revivalproject | [Open] These Broken Pieces Of Life

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[Open] These Broken Pieces Of Life

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, Open
WHERE: Young Avengers HQ, The Diner, The Greenhouse, The Beach Cave Hot Springs
WHAT: Returning to Temba, Broken Down Home, Farming, Failing To Hide Emotional Pain.
WHEN: August 1st through 15th
WARNINGS: N/A

I. Another Ruined Home | Young Avengers HQ

Freedom. Sunlight. A sandwich made of greens and beautiful vegetables from the greenhouse. A meal that was doing nothing to make what was before him any better. Home, for the last several years... Broken.

"Fucking hell," he grumbled around his mouthful of baconroom wrap. "Because when it fucking rains..."

It fucking poured. The roof was busted open, the door fallen off, and he could already see through the opening that their shared living room space was fucked. And now Tommy had no choice but to hope that things would be fixable. That he could bring out the things that mattered until such time he could have his home and his life back.

"Fat chance that, with my luck."

II. Moving In Day | The Diner

It's only temporary, Tommy tells himself as he pushes into the Diner and puts the heavy box in his arms on the table. He's so tired after all of the work of cleaning the HQ out. Fuck, he just hadn't wanted to deal with that today.

"Tea," he decides, moving to the counter to fish out the kettle so he could fill it with water. Once he's got the thing full and his hand near it to start heating it, he looks to the door in the corner that he never really used. One of the two sets of stairs that led up into the apartment that was once Eli's. A space that hadn't been used in years.

"Home sweet home I guess. But damn, how am I supposed to get a new bed up the stairs? They're narrow!"

III. Whistle While You Work | The Greenhouse

Stressed? Frustrated by the turn of events? Need to feel accomplished in life? Have you ever considered Farming(tm)?!

Tommy groans at the voice running stupid infomercials in his head as he enters the greenhouse, grabs a basket with pruning sheers and gloves from the door, and looks around. The green, the smell of plants, the familiarity of this place... It's strangely soothing to Tommy. Like coming home. Perhaps it was, given no one had put as many years of care and attention into this place as he had.

And this? This was the place he remembers. Tommy immediately moves to the first area where he should have been harvesting already and sets into it. And he pauses only when he hears motion.

"Someone there?" he calls out, looking around. Strange. Not many people came here like he did.

IV. The Calm Is A Lie | Beach Caves Hot Spring

He didn't come here often. There was always the risk he'd turn the wrong way and end up in the crystal rich parts of the minds. Super charging his powers right now was not something Tommy was particularly keen on. It would only make all of this decidedly worse.

Caution was the watch word as he moved through the caves, hand on a wall, until he could hear the water and feel the heat. The springs. A place to soak sore muscles, and he'd been sore as hell since they'd headed underground. No amount of sauna could have helped with it. Now Tommy didn't hesitate for even a second to strip out of his clothes and slip into the almost too hot water.

"Fuck," he mumbled once he was settled into it. It felt so good. So freeing. So nice.

"Fuck," he repeated as he felt a sting in his eyes. It's just from the heat of the water. It's from how hot it is, turning his skin a little pinker. That's it. He's not crying. He's not crying.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ew, east coast." It's said with a teasing tone, because Billy still has that sense that something is wrong. And he's starting to think losing the other home here in the city had a big factor in it. "You're a jersey devil. Explains a bit. But I don't know anything about the east coast though, so I don't know what bridge you're talking about."

And honestly he wasn't that interested in New Jersey or the east coast.

"And your brother and whoever the Stark guy is, they'll have to learn they can't save everyone or everything."

Tommy snorts.

"The Jersey Devil lives in the Pine Barrens. And Leonia and Springfield are not near the Barrens at all. As for the devil in me, I can't help where my soul comes from man. But I promise, it was washed and probably dry cleaned first."

He smiles as he says it, looking at Billy, spinning it like a joke. It is a joke. It's a joke wrapped around a nugget of truth.

"The GW is one of the major bridges into New York, man. And trust me, we've so passed learned that. Learned it the hard way when Asgard fell. Which is a really insane super hero story so I doubt you'll believe it or care. Finish eating up. I should go set the sheets to soak and grab a nail really quick."

"It's a joke, Speedy. At least I've heard of one of your creatures over there and—" but the sentence stops as his brain processes the rest of that from Tommy. His soul? How the hell did that work? He thinks on some of the teachings his parents had tried to bring him up with (only bits and pieces stuck).

The grin has him wondering if it was a joke.

But this guy had superpowers, went to super juvie, so maybe it wasn't? Billy looks stunned. Forgets about his alien street taco. "Wait no, hang on. What the hell do you mean 'where my soul comes from'. You think you can just skip past that part like it's hopscotch?"

Oh come on man. Tommy sees that mental processing and groans. Come on, why couldn't the guy have just taken it for the joke?

"We are too sober to get into the complications of my history, right? Do you really want to hear that trash? No one wants to hear that trash."

"Fine. You get me past Wesker so we can get drunk one night and you tell me all about that." But not here. And he doesn't think that Tommy will get past that arrogant prick in the bar. Then remembers the speed and of course Tommy could get past him. It's what the guy did.

The street taco gets finished off and he sets the plate on the clean table before wrapping the cloth around his face again. "You got the see my trash first hand. You told me about the super juvie shit and stuff." He goes back to wiping down the bed, not as intensely so he can focus on Tommy still. Or maybe the guy wouldn't tell him anything at all.

He thinks about what he's been learning from others lately. "So what sort of hobbies does a speedster tomcat get into?"

'The Court is very big on sharing.'

Tommy snickers.

"You really want to drink there when I can just deliver? I mean... Dude, I make red fruit juice. If you're not picky on what you drink I can have you hooked up tonight. You still won't believe any of what I say though."

Because really, who wants to believe in souls and hell and rebirth and plenty of other weird ass things? That Tommy's already on his second life and this one started before the first?

"People back home even roll their eyes at it and have a hard time believing it if I don't have back up. And they're used to our BS."

Still, if Billy wants to know, Tommy absolutely will tell him. No hesitation. Just like he immediately answers the next question.

"Back home I traveled a lot. And parties. Clubbing was great. I mean, with my powers I could see the world however and whenever I wanted. And I didn't have as MUCH issues with language barriers because of tech and all the time in the world to look through language dictionaries. When I wasn't doing that or heroics or learning about stuff about my ancestry from my uncle Pietro, I read a lot I guess."

"I usually drink beer. Not those girly colorful drinks." Beer was a man's drink. He could see that whenever his dad drank with his friends or by himself in the living room. And Billy imitated that whenever he drank while working out. Because clearly, he was a man and wanted to be perceived as such. "Probably not. And it wouldn't be a good idea to drink while we're cleaning anyways. Don't want this shit in the beer."

Which was hygienic at least.

He looks over with a skeptical look. "Seriously? Fr— People with powers and they have trouble believing souls shit? They believe that shit with religion."

"San Diego had a few good clubs. Must've been nice to just take a jog and get away from stuff. But reading? Fucking nerd." He smirks and pokes his tongue out teasingly even though it's hidden behind the cloth.

"You know we don't have hops, right?" Tommy asks, rather amused. How was he supposed to get beer when they couldn't, technically, make it?

Still, everyone's a critic.

"My booze isn't good enough for you, Curls? Almost sounds like you don't wanna hear strange mind bending shit about my weird ass life. That's okay. I'm not offended or emotionally torn by that."

And this time his tone is pure teasing. He really isn't upset. He's just amused.

"Yeah man, of course people have trouble believing in souls. When you have people with the power of gods around, aliens meddling in evolution on Earth, and magic, it can be hard to believe in the soul."

Dude, he just looks offended at being called a nerd. Not deeply. Like, mock offense.

"What do you think I should do when five minutes can feel like weeks, man? How do you think I should pass the time?"

A scoffing noise. "All this land and city and no one's thought to farm some up? Or find alien brand of hops?" He goes over to the window so he can snap the dust out of the cloth. He lets most of it get carried by the breeze before getting in a bit of fresh air. Then he goes back to it. They'd probably be done in an hour at this rate.

If nothing bad happens.

"You've already told me about your weird soul shit. I wanna call it freaky. Can I use that word? Because it's got the 'y' at the end?" He sounds skeptical with his question, but the look in Billy's eyes shows he's serious about it. He's seen how Tommy reacted to the noun itself.

"They talk about that shit in religion. I can't remember what they talk about specifically. Only that... they talk. And I don't know, count how many times you can jerk off in an hour and try to beat your record? I don't know what life is like for a fucking speedster."

"Growing stuff out of the greenhouses that isn't native can be dangerous apparently," TOmmy says. It was relatively new information for them actually. "And I haven't had it high on my list given I can't get drunk unless there's a storm."

So alcohol wasn't high highest wish? The red fruit juice at least tasted nice.

"Dude, you have literally no ideas on what my weird soul shit is. And yes, you can use freaky to refer to the weird ass soul shit specifically, thank you for asking."

As for the other thing, he has to chuckle. That's a terrible way to pass the time, he would chafe his dick off.

"Life is hell for a speedster, Curls."

"Then grow it in the greenhouse, stupid." That remark is out before he can stop it, and there's a quick glance to him to see if that was as bad as the f-word.

Goes back to cleaning. "Look, there's a lot of shit about you I'd probably find freaky as fuck. Either you can keep it all buttoned up or deal with that I'm going to find it that way. But there's loads of other freaks around," a slipup as he gets into it, but it's not directed at Tommy as he continues. "that probably make you look like an ordinary person like Buckley or someone."

He doesn't mean the word meanly, and even though he's gotten better about not using it around Tommy, he's not quite solidified that filter into place just yet.

"Don't got hops, genius," he returns immediately. Because he doesn't. And that isn't going to change. At all. They aren't at home.

As for stupid, well, Tommy doesn't react to it. He's an idiot. He knows that. The word has lost any bit it might have otherwise had.

"I was born twice," Tommy says. There, that's weird. Challenge accepted.

"Can't it be replicated or something?" he lashes back with. Billy only asks because he hasn't really used the replicators to know what they're capable of. "Or is that shit just limited to seeds you can find on this stupid planet?"

The Californian's about to ask if Tommy has a broom or something else with a stick so he could start beating the mattress free of dust before that little nugget of information is dropped like a nuke.

"Twice?" he parrots. "Is that like the Christian thing or something? Born again or something?" Because really that's what Tommy meant, right? Right?

"Can't replicate living things," he answers with a shrug. "I don't know why. It's just like that."

And that means they can't exactly hops without going somewhere that they can acquire some, another planet, and then actually putting the effort into doing it.

"First of all, I'm Jewish, so no. And secondly I mean two lives. Once as Thomas Shepherd in New Jersey, once as Thomas Maximoff, who was born in New Jersey and died in LA."

So there. He's fucking weird.

"Like I said. Strange shit."

"You're strange shit," he grumbles under his breath like he's been chastised somehow (he hasn't). It's just a bit to take in because while the Upside Down was a lot to take in, this backstory was more. Yet, the reborn thing sounds... nice. He wish he got that in Hawkins. Billy keeps that to himself for now.

The world was a lot more vast and freaky than he ever realized. He takes it all in before sitting down on the bed with a plop. A cloud of dust poofs up around him. Good thing he didn't take the cloth off yet.

"Sounds like the worst of all of that was being born in New Jersey twice."

He's really strange shit. Tommy knows it, and he actually laughs at the comment. Because it's so completely true. Though the whole birth sass makes him laugh so fucking loud. Like, geez man, what a burn. He moves to flop down on the bed. Yep, more dust. Whatever, he'll clean himself up later.

"You want the crazy part? The really crazy part? Thomas Maximoff was alive during my life time. I was literally reborn before I was even born the first time. Part of the weirdness that comes from your mother being a witch who specializes in chaos magic. Though I still think the rebirth thing was because of Billy's powers."

The way Tommy just owns any snapback that Billy sends his way is surprising. For someone that couldn't take the word 'freak', he could take on anything else Billy threw at him. It was rather surprising. The bed jostles under him as Tommy plops down on it.

"You're telling me the crazy part isn't you waking up in Jersey twice or more. So you're Maximoff but not? Sounds like this body was made waiting for your freaky soul to be put into it. And here I thought the Upside Down shit was crazy from my world."

"East coast worst coast aside, you got a broom or something around here so we can clean this damn mattress off?"

Very few other things were used to justify trying to murder him. Or sterilize him. So yeah, he could take so fucking much more. And since Billy wasn't from New York, well, he was allowed to insult New Jersey.

"I mean, it's not like I remember waking up in Jersey twice. Okay I woke up there most of my life. But who remembers being born? And yeah, we don't really know how that happened, whether we were the original souls in the bodies or not. I think that's why my soul-mom avoids me. That and I don't take after her magically, but rather I'm like her brother, my uncle Pietro, in powers. But like I said, my world is crazy and I've definitely had people just look at me like I'm crazy because of how messed up the family history is."

The 'east coast worst coast' does get Billy flipped off briefly though. Because excuse you, he died on the west coast. Sorta.

"I'll go find a broom to sweep up. But I'll haul the mattress down and beat it out myself."

"I wouldn't want to remember waking up there either." It was easy to bash on a coast he had never been to. But he knows that the California coast was easily the hest coast with how pretty it was. Jersey could keep her sunrises because the west coast sunsets trumped them every time.

He leans to the side so he's still sitting but giving Tommy all the space on the bed. "Your mom sounds like shit then. Maybe she took tips on parenting from Neil at some point if she was in California."

He catches the brief motion of the finger before laughing and sticking his tongue out.

"Probably be easier if both of us hauled the mattress down and beat the dust off of it." Tommy would be faster, but Billy could put some power in his arms at least.

"Asshole," Tommy laughs with some amusement. Because really, he's not that upset. "You know, we grew out of the whole rap-based coast battles years ago, right?"

That's not even relevant in Billy's time, is it? No, not really.

"Frank and Mary were terrible. Wanda and Vision just haven't been there. And in some ways I don't forgive them for that. And in others, I just wish they had been. That they were. They apparently aren't like that, across all universes."

Vision. Someone Tommy's referenced as having been here before. Probably a crumb that Billy can do something with later. And now it's getting serious and talking about things Tommy's bad at talking about so he does his best to deal with it. Which is by distraction. Which he does with a joke.

"Oh come on now, Curls, you aren't really offering to help me beat off, are you?" he says. Which he would probably immediately regret.

"Yet you still want to sponsor me," comes the rebuttal. Why, he still wasn't entirely sure of. Maybe because even with backsliding into punches and slurs, Tommy still saw the bit of good trying to shine through. Just needed more polish.

His foot starts to bounce a little as he listens. "At least they're consistent I guess. I forgot that you come from a place that has universes like that. Plural.

About to add more to the conversation, Tommy drops the flirty joke on him. Billy stiffens and looks back to the other. It throws light on his face easily, which highlights the pink creeping into his cheeks. Talking to Robin about how he felt with... his own gender had been a little liberating. She had gotten it easily on the way down to the bunker. The mattress squeaks as he gets up and starts tugging it. "Shut up. And get off of this so we can get it downstairs. Unless you want to sleep in filth, you——" No. Don't say it. You're being good.

Of course he still wants to sponsor Billy. He's an asshole too. They've got to stick together, right? As for the whole foot bouncing, Tommy definitely sees it and it makes him realize he's making the guy uncomfortable. So he's not going to say more on that of course.

But he sees the reaction, the pink. A red face can be anger as much as embarrassment, and Tommy groans as he gets to his feet.

"Shit, sorry man. Shouldn't have said that. It's just knee jerk. It's nothing to do with you."

But he is up off the bed and with a quick push on the mattress he's helping it up onto it's side.

"I almost want to throw it out through the window. For shits and giggles."

The pink grows and he scowls, trying to use his expression to cover that up. He had already shouted at Tommy before that he wasn't like that. He liked girls like a normal guy was supposed to.

But then everything else happened in between to bring those conflicting feelings back to light and Tommy's teasing doesn't help any of it. A glance from the mattress to the window.

One part of him wants to throw Tommy out of it.

The smarter part knows Tommy would never let Billy catch him.

"Well we could. Save us the energy of beating the dust out when the ground does it for us."

Hilariously, defenestration might even be allowed. Mostly because if Tommy could get a foot on the side of the building, he'd be fine. Just run down it and not care.

"I mean, there's dirt in the ground. But this way we only have to navigate the stair once. Plus, come on. It's gonna be fun."

He moves back to the window and makes sure it's open all the way.

"Think we can squeeze it in?"

"Then we can throw a tarp or clean sheet or something on the ground to catch it." But Tommy was right - it would be far more fun. While the Jersey boy made sure the window was all the way open, Billy pushed it over.

He gives it a look over. "If we hoist it up and push it through diagonally, it should fit. Might take a little bit, but it'll work. I'll hold it up and you get it through." The blond starts lifting it, turning over so the brunt of it was on his back. Easier to keep it's angle this way.

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