OTA Log: Sometimes People Hide

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WHO: Reeve Tuesti and You
WHERE: He Row Soup Lies
WHAT: Avoiding the storm, tending to others
WHEN: November 6th-11th
WARNINGS: N/A

The Strangest Stuffed Animal

Not all of the stuffed toys lying around amid the blanket are just what they seem. One of them a bipedal, black and white tuxedo cat with a green cape, striding across the room toward the nearest person in a blanket. Somewhere in the background a man in a torn up suit, no doubt messed up by the crash, watches the stuffed animal approach, but doesn't say anything for now. Instead he watches with concern over how the doll moves, limping to whoever is there and reaching out to pat their arm with a pudgy paw.

There there, the doll seems to say. It just wished to provide comfort.

Hot Chocolate and Hiding

He hasn't been outside for days, not since he got here. It had been a burden, it had been a mess, it had been a whole thing. And Reeve, once he'd arrived, had found a place far from the door, sat down with a mug and Mini-C nearby, and watched the door.

It took a lot for him to even consider tearing his eyes from it. Outside was… too dangerous. He couldn't risk it. He had seen his own fears out there, and he didn't wish to face them again.

Reeve sips his cocoa and then jumps to his feet when he sees someone come in. The cocoa is passed off to Mini as Reeve grabs a blanket and heads for the door, ready to throw the blanket over the arrival.

"How is it getting out there? Come, let me get you a bowl of soup and some cider."

Comments

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It was definitely comforting to Mini to have a friend support him in this. Not that he could communicate it.

As for Reeve, he didn't know that Tony meant anything more than the party. After all, they had been talking about the sundae bar.

"I do like balloons," Reeve agrees, smiling peacefully as he works at the sewing. This was Reeve plying one of his skills, finding contentment in it.

"A balloon artist maybe. Making animals out of those tube balloons."

[in_extremis]

Despite not knowing of a person who actively disliked balloons, Tony found this admission from Reeve warmly charming enough to breathe a laugh and settle back into his slouch. "Honestly, I would not be surprised if you told me that was something you could do and, listen, I know you've got a whole thing, you built a city, saved the world, whatever, but if someone asked me to describe you right now, I would say, top three things, likes balloons, likes ice cream, plays with dolls. Is that a fake beard?" It wasn't quite the speed Tony would typically deliver at, but the drawl came dangerously close to a comfortable normal.

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Now what a summation of his life. Likes balloons, likes ice cream, plays with dolls. He continues working at the tear as Mini reaches for Tony. Sorry, kiddo, seems like Uncle Tony is done being comforting.

"The beard is absolutely real. Why would I bother having a fake one? Besides, I'm allergic to that adhesive they use to put on fake hair. Tried it for halloween when I was younger. Before I grew the beard. It was horrid."

[in_extremis]

The reaching did get Tony's attention, mostly to earn Mini a frown for the wiggling that he wasn't supposed to be doing as Tony took his hand to stop any more moving around. Cosmetic adhesives were something of a perfect storm if Tony's skillsets and he offered idly, "That stuff is just superglue," and it didn't terribly surprise Tony that this allergy hadn't come up before, watching Reeve work now. He was too exacting to be knitting himself back together with glue regularly like Tony would be in the garage. "That must have really cut the date short, that's a strong asset you lost, the whole face," he said with another weak laugh.

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There was never a reason for Reeve to patch himself up with anything other than magic. Glue would be a waste of adhesives.

"Very short. I was in my apartment all day, my face broken out in hives. How horrid."

He laughs and shakes his head at the memory. "I looked like a cherry."

[in_extremis]

Shaking Mini's hand very pointedly then, Tony said to him, "We don't all have someone very patient to patch us up, some of us have to hide in our shame." Halloween wasn't the kind of holiday that Tony saw crossing over on many other planets, he had to observe, and chanced a long look at Reeve before deciding he did not have the energy to get Reeve riled up about how they were not from the same planet again. Instead, he observed, "Must not have soured you on the whole thing, you've got the beard now, bet you were back out there the next year handing out treats."

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"I was," Reeve agreed. "And a few years later I worked for Shinra and corporate parties became mandatory. I miss it. Giving candy out to kids."

Was it silly to love doing that so much? Probably. But he missed the simplicity of it. Of people and the joys of their lives. For a moment he looks... sad. Which he pushes off as he ties off the string and then hands Mini out toward Tony.

"What do you think I should do about trimming the thread and keeping it out of the way?"

[in_extremis]

"Mandatory?" Tony echoed quietly, mostly baffled by the idea of a compulsory team Halloween party specifically, making him doubt now how much these holidays did actually cross over. They had spoken plenty about Reeve's strange relationship with his company, though, and Tony hadn't heard much about his private life in between, so as he forced himself to sit up to accept Mini automatically, he asked, "What's stopping you? Besides the police, I guess, they don't always take that kind of behaviour well." It was possible that an Avenger handing out candy to kids in the middle of a weekday enjoyed certain liberties that a civilian did not. The thread was not a problem, if Tony understood Reeve's question correctly, and he didn't wait to clarify before he was cleanly snapping it at the knot with his teeth.

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That's not good for your teeth, Tony. But Reeve won't chide him.

"Well, for one, I'm here and there is no candy nor children. For another, I am too busy. Helping the world leaves one little time for it."

[in_extremis]

Tony was left feeling chided anyway, not for how he treated himself in his work but for lingering so long on what was ultimately a small problem, with a whole planet in crisis outside of this safehouse. He did know that, it wasn't that Tony was avoiding it, it was just-- really awful out there. Taking a deep breath, he let Mini slip down back to where he had climbed into Tony's lap before, where Tony could bow over him to offer a hug for handling his surgery well, and to say his goodbyes with only a few minutes left on his excuse.

"Making a kid happy can help the world," he suggested as he searched the soft pile for the pieces of Reeve's communicator to put back together, but it wasn't exactly a passionate argument, already moot as long as they were stuck in this desolate city.

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"Making kids happy is the main way to help the world," Reeve says.

But making them happy can be complex.

"But of course I want to make the world happy. More than anything. You know that."

Or he thought Tony knew it. That said, he downs to see the man seemingly preparing to restore what he took apart.

"You can stay here. In the safety of this place. I can go out.

Into the fear and uncertainty. To the memories of Sephiroth and Meteor, to watching his own body break down and fail him. But for Tony to get rest, he would do it.

[in_extremis]

The communicator was coming together as quickly as Tony had broken it apart, even with Mini between Tony and his rapidly working hands, he just needed that pin back from Reeve. He was glad they agreed on the fundamentals and his smile was feeling less difficult to maintain, only for Reeve to make his baffling offer. The worked stopped for Tony to search Reeve for the context he had clearly missed, and still had to ask, "Why--where?" Reeve had made it sound like he had been here for a while before Tony showed up, and hadn't mentioned so far that only one of them was allowed to stay. That wouldn't have been a problem anyway; Tony hadn't intended to end up here. "I'm almost done, here, just let me finish this."

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There isn't a rule that this should only have one person, but...

"No, you should stay and eat. Please, rest. The storm makes people scared, Tony. Or full of fear. I don't know. But you shouldn't be out there. Not yet. Give yourself time."

No one listens to Reeve when he really just wants to help people. It just doesn't make sense but he doesn't know how to make it clear.

[in_extremis]

That didn't explain why Reeve thought he should be the one to go, and it really didn't help convince Tony to stay--not that he wanted to go back out there, and he looked warily toward the door again, not quite believing that it was a secure barrier between them and the storm, but because he really, definitely shouldn't have left Cal alone. "You can fix the ship..." he was willing to concede, because where Tony had failed Reeve must have easily been able to see the solution, but this was muttered mostly to himself as he pushed the communicator aside again, suddenly not trusting himself. Did Reeve already know that was where Tony was going, did they already talk about this? Tony sucked in a breath, much more sharply than he had intended, and bowed over Mini again to put his head in his hands this time, pressing the heels to his eyes to try to focus. "I left Cal out there," he said, which Reeve might have already known, now he wasn't sure, "But now I don't know where he is, I don't know where the ship is. I thought I could come get some supplies, and then I started walking, and, u-um..." That was supposed to come out much steadier. Reeve was probably right; he usually was. Nobody should be out there.

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Fix the ship? Reeve considers the man with a frown. Which ship? With what parts? But if Tony asked it... Oh if Tony asked it he would try. Especially with Cal requiring help.

But with the news, Reeve sighs.

"Then we'll go find him. Cal. We'll bring him here to safety. We'll go together."

To keep each other sane?

[in_extremis]

That was the problem, Tony was trying to ask for help, but he wasn't particularly good at that when he had his full faculties, and it had quickly turned out to be an entirely unreasonable request if Tony didn't even know what direction to point them. With concentrated effort, he dragged one hand away from his face to restlessly scratch through Mini's fur again, not finding it quite as comforting as he was hoping given what he was about to put the doll through. "Yeah," he agreed, not sounding nearly as positive as he should have, "yeah, we can find him, we'll go."

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At least the doll would be safe outside, even if it had its own fears that might manifest. At least Mini's were simple. Being cut. Being torn. Being crushed under rocks. Losing Reeve. Simple.

"Eat first," Reeve insists as he moves around to collect a few things. Blankets mainly, to hopefully grant them some comfort from the storm. They deserved blankets.