hybrid_prince | Open Post

Tommy leaned into the touch, not really noticing how he pressed into the light contact. He snorted. "I didn't think you'd lure me into an alien trap, Ted. And if I knew aliens were coming for you, I'd have come over to try to help anyway."

He stood up finally, feeling a faint sense of unease that had nothing to do with being kidnapped by aliens and more to do with being out of Teddy's reach, though he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Ready?" he asked. He lifted his hands, concentrating on blowing the wall to hell ...

and just blew himself back across the room, landing almost against the opposite wall, on his ass, the explosion half absorbed by whatever the room was made of, and half rebounded onto Tommy, who looked more dazed than hurt. "Shit," he muttered, rubbing at his chest.

So... that didn't work. Teddy rushes quickly over to Tommy, a hand settling onto his shoulder as he frowns down at his friend.

"You okay? I've... never seen that happen. What could even do that? Vibranium maybe?"

Or some sort of energy barrier in the wall? Dammit, how did they make so perfect a trap?"

Tommy's head was swimming a bit and his joints ached. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't comfortable. He relaxed just an unnoticed fraction when Teddy's arm frowned on his shoulder. "FuckifIknow," he said, pushed together but half mumbled.

Whatever it was, they'd clearly built this place with the idea of keeping both of them in. Either that or it was just built to keep ANYONE in. Tommy didn't know which was worse.

He pushed himself to his feet, letting Teddy help him and then leaning up against him, taking a new look around with assessing eyes. There was no door he could see. There had to be a way the panels opened, unless they'd built the thing around them and then planned to just leave them to die. Tommy doubted it - way too much fucking trouble to get them for that. So there had to be a way they were going to get food and water in and out, maybe come in and out themselves. "Guess we wait. See how they come in, watch for weaknesses," he said quietly.

Not Tommy's favorite thing. Neither was being locked in anywhere. It wasn't something he'd ever wanted to be stuck doing again.

"Teleporter?" Teddy suggested, as if he knew part of where Tommy's thoughts had gone. And really, if things were all Star Trek'd in, then what were the chances that they could jump anyone? But it was important, was it not, to hold on to hop.

"Maybe they'll come talk to us now that we're awake? Now way they can't know, right?""

"Yeah, maybe. Or the panels are some kinda energy thing," Tommy said, sighing. What the fuck did he know? "They're not gonna nab us just to let us die in a box."

Tommy pushed off from Teddy again, same prickle of uneasiness going through him as he stalked the perimeter of the cell. He didn't find anything and just gravitated back toward Teddy, shoulder against his. "They've gotta have alarms or cameras or something to let 'em know. Unless they don't want anything from us and just grabbed us 'cause they want something from somebody else." Billy, maybe.

No, Teddy was NOT cool with the idea of people using them to get to Billy. But of course, Tommy wouldn't be cool with that either. Still, he's nervous. Beyond nervous. TO the point where it really makes sense that his arm settles around Tommy's waist. To hold him close.

"We'll figure a way out. We're really good at this."

Tommy was nervous too. How could you not be, under the circumstances? But the arm around him still would have struck Tommy strange, or it should have. He was someone who liked being touched, but not a lot of people did regularly, so someone putting their arm around him should have caught his attention as unusual. But it just felt natural, put him more at ease, and he leaned his lean weight into Teddy's more sturdy strength.

"Yeah. Justdon'tlikeit. Why us? And what the fuck kinda cell is this? More like an observation room or something, right?" Tommy said.

"Convenience? Sinister plots over the throne of the Skrull. Maybe they just want to talk comics?" All terrible ideas for why they would be taken. But Teddy mostly shrugs.

"For now, I guess... it's the place with the bed?"

Tommy snorted. "Yeah. ONE bed. So either they didn't mean to grab us both, or they're too cheap to spring for doubles," he grumbled.

He finally noticed Teddy's arm around him and frowned more, mostly because it was odd that he hadn't noticed until now. He pulled away, going to drop down and sit on the bed, immediately rubbing at his stomach, not realizing he did that, either.

It would have been easier probably to just put a power dampener on Tommy than put him in a cell with walls he couldn't blast. That they hadn't meant maybe they just had these on tap for anyone? That bugged Tommy more for some reason. Why would they just need to have them available? Or maybe he was overthinking it.

Overthinking it? Probably not. There was something weird going on here. Like how Teddy almost immediately sat down beside Tommy, their legs definitely touching. They hadn't sat nearly this close at the apartment.

"Maybe we got abducted as a zoo exhibit by higher alien lifeforms."

And again, Tommy relaxed when Teddy sat next to him and touched him, even slipped his hand into Teddy's without thought.

He snorted. "Shitty zoo. One animal'll runaround too fast to see just to fuck with 'em, the other one'll turn into the most boring looking accountant just so they don't get their money's worth."

Tommy tipped his head back, sighing, studying the ceiling. Made of the same shit, it looked like. No help there.

"Wow, you really think I should be an accountant?" Teddy asks, and he moves to lay back on the bed, trying to pull Tommy down with him. "I think I'd go sadder. Maybe a tired old dog."

"But people like dogs. Maybe be a lawyer. People don't like those." Tommy went back with Teddy, sighing restlessly. The bed was weirdly comfortable, not too soft but not hard either, and it felt warm without being hot, even cuddled up against Teddy's side as he was.

Wait.

Tommy frowned again. It wasn't like Teddy to touch him this much. But they weren't USUALLY kidnapped, either. So maybe he was just scared and missing Billy. Tommy felt better too, like this, he admitted to himself. So he just stayed, even if he was a little aware of it now, Teddy pressed up against his side, their hands still together.

For him it's... like being with Billy. The touches are all unconsciously ones he would give Billy, and he loses himself in them. The comfort. The ease. And yet, there's another comfort here. Another ease. Which in this case is the fact that it's Tommy. Talking to Tommy is easier.

"I don't know. I loved to see sharks when I was at the aquarium. And there isn't enough water."

Tommy hasn't had that, so there's nothing about it that SHOULD be natural, but it just seems to feel easy. Or necessary, maybe. Which makes him uneasy in and of itself. He's not sure what about it is bugging him. It's Teddy, it's not like Teddy would ever grope him or anything - he's not Billy. But Teddy's just never done this.

He still didn't say anything though. "You're doing this wrong, Ted. You're supposed to be a rotten exhibit. Sharkswouldbe cool."

"I'm just terrible at this being boring thing, I guess. Suppose we'll have to find another way to be a terrible exhibit."

As he says this he's rolling on his side to look at Tommy better. And since his hand needs somewhere to go now, it settles on Tommy's hip, thumb brushing back and forth thoughtlessly.

"You are. Be more of a boring asshole, Ted," Tommy said with a smirk.

And then shut his eyes as Teddy rolled closer, his hand on Tommy's hip, thumb stroking. Because ... yeah people definitely didn't touch him like that unless they were sleeping together. And Teddy didn't touch him like that. And the stroking thumb and Teddy's face that close, body all warm along Tommy's and bed comfortable beneath him, Tommy had to fight down an urge to reach for him and pull him in to kiss him.

Which was ... it was bullshit. Yeah he was an asshole but he wasn't the try to steal your brother's boyfriend asshole. And even if he was, they were fucking kidnapped in an alien cell. It didn't make any sense. "Uh," he said. "We could just try looking like shit ... speaking of which, where are we even supposed to piss?"

"Well, you're already the ass, so I guess I can only be boring. And how are you going to be more boring? I don't think it's possible."

Of course he's not noticing Tommy's absolute dread with what is going on. After all, Teddy's nose is better. The pheromones subtly lacing the air? He is overly vulnerable to them. The way he's just desperate to touch? His brain just justifies that as fear and loneliness and already being tactile. So he's just being him.

"I'm better there's a bathroom closet around somewhere. No way a room this spotless is meant for people just going anywhere in."

"Hey," Tommy complained, even if he smiled too, 'cause yeah, he was. "I could pull off boring. Just channel Billy and talk about Game of Thrones for an hour or something."

It's not even dread. It's more ... baffled worry over how natural it feels, and how the idea of pulling away just seems ... not right. Tommy didn't know how to define it. He just thought it was him, too. Teddy was nervous and petting because of it - Tommy was the one who wanted to kiss him. So it was on him probably.

"Yeah. Maybe it just ... opens up when it's needed," Tommy said. He made an effort and caught Teddy's hand where his thumb was stroking. He didn't move it away just kind of ... moved it up a little. So it wasn't right where his shirt was riding up and leaving bare skin.

"Game of Thrones isn't boring and you need to take that back."

It's only when Tommy's hand finally catches his that Teddy realizes what his body had been doing. For a brief moment shock flickers across his face. Few people could catch it when the shifter intended to lock down his expression, but Tommy was one of those few. Confusion, regret. Maybe a flicker of disappointment?

All he can do is pull his hand back and, despite how wrong it feels, roll away from him to stare up at the ceiling.

"You should try watching it with us some day."

Tommy laughed a little. "It's okay, but talking about it all the time gets really boring," he insisted.

He'd opened his eyes again by the time Teddy moved his hand, and Tommy saw that flickering expression. His own echoed it, disappointment and confusion. And he felt uneasy all over as soon as Teddy moved away, too aware of their situation without the comfort of his touch.

"I saw most of it. Think I just missed the last couple of seasons." It was good, honestly, just slow. And he liked to give Billy shit about it. Tommy liked the books better - he could tear through books at his own speed.

Ah, a book purist. Teddy can respect that. He moves to his feet, though, standing and starting to pace. Damn, his skin felt itchy.

"Face it, you can't handle discourse about books. It's okay."

Tommy sat up, watching Teddy pace. It was wrong, Teddy restless like that. It was Tommy who usually had to keep moving. And Tommy didn't even want to pace so much as he wanted to catch Teddy and drag him back down. It was ... less wrong if he was there too.

"I can handle it. Just not for hours," Tommy said absently, watching Teddy. He scooted to the end of the bed, elbows on his knees. On Teddy's fourth pass Tommy couldn't stand it, reading out to catch his hand and stop him.

The touch stops Teddy in his tracks, and his breath catches. It shouldn't do so MUCH, a simple touch.

"I can't handle being in boxes for hours. So I guess we've got a lot to deal with."

Tommy's left there, hand on Teddy's arm and looking up at him, some small itch satisfied by the feeling of Teddy's arm under his fingers, even if it's not what he wants.

He doesn't know what he wants.

"Me neither," he admitted. "Guess we're a fuckin' badpair to get kidnapped." They both had reasons. Tommy had spent too much time in a cell as a kid, and locked in small rooms before that. Teddy had been abducted and locked up and held before. This was bound to get to both of them.

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let's play how far into a conversation can they get before teddy realizes he's groping tommy?

lol. Or how long Tommy just lets it happen.

a race to see who realizes they're mid-hand job first while talking about zoos

lol!

nope, apparently tommy caught it. Brakes. They were applied

the voice of reason everyone, Tommy.

That seems fake

So rude. Tommy is the Most Responsible.

Sure he is

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