Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why do you struggle?"

Ritchie Tozer (gaycancer) wrote in spinningcompass,
@ 2021-02-09 07:43:00

Entry tags:

richie tozier, ~ritchie tozer

Who? Ritchie & Open
Where? Diner
When? This morning
What? A new arrival
Open Yes
Rating? tw: AIDS

He'd missed something.

It was like a whole chunk of the evening was missing.

He remembered making it to the protest, he remembered finding Jill, he remembered jumping right on that pig's back to get him off her, and he remembered subsequently being dragged into the back of a police van. Or, he remembered being dragged towards the van. But he didn't remember getting into it, he didn't remember a police station, or a cell.

In short, he didn't know how he'd gone from arrested to sitting in a diner seemingly the next morning. He assumed he must've been truncheoned to the head harder that he remembered, and all would become clear in time. His friends, or his lawyer, or whoever would walk through that door any second.

But his face was still bleeding. Had they left him bleeding all night? Well. Probably.

Ritchie walked a little shakily towards what seemed to be a self-service coffee station. With one hand, he bunched up a load of napkins and held them to his bleeding nose, and with the other he poured himself a cup of coffee.

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trash_mouth
2021-02-09 08:12 am UTC (link)

Richie was meant to be getting groceries, things he could put together to make some breakfast. He'd decided he'd much rather see if there was anyone working the diner who could make breakfast for them instead. He had a big family, it was a lot of work, and it was early. Sue me.

"Holy shit." he burst out as soon as he stepped into the diner. "What the fuck happened to you?" he dropped the bag he'd been holding on a table and stepped up to the kid, hands out. "I feel like maybe coffee should not be the priority at the moment." Wow, when did he turn into Eddie.

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gaycancer
2021-02-09 08:37 am UTC (link)

The sudden American accent threw Ritchie, but the swearing and dramatic exclaiming felt very familiar and put him quite at ease from the first word.

Of course, the American did the natural thing and reached out to help. This was going to become normality - the sudden feeling of anxiety when people got too close.

Ritchie put the coffee pot down hurriedly, and took a couple of steps back. "A minor disagreement with the local constabulary," he explained with an inappropriate amount of amusement about it.

"And I disagree," he said, as he pulled back the napkins to take a look. Shit. He hadn't thought ahead as to what to do with the bloody napkins, so opted to stuff them into his own pocket. "Coffee is always the priority," he finished with a grin.

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trash_mouth
2021-02-09 08:51 am UTC (link)

"Disagreement with the constabulary."Richie repeated, mimicking the kid's accent, just shy of believably. "Fancy way to say you ended up on the wrong end of an overinflated ego with a badge."

The statement did give away a good bit of information though, mostly that he must be new. The station had no police, and he doubted that the ones through the door would have been nice enough to let him come back to the station. That, and the kid was nervous as hell.

"There are trash cans behind the counter, you don't have to take those with you." he mentioned, picking up the discarded pot of coffee and grabbing two mugs. "If I get you the coffee will you let me get you something to clean your face with too?"

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gaycancer
2021-02-09 09:10 am UTC (link)

The mocking did make him laugh softly, and strangely went a long way to putting him more at ease. "Oh, sorry, is there a right end?" he inquired, with a cheeky smile.

Ritchie glanced towards the counter, but as unlikely as someone was to pick his used tissues out of the bin, he didn't think it was worth risking the life of a minimum wage employee over it.

He looked back to the American, gritting his teeth to give him a bit of a guilty look. "Ah, but I really do," he told him. If he was a gay man, as he already suspected, then that would be enough of an explanation this year.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed, some of the tension starting to fade. "Thanks."

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trash_mouth
2021-02-09 09:26 am UTC (link)

"No, probably not." Richie laughed a little. He didn't exactly have the most experience with cops, most of the time, but he'd been dumb enough to get in trouble through the doors now and then.

Richie's eyebrows knit together a little bit. It was obvious this kid was trying to say something more than just what he was saying but he couldn't figure out just what for a moment. But then Richie took in more of the full picture in front of him, viewed it all through the lens of a new arrival, not his own view of the world having grown up here on the station. Shit. He didn't live through it, not the way he would have if he'd stayed in the real world, but he knew enough.

"Sit." he motioned toward one of the tables and poured the coffee. "Sugar, milk?Bourbon maybe?" he offered, putting both mugs on the table and then moving behind the counter to dig around a bit. He found a clean dishtowel and dampened it in a sink, then opened a few cabinets, poking around until he found a small-ish plastic bag. He set everything out on the table too and then sat himself down opposite where the kid was sitting.

"Gonna sound weird but humor me, what's the date?"

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gaycancer
2021-02-09 12:56 pm UTC (link)

Ritchie waited for a moment, almost seeing the other man's thought process as he started to unpick what Ritchie was implying. Oh, there it was! Ritchie gave him a sort of smile and nod, as if to confirm they were both on the same page now, without ever having to say it's name.

He did as he was told and went to sit down at the table, watching what the other man was up to. It was strange, really. He didn't seem to work here, but no one did - and he was going behind the counter rummaging through cupboard like he owned the place.

"Yeah, sugar and milk, please... do you work here?" he asked, curiously. Where even was here?

There was a question. Ritchie assumed it was more to check just how badly he'd been hit - maybe he was acting weirder than he intended. "Oh, um..." An exact date didn't come immediately to mind, but he knew the month and year alright. he hoped. "It's like... March of 88?"

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trash_mouth
2021-02-09 06:21 pm UTC (link)

It was a lot, that managed to pass between them without words, and some of it would have terrified Richie at different points in his life. But he was glad now, to be comfortable enough in himself that being recognized as gay didn't derail him and he was able to keep focus on the man in front of him.

"I don't, but things are...it's a pretty unique place. Kind of like some free love what's-mine-is-yours commune." Richie rambled a little as he gathered up supplies and picked up a bottle of milk and some sugar to bring with him. "We don't have money or anything, and some of the places are run by certain people but a lot of them are just sort of open too, whoever needs them can use them."

He dumped a few spoons of sugar in his own coffee and drank a good bit of it. It was entirely too early for these kinds of conversations but Richie wasn't about to leave the kid hanging. "Right. Okay. So...turns out it's not." Smooth, but he wasn't really the one who gave these sort of introductions. "You're um, you're somewhere else now. We don't really know how it works other than magic, and I know I sound like a fucking lunatic, but it'll make sense eventually. Sort of."

He drank more of the coffee and had to resist the urge to pull his phone out and call for Eddie, or maybe his mother, to come help. They would almost certainly be better at it. "But first things, we think it's 2021 right now."

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gaycancer
2021-02-09 07:34 pm UTC (link)

"Ooh, very bohemian of you," Ritchie teased lightly, as he accepted the damp towel and worked on carefully cleaning up his face. It wasn't really as bad as it looked, it was just that the nose tended to gush when smashed with a big stick, after all.

"I know the sort of place, yeah. We're a bit like that at the Palace, too, I suppose. A safe space, contribute what you can, help where you can't, don't be a total arsehole, that sort of thing..." he rambled on a bit.

Mostly because he was trying to make sure there were absolutely no drops of his blood anywhere. He took the tissues from his pocket and wrapped them in the towel, and then put the towel into the bag and tied a double knot. And he wanted it to seem like that was fine, and that was normal, but really he was wondering if he ought to burn it later, and he was wondering if his hands were clean enough to touch the milk or the cup or some tiny speck of virus lingered...

"It's not what? March?" he asked, snapped out of his dark thoughts by the other man's chatter. He cautiously took the milk and poured some into his coffee, and then the same with the sugar.

He wasn't too surprised by being somewhere else - it made a sort of sense. He supposed his friends had found some kind of safe haven, a hideout...?

"No, not really. I've heard crazier," he shrugged. Magic was one way of explaining it, but he really wasn't taking him literally. He took a sip of the coffee, and then nearly choked. 2021?

"Oh... shit..." he murmured, staring at him in a sort of anxiety. Two possibilities - either the man hadn't actually just said that and he was going the same way as Colin, or it had always been 2021 and he was starting to go senile already. He sipped the coffee again, and tried to shrug it off. "Ooft, guess he really did knock me into the next millennium."

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trash_mouth
2021-02-09 07:51 pm UTC (link)

"Little less artsy most of the time, but you've got the jist." Richie watched the younger man clean himself off and then meticulously wrap everything away and it broke his heart a little bit. It reminded him of the way Eddie used to be, when they were younger and he was still so afraid. But it also made it very clear just how much someone's life could be changed by something Richie had never even had to worry about, when by all accounts he should have. He wanted to reach out, touch the kid's arm, offer some comfort and grounding, but he'd seen the way he'd reacted earlier and didn't want to make him nervous.

Richie barked a laugh, "Okay, that was a good one." He thought for a moment and then pulled out his phone. It was the best thing he could think of to cement that this was definitely not the 80's. He made sure to hold it in a way that the kid could see how it worked as pulled up the calendar, though he knew it was basically a moot point. The existence of the phone itself was more proof than a date. "This is a phone. And a computer. And a radio, and a bunch of other things." He slid it across the table and gestured to let him know he could touch it.

"It's real, this whole thing is real, and it'll probably take a few days to sink in, but there's more to see once you're done with your coffee."

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gaycancer
2021-02-10 07:27 pm UTC (link)

"More's the pity," Ritchie joked lightly. Most of his crowd tended to be overly artsy, if anything.

Ritchie quirked an eyebrow in curiosity as American pulled out a small device, and held it out for him to see what was happening on the tiny, bright screen. He stared in confusion, even as it was placed down in front of him. At first, he didn't even dare touch it in case it exploded, or he broke it. He definitely couldn't afford to replace something like that.

"What the fuck?!" he exclaimed after a moment's staring. "That's insane. What are you, a drug dealer or something? A pimp?" he asked, really not meaning any offense by it at all, he just couldn't imagine how else someone could afford such a bit of kit.

"How is it... it's tiny, how can it be a computer?" he asked, very carefully touching it, turning it over, examining it but not really sure what he was meant to do with it. "We only just got a phone, an it's attached to the wall, and my mum had to pay the installation fee..." he told him, for some reason it was just what popped into his head, and it was so ridiculous in light of what he was holding that it made him laugh.

"Okay..." he pushed the phone back across the table. "So, was it always 2021 and I'm... mental, or... is this some Doctor Who shit?"

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trash_mouth
2021-02-10 09:25 pm UTC (link)

"Don't get me wrong, we still have a few creative types, but science usually reigns around here."

Richie laughed, "No, definitely not. I run a radio show, and sometimes I'm a substitute teacher." He shrugged a little, "I mean, I could probably get you some pot if you were looking but it's not really a career around here. Everyone has one of these." He took the phone back once it was slid close to him but left it on the table for now.

"You're not mental. Actually...Doctor Who shit is basically right." Richie didn't mention that The Doctor had been there a few times already, one thing at a time. "The best theory we have is multiverses. We all come from different worlds and times but for some reason converge here."

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gaycancer
2021-02-11 12:51 pm UTC (link)

"Hmm, I don't know, you sound more artsy by the minute," he teased lightly. A radio host, and part-time substitute teacher? It wouldn't have surprised him of anyone that walked into one of their parties. "Seriously, though. Everyone?" There was a slight disbelief to his tone, although that was hardly surprising. It as a lot to take in... and he'd said there was more?

Doctor Who shit it was, then. Ritchie thought about it quietly for a moment. It wasn't often that something made him actually shut up for a second and think, but that had done it. He took a sip of coffee, mulling it over before saying anything more.

"Why?" he asked eventually, but he wasn't sure the man would have an answer to that. "And for how long?"

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trash_mouth
2021-02-11 01:05 pm UTC (link)

"Oh yeah, I'm one of the cool ones." Richie nodded, like it was a well-established fact. "But yeah, everyone. Even a lot of the kids. I can find you one once we get out of here, it'll help you figure things out around here."

Richie let the kid think, though it wasn't in his own nature to sit still and quiet for long so he fidgeted a little; toying with his wedding ring as his own mind wandered to Eddie and wondering how he'd react to knowing someone so close had AIDS. He'd been terrified of it as a kid.

"We don't know," Richie answered, not missing a beat, despite his mind having gone somewhere else for a moment. "And how long varies by the person. I've been here...almost 30 years, but technically, you're probably a little older than me at the same time."

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gaycancer
2021-02-11 09:43 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, I can see that," Ritchie gave him an equally deadpan response, although there was the hint of a smirk behind it. He was temporarily distracted by the prospect of a shiny new gadget, and wondered if he would ever get to grips with using something like that.

Whatever he'd expected the answer to be, it hadn't been in the region of 30 years. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and his body opted for a mixture of the two. A sort of forced laugh, punctuated with a sob.

"Oh. Well. I doubt I'll get 30," he said, without really thinking first. It was meant to be a bit of dark humour, but it was too real, and the proper tears came like a delayed reaction. He was going to die here in this strange place, away from everyone he knew and loved.

"Fuck, sorry."

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trash_mouth
2021-02-11 10:14 pm UTC (link)

Richie saw it play out on the kid's face, the thoughts going from almost humorous to pain and hurt.

"Hey, breathe." He said softly, switching gears a little bit. Because, as much as he was usually loud and sarcastic, he did understand when something softer was needed.

He reached out and put his hand on the other man's arm, making contact this time and hoping it would come as comfort instead of just make him nervous. "Shit got better." He started, "Science, medicine, it all gets better. People don't have to die from this anymore."

"There are a few people I'll have to talk to, but we can help." He knew enough to know that even Dr. Cuddy would be able to help, as long as they had the supplies, but with the door they had now...even more might be possible.

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gaycancer
2021-02-11 10:34 pm UTC (link)

Ritchie did try, taking a gasp of air and trying to remind himself that he really did need to breathe. There was no point in getting upset about it. Only hours before arriving here, he'd made up his mind that he was going to live. And when Ritchie Tozer put his mind to something, he gave it his absolute all. He would fight to live.

The hand on his arm was taken as a comfort for more reasons than the other man could've realised yet. He'd gone from a world where they'd had to threaten legal action to get their friend out of essentially solitary confinement at the hospital, to a world where someone was willingly touching him.

He gave him a couple of nods between his sobs just to show that he was listening and understood.

"Sorry," he said again, using the other sleeve of his denim jacket to wipe at his face. "It's all a bit fresh," he explained. "The grand total of people who know are my doctor, and, for some reason, you," he admitted, with a soft chuckle. Apparently it was a lot easier to spill your guts to a stranger than to your family or dear friends.

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trash_mouth
2021-02-11 10:53 pm UTC (link)

"Don't apologize, I have a very spill-your-guts kind of face." Richie said, accidentally picking up on the half of that thought that hadn't actually been said out loud. "This is much better than the ones that do it literally." Was it a lame joke, yes, but those were his favorites.

"I won't tell anyone your name, there are three people I'd like to talk to though, if it's okay with you?" Richie explained, pulling some napkins from a dispenser on the table and offered them over. Not quite tissues but probably better than 80s denim. "One is Dr. Cuddy, she's the head of the medical bay right now. One is Miguel, he's a geneticist from 2099, he might be able to do more than we know about now. Last is my husband, Eddie, he's a doctor too, he might be able to help if we stay a while."

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gaycancer
2021-02-11 11:15 pm UTC (link)

It might've been a pretty lame joke, but it did break the tension and made him laugh through the tears, which was exactly what he needed really.

Ritchie was giving him a bit of a nod before he'd even heard who the three people were. He really didn't want to hide it, and he would have been telling his friends around about now if he hadn't been snatched away so suddenly. He just couldn't look his mum in the eye and tell her the truth. It would break her heart.

He accepted the napkins and tried to make himself a bit more presentable again while he listened. Dr. Cuddy, medical bay, that made sense. Geneticist from 2099? He might've given him a bit of a wide-eyed look at that one, but why was it any more surprising than 2021? But then the husband? That got more of a look than the scientist from the future had.

"I was wondering about the ring, but wrongly assumed it might be a touchy subject," he admitted, with a bit of a cheeky smile. So, things really had changed. A lot.

"It's okay with me, that you tell them. You can tell them my name, it wouldn't take too much figuring me out after all." Not just because he was not a quiet, subtle sort of person, but because he was the new boy.

"Oh, I didn't even tell you it, though," he realised. "Sorry, hi, I'm Ritchie."

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trash_mouth
2021-02-12 01:11 am UTC (link)

"Oh, yeah." Richie looked down to his ring. Of all the things to have changed that was one he'd almost forgotten, it hadn't been a second thought for so long. "Things are especially uh, liberal, here in particular. But I think it started to be legalized in the US...2004? At least where I'm from. But it wasn't until later that it was all over." It was better, but Richie still wasn't happy about how long it had taken. "But yeah, being gay is like, not even in the top ten of out of the ordinary around here, no one bats an eye." Richie paused, thinking a moment, "Really, there might be more people who aren't straight than there are straight ones."

Richie barked a laugh when he was told Ritchie's name, "Well shit, me too." He held out a hand. "Richie Tozier, trashmouth and general disaster."

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gaycancer
2021-02-12 12:46 pm UTC (link)

Well, that was just wonderful to hear, and probably not the sort of sweet detail he'd have added to an imaginary 2021, if he were being honest. Marriage was very far from his mind, but he knew it would have suited some of his friends to settle down with their partners properly. To be allowed to get a mortgage without having to lie, to not have to keep on pretending all the time.

"I mean, that's lovely, but I'm now worried that I'm going to be seen as exceptionally bland and boring, and I don't really know how to cope with that!" he admitted, at least self-aware that being the centre of attention was a core part of his personality. Why else would he have gone into acting, after all? He loved an applause.

Ritchie went to shake the other man's hand, and then suddenly just couldn't cope with the information he was receiving. "Shut the fuck up!" he exclaimed, hands flailing a bit wildly for a moment. "Oh my God, now I'm going to blend in even more!" he almost shrieked. "Are you serious? I'm Ritchie Tozer," he said, finally going for a handshake.

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trash_mouth
2021-02-12 07:51 pm UTC (link)

"I mean, I mostly cope by being loud and obnoxious most of the time but you do you." Richie joked with a wink. He certainly understood that drive to be the center of attention at any given moment. He'd mellowed a little bit in his 30s and 40s, but really only just a little.

He laughed again, loud enough to fill the room. "What the fuck? I've had a face twin before but never a name twin." He used the handshake to pull the kid in closer to him, leaning over the table and squinting in Ritchie's direction, over-dramatically, "Any history with terror clowns and eldritch horrors?"

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gaycancer
2021-02-13 04:49 pm UTC (link)

"Seems reasonable to me," Ritchie chuckled, understanding that sort of response completely. It seemed like they probably had a bit more in common than just their strangely matching names.

The other Richie seemed about as amused as he was by the names. "A face-" he started to ask about that sort of twin before he was tugged a little closer. The next questions threw him a little - was he talking literally?!

"Uh... no? Don't think so... do you?"

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trash_mouth
2021-02-14 12:36 am UTC (link)

"I do, yeah," Richie said it casually as he let Ritchie go, like he was talking about a childhood dog rather than primordial monsters. "Figured I'd ask, make sure you weren't some alternate universe me." He supposed it was still technically possible, but as similar as they were, there was enough difference too that he figured it was unlikely.

"And face twins are like...a thing here sometimes. People will show up and look exactly like you, but they're not you." Richie explained, answering the question he'd cut off earlier.

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