bigapplesauce | [closed] Temporarily powerless and homeless

Current Location: Gabe's apartment building and neighbourhood
Current Music: June 28th

Entry tags:

[closed] Temporarily powerless and homeless

It seems every day is more monotone than the last, like he's walking around in a zombie haze - though thankfully without any real zombies, he'd prefer not to do that again. But you'd think a city as weird as this would have more going on. That's what he gets for staying out of trouble.

He sighs as he unlocks the door to his apartment, dropping the keys on a table and running a hand down his face. He sits down in front of the telly, but gets bored almost immediately. Perhaps he should simply go out. Or perhaps he should go hang out with Gabe. He hasn't seen him for almost a week, he realises with a small pang.

Usually Gabe shoots him a text or something if he wants to hang out, or Seth just heads upstairs, but that hasn't happened lately. Probably he's just been busy. Yeah, that's what he'll do, maybe that will shake him out of this funk.

Not bothering with the keys just now, he heads for the door again, simply walking through it before heading upstairs. He knocks twice, but there's no reply. Guess not, then. He's about to leave, but then decides if Gabe's out, he might as well check if Scout's there and if he needs something, so he steps through the door.

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"That's a very useful power," he comments. Definitely something he could've used when he was trying get out. But if it's unreliable, probably not the best escape method. But then sometimes people just don't know how to properly use their powers.

He's not really in power-scouting mode though, partly because he's worried about what's happened to Gabriel, and partly because, well, he's worried about Gabriel, or rather, how he would react if he found out he liberated another friend of his of their power. And if Johnny's freely using his power, chance are he doesn't want to get rid of it anyway.

Currently Johnny's presence is keeping him from full-out worrying what's happened to his friend, though. He knows Gabe can take care of himself, perhaps he's simply set out on a mission, and didn't want to risk anyone finding out beforehand. Or perhaps something has actually happened to him. There's not much Seth can do about it either way right now, so he tries to push it to the back of his mind.

"Does it usually act up?" he asks, focusing back on the power issue.

"Not so far," says Johnny, chewing his lip. "I mean, it... works almost without any effort at all. Like the first time I discovered it I woke up to it." Ugh, bad memory. Not gonna talk about that.

"To be honest, I kind of... hate having it," he mutters. "I get that everyone thinks it's useful or cool or whatever, but to me it... it represents something awful. I can't really explain it." Or don't want to.

"Anyway, I guess I'll just have to use the door like a regular person this time," he says, trying to make light. "Or I don't know, can you Shadowcat me through the wall along with you? How does that work?"

Edited 2014-06-27 00:57 (UTC)

Seth frowns. Well then, guess he does maybe want to get rid of it. He doesn't bring up the possibility of taking it away just yet, but definitely files it away for a bit later, answering the question first.

"Um. Theoretically, yes, but I haven't tried it with anything person-sized yet. Much larger stuff doesn't work, there's only so much extra stuff I can take with." He shrugs. "Besides, you'd.. only end up on the other side of the wall. We'd have to go downstairs first. And I find phasing down the floor is much like jumping down a floor. Not very comfortable."

Johnny nods, smiling faintly, and heads for the door. "All right, conventional exit it is. You coming?" It's not that he doesn't trust this guy, but it feels weird to leave with someone still here, someone who isn't Gabe.

He unlocks Gabe's door, not really liking the prospect of having to leave it unlocked, but... well, maybe Seth can resolve that later. Right now he's a lot more curious to keep testing and see if his power is really gone. And if so, he wonders if he can figure out why. It seems almost like he should be worried about this, but... he can hardly find it in himself. Yeah, it's proven incredibly useful, but right now none of his friends are imprisoned and he's not trapped anywhere, so... might be nice to be normal again.

They get downstairs and Johnny turns toward his door, glancing at Seth, curious about which apartment is his. He's not even looking when he goes for his doorknob and turns, and-

Oh, shit.

"Fuuuuck," he hisses under his breath, and glances back up, looking sheepish. "I, uh. Kinda locked myself out. You think maybe you could...?"

Seth follows along downstairs - he'd like to see Scout again, too, make sure the dog's doing okay without Gabe. He's probably not any more happy than the rest of them about the situation. At least Johnny seems to care, given he's fetching all of Scout's toys and things.

He gives an amused smirk at Johnny having locked himself out. Well, that's what happens if you rely on unreliable powers. "Sure," he answers with a nod. He focuses for half a moment, then steps into the door.

And then stumbles back after his nose and forehead slams into the solid wood, and he falls on his ass against the opposite wall, clutching his nose with his hands. "Fuck," he comments, trying to imbue it with all the pain he is currently feeling.

Johnny can't help it. It's so startling, so not what he expected, and so ridiculous, that he busts out laughing. He tries to stifle it without much success.

"Sorry, sorry," he says between giggles. Fuck, but he needed that. "Are you okay?"

"Fuck off," he answers half-heartedly, not so much angry at Johnny as the situation itself, and the current pain he's in. Then, "Yeah."

He removes his hand and looks at them - they're bloody. He touches his nose gingerly. It definitely hurts, but he's pretty sure it's not broken. "I'll get over it," he adds, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

Johnny gives him a friendly pat on the back. "What happened there?" he asks. Weird, how both of their powers have just failed them. He's trying to be optimistic and not think and conspiratorial thoughts - maybe Seth just... did something wrong this time.

"Is my door made of adamantium?" he jokes.

Seth opens his eyes to frown up at Johnny. "I have no idea what that means," he answers, pushing against the wall (careful not to use his bloodied hands) to get to his feet. Wait, is that just a reference he doesn't understand, or should he know what it means? His balance doesn't seem off, but...

"Hang on. My name is Seth, you're Johnny. We're both friends of Gabe, who has a dog named Scout. It's.. June 28th, and you can do.. what was it, dimensional shift? Is that all correct?" he asks.

"Whoa. Yes." Johnny reaches out to help him up. "You don't have a concussion, it's okay. Not an X-Men fan, I take it?" He grins and taps very lightly on the door, not wanting to disturb Scout, who'd been napping when he'd left. "Just a regular door. Did you... did something go wrong, or..."

He trails off. The more he thinks about it, the less likely it seems that this is a coincidence. And that makes his heart sink a little. If both their powers are gone, that means he isn't necessarily free. It could just something affecting everyone, something that would need to be fixed.

He's been involved with medical care both in this universe and his original one, he feels it's his responsibility to make sure. But that's good, he'll just be a little bruised, once he washes off this blood.

"No, I..." He frowns more, shaking his head head to himself. He curls one of his hands into a fist (his knuckles being bloodless) and places it against the wall. "I dunno," he finishes, when nothing happens.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up," he adds, because he's getting annoyed trying not to get blood anywhere. He walks over to his apartment door, turns the handle and... Lets out a growl of frustration, and gives the door a light kick. Without a word, he heads back upstairs towards Gabe's bathroom.

Shit. So yeah, the same thing has happened to both of them, and now Seth is pissed off. Johnny stares at his door in bewilderment while Seth stalks back upstairs. He places his hand on the door and makes one more solid attempt, which fails again. Goddammit. This is less of a relief when it means he can't get back into his apartment.

He turns and follows Seth up and back into Gabe's apartment, having nowhere else to go. "Is there like, someone we can call?" he asks. They didn't really have a landlord - they had Gabe.

Johnny frowns, thinking about Scout. They'd gone out for walk earlier and he'd been pretty sleepy after. Johnny'd just given him dinner. His water dish was full. He should be okay until morning, but what if he can't get back in by then? Daine is NOT going to be happy if she has to break through a window to save the dog - and more to the point, she probably wouldn't let Johnny keep him. And Johnny needs to keep him. Right now it's all he has.

Seth is already drying his hands and face when Johnny joins him, having quickly rinsed off the blood. He touches his nose a bit and looks at his hand, but it seems to have stopped bleeding. That's something, at least.

He gives a sigh in response to the question, and the many problems that need addressing.

"About the doors? Besides Gabe, no. I mean, I know someone who can lockpick them, but probably not till tomorrow." he answers. But that's sort of a secondary worry for him at the moment.

Johnny sighs. He left his fucking phone in the apartment too, of course so he can't call Jodie or anyone. And he doesn't really want to, either. He doesn't want to ask for that favor again, and anyway, it wouldn't help Seth out. And since they got into this together, he'd feel shitty leaving him by the wayside.

He folds his arms and leans against the doorframe of the bathroom.

"So what now?" he says. He glances at Seth, who seems highly distracted, maybe still shaken by the news about Gabe. "You okay?"

Seth runs a hand through his hair, contemplating, not answering for a few moments. He only just met Johnny, so he's tempted to deal with this on his own, but if Johnny's living here and taking care of Scout, that must mean Gabe considers him trustworthy.

"Something must've happened to our powers," he says finally, not wanting to leave that problem any longer. "It hit both of us, so either we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or this has happened to more people. You may not be bothered, but given my survival has depended on my powers in the past and probably will again, especially if Gabe's really gone, I'd kinda like to know what's going on."

"Okay." Johnny nods. "I mean, I get that." He doesn't offer that the same is true of him - he's used his ability to escape a few bad situations now, or help others do the same. He almost feels selfish, being relieved about it when it's gonna be such an issue for Seth, but then again, Seth doesn't know anything about what he's been through.

"So how... do we find that out?" He shrugs. "I mean I don't know about you, but like... I don't think we can trust either of the organizations out there. I don't know anyone else who would know what's going on. Maybe except Gabe." He clenches his fingers tightly around his arm. He feels not only lonely, but helpless without Gabriel around. And now the little defense he had has been taken away. Yeah, he's definitely seeing the advantages to his power now.

"I do," he answers and, picking up on Johnny's worry everytime Gabe's mentioning, gives his shoulder a supportive tap with his knuckles.

He reaches into his pocked and pulls out his phone, which he gratefully has with him and - "Ah, shit." Apparently the screen got smashed when he fell. Great. Just... this day just keeps getting better. At least the phone still seems to work.

He dials a number and (careful not to press any possibly loose glass shards too close) holds the phone to his ear. "Hiya, it's me." A pause, as Seth frowns. "No, I... Yeah. And someone else with me too. Yeah." Another pause. "Right. Seeya." He hangs up and pockets the phone again. Well, that was quick.

"It's not just us. Apparently it's been happening all over since early morning. She said she'd text me with updates," he informs Johnny.

Well that was mysterious. But somewhat comforting? At least it takes the weight off their shoulders.

"Well, then," he says, shrugging. There follows a lengthy pause as he finds he has nothing to suggest for "the meantime" apart from...

Oh fuck it. "Drink?"

Seth sighs. He wants to do something, but the best idea is probably just to lay low. If it's not happening to everyone at once, he might still have some powerful enemies out there, and it's probably not wise to run around attracting their attention. So.

"...Yeah, alright." Might as well, right? He feels like he could use one right about now anyway.

Johnny's relieved when he agrees. He still feels worried about Scout, but he tries to push that back. Right now there's nothing he can do. If it gets to be the next morning, Seth's friend will pick the lock, or he'll break in somehow. It'll be fine.

It's possible Gabe has something lying around that they could drink, but Johnny has no desire to stay here any longer, with his absence hovering over them. He leaves Scout's acoutrements on the kitchen table and leaves the apartment, heading back downstairs and for the main door. He opens it and stares at it, ostensibly holding it open for Seth.

"So this'll lock us out even further," he points out, "if I let it close." He looks at his partner in incompentence, questioning.

He follows along, gently rubbing his nose. He wonders if it's just one of his powers that's taken a break, or if his accelerated healing's gone too. He could've used it about now.

He pauses at the door and considers for a moment, then shrugs. "Ah, fuck it. I can get a hotel room till morning." At least he's got his wallet, thank god for that.

"Oh." Johnny blinks. "Okay." He's not sure if this is an invitation or what. He is not about to invite himself into Seth's hotel room (particularly after his awkward suggestion of sex was left untouched), but at the same time he feels... well, clingy. There's no nice way to put it. Again, he tries to think of who he can contact, but comes up short. He doesn't want to dump himself of Jodie, he's definitely not at that point yet with Charley, and... who else does he know, really? That well. The TARDIS isn't an option... unless she is? Could he see her without his power?

Distracted, he pats his pockets. "No wallet, no keys, no phone," he mutters. "I'm in great shape."

He could sleep on Gabe's sofa, or in his bed. But that would just be so fucking sad.

"So I guess I'm buying the drinks," he answers with a small grin. "Don't worry 'bout it, I'll spot ya. A friend of Gabe's is a friend of mine, probably." Or at least someone he doesn't feel too uncomfortable spending an evening with. "Do you snore? Or masturbate while other people in the room? -- Trust me, I wouldn't ask if it weren't something already happened to me."

"You don't have to-" Johnny starts to say, but Seth's already headed him off at the pass, and he feels a swell of gratitude. At the questions he lets out a genuine laugh.

"I think you're safe," he says. "Gabe's never complained, anyway."

Oh. Did he just... out himself? That's a thing, right? He may have just done that. Well, no point being weird about it. He shoves his hands in his pockets and shuffles along after Seth.

"So, hey," he says after a minute. "Thanks."

Considering Gabe had once hinted at his possible interest in Seth himself, and Johnny outright propositioned him for sex just a little while ago, it hardly comes as a big surprise. What they get up to in the privacy of their own bedrooms is their business.

"S'alright," he answers. Perhaps in other circumstances he wouldn't have bothered, but right now he thinks he'd prefer to be with someone who's as upset about Gabe being missing, without necessarily having to talk about it. "So, what's your story?"

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