[Action, July 11th-13th]

[selfhelp]

[To say that Billy is a bit of a basket case right now would be a severe understatement. His mom is here. His admittedly teenage and therefore doesn't-know-who-he-is-and-kind-of-alternate-universe mom, yes, but that doesn't seem to make the intensity of his feelings about the matter any different. One small comfort is that they're getting along (so far), and their shared powers gives them common ground, but there's still that lingering... risk that he can't stop thinking about. That he won't be able to keep his secrets, that eventually everything will come crumbling down. He's terrified of that.

The first day, he does little else but fret and mull over it, after separating from Wanda; Teddy's kind enough to cancel any of his daily doings, since he's in no state to be pretending like everything's normal. It had been hard enough with Wanda the first time. Today, though, he feels much better. His head is more clear, he's found his center of calm, and he spent at least half the day and night before meditating so he figures he has a firm grasp on his sanity again.

There are certain things that he knows he needs to do, especially since he ditched all his usual priorities the day before, so he's made himself a list, and today he's going through it all. It is as follows: He swing by the art gallery and removes some of his work, namely anything that features the Scarlet Witch (only a couple of pieces, mind you, and they're his, but art theft is still art theft). He attends training with Logan and begs for forgiveness about skipping the day before (beg may be an overstatement of what actually happens because he isn't really sorry at all). He'll attend X-Men Training and try to perform decently despite feeling ridiculously scatterbrained. And finally, he'll probably talk to some Very Important People in the process of completing the rest of his list.

In the end, well... he's decided to track down Wanda again, maybe not now, but some time in the near future. Because despite his fears and misgivings, despite everything he's likely to say to everyone else - that it's a bad idea, that he'll mess things up, that he'll accidentally reveal himself - the temptation of sharing his powers with hers, teaching her, helping her, is too strong to resist. This is about more than a lost family, now. This is about magic.]

Comments

[ July 11th | Private ]

[touchofrogue]

[Well. In the face of incredible awkwardness...]

Hey, Billy? You around?

[ Nada ]

[selfhelp]

[Nope, sorry Rogue; he's not even checking the journal today, so you get no reply.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Billy had until the end of the day to contact her. The end of the day from around12 pm - that's a good seven hours. Even she checked her journal once in seven hours. Rogue managed to stretch her worry to eight. And then to nine.

But that was it.

Either something had happened or Billy had already won into Wanda and that qualified as something.

She wasn't sure that there was anything she could do, but her own mind was uneasy enough that she told herself she was doing this just because she didn't want to be driven crazy, and it wasn't because she was Just That Worried. That made it easy for Rogue to knock on Billy and Teddy's door at around 9:30 that night.

Knock. Knock.]

[action]

[frost_jewel]

[Someone else is scatterbrained in group training too. She has a lot on her mind and isn't focused on the practice. That's how she gets swept off her feet by whatever they're fighting, and thrown none too gently at her training partner. Today, that's Billy.]

[action]

[selfhelp]

[He's so out of it that he doesn't even have the sense - or the time, when he actually notices her flying at him - to put up a shield or stop her before they can collide. As a result she crashes right into him, and a moment later he finds himself flat on his back, groaning quietly.

Maybe he should've skipped practice today...]

[Action]

[wildbluevagner]

[After training, Kurt is wiping at his head with a towel and throws one to Billy.]

Hey - chin up, man! Not every session can be a home run.

[Action]

[selfhelp]

[Billy almost doesn't catch the towel, sighing quietly and tugging off his headband to scrub at his own face. He's feeling pretty pathetic right now, there's really no way around it.]

After today's performance, I'll probably be doing about a million chin-ups, actually.

[Or whatever else Logan can come up with as punishment.]

[July 11th | Action]

[halfnhalf]

[Teddy's at home by the time Billy gets back, the guitar he usually borrows from Cloud Nine for lessons on his lap while he fiddles with the strings. One of them broke in his session with Prim, and so he figured it was about time they all got changed. He's on his third one when he hears the door unlock, and he looks up with a smile.]

Hey, Bi... [He trails off slightly when he sees the tension in his boyfriend's body, his smile waning with concern.] Everything okay?

[July 11th | Action]

[selfhelp]

[Billy can only shake his head in response at first, lifting a hand with a flare of blue light to change his costume into civvies. He steps over to where Teddy is, rubbing uneasily at a temple, and almost gives a real answer, but he can't even think of where to start.

Finally he just gives in to his first instinct and leans in to bury his face against Teddy's shoulder, mumbling something incoherent. Hugs first. Explanations later.]

action; friday

[alloys]

[ When Billy drops by Tony and Pepper's house on Friday, Tony is upstairs in his workshop. It's a shadow of its former chaos - no portal, no armor, and even the number of random projects he was fiddling with was considerably smaller. Truth told, he didn't spend much time there, instead devoting the majority of his spare time to the medlab at the Battle Dome. But he kept up a few side projects, if only to keep himself from spiraling into the same singularly-obsessed place as before. He's beefing up an iPod at the moment that is definitely not for Little Loki. Nope.

And being in his workshop, his music is way too loud. As such, he doesn't hear the front door opening. ]

action; friday

[selfhelp]

[The house appears empty when he arrives, but thankfully the deafening music upstairs guides him to where he can find the person he's looking for. Spotting Tony at work, Billy quietly goes to the music player and turns it right down, waiting for Tony to notice him there.]

[action]

[handing]

[She's been worried, of course. Ever since she got the message from Teddy that Billy wouldn't be at their home the day before, Pepper's wondered what happened. But she knows just how hard it can be to bear that news, so she doesn't question Teddy, instead letting the conversation end with a short thanks. Hopefully when Billy feels up to it, he'll give them answers.

What she sees when she runs across him next, however, provides anything but.]

Billy? [Of all the things she expects when she walks into the art gallery, seeing someone taking down one of the pieces isn't on the list. But it isn't only a single drawing, as Pepper realizes when she sees the gaps nearby.] What's going on?

[action]

[selfhelp]

[He jumps at the sudden voice, twisting around, one hand on his chest, the other gripping the sketch he'd been in the middle of rolling up.]

Oh my god. Pepper! Um. Sorry. I didn't know you'd be here today.

[God, they're his pictures- why does he feel like he's been caught red-handed pillaging the place?]

[ July 11th |action ]

[tryit]

[It had been evening by the time Kate got around to leafing through the journal. Not that she expected all that much. Since her arrival, life here had been relatively routine and, well, dull. But seeing a teenaged Wanda Maximoff on the journal had definitely caught her attention.

Seconds after listening to the entry, the journal's abandoned on the bed and she throws on a pair of sneakers. Grabbing her keys, she heads out of her apartment to Billy and Teddy's after a quick detour by the kitchen.

Something this major needs all the comfort food possible.

Shortly after picking up a carton of ice cream and some spoons, she knocks on the apartment door. Without waiting for a response, she places her key in the lock and opens the door.]

Guys? I hope you're decent. I'm coming in.

[ July 11th |action ]

[selfhelp]

[The apartment - and occupants - are most definitely decent! And also nowhere to be seen, at first glance. But the door to Billy's room is slightly ajar (obviously his by the "speak friend and enter" sign copied from home), and the light is on.

Inside, Billy's made himself into a vaguely Billy-shaped burrito of blankets on the bed, huddled up and quiet. He's done the good and mature thing by meditating, and he's helped and potentially befriended Wanda already. He just needed some time to have a good sulk and a bit of a cry, dammit. He's in the sulk stage of that now more than the cry, though, admittedly. But ice cream would be welcome.]

[snikting]

[Logan had made it extra hard after the training session by putting Billy through a session that Logan only used for himself. After seeing Billy blow it in the group training, it was time to have words.]

Kid, if that'd been the real thing, you'd be six feet under now. Hell, ya would've got the rest of 'em killed too. Where's your head at?

[selfhelp]

[Yeah, he knew this was coming. After all that training? He's exhausted. Taking a break may have cleared his head enough for socializing, but apparently not enough to get him back in the game. Ugh...]

Sorry. Um... it's been a weird couple of days, that's all. Won't happen again.

[action-I hope this is ok, if not, let me know!]

[not_a_troll]

[Loki's in the kitchen for most of the day, he's making sandwiches again and making a general mess of the kitchen. The only thing that differs is that he's back to his normal size, the shirt he's wearing did not and its definitely too big for him. He's climbing around on the counter when he notices Billy passing by.]

Billy! Billy! I have invented a new sandwich!

[He climbs off the counter an hurries towards the opening that leads to the hallway.]

[action] totally okay!

[selfhelp]

[Billy's a bit slow to respond; it's hard to muster up enthusiasm when the last few days have been kind of shit. Still, he manages to lift a brow, torn between curiosity and dread. Loki's taste can be a little questionable at times, and he's not sure he's in the mood.]

...Do I want to know?

Action ; I hope this too is okay!

[calmbeforethe]

[ Ororo had been very concerned when Billy didn't show up for training that first day. Teddy had been able to reassure her with some reason or the other, but she's still relieved to see him show up the day after looking reasonably well. Reasonably, anyway.

She finds a spare moment after his run with Logan to approach him. ]

You seemed distracted today, Billy. Is everything alright?

Action ; yup!

[selfhelp]

[Man, he is just sucking at subtlety today. Storm gets a weak and sheepish smile as he dusts off his cape, dirty from all the tossing around he'd endured because of his own failings.]

Yeah, just... going through some stuff. Sorry, I'll do better tomorrow.

July 11

[complicatedliar]

[Loki has only just finished up a bit of practice in the Battle Dome and departed, still a bit sweaty from the activity. He spies Billy as he's stopping to get a drink and gives him a little wave. There are other people about, so he doesn't approach immediately.]

July 12 < if that's okay? billy's not out on the 11th c:

[selfhelp]

[Billy almost doesn't notice Loki; he's still distracted and inwardly cursing himself for it, so he looks equal parts frustrated and troubled. When he does spy the wave, he's briefly startled, but he manages to return the gesture, albeit without enthusiasm.]

[Action, July 12th]

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla's stopping by to meet Billy to see if he'd like to join her for a shopping trip. She's been shopping much less than she used to, in part because there's less selection, and in part because other things have been occupying her time. Training sessions have taken up a larger chunk of time than they ever did before she came here to Luceti, but then, she wasn't likely to be drafted to fight back home.

She stops by and knocks at the door.]

Hey! It's Bulla.

[Action, July 12th]

[selfhelp]

[Thankfully he's much better than he was on the 12th, but he's still pretty distracted, so when Billy answers the door he looks a bit flustered, like he'd been rushing around. He's genuinely surprised to see Bulla there, though he has the sense to give her a belated smile.]

Oh, uh, hey. Wasn't expecting you. What's up?