[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

[powerdealer]

Seth doesn't look up immediately, but he noticeably tenses, his gut twisting. Well, this why he's never been around Gabe when he's been too recently high, or too far into withdrawal. But he didn't think he was that obvious, especially considering they've been drinking.

He considers for a moment just denying it, but he doesn't think it would fly. And it's probably better to face it head-on, rather than have Johnny share his worries with Gabe.

Finally he raises his head again. "Morphine," he answers quietly. He doesn't elaborate, waiting for Johnny's reaction, watching him in his peripheral vision.

[johnny_truant]

Whoa. Shit. Johnny is careful to limit his reaction to a casual nod. He has absolutely no capacity for judgment on this kind of thing, considering the life he's led - it's worrying, but he's in no position to do anything about it right now. Or possibly ever.

"Sorry," he says. "I just... I mean not so much anymore, I've been clean for a while, but, I've done my fair share of a little bit of everything under the sun. I kinda know what it looks like." He shrugs. "I'm not gonna turn this into a very special episode or anything like that. You have no idea how fucked up I used to be. Taking shit just to sleep. Trust me, I know what it is to need that shit." And nothing worked, none of it. "Just curious."

Feeling he should say something else, he gives Seth a light nudge on the arm. "Just be careful, okay?"

[powerdealer]

"It's not like that," he answers, in a way that's supposed to be reassuring, not defensive. "It's not like.. to feel good, or a fucked up way to deal with my problems or anything."

He pulls up his knees, trying to figure out how to explain, or if even wants to discuss it fully with Johnny. But.. he's drunk/high, and he hasn't really been able to discuss it properly with someone - certainly not someone who not only understands the rift and powers, but also what doing drugs is like, and who knows how important Gabriel is. Perhaps Johnny is the only one who might after understand.

He takes a deep breath, rubbing his knuckles nervously. "While they had me locked up down there, the rebels were testing shit on me, and they discovered that opoids made my powers stronger."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny sits up a little at that. "Shit," he says, pure shock and sympathy. As it sinks in, he says again, a little angrier, "Shit." Okay, well as if Seth's imprisonment wasn't bad enough, that has shot the rebels right up with Romac at the top of his shit list.

"So they got you addicted," he reiterates, still angry about it. He takes an angry drink from the bottle. "Does Gabe know?"

[powerdealer]

"No," he answers quickly, just a bit forcefully, with the implication that telling him would be a bad idea. He didn't react too fondly to the idea of Seth selling it - who knows what he might think of Seth using it.

"And it's..." He frowns a bit, considering how to put it. "Before that, I could only give and take powers from others. It.. It might be the only thing actually letting me use them."

And so Johnny should see why quitting wouldn't necessarily just be going through a shitty withdrawal. It might also take away most of the only forms of real self-defense he has. And he desperately doesn't want to go back in there.

[johnny_truant]

"Oh." Johnny sits back against the pillows, frowning at the conundrum. "Well, shit."

He takes another contemplative drink. He's starting to approach the threshold where he'll be useless in terms of offering advice or comfort. So he reaches out and pats Seth awkwardly on the chest instead.

"Gonna be okay," he says, only a little slurred. "Can't do shit about it tonight." He leans over to offer the bottle again, ends up overbalancing and tipping onto his side, arm still braced against Seth's chest. Whoops. He manages a faint, embarrassed giggle. "Sorry," he says. "I'm kinda drunk."

[powerdealer]

"Thanks, man," he answers appreciatively. Not just for the encouragement, but also the.. well, caring. And being cool about it. Nice to have someone who doesn't judge.

He manages to grab the bottle before Johnny tips over, so he doesn't get covered in alcohol. And it's impossible not to smile when he comes crashing against him. If he were sober, he might find this behavior annoying, but right now he's drunk enough himself for it just to be amusing. Clearly not quite drunk enough to match Johnny, though.

He grins and puts an arm around Johnny's shoulders to stabilise him a bit, then takes another good swig of the bottle. They've gone through quite a bit of it now. "S'okay. I'm pretty drunk, too." And enjoying it a lot more when he's smiling than when they're trying to cover such heavy subjects while his brain feels fuzzy.

[johnny_truant]

"Right on," says Johnny, grinning stupidly at him. He shifts a bit awkwardly, trying to get back up without wanting to shrug off Seth's arm, which he rather likes, really. It's just... nice. Casual and nice.

Wait, what if it's NOT casual? Johnny almost forgot to worry about this. Before the Rift, he would never imagine there might be any flirtation going on here (probably because there ISN'T), but now that he's slept with so many people, so many men, his suspicion that new acquaintances are willing to sleep with him has heightened sigificantly, not to mention how much his capacity to read physical cues has been dulled by the scotch. How do men communicate this shit, anyway? Gabe doesn't beat around the bush and Eliot was... well, Eliot. But Seth's very normal. Johnny has no idea what any of this means. Probably nothing. Johnny's not sure he even wants to do anything with Seth now that they've established this kind of drinking partnership. He should just back up and chill out.

However, his fidgeting has left him hovering pretty directly over Seth now, and gravity and his own lack of grace are moving his body faster than his sluggish brain can process all this. Before he can tell himself to actually pull away, he sort of sinks down instead, until his lips brush against Seth's.

[powerdealer]

Perhaps it's because he's drunk, or because he's starting to feel properly relaxed and comfortable again, but his automatic reaction to being kissed is to close his eyes and kiss back. He generally doesn't get kissed by people he doesn't want to be kissed by, so that reaction to pull back isn't really ingrained in him.

So for a couple moments, his brain hasn't really caught up, and it's just sort of nice to be kissing someone for the first time in a while.

[johnny_truant]

Oh - oh, wait, he's into it. Wait, is he? Or is he just drunk? Johnny can't tell. He has a nice mouth. For a second he shifts like he's going to take this up a notch, but instead he catches up with himself and pulls away, back to hovering.

"Uh." He looks down at Seth, feeling slow and stupid. "Shit. I'm sorry."

[powerdealer]

It's probably just as well Johnny pulled away, because if not, Seth would have done a moment later. His brain had just caught up with the fact he could feel stubble that wasn't his, and what a weird experience that was. Not bad, exactly. But... unexpected.

He has a look of dawning apprehension when Johnny pulls away, but then he replaces with a magnificently awkward smile, deciding to just laugh it off. "I think we're really drunk," he observes.

[johnny_truant]

Well, that's one way to take it. Johnny returns the smile, laughs and sits back, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah," he says. "I, uh. Yeah." He flops back against the pillows and holds out his hand for the scotch. "Sorry about that. I'm going through kind of a... weird... phase right now."

So helpful. "I mean like I didn't used to... you know." He shrugs. "Like guys. Not until Gabe. Have you ever been with a guy? It's fuckin weird. I mean like it's good and all, but it's like... they don't think like women at all, you know what I mean? They think more like you, except when they don't."

Ooookay. He drinks to stop himself talking. Shut up, Johnny.

[powerdealer]

Seth hands back the bottle - just because they're already really drunk doesn't mean they should stop drinking, right? Well, maybe they should probably slow down, but they're not doing a very good job of it.

Seth listens quietly to his story. He guesses Johnny's probably bisexual or something, then? Whatever. So far he'd only heard him exhibit interest for guys. Just Gabe and Seth himself, actually.

He can't come up with any sort of eloquent response for what Johnny's actually talking about, and he's not sure he'd like to discuss his own feelings about what just happened - mostly because he has no idea what they are, just vaguely confused, mostly. But since Johnny falls quiet, Seth takes over with the rambling to fill the silence.

"For the past, uh.. I dunno. Five years? I just dated two girls, so... This girl and I, Shannon, we were pretty serious. Then she... She ODed," he says, his voice cracking for a moment. "Took me a long time to get over. Till I finally started dating Kelly. Well. After she told me she'd been to an.. alternative timeline. With nazis." He can't help but smile a little and glance over at Johnny at that.

"Anyway, apparently, alternate me had kissed her. Before that version of me got killed. So. I asked her out. And then when we were supposed to go on a date, some girl in a coma did a bodyswap with her." He can't help but smile at how ridiculous it all sounds.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny's relieved when Seth joins in on the ridiculous introspective talking thing, and he nods grimly when he talks about his first girlfriend, shit, that's terrible. He starts to hand the bottle over.

Then Seth starts going on about alternate timelines and nazis and bodyswaps, and he hovers, then pulls the bottle back and takes another, fortifying sip. Mostly so he doesn't laugh. That seems like it would be rude.

"Wow," he blurts. "Okay. Wow. I never went through anything like that." He laughs and gives the bottle over. He's starting to feel himself slowing down. Gonna be time to call it a night soon. Which is good, since he'll want to get back to Scout as soon as possible. "I mean, I had a lot of crazy nights with a lot of crazy women, but I'm pretty sure none of them got bodyswapped, at least."

[powerdealer]

"Ah, you never know," Seth answers with a smirk. "Anyway, it.. gets worse," he says, since he's already on a roll with a storytelling. He sobers a bit for the next part, though.

"I finally found someone with the power to bring back the dead.. So I.. brought Shannon back." He pauses to let that sink in, and takes another swig of the bottle. The story has turned rather serious now. "But then it turned out she.. went zombie. Ate my neighbour and my iguana. Tried killing Kelly, so I had to stop her... And a few dozen other zombies."

Again he pauses. "After that it.. well, it got better between me and Kelly, but. Two of our friends died. One by going back in time. So we left. Went to Uganda, and Kelly, she.. well, I'd given her the power of being a 'fookin rocket scientist'," he explains, briefly imitating her accent, with a small smile. "So we just stayed there, defusing landmines. Then I came through the rift."

Congratulations, Johnny. You are now most likely the person who knows the most in this world about Seth's past. And what a ridiculous clusterfuck of tropes and weird shit it is.

*\o/*

[johnny_truant]

Johnny just stares at Seth, his mouth hanging open slightly. Zombies? Zombies. Superpowers, time travel, zombies. Okay.

"Uh," he says. "All right." He nods, like it's totally acceptable. "All right." He reaches out and ruffles Seth's hair, an entirely platonic gesture. "That's some shit. Fuck, you've earned this." He flicks the bottle with his finger, making a deep metallic clink.

With that declaration made, he flops over sideways, draping himself along the side of the bed, unfolding his legs so his feet are nearer the pillows. He lets out a heavy, drunken sigh.

[powerdealer]

You wouldn't really tag Seth as someone who'd be from that sort of almost comic-book like world. He wonders how much Johnny will even remember of this in the morning.

"You know, it wasn't that weird before the storm," he comments, watching Johnny flop over. He looks at the bottle, almost empty now, and decides he doesn't feel like finishing it. Instead he sets it down on the floor while contemplating that he should get up to drink some water. He doesn't. Instead he just looks over at Johnny again. "I take it you're passing out on me."

[johnny_truant]

"It sounds neat," mumbles Johnny, pointing vaguely at the ceiling, then lets out a sleepy giggle at his inane wording. God, he didn't realize how tired he was until he was horizontal. "Urghhh sorry." He drops his hand back down onto his face. "I'm so worn out."

He lets his hand drift onto Seth's leg, giving it a good pat, like one would a horse. "Seeyoutomorrow," he says, barely.

[powerdealer]

Seth smiles at Johnny's complete lack of eloquence, or, consciousness at this point. "Night," he answers, giving his head a slightly drunken pat. He's not quite as half-asleep as Johnny is yet, but he's pretty wiped too, and filled with drunken sleepiness.

He does however manage to shift a bit to peel off his shirt (hiding track marks isn't really an issue now anyway), and he starts to take off his jeans so he can actually crawl under the covers, something Johnny seems not to have bothered with. But somewhere after dropping his shirt, unbuckling his belt and shimmying into a slightly more horizontal position, he decides to do it just.. in a second. Shortly after he's sound asleep too.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny startles awake after a mercifully dreamless (or at least unremarkable) sleep. Whhhhhere is he. Fuck. Oh god, his head. Did he drink an entire bar? This isn't his bed. He's fully dressed on top of a starchy comforter. And Seth.

SETH. Right. Okay. Yes. The previous day comes back in pieces, through the haze of sleep and one really bad hangover. Johnny discovers that while he didn't quite get himself right side up ever, sometime in the night he did manage to shift his position so that he's partially sprawled over Seth's body. Seth's shirtless body. Oh come on.

He struggles, joints creaking a little, to get up without rousing Seth, but grace and subtlty come to him rarely enough even when he's alert and sober.

[powerdealer]

Seth isn't even having his regular nightmares - in fact his sleep is uncommonly sound and calm. His waking up is not promising to be as pleasant, what with the resounding hangover.

Something just moved, and Seth is slowly returning to consciousness, but he doesn't want to. He's not opened his eyes yet, but he can feel another body on his.

Okay then. Nope, he's not going to wake up yet, and he'd rather this comfortable person didn't either. Since his arm has gotten somewhat caught under them, he curls it around their shoulders, tugging them closer again.

[johnny_truant]

Wuh - okay then. Johnny allows himself to be tugged back down, not yet conscious enough to coordinate any other kind of response. Seth's warm, at least. Hell, if he wants a cuddle who is Johnny to stop him.

Might do to wake him up though. Johnny taps him awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Hey," he says. "Hello. Remember me?"

[powerdealer]

Ugh, no. He can't seem to stop it any longer, though. It seems he'll have to wake up. Even though the closer to consciousness he gets, the more he can tell that he feels like shit.

"Bzuh?" he answers, looking down at Johnny. And then - he's not entirely sure what does it. Perhaps it's having got his power back. Perhaps it's the surprise of seeing Johnny there. Perhaps it's a self-defense mechanism brought on by the pain in his head.

Either way, Johnny suddenly doesn't have anyone to snuggle with anymore. Instead there's a heavy thud from underneath the bed, followed by a loud groan.

[johnny_truant]

Johnny hits the mattress hard with the sudden loss of mass, and his headache swells up painfully, rattling around his skull. Oh, fuck.

"Ahhghn," he groans. "God. What the hell, man?"

He slides off the bed and deposits himself on the floor, peering down under the bed. "Are you okay?"

[powerdealer]

How do you think his head feels after doing that? Phasing while hungover is not a great idea. Landing hard like that is not a great idea either, and now he's a little trapped underneath the bed.

He doesn't even answer Johnny with words, just another long groan. Or, there might be a word, but it's mostly a slightly muffled, drawn-out swear.

A few moments later, he figures maybe actually answering rather than just affirming he's still alive. "My head's going to explode."