revivalproject | 001 - Speed Is Productive!

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001 - Speed Is Productive!

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Little choice. Tommy looks away nervously. This isn't something he wants to deal with. To explain. But damn if Vision wasn't... a bit more on the nose than he meant. And Tommy isn't all that skinny. His body is at it's peak now. No doubt he'll pick up a bit more muscle definition in the future, to take a bit more after Pietro. But he's picked up a lot of weight since he was last with his birth parents.

"I've been keeping myself fed back at home. I spend a good portion of my money on food. And the Kaplans always stuff me when I visit."

To be fair, he spends time with people like Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and Thor, so. A skinny build mostly means he's not massive.

"I'm glad they do. And it will be a task to keep us all fed here, but--"

He spreads open his hands.

"I don't mind helping you find the best foods for your needs. It's a balance to my not needing to eat."

Speedsters don't need to be brick walls. Though he is about as durable as one. And where Steve needs that bulk to lift nearly a ton, Tommy does it like he is. So there's definitely something to be said for the compression of his mutation.

Still, Tommy clearly seems a bit awkward on this topic. Like there's a lot to say, but he's not willing to say it. Which he isn't. He hasn't even talked to his twin about his birth parents and that situation.

"I mean, that seems like a fair trade. And given... given our relationship, it's only right for me to let you help. So yeah, whatever you can do will help. I'm doing my best not to use my speed much at all, to try and burn less."

And it's driving him up the walls.

If Tommy wants to talk to him about it, he will. If he doesn't, well, the Vision can come to his own conclusions. But if he's spending most of his money on food back home, it means he's not getting enough from the rest of his support system, and that's somewhere he can help here.

"Once we have the food situation settled, which should be soon, I don't see why you couldn't use your speed. It seems like a very useful ability, all told. I would just hate to see you overexert yourself. Is that something I should worry about?"

The rest of what support system? He’s an emancipated adult that skipped out on the support offered by his twin’s parents when he couldn’t handle not being able to help Billy anymore.

Tommy looks around the greenhouse and looks ready to laugh. Settled? He thinks this will be settled soon? Good luck.

“I hope to be able to use it. Right now it’s a bit like I’m on crutches, held back like I am. Have to act like this around most people. I just usually have time to function at my own speed.”

He reads. Tell no one.

“I haven’t been pushed to the point of exhaustion in a while. I’ll be fine.”

The lack of support system? That's the problem right there. Not that the Vision knows any of it.

He hums thoughtfully. Soon is a relative measure, but he's sure they won't be the only ones that decide to use the agriculture data point. It's better than trying to rely on scavenging for food, at any rate.

"Would you say you need to do so at least a little every day to keep yourself functioning properly? Wanda finds sometimes that if she doesn't use her powers after a time they build up and cause her distress, so we try to allow her to use it in many small ways, or occasionally visit a deserted area and practice on a larger scale."

Way to ask hard questions, Vision. Tommy crosses his arms over his chest and frowns severely at his almost-father.

“I’m not like Billy and Mom,” he admits, and isn’t it strange how readily he calls her that and yet he hasn’t referred to Vision as anything other than his name. Yet. Not that he’s called Wanda that to her face. “They’re energy and magic in a different way. They channel it from elsewhere. It pulls through them. Or does back home. Granted Billy went a LONG time without using it after an incident at home. But me?”

How can he explain this in a way another person can understand? And then he’s got it. Because maybe Vision is the only one in a long time who can.

“Your brain is sorta like a computer, right? You think many times faster than a human, right? Or you can choose to. Me? I am always running that fast mentally, except when I force myself to run and think slower. Which requires using up so much focus. Like I’m a computer that is using up all its RAM to deliberately run a game at five frames a second. Eventually that deliberate ratcheting down wears on the system something fierce. Speed isn’t just my name as a hero. It’s what I am. Captain Rogers can live without bending a metal table in half. Thor can live without carousing. Hawkeye can live without shooting things. I can’t live full time at a snail’s pace. Hell, I only sleep four hours out of every twenty.”

Edited 2019-09-06 04:33 (UTC)

Yes, well, from everything he's heard the Wanda in Tommy's world has at least accepted them as her children, so of course he thinks of her as a Mom. The real question would be if he starts calling the Wanda that's here 'Mom' to her face without doing the same for the Vision.

That might hurt a bit.

But he nods along to what Tommy's saying, looking thoughtful. "So you sleep at an accelerated rate as well, and that's why you burn more energy than one might think," he muses. But for the more important question, he looks directly at Tommy, eyes sharply focused. "I do, yes; I have an algorithm for communicating at a human pace, and my musculature allows for only that. But data processing and, no borrow a phrase, texting, I can do at a rate that most humans perceive as instantaneous."

Once again he frowns at the lack of useable technology around. "And then you're probably limited by the input rate of the device you're using. Well, the moment we have some sort of digital access, I'll help make sure you can use it at a speed you're comfortable with, and then we can discuss Shakespeare inbetween eyeblinks."

Listen, Tommy's trying to work out what term he could use for Vision that doesn't make things more awkward. Because 'father' is too impersonal, and 'Vizh' was what he called the Vision on their team who was young and a close friend of his. And 'Vision' was the guy that was his soul-father but not actually a good parent. 'Dad' or 'Pops' might work best, but... are they even close enough for Tommy to do that?

Has it been earned?

But his attention is more on the whole response his almost-dad has put together, frowning. Was it that he slept at an accelerated rate, or just that he didn't require nearly as much sleep because of the increased efficiency of his body?

"I'm not really sure if it's that? I mean, my body is super efficient. I don't need as much... well... It," he trails off, very awkward. And in the end, he's looking pretty much anywhere but at Vision when he finishes. "I rarely ever have to, you know, get wastes out of my body? I think I just work way better than humans do. So I burn more, but I use up way more of the resources my body takes in. And all that."

But then there's the other thing. Tommy pushes the shame aside and his eyes snap to Vision's. It's been a long time since he could talk to someone at his own rates. Possibly Vision can't keep up with all of the speed, but he could talk a bit faster. That won't drain his energy as much, and he could have someone understand. Sure they might have to record, slow down, and process, but Vision could do that easily. Can he help the brief look of hope? One that grows into a full on grin when Vision suggests there might be a way to upgrade a device to keep up with Tommy? He texts as fast as any system will let him input. And doing something deeper than that?

"Okay, it's official. You're definitely the cool parent right now."

He is so impressed that you don't end up with kidney stones, dude. Then again, who knows what kind of gut flora Tommy might have? Or how much of it is affected by the mutant gene, or latent magic from his soul-mom, or what. Too many questions, and not the right resources to answer them even if Tommy liked being experimented on. His curiosity will just have to wait.

Because that is a much more astonishing response, and he blinks twice before grinning slowly.

"It's a matter of access, that's all. If you could put up with a slower response time from me for a bit, we could test out your speech and see at what point I become incapable of processing it. It's true that my organic components are only capable of moving at a certain speed, but my synthetic components have a much higher rate of efficiency."

So, yeah. He could at least try to keep up.

Oh, it's not the magic of the soul-mom. Because he knows Pietro was like this too, before losing his powers. Tommy's just better than human.

Really, though, is the response all the astonishing? Is it all that weird that Tommy looks about ready to bounce on the balls of his feet. There was just an implication that, if they ever find the tech for it, Vision is getting him a gift to more than make up for years of lack of Christmases. Or whatever other holiday. Birthdays? Whatever. The chance to communicate at speeds he actually thinks at? It's impossible. If nothing else because sound waves can only travel so fast. He can move his mouth as fast as he wants, but over a certain speed the words won't get anywhere any faster.

"Dude, you're trying. Which a lot of people don't bother with. Hell, even our teammate Vizh didn't think up half this stuff."

Mostly because he was working so hard and being human. And maybe he took his 30th century tech for granted.

See, his Pietro had been different. Slower. But without a real point of comparison - he'd also been newish to his powers, and the Vision had known him for less than a day - it's hard to tell what's unique to Tommy and what is a quality of Maximoff speedsters in general. (Also, from what little he's learned so far, he suspects the laws of physics function slightly differently in Tommy's home universe.)

One of the real turning points in his own life was when the Vision realized that his desire to be human was only a mask for a desire to be accepted. Maybe his other self had never learned that.

Maybe he'd forgotten it.

"Ah, well, the entire point of this survival exercise is to find unusual solutions for existing problems, is it not? Having different survival needs just means the solutions for you are going to necessarily be somewhat different than the solutions for Captain Rogers or Wanda or myself. Your comfort is just as important as anyone else's."

Edited 2019-09-06 19:22 (UTC)

~~Dude, Tommy couldn't even begin to talk about physics back home. Don't even bother asking.~~

Truth was, the Vision that Tommy knew, the one that wanted to be human? It wasn't his Dad. It was another Vision, of different tech and only fragments of his brain and the brainwaves of a teenaged boy from the future. Life is complicated, back in 616.

"People don't tend to care about my comfort. Which is fair, because they don't need to. I take care of myself. But I'm used to it in a world where I can do day jobs and temp work and buy take-out. This place definitely changes a lot of things I guess."

Most people can't talk physics. It gets depressing after a while.

Hey, life is complicated in MCU-verse, too. Just ask how many times Tony Stark is in the Vision's family tree.

"Until someone opens a take-out restaurant, yes. In fact, if you turn out to be halfway decent at making noodles, that someone could be you." You know, if they develop currency. He's still on the fence about whether or not that will happen.

But he takes a moment to respond to the other, more important, point.

"Did I tell you I was a starship captain, back in our Fleet? It was my responsibility to make sure all my crew were comfortable, whether that meant dietary restrictions or mediating with another passenger or, in one case, helping to build a surgical suite to fix her back injury." He looks over at Tommy again, almost bashfully. "You are a Maximoff, Tommy. That makes you my 'crew' here."

...Yeah, his ship had called him space dad.

Well, teach him physics then. Not like Tommy isn't smart. After all, he is the son of a super computer. It was just that learning was hard between the ADD and then the boredom issues that came with high school when he still didn't have his powers under control.

He managed to finish his GED, covering two years of high school, in three weeks. He can manage it, if he's got a reason.

But the thing is, Tommy looks away from his 'father' in shame.

"I'm not a Maximoff. I'm not even a Kaplan. I'm a Shepherd. There's sorta a difference. I was a Maximoff once, but that was literally another life."

Honestly, if Tommy sleeps as little as all that? He probably will. Gotta do something while everyone else is asleep. Especially if they can figure out texting. He has a lot of time between when Wanda falls asleep and the little bit of rest he requires.

"We are in another life here, Tommy. I know your brother's here as well and I've no doubt he has his own opinions, but the only one here who is going to decide who you are is you."

He thinks Tommy might not buy it, not yet. But sometimes it's important to get the ideas out there, even if they're not ready to be accepted yet. "Of course, I don't have a surname to offer you, as I am only a Maximoff by marriage and association. But then, I've also no reason to think being a Shepard is any different from a Kaplan."

Not like there is a lot Tommy can do in the dark of the night but lay on an uncomfortable pile of leaves, holding his twin to help the other sleep through the night.

But this? This isn't another life. It's just another chapter in the messed up saga of Tommy Shepherd. And nothing good ever comes of that life. He's pretty sure the only reason he even exists is to be part of Billy's story. There is a quiet part of him that can't help but be spiteful over that. A part of him that really understood Teddy's concerns when he'd been told about what happened to Billy recently. The idea that he lived not for his own purpose, but because of Billy's.

There's so much he wouldn't say, so much he doesn't want to say, so much he can't explain. He can't decide who he is, because everyone else tries to decide for him.

But then Vision says something wrong. Something very wrong. There's a landmine there, and there was no way at all that Vision could have known. No chance that all those tiny little thoughts and clues could lead up to what happens next. Which is Tommy's fists clenched at his sides, and a new, sharp edge to his tone when he speaks.

"Well you're wrong. You're so fucking wrong that it's crazy! There's a whole world of difference between a Kaplan and a Shepherd. Rebecca and Jeff would NEVER think of letting their kids be hungry at the end of the day, or cold, or lonely. They'd never raise a hand to one of their boys because that isn't who they are because they are good people. Kaplans are good people. There's a whole gulf between them and Frank and Mary. Sometimes I'm fucking shocked my parents ever remembered they had a kid. But they did, to sign me over to those assholes who claimed the Juvie would fix me. And the worst thing is that even THEY were better than Vision. Vision who found me before I was arrested, in his stupid records and files. Who found information about a speedster that looked so much like his ex-wife's twin brother and had his son's name and just filed it away and let those people... Let them..."

He's shaking. He's shaking hard enough that it's distorting the air around him.

"There's a whole world of difference between a Kaplan and a Shepherd. And I'm no better than the family I come from. And I've never been good enough for him."

The Vision, his father. The man he's never even said three words to in his life, even after Vision came back and KNEW his sons were alive. Vision who made a NEW family and replaced them. Just like Frank and Mary replaced him with emptiness and were happier for it.

He was never a Kaplan, and he's not a Maximoff. All he is and ever will be is a broken little Shepherd, lost in the wilds of his life.

That's quite the reaction, and not at all what the Vision had been expecting. He listens with a look of dawning horror, first at the way the Shepherds had treated him and then...and then....

Why? What was wrong with that Vision? Had he been created without any empathy, like Ultron? No, Wanda would never have fallen in love with him if that were the case. But how could he see those facts and not connect them? That's basic deductive reasoning, and any android has that. What every android doesn't have is a son. Twin sons, that he'd thought were dead. That perhaps had never really existed at all.

Tommy....

The Vision sets down the dead leaves he's been stripping and gets up quietly.

"You--it's no wonder you reacted so strongly when we met. I would understand if you wanted nothing to do with me."

No, he's not the same man as that Vision. But he'd been instantly recognized, hadn't he? And for all Tommy knows, he could act exactly the same.

"I'll stay, if you want me to. But if you would rather I leave, I will."

See, there is a lot more that Vision says that, that he's offering there. But all Tommy's freaking out mind processes is the 'I will leave'. Which is what adults do in his life. Hell, Grandpa Magneto hadn't bothered to stick around after that one instance. Tommy and Billy had needed him, and he'd gone. Tommy had been left alone, and Magneto never invited Tommy to join him.

Abandonment is all Tommy's ever known. That and violence.

"Don't... don't ever compare Billy's parents to mine. They're good people and that's why he's so good. He's like them. Just like I'm like the Shepherds. So really, you're better off getting out of this on the ground level or whatever. You don't have to stay."

And a lot quieter, so quiet that a normal human wouldn't hear it but no doubt Vision could pick it up ~~not that Tommy realizes Vision would~~, "No one else does."

His breath catches at the no one else does, because he does indeed hear it. But all he can see is this bright young man giving him permission to abandon him, and his heart splinters just enough that it catches anything else he was going to say in his throat. Maybe calm down, think about your words a little first?

Letting his feet fall just heavily enough for Tommy to hear, he approaches again, ashamed that he'd backed away so quickly. He should have known from Tommy's actions that Tommy was willing to give him a chance, and what does he do at the first opportunity but back away?

"Family has always been complicated for me," he says quietly, "and it is certainly no less so for you. But I meant it when I said I would accept you as part of it. I know we've only just met, but--I like you, Tommy. You've shown you have a good heart, regardless of your background or your relationships or whatever limits your powers might have here."

He reaches out tentatively to touch Tommy's shoulder.

"As long as you want me around, I will be here. The family you choose is more important than any bonds of blood."

A good heart? Who knows. He got into so much trouble before, but that when the Shepherds had him. had him and couldn't stand to see him. But refused to let him go either.

There is no question, there can't be a question between them, that Vision's hand only touches Tommy's shoulder because he lets it happen. But that he does means a lot from him. He lets Billy touch him. No one else. But he's left thinking about it for a while.

"We want you around," Tommy admits, his voice soft. Not just himself. Billy too. Family matters to much more to his twin. "Billy would..."

No. This needs something fair and honest.

"I want you around."

It's only a brief touch, and he's grateful Tommy allows it. He lets go after the moment passes and goes back to work slowly on a nearby plant, looking down shyly until he hears the last bit.

"I want to be around," he admits just as softly. "I like you, Tommy. I would like to get to know you better."

If nothing else, up until now his family had consisted of Ultron (nope), Tony Stark (not the best role model), Bruce Banner (met the guy once for a couple of hours), and JARVIS (dead before he was born). His crew back in the Fleet - though they could come and go, and there were some he'd never see again, but isn't that true of real family anyway? And Wanda, most of all.

But whether he's Tommy's real dad or not, the truth of the matter is that he'd like to be. Which is apparently more than his actual real dad, either of them, ever did.

"And I am sorry if I misspeak. There's so much I do not know about you."

This is a moment. Right here and right now, he is having a moment. With Vision. With a man that, but for the twists of the multiverse, is his father. The real one. The good one. Better than any man has ever been in his life, because even the Kaplans had put pressure on him. Vision is trying and this is a moment and Tommy can give him more.

Because he’s had a chance at a moment with his Mom before. Not this Wanda, but his Wanda. And he knew how good it had felt to be accepted and claimed and hugged, even while he tried to push her away. To protect himself.

“I don’t talk to people much. About me that is,” he says, standing there. His nervous energy isn’t good for plants right now. Might accidentally hurt them. “About being a hero or my brother or my team or stuff like that, yeah. But I don’t talk about me.”

It seems an important way to preface this. So Vision gets that what he’s offering is a line. A very tenuous one. A fragile one. Don’t break it.

“You can ask a question. One. Something you want to know.”

He catches his breath subconsciously, recognizing the fragility of the moment but also relieved he hadn't made things worse. He's walking on thin ice, but if he can tread lightly this may work out.

He thinks about the offer, nodding to show he accepts it. There's so much he wants to know that he hardly knows where to begin. They've already been talking about food, and things like pets or dream jobs or favorite media are all academic when they're not on Earth anyway. And they're all shallow things, but he wants to know anyway. On the other hand, those might be something he can get out of Tommy in regular conversation.

"I--would like to know when your birthday is, Tommy. I realize we're on sixty-hour day cycles here and have no idea what the months and years look like, but that doesn't mean my own internal clock isn't running. Perhaps by the time it rolls around I'll have figured out a present for you."

A present? Tommy definitely doesn’t know what to do with that information. Like, at all. The only reason anyone has ever spent any time on his birthday has been the last few years and they figured it out because of Billy. One stray comment about their birthday being miserable and unlucky and people had started trying to make it better. But he knew mostly it was something where he had been tacked on to Billy’s already planned life.

“October,” he says at last. “Thirteenth. I was born on Friday the thirteenth. Just my luck, right?”

Really was a weird question to ask.

“You really shouldn’t focus survival time on presents.”

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