Considering all evils, the least of them was to simply lie low.
Something Toby happened to excel in; staying quiet and acting as though he doesn’t stand out at six feet and two inches. The long and limber part was the second most annoying gene, the first one stood with his beloved “element”.
His fingers move, one at a time.
First, the pointer. He’s seen enough people act forthright (shoving their abilities down his throat in some cases) about whatever little gene they happened to get. Of the hundreds and thousands of genes, there’s that one little shitty gene. Sure, some kids got some badass powers. What’s that to Toby? He can draw little lines in the sand without touching it, woo-hoo.
Then the middle. Seriously though, fuck the people who think they’re all that and a bag of chips (whatever that actually means). Toby sense a kind of decadence, a weird aura amongst his peers thus far of six months. Since his very first day, he had to avoid and dodge. His line of attack was a pfft of sand, and even that was a waste. What was that to a kid who can literally forge a storm? Not much, and Toby expects nothing less.
Next, the ring. He wears a figurative band around this finger when it came to grounding himself. Even now, in the moment where he picks his hand up to bring sand with it. He’s bored, could you blame him?
And the pinky. There’s even a few moments throughout his day when he regrets his promise to Jisoo. On the plane to South Korea from Baltimore, Marlyand they sat in the whirr of the engine for nearly an entire day --- nudging elbows every now and then. They made the promise to stick through, no matter how long it takes. Even if it was longer than the flight. And the guilt that pours in when Toby regrets that moment, thinking of what Jisoo would say. Thank fucking god that he can’t read minds.
His thumb hesitates, the sand in the air moved slowly like temptation in it’s sweetest form. Cunning shapes move with each ligament of his hand, as though they were meant to have thousands of small particles obey his every command. That wasn’t much, at some point they assumed he’d get to millions. Trillions, maybe. Then the entire beach, perhaps the entirety of the Atlantic if he really put in the effort.
As if, he was about to let his hand go limp before he felt a strange sensation. His wrists felt cold, his shoulders stretched back rather uncomfortably without warning, and his skin burned. Ironic. Took him a second to really get everything into place, the vibrations of the sand hold true to their message. About three more steps and she would be standing right beside him, binding him in what felt like pure --
He had to admit, it was pretty hot. The way her fingers stood still as her figure made her look like the next Catwoman, or whatever famed Marvel super-heroine could hold up a light to Suran. But somehow, this time, the way she said his name just didn’t set off any security system. In fact, he simply went on lock down. The way the apples of her cheeks rise with her little smile, the squint of her eyes almost accentuating their dark hue amongst the light shade of her skin. His eyes remained on her for just a moment when she said his name, following with a question of common deceit, she should know by now that he was past shit like that.
His neck felt tight, maybe he was staring for too long.
Toby shook his head softly, to get the sand out of his fringe. She took him by such a surprise that he brought the sand straight into his lap, and into his mouth. He licked his lips and simply took in this so-called element of his, assuming it would export or do something with whatever his body did with sand. Or not, didn’t matter either way. His head was low, but his voice was lower. A mere murmur to the girl he’d usually try to seem rather bright to, a girl that made his heart go aflutter simply by being in the same room.
“ I got nothin’. ” He sighed like it was a bad habit. “ Call me a good Samaritan, ‘cause I gave them all away. Not like I can beat you anyway. ”
Though the last bit was under his breath, the English kissed his lips and soothed his voice. A comfort he could endure with the few friends he had in this school, this paradise lost in the very crevices of his bitter personality. He’d never answer truthfully to “why are you here?” or “do you like your power?”. He wasn’t going to lie, it was pretty annoying to think that Suran had to bind him in the first place. As if this fun little game was going to be anything special to Toby, as if it made a difference.
As if he cared. Though somehow, he began to miss the sand.
“ Can I have my hands back? ”
