selfhelp | [Action / Voice] House of M Follow-Up

[So... he's probably delayed this long enough, even if a part of him would love to delay it indefinitely. Not only is it a month overdue, but now that he's home again and fully recovered from whatever had been affecting his mind, putting it off any further will just make things more difficult. Frightened as he is of the consequences, he won't get anywhere if he keeps hiding. It's time to apologize for the damage his spell caused, and make things right... if he can.

First, Billy seeks out those he knows personally, friends or acquaintances whom he remembers being affected or involved. Whether they're people he hasn't spoken to since the spell was in place, or people who visited him while he was possessed and halfway out of his mind, he'll try to be as thorough as possible. Teddy accompanies him from place to place, bless him, and they can be found walking hand-in-hand through the village and talking quietly, though Billy will be speaking with the people he's looking for on his own. Teddy's there for moral support, nothing more; the rest is his responsibility.

After those visits, presumably the hard part is over, but there's one thing left to do - reach out to those he couldn't find, missed, or simply doesn't know, as well as the general populace who'd probably noticed strange things going on at the time. They deserve to know about... well. To put it bluntly, the menace to society that he can be. Not that he'd give that reason out loud. Certain people would take issue with it.

They'd be wrong, but.

This time, he uses the journal network, his voice tentative, worried, and sick with guilt, and it happens later in the evening:]

...Hey... it's Billy. Um, Kaplan. I'm kind of a witch. You might not know me. Sorry if you do. ...Last month, October 1st, I was sent back from a Malnosso abduction... kind of a mess. I wasn't thinking straight, and... I cast a spell. It... it screwed with a lot of people. Badly. I don't know the full extent of the damage it caused, or how far it went, but- I do know that- people were hurt. And I know I might not be able to make things right again, either.

["Might". His hope for that one is still pretty pathetic; the forgiveness he's already received is something of a miracle to him. The day's meetings are still weighing on him, and there's an ache in his heart that refuses to go away.]

...Still. I- I need to apologize. Whether or not the Malnosso were the cause, it's still my fault. S-so I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I'm so...

[....]

...I'm... not going to use magic anymore. I'm done. I'm no good. At it. I mean. I- sorry. ...This won't happen again. And if you want to yell at me, or get a better explanation of what happened, or... whatever you need, I'll... be here.

Thanks. For hearing me out.

[And... that's that.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, I can't say that I have.

[.....

.....

.....

You know what, screw it. He needs something mindless and a bit silly to take his mind off of... everything that was today.]

You want to?

Is it difficult?

[The question is silly, because she already knows she's going to say yes.]

Not at all. Come over, if you like. I can show you.

[Hm. It is fairly late in the day and after everything-

But he did ask.]

If you're sure you are up to the company.

Mm... I don't mind. It doesn't take that long, anyway.

[Her company is certainly less exhausting or depressing than some, that's for sure.]

Besides, no one should live a blanket-fort-less existence. It's too sad.

Then I will be there in a little while. I would hate to live a sad existence now that I know I am doing so.

[Ha... he's glad she has a good sense of humour. Anyone else could have taken that so badly, and on a day like today, he's gotten used to expecting the worst.]

Door's open, I'll be here.

[Mia has been to Billy's apartment enough to no longer need to ask; though she does still knock on the door, she opens it a moment later regardless of whether anyone comes to answer it. He said it was open, and maybe he wouldn't feel up to getting up to face a potentially angry visitor.]

[There's no one around the entrance area, but if she's feeling adventurous enough, there are shuffling noises coming from one of the bedrooms, and the door is open. Billy's inside piling all the blankets, pillows, and cushions he can find around the apartment onto the bed.]

[She did expect to see Teddy home; they'd been glued to each other's side at any other time she saw them. Following the noises, she stands in the doorway for a bit, watching him compile bedding.]

That's quite the collection.

[He glances up at the voice, half-startled, but he'd been expecting her, so it wasn't too bad.]

Oh-! Hey, Mia. Yeah, you need a lot to make a decent fort.

[If he says so.]

What can I do to help?

...Well... come over here, for one. Grab a sheet and some of those ties on the bed.

[He's collected quite a set of various methods of securing the construction together- twine, clothes pegs, bits of loose wire, those clips people put on chip bags to keep them fresh. He's already propping the couch cushions together.]

[Mia can take direction, and she picks up a half-rumpled sheet and some of the wire. She's also great at tying knots in things.]

It looks like you dismantled the whole apartment.

Just about, yeah.

[See how very ashamed he is not.]

It's just better with more materials to work with.

If I start to get it wrong, just tell me.

[She thinks she has the basic idea though and she begins tying things to other things.]

Don't worry about it. There's really no wrong way to build a blanket fort. As long as there's a place to sit inside, it's fine.

[He drags over the desk chair and drapes a blanket over it, creating part of a wall and pinning it down with books.]

What do you do once you're inside?

Whatever you want- talk, eat, sleep, curl up with a good book. It's basically like camping indoors. It's a big tent to escape from the world for a while.

It sounds wonderfully peaceful. Have you ever built a snow fort?

Lots of times, yeah. Back home, I lived not too far from a really huge park, and every winter we'd go there to play in the snow, me and my little brothers. They liked that kind of stuff.

Did I know you had brothers? [He does seem like an older brother.] Besides Tommy, I mean. I'm sure they love you very much.

[That was something she used to want, siblings. There were family bonds there that no other set of people could have.]

Um, probably not? I don't bring them up a lot. Thinking about family's hard when it's been so long.

[He shrugs at the last bit, though.]

And nah- they're just brats. Especially Tommy. He always says he's older, though, despite the fact that we're twins.

[With no family left, Mia doesn't quite share the feeling, but she understands it in other ways.]

Does it bother you when he says it?

[The fort looks pretty decent, even in so short a time.]

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