[Open] Where There's Smoke There's Tommy

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, You?
WHERE: The open space just south of the Diner
WHAT: Building A Brick Oven
WHEN: Early March
WARNINGS: Explosions possible, which could lead to injuries

I. The Build Phase

This shouldn't be that hard. It was what Tommy told himself as he looked at the materials he'd been gathering for a while now. Some of them were scavenged, some of them were hand made the best he could from a book he'd replicated about construction, some of them were... Well, he'd just got things together, alright? But the goal had been there for a while now, and filled with nervous energy like he was, Tommy needed to be active. To be doing something. To be anchored in the here and now rather than letting his brain run wild.

That was always the danger with being a speedster. The way that his mind worked he could easily mentally live weeks in a few minutes, utterly alone. It was terrifying and in this moment he needed anything but that. So here he was, stacking chunks of rock and packing the space between them with a mixture of wet mud and sand.

"Keep slow," he reminded himself, a mantra whispered under his breath. "Keep slow."

II. The Testing Phase

It had taken nearly a whole week of work for Tommy to get his work done. But hey, there it was, it looked more or less right, and Tommy looked proud at his creation, comparing the details of it to the details of the book he'd been working from.

"Alright, so... This will make Pizza."

Considering it for a moment, Tommy finally nodded and moved to the pile of wood stored by the diner.

Only then did he notice someone approaching.

"Hey! Wanna help me make pizza."

III. Oh, That's A Fire

Shit. SHIT. SHIT!

"It's not supposed to do that," Tommy said to himself, cursing under his breath. Actually, that was getting a bit louder and faster as he started working.

Because there was smoke coming from all the wrong places of his little oven. Which meant everywhere that wasn't the chimney.

"Fuck!" he shouted as fire leapt from the door of the thing.

"Shit fuck," he added creatively as he started picking up handfuls of snow to throw at the flames.

Comments

III.

[ashwantstobattle]

Ash had been out nearby with Pikachu when he heard a few words that would have really upset some of the adults he knew and glanced around before he notices smoke. A lot of smoke. That much smoke is never a good thing.

"C'mon Pikachu!" He waves at his partner and the two are off, heading towards the fire despite that Ash does not currently have any Pokémon on him that might help in this situation.

He'll figure something out though. There's a snow bank just up ahead and inspiration strikes.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail on the snow- aim it towards the fire." He commands.

"Pika!" Pikachu cries out before tail starts to harden and glow. "ChuPika!" His tail hits the snow bank with force as he sends a spay of snow at the fire.

"You okay?" Ash asks Tommy as he rushes up.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, well sometimes those words are good for adults like Tommy, and sometimes smoke isn't bad. And this is not truly either of those times but hey, working through it the best he can.

Of course neither of them are really thinking with physics and how bad it can be to dump icy water on fire when you've got an easily pressurized space. Tommy's just busy trying to throw more snow at it.

"I'm fucking peachy," he curses, not looking at the kid as he tries to throw more snow. Where the rest of it is coming from he doesn't know, but he'll deal with that later.

[ashwantstobattle]

That fire really doesn't want to go out. He could have it out in seconds if he still had Greninja but that's not an option so he's gonna have to figure out how to put a fire out with just Pikachu's attacks.

"Iron tail, again!" Ash calls out.

"ChuPika!" Pikachu slams his tail against another snow bank to send it spraying towards the fire. While Pikachu's busy with that, Ash takes a look around to see if maybe there's a bucket he can fill with water or something.

[doubled_speed]

"What the hell are you shouting?" Tommy asks as another rush of snow comes sailing through the air. "Okay, that's not even directed enough to help!"

Geez, even he knows this isn't working. Fuck.

"Just, stand back whoever you are. I need to get water."

[ashwantstobattle]

"Pi? Pi-ka..." Pikachu stops his assault on the snow banks and looks a little sheepish when Tommy says it's not directed enough.

"Yeah.. I hear ya. But I don't think hitting it with electricity would do much good." Ash lets out a sigh. "Is there a bucket around somewhere?"

[doubled_speed]

"Just stand back, okay?"

And then Tommy's gone in a blink of an eye and a burst of kicked up snow. And then back, splashing sea water in another eye blink.

"Fires are dangerous," he notes as he turns to look at Ash. "And you're DEFINITELY too young to play with them."

[ashwantstobattle]

Ash isn't one to sit around and do nothing when people need help but before he can protest the man is gone and then just as Ash is about to ask Pikachu where he went he's back again.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" He asks, looking at the man in shock and ignoring the comment about him being too young.

"Piika." Pikachu nodded, also sounding shocked.

[doubled_speed]

"The laws of physics and I aren't on speaking terms," Tommy said, and then he was gone in another blink. ANd back just as soon.

"I said step back. You're like, what, nine?"

[ashwantstobattle]

Oh and he's gone agai-nevermind he's back. Imagine all that power in a quick attack. Fascinating.

"Ten." Ash supplies, still not moving from where he's currently standing. He doesn't think he's that close to the fire. "And it's not like I can just stand by when something's obviously wrong."

"PiKachu!" Pikachu leaps up onto Ash's shoulder to come to his trainer's defense.

Did someone say pizza? (2)

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis was just on his way to go fishing when he saw Tommy, so he decided to stop by and see what the other was up to.

And that's when he heard the magic word.

"I haven't ever made a pizza before, but I can put toppings on it."

At least he wasn't going to get grumbled at for eating more toppings than putting them on the pizza. Ignis had let him learn that lesson a time or four.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, well neither has TOmmy, but he thinks he's got this.

"Awesome, Noctipus," he says with a smile. He gives the oven another look and then gestures for Noctis to circle the building with him.

"Probably better to prepare it inside."

[fatedsacrifice]

Somehow that nickname would never get old to him so the king smiled as he walked around. "What idea got into your head to do all of this?"

This kid's head workings were a downright mystery.

[doubled_speed]

"I..."

Tommy considers answering, being honest. That he's alone. That he's angry. That he needs this energy out of him.

"I want pizza," he answered with a shrug as if that's what it is.

[fatedsacrifice]

Something seems off, but Noctis isn't about to push and accepts what he hears.

"Hey, pizza is always good. Can't complain about good food, right?"

With a sigh, the king puts his hands on his hips. "Alright, where do you wanna start?"

[doubled_speed]

"You really can't," he says as he moves around to the entrance and opens the door.

"I've got dough started. We've got to prepare the sauce and toppings."

[fatedsacrifice]

It was a good thing that food was a common thing that people could rally around because it just plain helped.

But at hearing what Tommy already had done, to him that was the harder part. "I can chop toppings."

Thankfully he'd learned all of that both on the road with the boys and at the sushi restaurant.

[doubled_speed]

"Awesome," he says, before pointing to a stack of cumatos. "Those please. Fine dice. I gotta mash them after."

The things were beautiful as a starting point.

II

[tempredmental]

Pizza, huh?

[Keith glanced at the oven in question, and frowned a bit. Well, it looked... 'homemade'. He pursed his lips slightly, but then shrugged, giving a small nod.]

Uh, yeah. Sure.

Re: II

[doubled_speed]

[Dude relax, it doesn't look THAT bad. He followed the instructions. Still, he smiles when Keith agrees.]

Awesome. Let's move some wood to the oven first. Then we'll head inside and prepare it.

[Because there's no real counters set up by the oven, and it's about twenty feet away from the diner for safety. He's put a lot of thought into this.]

I made dough just to do this today.

[tempredmental]

[It looked pretty dubious, okay? But Keith was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here.]

Yeah, sure. [He took a quick glance around, spotting the wood pile in question, and went to grab some.]

Have you ever made pizza before?

[doubled_speed]

Nah, it's not something I do a ton of. Cooking that is. Back home.

[tempredmental]

I do sometimes, but yeah. Not a lot. At least I'm not a total disaster like Shiro. [Though, his voice kind of trailed off at that. There was a beat, and then... MOVING ON.] Got used to having other people with more skill at it doing all the cooking. Stick with your strengths, right?

[doubled_speed]

[The name makes Tommy freeze for a moment, and then he mentally pushes forward because he doesn't want to think about it.]

Strengths can change. I'm trying to change.

[tempredmental]

I'm not saying don't change.

[Keith shrugged. He tried not to notice how Tommy reacted to the mention of Shiro. Noticing meant talking about it, and, well, Keith wasn't good at talking about stuff like that. So, he was just... going to move on...]

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, though... that's a good thing to know. Then you can know what to change, or where to get help, or what you can offer. That's all.

[doubled_speed]

I mean, I guess you're not wrong. That's just how things go sometimes.

[He moves a bit more of the door before sighing. Yeah, he should move inside for that pizza prep.]