halfnhalf: ([teddy] explain pls)
Theodore "Teddy" Altman ([personal profile] halfnhalf) wrote2013-08-27 03:53 pm

005 - Action/Voice

[Today marked a big day for Teddy Altman: He's eighteen today. If he were back in New York, he could vote in elections, own a credit/debit card of his own, and not have to groan over papers and applications that had a little note for people who were under eighteen. He's pretty much an adult now.

He still kind of feels like a young teenager who has no idea what he's doing, though, so he can't help being a little disappointed when he wakes up and doesn't suddenly feel like a man with a plan who knows everything and can do anything.

After gently being coaxed outside by Billy, Teddy decides to do all the things he usually does, seeing how Luceti is sorely lacking in ways to celebrate a milestone year like this. He wanders and chats up store owners, from the bakery to the weapon shop to Seventh Heaven to even the general store. He gets himself a large meal for lunch, as is customary for a guy like him, and orders his favorite just for today. He visits the library and reads up on whatever new comics they have, and that's where he gets lost in thought enough to open his journal and ask a question that's been on his mind since the day began.]


When someone turns eighteen, do they do anything special? It's a pretty big thing for teenagers in America; you can vote and get drafted and pretty much be considered an adult by the law. But does it mean anything in other worlds? Call me curious.

[He goes to the Battledome after that to simulate a basketball game – just to watch this time, not to participate. The 1992 East Regional Final, Duke verses Kentucky, one of the most suspenseful games in history and something that Teddy had watched on YouTube, but certainly not like this. It's no wonder that he's particularly hyped when he walks out. So much so that he takes to the sky as soon as he's outside, deciding that he'd rather take the joyride home rather than plain old walking. He's still a teenager, and he still feels pretty invincible even without that adult knowledge he was expecting, so why not?

Teddy might not feel any different, but it's still a pretty special day.]
selfhelp: ([billy] lemme think it over.)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-03 10:33 am (UTC)(link)
You're assuming I was aiming for a hoop that wasn't even open.

[And if he was - which he might have been - he's not letting it show.

...That tongue was kinda distracting, though. Um.]
selfhelp: art from kaciart.tumblr.com, coloured by me. ([billy] dammit tommy what are you doing)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-03 10:50 am (UTC)(link)
[...Hrnghhh. He knew he was going to pay for that unintentional fingering he'd done earlier with the chocolate. Billy tries not to squirm in his seat, watching for a long moment before abruptly grabbing the gift bag and shoving it into the space between them on the table, gaze averted. Goddammit. He won't be able to stand for like ten minutes in these jeans.]

Here, whenever you're finished cleaning up. Happy birthday, you big troll.
selfhelp: ([billy] my parents would kill me.)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-03 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
[At first glance, it doesn't look like much; a dorky yet sentimental birthday card, some tissue paper, and then, at the bottom, there is a booklet, obviously put together by hand, but lovingly so. It's handwritten, with little cartoonish sketches on each page, and a "coupon" for something that Billy knows that Teddy would enjoy. Sort of like this. There's a series of blanks in the back, too, with a miniature Wiccan or Hulkling looking quizzical. Overall there's about thirty or forty pages.

Billy doesn't speak, giving Teddy some time to look it over, though he fidgets a bit nervously, not sure if it qualifies as a decent gift or not. It had taken a lot of work, but it doesn't exactly compare with his camera or Teddy's DS, which had been the alternative he couldn't afford yet.]
amberguardian: (Yeah. You're cute~)

[Voice]

[personal profile] amberguardian 2013-09-03 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
It would be nice if she were here.

Mostly. It was to wake up the new angels. [Which is a much less confusing way than saying hatching angels, because that is when she starts getting weird looks.]

voice;

[personal profile] ex_tessen852 2013-09-03 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't worry. I'll be here to cover your back if you need it.

Oh! I'm Suki, by the way.
frost_jewel: (splash)

[action]

[personal profile] frost_jewel 2013-09-03 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[It surprises her so much by taking her hand that she smiles, and laughs, because the look on his face is so ecstatic. Visiting her 'home' felt like a selfish gift, until now.]

This is the best I could do. [After months of working on it and trying to make it right, it still isn't, but it is close.] It's a little cold for a picnic, but we can eat in the sanctum. No one will mind.

[It is sort of her home and thus, her rules.]
sixwayheart: (Whomp'd)

[personal profile] sixwayheart 2013-09-03 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Heart. It's Heart.

[Yep ]
selphie_t: (another smile)

[Voice]

[personal profile] selphie_t 2013-09-03 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
That's very true but it just gives you guys more incentive to get creative.
frost_jewel: (to the goddess of rainbows)

[action]

[personal profile] frost_jewel 2013-09-03 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
It isn't far. [Keeping her half-secret smile, she takes his hand instead, leading him from the town gate along snow-lined paths to the sanctum. To home, such as it ever was - where she worked and where at the very least it felt like she lived. They pass the small cemetery, headstones marked with Weyard's alphabet but marred enough to be unreadable, even for Mia, and then she holds open the door to a hushed and warm building.]
silversnowfall: (bemused)

[voice]

[personal profile] silversnowfall 2013-09-03 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It can still be fun, I suppose. Sometimes, living here and having fun seem mutually exclusive.
handing: (trying not to grin)

[voice]

[personal profile] handing 2013-09-03 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, you know the legal particulars already. And I'm guessing you've figured out there's no new wealth of knowledge when you wake up. [But Pepper isn't answering to share cultural knowledge. It's the sort of question that has a pretty obvious starting point--especially since she remembers when she turned 18.]

It's really just what you make of it. Which had better be special, since you deserve a happy birthday.
voiceinthedark: (Totally Organised)

[Voice]

[personal profile] voiceinthedark 2013-09-04 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I know how that is. Parental expectations are never easy to overcome.

[And he'll never get the chance now.]

You're right! Something more fun would be better. My last birthday, before stuff happened, I marathoned Buffy the Vampire Slayer for two days.
abjurer: (Hehehehe)

[Voice]

[personal profile] abjurer 2013-09-04 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
Pretty much. I mean sure, sometimes everyone has a day where all that is just way too overwhelming and such a hassle. But for the most part...
fashionably_strong: art by unknown, if this is yours let me know and I'll credit (cheerful)

[Video]

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2013-09-04 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Bulla laughs.]

I'm pretty sure they're just faking it to make it sound a lot cooler than it really is. My brother may have grown up a lot since he was seventeen, but even in his late twenties, he still skips out on work sometimes.

[His poor secretary. Nothing like thinking the boss is in and then he's gone and flown out the window.]
selfhelp: ([billy] things are pretty okay atm.)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-04 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[As if the smile hadn't been telling enough, the grin is a step up, and then, finally, when Teddy comes over to sit with him, hug him, kiss him, Billy finally gets that wave of pleasure back, that feeling that hey, he did something right. Three times in one day? What kind of miracle is this? It's not like Teddy is difficult to please or anything - he could've done, like, one of the things he'd tried for today and still made the other boy happy - but it's still such a joy to get him smiling like that. He wonders if Teddy has any idea how good he looks when he smiles, really smiles. And what an honour and delight it is to be the cause of it.

He feels a blush crossing his cheeks, and he leans into the embrace, sharing that smile, his head bumping against Teddy's.]


Mm. Me. You like it?
selfhelp: art from cris-art.tumblr.com ([billy] i'm in love and always will be)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-04 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Ahaha... of course Teddy would be thinking of him, too, with a gift like that. And if this was an impulse gift, he'd be right to question it, but after long hours of brainstorming each card, drawing the pictures on them, designing the whole idea...]

...I thought about that. I had a lot of time to think about it, actually... and about us, too. That's the thing- it isn't all about you, but it isn't about me, either. We're living together now. We're a family. On our own. And you only just turned eighteen. This is huge, Tee. I don't think it hit me how huge it was until recently.

[With Tony and Pepper getting engaged, getting married soon, and with he and Teddy being so naturally domestic, taking care of each other, always finding a way to be together even when this place tries to pull them apart. Like they're fated to be this way, like what they have here is so powerful that no amount of magic or science or whatever can ruin it. It's real. It's so real, and he feels so much stronger because of it.

He shifts a little to face Teddy properly, remaining close, reaching out to take one of Teddy's hands and twining their fingers together.]


You shouldn't need some stupid cards to... I don't know, get permission to do this stuff. It should be natural. But you're so much better at it than I am. And you're so respectful of the boundaries that I set up because I'm stuck in my ways, because I'm so used to being on my own or keeping distant to protect myself or whatever screwed up reasoning I have for it. And I figure... it's okay to push those boundaries a little. Get me off my butt and give back when you need it. And this can be your way of telling me. I want this. And then eventually the idea is that you won't need the cards, I'll just... know. Like you do.

[He leans in, eyes lowered, resting his forehead against Teddy's, looking shy.]

I think we're in this for the long haul, you know? So I want to be everything you need, the way you are for me.

[For the rest of our lives.]
selfhelp: ([billy] welcome home.)

[action]

[personal profile] selfhelp 2013-09-04 09:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Billy closes his eyes at that, a very slight tremor passing through him, and he tilts his head, leaning forward, enough to press his lips against Teddy's. There's lots of things he could say to that, he knows - that he does not hiss, please and thank you, that Teddy doesn't need to protect himself from Billy, that he never has to change for that, that he's been working on it and he's noticed, that he really, really, really wants to grow up with Teddy by his side, always and forever, till death does them part. Lots of things.

He doesn't say them; not out loud, at least. He's always talked too much for his own good, and some of those words he's not quite ready to voice just yet. He didn't think it was possible to feel like an adult and yet feel very, very young at the same time.

So he says it all with his lips on Teddy's, with their joined hands, with the way he presses in close, the way his heart pounds in time with the one he loves.

It's enough for now. And he's never been so sure of the fact - fact - that someday, it'll be much more.]
Edited 2013-09-04 09:09 (UTC)

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