001 - Speed Is Productive!

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd and Anyone
WHERE: Hotel and Greenhouse
WHEN: First Days on Agra 10
WHAT: Settling In and Learning Practical Skills
WARNINGS: N/A yet, will update if change


Finding Pear Dice - Greenhouse Exploration

There is a serious issue here, namely that Tommy hates moving at snail pace. Part of the issue with being a speedster is that the mutation that made him move fast made a lot of the rest of him fast. Which included two things that were already a problem here on Agrii Whateverthefuck: his brain, and his metabolism. There was literally no turning off how fast his brain ran, even when he was choosing to operate in the sorts of time frames that humans do. Sure, he could slow it down some, but in the end how fast it ran meant that walking at normal human paces left his brain bored if there wasn't other stuff to do. Exploration, as it were, wasn't exactly the easiest for Tommy to manage. Which flowed into the second issue, his metabolism.

As much as Tommy wanted to speed around, make a full mental map of this place, figure out how to start improving it, he couldn't. His body needed food to fuel it, and speed was something that had to be sacrificed for the basic rule of survival. Which was literally the opposite of what Tommy had always thought he should do. He had managed to survive everything by running away, running to find answers, or otherwise using his speed as a survival strategy. Which meant not having enough food to maintain speed very long was sort of frustrating.

This was what led to Tommy staying in a relatively small area for his initial explorations. More than that, this is what led Tommy to a glass building, and through the doors. Was it wrong that he smiles the second he opened the doors and realized what was going on? Probably. Maybe not. Food. There is food in here. It isn't cooked, it isn't starch, but it's something.

And more than that? Another glowy orb. As weird as the previous one had been, this one Tommy is prepared for. Or so he thinks. When he touches it there is a moment of immobility as the system uploads to his brain, and a jolt that goes through him when a glitch prevents him from getting everything. But what he gets is enough to leave a grin on Tommy's face as he cracks his knuckles.

"Talk about a worthwhile project."

The only question is where to start. And the answer is easy. Bypass the seeds, ignore the broken irrigation system, and he makes his way up to the over-grown upper level. He moves to twisting, curling, monstrous vine covered in what looks like small cyan bananas. He plucks one down and just devours it in three bites. The peel is nutritious, and good for fiber, his new knowledge tells him. The flesh inside tastes something like a pickle, but one seasoned with lime. Full of good vitamins. Tommy laughs and pulls off his long-sleeved shirt and ties it around him at an angle to make a sling. Like he cares about being shirtless right now. Food is a great first step.

Over the next hours and days he starts doing more than a recurring task of gathering food. For one thing, overgrown plants absolutely have lots of dying and choked material below them. Tommy spends a lot of time squatting under plants, crawling around, and otherwise pushing things aside to start pruning back this dead material. It will be great fertilizer, his new knowledge tells him, even sets himself up a corner where he starts piling material until he can clear an area or tools enough to start a compost pile. When he isn't slowly working his way through one area he's trying to water everything he can. The problem, of course, is the process of watering, how to carry water from the fountain outside and in to the plants. This he solves rather clumsily, with a large, cup-like leaf from some durable sort of plant from a more tropical corner. The thing is more durable than he was expecting, and he doesn't care too much about the repeated treks. He even pours the water into a second leaf he pokes some small holes into near the top to make it more like a watering can.

Sometimes there is an advantage to fast brains: creative solutions to problems. And so it is, somehow, that digital age and tech loving Tommy Shepherd becomes, well, a farmer.




Personal Space - Hotel Exploration

In the early mornings and evenings when light isn't nearly deep enough for him to really want to work by, Tommy gets to the other tasks of living. Which means heading back to the hotel with a small selection of fruits and vegetables from the overgrown green house, together with some of what he can handle that is left over from the Whale Comb those cherries are a serious advantage for someone who has trouble getting drunk. He walks through the halls and up to the third floor where he's set himself up, and if he passes anyone in the hall he offers over a piece of food, usually one of the cyan bananas he's come to enjoy that taste like pickles made with lime in the brine, or a crimson red cucumber that tastes, just faintly, like tomatoes seasoned with oregano. That one, he knows well, is starchy as hell, and that's great for survival.

Once he gets up to the hallway he lives in and puts the rest of the food away, it's about securing the place. Checking over windows that may be present to make sure there are no new cracks or hole. Checking the pile of dried leaves he gathered from the green-house and laid out on the floor to make something like a mattress mostly a barrier from the floor to maintain warmth, and making sure his little degree of personal items are still around.

After that he goes down the hall and starts cleaning up other rooms. More people might come, and you never know what space they'll want for themselves. And he hates doing nothing.

When all of that is done Tommy sleeps. At least, he tries to. His body doesn't like more than four hours of sleep, stupid being fast. Which means often in the darkness of the night and early morning, Tommy moves quietly through the halls, one hand on the nearest wall to keep himself going in a straight and predictable line. Hopefully he doesn't scare anyone or start a fight.



[OOC: Wildcard or other starters available on request. You can message me here, find me on plurk @ churbooseanon or discord at Churby#4290. Happy to take Tommy's TDMs canon unless you wanna choose otherwise except Billy, mostly because we changed up timing, hit me up on that one bro

Will do brackets but prefer prose.]

Comments

greenhouse exploration

[seeingscarlet]

The greenhouse building is one of the largest in the city and so it's one of the first places Wanda decides to explore. She makes her way through the upper levels, marveling at the sheer expanse of the greenery but wary of trying anything. She remembers all too well what had happened at the 'whale comb' party.

But at least they're not going to have to worry about food for a while...if any of this is edible.

She finds Tommy working on the banana vines and waves. "Did you find anything good?"

[doubled_speed]

Sure he HEARD someone coming in, but with as focused as Tommy was on pruning the area around his favorite cyanana yes that is what he doing to call them, sure he knows the real name but he doesn't care vines and he hears a voice. Wanda. Of course she found him apparently. He smiles and pulls out from under them, setting his pruned material aside.

"If you don't mind the taste of pickles and limes, you wanna take a cyanana. The ones with little spots are the ride ones. And eat the peel. The fiber is SO good for you."

Tommy smiles as he picks one off the vine and offers it out. "I'm mostly pushing these because vitamins."

[seeingscarlet]

Of course she's going to be worried about food first. They can't really do anything else until they make sure they're not going to starve in a few days or be forced to eat more of the weird food.

"A cyanana." She laughs and takes it. Why is the weird space food always blue? She'd found 'chocolate' for Loki once in almost the exact same shade. "I know what pickles and limes taste like, but not together."

She gives it a slightly dubious look - eat the peel? really? - and takes an experimental bite. She has no reason not to trust Tommy or assume that he's pranking her. "It's different. Better than a pickle, but my brain expects something sweet. I think we could make something good with them."

[doubled_speed]

Do something with them? Frankly he hadn't even thought of anything beyond just eating them how they are. Probably should consider preservation too. Still, he smiles, mostly because he likes her laugh.

"If you want something a little more starchy without going to the lower levels, I've got some scarlet cucumber-like things on the other side."

At least she likes this much. Which matters, because people should be fed. Wanda is people, and feeling her... may have a bit more weight, but he likes that he can help people with this anyway.

"Never considered managing plants back home. Like, not a farm kid. But this here? It's sorta a nice place. If a bit warm."

But he tends to run hotter than most people, so it isn't nearly as uncomfortable as it can be.

[seeingscarlet]

"Well, scarlet is my color." She grins. "I will need to taste more of the foods before I can start putting them together into meals." She could manage with less - has managed with less - but the others deserve better.

"I'm glad you found something here that makes you happy. Sometimes I would help Vision with the garden." She pauses to take another bite of the cyanana. "And then you get to name the food whatever you want."

[unbearablynaive]

The tall, glassy building is one of the first places the Vision checks out after getting himself and Wanda settled in one of the little shop-like structures. Not that he doesn't like the hotel, but he wants a little bit of privacy for the time being, and he likes the comfort of having all the open space after having spent so much time in a cramped spaceship. He'd almost instantly gone to the data point in the greenhouse, and was very satisfied with the new information provided - he'd developed gardening as a hobby on the Twin Roses, and this? This is proving those skills were worthwhile.

The structure is large enough that he doesn't notice Tommy at first, looking carefully over the seeds and deciding not to mess with anything just yet. There's plenty of existing plant growth to deal with. But exploring level by level and taking notes on what's where (hopefully he'll have a way to copy these to another device at some point so he can share easily with others, but for now his internal storage will do), it's not long before he runs into the young man.

Not literally, of course. He calls out to Tommy when he notices him.

"Good morning, Speed. Scrounging up breakfast, are you?"

[doubled_speed]

The voice stops Tommy dead in his tracks. Which isn't all that impressive given, well, Tommy isn't up to using his titular power right now. Not going to waste the energy he's picked up from good when he knows he has to be careful around the plants. Sure they're overgrown and somewhat hardy, but really, anything over twenty miles per hour is probably WAY too much and might hurt delicate leaves.

Still, he freezes in the process of scraping fallen plant matter back from the soil except fallen fruits, those will do well enough here for now and considers the voice.

Okay Shepherd, you can do this. Don't be awkward around your not-dad this time. He stands and brushes his hands off and turns toward Vision.

"Nah. Been up since, well, super early. Already got food and left it for Billy. Just, yanno, working. Sorta better than my old job. I built custom electronics orders. Super fast. This seems more fruitful."

And he's rambling. Which makes Tommy wince and look away somewhat.

"You can just call me Tommy."

[unbearablynaive]

"'Fruitful', indeed." His eyes widen a bit at the pun and he nods, seeing the current work Tommy's doing, but he doesn't approach closer. Not with that deer-in-headlights body language.

"I've found working with plants to be quite satisfying, myself. I had a hanging garden on the shelves of the cargo bay on my ship, back in the Fleet, and we have a garden on Naviadna as well. This looks to be an excellent resource for us all."

He gestures to a part of the planter that Tommy hasn't got to quite yet. "Would you mind if I joined you?"

[doubled_speed]

Pun definitely not intended. He's TOTALLY cooler than puns. He swears on it. He does manage to stay still as Vision explains his interest in the greenhouse, and is a bit thankful that he doesn't have to ask why a synthezoid might be interested in plant life. Not like he has to eat. Just accepts it as a given.

"Yeah, go ahead. Mostly right now I'm trying to prune things and clear the ground. The glowy-sphere thing indicated that plants sorta waste energy if they keep trying to sustain weaker leaves or ones that are already dying. And these things might choke out others. Sorta got a family to feed, so didn't see a harm in doing this."

Oh, and the amount of food he knows he personally will be knocking back. Seems completely unfair if he doesn't invest his time back into food production, right?

"You, uh, settling in well?"

the hotel

[pileofspirits]

While Tommy had been out exploring, something else had wandered its way in. Phalanx's wandering really hadn't stopped since they'd first arrived in this place, so it was only a matter of time before they'd poke into this specific space. The fact that it might have already been claimed by someone else isn't even considered.

So, when the rightful occupant returns, he'll find a figure dressed in the ragged layers of some kind of makeshift cloak, crouched down and looking through his things.

...Granted those "things" might just be dried leaves on the ground if everything else of his had been hidden out of sight, but the figure will be looking through those with just as much interest as anything else.

[doubled_speed]

Okay, yeah, when the rightful occupant or one of them returns, he's a bit confused. Like, why is the person there? Still, he supposes the place doesn't look too much like it's occupied, not yet.

"You mind not ruffling our bed up too much? I mean, not that I can't fix it. It's just I don't wanna crush up the leaves too much too fast."

[pileofspirits]

They startle a little, peering up from under the edge of their hood with big, dark eyes. And they stare at him for... a few long seconds, before looking down at the leaves in their hands, almost like they can't figure out what they're doing or what he must be talking about.

And several more moments go by before they look up at him again. With a strange, soft voice, they ask, "A bed...?"

[doubled_speed]

"I mean, it's not five star accommodations, but it's not like there are mattresses or blankets to work with," Tommy answers as he strides closer. Doesn't make the guy move, just wants to get a better look at him. He's... pale. A lot paler than Tommy was used to, and that's coming from a guy with snow-white hair at only nineteen.

"When you're sleeping somewhere without appropriate shit? You need something between you and the ground. Or Floor. Minimize body heat lost that way. It's the best I got."

I love your vegetables omg. Now I am hungry. Hotel!

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve hasn't seen Tommy since their trip in the woods (with its rather abrupt ending). That hasn't stopped him from thinking about the kid, though. Someone with his level of metabolism is at a significant disadvantage in a world where food is so scarce. Never mind the fact that even moving for him is a form of heavy exercise. So, yeah, Steve thinks about Tommy a lot and worries after him even more than that. It was clear from the forest, however, that the young man wasn't looking for support or help, so Steve kept his distance for the most part. But they did both live in the hotel-structure and Steve made a habit of walking the floors to see who was new or if anyone had disappeared.

This time, instead of finding someone, he instead was handed food. New food he'd never seen before. By Tommy.

Steve takes the colorful item and holds it in his hand as though it were one of the bizarre tools people seemed to keep finding. "Where did you get this?" He sniffs at it and makes a small, concerned face. "I don't remember this from the Whale Comb..."

[doubled_speed]

"Greenhouse," Tommy answers briefly, taking the cucumber like thing and biting the end off. "It's overgrown, massively. But I'm working on it. Not alone either. There are other people. Vision's helping out. Other people too."

But really, his not-dad gets top billing.

"These are some of the few things we can get without getting too deep. Still working on clearing stuff. But you've got serious metabolism, right? You should take an extra cumato. The starches are good. I haven't checked the root stuff yet."

[brooklyn_boy]

"Huh. That's great, Tommy." Steve bites into the...cumato (which is a terrible name, Tommy. Just look at how it's spelled) and is amazed to find that it's not only pretty satisfying but tasty as well. Yeah. He'll take another. "I'll give the other one to Buck."

He pockets it to work on finishing his own.

"If you need some help clearing things, I am more than happy to help. I'm sure The Vision is more than capable but, if you need some extra hands?"

[doubled_speed]

When you harvest and prune, Rogers, you can rename Tommy’s foods. Which he will promptly ignore. But that isn’t what gets him. Sure, he lets Steve take more food without issue, but he is still giving Steve a slightly confused look.

Too many adults taking him seriously lately. It’s weird.

“I mean, you’re welcome to help. With all the people here it’s gonna be important for us all to work. Especially metabolism assholes like us. D- Vision and I are only two people. But seriously, what is it with all you Avengers being nicer than ours?”

Not that Tommy has an opinion. Okay maybe he has some opinions about some of them, but Steve is being nice, and his Dad has been better to Tommy the few times they had interacted than the Vision back home had ever been.

[waterwhip]

She spots Tommy by the fountain as he fills the concave leaf with as much water as it will carry, and she's immediately intrigued. Realistically, Katara knows that she's unlikely to meet another bender here, but do they not have buckets on this planet? She supposes that they haven't found any, or else he'd be using that instead, but why go through the trouble when she's around?

Trotting up to him, she calls out. "Hey! Do you need help with that?"

[doubled_speed]

Tommy finishes filling his leaf, shifting his grip to make sure he won't drop any. Once that's done he stands fully and carefully, intending not to spill a drip. But the voice of a young woman makes him lift his head.

She's small. Sure, he's known small people who were strong. But there is no way she can help him carry something this heavy.

"Nah, I'm stronger than I look. Could lift a boulder. So I've got this."

[waterwhip]

The claim that he could lift a boulder piques her interest, but his insistence that he doesn't need help only makes her arch her brows at him. "Oh. Then by all means, go right ahead," she says, sweeping her arm out in an 'after you' sort of gesture.

Of course, she can't just leave it at that. "I'll just get my own water, then," she says, and with a few gestures, water begins to funnel out of the fountain, forming itself into a floating orb that's easily several times the volume of the leaf. It hangs over her, glistening and refracting light into sinuous patterns on the ground.

"You sure you don't want any help?" she asks, waving one hand casually to keep the water in place.

[doubled_speed]

Tommy does start walking away until he hears her comment and the swirling of the water. That gets him to turn around and stare at her in shock. And growing glee as he watches the demonstration of power. Because holy hell, that's pretty wicked. Like, he's KNOWN there are telekinetics and the like, but he's never seen this before.

"Are you, like," Tommy struggles to find the word. Electrokinetic was what Billy could do. What's the equivalent word for water? Uh... "Hydrokinetic? Because that's pretty cool. Yeah, I'll totally take your help if you can do that. We don't have buckets. Or I haven't found them yet. And I need to water the Greenhouse. For food and all. How much of that can you do? When did you start being able to do that? Do you have to make the little dancey moves? Billy mostly just holds his hands out and crackle-bam, electricity. Never seen anyone else who could control elements. You know, beyond the Human Torch sometimes doing his torchy thing."

Is he chattering a million miles a minute? Probably. But the thing is, he's so EXCITED because the only rationale he can come up with here is another teenage mutant and he isn't alone with just him and his twin. Someone else from back home.

hotel

[bossofspace]

It's that weird space between when night should be falling, if you're used to a 24 hour day, and when it actually falls that Carol makes her way back to the hotel. She glides up to the floor with the room she's claimed and enters through an open window, touching down in the middle of a hallway.

She's not expecting to find anyone still up, so she's not looking too closely when she lands. Fortunately she doesn't actually collide with the kid, but she might have if either of them had been paying any less attention than they already were.

She takes a step back. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

[doubled_speed]

See, Tommy's not used to people coming in through windows, not here. Sure, back home it was common enough, but this place? How many people can fly here. Probably only two, and he lives with one of them and knows the guy is asleep.

This one, though, this one has him flinching back just short of being run into, or running into her. Sometimes it's hard to tell who would be at fault when one person is fast and the other can fly.

But that voice? He knows that voice. Carola Danvers. Tommy wants to roll his eyes. Sure, he LIKES Cap Marvel, but geez, does she gotta be questioning what he's up to right now? At least she's not in that really weird leotard getup from back home. Bet the scarf thing would get caught on stuff.

"Shouldn't you?" he throws right back. Yeah, Tommy, super mature. "Too early to go to sleep."

[bossofspace]

"Hm." The noise is a thoughtful one, and she tilts her head appraisingly. "Touché."

She dusts herself off, whether it's needed or not, and gains her bearings, giving the hallway a brief scan in case any more stragglers are up and about. "Keeping busy?"

[doubled_speed]

"Not much you can do at this hour. But yeah, trying."

And by busy he means creating mental maps of areas and cleaning up the floors of the halls. As a speedster he does have insanely great reaction times, off any real chart. Doesn't mean that the floors can't trip him up from time to time. Better to know any potential dangers early.

"Why you up this late?"