[closed] Temporarily powerless and homeless

[powerdealer]

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.

Comments

[johnny_truant]

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.

[powerdealer]

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.

[johnny_truant]

"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.

[powerdealer]

"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."

[johnny_truant]

"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."

[powerdealer]

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?"

[johnny_truant]

Johnny missteps a little at the question. Not an unreasonable question at all, in fact it's pretty much a given at this point, but it rings so familiar, so much like what the anonymous redhead tried to torture out of him in the last group dream debacle. He'd almost managed to forget. He takes a minute to breathe before answering.

"Not much to tell," he says. "Was barely scraping by for a while, living in LA, and now I'm here. Since May." He shrugs, hands still firmly buried in his pockets. "Been trying to stay out of trouble," he says, a little softer now. "Everything's... kinda different, you know? I mean, being here." He glances at Seth, wondering where he stands on it - whether being transported was a blessing or a curse. "I was a mess. I mean, like... constant precipice of self-destruction. And now... I don't know. People are dangerous here, like more dangerous than anyone I've ever met. Some of them have it in for me. But it's not me anymore. It's not self-destruction."

He laughs, a bit self-conscious for having rambled. This must sound a little ridiculous - thank god forces of chaos are fucking with me so I don't have to. "I suppose that's a step up," he murmurs.

[powerdealer]

May, that's not terrible long, then. Trying to stay out of trouble seems familiar, though. He's known a fair few self-destructive people, and isn't exactly great at self-care himself, and he appreciates Johnny's candor, just nodding thoughtfully in reply.

"I take it there were no powers back where you came from, then?" he asks, heading across the street towards the only bar in the area that sells acceptable lager.

[johnny_truant]

"Not so much," says Johnny, suppressing a laugh at the idea. Hell, maybe Seth comes from a place where powers are common. He doesn't seem like any of the people he's met so far - time travelers, gods, or Daine, who seems to have risen out of a fantasy novel. So far Seth just seems like a regular guy.

"What about you?" he asks. He keeps it vague intentionally, so Seth can interpret it how it likes.

[powerdealer]

"Few years back, my home universe - pretty similar to this one - there was a storm wot gave loads of people superpowers." He shrugs. "And I've been here since October." Not the most elaborate of recounts, but Seth's not one to share easily.

He pauses as something occurs to him. "May, you said, so, before or after Godzilla?"

[johnny_truant]

So, just like a comic book, then. Maybe comic books don't exist in a universe that is like a comic book? Johnny is debating how to ask for more details, or if he should, when the next question comes, and he barks out a laugh.

"Right before," he says. "That's where I met Gabe. He took me somewhere safe, gave me advice and a neck massage, offered me a place to live, and hit on me, and then like a month later I found out it wasn't really him. An illusion, the whole time." He laughs. He was sort of mad about it at the time, but now it's just funny. Ridiculous. Typical of Gabriel. So not at the top of the list of his questionable actions. And Johnny would fucking forgive it all if he would just come back.

"I'm gonna assume you knew it was all fake?" he says, glancing at Seth. "He's a piece of work, isn't he?"

[powerdealer]

"Didn't know till after. He made me fight it," he answers, glancing over at Johnny with a grin.

"Teleported us top a building, had me shoot this giant lizard with a fucking... celestial, glowing bow and arrow," he explains with a laugh, gesturing vaguely. "And not just that, he pretended to fall from the building, with a dramatic pre-death speech, all..."

He straightens a little, imitating Gabe's voice unconvincingly. "There's a reason I chose you, Seth. You're a good man." He shakes his head at Gabe's ridiculousness. "And then he plummets, and I think for sure he's dead. And then I kill the giant thing, and he reappears, applauding. I was furious." It's fairly obvious he no longer holds a grudge for it, though. In retrospect, it's more cool and less terrifying.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny cracks up at the imitation and the mental image, doubling over slightly as they walk. "God, of course he did, what a fucking asshole!" He pushes his hand through his hair, straightening back up. He hasn't laughed this much - like really laughed - in a long damn time. Feels good. "And he just thinks the whole thing is like a, an arcade game or something. Jesus."

And then, just like that, the laugther stops. It's like they're talking about a friend who's died. He feels sick to his stomach at the thought of it.

He almost wants to ask. Could Gabe die from something like that? Can anything kill Gabe? But no, fuck that, fuck giving life to that kind of supposition by speaking it.

"I miss him," he admits instead. Daine was so... bitter about it, and the TARDIS so beyond his level, approaching the situation so differently... it's a relief, in a sad way, to find someone else who's just... lost, confused, fucked up about it.

[powerdealer]

The same thought process more or less goes through Seth's mind, and he sobers. All of a sudden it feels like they're off to a post-funeral drink. But they don't know anything for sure, and Gabe's a tough nut to crack. Seth seems to have built of quite a bit of faith in him without noticing.

"Yeah..." he answers sympathetically. He's barely found out he's gone, and he still misses him. Hopefully it's just Gabe being Gabe, doing something ridiculous and not considering how it might affects other people's emotions.

"C'mon," he adds, nodding and leading the way into the pub, up to the bartender. "Pint o' lager, and..." He looks expectantly at Johnny.

[johnny_truant]

"Whiskey, straight," Johnny says immediately. His go-to starter of late. Maybe he'll work his way down to beer, depending on where this wanders.

He glances around the place. "You want to sit here or a table?"

[powerdealer]

"Table's probably best," he says, nodding at one of the booths. Considering they're likely to continue discussing subjects best not overheard. At least in a place like this, despite people being more disturbed at what they hear, there's less prying ears who can make use of it than at Wilmot's.

He pays for the drinks, grabs his beer when it arrives, and heads towards a booth.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny slides into the booth and sips at his whiskey, careful not to down it like he might be inclined. For a moment there's a fantastically awkward silence - the first time since they've met that they haven't been in motion.

He sets down his glass and makes a vague gesture at his own face. "How's the nose?"

[powerdealer]

Seth smiles and reaches up to touch it gingerly. "Bit sore," he admits. Though honestly he's got more trouble from the headache of banging his head, and the muscle pain from withdrawal slowly setting in.

It reminds him why he got hurt in the first place, though. Their power loss, and Johnny's less bothered attitude towards it.

"Did Gabe ever mention there's ways to get rid of your power?" he asks suddenly.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny hesitates at the abrupt subject shift. So out of left field.

"You mean like apart from whatever's happening now?" He smirks faintly and takes another sip, then sits up a little straighter as a few things come back to him. "Wait - yeah, he told me, like, back when I found out about it, he said he knew someone who... Is that you?" It was so long ago, so entrenched in other things (not the least of which was their first time sleeping together), that detail was sort of left behind. He'd more or less given up hope that he'd ever shake this beast.

[powerdealer]

Seth gives an affirming nod. He's glad Gabe doesn't name him or anything, just says he knows someone.

"If this current thing blows over, or someone fixes it or whatever, I can help you lose it," he explains, taking a drink. "Only be sure about it, yeah? Don't want him thinking I'm preying on you or something. There's no rush, neither."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny can't really keep himself from looking thrilled. From where he's sitting this is the best news ever.

"Oh my god," he says, "yes. I mean - you don't understand, I have thought about it, I hope it never fucking comes back."

Ooookay. He sits back, tries to rein himself in a bit. Sips more whiskey. "Would he really think that?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

[powerdealer]

Seth shrugs. He has the impression Gabe doesn't exactly trust him implicitly. Some of it for good reasons, some of it because Seth's just not very good at giving people reason to like or trust him.

"When he found out I could do it, he told me if I ever tried to take one of his powers, he'd snap me neck," he answers. "Mind you, this was after he saved my life." A bit inaccurate - saved his freedom, more like, but he doesn't want to get into that whole thing right now.

[johnny_truant]

What the fuck? Johnny can't even imagine Gabe saying something like that. Even when he tried to kill Topher, he was almost - tender about it. Ugh, wrong thing to think about. He feels disgusted by the memory, and even worse now that he knows Gabe says shit like that.

"I guess..." He struggles to find a way to justify that. He's only just met Seth, and finding him immediately relatable certainly doesn't mean he's infallible. If anything, relatability to Johnny is suspect. He waves a hand. "Fuck, I mean, he's got insane god powers, could you even take something like that?"

[powerdealer]

"Dunno, never tried, hence," he gestures at his intact neck. "I wasn't the shining beacon of trustworthiness at the time, I don't blame him for wanting to impress upon me he's not to be trifled with. And I mean, it's moot anyway, he's helped me out a lot since then, I'd never do something like that."

It probably also shows how desensitized Seth is to violence and murder. He himself has buried a couple bodies, though there were pretty extenuating circumstances. And he was fresh out of being locked up - his compass for these things was a bit messed up.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny nods thoughtfully. Seth's casual attitude toward it is not lost on him, though he's really starting to realize how different Gabriel is with absolutely everyone. What he did to Topher, the way he treated Daine - the way he seems to be with the TARDIS - it's all starting to make a little bit more sense. It's not exactly comforting, but at least it's coming together.

He nurses his whiskey. "Well, anyway," he says, "this power is a fucking disease. If you want to take it I'd be... really grateful."

And what if the power does come back and Seth sees it in action and decides he doesn't want it? So far everyone seems to think it's really great and useful, but they're only seeing it from the utilitarian angle. The superhero angle. Sure, making portals, it's definitely practical. But it's not just opening up a wormhole or something.

"I should clarify," he says after a minute. "It only applies to buildings. Houses, apartments... well, any enclosed structure, I guess. It doesn't have to be residential. I haven't tested it on like a train car or anything but somehow I doubt that would work."