2014.01.26 - Robin Hood And Friar Tuck

While it's fun to pickpocket and do some petty shoplifting along 5th Avenue and the Tourist areas, Tommy isn't always accepting a 'five-finger discount'. Granted, the money he's paying with isn't usually his, but he's at least paying for the food that he purchased for himself and his 'guest'. Large slices of pizza, a basked of fried onion rings, and large sodas. And that's only a snack.

Sitting down and immediately starting on his pizza, Tommy looks up at the taller, broader teed and points a finger at him, "So. You're really the one dating Billy? Because from the way Eddie sniffs about, it's almost like he's wanting in on that." An onion ring is taken, "What do you know of his...'possession' that apparently happened?"

The broad-shouldered teen in question, one Teddy Altman, sips his soda carefully, not quite yet getting to his slice. Truthfully he's been examining the boy sitting across from him.

He can't help but smirk just a little at the blunt opening. "Yes, I'm really the one dating Billy. Eddie is a good friend, nothing more- I don't think he and Billy would ever be romantically inclined. It'd be like kissing your brother."

And we know that's Quicksilver and Wanda territory. The teen leans forward a little. "Why are you asking me? Didn't you talk to him about it?" The question isn't angry, merely curious.

Tommy Shepherd is more than happily eating -- he was pretty much starving by the time they got the food. "He stared at my butt when I bent over. I wouldn't be too sure about that." Tommy finishes his assessment of Eddie before moving on, gesturing for Teddy to have some of the onion rings too. After a pensive bite, he then continues.

"I talked to him about it, yeah. But come on. If some big, bad, evil thing is possessing you, do you really think it's going to be filling your head full of things that are true? Wouldn't it be telling you things you'd want to hear? Things that would make you believe that it being there would be best?"

Teddy doesn't comment about that in particular. Goodness knows that he spent enough times in highschool surreptitiously stealing glances here and there, before he met Billy.

"That's true, but what would it gain from -that- particular tidbit? Sometimes big bad evils throw in a little of the truth to make the rest of their lies palatable. I mean, how do you feel about what Billy told you?"

"Well, I think it's total bunk. I mean, I was born in Jersey," as far as he knows, "And why would I lie about that? Who -wants- to be from Jersey?" There's a grin then as Tommy takes another few bites of the food, "But you're close to him...probably closer than anyone else, right? I kind of wanted to get your spin on things. Did -he- tell you about all that?"

"Well, honestly... we didn't touch that part of the subject much." Teddy says, starting to bite into his slice. "More than anything, I was worried about his powers and about his lack of training. Of what we talked, it was mostly addressing that issue and the subject of him finding a mentor so something like this doesn't happen again. But why don't you tell me the details?"

Tommy Shepherd gives a snort at that before he takes a long drink of the soda, "A mentor. Pft. They just boss you around." But as long as they don't force one on him, he won't go into that objection any deeper. There's another long (for him) look at Teddy, "Are you -sure- you're dating? I mean, he didn't tell you that he thinks that I'm his brother?"

"He mentioned it. But I was more worried about him than anything else that might have been said. That's how you know we're dating." Teddy smirks, "After that was taken care of, we got distracted. And then came the holidays."

A hand is held up, "I don't want to know how you were distracted. TMI, man. TMI." Green eyes look up briefly at the taller teen before he looks back to his pizza. Delicious, greasy pizza. He doesn't want to think about the two teens 'being distracted'. "So this was all really recent? Because he sort of acted like it was a while ago. I mean, I just don't see how that could be possible. I never had a brother. My parents never mentioned a brother. Besides, we don't look -that- much alike...since he says we're twins. I just needed to ask someone who...well..."

There's a pause as he scarfs down some more food, "Someone who doesn't really have a stake in this."

"Whoa... nothing like that, dude. Not yet anyways." Teddy is, after all, a gentleman. One who is packed with muscles and can rip a bus in half if anyone even tries to harm Billy, but a gentleman nevertheless. One who is in awe and somewhat in terror of Mrs. Kaplan, which should say something.

"As far as what I think? Well... let me put it to you this way. My boyfriend can treat reality like an etch-a-sketch... to a certain degree. We've got gods coming to earth to fight, and heroes coming back from the dead one way or another. That you two might be twins in some form or another? It's not -that- far-fetched."

He chomps down on an onion ring. "It's not like Billy to lie. So maybe there's truth to the matter. How willing are you to find out?"

"Twins from different parents?" Tommy leans back in the chair briefly, "Look, I may not be wasting my time with school, but I'm not stupid. I kind of know how you get kids and unless there was some sort of weird, Danny DeVito/Arnold Schwartzenegger 'Twins' movie thing going on, I'd like to know how that's likely to happen? I mean, twins share genetic material from both parents, right?"

He can't stay away from the food for too long, "Depends on what's involved. I don't really know all the stuff that Billy can do, but that it's pretty weird and freaky-deaky stuff. It's not straightforward," like just being fast. "And it depends on who is involved. I'm allergic to all things Asgardian."

"Well, there are people who untangle mysteries like these. We could go to one of them." Teddy shrugs, sipping his soda. "Like Zatanna. Or Dr. Strange. This is sort of their bread and butter."

"Zatanna is -so- hot..." Tommy points out, because, of course, that's where his mind goes and, as a teenage boy, needs to prove himself. To himself. No one else. "I dunno. I mean...it's just weird, you know?" There's another pause for him to eat before he points an onion ring at Teddy, "How would you feel if someone came to you one day and said, 'Hey, so some evil spirit whispered in my ear that you and I are really brothers.'?"

"I've always wanted a brother," Teddy chuckles and shrugs. "It'd be weird. But if it were true... why not? I'd try to find out. 'sides," he says, taking a large bite out of his pizza slice, "You'd have to look pretty far to find a nicer guy than Billy."

"You're biased," Tommy points out with a smirk, "If it were true, then wouldn't you wonder why you were never told about the brother? Or how the brother happened when there was no record in your family of it?" It would mean he'd have to talk to his parents again, if they even actually noticed he'd been missing for the last couple of years.

"Besides, I don't do so well with 'nice'."

"Why not? You could use it," Teddy says, "Blunt a little of the cocky edge." It's a playful riff, not a lecture.

"That 'cocky edge' has served me very well so far, thank you very much," Tommy grins, but there's definitely that edge in there. "Nice is just...you get walked all over. I don't need that. I'm going to do the walking...I'm not going to be the doormat."

"You don't get walked all over, Billy certainly hasn't." Not to mention that if anyone tried to walk over Teddy, they'd first need hiking gear.

"Look, why not hang out with Billy a little more, and we can look into this mystery? If it's true, well, surprise brother. If it isn't, at least you'll have one more friend, right? Connections help."

Green eyes narrow at the offer but he finishes off his pizza slice, "Are you telling me that you want me to take Billy's away when he could be spending time with you? That doesn't seem too fair, does it? I mean, if I was dating someone, I wouldn't want them taking her from me..."

"Family is family. And it's not like Billy and I are starved for each other- we see each other at school and when we're 'on the job'. And on our spare time." Teddy chuckles. "It's not like his mom locks him up in a tower and I can't see him."

"But we're not family. I mean, all we have is some possessing demon claiming we are," Tommy points out. He then steals some more onion rings, "School? Really? Ugh. I couldn't deal with it. Why are you still even going? I mean, you're...we're heroes."

Teddy shrugs. "I guess I could take my GED exam..." goodness knows he's smart enough. "But then Billy'd be all by himself." He grins. "Mrs. Kaplan insists, of course... and maybe we won't be heroes all of the time, or maybe we'll need some part-time work, or make our own business to fund ourselves and our careers, and we'll need skills for that."

"See? I'm not related to Mrs. Kaplan..." because he sure as Hell doesn't want anyone telling him what to do...and especially not forcing him to sit through the torture of High School. Tommy shakes his head, "Skills like what? Seriously, what is Dodgeball and reading 'Romeo and Juliet' going to give you that you will need for business skills? Sure, if you want to be an Engineer you'll need math and stuff, but everything else? Just...read it on your own." That's what he does.

"That works for those who have the initiative. Not everybody does, though." Teddy tilts his head and smirks, "Even if it turned out that you are brothers, Mrs. Kaplan wouldn't have any -legal- authority over you, you know. So you don't need to worry about that."

Tommy Shepherd's grin widens, "Before too long, -no one- will have legal authority over me...and that day cannot come too soon." Oddly enough, he's evaded any authorities trying to force him to go to school, catch him pickpocketing and shoplifting, or return him to his parents. "So...you want to go into business then?" There's a slight shift in tactic now as he tries to figure more of Teddy out than have the other help him figure himself out.

Teddy's not unaware of Tommy's shift, he smiles a little, "Probably, have you thought of doing that yourself?"

Tommy Shepherd just bursts out laughing at the question, "Oh, I'm already in the business of Acquisition. I get what I want. I don't need all -that- much thanks to hanging out in the Terminal." He seems perfectly to be staying there, having appropriated one of the empty subway cars there for his own personal 'apartment' with his cat.

"Sure," Teddy says, biting down on his pizza. "Just find it a little puzzling, since you make such a show of being independent."

"I -am- Independent," Tommy points out. "I'm also not stupid. I know that it's stupid-expensive to live here and I'm not about to 'acquire' that much money. That's just...that's just asking to be caught." As if what he does now doesn't ask for it.

Tommy Shepherd opens his mouth and closes it, "You don't think that these rich bitches aren't taking money from others? Please. They make money by walking all over honest workers. I'm just helping myself to a share of it. Sort of like Robin Hood. You think he gave away everything he stole? I doubt it."

"Robin Hood was a serial murderer and a rapist." Teddy says with a smirk. "It's all in the original stories, I wouldn't compare myself to him unless you're looking at a long stay at Riker Island."

He looks at Tommy, his blue eyes examining him critically. "Yeah, I think it'd do you good to hang out with Billy."

"Robin Hood was a Social Activist who was bucking the harsh, dictatorial monarchy and classism that was thrust upon him and his fellow Saxons by the elite Normans," Tommy argues. "The original stories were all made up by troubadors for the romance of it all. Are you saying that it's totally okay for the one percent to be hoarding all of the money without letting the rest of us have it?"

Teddy Altman rests his cheek on his hand, looking at Tommy. "Why do you deserve any money, Tommy?"

"Are you saying that I don't deserve money? That money is a privilege? That a comfortable life is only for a select, chosen, special few who, for some reason, -deserve- it?" Tommy seems perfectly happy to turn the question back on Teddy. "Are you saying that because I choose to divest those rich snobs of a couple bucks that I'm not deserving?"

"I'm saying that you earn what you get through work. So no, Tommy. You don't deserve it- you're just a parasite who takes. It's funny that you call yourself a hero while behaving like the petty-level thugs that we have to catch. It's not for you to judge who has too much or too little- the only thing that matters is whether they obtained it honestly or if they harmed others getting it. And by stealing from people, you harm them, doesn't matter if they're rich or poor." The blond teen stands up, dropping a few bills on the table to cover his side of the bill. And in a moment of reverse psychology, he says "It's probably a good thing that you don't want to hang out with Billy. You'd be a bad influence on him. Enjoy the rest of the pizza." Teddy says, walking towards the exit with his hands in his jacket pockets.

He'd met a few people like Tommy in school... they were like cats. Tell them something and they wouldn't move, but make sure you told them with barbed words that they were not allowed to do something, and they'd run over broken glass just to do it.

"I don't harm a hair on their body," Tommy starts to argue and he stands quickly when Teddy gets up and starts to leave. "I already paid for the food..." is argued as the bills are left on the table. He doesn't move to pick the money up, however. "You think -I'm- a bad influence on Billy? Are you kidding me? I'm not the one telling him to go find some old guy to boss him around in the name of 'training'. Are you -really- dating him? Have you ever done anything besides say words? Because you seem awfully naive to the Real World here!"

"Yeah, terrible me for helping my boyfriend learn to know what he's doing instead of wiping reality clean when he has a nightmare. Simply irresponsible. Good luck with the whole dependent independence thing." He grins and walks out. Bait set.

The brawny teen keeps walking and simply gives a backwards hand-wave while his other hand is in his pocket.

Now he had to ring Billy up so they could go out for dinner.