revivalproject | [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

"Yeah, but we're not racing for other people," Tommy points out. Just for themselves. That's the joy of it.

Still, he nods approvingly at what Donnie's doing. The automated sprinkler system doesn't always give the plants exactly what they want.

"You like plants?"

"I've always loved plants. I may be a tech guy, but botany's still one of my favorite subjects," Donnie says. He stoops down to tug a bit of shriveled stems off from one plant, resuming his watering.

Huh, that's cool. It's nice that he's not the only person that was into other things that are totally agriculture people.

"I sorta fell into enjoying this. Like, helping things grow."{

"Growing is only part of it. You can learn a lot from plants if you study them enough. I'm sure my darlings here would have still managed without me. Maybe not as well against a volcano, but even in the aftermath, things can thrive. They'd just need time."

Donnie finishes up, setting his hands on his hips as he looks over the plot again. Doing some gardenwork is always satisfying. "Although speaking of volcanoes, we can probably make good use of the soil that's been exposed to all the lava and ash."

"Learn from them?" Tommy asks, confused. He doesn't really learn a lot from them actually. That's probably his own fault.

"Why would we do that? Wouldn't it just be all rock and dust?"

Donnie gives Tommy a look then, managing at least not to sigh although his expression might suggest he'd love to.

"They're a visual barometer for the environment. Not counting any abnormal effects of storms, you can otherwise tell a healthy environment from the state of its plant life. An extreme example of this is when there are droughts and everything's all shriveled up. If plants aren't doing that great, then chances are, we won't do any better."

If he had a chalkboard or some kind of pull-down charts, one can just imagine him using them right about now. For lack of either, he still takes up the posture of someone ready to do more explaining, resting a hand behind his shell as he gesticulates with the other.

"Ah, volcanic activity can result in an abundance of nutrients for the minerals it leaves in its wake. Soil that has had apt exposure is rich in everything plants need to grow. In certain volcanic regions on Earth, they make extensive use of such resources for farming."

"So we... should bury the volcanic rocks and that will make the plants better?"

He's not really getting the time scale on this, Donnie. Help him out here. He didn't study botany or geology back home. Or much of anything.

"....."

Donnie stares at the speedster long and hard. This is just like trying to explain things to his brothers. It'd be nostalgic if it wasn't just plain annoying.

"No, we're not burying rocks. The dirt- you just. Look, just use it like fertilizer."

Use rocks as fertilizer? Yeah. He can do that. Not that he gets what that means. Especially since it's not dirt yet. It's just rocks and ash.

"You got it man."

Donnie's about ninety percent sure that Tommy doesn't get it, but the main point is at least understood for the most part. It's super annoying that the library has no real use for its lack of books or he'd be assigning the speedster homework by now.

"Anyway, I think I'm done here. I need to go location scouting for my experimental plant group."

Listen, he'd take the homework if it was given. If only because it was reading.

"Alright then. Have fun with that man. I've got to get back to harvesting and preserving. Winter's coming and all that Stark Bullshit."

The turtle shivers at the mere thought. "Ugggh don't remind me," he groans. Although the return of winter also means he's been here for nearly a year. That's a disconcerting thought.

"Let me know if there's anything I can help with," he at least offers, gathering up his things.

"Always man. But you're, like, going to need to take care of your science first. We'll figure it out after that."

He offers a wave and then moves away. Time to do his harvesting.

[Open] These Broken Pieces Of Life

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