revivalproject | Down Under

Entry tags:

Down Under - Men at Work

WHO: Hargrove, Shepherd, Stark, OTA
WHERE: Swimming through Temba
WHAT: Various posts
WHEN: It's Gonna Be MerMay
WARNINGS: Language, talks of injuries

Vegemite Sandwich - Open

As if the what, thirty-six hours or so weren't enough whiplash for Billy, imagine the surprise of waking up underwater. With fins. Either Kaplan was really trying to make up for what happened in some weird way, or the aliens were doing shit again. Swimming out of his hospital bed, everything still hurt, but it was bearable. His left arm is all wrapped up and splinted, and his torso is just as wrapped, as per Billy's request.

After giving himself some time to make sure all of his injuries and scars were wrapped up, he heads out. The blond isn't really... fast, per say. There's speed to his swimming compared to doing it as a human at least. Seems like the bruises from his fall transferred to his tail though. Damn aliens, they could've healed him up first before giving him a tail. Or Kaplan. Whoever it was that did this shit. Swimming out to the town center and hovering over the fountain, he decides he'd rather be closer to the ground.

"I guess this is to make up for trying to set the place on fire last year with the volcano?" he grumbles, looking around with a hand on his hip.

Fried-Out Kombi - Stark

His exploring of the water leads him down to the southern part of the city. Maybe the southwest? It's difficult for him to tell like this underwater. Whatever, it's not important. What is important is that somewhere here, where the lake is now really filled again, is Billy's lost axe. The one he had dropped during the rage bug thing had Kaplan attack him. It wasn't anywhere on the road, which was a shame.

His heart drops in his chest at the sight of that yawning opening below him. That bright red tail swishes to take him further from it. He breathes in and out steadily, staring down at it. Everything was underwater. There were no rats here to swarm him, nothing to snap out to snag him. To drag him down into darkness while whatever possessed him made his hands do unforgivable things. He swims in a circle above, trying to gather enough nerve to just swim in, to find his weapon.

"It's just a tunnel," he mutters under his breath. "There's no rats, no Vecna thing."

A Man in Brüssel - Shepherd

Later, when it's clear the sun is setting, Billy heads back to familiar territory. His swimming is a little stronger now, more familiar with the natural feeling motion of his fins and tail. There's a quick trip into the civic center to make sure his tape player is okay - it seems to be - and he swims down to the main level. A longing look at all the training gear he wouldn't be able to use for awhile, Billy heads back out to the town square. There's no lingering there, because now he can do something he wouldn't be able to as a human.

Bubbles stream in his wake when the Californian heads to the diner. Not to the doors though, going up around to a window he's more familiar with. Peering in, he knocks on Tommy's window with his good hand. "Shepherd! Open up!" he calls, lowering enough so he can lean against the windowsill with his good arm like he's some sort of fairytale prince or something.

"It's not every day I can meet you up at your window like this after all."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The kind of menace Billy thought of Kaplan was the bad kind, thus why he didn't say the remark. There's no time to dwell on that because Asgard into Oklahoma?

"Shit. Isn't that a whole other world? Like in that viking mythology or something?"

Another question and he smirks. "Yeah, I've already got something in the works in my head. You'll have to wait though. Can't give away any master plans of mine." His hand draws away to hang a little over the edge with the other.

"Norse, yes. But it's a lot harder to call it 'mythology' when Thor has fucked up baseball games we were having before. Asshole."

Not to mention their issues with Loki.

"And it wasn't a WHOLE other world. Just a good chunk of what remained of it."

"Your world sounds messy, babe." Chunks of world? A messed up baseball game? And by Thor of all people, who is really one of the few mythological guys that Billy knows.

"Almost sounds worse than monsters in a mall and my head." He looks down at the city spread out below them.

"So. What’re your likes and dislikes? I know one of those likes, and that’s me, which is the best like there is."

"Very messy. But that's nothing new. Did the two sets of biological parents not sell that point already?" Tommy teases. And he does it with a gentle tone and his fingers stroking through Billy's hair.

"I like foods that are noodle based. I like getting to be fast. I like when people spend time with me and act like I'm important. Beyond that, I'm usually easily amused. I don't like watching things on screens with low refresh rates though."

"Yeah, that makes you messy. But all this other shit just means your world is messy, too. Is that just where you go, Chaotic Speed, or everyone where you're from?" Then he laughs at the hand stroking through his hair, but not pulling away from it.

Why? Because Billy loves this kind of touch. Or any kind of good touch.

"Carbs, makes sense, because you're fast." If Tommy hadn't have been fast, the ordeal with Kaplan would've ended terribly. Billy wants his boyfriend to be as fast as he wants. The blond leans to the right, letting himself rest against Tommy's side. "What's a refresh rate? There needs to be a movie theater here so we can watch shit together."

“Interesting word choice. Billiam and Wanda use chaos magic normally, so I guess it’s part of my life. But it’s not just that. My world is just a mess sometimes.”

He keeps stroking that lovely hair. Loves it. Flows so well in the water. God he wants to tangle all of his fingers in it.

“As for refresh rates… You ever use one of those View-Master toys?”

Of all the things to remember while he was in pain, it would be this in the next remark he makes. "Babe, you said your soul was a fragment of chaos magic and something else. Can't remember that other part because I was in pain. I'm lucky I remember that little bit."

There's a low hum at the hand stroking through his golden locks. "Yeah. I think I had one when I was a kid. Mom got me some reels of the ocean and the Redwood forest. Why?"

Okay, being called babe earns Billy a whole other sort of brilliant smile. Like Tommy absolutely approved.

"The other part is a fragment the soul of the ruler of one of the hell dimensions, Mephisto. Guess that makes me a chaotic little demon. But I'll behave for you."

But at least he has the good news that Billy might understand the frame of reference that Tommy wanted to present.

"So, with the View Masters, you get one frame of image each time you pull the lever, right? And if you pull it as fast as you can for the mechanism's function, you might get a few frames a second. And movies back in your day were probably still protected through film strips. So you'd get more frames in each second. In my day we refer to how many times a screen can put up a new still image in a second the refresh rate. Most TVs, most movies, they tend to put up an image and move it on faster than the human eye can see. The average human sees between thirty and sixty 'frames' per second. So our brain puts together all those individual snapshots of vision into full motion. My eyes... they see a LOT faster, and my brain processes faster too. Watching old movies from actual projection, and even a lot of screens? That can be like watching things through a view master for me at times. And with how tech is built in my world, the way things are 'drawn' on screen or projected, well, it can give me a headache if I'm at it too long and i don't have something to anchor me in a specific frame of time reference."

Oh. The way Tommy’s face absolutely lights up like a star above him, makes Billy’s hearts do flips in his chest. God, he loves it. Loves that he can make someone smile like that. He swims off of the ledge only to loop back around so he can face his boyfriend and put his hands on either side of that bright white tail on the hotel roof. It’s clear he’s got some favoritism happening with one arm. "I hope I get my chaotic demon speedster to smile like that more."

His tail swishes behind him and he listens to the explanation about refresh rates. "Oh. I guess that makes sense. You’d probably go through a view finder reel fast enough to catch it on fire."

One hand, the one with the bandages wrapped around the arm, goes up to trace over Tommy’s jawline. "I’d keep you anchored during a movie, babe. Won’t let you outta my time if I can help it."

Smile like what more?

"Haven't had as many reasons to smile lately," Tommy says, his voice soft and warm. "But you've definitely helped with that."

Billy was good for his mental state. In a way that Tommy hadn't had in a while. He can't even realize just how much he helps Tommy by just wanting him.

"A lot of film is semi-flammable you know. But yeah, I could destroy them. As for movie anchoring, you're wonderful, but if I'm not focused on you rather than it, it tends to get unpleasant for me."

"That’s because I’m the best thing to smile about and I’m all yours." Billy really doesn’t know how good he is for Tommy. Doesn’t know the help he’s giving him. But sometimes he thinks he can hear it in the speedster‘s voice. The a it was warm just for him, but strong in keeping Billy comforted. Or in line when he got out of it.

He walks carefully in on Tommy’s space with his hands, still being gentle with the weight on his left. "I’d keep you in my lap or at the very least hold your hand while we watched one. I know you like holding hands." He leans onto his right arm and put his left one on top of Tommy’s.

God Billy's confidence was refreshing. Tommy laughs and reaches out to stroke Billy's hair again. Why is this man so wonderful? Because he is. So perfectly wonderful.

"Wow man, who says I'm really in to holding hands?"

Says the guy turning his hand over so that he can tangle their fingers together. Yeah, he likes it. It's just such a small gesture of desire, of being desired. It makes him feel good.

"I think your hands know sign language with what they’re telling me," to which he gives a little squeeze to those fingers linked with his. He does make a pleased noise having his hair toyed with. That tail starts moving to hold Billy up because the other hand goes up to trace Tommy’s jawline like he’s trying to study it.

"So what happens if you try to swim at a norma— my pace?"

Billy doesn’t know if he caught the word in time enough, and hopes it doesn’t hurt his boyfriend. Doesn’t ruin the moment they’re having. "Does it feel like you’re in slow motion?"

"I haven't brushed up on sign in a few years," Tommy says, frowning. Because he didn't think he was signing something. Until he gets it. And his face brightens up yet again.

So he leans into that hand and just lets himself keep smiling.

"If I swim at your pace, I'm swimming at your pace. Nothing really happens I guess. It can feel like slow motion if my brain picks up on a danger and I focus on it, but I can mostly keep to that speed when I'm focused."

Billy waits for Tommy to get the joke, studying that pretty face. When Tommy lights up in his smile, it makes Billy light up too. God, he loves seeing Tommy smile like that.

"I didn't know if time felt different for you when you were at a normal pace like that."

The water swirls around him as he takes his place next to Tommy again, making sure to keep their hands linked like he wants. "I like that you can go super fast. I mentioned to Max about maybe getting a hammock in the beach house so if you wanna stay there with me you can." He doesn't want to say the quiet part out loud, like how Tommy could spend the night. He wants that, but it feels too fast. Maybe Tommy-fast.

And to think, it was Billy that made him smile like that. Gotta be an achievement there, pretty boy. Bask in it.

"IT feels different when I'm focused on it. Time and me have a really weird relationship. But I like that you like that I'm fast."

A hammock sounds nice too, though it would get tangled with his sail, so that probably wouldn't work for him.

"You asking me to spend some evenings with you, handsome?"

It was an achievement, and one that made him feel all fuzzy and warm. Made him feel like he was out in the sunshine.

"Of course I like you fast, even if you can't go as fast as you really can when you're hauling me behind you." But he lov—— likes it all the same. His tail lazily drifts back and forth behind him, and the slightly higher current toying with his back spines.

"Mmm maybe. You saying you would if I was?"

They were out in the sunshine, silly Billy fish!

"Admit it, you like it when I've got you in my arms and go full speed," Tommy grins. Because he knows Billy's an adrenaline kind of guy. It's got to be fun for him.

"I'm saying yeah, I would if you were. But thing is, you shouldn't ask. Because I'm a barnacle. If I get all upset in the night in my dreams, you'd end up with me all octopused around you for comfort. And a gorgeous man needs his beauty sleep free of limpets holding on.

"I do, but that’s not a secret. I love going fast with loud music playing. It’s fun!" And there’s no lie there. That tail swishes just a little more, like a dog getting the start of excited wiggles before he settles down again.

Billy smirks at the explanation. "You don’t need to make excuses to cuddle up with me, pretty boy." He grins wickedly. "You can cuddle right up to me and I’ll be your dreamcatcher or something. Keep the bad shit away from your dreams."

"Well, I don't play music," Tommy says. "Guess I have to find somewhere to install a radio for you. But just for you."

God he looks so pretty when he wiggles like that. Tommy wants to kiss him. Somehow, he resists the urge.

"Don't threaten me with a good rest, baby. I might just take you up on it."

The grin turns wider. "Gotta find a radio that has a tape player." One with good speakers so they could swim and jam out. "For me, but I’ll share with you. Just for you."

He laughs, settling his body on the roof and stretches his arms out across Tommy’s lap. "I’ll sleep on top of you. Make sure you get a full speedster night of sleep. Only you get promises. Everyone else gets threats."

"I'm sure we could build one if we needed it."

And if Billy wants it, then Tommy thinks they'll need it. Time to research radios.

"You promising, Sunshine? Because I could always use a little weight to hold me down."

Damn if it doesn't sound like heaven to sleep that close to someone who really wants it.

"You probably could. You fixed my stuff before." No doubt they could figure out how to get a radio that had a tape deck with it. Billy studies Tommy's face, realizing that he was serious about that cuddling while sleeping thing. The blond had been teasing with it, but it wasn't a teasing that was reciprocated it seemed.

Tommy wants that.

Folding everything back, Billy sits up and scooches in close. Fingers move over the line of his boyfriend's jaw. "Yeah. I can promise that, Daisy Dukes. I'll make sure no nightmares carry you away from me."

"I'm not that good," Tommy insists nervously. Because he didn't feel like he was. He was certain he wasn't good enough. But for Billy, wel, he'd try.

Especially when the guy is trying so much for him.

"I don't want to be carried away. So I'll be happy to have you hold me down. In any way you can imagine."

Which definitely has a more flirtatious edge to it.

"Shut up, you are." Whether Billy was talking about being good at fixing stuff or being good for him, he won't say. Why, because he's too busy laughing with a bright smile at the easy and flirty line he's been given.

"Oh we'll probably get to that point, Shepherd, don't you worry. You're already getting so many of my valuable kisses and touching my perfect hair." He grins and leans in close. Close enough to kiss if Tommy's willing to go for it.

Down Under - Men at Work

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