2012-10-21 Bullies and Buddies

It's getting pretty late in New York City but that doesn't seem to bother one young man. Eddie's in a pretty good mood despite being a tad on the paranoid side. He's got a new job and is on his way home from a trip to the comic shop. Bags in hand, he's walking down the sidewalk humming a little tune. Of course as he passes some other teens, one puts a foot out and trips him. Eddie goes down with a startled yelp...which immediately prompts the group to start pointing and laughing. "Ow..."
The tall guy standing at the bus stop didn't draw much attention. He was just minding his business and all. That is, he was minding his own business until he saw one of the other teens trip Eddie. Now, he has no idea who Eddie is, but Teddy Altman doesn't like bullies. He doesn't like them one bit. So he stands up, crosses over, and then reaches to offer Eddie a hand up to his feet. Glancing up as he does so, he says, "You must think it's real funny, pushing people around. You wanna try that again now that he's not alone?"
Eddie starts to get up but ends up making a surprised little squeak when he sees a pair of feet in front of him. He winces, expecting a punch or a kinck...but instead there's a hand being offered. Eddie stares at it a moment before accepting the hand up. He's in jeans and a Spider-Man t-shirt today so it might just be obvious he's a 'geek'. The group that tripped Eddie sneers at Teddy before starting to walk off. They're not shy about tossing insults back over their shoulders as they go. Eddie meanwhile sigh before looking up at Teddy. "Th-thanks..."
Glaring after the departing group, Teddy calls after them, "Yeah, yeah! Talk as big as you want, just KEEP WALKING." He adds under his breath, "Assholes." Then he turns to offer a suddenly casual grin at Eddie, clapping one big hand onto his shoulder. "No problem, dude! I hate when smart-asses like that think they can push someone around just because they get you outnumbered. None of them would've had the balls one-on-one."
That sudden casual grin gets a blink and a blush out of Eddie. He's surprised by the hand too but tries to smile. "I umm...thanks still. Those g-g-guys usually hassle me when I come this way even if its just one or two of them," since Eddie looks anything but intimidating. He's short and kind of slender. Might as well be a target on his chest instead of Spider-Man's logo.
That makes Teddy frown all over again. "Well, they're just--jerks," he declares angrily. "They wouldn't mess with you if Superman were here, that's for sure. And you never know when Superman's watching, so they should think twice before acting like that!"
Eddie immediately brightens at that, smiling. "Of course they w-wouldn't. But this town's more Spider-Man's turf. Or Thor."
"Yeah," Teddy agrees, nodding, "But that'd be even worse! Superman might let them off with a stern warning. Spider-Man would web them all up, and Thor--well, he'd probably smite them or something until they learned some manners." Teddy folds his arms over his chest, glaring after the fleeing bullies.
Eddie snickers slightly. "Naw, Thor's not like that," he says. "I've m-m-met him. If you're not a r-r-really bad guy, he's a umm...like a big teddy bear," he says, blushing a bit. He pauses a moment then offers his hand. "Um, I'm Eddie."
Teddy relaxes a bit, looking surprised to hear this revelation, and then heartily shakes hands. "I'm Teddy. Put us together, and you get a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show." He grins to show he's just kidding around, and then he asks, "So, you really know Thor? That's really cool!"
Eddie may feel like Teddy could shake his arm right off but he still smiles and holds on. He looks a little lost though. "Rocky Horror what?" he asks, head tilting to the side. "I do. Um....him and his girlfriend come into the place I w-work at a lot," he explains. Its true even if Eddie knows Thor another way entirely...and a lot better than just as a customer.
Teddy says, "Cool," but then he boggles a bit at Eddie. "You've never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show? It's... it's like a THING. And this is the perfect time of year! It's this weird... sci-fi... horror... Halloweeny kind of movie." He gestures vaguely with his hands, grins, and then points at Eddie. "I've gotta take you to a showing!"
"If you c-come by sometime, you could probably see him too. I work at a coffee shop at," Eddie gives an address in Soho. He jumps slightly as Teddy gestures and explains. The pointing makes him blush a little. "You do?"
Grinning, Teddy says, "Yeah! It's a fun, weird movie with people dressed up in costumes and stuff. You'd probably have a good time." He pulls out his phone, tapping in the address, and saves it. "Okay, cool! I'll meet you there sometime and we can hang out." He's grinning, obviously glad to have made a friend. Especially one who's met Thor, of course.
Eddie blinks. "People dress in costums to watch the m-m-movie?" he asks, surprised by the very notion. He's quite honestly surprised by how fast things went from stranger to friend but he has no problem with it. "That w-would be great. Thor isn't even the only hero that comes in. One time, Wiccan did too. And that um...Axiom guy. My boss thinks he even saw Warbird once but he wasn't sure. It'll b-be great to hang out."
Teddy admits, "Look, I don't have a lot of friends. Most people seem to think I'm weird because I... kind of obsess a bit about superheroes and stuff." He shrugs some, grinning sheepishly, "I hope you don't think it's weird that I'm glad to meet somebody who's not afraid to be kind of a geek like that."
Eddie stares a moment, looking Teddy over. He's surprised someone that looks as good as Teddy and is as nice as him doesn't have friends. After a moment, the smaller teen flashes a grin. "Actually um...I don't have many friends either. None until p-pretty recently. And there's n-n-nothing weird about liking superheroes. They're the best ever and completely awesome!"
Teddy grins back. "Well, cool! Then we can be buds. It'll be nice to know someone who's not one of those--y'know, the shallow, self-obsessed type?" He makes a face, shaking his head. "I don't mean to judge, but... you know the kind of people I mean, right?" He gestures vaguely in the direction the bullies went in, earlier.
Eddie nods energetically. "Yeah. I know them," he says. "I c-can introduce you to another friend of mine too. He likes superheroes and comic books and stuff too," he chimes. "We can all be buds."
"Awesome," Teddy says with a grin. He digs in his pocket and comes out with a pen and scrap of paper, jotting down his number and offering it to Eddie. "Call me sometime! We can hang out, maybe your friend too. It'll be fun!"
Eddie grins right back as he accepts the paper. He sends Teddy's phone a quick text. "There. Now we have eachother's numbers. I'd be happy to hang out s-sometime, Teddy," he chimes. Apparently someone's been teaching him some tech tricks.
Checking his message, Teddy adds Eddie as a contact and then grins. "Cool! And yeah, bring your friend or anyone you want. It'll be fun." And that's about when the bus is pulling up, so Teddy gestures toward it. "Well, I better get going. If I miss my bus, Mom'll be really bent out of shape."
Nodding, Eddie glances towards the bus. "Sure. It was n-nice to meet you, Teddy. Have a g-g-good rest of the night."
Teddy gives a big wave then bounds aboard the bus, disappearing inside only to reappear in one of the windows. He waves again just as the bus pulls away, headed off along its route.
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