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xp_logsSarah accompanies Johnny to the mall to run a few errands, but things don't go nearly as well as planned.
Borrow a mansion car. Drive to the mall. Buy sneakers. Not that hard. Not that goddamn hard, even with the Friday night commuter traffic. Johnny hit the breaks and horn simultaneously, shouting "You have turn signals for a reason, asshole!" he muttered and changed lanes in front of a truck. "You're doing 40. Why are you doing 40?" He changed lanes again, without indicating and overtook the elderly Chevy currently struggling up the hill, and pulled into the exit lane, hands clenched on the steering wheel. "Pick a lane, any lane," he snarled at the honda in front of him as the exit lane split and the honda dithered about which lane it would take.
Sarah was pressed back into her seat, her right hand gripping rather tightly on the passenger door handle. "Um, yeah, come on, pick a lane buddy. Sheesh." Driving with Johnny was interesting, to say the least. "Some people, huh?" She was wondering how to politely suggest that maybe she should drive them back, but she wasn't quite sure how to do so gracefully. "We're almost there though, so that's good, right?"
"Yeah, we're alm--" Johnny's danger sense flared and he slammed his foot down on the accellerator and swerved left to avoid a car that hadn't yeilded to oncoming traffic. "Go back to Jersey!" He pulled into the car park and pulled into a park and carefully unclenched his hands. "You know, I like driving," he remarked, as he got out and locked the doors. "It's relaxing, especially when there aren't that many other cars around, and you can go fast." A car began to reverse and he flinched as his danger sense pinged again. "I just kind of hate everyone else on the road, because," his voice rose and he glared at a middle aged man struggling to do a three point turn, "they're all morons!"
"A lot of people shouldn't even have a license, it's true," Sarah replied in a much quieter tone. "But yeah, it can be relaxing at times. I like to put on a little music, especially on long drives." Putting her hands in her pockets, she walked in silence for a few seconds before trying to segue their conversation into something else. "Relaxing is important, yeah? What do you do to relax, Johnny?" Hopefully he'd be able to relax now that they were at the mall, since he didn't seem relaxed at all on the drive there. She opened the entrance door for him, grinning and waving a hand for him to enter.
He sidestepped a group of teenagers, dangersense flaring again at the unpredictability of their movements, still sensitive buzzed from the drive. "Are you saying I look stressed?" His eyes were wide and the smile he gave her was clearly forced.
"No, that's not what I mean, I..." She struggled to think of another way to say it, giving Johnny an awkward grin in the interim. "I don't think you look stressed, you look fine, but you sound a little... I dunno. Annoyed?" That might not have been the best way to put it either, but she wasn't sure what else to say. "It'll be ok once we get in, maybe we can grab an ice cream or something before we get your sneakers, yeah?" Ice cream was a panacea that way, sometimes, or maybe that was just for Sarah.
Johnny nodded. "Sounds good."
The foodcourt itself was crowded. Friday night, 7pm. The press of people with their movements was setting off his danger sense and he registered an escaped toddler, running across the room, being chased her dad, spilled coke on the floor, people carrying trays of food and took a deep breath. It was just -- too much, after the drive. He followed Sarah across the food court to the ice cream shop, breathing deeply and trying to stay calm in the face of an internal alarm screaming warnings about soup, children, potential collisions and spills.
Johnny's deep breaths were hard to ignore, and after placing an order for her own ice cream cone she turned to face him. "You want anything? On me, for taking me along with you and all." She frowned and looked around, trying to pick up on who or what might be bothering him, not knowing what was going on exactly. "Hey, are you feeling ok?"
Movement at his four o'clock, a man carrying a Burger King bag. That shouldn't have set him off but it did, after the drive and the crowd. "No," he admitted softly, eyes scanning the food court for the next unexpected movement, the next thing that would trigger his powers. "I have to. I have to. I need to get out of here. This is. This isn't good."
"Ok, yeah, we can get out of here." It was obvious Johnny wasn't comfortable there and while Sarah didn't know what was going on, exactly, it was definitely for the best to get him out of there. "It'll be ok, let's just get back to the car and I'll drive us home, ok?" Whatever errands they had to run, they could do them later or get someone else to do them if need be.
"Yeah. That'd be good," Johnny muttered. His danger sense was going to go off again and again, he knew it was, because there were people here and people moved and did the sort of unpredictable shit that set his powers off, because he had to react to them, and each time, it was a jolt of electricity and adrenaline in his brain till he just wanted to run and hide in a corner shaking and the world stopped telling him that it was dangerous.
He started back the way they'd come and, through the haze of people, oh god, he looked over at Sarah and said "I'm sorry. It's just -- it's my powers, you know?"
She smiled at him, patting his back in what she'd hoped was a reassuring manner. "Hey, it's ok, nothing to be sorry about, trust me, and you don't have to explain it to me either." Sarah had her own history of freaking out with her powers. She often had flashbacks to trips in cars where she'd been afraid to cause a crash, even flights in planes where she'd been absolutely terrified. Being unable to completely control one's power was often a terrifying thing, Johnny didn't have to apologize or explain to her. "We're almost at the car, it's ok." Once it was in sight she reached out with her powers, unlocking the doors remotely so he wouldn't even have to hand her the keys or worry about anything.
His danger sense warned Johnny a moment before she patted his back and, to his credit, the boy only flinched a little before he climbed into the passenger seat. He drew his knees up to his chest, wild eyed and still breathing too fast.
Sarah started the car and began the drive back home, looking over at Johnny every now and then to see how he was faring. Several times she opened her mouth to ask him how he was, if there was anything she could do for him, but she could tell from his behaviour that the best thing she could do for him now would be to get him back home as soon as possible.
He noticed her glances across and said, as calmly as he could manage, "I'm fine, really." It was a lie, a total lie because awful right now, but Sarah didn't need to know how bad it was or how awful he was feeling. Deep breaths, eyes closed, trying to close out the world with it. They'd be home soon.
Borrow a mansion car. Drive to the mall. Buy sneakers. Not that hard. Not that goddamn hard, even with the Friday night commuter traffic. Johnny hit the breaks and horn simultaneously, shouting "You have turn signals for a reason, asshole!" he muttered and changed lanes in front of a truck. "You're doing 40. Why are you doing 40?" He changed lanes again, without indicating and overtook the elderly Chevy currently struggling up the hill, and pulled into the exit lane, hands clenched on the steering wheel. "Pick a lane, any lane," he snarled at the honda in front of him as the exit lane split and the honda dithered about which lane it would take.
Sarah was pressed back into her seat, her right hand gripping rather tightly on the passenger door handle. "Um, yeah, come on, pick a lane buddy. Sheesh." Driving with Johnny was interesting, to say the least. "Some people, huh?" She was wondering how to politely suggest that maybe she should drive them back, but she wasn't quite sure how to do so gracefully. "We're almost there though, so that's good, right?"
"Yeah, we're alm--" Johnny's danger sense flared and he slammed his foot down on the accellerator and swerved left to avoid a car that hadn't yeilded to oncoming traffic. "Go back to Jersey!" He pulled into the car park and pulled into a park and carefully unclenched his hands. "You know, I like driving," he remarked, as he got out and locked the doors. "It's relaxing, especially when there aren't that many other cars around, and you can go fast." A car began to reverse and he flinched as his danger sense pinged again. "I just kind of hate everyone else on the road, because," his voice rose and he glared at a middle aged man struggling to do a three point turn, "they're all morons!"
"A lot of people shouldn't even have a license, it's true," Sarah replied in a much quieter tone. "But yeah, it can be relaxing at times. I like to put on a little music, especially on long drives." Putting her hands in her pockets, she walked in silence for a few seconds before trying to segue their conversation into something else. "Relaxing is important, yeah? What do you do to relax, Johnny?" Hopefully he'd be able to relax now that they were at the mall, since he didn't seem relaxed at all on the drive there. She opened the entrance door for him, grinning and waving a hand for him to enter.
He sidestepped a group of teenagers, dangersense flaring again at the unpredictability of their movements, still sensitive buzzed from the drive. "Are you saying I look stressed?" His eyes were wide and the smile he gave her was clearly forced.
"No, that's not what I mean, I..." She struggled to think of another way to say it, giving Johnny an awkward grin in the interim. "I don't think you look stressed, you look fine, but you sound a little... I dunno. Annoyed?" That might not have been the best way to put it either, but she wasn't sure what else to say. "It'll be ok once we get in, maybe we can grab an ice cream or something before we get your sneakers, yeah?" Ice cream was a panacea that way, sometimes, or maybe that was just for Sarah.
Johnny nodded. "Sounds good."
The foodcourt itself was crowded. Friday night, 7pm. The press of people with their movements was setting off his danger sense and he registered an escaped toddler, running across the room, being chased her dad, spilled coke on the floor, people carrying trays of food and took a deep breath. It was just -- too much, after the drive. He followed Sarah across the food court to the ice cream shop, breathing deeply and trying to stay calm in the face of an internal alarm screaming warnings about soup, children, potential collisions and spills.
Johnny's deep breaths were hard to ignore, and after placing an order for her own ice cream cone she turned to face him. "You want anything? On me, for taking me along with you and all." She frowned and looked around, trying to pick up on who or what might be bothering him, not knowing what was going on exactly. "Hey, are you feeling ok?"
Movement at his four o'clock, a man carrying a Burger King bag. That shouldn't have set him off but it did, after the drive and the crowd. "No," he admitted softly, eyes scanning the food court for the next unexpected movement, the next thing that would trigger his powers. "I have to. I have to. I need to get out of here. This is. This isn't good."
"Ok, yeah, we can get out of here." It was obvious Johnny wasn't comfortable there and while Sarah didn't know what was going on, exactly, it was definitely for the best to get him out of there. "It'll be ok, let's just get back to the car and I'll drive us home, ok?" Whatever errands they had to run, they could do them later or get someone else to do them if need be.
"Yeah. That'd be good," Johnny muttered. His danger sense was going to go off again and again, he knew it was, because there were people here and people moved and did the sort of unpredictable shit that set his powers off, because he had to react to them, and each time, it was a jolt of electricity and adrenaline in his brain till he just wanted to run and hide in a corner shaking and the world stopped telling him that it was dangerous.
He started back the way they'd come and, through the haze of people, oh god, he looked over at Sarah and said "I'm sorry. It's just -- it's my powers, you know?"
She smiled at him, patting his back in what she'd hoped was a reassuring manner. "Hey, it's ok, nothing to be sorry about, trust me, and you don't have to explain it to me either." Sarah had her own history of freaking out with her powers. She often had flashbacks to trips in cars where she'd been afraid to cause a crash, even flights in planes where she'd been absolutely terrified. Being unable to completely control one's power was often a terrifying thing, Johnny didn't have to apologize or explain to her. "We're almost at the car, it's ok." Once it was in sight she reached out with her powers, unlocking the doors remotely so he wouldn't even have to hand her the keys or worry about anything.
His danger sense warned Johnny a moment before she patted his back and, to his credit, the boy only flinched a little before he climbed into the passenger seat. He drew his knees up to his chest, wild eyed and still breathing too fast.
Sarah started the car and began the drive back home, looking over at Johnny every now and then to see how he was faring. Several times she opened her mouth to ask him how he was, if there was anything she could do for him, but she could tell from his behaviour that the best thing she could do for him now would be to get him back home as soon as possible.
He noticed her glances across and said, as calmly as he could manage, "I'm fine, really." It was a lie, a total lie because awful right now, but Sarah didn't need to know how bad it was or how awful he was feeling. Deep breaths, eyes closed, trying to close out the world with it. They'd be home soon.
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