What It All Comes Down To

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Tommy Shepherd, OTA
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Coming Down From It All (Post House of Billy)
WHEN: The first week post event [Forward Dated]
WARNINGS: CW: Referenced sexual encounter in thread with Kyle, Referenced child abuse in thread with Kyle.


A. Keeping The Diners Supplied The Diner
"Delivery of fresh produce."

Tommy's tired. Perhaps that's why he's coming in later than normal with supplies for this meal shift. Perhaps that's why he looks frazzled and his hair is limp and he's not racing in with all speed. Clearly it's not the heavy crate loaded down with all sorts of foods from the green house, because that's never slowed him down before. But sleep after something like what they'd gone through was... Well, unlikely.

"The cyanana harvest is starting, so I'm thinking about trying to figure out how to make some sorta pudding out of it. That's a thing, right? Banana pudding or something."

He'd been enough out of it on entering that he didn't even know who it was he was talking to. Like hell he'd thought about how the kitchen help rotation was working now. Nor did he care. He was too tired from all his dreams to care.


B. Healing Power of Horticulture The Greenhouse
If there was one place that Tommy often found peace, it was the greenhouse. Today Tommy was trying his best to work there without getting too complicated with other people. For this he'd done the best thing he could do: working the mint wing. The advantage that came that the specific wing was sealed off from the rest of the greenhouse to keep it from spreading too much. Tommy moved slowly through it with a woven rush basket, humming quietly under his breath some German pop music he remembered from back home. While he moved he clipped little sprigs of mint to pass on to Glownies as a treat.

The advantage of the sealed area was that when the doors opened, Tommy knew someone was there. He could hear it. He turned to look at the door and frowned.

"Can I help you? I thought I was soloing the mint today."


C. The Solitary Island Closed to Aeon
It took a while for him to find her, but Tommy had wanted to have an excuse to get away, but he didn't want to be put into a position where his stupid brain could interrupt him. There had been someone interested after all, and so he'd raced through the city until he found her.

"Aeon," he said, offering a hand up for a high five. "You doing anything? Because if not, island time."


D. Wild Card
[Feel free to hit me up on Discord or Plurk to discuss places Tommy could get cornered. Or just have someone come to his actual home. Other options are to find him lazing by the fountain, on top of a tall building, or hiding out with the glownies which he normally does not visit.]

Comments

[doubled_speed]

Wait, what? Tommy looks at Kyle in shock.

"You've been abducted before? Fuck, that's messed."

But maybe Kyle does have a purpose here. He hopes so. Everyone deserves to belong.

His eyes flash in pleasure at that question.

"Clarice and I talked about it, off blanket. I got this tool, to let me try and do it with my speed. But I haven't tried it yet."

[kyley_b]

Kyle nods. "Oh, sure. Lots of times." Like that's totally normal.

"Really? Dude. We could like... make knishes. I totally remember how, my mom taught me. Oh, wait, do we have eggs? I bet we can find space chickens."

[doubled_speed]

It's not normal. His brother-in-law is an alien and it is NOT normal.

Knishes? Tommy both doesn't know what it is from this life, and absolutely loves them from the other world. He groans. He wants that bad.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out if we ask Clarice I think. Hold on."

He started to move to cabinets under things and finally takes out what looks like two pieces of stone with a handle and a whole in the middle.

"This is supposed to let me make flour or meal."

[kyley_b]

Kyle smiles. "Clarice is kinda great," he says. "Member of the Gingers Club."

He watches with growing excitement. "So we just need a wheat type thing! This is gonna be so awesome, babe!" He realizes what he's said agnes blushes.

"Dude. Dude, sorry."

[doubled_speed]

"I don't know, she isn't that bad."

Tommy liked that she thought of things and tried to help him figure out how to make the diner better. And fuck, she treated Tommy like an adult. Not everyone older than him was like that.

The babe has Tommy freezing, his face going red. He holds the device before him very carefully, to not shake it apart with the tremors going through him now.

This was awkward.

"It's like having a loose tooth, you know? You think you've let it go, that you've forgotten the wiggle. Then your tongue finds it for half a second and there it is, only thing you can think of for a while."

[kyley_b]

"Oh, OUCH, being ginger is a compliment." He gestures to his own hair.

But then Tommy's freezing and yeah, Kyle's gone and made it awkward. He hates himself.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I swear, I'll stop. I'm not trying to make it weird."

[doubled_speed]

"I didn't mean it like that," Tommy said quickly, wincing. He thought Kyle's hair was nice. He'd enjoyed pulling it. Which he HATES remembering.

"It's not easy, wanting to jump you and knowing I don't even know if the middle name I have for you is fucking real."

[kyley_b]

"I'm teasing. And I do like Clarice a lot. She has big sister vibes."

Kyle freezes because NOBODY ever wants to jump him. "Uhm. I. Don't have a middle name," he says, cheeks red. "But. I mean. I know what you mean. Do. Uh. It's like... do you still like the same stuff here?"

[doubled_speed]

Big sister vibes? Tommy's never had a big sister, so he wouldn't know. Tommy, though, for his own sanity, keeps his own eyes on the cooking tool. Because looking at Kyle would make life harder.

"I suppose it depends. Like, I like playing with electronics stuff, Stark's been teaching me some. Well, I've been watching. And I knew some of that already. But I guess I'd need to think a bit more specifically and figure out what does and doesn't make me confused."

[kyley_b]

Kyle nods, falling silent for a while as he works to get things set up for the day. Eventually he risks a glance over at Tommy again.

"I get it."

[doubled_speed]

Get it? Yeah, he probably does. Tommy takes a deep breath.

"I still don't know what to do here. About all of this. Like, what if I assume you like something here because I remember it, and you HATE it?"

[kyley_b]

Kyle smiles in spite of himself. "I mean... I'd tell you? I figure you'd tell me if I did the same." He pushes his mop of hair back.

"I'm not gonna yell at you just because we might get mixed up. Besides, offhand I can't think of anything I like that I hated over there or vice versa."

[doubled_speed]

"Alright," Tommy answered and moved to start chopping for a salad for lunch.

It meant he could have his back to Kyle and not see the reaction to his question.

"What about contact? Like... where are the lines? My instinct is just to fucking lean all over you all the time."

[kyley_b]

Probably a good thing they weren't looking at each other, because Kyle could feel himself blush.

"Uhm. I mean. I'm used o being leaned on. Growing up I was really physical with all of my friends. So it's fine."

He wasn't entirely sure if that was true, or if he was just not ready to let go of it yet.

[doubled_speed]

"Alright," Tommy said. It was different. He wasn't typically physical with other people. David and Billy were the exceptions, and with Billy that was basically new to his time here.

[kyley_b]

Kyle risks a glance over his shoulder. "Like, whatever you're comfortable with, dude." Half joking, he adds, "Just no tongue."

[doubled_speed]

"You're going to kill me," Tommy groans, setting his knife aside. "Seriously, if you talk like that you're inviting trouble. And we've seen plenty of trouble."

He just wants to go hide in the greenhouse. Or the farm. Or at home.

[kyley_b]

"I was kidding!" Kyle turns around and just barely resists hugging Tommy again.

"Sorry, sorry. No more jokes, okay? I'm sorry. It's just like... I'm trying not to be weird. Because of course I wanna kiss you. But I won't. I have years and years of experience NOT kissing people I wanna, okay? We'll be fine."

He turns back to his work. "Just fine."

[doubled_speed]

"Years?" Tommy asks, intrigued by that. "Me? I'm not exactly known for restraint most of the time. World's too slow."

Which Tommy has absolutely complained about before. Kyle knew about it, or the Human Kite had, in was a lot of people didn't.

[kyley_b]

"Yup. I tend to be attracted to people I like, which can be problematic."

His expression softens and he nods. "I know. You're stuck walking backwards so often. Metaphorically, I mean."

[doubled_speed]

Oh, that does sound problematic. How strange.

"I tend to be attracted to people who are really out of my league," Tommy offered with a shrug. So maybe that said what he thought about Kyle.

"And I'm really good at walking backwards literally too."

[kyley_b]

Kyle laughs his stupid hyena cackle of a laugh. "Well, see? Now you've gone and broken yourself of THAT habit. The curse is lifted."

He looks around again. "Oh yeah? I bet you can't do it without crashing into shit."

[doubled_speed]

"We have different opinions," Tommy shrugged. But hey, someone telling him he can't do it has Tommy grinning.

"Nope. I'm totally good at doing it without crashing."

[kyley_b]

"Dude, I am NOT out of your league. Even there."

He shakes his head, smirking. "Bullshit. Bet you can't make it across the front of the diner.

[doubled_speed]

Lies. Tommy rolls his eyes but since he's not looking at Kyle, no way it's going ot be noticed, right? Right.

"After you're done cooking, I'll show you. Hell, I can RUN backwards."