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

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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?

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

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?

[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.

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.

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.]

[Keith nodded, moving to go inside as well.]

Yeah. I've uh... made some mistakes around that kind of stuff myself.

[Tommy is gone in a flash and then back with trays of dough.]

Mistakes seem to frame life, right?

[Right, speed... nevermind, then.]

Yeah. They certainly seem to.

[Keith crossed his arms, leaning against the wall of the restaurant next to the door.]

We all have mistakes we wish we could walk back. But it's the moving forward from them that help us grow. So I'm told.

I've heard the same thing.

[Keith shrugged.]

It's not easy, but... it's possible. It can take a lot, though.

A hell of a lot. I've been working on it for a long time.

Heh... yeah. Me, too.

[Keith nodded.]

So, you need any more help with the pizza?

I think I'm set for now. Thanks man.

[It's going to get done. He has faith in that.]

Yeah, sure.

[Keith looked around at the set up.]

Just uh... you have a fire extinguisher or something, right?

I run faster than sound. I can get water.

[Keith cringed.]

I wouldn't recommend water for a cooking fire...

[Please don't put water on a cooking fire, Tommy. Depending on what was on that pizza, it could turn into a grease fire and water just made that worse. Keith's inner firefighter was flailing at the idea, and not in a good way.]

If water doesn't stop it, I can bring sand. It'll be fine.

Right.

[Keith pursed his lips, taking a breath in through his nose.]

Just be careful. It's a thing, okay? My dad was a firefighter. I've had this stuff drilled into me since before I could remember.

Of course I'll be careful. I'm a literal hero, Keith. I can do this.

[Keith kind of flinched a little at the word 'hero' in regards to the current topic of fire safety, but he backed off.]

Yeah. Okay.

[He shook his head a bit.]

Let me know how it turns out.

[He turned to go.]

Yep! Later man!

[He raises a hand to wave. Good day to you dude. He's got problems to cause.]

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

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