[OPEN] Kindness For Children

[doubled_speed]

Who; Tommy Shepherd, Open
What; Small Pranks and Halloween Plans
Where; Apartment Common Rooms, Courtyard Outside of Apartment Buildings
When; Week of October 10th
Warnings; None Anticipated

I. An Homage To Loki | Apartment Building Common Rooms

It was that time of the year again, perhaps the hardest for Tommy in some ways. With what would be Halloween (and thus his birthday) approaching, a black mood was settling over the speedster. He wanted nothing more than to flee, to hide, to fall back on old habits and avoid it all. But there were those who would disapprove of that he thought. Gar for one thing for caring about Tommy. Wanda and Enis as she'd been at the Sphere, who had worked so hard to realize his dream of an amazing haunted house. And the one friend he hadn't intended to make.

It was this last missing friend whose opinions kept Tommy from running from the season. This last one was the one whose opinions motivated Tommy now as he moved through the common rooms of... Well, he doesn't remmeber which apartment building he was in right now. He'd been laying his little playful traps in them all. What mattered was that right now he was busy in the reading nook, putting down a bowl of wrapped hard candies. This joke here was a simple one. They looked like peppermints, and each one was actually powerfully flavored with cinnamon. That should shock someone pretty seriously, right? And if that wasn't enough, buried under all of the candies was Tommy's best attempt at drawing Loki's face, complete with horned helmet.

"Okay, what next," he said to himself. "Too bad there aren't books here. I could put fake fortunes or treasure maps in them. Damn."

II. Making Your Own Holiday | Courtyard Outside of Apartment Buildings

Somewhere along the line of his little pranks and watching his couriers run about, Tommy had come to a conclusion.

There needed to be more little things for the kids, and Tommy wanted to give them something he didn't reliably have back home. Which was why he was out in the courtyard now, standing by large, rolled out strech of paper weighted down at the corners with rocks. In his hands was a plate with globs of paint on it: orange and black and purple and green. And on the paper below was a few words sketched out lightly in pencil.

'Fall Candy Quest!' the sign did, or would, proclaim, along with a date and time for later in the month, and little sketches of spooy things like bats and cauldrons, as well as images of different candies.

Comments

[doubled_speed]

Earl Grey, that thing the captain Star Trek drinks. But he supposed he's not going to note that.

"I mean, whatever's got tons of caffeine."

[akindofmagic]

"Tea has more caffeine than coffee." England replied with a nod.

"So with that in mind I will see what they have. Is there anything I should avoid?"

[doubled_speed]

"Someone hasn't had good coffee," Tommy counters. He's had some super intense shit before, so he disagrees. Whether he's right or not he doesn't know, but he does disagree.

"I mean, I prefer kosher, but I doubt there's anyone here to give me a thumbs up or down on that."

[akindofmagic]

A smile tugged out of the corners of England's mouth at hearing that. It reminded him all too well of something America would say.

"So you wish for coffee then?"

And he made a mental note about kosher but wasn't sure if he'd find something like that here.

[doubled_speed]

"Absolutely," he said, sighing though. because it wasn't likely to happen. And he didn't even have Billy here to magic him some. He was pretty sure his brother could do that if he was around.

[akindofmagic]

Arthur nodded.

"Than I will go look for some and bring it back." He hadn't really thought to look for it himself, but he reasoned someone had to have it here.

[doubled_speed]

"You'd be fucking awesome if you did."

Yeah, he can't help the cursing in the moment.

[akindofmagic]

He let out a smile.

"Now that sounds like a challenge and I will do my best. I shouldn't be gone long."

This was his way of wondering if Tommy would still be there.

[doubled_speed]

"Good luck man."

Tommy didn't know if there was any coffee in the damn city. He doesn't care, though, because he's painting, thanks.

[akindofmagic]

It took him a bit. Fortunately he'd walked the city and had made mental notes because he was always comparing this place to the same time period he recognized it from back home.

There.

Arthur smiled, pleased with himself for having remembered this little shop that seemed as if it were a hole in the wall sort of place. But he walked in and placed his order for coffee.

After a bit of chatting with the the proprietor, he managed to acquire a cup of coffee. He took several sugars and some creamer before making his way back to Tommy.

Not wanting to bother the lad, he set everything down with a little plastic spoon over the top of the hot beverage. "One cup of coffee for you."

[doubled_speed]

The return was shocking, and the scent of coffee...

Tommy sat back on his heels and looked at it. What the hell?

"Dude, where did you even get this? Raimon?"

[akindofmagic]

"It is a rather well hidden place." England replied as he handed the drink and other things over.

"I take it this will do?"

[doubled_speed]

"Fuck yes," Tommy said, taking it up and just sniffing at it. He'll want to know where the place is. He needs his coffee.

[akindofmagic]

Oh the nostalgia of seeing such a thing. If America were here, no doubt he'd laugh at this lad's antics.

"I take it meets expectations?"

[doubled_speed]

See, if the America he knew was here, she'd laugh at him too. Mostly because she seemed to find his caffeine thing amusing.

"It's coffee. What's there to expect?"

[akindofmagic]

England chuckled.

"I have heard of such a thing as bad coffee."

[doubled_speed]

"Yeah, but I'm so desperate for caffeine that even bad is good."

He puts aside his paint brush and takes up the cup to sip at it. "I miss this."

[akindofmagic]

That got a small laugh as England studied the work that the lad had done in the meantime.

"And this coffee is simply passable?"

[doubled_speed]

"Yeah. But for me it's almost, like, medicine. Not all teas have enough to compensate either."

[akindofmagic]

He nodded even if he wondered because tea had more caffeine. But that was an argument he got into with America and the other had said it came down to preference and taste.

"I can show you the place where I purchased it so that you can go get more yourself."

That way the lad could drink the coffee until it was coming out of his ears..sort of.

[doubled_speed]

Good thing the guy didn't suggest that tea had more caffeine than coffee did. Tommy had some way too much research on that back home. Dude could cite papers. Wax philosophic over how while tea leaves have more caffeine than coffee beans, higher brew temperatures and greater quanta of beans used compare to tea per cup yielded more.

Hyperfixations can be annoying when your mind works faster than a mile a minute.

"Thanks man."