2013.07.11 - Catching Up

Teddy had decided to take advantage of the remainder of the summer to work out outdoors. After all, once Fall turned the corners, winters could be pretty harsh. Not that it impeded him too much, with his adaptable physiology, but the view wasn't as nice. Presently, he was walking down the path in a tank top, shorts and sneakers. The short was positively soaked and he was drying himself with a small towel, skin slightly ruddy from the exertion when he sees a familiar someone flopped on a bench.

"Eddie?" he calls out, a spring in his step as he tries to close the distance.

Eddie jumps and gives a little squeak when he hears his name. Looking around quickly, the also soaked teen hero grins when he sees his friend and teammate. "Teddy! Hi!" he greets, sitting up and waving the blond over to join him on the bench.

"Looks like we had the same idea," Teddy says, giving him one of his big, friendly smiles and plopping down on the bench, exhaling. "Aaah... would it kill for there to be just a little breeze?" he comments, fanning himself a little. "I was just going to call you after I got home, heh. Thanks for helping me with yesterday." he says, speaking of the little conspiracy to lure an unsuspecting Billy.

Eddie nods enthusiastically. "Yeah. M-maybe next time we should run together if we're going to be doing it at the same time," he suggests. He likes spending time with his friends, especially one going out with the guy he considers his brother. "S-s-sorry, if I had wind or cooling powers, I'd use them," he offers, fanning Teddy a little as well. "You don't have to thank me, I'm happy to help out."

"You should have seen him..." Teddy grins, his face becoming a little more ruddy "He's so cute... oh, we caught up a little on everything I'd missed. I hear congratulations are in order, Your Highness." The teen says, giving him a little playful nudge on the shoulder. He was genuinely happy for his friend's good fortune, "-- and stopped a nuclear bomb and everything. You guys had all the fun. All I did was swim and do outdoorsy stuff."

"I'm glad you g-guys had fun. Hopefully he doesn't zap me too bad when he sees me," Eddie snickers. When nudged, he blushes furiously. "Oh man...c'mon, I get enough of that when I g-g-go up there to Asgard," he's still getting used to it. "And it was a t-team effort. I'm sure there'll be more stuff to do now that you're back."

"Well, I hope so, I'm not going to be left out of the fun stuff now that I'm back!" Teddy leans back and puts his arms along the back of the bench. There is a minimal breeze blowing, as if summer isn't really trying, but he enjoys it nevertheless. He takes a deep breath, making his chest heave, and then lets it out slowly, slowly getting his heartrate down. "I heard the wedding was beautiful, I'm so sorry I missed it... I heard you blew everybody away with your gift... it's so good to be back, I've missed you guys."

"We wouldn't dream of it," Eddie confirms. "In fact there's two open um...investigations going on right now I c-c-can fill you in on later," he offers. He leans back again as well, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "It was pretty cool," he admits. When the gift is mentioned, Eddie groans slightly. "Thankfully n-not literally. I had no idea the thing was as strong as it is..." he sighs. "We missed you too. Billy especially."

The teen smiles at this, a somewhat dreamy expression coming across his face. "He's so great, Eddie... even if he doesn't think he is. He's been alright while I was gone, right?" he looks at his friend, "So...er.... he said anything while I was gone?" a little more of the blush. Then he realizes he's monopolizing, and adds "How's life getting accustomed to being officially the son of a god? Don't you have to have bodyguards and things like that?" He grins at him.

"He is," Eddie agrees. "I keep telling him the same thing," he adds. "He's been okay," Eddie answers. He considers bringing up the weird red eyeglow for a moment but he doesn't want to worry Teddy. He's also not entirely sure he actually saw it. "He said a bunch of things," Eddie replies, teasing a little. "But he did mention missing you and wishing you c-could have come to Asgard with us...and to this movie thing he brought me too. I kind of wish you did too with the whole demon attack that happened," he laughs a little.

"It's...not easy," he replies, rubbing the back of his neck. "I only have guards on Asgard. Here on Earth well...s-sort of you and the others are my guards if I get what Thor and Sif said right. You know how my powers work after all."

Teddy nods and puts a hand on Eddie's shoulder. "You can bet that while we're around, nobody's going to try anything funny. Or at least they'd better not, if they know what's good for them..." he grins, nudging him again "Demon attack in a movie theater? What movie -did- you go to? I bet you would have known beforehand if you'd read the reviews." he says, joking a little but obviously curious about what happened.

Eddie grins. "Great. I've got your b-back too. I won't let anyone hurt my friends," he says firmly. The nudge makes him rock a little and he ends up laughing a the joking. "I d-don't know. It was some kind of classic horror marathon. I think Billy just wanted to see me hide from it," he shakes his head. "But then demons showed up and we had to team up with Daytripper and Nightcrawler's daughters and a new Spider-hero to beat them."

"Another Spider?" Teddy whistles, shaking his head. "Is Spider-man laying eggs around or something? I was looking at the blogs online---" hero nerd that he is "--and they're popping up all over the place. Must be spider mating season or something."

"I don't think his powers work that way," Eddie chimes in. He perks up as Teddy goes into hero-nerd mode, one he's in almost constantly. He nods to the comment though. "There are at least three n-new ones. Iron Spider, Spider-Woman, and The Spider. They're all g-g-good guys even if Spider-Woman is umm..." he frowns, trying to figure out the right words. "I don't know. She d-d-didn't seem like she was all...together in terms of sanity..."

"Wow, I can't wait to meet them--- though, wait, Iron Spider? Does that mean he goes around in a suit like Iron Man, but with webbing?" He smirks, passing a hand through his blond hair, which was mostly dry by now. "Hmm, I'm hungry, you wanna grab something? I need to get out of these clothes and showered up, but I want a snack before that... say, when's the next meeting of the Group?" You can hear that capital 'G' just by Teddy's inflection.

"Sort of. It was weird when I mimicked him," Eddie replies. "We c-c-could head down to the Terminal. We've got snacks down there and Tommy g-got showers working in the bathrooms," he offers. "Umm, you'd have to ask Ben or Kate. I don't think there's one planned."

"Really? What about us being ever vigilant? I leave for a little bit and find you laxing on the hero code? For shame." the teen says, giving him another playful shove, before leaning in and giving him a hug, sweaty as he is. "I'm glad everybody's okay, I was worrying like crazy y'know. And I've got more to worry about," he chuckles "I'm having dinner at Billy's to meet his parents."

"Hey!" Eddie pouts. "Just b-because there's no meetings doesn't mean we're lazy," he counters. He leans into the hug though, returning it. He doesn't mind the sweatiness, in a similar state himself. When Teddy mentions the dinner, Eddie gives him a smile. "Relax," he chimes. "It'll go great. The Kaplans are awesome and I'm positive they'll like you. You're an amazing g-g-guy, Teddy."

"I hope so!" Teddy answers, clearly a little nervous at the thought. He hadn't been when Billy told him, but now he had had time to think about it. And thinking brought doubts, such as what if he spilled the salt? The drinks? What if he accidentally tucked the tablecloth into his shirt by mistakke and then had to get up to go to the bathroom and pulled all the dishes off the table, like it happened to Light Boy when he met Elasti-Lady's parents?

He was usually grounded and calm, but there were some things that made even the sturdiest hearts beat a little faster. For Teddy, one of them was Billy. And the second thing was meeting his boyrfriend's parents and causing a bad impression. "You'll have to tell me a little about them, I want to make the best possible impression. You're my mole." he nods, and smiles.

"Well... it could be worse, right? She could be a telepath. Or secretly an alien." The teen chuckles, trying to steel himself. "Right... watch out for Mrs. Kaplan... it -could- be worse, though. I mean... they're okay with the thought of us... as long as I make a good impression..." Teddy stands up, stretching. "If the dinner goes okay, we should go out and do something together. You know, Billy and me and you and Vic."

"That's the thing. It's almost like she d-doesn't need to be to read you mind," Eddie shakes his head. "But it'll g-g-go well. I know she'll like you. How could she not?" he flashes a grin, turning that endless hope and faith on his friend. He pulls himself to his feet too, nodding. "They're both okay with it. They originally thought me and Billy were t-together," he says with a bluhs. At the suggestion for a double-date, Eddie nods enthusiastically. "That sounds great! Vic's been staying with me in SoHo for the summer so we c-could all meet there and go somewhere." "Aw... thanks, Eddie." Ted puts an arm around Eddie's shoulder and pats it. "I hope it goes that well. Now c'mon, I'm starving... I think there's that new sandwich place on the way. I may have to refuel." He winks and starts walking.

Eddie leans into the touch out of habit and nods. "Great! Let's go!" he exclaims, walking with Teddy happily.