(Untitled)

[wasafreak]

If pressed, Teddy Altman would have readily admitted to living through some pretty bizarre stuff. There was only so much slipping through the time stream, getting caught up in fights between major super hero teams and finding yourself in the middle of religious galactic warfare you could experience before things started to shock you less- but they

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[halfscarlet]

Most nights, Billy barely makes it home before sunset -- usually distracted by classes and almost always full from dinner, he's gotten used to the twilight and warm glow of the lighted beacons on the boardwalk as he makes his way home. It's one of the few times he actually enjoys being on his own with his thoughts, especially after dealing with things like defending his home from killer stuffed toys during his first party. Never again is he trusting the smiling face of Pikachu or cute blue spiders

[wasafreak]

It'll be the first person he's come across since leaving the compound, and at the sound of footsteps Teddy's head pops up.

"Excuse me, do you know... where..."

There was a moment when the other boy's face wasn't fully in the light, but the lanterns on the boardwalk and the failing light do their jobs well enough that that moment passes, and then all his concerns, the worry, it's all gone. Out the window in the face of total elation.

"...Billy."

[halfscarlet]

"...Teddy?"

There he is, as real as life, and all Billy can do, really, is stare. Teddy looks so happy to see him, and despite the shock, Billy knows he shares the same joy -- but it's immediately accompanied with a guilt he thought he'd grown out of, and he shoves that aside.

"What..." Billy starts walking again, at a pace just short of a jog to catch up to Teddy. "When did you get here? How long-- holy crap, it's you. You're here."

[wasafreak]

Teddy started forward at the same time, at about the same pace, and stopped when they were close enough to be touching. He grinned a little, feeling relieved beyond words.

"A few hours ago. I showed up in Rapture, which was cool except for the, you know, residents of Rapture. Natalya Zamyatin from Y: The Last Man answered the radio and the Black Widow found me. She told me you were here." He laughed a little, not much or loudly, but just a quiet bubbling up of relief and maybe some left over nerves. It hadn't really been easy or fun, getting out of Rapture, but he had, and now there was Billy.

[wasafreak]

Teddy looked up, eyebrows raising, and he lifted a hand in greeting out of habit, he guessed, some sense of politeness that was totally unconscious given his current mental state.

"Hi," he replied, walking nearer, "hey. Uh, excuse me, do you know Billy Kaplan?"

[wasafreak]

Oh, Teddy thought, he was Japanese. Not like Asian-American, but actually Japanese. He also looked really familiar.

"No, it's fine," Teddy said, "I just got here and he's someone I know, and... I'll find him eventually." Soon. As soon as he could, but that didn't mean he was going to brush off this kid. Teddy offered him a smile, because he looked kind of nervous, or drawn.

"I'm Teddy," he said, and offered his hand.

[well_yeah_but]

In the fickle light from the braziers, Tony mistakes the blond head for Maxxie for the space of three seconds. When he holds a hand up to block the glare and blinks the motes from his eyes, though, the differences seem vast: Comportment, stride, angle of jaw, not to mention fashion. It's a curious choice, but Tony enjoys the curious, and when he closes more of the distance between them, he can see that it's someone new. He doesn't make a point of knowing everyone, but it's a small island and he'd remember this face.

"Out for a stroll? Lovely evening for it," he greets, all amiability until his gaze snags on the neat rows of silver running up the other boy's ears. He's a smart boy, Tony Stonem, an observant boy, and it all clicks so neatly into place it's like the work was done for him.

This ought to be interesting.

Shoulders relaxed, he slides his hands into his trouser pockets and cants his head with a smile, dark hair falling across his blue eyes. "You're new."

[wasafreak]

"I am," Teddy agreed, knowing it must have been painfully obvious, taking a few steps more so he was out of one of the darker spots of the boardwalk and closer to the glow of a lantern. The guy was really good looking, really confident; just really obviously comfortable in his own skin. Two years ago, Teddy would have been taking advantage of the lousy lighting to subtly shapeshift under his clothes, get a little taller, fill his frame out a little, just so he'd feel better talking to the guy.

But that was two years ago.

"By a few hours. I just got, uh, topside, though."

[well_yeah_but]

"Oh, were you down in Rapture?" Tony asks, his impressed expression actually genuine. "I've never been, but I've had a bit of an itch to go just to see what it's like. Must've been a shock, though, showing up down there."

He rocks back on his heels, arms akimbo, as if he's got all the time in the world for this pleasant little chat. "I'm Tony. Welcome to the island."

[wasafreak]

"It would have been worse if I hadn't played the game and wasn't used to weird stuff happening on a semi-regular basis, but it was still pretty bad," Teddy admitted, ducking his head momentarily. He had the bruises to show for it, and probably would for a week or longer.

"Teddy," he replied, and held out a hand.

[slowspeedster]

"Not that way, Bob! C'mon," Bart said, chasing a certain flying stomach in a pointless pursuit. "There are no mangoes that way, furball."

But apparently there was someone enjoying the sunset on the beach. "Incoming!" he shouted, putting on just a little more speed. This really was not going to be good.

"Bob, if you don't come back here right now, I'm cutting off your grapes for a month." If only grounding actually worked on flying foxes of any size. All he could do is keep anyone from getting hurt. At least that was the plan. Bart knew how well his plans usually worked.

[wasafreak]

That was the biggest freaking bat Teddy had ever seen, and if he hadn't been momentarily jealous of the shape of its wings and the way they beat the sky, he would have been pretty freaked out.

"What," Teddy said, taking a half a step back, "is that, exactly."

[slowspeedster]

Bart bent over, even though he knew it wouldn't help with catching his breath. "That is Bob. He's only a danger if you're a fruit-bearing member of the plant kingdom," he said. "It's just the first sight can be, um, alarming."

He scowled up at his pet, then shook his head. "I haven't managed to teach him to stop scaring people. He's going to get hurt someday snatching food out of someone's hands. I try to keep him away from the more populated areas."

[wasafreak]

"Yeah, I can see how people would be kind of unwilling to give him a chance, off the bat," Teddy said, then winced.

"No pun intended."

[recanting]

Ten days. He'd been counting them off one by one, and with each sunrise Alex began to lose hope that he'd ever see London, or Jack again. When faced with that notion, there's a sick sense of fear that begins to settle inside, fought off as fiercely as anything else. Alex could adapt, he was sure of it. He had no other choice.

The beach was a good place to be, on most days. Alex ended up swimming every afternoon, but at the moment he was sitting in what was left of the dwindling sun, almost close to being dry. Feeling a little lazy - certainly, he was more active at home than the island afforded him. But the laziness was nice, for once.

There are other people on the beach, but one catches his eye - possibly because of the panic in his expression. It's an emotion Alex understands well.

"Everything alright?" he asks, casually enough. "...You're new, right?"

It's a gut instinct that tells him - Alex certainly hasn't been on the island long enough to see scores of people come and go. But he trusts his instincts, regardless.

[wasafreak]

"It's written all over me, right?" Teddy asks wearily, offering the guy a thin smile.

"I'm fine. I'm weirded out," he adds, for honesty's sake, "but I'm fine 'm just... trying to find someone I was told is here."

[recanting]

"...Yeah, it is," it's not the greatest thing to be told and he winces, but Alex won't lie. "But I wasn't much better ten days ago," then again, he'd also been strapped down to a table and waterboarded back then, but there were some things that were just better buried.

"Who? I know...maybe seven people on the island, but maybe they're one of them," he can't blame the other boy for looking. Alex would admit to searching (albeit half-heartedly) for a familiar face upon arrival. He just hoped that this person really was here, and that it wasn't one of the many clones that seemed to populate this place in general - a fact that still weirded him out.

[wasafreak]

"Billy Kaplan," Teddy replies with no hesitation.

"Like an inch shorter than me, dark hair, brown eyes?"