best friend had one and so did her aunt, after all- it made things that much more complicated. Toby's mother would hate her for not being Jewish, and both his parents were unlikely to be pleased with who her parents were. Her own parents would be disgruntled with Toby being Jewish, but would be absolutely livid at the notion of him being a mutant. If ever there was a modern day Romeo and Juliet, they fit the stupid mold.

"Okay." Her lips quirked up slightly. "Genetically altered super human, then." She wasn't ready to launch into the whole 'my parents will hate your guts even more than your mother would hate mine' spiel just yet. "So... what do you... do?"

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	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 01:47 am UTC (link)
	At least she hadn't screamed and kicked him out of the house, "Nothing super exciting," he replied, his face flushing a little. It was sort of embarrassing when you were grouped with telekenetics and fire starters. "I can make plants grow." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 01:51 am UTC (link)
	"What, like fertilizer?" Word vomit. Sarah's eyes widened as soon as she realized what she had said. "Oh! No! I don't mean- I just-" She groaned a little at her lack of tact. "I meant, do you make them grow faster or something? Like you could make a tree go faster or whatever?" Fertilizer. Michael friggin Jackson. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 02:02 am UTC (link)
	Toby snorted and then--possibly because he was still nervous-- he burst into a fit of laughter. He managed to shake his head and calm himself down a bit to respond to her question. "No. Like I can make them grow anywhere. And fast too, I guess." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 02:05 am UTC (link)
	Oh, thank goodness he was laughing. Sarah could one hundred percent deal with being laughed at. It was the tense silences that did her in completely. "Anywhere?" she asked, brows raising. "Like... here? You can make them grow in my room?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 02:27 am UTC (link)
	Toby nodded, "I pretty much wake up with plants in my room every day." He chewed his lip nervously for a moment and then asked, "Did you want to see?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 02:33 am UTC (link)
	Sarah hesitated. She'd never actually seen anyone use their powers before. Well, she'd seen Molly zone out before, but she didn't exactly feel like that counted since she never got to see the actual projections. This was different. He was going to make a plant sprout out of somewhere! "I- yeah, actually, if you don't mind," she replied, grinning sheepishly. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 02:59 am UTC (link)
	Pft. If it was okay... it was more than okay. It made his heart jump out of his chest, "Really? I mean... Sarah, it's definitely okay. It makes me..." He trailed off and hopped out of his chair. There just weren't words. He crossed the room to where she was sitting, cupped her face in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarahhh
2012-06-18 11:17 am UTC (link)

Sarah was watching intently as Toby crossed the room and had been expecting a flower to pop out of his hand when he suddenly kissed her.

As it turned out, giving someone a kiss like she had the other day was completely different than being kissed. She felt her stomach do a flip-flop, and she could swear her heart was beating in her ears as she kissed him back.

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iamthelegacy
2012-06-18 12:03 pm UTC (link)

Toby's heart raced when hefelt her return the kiss. It was taking a lot of will power to keep plants from growing under his feet and vines from creeping up the wall from all this excitement. He still had to show her what he cold do, however, so reluctantly he pulled back from the kiss, grinning from ear to ear as he let go of her face.

"I just needed you to know how I was feeling."

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	sarahhh 2012-06-18 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	"No explanation necessary," she answered, grinning broadly as she eased herself back and propped herself up with her hands (or else she might pounce him again, and she needed to play it cool this early in the relationship, man). "So. Can I see?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

iamthelegacy
2012-06-18 05:35 pm UTC (link)

"Nexr time I won't explain myself," Toby replied with a little smirk. He stepped back to give himself a little space. And sat down in the floor. He closed his eyes and hovered his hand just over the carpet.

After a moment of concentrating, a small green plant shot out if the carpet. It didnt look very special. Just like a blade of grass, but as he drew his hand up away from the floor, it grew larger and a bud appeared, opening into a bright yellow daffodil.

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sarahhh
2012-06-18 05:41 pm UTC (link)

Sarah couldn't help herself. When he shifted down, she moved down on the ground beside him, staring curiously at his hand. Was there going to be some kind of magic word? Would he have to wave his hands around like a magician? Oh, and what would he make? Was it going to come out of his hand? Out of the floor? How big would it be? What-

Her thought process abruptly cut itself off as a green stem suddenly appeared out of her carpet. "What?" she breathed, eyes widening as she shifted closer. But it was growing, bigger and bigger, and then, to her surprise, a daffodil appeared.

Sarah's jaw had dropped open and she was gaping like a fish out of water at the plant that had just come out of her floor. "You just- YOU did that. Barbara Streisand! That is. Ridiculous." She finally managed to tear her eyes away from the daffodil, grinning like a kid who had just seen a magic trick (and hadn't she, really?) "Do it again!"

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	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 06:44 pm UTC (link)
	Toby opened his eyes, grinning broadly at her goofy expression. It had been a while since he'd done any showing off. Theguys in the band and Eden hadn't looked half as impressed as Sarah did anyway. "I definitely did." He agreed with a small laugh, "What did you want me to do next?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 08:52 pm UTC (link)
	"Tulips! They're my favorite!" And she was totally stealing all of these flowers and putting them in a vase. She sat back a bit now, not wanting to appear too overzealous about this. "What's the biggest thing you've ever made? Can you make, like, trees?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Tulips. He'd have to keep that in mind. "Tulips it is." He hovered his hand over the floor and spouted three little tulip stems. While he waited for them to grow, he gave Sarah another smile and nodded, "I woke up with an oak sappling in my laundry basket one morning. I can't make trees very big on my own though. It takes a lot of energy." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarahhh
2012-06-18 09:21 pm UTC (link)

"I've heard of strange things growing in boys' laundry, but never trees," she answered with a soft giggle. "And it takes energy to use your powers- which I guess makes sense, since the stuff has to come from somewhere." She didn't want to even consider how it was possible, what Toby did. She preferred to leave it at good plain magic.

"Has it ever happened at a really bad time?" she asked, letting out another laugh at the thought.

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iamthelegacy
2012-06-18 09:39 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, it can be really draining." He grinned, "And strange. Amd embarrassing." His face flushed a little, "I had to sort of keep it under control when I kissed you."

Toby sheepishly picked one of the tulips--which was now fully blossomed and purple--and handed it to Sarah, "I'm usually able to surpress it when I'm indoors, except when I'm sleeping. Most of the time. I sort of have to. I'd rather not be outed to my classmates or something." Since he didn't much care for them anyway. "The first time I spent the night at Jack's though... We woke up in the morning and moss had grown on like... Everything."

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	sarahhh 2012-06-18 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	Sarah bit down on her lip lightly as she watched his cheeks flush. "Really?" she asked. She took the flower from him and grinned, twirling it in her fingers. "Yeah, I get that." Not everyone was as understanding about this kind of thing as Sarah was. You know, like her parents. "Moss, huh? I bet that was fun to clean up." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	"Yeah, really." He replied quietly, with a small nod. That would've been awkward. Toby snorted and shook his head, "So fun." He rolled his eyes, "Luckily his parents didn't notice." He wasn't sure if Jack's parents were wise to him (or Sascha for that matter), but he had tried really hard to keep it under wraps since then. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 10:10 pm UTC (link)
	Sarah wondered if he would sprout a shrubbery if she kissed him again, but she managed to restrain that thought process with a grin. "So... how many people know?" she asked. "Jack? Sascha? Does Eden know?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 10:15 pm UTC (link)
	"Anyone I knew from the island, uh... The US government. Jack, Sascha, Eden and Travis... And you. So... I think that's it, unless my mom tells people." He shrugged, purposely failing to out Presley or Sascha. It wasn't his place. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sarahhh 2012-06-18 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	Sarah paused for a moment. "So I'm the only one who knows outside of your family and your band?" she asked, slightly startled by the fact. That was kind of a huge deal. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	iamthelegacy 2012-06-18 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Toby thoguht about it for a moment and then nodded, "Yeah, pretty much. I don't like to really spread it around," he shrugged. No one had really told him to keep it a secret necessarily. But he knew what kind of political climate they were in, "It's kinda scary out there, you know?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sarahhh
2012-06-18 10:58 pm UTC (link)

Sarah's face fell at that, and she ducked her head for a moment to gather up some will power. Unfortunately, that will power was only enough for a stream of consciousness rather than a coherent thought process. "Look, um. I kind of need to tell you something, and I know it's going to freak you out, so I totally get it if you're upset or whatever, and I'm sorry for ruining this moment because it was really, really nice, but if I don't tell you now, I just know that it will completely blow up in my face and be horrible, and I am rambling, Kelly freaking Clarkson."

She sucked in a breath, and finally got to the point. "My parents. They're really involved in the anti-mutant protests." She grimaced, embarrassed even as she said it.

"And I promise you I don't feel that way at all. I have another friend who's- a genetically altered superhuman, and I don't care, I swear, but I get it if it's- I don't know. Scary for you or something and you don't-" She opted not to finish that train of thought.

Sarah ran frustrated hands through her hair. "I can't change who they are and what they believe in. I wish I could, but I can't."

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iamthelegacy
2012-06-18 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Well that would just be his luck, wouldn't it? It wasn't enough that he was abandoned by his birth mother, geneticslly altered against his will, was raised in a strict Orthodox home, or went to a school full of people he wasn't crazy about. No, he'd finally met this incredible girl, and her parents hated him on principle.

Toby sighed and picked at the carpet. "Oh. I guess... It's good to know... "

Whatever, it didn't really change anything in his opinion. If you liked someone, it really shouldn't matter. His mom hated his friends, and he didn't quit hanging out with them, why should this be any different? "You know what?," He looked back up at her, "I don't care. They don't even know me." He shrugged, "It's not like I chose to be genetically altered. I was like. A fetus."

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