Little Moments Of Peace

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, Wanda Maximoff, Noctis
WHERE: Twin Roses, Diner
WHAT: Connections With People
WHEN: Mid September
WARNINGS: None

Family In Our Own Way | Twin Roses, Closed to Wanda
The Twin Roses. In a way, it had grown to be home since he'd been transferred to the ship. Or home enough, what with the plants and with Wanda there. And speaking of Avengers who might be on the ship at the moment, here was Tommy, coming on with a small basket of preserved foods he intended to store in the galley for the next time they ended up in space, which he intended to refill with harvest from the hydroponics units. Of course he wasn't the only Avenger aboard today.

"Wanda," he calls out when he sees a flicker of red, and he starts to limp toward her. It's a lot less pronounced than it has been, but his leg is definitely recovering. "Hey, did Pietro ever find you?"


Nothing Fishy About This | Diner, Closed to Noctis
There was no denying that the diner was doing a lot better than it had been once, long ago. Back when this was all starting. Tommy couldn't help the flash of pride that came along with that, even if he was having other people manage it more than he was these days. But Clarice was off helping in Sh'Ka, and TOmmy couldn't go running long distances for right now, so he just took over her shifts here.

And this afternoon he was working hard at not only preparing for upcoming meals, but working on his latest project of trying to make jars of jelly. He'd gotten jars from the replicator and had to hope that this was going to work.

"Okay," he said, setting aside his berry puree. "What's the next step."


[OOC: If you'd like a closed interaction with Tommy this month, please let me know. Otherwise I've got a handwave comment at the top and you can think about Handwaved CR for the month.]

Comments

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis came in with a bunch of fish. But unlike the last time he was here, the fish were all cleaned and pretty much ready to sauté' and eat. It was something that he liked back home, freshwater fish and hot sandwiches.

Today he had promised Tommy that he would show up and bring in as many fish as he had caught and of course he had wrapped them as carefully as he could and had taken a shower first before arriving.

But as he stepped in, he saw Tommy looking at a pie and he stopped. "Next step in what?"

[doubled_speed]

Well hey there. Tommy smiled to see Noctis walk in, especially with the promised fish. He wiped his hands on a cloth and waved.

"I'm trying to make jelly. I'm not sure if I'm going well."

[fatedsacrifice]

Setting the fish down in a good spot, Noctis looked at the jelly and then looked back at Tommy. And here he couldn't help but give a small smile. "So you're waiting for it to tell you what to do?"

He couldn't resist picking on the kid a little bit, but only just a little.

[doubled_speed]

"No, I'm trying to remember," Tommy answered, shaking his head. But it's not coming yet. He'll have to message some of the more experienced people later. For now he sets it aside.

"Fish, I've got plans for those."

[fatedsacrifice]

It was interesting to see someone so focused on cooking. He hadn't seen that in..well a very long time. So he had to just shake his head with a smile and began focusing on handing the fish over. He was silently proud of himself now that he knew how to clean his catches but just gave them over to Tommy.

"Are they going to be enough?"

[doubled_speed]

Dude, he's no Ignis. It's going to be disappointing to put him up on that level.

But he cleared aside the last things and took out a cutting board.

"Gonna cut it up and bake it I think. And I'll just let people know we have a limited amount today. Still more than we had a while ago."

[fatedsacrifice]

"Do you need some help?" Noct asked. Being back here and realizing everything that everyone back home had done for him was a sobering thought. And he realized how much he took people for granted even if he hadn't ever meant to.

[doubled_speed]

"Well, you ever work with fish before?" Tommy asked, moving to take out a knife that he's been told by Clarice is good for cutting fish up. "If so, then yes. Totally."

[fatedsacrifice]

"Ya, I have." It was refreshing to admit something of his past, even if it was only a little detail like that. He had worked as a part time sushi chef so he knew a little bit here and there. Cutting up the fish was something that he knew.

[doubled_speed]

"Other than catching them and cleaning them?" Tommy asked, starting to make a filet of the first fish.

[fatedsacrifice]

"I was a sushi chef, and we had to cut the fish per instructions. Is that qualified enough?"

Noct wasn't sure if Tommy was going to let him help, but hey he was trying.

[doubled_speed]

"I mean, don't you guys make smaller pieces?"

But if he knew how to filet a fish, then Tommy was absolutely making use of him. It would be the best thing for them both.

"Because I could let you do it quite happily."

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis nodded. "Yup, but the preparation sometimes had us make filets out of the whole fish in order to cut them down smaller. Plus I had time on a road trip while travelling with friends. If he needed an extra set of hands for meals he asked me." It wasn't work he liked doing so when it came to being on the road and Ignis usually handled it all.

But there were times he did ask for help with breakfast or dinner though it was usually breakfast because that was Ignis trying to get him into the habit of getting up early. And even though the advisor cleaned the catch, he still helped with fish since as Ignis put it 'he had experience.'

He them smiled. "I'm more than happy to help."

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda's quick to run to Tommy's side, either to help support him or take the basket from him, whatever his pride will allow her to do. "Yes. Once you're feeling better you two will be running circles around me." And honestly? It's almost all she's ever wanted and she's looking forward to having her hands full. The only person missing is Vision...but she has most of her boys and she has her brother back. It's enough.

"Where is this going?"

[doubled_speed]

At the moment, his pride is a bit less fragile than it normally was, though he knew the basket was heavy enough to be a bit much unless she rolled out freaky mind powers. Better just to throw an arm over her shoulder when she approached and offered the support.

"I'm pretty sure I could still run circles around you, Wanda. I can practically run them around Pietro and I'm injured. Poor guy, he's going to have to live with not being the fastest. And, uh, galley."

[seeingscarlet]

Well, she's going to roll out said freaky mind powers to help support him, even if technically Tommy is still carrying the basket. She huffs and gives him a look of fond exasperation. "I'm sure you can but please don't test that. You can run all of the circles that you want when you're better." Can and should are not the same thing, and she definitely doesn't want him hurting himself more trying to show off or prove a point.

[doubled_speed]

She's more than welcome to carry the weight with the freaky mind powers. He won't judge her. That's what she does. But he definitely gives her a smile. Because yeah, stubborn idiot is definitely thankful for support. He's just also a speedster and they aren't always going to be honest about feeings.

"What about rhombuses? Can I run rhombuses too? Do I have permission?""

Still, his smile lingers after the joke. "It's nice, being able to talk to someone at my own speeds for a change."

[seeingscarlet]

Despite herself, Wanda laughs. At least he's a slightly better patient than Pietro. "You can run in whatever shape you want when you're better." And though she laughs, he probably knows her well enough by now to know that Wanda absolutely will use those freaky mind powers to pick him up so he can't run anywhere if she deems that he's putting too much strain on his body.

"I'm sure that's nice for him too. We don't always need words, but even if I read his mind, my brain still doesn't go as fast."

[doubled_speed]

Was he REALLY a slightly better patient? Fuck, he doesn't know if he wants to win that battle. Well, since she insists, he will. After all, he knows just how well she can immobilize him, after what she did to stop him when he was taken over by that rage bug.

"Geez, you, Billy, and Kyle won't stop mother henning me on this, will you? Like, this is the third or fourth time I've messed up my leg in two years here."

WHich is a lot more than happens at home, in their defense actually.

"It's not often I get to interact with people like me back home."

[seeingscarlet]

Part of loving speedsters is accepting that they're just going to be a pain in the ass sometimes. She'll take the teasing if that means he's not going to seriously fight her on this.

"It's my job, you know. I don't mind." And very gently, she touches his mind just enough that he can feel her familial affection. He's not a burden, or an annoyance, or an obligation. He's family, and he's hurting, and she wants to take care of him.

"Not everything about being here is bad. I only knew Jean for a little while, but...it was nice. I understand."

[doubled_speed]

“You wouldn’t be a Maximoff if you weren’t fussing I guess,” Tommy sighed. But there was no way he was going to fight her on this. He had been told by enough people to take it easy, including the oh friend who had all those cuddle privileges.

But the mental touch was something that gave him a lot of satisfaction. To feel that touch of belonging offered by her sort of mental claim had mattered. Mattered so much.

“I guess you would,” Tommy agreed. “There are a lot less speedsters back home so it’s hard. And most of us don’t really have a very social personality.”

[seeingscarlet]

With Wanda's help they've managed to hobble about halfway to the galley. It's not as much as she'd like to do for him, but it's enough to ease his burden and not leave her feeling completely useless.

"Most of you don't like to stay in the same place very long either. But it's all right. I like you two how you are." And she knows how this must be absolute torture for Tommy. "Maybe I can take you flying later?"

[doubled_speed]

Hey, he feels a bit more useless when he was hurt, so he was glad she was helping. Plus it meant he got to be around her too.

"I don't know. There's this guy, Jean-Paul, he works with David back home. He seems content to live in one place."

But he's older, and married and all of that. But he smiles at that.

"Okay, but you gotta promise not to drop me. Me and heights aren't... great."

He was out of control then.

[seeingscarlet]

"We don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable. And we don't have to go high." She knows flying isn't everyone's cup of tea, and she knows very well what it's like to be afraid of falling. If she hadn't had Vision to help her (and catch her when she lost control), she might never have tried at all.

"I just thought...you are probably tired of not being able to go places quickly."

[doubled_speed]

Oh, it made him uncomfortable. Tommy hated not moving under his own power. But his desire to please Wanda was something he had a hard time avoiding. So he smiled at her and tried to focus.

"Nah, it's okay. I'd like to try. Billy tended to make this flying disc thing, or things, and carry people around on them. So I'm used to that. And you're right, it's a pain not to go fast."

It was just, you know, against his nature.