The Mintpocalypse

[doubled_speed]

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.

Comments

[doubled_speed]

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."

[wearingthestars]

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."

[doubled_speed]

"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.

[wearingthestars]

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.

[doubled_speed]

"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."

[wearingthestars]

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

[doubled_speed]

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."