revivalproject | The Mintpocalypse

Entry tags:

The Mintpocalypse

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, OTA
WHERE: Greenhouse
WHAT: Exploring the Mintpocalypse, hiding from a conversation he knows he needs to have with his family
WHEN: Immediately after being released from the ships
WARNINGS: This is Tommy, so maybe insults and snarky comments? Definitely TOO MUCH Mint.

He watched the countdown like a hawk ~~or a Hawkeye~~ for the last few hours. If this place wasn't so sealed, he would likely have vibrated right out of the place, going through the floor. As it was he just about danced over the sensation of it all. And once the number hits zero, once they're free, Tommy's gone. Heads for the one place where he knows it will take people to find him. After all, the greenhouse is pretty massive. And even in that place there's a whole area that people don't go.

He found it a day before they got nabbed to their little tin cans. An area that had been chained off, and warnings put up in all sorts of ways, not that Tommy can read them. So he bolts, and it's to that chained up part of the greenhouse. His hands settle on the chains and he vibrates them until they break and shatter. And then he opens the doors and walks into...

Oh man, what a collection of scents. Tommy steps into a heaven of mints. Spearmint and peppermint and applemint and water mint. A hundred different varieties, hundreds of shades of greens and dusty purples and faint yellows. A paradise of mint and only mint. The exact sorts of plants that will overwhelm any garden if they aren't carefully managed. And Tommy? He's here to prune and harvest and if he can find twine, dry this shit.

At least here people aren't likely to come and find him. Right?

Wrong. Come and find him.

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Carol's not specifically looking for anyone or anything, but she does notice the chains have been broken on a level of the greenhouse that she's purposely been avoiding, lest it contain some kind of toxic bullshit. (She'd be fine, for the record, but she doesn't want a catastrophe on her hands.)

But since she'd be fine, it falls to her to investigate the what and why of exactly how these chains got broken, and maybe even figure out what's inside, anyway. That way, if it is toxic bullshit, she can deal with it. Gather it up and toss it into the sun, or something.

When the door slides open, it's like a fresh, minty assault on her sense of smell, and her eyes widen at the veritable jungle of sprawling leaves. In the middle of it all is Tommy, who seems perfectly content among all the plants, nary a care for his own health.

"What the f- what happened in here?"

Tommy's sitting by a patch of spearmint, carefully trimming the plants back. Of course, he's doing it at Tommy speeds, now that there are ships he can get richer food at. Even if he is getting bored of it. But he takes the plants between his fingers, uses his nails to clip the stems and sprigs, and sets them aside in careful piles. Going to need to find a way to bundle them for drying he thinks.

And when Carol enters he looks up. Not alone. Oh well. He does smirk, though.

"What the fuck is going on is that I'm tending the plants. Been meaning to come in here. Mint spreads like a mother-fucker. Gotta get it under control. But it's good to have."

She rolls her eyes; it's fine for the kid to curse if he wants but she's trying to maintain the image of a good role model, or something, considering all the ways she's otherwise failing to do that.

"Mint," she says flatly, as if not believing that's all this is. But when she inhales a little more deeply - yeah, sure enough, it's definitely mint. And a hell of a lot of it. "And here I thought the doors were closed off because of toxic waste," she adds with a laugh. "You, uh - taking care of it all by yourself?"

“I don’t know. What I learned from the data point definitely considers this stuff a serious pest. And it’s good for tea apparently.”

What? He did pick up a few odds and ends of foods from this time.

“Just broke this thing open today so no clue. Maybe other people will want to help. But I’m getting good at this so no one has to. Maybe people have a mint allergy and will wanna stay away.”

Don’t mind him. Just let him chatter, it’s helping.

"Well, I don't have a mint allergy," Carol says, and approaches, inspecting the plants a little more closely. "Tea, huh? You got a kettle?"

She already suspects the answer is no - no one has much of anything, around here, that they didn't already come with or have as a result of the godawful Soup Lies box.

"What're you gonna do with those?" She nods towards the already pruned bundles.

“Why would I need a kettle? I can accelerate molecular structures. Normally that means explosions. Here I means I can, if nothing else, heat water.”

What is heat but molecules going faster? Exactly.

Ah, the bundles. Tommy lets his attention be turned to them. He has plans.

“Dry some for tea and strewing herbs and the like. Refine some into oil to help keep bugs way. Lots of things.”

The end of the countdown actually comes as a surprise to Billy. He knew it was coming, but the actual arrival passes him by unnoticed for some time before he finally realizes he is actually free to leave.

He makes immediately for the hotel, but once he reaches their room he finds Tommy's not there. There's no way he would have missed the countdown, and Billy had been nearly certain this would have been his first stop.

He stops by the greenhouse next, though the size of it is a little overwhelming, and after some time searching he opts to chant instead. It takes considerably more energy than it normally would, but with a flash of blue light Billy appears in the mint room, blinking in surprise at the overwhelming scent, before half stumbling. Maybe he overdid it a little with teleporting.

"Hey-"

Tommy knows that specific tension in the air, the feeling of potential that comes just before his brother shows up. And Tommy steps back from a bed of mint, standing the path. Honestly, he's expecting Billy to walk in. Not to just teleport.

And he immediately moves to put an arm under Billy's to hold him up.

"Geez, be careful. You could have hurt yourself."

He flushes, but accepts the help, taking the opportunity to try and steal a hug- 'cause it's been a stupidly long time since he's been able to, and Billy's missed him.

"I don't know this place as well as you," he defends, "I'm fine, don't worry. Is that mint?"

Listen, he's not saying that was about the hug, but that was also about the hug. It's his style. Shush. And yeah, he's missed his brother too.

"It's mint. Tons of mint. All of the mother fucking mint. I'm dealing with it. Surprised you came to see me first."

"Where else was I gonna go?" he asks, brow quirking, "Besides, I need to sing at you still, since we're a whole year older apparently. Doesn't feel that different. Do you feel older?"

Sing at...? Tommy looks a bit flustered. Which is weird for him because he'd had, what, one real birthday in his life, maybe two? And in the last ones it felt like he was being tacked on to Billy's celebrations.

"I tried to get you something. From the Agrii. I'm shit at making stuff, I'm not creative like you or Pops or Wanda."

"You did?" Billy looks pleasantly surprised, "I had all these plans to magic us up a cake and stuff, and those noodles you like."

His head tilts at Tommy's assertion that he's not creative. "Did he make you a painting too? I didn't know he could do that."

Wow, Billy's choice for what to do was a lot smarter than Tommy's. in fact, he suddenly feels sorta shitty at the idea of what he got. The damn thing was terrible, and he tries not to look frustrated at this.

"Yeah, he did. Something that we did by the lake like thing. It's nice. I'm going to get nails and string or something sometime, put it up in our space. He said something like a space isn't home until you've got something up in it."

Not that he wants this place to be home.

Billy didn't think his plan was all that impressive. But he's feeling more and more that magic is cheating when it comes to gifts or romantic gestures.

"You want that to be your present instead?" he asks with a small laugh, wiggling his fingers as though he's ready to conjure up some string. It's nice though, hearing Tommy talk about decorating their space...making it a home.

Really? Tommy is left staring at him like that. String could be useful.

"Maybe wait for that and we'll figure things out like that when we actually get to it, okay? But if you can spare some, I asked the Agrii for some so I could dry the mint and they gave me silly string. Which will be a terror around here."

Decorating their space isn't something he wants to do. It's just... he can't respect Pops by not keeping the picture around.

There's a definite apprehensive look about the knowledge that Tommy has silly string stashed somewhere, as though he's half surprised he hasn't been doused in it all ready, but Billy nods belatedly.

"What, like twine or something? Yeah. I can do that." That's pretty low level stuff, shouldn't cause him any strain.

Why would he waste it on Billy who could magic himself clean? Nope, that's going to happen to Barton and maybe Captain Scruffy.

"Cool. You think about that. And stay right here. I've got to grab something."

He had time to visit the Agrii see. And get paper. And whip up some glue-berry glue. Which means he gets to come back with an oddly shaped package wrapped in sparkly blue paper. Which is HORRIBLY wrapped and sticky. Don't blame him. No tape.

Strange as it might look, Billy's face lights up as though he's been presented with something truly fabulous. Any gift in this place is a surprise, and Tommy's even wrapped it.

He gives a surprised laugh. "Where did you even-?" Before he opens it he magics a pair of birthday hats onto their heads. Might as well make it festive.

He's careful with the paper, in part because of how sticky it is, and once he's opened it he blinks in surprise at the sight that greets him.

"...This so weird. I LOVE it."

Hats? Really? Tommy wants to roll his eyes. But... well, Billy got it for him, even magically. Which means Tommy's probably going to own the thing forever. And he's absolutely ready to jump to his own defense over how terrible it is, and how weird it is. But...

Billy likes it?

What?

"I can't make things. My power is destructive. So I asked the Agrii for a stuffed animal. But I was worried they'd give me a creepy sort? So I tried to ask more specifically and... I would have shopped but no fucking stores."

"No- it's great! Look at it," Billy laughs, and seems to be genuinely delighted by the odd gift. It wasn't the sort of enthusiasm you could fake.

"Thank you!" He goes for another (more sticky) hug, to shush all of Tommy's defenses. It's unlike anything he ever could have thought to want.

Yeah, but Billy's clearly just made of enthusiasm. Still, he takes the hug and hesitates for a moment. Hugging Billy when he's out of his mind with illness is one thing. Hugging him now... takes a moment before Tommy wraps his arms around his brother.

"Yeah, whatever. Don't make a big deal out of it. Figure this way you can cuddle that instead of me, what with you clearly missing your man."

The illness had definitely gotten Billy used to being a lot more physically affectionate with his brother then he ever used to be, even if he can't remember a lot of it.

He smiles when Tommy returns the hug, though his cheeks grow hot at the comment. "Sorry," he mumbles. He'd gotten pretty used to sleeping with Teddy over their adventure.

Tommy's just using Billy's cuddliness to hide the fact that he himself probably initiates the snuggling some nights after they fall asleep. No one ever needs to know that Tommy is like that. Ever.

"It's fine, it's nothing, okay? Just teasing you, even if you are like a barnacle."

Billy gives a pointed, teasing squeeze, as though he's never going to let go, and he laughs.

"Yeah, well...benefit of a fiancee, you get a life long cuddle buddy. I'm in detox."

"Ugh, detox faster, asshole," Tommy says, but there's no malice in it. Only fondness. Deep fondness. He cares for his brother, a lot. "I hated you being on another ship. Tell anyone and I'll deny it."

He laughs softly, and gives Tommy an extra squeeze. "I missed you too." And who the hell is he going to tell? Billy's glad for this closeness, he's not going to do anything to jeopardize it.

"Happy Birthday, Tommy. Sorry I missed it again."

"Hey, from what I get, I missed our last one, given the whole kidnapped by crazy thing dressed up like Eli," Tommy counters. The guy misses so much of their lives.

"Also probably my fault so..." Billy counters in turn, that guilty look returning. His future self's fault? Some fault of his any ways.

"You want any help with this all this mint? Or is this like...a personal project?"

Okay, so that might be true. Tommy doesn't know. Sure, he talked to David some, but he really didn't know what was up with the whole thing. Heard it all, but didn't process much of it.

"Help would be nice," he says, rather than addressing Billy's beating himself up. "I... came here to get away from the ship. And Wanda. And all the shit we have to deal with over that."

His mother is intense.

"Yeah..." That's whole...thing Billy's not really prepared to deal with just yet either. So...avoidance via mint. Good plan.

"So...how do you do this? You just...pick it, or is there like a special technique?"

Cool, they can hide from Pops and Mom together. Vision's been so accepting that Tommy's a bit... concerned that Wanda won't be okay with them being something more than 'distant' relatives.

'What if she doesn't want us' has come up in his thoughts.

"So you wanna pinch the stuff off close to points where leaves branch off of stems. That gives the plant a place to grow. I'm going at least half way down the plant, because they grow fast and thick and we've got plenty. Start with the stuff by the edges. I'm going to see later if I can get Vision or Wanda to get the stuff further back so we don't trample anything. Keep what you clip in piles. I know how to dry them."

Billy's been having similar worries. He wants to pretend he hasn't, to reassure Tommy that everything will be all right, but he keeps thinking of how even their own Wanda needed some space and time to deal with the news after the initial excitement.

"You're really good at all this," Billy notes with an impressed tone. It's not just what he's gotten from the data point. Billy's hardly done anything with his. Tommy's really embraced this.

Some space and time? For all that she had embraced them as her sons, Tommy's barely seen her since. So he's not exactly basking in hope.

"It's the datapoint," Tommy shrugs dismissively. He doesn't know that he can admit to his brother that he has actually come to love the time he puts in here. Not just because of the food or supporting his family. It's genuinely nice and it's taught him the value of slowing down, which has done a lot for the fact that he's been forced to be slow for a while. "Pops and I are talking about trying to see about setting up some Hydroponics stuff on the ships for when the Agrii herd us in there again. But I'm not a good engineer so I don't know how to make the plans in my head work."

Edited 2019-11-06 18:42 (UTC)

A lot of space and time...ALL the space and time. Billy's still trying to put a positive spin on it. He's still seen her slightly more than Tommy, but it's not...what he hoped for.

"It's more than that," Billy argues, "I'm hardly using mine at all. I was thinking I should switch, but...I dunno if I'd be any better with the other ones."

He stoops to try and pinch off some mint. "That sounds good. If they put us back in there I dunno if I could handle just the food goo stuff for too long."

"What point did you grab?" Tommy asks as he starts on the process. But his eyes keep darting over to Billy, like he wants to correct form if needed. "And yeah, consider changing. Figure out what the other people on your ship can do and see what help might be needed."

Being better with them is just committing to using them, Billy.

"Wanda says there's things you can do with it. The goo. I'm going to see about preserving what foods I can here, stocking the ships. I don't wanna be cooped up like that again. And there are animals to think about."

He's almost definitely going to need correcting, grip unsure, particularly when he catches Tommy's eyes on him.

"Engineering. I didn't really mean to, I was just...exploring. I understand how it works, but I still don't really...get it," he tries to explain, looking a bit sheepish.

"Yeah, that's smart, thinking ahead."

Wait, Engineering? Tommy pauses and grins at his brother, standing up straighter.

"Bingo. You are helping Pops and me set up hydroponics. And you're going to help me get the ship better set up for Wanda. She can't sleep near other people. Congrats, baby bro, you've been conscripted."

Billy looks apprehensive, and gives a slight wobble of his head, like he's going to protest. "I'm not-...Vision probably knows more than me even without the point. I just...know how the Agrii stuff works." Which...is something he guesses.

"...I have an extra power crystal still. If that would help."

"Vision doesn't, he admitted he'd need help with it. So yeah, you can help us figure it out," Tommy insists, reaching out to put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I mean, look at me. There is literally no one who would think I'd be good at this. And here I am. So you're going to manage it. You could probably figure out how to wire things into the ships' power grids. Just believe in yourself, okay?"

Because Tommy believes in him.

Given the sort of stuff Billy's capable of, it's probably stupid how unsure he feels, but magic's different. It's part of him. His confidence in other stuff? Not so hot.

He brightens a little with Tommy's encouragement though. "...I can try," he promises, trying to mirror some of Tommy's faith.

"You and me and Pops can figure it all out," Tommy grins, finally pulling his hand back. "Gives us something to do for a change here."

He smiles and sniffs at the mint. "...It'll be nice, doing stuff as a family," he agrees.

It really would. But Tommy rolls his eyes.

"Don't be sappy. Get on that mint. If you do a good job I'll show you how to bundle it and you can find somewhere cool, dry and dark to hang it up. Probably somewhere in the hotel actually."

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The Mintpocalypse

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