Chapter Text
If you asked Tommy what his hobbies were, he would say nothing. Nothing at all. No special interests, nothing he does every day, just nothing.
If you asked Tommy what he would want his hobbies to be, he would say ‘I don't know’. He’s never gotten the chance to experience anything spectacular. Of course, he likes games, but he doesn't play them every day. He doesn’t know little tricks, little facts, or anything. He's just Tommy. There's nothing special about him.
He wants to have a hobby. He wants to do something that gives you that rush. He wants to do something thrilling. That's what he wants. It's very broad, but he needs something. Anything. He tried to ask his older brother, before he went across the world for college, if he would be able to teach him how to play the guitar.
His brother just scoffed and walked away saying, ‘you’ll never be able to play’. There was that glint in his eyes that really proved he thought he was saying the truth. He always thought he was right, never truly accepting that he could be wrong at times.
(Years later, he walked into his brother's room, looking for an old guitar he left behind. He took it off its rack and sat down, teaching himself everything he would need to know. He even made little beats for him and him only.)
He asked his other brother if he could teach him how to fight. This brother looked at him with that look that said ‘you're too weak’. Tommy didn’t even bother hearing his response, just walking away while his brother said nothing. If he had tears forming in his eyes, only him and his brother would know.
(Now, Tommy has a friend of his teaching him how to fight. He has a friend teaching him little moves. He has a friend that he works out with sometimes during the week. He has a friend that was like a brother he never got to have.)
But, none of those are his hobbies. Of course, he enjoys them. He does them a lot and enjoys everything they give him. But, both of the hobbies were his brothers. Not his. He needs to find something that's his. That's truly Tommy's and nobody else's.
He thought it would be the hardest thing he's ever done, the never ending search of something seemingly nonexistent. However, it turns out, it would come to him sooner than he thinks. It would come to him while he has to do a little looking. It would be the thing that is his. Nobody's in his family's. Just his. It’s his and only his.
Who would've thought It all started with a cherry cola at a gas station.
—
There was the strong smell of gasoline, infected by the smells of all the different snacks, foods, and drinks of the store he was inside. Gas was a smell he always loved. He could never really get over it. There was something about it that was just different. There was also that smell of a motor, the slightly smoky smell of oil floated through the air. That was a smell he loved even more.
There was that loud thrumming of a motorbike, muted by the walls of the gas station. With his cherry cola in hand, he walked outside, that sound growing in volume while the sounds inside got cut off by the door closing. He looked over to where the sound was coming from to see this group of people, some with helmets on, others with their helmets in hand or on their bike.
He was mesmerized by everything. By the sound, the smell, the looks. He quickly caught himself and snapped his head back towards the sidewalk. He was about to walk away when he heard a distant ‘hey kid!’ over the ever-going noise. He looked back and saw this tall man wearing what looked like a gas mask with green dyed hair.
He pointed at himself, mouthing ‘me?’ and looked around confused.
“Yes you!” the man said with a smile on his face, beckoning Tommy over. One of the people with a helmet on with neon green highlights, also wearing a neon green (neon green? The fuck?) hoodie, smacked his arm and moved his body in a way that screamed ‘what are you doing, man?!’ The green haired man just swatted him away with a look in his eyes just saying ‘watch this.’
Tommy watched the whole interaction play out and hesitantly started walking over to where the man was standing. Once he was near enough, the man started talking again. “I saw you staring, you like it?” He gestured to his bike.
Tommy's eyes widened in surprise. “Oh-! Uh- yea! I really like it, it looks super cool.” He quickly put his hand on the back of his neck, trying to hide how awkward he really was.
The man laughed and put his hand out. “I'm Sam, what's your name kid.”
“Uh- Tom. But you can call me Tommy.”
“Alright Tommy.” He quickly glanced to his left where a woman with split-dyed brown and white curly hair stood, as if looking for confirmation. She gave a quick nod in response, with a very small but fond smile on her face. The ma- Sam- looked back at Tommy with a large grin on his face. “How would you like to work at my mechanic shop?”
Tommy's eyes quickly widened, once again, at the sudden suggestion.
Sam's eyes also widened at his own words. “Wait- no- that sounded bad. Let me elaborate. If you work at my shop and help me, I will teach you how to drive one of these baby's.” He moved to the side to show his bike once more.
Tommy sputtered, his brain not quite comprehending what he just heard. Of course he would want to ride one of these! His mind quickly fills with visions of him racing around a dirt field, dust kicking up behind him while he lets out whoops and cheers.
Tommy looks back at Sam just as he says: “It's fine if you don't want to!” The people standing behind Sam showed signs of fond disappointment in the man. “I would pay you like I would pay a regular worker and everythin-”
“Yes.” He should be surprised at his own words, but he isn't. His mind is plagued with that vision of him riding, that rush getting to his head.
“W-what?”
“Yes.” Tommy looked Sam in the eyes. “I will take your offer.”
“Wait- really?”
“Yea, these look.. Really cool.” He breaths. “I would seriously love to learn how to ride one of these things. And even better, I can learn how to fix it up too!” His eyes light up with a joy nobody has seen out of him in a while.
Sam smiled, a bit wider and a bit more real than before. The people behind him smiled too, some with a slightly shocked look while others with a knowing smile. The people with the helmets on are harder to read, but how they stand just shows they are interested too.
“Then Tommy, hope to see you soon.” He said while handing Tommy a simple card with the words Esempi Mechanics, along with a contact number to Sam Dude (what a weird name for a weird dude) and address in which he knows is on the outskirts of town. He looked up to see everyone getting onto their bikes and starting to drive off. Sam glanced back giving Tommy a quick two finger salute before racing off, the only trace of him being the tire marks of where he just stood.
He let out a stuttering breath he didn't know he was holding, and glanced down at the card once more with a different feeling flowing throughout his body. He didn't know what it was, but he welcomed it with open arms.
Now, if you said to Tommy that this was the moment that changed his life, that gave him the thing that was his, he would have said you were crazy for saying that.
Maybe he’s crazy for taking this offer. He brushes off the thought, that feeling taking over once again.
With his cherry cola in hands, he starts making his way to school once more. The thing he dreads most. At least now he has something to look forward to.
—
The history teacher droned on and on about the history of their town known as L’Manburg. Apparently for such a small town it has a lot of history. A lot of unneeded history. (Like what town starts off with a hotdog van?)
He's already learned this 100 times, so why do they need to go over it again? He quickly tuned out the teacher and stared off into space.
He was quietly humming and drumming his hands into a beat that he made himself. He can never really put words to a beat, always just writing the beat out to be left on his shelf gathering dust. However, this specific beat has been stuck in his head.
It's almost like he can hear the beat playing hundreds of thousands of times at once, almost like a crowd-
His thoughts were interrupted by the bell. He quickly stood up and gathered all of his books to quickly get out the door. He was the first one out of the room, not wanting to stick around for the teacher's daily rant about homework.
It was the end of the day, meaning it was time to go home.
…
Or rather go to the shop. His eyes quickly lit up a little brighter than they had been before, with that same feeling from before. The feeling took over his body once more, making him giddy for the time ahead of him.
“Hey! Tommy!”
“Oh, hey Purp!” He stopped in his tracks to look over at the boy leaning on the lockers, dawned in his iconic, always purple, outfit. “What's up?”
“What days do you wanna train this week? I'm basically free this whole week.” he said as he quickly glanced at the time.
“Oh-! I'll let you know later tonight. I just got a job so I gotta ask when my days off are,” Tommy replied, feeling for that little card in his pocket, sighing in relief once he felt it.
“Dude really?” Purpled asked while Tommy nodded in confirmation. “That's awesome, let's hope you make good money.”
“Yea yea, you just want me to buy you more daggers,” Tommy grinned.
“What? No- no, where would you get that idea from?” He said as he pulled out a small knife from seemingly nowhere and spinning it around.
“Hm, I’m not sure,” he rolled his eyes. “Maybe I can buy myself a little gift.”
“You mean more throwing knives?”
“Of course I mean more throwing knives. They're nice to have, ok?”
“Whatever you say man. I just personally think these,” he held the dagger a little higher up, “are more personal.”
“... You scare me,” Tommy laughed.
“Good,” Purpled said with that glint in his eyes that's almost always there, just a little stronger right now.
Tommy laughed once again, looking down to check the time on his phone, seeing that it read 3:27pm. “Oh shit- I should probably get going.”
“Alright, just be sure to tell me when you're free.”
“Got it big man!” He said as he quickly ran off toward the entrance to the school. He pulled out the card, reading over the address once again. He vaguely recognized it as it was on the outskirts of town, where he usually hung out and trained with Purpled.
He put the card back in his pocket and set off with a little pep in his step, that feeling as strong as ever.
As he walked, he hummed that little tune once again. His brain accompanying his with the beats with a thousand others. A smile grew on his face as he walked with the sun beating down on his face.
This was the happiest he's been in a while. And it's only the beginning.