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[hybrid_prince]

Eventually something pretty and witty will go here.

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[zoomandboom]

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.

[hybrid_prince]

"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?"

[zoomandboom]

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.

[hybrid_prince]

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."

[zoomandboom]

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.

[hybrid_prince]

"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."

[zoomandboom]

"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.

[hybrid_prince]

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."

[zoomandboom]

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."

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

[hybrid_prince]

"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.

lol. Or how long Tommy just lets it happen.

[zoomandboom]

"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?"

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

[hybrid_prince]

"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."

lol!

[zoomandboom]

"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.

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

[hybrid_prince]

"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."

the voice of reason everyone, Tommy.

[zoomandboom]

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.

That seems fake

[hybrid_prince]

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."

So rude. Tommy is the Most Responsible.

[zoomandboom]

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.

Sure he is

[hybrid_prince]

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."

[zoomandboom]

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.

[hybrid_prince]

And here it Teddy, swallowing hard, because that touch is so good. It's everything. And he shouldn't like it so much.

"I could try knocking the walls down again. You, uh, stay there."

[zoomandboom]

As soon as Teddy said anything about moving, Tommy's hand tightened on his arm to keep him there, pulse jumping at the idea of Teddy moving away.

He caught himself with a swallow, averting his eyes. "Yeah, okay," he said. "Just watch out for a kickback. And don'thurtyourself," Tommy told him. It still took him a couple of seconds to let go and let his fingers uncurl from where they'd settled around Teddy's wrist. Christ, what was wrong with him?

[hybrid_prince]

The tightened hand definitely left Teddy staring at Tommy. He didn't move away.

"It's not just me, is it? That just wants to be touching you."

[zoomandboom]

Tommy's mouth opened, and then closed, and he winced before actually speaking. "Yeah I ... I don'tfuckingknow, Ted. You were petting me, before. And I keep just cuddling up next to you. And it feels ..." weird. When they weren't. "Maybe it's something wrong from whatever they knocked us out with?"

[hybrid_prince]

"Like Star Trek sexpollen but just cuddly?" Teddy suggests. Because yeah, he's seen plenty of Star Trek. And read some REALLY dirty fic. That, though, was a problem. Mainly that they COULDN'T.

[zoomandboom]

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I don'tfuckingknow," he muttered. He wanted to leave it at that, since it was better ... but if they were really stuck here, if there really was something wrong with them, then he probably needed to be honest. "Maybe not just cuddling," Tommy said reluctantly. "When you were touching me, before, I almost tried to kiss you. I didn't! But ... I don't know. It's fucked."