Random question for Casa Tidmouth prequel What's the love story between ten cents and zip?
youāre in for a ride. welcome to another installment of senja v. b. heterocaineās ādoomed queer coupleā series
before I start this incredibly long love story between two of bigg city harbourās most struggling youth, itās probably necessary to read about ten centsā and zipās relationships with their respective captains (here and here) because their influences are integral in shaping their relationship. you have? now letās go!
ten cents and zip first met two weeks before the events of sunshine (episode 1). ten cents has been working for the star fleet for at least three months now. he was still brash, impatient, and immoveable by anyone besides captain star and hercules. it was also zipās first day at work. besides being trained (more like impatiently taught) by zorran about how to work at the harbor and the culture of interacting with his z-stacks coworkers, zip didnāt know what to expect of the star fleet. captain zero did tell him that theyāre folks not to be friendly with, so zip stuck to that. whoever captain zero hated, zip will also hate.
so there zip was, with his newly christened tugboat. as soon as ten cents and his coworkers spotted the z-stacksā number 5, ten cents was not pleased. at all. four z-stacks was nasty enough, so another one? ten cents hadnāt even talked to him or know anything about his personality and heās already developed a dislike towards the new z-stack.
zipās mouth was out of control. he was saying some of the meanest (yet emptiest) things because he quickly picked up on zugās habits as well as letting himself get dragged everywhere by him. ten cents also didnāt like zip. whenever zip shoots an accusation or makes fun of ten cents, ten cents shoots back a response in retaliation, resulting in zip always shrinking and retreating. in ten centsā eyes, zip is just another cunning z-stacks in the making. his naivety and capability to ONLY parrot what was said to him were frustrating. so what if heās just a spineless newbie? what became of zip wasnāt any of ten centsā problem. to ten cents, zip was trouble. to zip, ten cents was an enemy.
still at the start of the story and things are already muddy. ten cents was incredibly stubborn and impatient, already assuming the worst and letting his personal dislike for the z-stacks cloud his judgement. zip, despite his inability to be a genuinely malicious person, has exhibited signs of him possibly following the cloudy path of captain zero. their dislike towards one another were further amplified by their respective captainsā influences.
then they met each other outside of work for the first time. it was a particularly slow day, so zip was told to buy groceries by captain zero (designated z-stacks errand boy). he then stumbled upon ten cents who was sitting on a bench near the bridge cafe and doing crosswords on the morning newspaper. ten cents was avoiding captain starās presence for the day so he can have some time alone. zip looked at him, curious, but was driven away by an angry ten cents. stammering on his excuses, he quickly ran away.
their second, third, and so-on encounter wasnāt any better. ten cents grew out of shouting at zip and just shot glares at him. thereās even a moment where ten cents directly asked zip what his deal was, to which he replied that heās just wondering what ten cents was up to.
ten cents: and how is that any of your business, eh? wanna snitch on me?
zip: oh, a man c-canāt even be wary of what his enemyās up to anymore?
ten cents just pursed his lips at that and went away. any anger or assumption of villainy that he had towards the newest z-stack dissipated. what a weirdo, he thought.
eventually, ten cents realized just how bad zip was at maintaining his ādevious and schemingā front and that heās most likely a young man who got mixed with the wrong crowd. his annoyance turned intoā¦ fondness? amusement? anyways. the next week, ten cents could feel zipās stare at him from the shopās window, so he eventually got zip to come to him by calling him over to the bench (āyou ever do anything besides running errands for captain zero?ā). thereās still tension in the air and ten cents wasnāt even sure that heās making the right choice by calling zip over, but they bonded over the hard crossword puzzles. they shared quips and banters, though they both notice the lack of malice whenever they make fun of one another.
thereās an unspoken understanding that their respective captains wonāt be happy to see them together, so they bid farewell after a while. ten cents and zip felt something odd. one felt fun being around the other. they also began to be more amicable at work instead of showing hostility, much to the confusion of their peers (and displeased eye rolls from zug and zak). they met outside of work again and ten cents noticed a pattern on the time zip usually went out and how heād always go out at least twice a week.
they gradually warm up to each other and start hanging out more and more. it gradually went from coincidental to planned. ten cents enjoyed zipās interest in the things he enjoy, while zip enjoys having ten cents around and talking with him about things not related to work, mainly because thereās nobody in the z-stacks thatās his age. just teenagers being teenagers.
ten cents learned that zip likes reading childrenās books and aesop fables. some of his favorites are pinnochio and the country mouse and town mouse story. he also began to like doing word puzzles like crosswords and word searches and was still learning how to read and write. zip learned that ten cents likes drinking coke, playing card games like blackjack, and exploring/learning new places and things ālike folks with moneyā.
ten cents promised that heāll teach zip anything that he wanted to know. how to let loose a little bit. he taught zip how to attract pigeons at the dock. he taught zip how to open a can of cola with his teeth, how to (incorrectly) use random objects they found near abandoned schools, how to float on the water, how to sneak into cinemas, how to dance, how it feels to have a friend, and so on. ten cents just wants to show zip what living is really like despite being stuck under his captainās tutelage himself, and he didnāt know exactly why.
they understand that they share a lot of similarities. the one clash they have was about their captains. ten cents dislikes captain starās way of running things and generally has a really complicated way of viewing him, while zip, who has rose tinted glasses equipped for captain zero, didnāt understand why he dislikes captain star. every child are obligated to love their guardians. thatās just how things are. those are what zip thought. this didnāt sit well with ten cents who was actively seeking freedom for himself without captain star at his ear all the time.
unfortunately their respective captains werenāt exactly very fond of them being buddy-buddy with each other. captain star believes that ten cents is getting more out of hand, while captain zero dismisses zipās feelings for ten cents as naive and foolish. not to mention how their captains are divorced from each other. thatās definitely affecting what they taught about love to ten cents and zip.
captain star @ ten cents: Iām trying to put you in the correct path, but here you are, fraternizing with someone from the z-stacks. I want you to be happy, but what have you been doing?
captain zero @ zip: what you have for him is MERE teenage infatuation. if there are other people in your place, he would befriend them instead. thatās not TRUE camaraderie, boy.
ten cents didnāt take into account what captain star said. he knew that heās dead set on wanting to hang out with zip more. besides, despite being a bit wary, some of his friends were supportive of him, especially sunshine and hercules (who also slips in money so ten cents can take zip out). hercules even took ten cents and zip on car rides. sunshine and hercules were no snitch.
zip, however, was still influenced by captain zero and believed that anything good he has will eventually go away. all of these gave their friendship a lot of ups and downs, not to mention how they disagreed on a lot of things as much as they agreed with. zipās loyalty to captain zero still outweighed his friendship with ten cents even though theyāre getting closer.
zip had mentioned several times how much he adore and love captain zero like one does to their father, yet all ten cents know about the z-stacks captain through zip was how slimy and morally questionable he is. zip was so happy when he recounted the times he went shooting birds and handling rabid dogs with captain zero, when captain zero taught him how to handle guns and how he āāāaffectionatelyāāā called zip āboyā, when he watched his z-stacks folks fight a bunch of drunk thugs, and so on. ten cents also learned that zipās name was given to him by the z-stacks, not by his parents or anything. why were all of zipās stories soā¦ odd? yet zip said it all casually as ifā¦ he didnāt understand the weight of those sentences heās said.
ten cents: heheh. whatās so good about living with captain zero, anyways?
zip: wouldnāt you like to know! I get three meals a day and have a place to sleep. I also get money for my hard work. oh, Iām practically living the life!
ten cents:
ten cents: hey, thatāsā¦ uh. thatās the bare minimum, zip.
zip: huh? oh, alright.
ten cents:
zip:
zip: so, um, wanna go cool down by the beach?
ten cents: sure, zip.
which is why ten cents was horrified to hear zip easily say āpeople end up miserable at the end of their relationships.ā during one of their hangouts. ten centsā habit of lashing out when heās frustrated was starting to boil, but he got ahold of himself and just nodded to what zip said, incredibly disappointed. he did know something more sinister was at play here. the remainder of the hangout was awkward, so they went their respective ways and didnāt hang out for a week, though they still greeted each other at work.
they then found themselves missing each other. ten cents still spends time with his best friend sunshine, but sunshine already knows everything there is about ten cents. zip got bored and fidgety with his significantly older coworkers because all they talked about were barges and contracts (sans zorran and zebedee who had shown some semblance of worry for him). captain zero became more paranoid and demanding of everyone, especially zip whom he needed yet barely cared for. zip thought hanging out with ten cents was fun. it felt good and natural. this was a friendship that was not influenced by the state of their respective companiesā rivalry. zip wanted more from what he has with ten cents.
zip believes that ten cents was purposefully avoiding him. he confronted ten cents and asked why they werenāt seeing each other as much lately, afraid of not being friends with ten cents anymore. ten cents told him that theyāll always be friends. friends have their disagreements. so they talked. ten cents told zip that he should be more careful in taking into consideration the things captain zero had taught zip (he knew he had to use words that zip can both understand and not get offended at) and he didnāt want zip to get himself into danger trouble. zip nodded. he told ten cents that heās beginning to question captain zero a lot, being uncomfortable because zip realized that the z-stacks might not like him as much as he liked them, and felt like he didnāt belong in the z-stacksā¦ but zip brushed them all off as him being a stupid boy. after heās done, ten cents pulled zip into a hug slowly, as if he doesnāt want to shock him, as if heās telling him that heās not stupid and that heās wrong about a lot of things. zip was still confused, but he knew full well that the hug felt nice. he liked the hug. their relationship seemingly took an ascending hill from that point.
ten cents didnāt want to ruin the friendship they have because he treated zip as a ray of hope of living like a ānormalā young man, while zip was still hauled by captain zeroās belief that heās destined to be miserable if he pursues this relationship. it didnāt help that zip knows heās in love with ten cents but didnāt know how to process it because nobody taught him what a healthy relationship is like (then zorran came into view, having warmed up and bettered himself throughout the course of fortezza bigg city).
on one of their hangouts, in a field a bit far from bigg city port, zip blurted out that he loves ten cents in a romantic way. heād always feel genuinely safe and happy whenever heās around the star fleet youth, saying that he wants ten cents to keep teaching him fun things and always be with him. ten cents, though initially surprised at the absolute courage zip had at saying something so bold, quickly reciprocated. they had a feeling that theyāve been in love with each other for a while. zip wanted ten cents to teach him how to be a good partner in a relationship but ten cents said that they can learn together. they can take it slow. they donāt have to do the things people in relationships do when the both of them arenāt ready yet. ten cents admitted that the things that he had taught to zip were also things he had little experience prior. zip laughed, and once again, they shared a hug.
this time, it was zip teaching ten cents and bringing him to places. their relationship had little change compared to their friendship except that theyāre more touchy feely with each other ā ten cents putting his hand on zipās shoulder, zip resting his head on ten centsā, hugging, hand holding, all that ā considering that theyāre now dating. they eventually kissed when zip asked ten cents to kiss him, although awkwardly and shyly (uncharacteristically so from ten centsā side), but felt good, it felt right.Ā
they kept their relationship mostly a secret because they know not everyone will be happy with it. sunshine fully understands, both because he has ten centsā full trust and knows what itās like to be in a relationship with someone that not many people liked (that is bigg city portās harbinger of bad luck). hercules too. he believes in their decision but still made sure the two boys werenāt doing anything stupid. zebedee and zorran were more lax with their youngest coworker dating someone from the star fleet. zebedee didnāt pry too much on zipās business but he did ask from time to time how ten cents was doing. zorran, on the other hand, was more fussy ā wanting the best for zip and to stop him from spiraling down like he did, but he knew that a certain someone has his eyes on them. captain zero would NOT be happy. they mostly try to keep zak and zug from snitching to captain zeroā¦ which would later produce a domino effect on the z-stacksā security.
ten cents and zipās relationship didnāt always go smoothly. they love each other ā itās just that the environment theyāre in arenāt exactly in favor of the relationship they want. captain star still keeping the star fleet in the dark about his past, zip slowly losing faith in captain zero and purposefully not allowed to know that captain zero has criminal relations and the z-stacks are in cahoots with him, johnny cuba with his blackmail, the police growing more wary about the criminal activities infesting bigg city port, the possibility of captain zero having to run away if his cover gets blown, ten cents knowing full well that zip is going to be caught in the crossfire if captain star decides to take action yet not knowing how to say it to zip properlyā¦. and the fact that theyāre in the great depression. just all around not a great timeĀ
(thereās a plot point in fortezza bigg city where captain zeroās past relations caught up to him and zip eventually had to pay a visit to the star fleet in their office building, but itās WAY too long and hard and tragic to explain. this is a long story. thanks for being patient)
at the end of the story, both ten cents and zip have changed significantly. ten cents is more mellowed and patient ā willing to understand people who are not exactly as ārightā as he is. zip is no longer the naive, easily influenced young man that idolized and looked up to captain zero. despite what captain star had put upon him, ten cents wished he was better. despite what captain zero had done to him, zip still loved captain zero.Ā
but itās alright. they know they have someone that knows what they went through.Ā
(thereās also a couple of fics Iām writing right now related to zipcents. one involves them and school, while the other is heavily zip-centric)
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Keep me Harbour-Bound, Boy
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Many of the tug boat captains had backgrounds.
No one is without a story Oj would often say between drinks on their Friday night retreats to the Bridge Cafe. He was an older tug Captain and his body showed his history through the marks on his skin and wrinkles of time upon his face, he had tattoos of ship markings, a sparrow and the coordinates of the harbour, he neednāt even have a compass to point you through to the mainland when out at see.
He had been in the war with ma and pa.
He was helping Hercules raise Ten Cents when he wasnāt cursing at his tug to start or commanding the younger captains when hustling in Vienna.
Hercules stared at him through heavy eyelids pulled down by the work day and the liquor in his system, he nearly reached to touch the wrinkles on his face when Oj sobered from laughing at something Warrior had said which was muffled in his own ears.
āBoy, are you alright?ā The table hushed, clinking dishes and the band tuning their instruments echoed around the Star fleets table.
He thought he had been fine, now unsure he rose with a start, his chair quaking.
āYes,ā he rubbed sleep andā¦ something else from his eyes. āIāll be back.ā He left the table.
The oceangoing tugs captain made his way past the band ushering unheard sincerities to them as he went, he reached the bathrooms near a door that connected to the kitchen in a short hallway.
Inside he lit a cigarette and puffed as he scrubbed at nothing on his hands in the sink, the sharp tingle of the cold water bringing his heart rate back down.
He heard the door open, paying no heed to it still rubbing at his hands. He paused when he tasted native tobacco that reached the back of his throat, it was richer than his Woodbines - and familiar.
āDo you want to talk about it?ā He asked meeting his eyes in the mirror.
āNo.ā He spoke around the cigarette in his own mouth, the water still running over his tender hands.
Oj reached to shut the water off. Hercules dropped his head.
āItās better to get the words out when theyāre eating you alive, my son.ā His words curled.
Hercules ran the water on his handsā through his hair, he hadnāt realized heād been sweating.
He stared at himself in the mirror. āWhen will Iā¦ā he tried, āwhen does this get easy?ā
Oj chuckled. āI donāt think it does.ā He said.
āItās not funny.ā His chin wobbled. āI donāt think I was ready for this sort of responsibility yet. Tim, heās only a boy but he wants to be places, do things Iām terrified heāll get hurt doing, heā¦ā Hercules released his grip on his hat and starred at the bird he had started to believe he didnāt deserve during these few months since Captain Starr had given him his promotion. āHe says he wants to be a tug,ā a smile pulled on his lips. āI keep trying to wrangle him in but the more I do he struggles and Iām afraid heās going to get hurt.ā
āSometimes, Hercules, You have to get hurt to learn who you are in this world. You and him out of all of us know more about pain and strength than any of us may ever know. You had your childhood stripped from you only a year ago but since then look at weāre youāve come despite all of the hurt youāve felt personally.
I canāt tell you to stop protecting Ten Cents, thatās the last thing youāll ever do I can see that, but maybe giving him space, watching from afar and being ready to grab him if he falls will give him the opportunity to learn and grow just as you have.ā
Hercules thought about this, he snuffed his cigarette into the ashtray on the countertop and as he did so the band outside sprang to life, the both of them could hear their fleet laugh from the bathroom.
They returned to their chairs, a waitress dropping more booze into their laps. The night went on and they laughed at Top Hatās monocle plopping into his wine glass, they cheered at a job well done in the harbour, they reminisced about their families, sang songs they didnāt know the words to and finally made plans for the next weeks get together.
By the end of the night the band had stopped playing Top Hat and Big Mac had fallen asleep on top of one another at the table, the bill was paid for by the money they all laid on the table and most of the fleet was on their way home.
Oj returned to the table after hailing a taxi for Big Mac and Top Hat. Hercules helped them into the car and Oj told the driver their destinations. When Oj returned to Hercules stood by the door in his evening coat he was holding his hat in his handās again.
āReady to go home? Iām sure heās waiting at the window for you, yāknow.ā
Hercules huffed a laugh, āI do, donāt I?ā He paused and unlatched his broach shinning it in the buildings lamp. āDo you think heād like this?ā
Oj smiled then, he wrapped his arm around his and pulled them away from the building into a walk. āI do.ā
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Alright hereās mine since it wonāt let me paste my rankings into the comments š
1. Pirate (This one is just so cool,, the dark plot, the set design,, mmmmm scrumptious)
2. Jinxed (Boomer my beloved, also this episode is just funny)
3. Trapped (I love all the character interactions we get in this one and itās just so damn chaotic lmao)
4. Munitions (Itās munitions. Itās INSANE (affectionate))
5. High Winds (A Z-stack getting a lead role? Yes yes yes)
6. Regatta (Again I just really like all the character interactions in this one. That and seeing all the characters dressed up for the event is cool ^^)
7. High Tide (I was on the edge of my seat for this one, also Top Hat my beloved)
8. Quarantine (Unpopular opinion on this not being one of my least favourites! Itās totally not because of the Zorran moments (it really is))
9. Up River (Big Mac is a good dad and also omg hi Billy Shoepack hii :) )
10. Ghosts (Meh.. the effects were cool and I liked seeing Hercules at the end)
11. Warrior (Warrior I love you but this episode kinda drags at times)
12. Bigg Freeze (I just canāt really think of any moments from this one that stand out to me? Besides the song ow ouch my heart-)
13. Sunshine (Not a bad episode at all, Iām just tired of this one since itās the one Iāve watched the most times whenever I get people into the series haha)
Fav episode(s)?
From most to least favorite:
Pirate
Jinxed
High Tide
Trapped
Munitions
High Winds
Up River
Regatta
Ghosts
Warrior
Sunshine
Bigg Freeze
Quarantine
For those who see this, I'm curious to hear y'alls rankings as well.
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