revivalproject | Buffets and Birthdays

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Buffets and Birthdays

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, Billy Hargrove, Otherwise Open
WHERE: Various Buffets, Station Hydroponics, various in closed starter
WHAT: Tommy eating his fill (and yours), Growing Things because of course, and showing Hargrove a good time (no they aren't dating what are you talking about)
WHEN: Throughout March, March 29th in closed
WARNINGS: None

I. Eating Your Fill

The advantage of places like this was that Tommy could always get as much as he wanted to eat without having to rely in protein paste to fill things out. And, well... There was always buffets. And man wasn't Tommy enjoying them now, getting himself steadily onto 'must pay double' or 'do not serve' lists. Which was fine with him.

One day might find him in an all you can eat salad bar, piling on all the alien vegetables and making notes on his comm device about what things he might want to get seeds or seedlings for. Another is a place specializing in a wealth of soups, where he's again taking notes (this time on flavor combinations for cooking). Or, if you're really lucky, you'll find him on a day where he's got three different mounds of noodle dishes in front of him, happily chomping his way through them while just sitting back and watching the alien species around him.

No matter which buffet you find him at, one thing is sure. The staff is giving Tommy a disapproving look of some variety or other, he's got a stack of dirty plates near him, and he's at his table alone. Maybe go up and talk to him. He'd be happy for a companion.

II. Growing Pains

Of course to keep himself fed and to stock up the greenhouses of the ships requires something important: some form of trading capital. And where else was Tommy going to find it than through the work he'd been throwing himself at for years? Sure, he could work as an extreme speed courier on a lot of planets they have ended up on, but the space station clearly doesn't need that. With the various types of transportation it's clear that he'd not be the best price per pound for transport, and it wouldn't learn him as much. Which is probably why anyone coming to take up Station Operations on the offer to do some work in hydroponics in exchange for seeds and cuttings will find Tommy there, at most hours of the day.

Today he's humming softly to himself as he goes through and carefully clips small handfuls of greens from some salad vegetable, meant for someone's dinner, or perhaps to prune things back for better growth. But he still smiles in seeing another He Row and waves them over.

"Hey, you here to be my new assistant? They said that there was someone new coming in to work today. I'm happy for a familiar face."

III. It's Not A Date, It's A Birthdatey | Closed to Billy Hargrove

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a bro is to make sure they have a good day. No, more than that. A great birthday. And it's something Tommy had started planning the moment they set foot on the station. Sure, he was fitting it all around his work, but he was meticulously planning something out.

And now here Tommy was, showing up at the hammock where he's more than once seen Billy sleeping near he water on the ship.

"Hey, Sunshine," he says, smiling as he nudges the hammock. "Get on your damn feet. We're going on an adventure."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That gets a rich laugh from Billy before he moves to shove Tommy. "And people say I'm a dick! You're supposed to be nice to me - I'm the birthday boy."

He sticks his tongue out at the guy playfully. "This just sounds like you want to carry me to show off that speed of yours."

"I mean, I've met you, Hargrove. You sort of are a dick. But I don't mind that in a person," Tommy says with a laugh as he keeps them walking.

"I think a bit of princess carrying would really do wonders for your ego."

"If you minded it, you wouldn't have done all of that for me," with a little gesture towards the sand and surf they were leaving behind. Billy missed it already, but it didn't hurt as bad as leaving California. "And we wouldn't be best friends."

He grins so wide. "Alright, fine. You get your wish. Prince carry me to dinner, Shepherd!"

Tommy grins and throws an arm around Billy's shoulder, just for a moment. Leans in and whispers in Billy's ear.

"What can I say. I'm a master at sweeping people off their feet."

And then, because permission is given, he scoops Billy up into his arms with an effortless motion and grins at him.

"Arms around my neck, Sunshine. I'll go slow enough for you to watch this time."

Oh.

Oh.

The way the whisper sends a thrill down his spine and right back up was absolutely unexpected. The surprise of it gives Tommy plenty of time to scoop him up and he just blinks stupidly up at the guy.

God damn.

Later he will conclude that this is the best birthday ever.

His arms go around Tommy's neck as asked. "Good. I wanna see whatever sights this place has."

Really? This one? Tommy would have to do better in the future.

"Alright then. I'll keep it to only two miles an hour. Watch carefully. We'll be there in a few seconds."

Because he can't go much slower in a reasonable way.

How could this not be the best? He got to go surfing where there wasn't anything available, and he's getting ice cream cake. Of course this one is the best.

"Two miles? Wow, who knew you could move at a sloth's pace." He shifts his body to be more comfortable, which just moves him against Tommy's. Don't think about that. Don't do it.

Too late.

Because Tommy is solid and so warm against him, with strong arms holding him up like he really does weight nothing.

"I'll be counting those seconds then. One......two......"

"Don't challenge me with a timer," he laughs, and then he's taking off at what is the lightest little jog for him. And he's still eating up the distance with clear ease.

It isn't even thirty seconds before Tommy has stopped in front of a little business.

"Here," he says, clearly ready to put Billy down. "They have all these screens inside that make it look like you're out in a beach side bar, and they've got ocean sound effects. Doesn't quite look like Earth, but it's as close as I could get."

Billy still counts because he's an asshole, but he's an asshole that Tommy clearly counts as a friend. And he counts about twenty-eight seconds. The blond laughs as he gets to his feet. "Twenty-eight seconds, Shepherd. Might need to get your head checked out if you think that's two seconds!"

He looks around at the restaurant with a positive nod. "Screens huh? I mean, we're heating food in a place that's in space. Screens and sounds are good enough. Usually I'd say we go back to the surf place with our food, but no one likes sand in their food."

"Took it slow just for you, Sunshine. Didn't want you overwhelmed by the heroics here."

But Tommy can agree on no sand in his food, hard pass. He waves a protoplasmic creature over and they talk briefly through pantomime to get a table lined up.

"Alright, Je's gonna set a table up for us. We'll get some food, some drinks, and enjoy the evening, got it?"

"Yeah, don't want to know what it's like being on the receiving end of me I guess." He pokes his tongue out before sweeping it along his bottom lip as Tommy communicates with the.... alien. Je? Huh. "A little bit of everything to finish off this fantastic start to year nineteen."

A year he wasn't supposed to see. He was supposed to be in the ground with a stone carved with dates. A redemption too little and too late with not enough of anything to save him afterwards. "I don't think you'll be able to top this birthday, Shepherd."

Tommy turns to look at Billy and looks like he'd about to say something. Then he winces.

"Shit. That sweeping line earlier. Sorry. Brain's in flirty space. Didn't mean to make that awkward. Or the one my brain immediately thought."

Because come on, you can't say 'don't think you'll be able to top this' without Tommy's brain going places. Whatever.

"Anyway, eat whatever you want."

For a fleeting moment, Billy just wants to grab Tommy by the jawline and pull him in for a kiss. One to make the sorry and the wince melt from his mind. But Billy doesn’t and keeps it together physically so the guy is none-the-wiser about it. Hopefully.

Once they’re seated, Billy starts ordering. It’s a bit random, but he doesn’t know alien food well enough and he’s not that picky. Orders a water because that’s gotta be normal across the board and he needs it after all that surfing. "I guess the flirty mood happens when you’re having a good time?"

No, why bring that up?! Billy‘s brain, NO!

Well damn, that was a question. And while he adds a few other things to order, he mostly lets Billy take the lead.

"You're not wrong. I just try and keep it tamped down around you. Respect and all that."

Billy orders a lot of food, mostly to recoup from surfing and also to share with Tommy. He remembers how the guy mentioned needing more food when they were trapped in the Warrens.

"Boundaries, right? You’re respecting mine." When his drink arrives, he drains the glass nearly in one go. "I really haven’t had a birthday like this in years. Surfing new clothes, my favorite dessert? I stand by the fact that you won’t outdo this birthday by a longshot."

Hey, Tommy would eat anything Billy didn't. That's no problem. Would make him feel good and fed.

"That's what friends do," he agrees. "Some of my friends are amused when I do it. But your comfort is more important. And how do you know ice cream cake is your favorite if you haven't had it yet?"

New goal, even better birthday somehow.

That's mostly why he was ordering more than he was going to eat. He leans his body forward and props his head up with a hand where the elbow rests on the table.

"Because who the fuck doesn't love ice cream?" Billy doesn't dwell on the topic of boundaries. He doesn't even realize he's been respecting Tommy's lately - such as not calling him the five-lettered f-word. "Nothing you do could make me as uncomfortable as I have been before, mostly because I know you won't stoop to the same level as Neil."

Mostly because Tommy knew better than that. "So does it have anything special with the magic? Sparkler candles? Color changing frosting? Little hidden plastic surprise in it? Or did you go for simplicity with just a pretty normal and delicious cake?"

"Well, it's a pretty delicious and normal, but I asked him for number candles."

Because number candles are cool as shit, right? Super cool! He always wanted them.

This would be the part where he remarks about wanting the numbers '69' for his candles, but Billy doesn’t. His own boundaries that Tommy is respecting is what stops him. Better to not say it when he’s having a difficult time knowing what all these feelings are anyways.

"Never had number candles. My mom used regular ones, and whatever age I was turning was how many she used." The food is dropped off for them, along with a refill for the drinks. "I ordered too much. If you didn’t get enough, just take off my plate."

"I mean, what am I going to do with 19 candles? No, better to have to cool ones."

He wasn't used to cakes when he was growing up so he couldn't share any notes from his own youth. Better not to think about how that hurt. This was a happy day.

"Oh, I'll always take more," Tommy says with a smile. "I've spent a whole month getting banned from places."

"You could do things with them. Light some sparklers. start a bonfire with them on the beach. Get creative, Shepherd." He picks up what looks like a fork and digs into the food. He can't let himself think about it too much or he won't get too far in eating it.

"Banned? What the hell are you doing in other places to get banned, Tommy? Pissing people off and starting fights? Shoving chairs or mattresses out of windows?" He grins around the utensil before taking another bite.

"Eating too much at the all you can eat buffets," he says honestly as he starts into his own food. Because he knows he's got a bottomless belly. Or nearly so. To get sufficient food for a change is a damn rush. He may have over indulged. "Having full energy is really refreshing."

"I remember you in the warrens. During the volcano," Billy says carefully, gesturing vaguely with his fork for a moment. "I didn't know you could eat too much at a buffet. You think that'd be the point." There's a scowl that's hidden in his full mouth but it shows in his eyes. It's not there for too long.

"Don't be a glutton, you gotta save room for cake." Billy eats more, filling his own hunger get replaced with energy. "And yeah, I'm sharing it with you, Mr. 'I'm going to fast run over ice to save my best friend from fireworks and make him a pillow fort in his cabin'."

"I can put away more than someone my size should be able to," he admits with a laugh. But he's happy to keep eating here. He was more than these people wanted to deal with and he doesn't care. It's too good to do it.

"Wait, you're sharing cake with me? Score!" This is so awesome. "I feel like I'm the one benefitting today. Real sun, good food, good company, and ice cream cake."

"No, it makes sense. All that running and speed, works at your metabolism and you gotta eat." More bites. Billy remembers the Warrens and how hungry Tommy had been because everyone was on rations. He had given one of his last lollipops to Tommy in hopes it would help.

"Uh, duh. You went through two weeks of planning all this out. Of course I’ll share." He points the fork at Tommy. "Only with you because you planned and did all of this."

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