gimme that green light

we've all got something special to give to the world. well, by 'we all' i mean you guys, and by 'the world' i mean me.

[madibyrd]

After Teak and Emre’s conflict over the letters Teak found on the yacht (part 1), and Madi finding Emre floating in the ocean (part 2), Madi and Emre want to give Teak a lesson. It doesn’t go at all according to plan and roles get switched up.

with @teakmiddleton and @akbartheolder​

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[teakmiddleton]

discord thread with @rebeccakoval

Some of the people whose names were on the letters weren't familiar to Teak, so it took a little doing to hunt out who they were. Fortunately in that respect, the current confuddle and confusion on dear old Mystery-Ass Island worked to his advantage; people were too busy trying to deal with dark and snow and their own securing shelter and warmth and food, that they didn't have the bandwidth to be suspicious when he asked them questions. 

 And that was how he managed to find out who Rebecca was, and that she lived in some cave. Teak was surprised people chose to live in caves, and when he caught sight of Rebecca, he said as much: "Aren't there bats in there? Aren't you like, grossed out by the guana? Iguana? Wait, what's it called, the special name for bat poop? Isn't it highly toxic to breathe in the spores? I'm Teak, by the way. We haven't met." 

 He announced this last part with assuredness and a bright grin, certain he was correct. Well, certain enough. 

Becca had seen him somewhat in the distance, climbing over the rockier terrain of the Western Cove, stealing glances here and there as she tried to collect her limited laundry pile into a net to drag down to the river for cleaning. Rebecca stood, frowning slightly when the stranger walked to the mouth of the cave, chatting like they were thick as thieves. 

She really had to start thinking about making a door for more privacy. 

 Becca blinked, she didn’t know the answer to what bat poop was officially called. It never seemed that important, but now her focus was back on the cave walls which were cool and clean from what she could see. And maybe if she had been given just a moment of warning she would have been ruffled at the inference her living quarters might be inherently dirty – but Rebecca was taken so off guard by the company and rapid fire observation the most she could do was gape and stare. 

 “Well…I know an iguana is a lizard. So it’s not that.” She offered quietly, pursing her lips to ask the man just how they knew one another when he clarified that too. They really were strangers. Well, that made Becca feel a little better. “I didn’t think so. I’m Rebecca. Can I help you with something?”

"Right! Iguana lizard. They don't get along with bats, I don't think. But I could be wrong. And this island is weird anyhow so who knows what laws of the animal kingdom got messed up here." Teak shook his head direly at the thought. "Oh, but wait -- you grew up here, right? You were born here or something? Rebecca?" 

 He shook his head at her inquiry about if she could help him with anything, saying, "Actually, it's sorta the other way around. I, potentially, might be helping you with something. Not to do with your bat poop." Teak looked apologetic. "Sorry, didn't mean to get your hopes up in that respect, but if you choose a cave I figure you're down with bat business." 

 He gave a thoughtful nod, then shook himself back into the topic at hand. "But! What I'm here for is something else. I think I have something that's meant for you. Did you go out to the yacht that was here?"

“I did.” Becca confirmed, giving a slight nod for further emphasis. Well, even if they technically never met, it was obvious Teak had gone out of his way for something. She couldn’t exactly imagine lizards and bats interacting all that much, but he made a good point – given how weird the rest of the island was, who really knew for sure? 

 She scoffed, placing a hand on her hip as he brought up the bat poop again. Although he clearly had other things to get to, she couldn’t let the mention slide so easily. “I don’t need help with that. The cave is clean, was uninhabited practically till I walked up.” Her brow furrowed, puzzled when the yacht was brought into conversation. Becca glanced behind herself over to her makeshift mattress, above she’d manage to scavenge a nail, and the locket hung there.

 “Yeah I swam out. There was something else, that you got saddled with? How weird. Well, the whole thing was weird, no surprise there or anything…” She trailed off before looking on expectantly at Teak, “Can I have it?”

"You found a clean, uninhabited cave?" Teak regarded Becca for a few long moments. "You sure that's what happened? You just happened to luckily find yourself a clean cave with nobody already living in it for you to have it all to yourself?" He snorted. "Ohhhhhh-kay. I believe you. I'm sure you didn't get somebody to throw out whoever was currently living in that cave so you could move in." 

 It wasn't really of much importance to Teak except that he kept it in mind for the future: Becca living alone in her apparently vermin-free cave, ripe for the eviction. It didn't matter at the moment. 

 "Why don't we trade?" Teak said. "Whatever it is you found on the yacht for whatever I found for you on the yacht." He'd noticed the way she glanced into her cave and added, "Don't try to tell me you didn't find anything on the boat. We all did."

“I didn’t need anybody to throw the previous inhabitant out.” Becca scoffed. If Teak wanted to be haughty about it, she could easily follow. “If you really want to know, I killed and buried them back out in the jungle.” A pretty bold face lie, but Rebecca’s expression remained placid and unbothered none the less. Maybe Teak would believe her, and maybe he wouldn’t, and even if he ran to tell, what did it really matter? 

 She laughed at his suggestion of a trade, picking up one of her torn garments and attempting to mend it with one of the less perfected, handmade bamboo needles she had managed to barter off one of the other islanders. “Sure, I found something, but it’s not for trade. Especially if you aren’t even going to tell me what you have of mine in the first place. Is that how you usually trade for things? I can’t imagine it works very well.”

Becca's claim to have murdered somebody and disposed of the corpse was entertaining, at least, so Teak just laughed and snapped and pointed at her with a wink. "Good one," he said cheerfully. "As if somebody like you is capable of murder. Or burying somebody. I mean unless you're an earthbender? In which case you probably could bury somebody without too much fuss." 

 She started to return to some task and Teak stepped closer, peering curiously at Becca's sewing venture. "Are you mending clothes? Maybe I could get you to do that for me. Hire you, I suppose. Unless that's what you do for the island, like your ... job, or whatever. How some people have jobs. Like all those stuck-up humps at the farm." Teak rolled his eyes at the thought. Not a single person on that farm (so far as he knew) was bearable. 

 He patted the pocket where he was keeping the letters. "I've got a few words for you from your dear old dad," Teak announced. "But then it doesn't sound like he really knew you, so I dunno how much dear is involved in it." He bobbed his chin. "Interested?"

Becca shrugged, “Whatever you think then.” She squinted fumbling with the needle and fabric for a moment before tightening one of the stitches. When she glanced up, she hadn’t expected Teak to be closer and blinked in surprise. “Ah no…I don’t do it for the island. I think it’s a bit too haphazard for that.” She held out the clothing so Teak could see the imperfection. “Don’t know if you want that but it works for me.” She cleared her throat, smirking at the corner of her mouth, “What would you barter?” 

 Rebecca stopped for a moment, finding something to tie her hair up with, “Well, I have another confession – I work on the farm occasionally. Don’t know if I’ve ever been called a stuck-up hump before.” She snorted at the slight insult, not taking it seriously for herself or anyone else who spent time there. Teak could have his opinions, the farm was making the roughness of the island just a bit more bearable at the very least. 

 She was disappointed to hear what Teak had for her in his pocket. It was like a punch to the gut, Becca sat with the feeling for a moment and then shook her head, “No, actually. Thank you.” She didn’t need some apology, excuse ridden letter. Or anything sappy or anything…mean. She didn’t need anything from the person that had simply dumped her at the jungle’s (and eventually Libby’s) mercy. He had a choice, and he made it. What good would any revisiting do now? “I don’t want anything from him.” Becca’s shoulders heaved with a heavy sigh she made, “So keep it, use it as kindling. I don’t care.”

"It's not like people here can go to a real tailor and get real alterations done so I suppose that's the best available," Teak said, looking at Rebecca's work with a critical eye. "They seem big on mending here. You'd think by now somebody would've invented cloth. Seems like a prett-tty big thing to work on instead of some of the people doing useless things." Teak didn't actually have anybody in mind but he was certain if given a moment he'd be able to list some of those things; he just didn't care at the moment.

 He rocked back on his heels, saying "ohhh" when Becca said she was one of the farm workers. "You don't find them all stuck-up? Madi and Emre are soooooo full of themselves. Madi thinks if you don't work on the farm then you're not doing anything at all for people on the island. And Emre's just a dickhead." 

 When he told Becca what it was he had for her, the disappointment was palpable, and Teak felt himself responding in kind. She just said no, she didn't want it, she didn't care, and he rubbed a hand across his chest as he considered this reply. "Alright," Teak said eventually. If she didn't care, she didn't care, and that was pretty much his entire purpose in talking to her. "See you around."

Becca shrugged, “I mean, you can work on inventing a clever way to manufacture cloth on the island if you think it’d be more successful.” Maybe one day they’d get to that point, but keeping people fed and covered with what they did have was just a tad more important. It sounded like Teak didn’t have much to do though so maybe he’d be inspired. 

 Her lips thinned in growing irritation as he continued on about how stuck up and annoying Emre and Madi were. It seemed unwarranted, and Becca had hardly welcomed the criticism. “I suppose it takes one dickhead to know another.” 

 She watched Teak silently take in her refusal of the letter he’d found. Becca wasn’t entirely sure what he had wanted or had been expecting for the personal piece of paper, but he clearly hadn’t gotten a reaction he’d been waiting for. No trades, no tears, Becca’s lip curled into a faint sneer as the realization of Teak’s personal gain angle came clear to her. She gave a slight wave in dismissal, “Bye then.”

[emreakbar]

[Teak has a postcard for Iyaz, from the outside world. Emre wants it. *mortal kombat voice* FIGHT!]

violence tw

@teakmiddleton​

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[teakmiddleton]

j-crain​:

“Because they do want to mess with me,” James replied with a frown, his tone indignant like a child’s. Teak was always such a golden boy. Attractive, well mannered, charismatic– essentially what every father wanted for his heir apparent. Well, except his own father. Arthur Crain could never stand someone so carefree, so touchy. After all, this was far from the first hug James had received from the man. All of them memorable by virtue of being extremely annoying. Still, James had never disliked Teak per-say. They were different people but it wasn’t like all rich people were the same. Especially comparing the old money of England to the old money of the states. 

No, James didn’t very much mind Teak or think of him in any strong way. Before he and Lillian hooked up that was. It had been years ago when James was still in university. The pair had been arguing about his mother of all things when they decided they needed a break, timing out perfectly to when Lillian was going back home for a month. James hated every moment of it which was probably the point. The break making him appreciate Lillian; spirited but not bubbly, smart but not brash, but most of all she understood him. Listened to him. God when had anyone in his life just listened. When she returned to London James told her he loved her, he missed her, that he would fix things.

She told him she’d slept up with Teak god-damn Middleton of all people. Her furrowed his brows at the description of his wife as some destination holiday. What the hell did that make him then? A local? And Teak the tourist? James didn’t like that at all but he just sighed. “Lillian probably would be flattered by that comment. Flattered but not impressed,” he made the distinction. “Not like she ever needed anyone to tell he she was wonderful. She knew,” a hint of a smirk pulled at James lips as he spoke of his wife. 

“No, she’s not,” he informed Teak. “Thank God.” Lillian could probably handle the island better than either man but what had she ever done to deserve living on an island like this? James knew his sins. Despite everyone insisting this wasn’t hell, and in a literal sense James agreed with them, it certainly wasn’t a random creation. It couldn’t be. How else would he and others keep running into people so key to their past? Piper had mentioned something about the island bringing people together, like loose threads tucked into some tapestry. Teak was perhaps a loose thread in the tapestry of James’ life. Or maybe more a bramble stuck to the wool. 

James groaned at the question, “happy isn’t the word I’d chose. Not because seeing him is a bad thing… it’s just…” He rubbed the stubble along his cheek. glancing down at his feet. “Complicated. Same as it was before the island. But he’s alive and that’s…” Not really a miracle considering the circumstances. Hell, James was alive too. “It would be lonely. Being here without someone who understood.” That was all he could say. Teak perhaps could understand what it was like growing up with the pressure to perform. But he couldn’t, not in a hundred years, understand exactly what it was like to grow up the son of Arthur Crain. Lark knew that and then some… he was the failed son of Arthur Crain despite not being a failure in the slightest. “It’s hard to explain especially to an only child.”

James, when it came down to it, was a much less capriciously spiteful person than Teak was. He got active joy from annoying James, from prodding at him, from subjecting him to the sort of dick-measuring pissing-contest that people in their social class engaged in at all levels of interaction. The fact that James didn’t even actually dislike Teak was kind of an annoyance, really.

But Teak was nothing if not adaptable. James’ placid acceptance of the fact that Teak had slept with his wife was perplexing, but on the other hand? It was one of those perceptables that Grandfather so laid stock in. What did it say about James and Lillian’s relationship that he was so resigned to this part of their shared history? Lillian had been something, all right. She’d been intimidating, if you were inclined to be intimidated, if you didn’t expect that sort of thing. She’d been enticing but standoffish, promising but cold, alluring but on strictly her own terms. James, maybe, liked that Lillian had a strong hand and an authoritarian manner -- at least, that was Tea’s impression of the woman. In the time they’d shared together.

“She knew,” Teak agreed. “Me, personally? I prefer people who know they’re wonderful. Cuts through a lot of wasted time.” It was a little weird, okay, talking about Lillian like this, but then again ... what did it matter anymore, if they’d both been with her? Here on Mystery-Ass Island? Teak eyed James curiously as the other man expressed his gladness that his wife wasn’t here. “You’re glad she’s not stranded like you’re stranded?” he asked, boldly. “Or you’re glad she’s not here because you don’t wanna be with her?”

It was none of his business. But being on Meridium gave people vacation-brain; they’d talk about things they wouldn’t talk about at home, go for new experiences, try on new personalities. 

Not for James and Lark, though, it seemed. “Yeah,” Teak said rudely, “your brother seems like he keeps scoping for a boyfriend and striking out. I guess that’s hard to deal with.” Really, Teak shouldn’t talk, since it wouldn’t be long before Jamie started missing having a hand to hold and a cheek to kiss, but other people’s brothers’ feelings weren’t his concern (see: the Akbars). The comment about the only child confused Teak for a moment, and then he laughed, blue eyes widening. “Me? Oh, I’m not! I have a half brother and he’s here. I’m not an only child.” He gave a scornful laugh. “Me and Jamie get along great, though, so that part you’re right about. But y’know, you don’t have to hang around Lark or anything. It’s not a big island, but there’s room enough to avoid people.” Teak looked interested. “You planning to avoid him?”

[teakmiddleton]

j-crain​:

“Which makes it all the more likely that fate is fucking with me. Fucking with me royally,” James pointed out. Who gave a shit who was here first? They were now both stuck here, not alone with each other thankfully. But James would be lying if he said he hadn’t begged Lillith if they could skip an event because Teak would be there. Lillith was never one for events to begin with and he was usually the one dragging her to make an appearance for business sake. That was the easy part. The hard part was acknowledging that Teak still bothered him. That a one night fling a decade ago still made him feel small. 

Teak approached James with a smile. “Don’t–” he said right as the man pulled him into a hug. James’ soul left his body for a moment, letting himself just stand there, limp in Teak’s arms. It was a good thing the other man didn’t see his face as it resembled a very disappointed pug. His expression managed to return to stoic and cold before Teak pulled away to look at him. Only to turn sour again when he joked about getting there first. James pulled Teak’s arms off of him. “Could you not talk about my wife like she’s somewhere to be? Good god.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think when it was Teak had gone missing, when he presumably ended up here. Something about a flight… the one from LAX that a whole host of other islanders were on…

“I’m not sure where we go from here. I’ve already–” there was no way he was telling Teak about his spat with Emer regarding Lillian. At least Teak knew Lillian– more than just in a hookup. They had grown up in the same circles. Really, all thee of them did, the rich loving to flock together like flamingos. But James had never been close to Teak. Perhaps the closest thing about them was that they were eskimo brothers– a terrible term Lark had introduced him to when he confided in his brother that Lillian had more experience than he did. “I already found Lark… now you. What’s next my damn father?” He let out a heavy sigh. “Teak, I’m not angry with you. Never have been. I just despise an awkward situation.”

“Ahhh, but you always think everything’s messing with you royally. Or that every one wants to mess with you royally.” Not swearing was an affectation of Teak’s; in the closest of company (i.e. his brother Jamie or Grandfather) he would let a few loose, but to everyone else, Teak embodied the idea of the American too caught up in childish Puritanism to even say ‘shit’ instead of ‘sugar’. It drove people crazy. It was frickin’ hilarious.

Hugging people who didn’t like being hugged was another good time in the making, and from how James’ body went stiff and pained in Teak’s embrace, he had achieved it. Especially when James followed up Teak’s off-colour comment with an objection, and Teak shrugged and said blithely, “I dunno, man. Lillian always seemed to me like a destination holiday. Where just arriving there was boast-worthy enough. Between you and me?” Teak leaned in, waggling his groomed eyebrows, “I think she liked that, too.”

But James, spoilsport that he was, sighed in something like defeat as he bemoaned the particular flavour of reunions he’d had so far on the island. “I’m not angry at you either,” Teak said, as if that had ever been in question or was even his to feel. “It doesn’t have to be awkward. I mean, Lil’s not here, is she? So there’s no reason for it. All that’s between us now is memories of her.”

A statement which, of all things, made Teak feel sort of a wrenching in his gut. He hadn’t thought about Lil in ages -- although there had been a time when she was all he could think about. Teak’s visits to London had been mostly about Jamie and business, but in a way, that was exactly why he and Lillian had crashed together; Teak was not a person accustomed to living in his emotions. Seeing his beloved little brother enlivened his feelings, made him more raw and open, and Lil could smell rawness like a goddamn shark.

“You’re not happy to see Lark?” Teak asked instead.

[teakmiddleton]

Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather?

"The hotter the better! I got really acclimated to hot weather, I mean the hottest, when I was in Thailand for like three weeks. And from doing a ton of hot yoga. So this current situation we're in suuuuuucks."

[teakmiddleton]

OOC: is there a quote or song lyric that captures the essence of your character? (or otherwise fits them)

[teakmiddleton]

j-crain​:

James found himself with some downtime. That was to say he hadn’t found another job for him to jump too and was wandering the farm hoping someone would give him something to do. Maybe he should make a sign… the idleness made him feel useless even if he’d already completed several jobs. He didn’t know what to compare himself to. The obvious answers was Emre, who was somehow Tomas’ right hand man despite being a fucking ponce. Then again, Tomas didn’t fancy himself a leader… though James suspected that didn’t change how a lot of people saw him. 

As he wandered along he thought he smelled something burning. Not too odd. People had to cook somehow. Get rid of trash. Pass the time. Whatever. But the smell was oddly sweet and reminded him of Italian food. Then he heard someone should watch out! and James turned towards the sound to find a ball of fire being flung at him. “Shit–” James cursed before deftly dodging out of the way. How many times was some dumb display of powers going to almost kill him? A lot, probably but that didn’t mean he would accept it lying down. “Call me mad but tossing a ball of flame randomly on a farm sounds like a goddamn–”

The voice recognized him. James, now seeing where the voice had come from, stood there with his mouth agape. Then he rubbed his eyes and pinched the brow of his nose. “Fucking kidding me,” he muttered. “Of all the American socialites to grace this hell-island it had to be you, Middleton. Just my fucking luck.” Why? Why why why? Even if they were back home in some pub in London his reaction would have been the same. Most people didn’t have much love for their partner’s exes. Even less love for a partner’s former hookup. 

---oOo---

If it wasn’t James Crain (which brought about a whole raft of other issues), Teak would’ve been more annoyed at the reprimand about tossing fire around on the farm -- it sounded waaaaaay too much like that annoying Madi and her constant lectures about how Teak was accidentally going to burn down the whole island despite the fact that he hadn’t had any fire mishaps yet and she very much had -- but nope, there were bigger fish to fry with this guy.

Such as the very rude way Teak was greeted. “Just your fucking luck? I was here first, buddy.” But Teak Middleton never bothered with antagonism until it became useful, so he gave James a huge, dazzling, white grin and held out his arms. “Bygones? No point us staying mad when we’re stuck on Mystery-Ass Island together!” 

He wrapped his arms around James in a hug before the other man could protest, making sure to wipe the tomato juice from his hands on the back of James’ shirt before he stepped away. “I mean,” Teak said, smile still intact, “under our last circumstances, you were the one who got there first, weren’t you?”

They’d known each other somewhat, before Lillian, but never more deeply than two moneyed scions of powerful families meeting at moneyed gatherings to be handsome and moneyed at each other. It was Lillian who had brought them tight into each others’ orbits, and set them at each other’s throats.

[teakmiddleton]

@j-crain

All told, Teak had gotten off from the whole jungle-vine-abduction misadventure pretty light; it was sad of course that Jamie’d temporarily lost his earth-bending powers, given that his little brother was really good at them and enjoyed his powers (unlike some long-eared long-faced handsome but mopey doctor donkeys Teak could mention), but they were coming back. And Jamie, never afraid of a little hard work, had cheerfully rolled up his sleeves and gotten down to practicing.

Teak, on the other hand, had been exercising more caution than usual. He still wasn’t frightened of his fire abilities, but he did act with more tempering than usual. He meditated, he practiced deep breathing, he visualized babbling brooks and shifting colour palettes and all of Gaga’s outfits from the Bad Romance video -- all the things he generally used to get his mind ordered and steady.

All the same, it caught him at unexpected times. Like on the farm, innocently holding a couple of tomatoes, when he was suddenly aware of something that smelled like margarita pizza from the pop-up Neapolitan place with the wood-burning ovens and realized his hands were cooking the tomatoes. “Oh! Oh man!” Teak exclaimed, flinging them away on instinct. And, of course, directly towards somebody else.

“Watch out!” he called, and then as he realized who he was looking at, “--James? James Crain?”

[teakmiddleton]

How would you describe your character's sense of humor?

Teak's sense of humour shifts depending on who he's with; sometimes he delights in playing up to his image as a vapid, shallow, materialistic fuckboy and spouting absolute nonsense, just to mess with people. If he's with somebody he's not trying to annoy, his sense of humour is broad and playful; he likes memes and referential jokes.

[teakmiddleton]

iyazakbar​:

ᵒᴼᵒ▫ₒₒ▫ᵒᴼᵒ▫ₒₒ▫ᵒᴼᵒ▫▫·∙∙∙✈

Apparently when the man wasn’t talking about himself, or some inane thing most likely centering on himself, he was rather perceptive. Sharpe-eyed and sharp-tongued bastard. 

“First off, Peter isn’t my boyfriend, he’s my fiancé. So there’s a bit more to it than that.” And second off– Iyaz had nothing but a dry throat. He couldn’t really say that Teak was wrong about him, complaining, moping, prick tease who couldn’t make up his mind about this ‘good’ and ‘bad’ nonsense, constantly leeching off of other-most of all Emre. He wouldn’t put it in such unflattering light but it wasn’t as if Teak was totally off the mark. “Second off. I don’t suck. At least not in  way you want me to.” 

He rolled his eyes, and huffed. “And I may be a prick tease. I can get that you’re mad about that, because as in all things I am an excellent prick tease. But some of us can’t galivant around like we’re on our third vacation for the year and your attunement is just some new mindfulness trend you’re just dying to tweet about.” He found some momentum in his anger, though what came to mind for his self-defense was hardly stuff that would win a debate. Excellent prick tease– Peter’d teased him about that to no end.

“What I’ve been doing is being a Doctor Teak, because some of us have useful skills.” His own temper reached a boiling point as he watched the rolling flame ripple over Teak’s arms. He reached out, pulled at the fire and what and took what he could from it. One of the few tricks he learned when dealing with fire, and mostly cribbed from how he watched Teak pull the flame from Emre’s torch on New Years. “And if you’re not planning on being useful now. I’ll happily go in the jungle alone.”

“OOOOH-ho ho ho!” Teak gave a loud, sarcastic guffaw at Iyaz’ pointed comment regarding which way he sucked (or didn’t suck, more accurately). “Oh, believe me, Doctor Akbar -- any interest I ever had in laying you is out the door and down the heckin’ street on the other side of town at this point! You’re probably the worst at blowjobs anyhow, I bet. You can’t listen to yourself talk all hoity-toity if your mouth’s full of dick and we both know listening to yourself is the only thing that gets you hard.”

All of which was confirming Iyaz’ unbelievably smug claim that he was an excellent pricktease, but Teak in good conscience couldn’t refute that. It was pretty much true. 

“Have you been being a doctor? I guess if you were like, on Grey’s Anatomy kind of doctor, yeah, because all I’ve seen is you wandering around looking dramatic and long-faced falling into one crisis after the other and Emre running behind you with a change of diapers trying to get you to take your bottle.” Teak lifted his nose, looking scornful. “Maybe you just suddenly decided it would get you more attention if you were useful. I dunno. But you sure haven’t been up till now.”

This was probably unfair; Teak hadn’t been keeping close enough tabs on Iyaz to really know what he did with his time. But he was shooting wild now, across the bow, hoping to get Iyaz spooked with a few lucky lands. 

--except then Iyaz turned and charged, instead of sailing in the other direction. Collecting fire from Teak’s arms like he was scooping up freebies from a table into his elbow to tote away with him. Teak considered for a moment getting into it, taking his fire back, lashing out at Iyaz, but -- there would be time for that. Right now, they really did need to get into the jungle. But he wasn’t going to go with Iyaz.

“I hope the jungle eats you. You and your jerkface brother both.” Teak turned, marching off alone. He’d get his Jamie back without the help of anybody else.

[teakmiddleton]

Do you ever doubt that other people exist? What if you’re the only real person in the world and everything else is in your imagination?

"If that's true, who's asking me this question? HAH! Gotcha!

Wait ... unless my subconscious knows that I have flawless logic, so it created that question to outsmart me and make me more complacent. In which case it's ME asking me this question, but why would I do that to myself? Doesn't make any sense, which means no, it's not in my imagination. There. Problem solved."

[teakmiddleton]

lostboyjamiebevans​:

end.

Jamie ran as though his arse was on fire - as it might be if he lagged behind - following the path the jungle continued to lay out and looking back every few minutes to make sure Teak was still with him; finally arriving at another stream and a motley collection of survivors with Esther and Seamus at the head. 

But Jamie’d barely had time to catch his breath or have a clear thought when the jungle erupted violently again, catching ankles with vines and tugging hard - and he yelped helplessly, just in time to see the survivors, those like Teak whose powers had increased exponentially, fight the malevolent greenery back again, sending it scuttling off to lick its wounds. And only then, once they’re safe, does the lagoon becomes apparent; the moonlight drawing everyone closer, beautiful and serene. 

The serenity is short lived though, because by then the trees are visible and have shocked everyone into silence of a more painful variety. 

Jamie shifted closer to his brother, still conscious of Teak’s firepower, but never more grateful to have him close, and he watched him, imagining how it must feel to see someone you cared for lost like that with nothing to be done about it. “Love you, Ketts,” he murmured softly, before allowing the grief stricken shock it’s quiet once more.

Meridium, Jamie thought. Just another day in the life, wasn’t it?

[teakmiddleton]

lostboyjamiebevans​:

Jamie felt himself being rolled over, just as the pain began to dissipate and he sat up, reaching for his brother. “Ketts, something’s wrong,” he managed but before he could say anything more Teak was yelling at him to stay down, and Jamie did as he was told, gawping at the fire - the napalm - spraying from Kettle’s hands, melting everything it came in contact with. It was terrifying, and mesmerising, and utterly destructively beautiful.

“Teak?” Jamie asked, still lying on the ground because he hadn’t been told to move yet, “Teak, can you– I mean, is it– can you control it? Or am I just getting behind you and following whilst you burn this whole place to the ground till we run out of jungle?”

Mindful of Teak’s hands and the spray of the lava, Jamie sat up again, still just completely stunned, mouth open, eyes wide, and he gaped at his brother. “You’re in charge, Ketts. I just want to go home.”

---oOo---

“Oh, I can control it.”

Teak could not, in fact, control it. 

The gouts of napalm (Jamie had hit on exactly the right word for it) shooting from him in huge handfuls started to spin in unexpected directions as Teak threw them, swerving as if he was a professional pitcher throwing curveballs at stunned batters. But Teak wasn’t curving them on purpose. The blobs and globs started landing on the grass too, some of them only a foot from where he was standing, one dropping down a few inches from Jamie’s right elbow.

“Okay, maybe we better shake a tailfeather,” Teak revised his estimation of the situation. He shook his hands out, drops of lava streaking from the tips of his fingers, and held his arms out stiffly alongside his body so his fingers were pointed straight down. They were bubbling heat, he could feel it radiating against his thighs, and Teak said, “You run ahead of me through that clearing, I’ll be right behind you, Jame. I don’t want you coming behind me in case this fire goop comes flying back while we’re running. Okay?”

Teak gave his brother a great big dazzling (what he hoped was) encouraging grin, all his many white teeth gleaming. “You’re short but I’ve seen you run when you need to and you make trails, bud! So let’s see some hustle out there! Andale, andale!” He waited until Jamie started running and then took off after him, arms still held down and away from his body, feeling blurps and blorps of thick, molten hot fire plopping down into the grass as he ran.

[teakmiddleton]

If your character was allowed to have one poster with an image and/or words of anything, what would that poster be of, and why?

Sticking to the rules that it has to be a poster, it would be this vintage one that's an actual mirror. Teak wouldn't care what was written on it because he spouts his own motivational slogans when he looks at himself in the mirror.

[teakmiddleton]

Your character can save four people on the island. Pick them. Why?

"Well, this is impossib--hah hah! Got you there! It's not impossible to choose at all.

It's super obvious what my answers would be. I'd save me, Jamie, Nora -- and Iyaz, because that would mess with Emre. He'd be so happy that Iyaz got to go back to his dumb fiance, but he'd spend every living moment wondering what was happening in Iyaz's life but with absolutely no way of finding out."

@lostboyjamiebevans , @norasbolting , @iyazakbar

[teakmiddleton]

lostboyjamiebevans​:

“I am, yeah,” Jamie said as they made their way into the clearing, the water beautiful and oh so tempting - but as soon as he saw the little grove of fruit trees, Jamie promptly forgot all about the river. He was starving - and a nice juicy mango would cater to all of his needs at once. 

He idly watched as Ketts got down to drink, but really he barely took any real notice en route to the trees. Jamie plucked a gorgeous example of a mango down off a low hanging branch, then tore into it hungrily, juice dripping over his fingers and down off his chin. But he took no notice of that either - Kettle had seen worse from him, after all - and he continued to eat, only realising that something was wrong when his stomach began to twist, and he fell to his knees sharply, looking up to see the grove shriveling and dying before his eyes. 

“Teak!” he shouted, but another cramp curled him into a knot, the pain radiating outwards. “Kettle, I–” but by then the pain in his stomach was too much to bear and he simply lay down in the fetal position, waiting for the waves to pass.

Waiting for Teak to realise that something was wrong, and hoping he’d come out the other side unscathed.

---oOo---

The stream trickled away into nothing, just a bare furrow in the ground that rapidly started filling upwards turning green, and Teak looked over at Jamie in alarm when he heard his brother making high, pained, animal noises. Curling up like a little fetal bullcalf and moaning fit to burst, sounding miserable and agonized.

Everything in Teak’s (otherwise non-existent) protective instincts riled up, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t yell. He couldn’t do anything except lie on his stomach against ground that was now perfectly level and unscarred as if nothing had ever been there other than grass, as it felt like his insides were freezing up. Was that what the stream had been? Was it neutralizing his fire powers?

The thought made Teak bare his teeth in a grimace -- all he could manage -- but then the freezing sensation whooshed out of him. In a gust, and when Teak let his breath out to follow it, the cold air turned rapidly to something hotter, first dampening and then starting to wilt the grass he was lying in.

“Jame!” he shouted, scrabbling up only far enough on hands and knees to launch himself in his brother’s direction. He turned Jamie over, rolling him to try and get his attention. “Are you okay? Are you all frozen inside? I can--”

But Teak leapt away from Jamie, having felt prickles of fire run in circles along the insides of his palms. He turned his hands up, looking at them, and then yelled, “--stay DOWN, Jamie!” as fire sprayed from his hands in blobs and jets, like lava. Teak turned, aiming himself towards the trees, watching in amazement at his own power as the globs of fire hit the trees and didn’t even incinerate them -- it melted them. 

“Jamie,” Teak said, voice full of delight at the wonders of his own body, “we are getting the heck outta here.”