OM: Abby and Toby | Backdated to 6/10/15
Jun. 10th, 2015 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainAbby and Toby head into Salem Center and discuss a little of everything.
"So, got plans for the summer?" Toby asked Abby as they got off the bus at Salem Center. It was a warm day, and reasonably sunny, which gave her the excuse to wear her sunglasses - not a bad thing, considering that Abby wasn't out as a mutant and she wasn't interested in drawing any more attention than necessary, anyway. "It sounds as if there aren't as many people going home as I'd have expected."
"Home seems to be a sore subject for a big chunk of the population," Abigail said, just slightly dry as she squinted into the sunlight. "But no, not really. My mom's going to be working, so I might as well stay here."
"Said with so much enthusiasm." Toby smirked. "Somewhere you'd rather be?"
Abigail snorted. "Not really," she said with a shrug, "but who wants to be at school when they don't have to?"
"Hey, at least you're not taking classes this summer." Toby scowled a little. "I've got actual homework to finish when we get back. Remind me why I thought this would be a good idea?" Okay, so she knew the answer to that; there was no way she was going to spend another full three years in high school. On days like today, though, that didn't sound like such a bad option.
"Could be worse," Abigail said, shooting her a teasing grin, though she didn't bother to extrapolate on how. "So where to?"
"You mind stopping at the second hand store?" Toby asked hopefully. "I need to get - okay." She broke off and looked over at Abby, somewhat confused. "If a guy says 'What do you mean, you've never had bubbly tea? We have to do something about that," and suggests a day and time, do you think it's a date? Or just an excuse to go get tea?"
Both of Abigail's eyebrows lifted a little. "Depends," she said, looking thoughtful. "Is this someone you know or someone who randomly approached you?"
"Little from Column A, little from Column B," Toby confessed. She smiled crookedly. "Diaval Woods. Tall guy, scars," she traced a line on her face in the approximate location, "nice ass? We got to talking a week or so ago, and ended up eating crepes."
"If you were talking about food at the time, it's probably not a date." She paused and squinted. "Do you want it to be a date?"
Toby paused to consider the question, then shrugged and grinned crookedly. "Did I mention the nice ass? I wouldn't be opposed, but I'm good either way."
"So go get tea and don't worry about it," Abigail said with a flicker of a smirk. "I take it we're finding something to wear, then?"
Huh. Good point. Toby shot Abby a look, just on principle, but then nodded. "Yeah, just something that doesn't scream, 'the headmasters handed this out because I showed up without baggage'." Not that she didn't appreciate that, because seriously, it had been a huge wardrobe upgrade from what she'd left behind. But still, a possible date probably called for something a little more personalized, even if she really had no idea what. "I heard there's a place called Thrifty something around?" Actually, she'd heard it was called Thrifty Puppy, but yeah. There was no way she was believing that.
The smirk lingered, but Abigail spread her hands out at her sides a little. She'd be first to admit she hadn't been paying a ton of attention whenever the tiny town came up. "Got me. But this place can't be that big, I'm sure we'll find something eventually."
Toby let out an amused snort. "Yeah, the fact that the bus stops when you get here is a dead giveaway, huh? Do they actually call this place a city, or are they being realistic?"
"I think it's a town or something." Not that it really mattered in the long run. "Clothes first, or coffee? I hear there's a decent place for it around here somewhere."
"Coffee." Toby grinned. "You never have to ask whether or not coffee comes first. The answer is always yes."
"Fair enough," Abigail said with a grin of her own. "Okay, odds are it's in the center of town somewhere. Let's go see."
"So, what've you been up to?" Toby asked as they started down the sidewalk. "Anything interesting?" She grinned over at the other girl. "Or anyone?"
"Depends," Abigail said with an offhand shrug that was mostly meant to be teasing, "do you consider Clint interesting?"
"Clint, the guy with the bow, Clint?" Toby's eyebrows rose and she grinned. "I'd say he falls under the category of interesting, yeah." Not that she'd talked to him, granted, but she'd seen him around. The view was definitely worth checking out. "Are you guys...?" She let the question dangle, trusting Abby to fill in the right word.
One side of Abigail's mouth tipped up. "Officially not serious. Don't think either of us are looking for anything more."
"Hey, right there with you." Toby grinned. "At least you've got good taste in someone to not be serious with."
"He is very lucky he's pretty," Abigail agreed with an amused snort.
"There's a lot of pretty around," Toby observed. Her forehead furrowed as she pointed across the street. "Is that the coffee place?"
Abigail narrowed her eyes in the general direction. "If it isn't, it seems close enough," she said. "After you?"
"You've heard what happens when people come between me and coffee, I take it?" Toby grinned and started across the street. "It's never pretty."
"I was just trying to be nice," Abigail said with a snort, "but I'll keep that in mind. Caffeine thing or just coffee?"
"Both," Toby admitted. "I'm petty sure that at this point coffee constitutes about 75% of my circulatory system. Not sure what would happen if I fell below a minimum level, but why chance it?" She opened the door to the shop, triggering the almost obligatory "we are here" bells, and held it open, gesturing for Abby to precede her inside.
"Well, you probably ended up in the right place." Abigail flashed her a grin as she stepped inside. "Pretty sure you're not the only addict wandering around the school."
"Yeah, the coffee pot hits bottom too often for it to just be me. Unless I'm now drinking coffee in my sleep?" Toby grinned back as she followed Abby inside. "Not entirely prepared to rule that out." She paused to look up at the menu, and added, "How 'bout you? Any vices beyond hot archers?"
Abigail made a face, unseen as it was. "Don't know if vice is the word I'd use. And no more than any other teenager."
"Hey, I was just kidding." Toby turned to the girl at the counter and placed her order.
"I know," Abigail said, flicking her a look. "Point stands."
"Okay, sorry. Tact and I aren't on speaking terms." Toby gestured for Abby to order. "My treat."
"I'm not offended," Abigail said with a slight smile as she glanced quickly at the board, "you'd know if I was, trust me." But she wasn't going to pass up that kind of an offer, rattling off her order to the bemused barrista.
"I'll keep it in mind." Toby rolled her eyes, but smiled as she pulled money out of her pocket. Knowing where you stood with someone was always a whole lot easier than having to guess.
Abigail shot her a grin, stepping away to find them a table while they waited for their drinks. "So Diaval, huh?" She asked as soon as the other girl joined her.
"No, not so Diavall. Going to get something called bubble tea with Diaval." Toby grinned crookedly and shrugged. "No idea what bubble tea is, but apparently I haven't lived since I haven't tried it."
"Ice tea with balls of tapioca at the bottom. And you're the one who said you liked his ass," Abigail said, grin sharpening.
"Well, he's got a nice ass." Toby grinned. After Abby's comments about Clint, fair was definitely fair. "Based on what I saw, the rest of him measures up, too. But hey, I like checking out Summers' ass, and I'm definitely not interested in him."
"And I'm pretty sure his girlfriend would cut you if you tried," Abigail agreed, plunking her elbow down on the table top and bracing her chin on her fist. "One thing we are definitely not lacking in is eye candy."
"You're not kidding. Seriously, they should put that in the recruitment brochures. Forget the learn to use your powers and we'll get you away from the freaky military assholes, and just mention the view. They'd have people lining up." Which...okay, maybe that wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Still.
"Or at least list it as an incentive. Good teachers, nice atmosphere..."
"Throw in a picture of that big Russian guy and Rankin's friend who does the solar energy thing, maybe in the gym?" Toby smirked. "Do they have a suggestion box anywhere? We should really point this out to someone."
"Don't think I know either of those," Abigail said almost thoughtfully. "I'll have to look into it, clearly."
"You should. I mean, I don't really know either of them either," Toby admitted, "but I've seen both around, and I got the run down on Paul's abilities from Cal. He flies," she added with a grin and shrug, as if that explained it all. As far as she was concerned, it pretty much did.
Abigail gave her a look of arch amusement. "Looking to poach?"
"Already did." Toby's grin widened. "Turns out that Cal's not opposed to bleeding for a good cause, and with his powers, I don't have to go beg other people to." She shrugged a little. "Downside is that I don't get to keep the other powers as long as I would if I got them myself, but hey. Flying. Worth it."
"I'll take your word for it," Abigail said with a huff. "I'll stick to doing that in planes, thanks. Flying on your own power just sounds weird if gravity is still involved."
"Pretty sure gravity isn't involved if you're copying Paul." Toby considered it, then shrugged and smiled. She couldn't explain that, but she was pretty sure it was true regardless. "Anyway, it's no weirder than anything else around here, and a lot more fun."
"Well that's probably true." Comparisons for weirdness tended to get thrown out the window pretty quickly. "And that's saying something."
"True. At least by comparison to most, defying the law of physics is pretty tame." Toby took a sip of her coffee, debating whether or not to ask, then said screw it and forged ahead. "How're things going since your whole gladiatorial debut, anyway?"
"No different that usual," Abigail said with a slight shrug. In all honesty, she hadn't been there long enough for it to have been anything but an annoyance. Aside from Coulson's somewhat determined efforts to track her down for a debrief (and her own efforts to continue avoiding it), it was easy enough to put out of mind. "Why?"
"I don't know - because you got kidnapped to be a gladiator?" Toby shrugged and grinned a little. "It sounds like one of those things you're supposed to ask about afterwards at least once and that I'd normally forget to. So. Conversation?"
One side of Abigail's mouth curved up into a quite vicious, quite pleased smile. "Never actually got that far. Don't think they were expecting someone like me." She knew for a fact they hadn't expected her, really. But it didn't seem like the kind of thing to announce.
Toby snorted, but grinned back. "Somehow, I doubt there are many people out there expecting someone like you. Please tell me you handed someone their ass, or I'm going to be seriously disappointed."
"Many people," Abigail said, grinning wide enough to show teeth. "We started a prison break."
"And you didn't invite me? Fuck. Friendship means nothing any more." Okay, that made no real sense, given the situation, but she didn't care. It still needed to be said. Toby took a sip of her coffee, then grinned more and leaned in. "Come on, now you have to give details."
Abigail's smile faded a little, and she shook her head a hint of seriousness crept in. "Just as well you stayed out of it. Would you really want to think there's someone out there who knows who you are and what you can do?"
Toby shrugged a little, her grin fading as well. "There already is. Or anyway, I'm pretty sure there is. That's how I - we - ended up here. Guys in military gear decided to make me an offer I couldn't refuse. I refused it."
One of Abigail's eyebrows shot straight up. "Have you told anyone?"
"Oh yeah, Professor Lensherr knew already when he came to pick us up. Not sure how," Toby admitted. "Maybe that Cerebro thing? Anyway, we told them the whole story when we got to the school."
Well that was something, at least. "Great," Abigail said with a sigh and shook her head. "Not what you expect to be worrying about when it comes to high school, right?"
"I'll take your word for it, but I've gotta admit, it doesn't match the TV shows. Of course, Xavier's doesn't much resemble any TV shows I've watched online either." Toby offered a crooked smile and sipped at her coffee. "Gotta admit, I'm not complaining. The shows bored me to death."
Abigail flashed her a grin like she was trying to apologize for bringing the mood down. "That's the other thing we can put on the brochures. 'Better than a TV show'."
"Definitely a must." Toby returned the grin to show there was no harm done. "We should start putting together a flyer, at least. Hand it out to new students. 'Everything you wanted to know about your new school but were afraid to ask.'"
"So, got plans for the summer?" Toby asked Abby as they got off the bus at Salem Center. It was a warm day, and reasonably sunny, which gave her the excuse to wear her sunglasses - not a bad thing, considering that Abby wasn't out as a mutant and she wasn't interested in drawing any more attention than necessary, anyway. "It sounds as if there aren't as many people going home as I'd have expected."
"Home seems to be a sore subject for a big chunk of the population," Abigail said, just slightly dry as she squinted into the sunlight. "But no, not really. My mom's going to be working, so I might as well stay here."
"Said with so much enthusiasm." Toby smirked. "Somewhere you'd rather be?"
Abigail snorted. "Not really," she said with a shrug, "but who wants to be at school when they don't have to?"
"Hey, at least you're not taking classes this summer." Toby scowled a little. "I've got actual homework to finish when we get back. Remind me why I thought this would be a good idea?" Okay, so she knew the answer to that; there was no way she was going to spend another full three years in high school. On days like today, though, that didn't sound like such a bad option.
"Could be worse," Abigail said, shooting her a teasing grin, though she didn't bother to extrapolate on how. "So where to?"
"You mind stopping at the second hand store?" Toby asked hopefully. "I need to get - okay." She broke off and looked over at Abby, somewhat confused. "If a guy says 'What do you mean, you've never had bubbly tea? We have to do something about that," and suggests a day and time, do you think it's a date? Or just an excuse to go get tea?"
Both of Abigail's eyebrows lifted a little. "Depends," she said, looking thoughtful. "Is this someone you know or someone who randomly approached you?"
"Little from Column A, little from Column B," Toby confessed. She smiled crookedly. "Diaval Woods. Tall guy, scars," she traced a line on her face in the approximate location, "nice ass? We got to talking a week or so ago, and ended up eating crepes."
"If you were talking about food at the time, it's probably not a date." She paused and squinted. "Do you want it to be a date?"
Toby paused to consider the question, then shrugged and grinned crookedly. "Did I mention the nice ass? I wouldn't be opposed, but I'm good either way."
"So go get tea and don't worry about it," Abigail said with a flicker of a smirk. "I take it we're finding something to wear, then?"
Huh. Good point. Toby shot Abby a look, just on principle, but then nodded. "Yeah, just something that doesn't scream, 'the headmasters handed this out because I showed up without baggage'." Not that she didn't appreciate that, because seriously, it had been a huge wardrobe upgrade from what she'd left behind. But still, a possible date probably called for something a little more personalized, even if she really had no idea what. "I heard there's a place called Thrifty something around?" Actually, she'd heard it was called Thrifty Puppy, but yeah. There was no way she was believing that.
The smirk lingered, but Abigail spread her hands out at her sides a little. She'd be first to admit she hadn't been paying a ton of attention whenever the tiny town came up. "Got me. But this place can't be that big, I'm sure we'll find something eventually."
Toby let out an amused snort. "Yeah, the fact that the bus stops when you get here is a dead giveaway, huh? Do they actually call this place a city, or are they being realistic?"
"I think it's a town or something." Not that it really mattered in the long run. "Clothes first, or coffee? I hear there's a decent place for it around here somewhere."
"Coffee." Toby grinned. "You never have to ask whether or not coffee comes first. The answer is always yes."
"Fair enough," Abigail said with a grin of her own. "Okay, odds are it's in the center of town somewhere. Let's go see."
"So, what've you been up to?" Toby asked as they started down the sidewalk. "Anything interesting?" She grinned over at the other girl. "Or anyone?"
"Depends," Abigail said with an offhand shrug that was mostly meant to be teasing, "do you consider Clint interesting?"
"Clint, the guy with the bow, Clint?" Toby's eyebrows rose and she grinned. "I'd say he falls under the category of interesting, yeah." Not that she'd talked to him, granted, but she'd seen him around. The view was definitely worth checking out. "Are you guys...?" She let the question dangle, trusting Abby to fill in the right word.
One side of Abigail's mouth tipped up. "Officially not serious. Don't think either of us are looking for anything more."
"Hey, right there with you." Toby grinned. "At least you've got good taste in someone to not be serious with."
"He is very lucky he's pretty," Abigail agreed with an amused snort.
"There's a lot of pretty around," Toby observed. Her forehead furrowed as she pointed across the street. "Is that the coffee place?"
Abigail narrowed her eyes in the general direction. "If it isn't, it seems close enough," she said. "After you?"
"You've heard what happens when people come between me and coffee, I take it?" Toby grinned and started across the street. "It's never pretty."
"I was just trying to be nice," Abigail said with a snort, "but I'll keep that in mind. Caffeine thing or just coffee?"
"Both," Toby admitted. "I'm petty sure that at this point coffee constitutes about 75% of my circulatory system. Not sure what would happen if I fell below a minimum level, but why chance it?" She opened the door to the shop, triggering the almost obligatory "we are here" bells, and held it open, gesturing for Abby to precede her inside.
"Well, you probably ended up in the right place." Abigail flashed her a grin as she stepped inside. "Pretty sure you're not the only addict wandering around the school."
"Yeah, the coffee pot hits bottom too often for it to just be me. Unless I'm now drinking coffee in my sleep?" Toby grinned back as she followed Abby inside. "Not entirely prepared to rule that out." She paused to look up at the menu, and added, "How 'bout you? Any vices beyond hot archers?"
Abigail made a face, unseen as it was. "Don't know if vice is the word I'd use. And no more than any other teenager."
"Hey, I was just kidding." Toby turned to the girl at the counter and placed her order.
"I know," Abigail said, flicking her a look. "Point stands."
"Okay, sorry. Tact and I aren't on speaking terms." Toby gestured for Abby to order. "My treat."
"I'm not offended," Abigail said with a slight smile as she glanced quickly at the board, "you'd know if I was, trust me." But she wasn't going to pass up that kind of an offer, rattling off her order to the bemused barrista.
"I'll keep it in mind." Toby rolled her eyes, but smiled as she pulled money out of her pocket. Knowing where you stood with someone was always a whole lot easier than having to guess.
Abigail shot her a grin, stepping away to find them a table while they waited for their drinks. "So Diaval, huh?" She asked as soon as the other girl joined her.
"No, not so Diavall. Going to get something called bubble tea with Diaval." Toby grinned crookedly and shrugged. "No idea what bubble tea is, but apparently I haven't lived since I haven't tried it."
"Ice tea with balls of tapioca at the bottom. And you're the one who said you liked his ass," Abigail said, grin sharpening.
"Well, he's got a nice ass." Toby grinned. After Abby's comments about Clint, fair was definitely fair. "Based on what I saw, the rest of him measures up, too. But hey, I like checking out Summers' ass, and I'm definitely not interested in him."
"And I'm pretty sure his girlfriend would cut you if you tried," Abigail agreed, plunking her elbow down on the table top and bracing her chin on her fist. "One thing we are definitely not lacking in is eye candy."
"You're not kidding. Seriously, they should put that in the recruitment brochures. Forget the learn to use your powers and we'll get you away from the freaky military assholes, and just mention the view. They'd have people lining up." Which...okay, maybe that wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Still.
"Or at least list it as an incentive. Good teachers, nice atmosphere..."
"Throw in a picture of that big Russian guy and Rankin's friend who does the solar energy thing, maybe in the gym?" Toby smirked. "Do they have a suggestion box anywhere? We should really point this out to someone."
"Don't think I know either of those," Abigail said almost thoughtfully. "I'll have to look into it, clearly."
"You should. I mean, I don't really know either of them either," Toby admitted, "but I've seen both around, and I got the run down on Paul's abilities from Cal. He flies," she added with a grin and shrug, as if that explained it all. As far as she was concerned, it pretty much did.
Abigail gave her a look of arch amusement. "Looking to poach?"
"Already did." Toby's grin widened. "Turns out that Cal's not opposed to bleeding for a good cause, and with his powers, I don't have to go beg other people to." She shrugged a little. "Downside is that I don't get to keep the other powers as long as I would if I got them myself, but hey. Flying. Worth it."
"I'll take your word for it," Abigail said with a huff. "I'll stick to doing that in planes, thanks. Flying on your own power just sounds weird if gravity is still involved."
"Pretty sure gravity isn't involved if you're copying Paul." Toby considered it, then shrugged and smiled. She couldn't explain that, but she was pretty sure it was true regardless. "Anyway, it's no weirder than anything else around here, and a lot more fun."
"Well that's probably true." Comparisons for weirdness tended to get thrown out the window pretty quickly. "And that's saying something."
"True. At least by comparison to most, defying the law of physics is pretty tame." Toby took a sip of her coffee, debating whether or not to ask, then said screw it and forged ahead. "How're things going since your whole gladiatorial debut, anyway?"
"No different that usual," Abigail said with a slight shrug. In all honesty, she hadn't been there long enough for it to have been anything but an annoyance. Aside from Coulson's somewhat determined efforts to track her down for a debrief (and her own efforts to continue avoiding it), it was easy enough to put out of mind. "Why?"
"I don't know - because you got kidnapped to be a gladiator?" Toby shrugged and grinned a little. "It sounds like one of those things you're supposed to ask about afterwards at least once and that I'd normally forget to. So. Conversation?"
One side of Abigail's mouth curved up into a quite vicious, quite pleased smile. "Never actually got that far. Don't think they were expecting someone like me." She knew for a fact they hadn't expected her, really. But it didn't seem like the kind of thing to announce.
Toby snorted, but grinned back. "Somehow, I doubt there are many people out there expecting someone like you. Please tell me you handed someone their ass, or I'm going to be seriously disappointed."
"Many people," Abigail said, grinning wide enough to show teeth. "We started a prison break."
"And you didn't invite me? Fuck. Friendship means nothing any more." Okay, that made no real sense, given the situation, but she didn't care. It still needed to be said. Toby took a sip of her coffee, then grinned more and leaned in. "Come on, now you have to give details."
Abigail's smile faded a little, and she shook her head a hint of seriousness crept in. "Just as well you stayed out of it. Would you really want to think there's someone out there who knows who you are and what you can do?"
Toby shrugged a little, her grin fading as well. "There already is. Or anyway, I'm pretty sure there is. That's how I - we - ended up here. Guys in military gear decided to make me an offer I couldn't refuse. I refused it."
One of Abigail's eyebrows shot straight up. "Have you told anyone?"
"Oh yeah, Professor Lensherr knew already when he came to pick us up. Not sure how," Toby admitted. "Maybe that Cerebro thing? Anyway, we told them the whole story when we got to the school."
Well that was something, at least. "Great," Abigail said with a sigh and shook her head. "Not what you expect to be worrying about when it comes to high school, right?"
"I'll take your word for it, but I've gotta admit, it doesn't match the TV shows. Of course, Xavier's doesn't much resemble any TV shows I've watched online either." Toby offered a crooked smile and sipped at her coffee. "Gotta admit, I'm not complaining. The shows bored me to death."
Abigail flashed her a grin like she was trying to apologize for bringing the mood down. "That's the other thing we can put on the brochures. 'Better than a TV show'."
"Definitely a must." Toby returned the grin to show there was no harm done. "We should start putting together a flyer, at least. Hand it out to new students. 'Everything you wanted to know about your new school but were afraid to ask.'"
