selfhelp | [IC] Appointments Post

[...Oh god. Oh god, that's how he knew her face. She was his sister, briefly and awkwardly. He shifts uneasily in his spot, picking at some lint on his shirt as he puzzles over this. Tiny distractions have been his balm the last few days.]

You were part of it, weren't you? I messed with your head... in my spell.

[She doesn't look particularly angry. It's so unexpected he can't help questioning it. Or maybe she doesn't know?]

I'd be a hypocrite if I can forgive our mom for mutant genocide and get pissed at you for just being an ass.

[ putting his feet up on the edge of the bed. ]

[He doesn't trust her and she can't blame him. She'd shot him, after all. Unless you were an idiot like Clint who took such things as a sign to get all chatty and familiar, most people ended up distrustful around her afterwards. She approached his bed carefully, sinking down into the chair Teddy so frequently occupied in the past few days.]

How's your shoulder? And the rest of you. I imagine after all that you must have been exhausted.

[She doesn't understand magic - doesn't like it, for a myriad of reasons, but she'd seen his disorientation at the end, how he'd broken down when Teddy finally got through to him. And she liked to think she'd judged Billy true enough to suspect he wouldn't intentionally torture an entire town with things they could never have, just for the sake of being cruel.]

[In a sense, her jitters are actually kind of reassuring, and it makes him quirk the slightest hint of a smile.]

Don't worry about, um... being a mom. We'd never expect that of you, and... I do have one back home. I'm not looking to replace her.

[He can't speak for Tommy, but he's in a complicated situation all on his own. And speaking of-]

Try not to worry about Tommy, either. He's fast at everything except... processing emotions, I guess. Give him some time.

...That might be nice. [He shifts, testing his legs to see how he feels.] I need to leave a note for Teddy, though... if he comes back and I'm not here, he'll worry.

[Billy stirs at the light nudge against his head, slowly regaining the courage to look up thanks to Teddy's touch. If he hadn't gotten that, then- what would he have-

No. He won't think about that. He has Teddy's support, his touch. He's okay. He'll be okay. He'll probably be okay.

....

It's not far. He'll focus on that for now.]

Okay... okay. Let's go...

[He just... needs some urging to get moving again.]

... It's the same with Pietro.

[There's a momentary beat, when she realizes that how much sense that suddenly makes. The resemblance that seemed to uncanny to her. Of course. She covers her face with her hands, feeling very stupid suddenly.]

... I... have a lot of questions. ... Which-- I don't know if you can answer or want to, or... anything. They can wait though.

...

...Is there-- anything I can do help you?

[If it's urging that Billy needs, he'll get it. Teddy moves their hands so that he can hold them again, and he gives Billy a little smile as he steps backwards, head turned to see where he's going.

Once they're on the fifth floor... Just a few more steps now. A bit down the hall, and they'll be there. As he walks, Teddy decides to talk, to give Billy something to think about other than what he's afraid of.]

Someday, we should sit down and rewatch Game of Thrones together. You've still got it on your laptop, right?

I think we can do better than a note.

[Mia holds both of her hands before her, palm-up, and a small blue creature appears atop them.]

One of my djinn can stay here, and if Teddy comes back, he'll tell him where we are. If there is a problem, he'll be able to let me know right away.

[Billy follows him without further encouragement required, step by step, slow but steady. He hesitates again when he foot touches the tile of their floor, but Teddy speaks up at the perfect time to distract him from his own miserable and paranoid thoughts. Game of Thrones, huh. That's always a good distraction.]

I think so... unless someone deleted it.

[And he honestly can't think of anyone who would. Not even Tommy as a prank, because he likes Game of Thrones, even if he pretends he doesn't.]

I don't know who would. Or who'd even touch our laptops. [Because that's pretty much a crime right there, especially for someone who doesn't like his possessions touched.

But at this point, they're close to their door. And from within, Teddy can hear whining and scratching on the door, and he immediately knows who it is.]

Hey, is that...

[Billy's gaze shifts to the door, and... there it is again, that wave of guilt, this time with a very different target in mind. They'd been gone two weeks now, and the week prior he'd been a horrible owner/parent, neglecting the animals or just simply ignoring them, leaving them to the doppleganger to care for, and they hadn't liked it at all. And really, how could he expect them to? It wasn't real. It wasn't Teddy. No amount of wishes or magic could ever have fixed that. They'd even sensed that something wasn't right about him, his mind or the magic he'd been exuding non-stop the entire time, but he'd been too preoccupied to care.

And now the prospect of facing them again, with that guilt in mind, is just as terrifying as leaving the clinic. The fact that they're animals, forgiving creatures by nature, doesn't help. If anything it makes it worse.

Suddenly fretful, rather than dwelling on it, he opts to try and focus on what little positivity he can garner from this- he tugs his hand free of Teddy's and gives him a little nudge, leaning against the wall instead to keep him from bolting outright. At least they can be happy to see Teddy, and Teddy deserves a reunion that isn't tainted by his mistakes. He tries, god he tries, to smile for him.]

Yeah... go ahead. They've missed you...

[The way he asks that gives her pause for a moment or two. She knew he wasn't himself when he cast that spell, but did he not even realize who he was affecting? Unless the person he intended to hit was Hoshikyo instead.]

...yeah. For a little while, at least. But it wasn't so bad! I mean, even if it wasn't real, it was kinda nice seeing my mom again.

[Though nice as it was, it did only cement how much she missed her, being stuck here for so long.]

Though it'd probably be kinda weird to thank you for it, huh.

Hey... I'm sure they missed you too.

[But he doesn't force Billy to be a part of the reunion; he'll let the pets do it for him, if they're not turned off by the possession Billy still has. Teddy has missed them terribly though, and felt pretty awful for leaving them there in favor of being with Billy. He could've easily brought them to the clinic, let them be there for all of their sakes...

It's passed now, and that's not something he should be thinking about. They're here, and Teddy's already got a smile on his face when he unlocks the door and pushes it open, and he only barely gets it open when a large golden retriever wriggles through the space and is on him in an instant, weaving in and out of his legs and leaping up on him and kissing whatever part he can reach, whines and cries coming out in a constant stream.

The fake had no real smell. It wasn't Teddy, and that made Optimus Prime not want to be near it. Both he and Misty were wary of it and mostly struck out on their own, relying on neighbors who weren't affected or their own resources. For the past two weeks, Kate had taken care of them, something they were relieved to find. Kate was like an aunt, after all.

But now, Teddy's back, the real, human Teddy with a smell completely unlike Billy's, and Optimus can't seem to get off of him. He's so happy, and it makes Teddy kneel down as much as he can and wrap his arms around him, Optimus squirming in his grip to get a good go at his face.]

Ha ha, hey boy! Oh man, I've missed you too - H-Hey! [That is a really squirmy dog, man.

But at one point, he squirms so much that Optimus bails from Teddy's hold, and he actually leaps up on Billy's legs, too. He smells relatively normal, too, with a bit of the weird magic left over, but the normalness is enough to be just as happy that his papa is back, too. He goes back to Teddy soon enough, maybe with the thought that Misty, lingering in the doorway because that is a hyperactive big dog and she is a little cat who'd get trampled if she got in the way, might join in.]

[As soon as Optimus trots over to him and slams into his legs, Billy just about falls over, and it really is a good thing that he’d pressed up against the wall beforehand, so all he has to do is brace himself to avoid it. The dog bounces around, sniffing, jumping, tail wagging a mile a minute, and after a lengthy hesitation, Billy finally caves and slides down the wall to let Optimus greet him properly. Immediately he gets a face full of dog tongue, and he doesn’t even fight it, whether he likes getting licked or not - he just lets the dog go to town as much as he wants. Tentatively he lifts his hand to brush through Optimus’s fur, a slow tremble passing through his body. He’s not mad. He’s not even upset. He’s happy, loving, eager, welcoming. It’s nothing like Billy expected.

It’s… breathtaking. Can he just spend the rest of his life with Teddy and a bunch of animals and not deal with people ever again?

Things are a bit different when Optimus gets his fill of kisses and bounds back to Teddy, giving Billy a chance to straighten up and look towards Misty. The little cat is, apparently, much less forgiving, blinking balefully at her master before turning tail and sauntering back into the apartment. It’s fitting, Billy thinks, a bitter smile crossing his lips; animals are an awful lot like their owners, and he hasn’t forgiven himself, either. And cats have much longer memories than dogs when it comes to transgressions.

Well… one out of two isn’t bad, overall. It just sucks that the one he’d wanted the most to forgive him isn’t ready yet.

He glances over at Teddy and Optimus, at how happy and relieved they both seem. ...He wants that. He wants their family to return to normal. So, after another hesitant pause, he pushes off the wall and heads into the apartment after Misty. He won’t get anywhere if he doesn’t try.]

[It’s less about her and more about what he deserves, but he doesn’t have the words to explain that to anyone just yet. Aside from Teddy, apparently, who’s gotten nothing but brutal honesty since he woke up. And judging by Teddy’s overall response, that’s… not really preferable.

Anyway.

His one good arm shifts to curl up around his leg, hugging it to his chest.]

It’s fine… don’t worry about it.I’ve just been so tired…

[As if sleeping for an entire week wasn’t enough.]

You used up a lot of energy, I imagine. Affecting so many people at once, maintaining that widespread a spell... [She'd seen how he looked at the end of it. Despite everything that had fallen apart afterwards, it's a good thing Teddy had gotten to him when he had.] I imagine it will take a while to come back from that.

[It feels wonderful, all of this. Being loved unconditionally by a living being, being greeted with warmth and love, all the things that Teddy missed for weeks now. This is the most he's smiled in a while, and it feels so good to do so. And he'd seen how Optimus reacted to Billy, not with judgement or fear but with happiness and joy. He gets extra cuddles for that, if Teddy can get his arms around him enough without the dog squirming out of them.

It takes a few minutes for Optimus to slow down even a little, and by then Teddy's already noticed that Billy went inside. By himself, without Teddy there to guide him, just went inside with a purpose in mind: getting Misty to be on her way to forgiving him. As much as he loves the elation Optimus is sharing, he still stands, mindful of the dog (whom he swears is still a puppy) that keeps charging around and between his legs, and walks into the apartment, intent on finding Billy and Mitsy.]

Come on, boy, let's find your sister and papa.

[She takes a deep breath. She had her mom back in that reality. For a brief moment, she really had been living the perfect life with the perfect parents, the perfect sister, the perfect boyfriend.

But reality isn't that neat and clean. Doesn't she know it?]

Because I've made mistakes, too. We all have.

[Zatanna's had a lot to think about lately. She's watched the village slowly put itself back together after Billy's spell, one so powerful and so vast that Zatanna would have a hard time naming people back home who could pull it off. But even though her ineffectiveness had been made pretty blatant, she's still kept track of where Billy is. She doesn't think it's so much of a heroic thing, or even fear that it'll happen again. It just feels like a smart idea, so she knows when Billy finally leaves the clinic to head home.

She's not cruel, though. Zatanna gives it a couple of days before she heads upstairs. She's done her best to make sure Robin doesn't know; she likes the guy, but this is probably going to be pretty delicate anyway. Better not to have him there when she talks to Billy. Of course, figuring out what she's actually going to say is pretty hard too. Zatanna hadn't fallen victim to the spell, so she isn't exactly angry. She definitely isn't happy it happened, though, and she figures Billy probably isn't either.

She knocks on the door, then sighs. Hopefully she'll figure out what she's doing soon. Zatanna's getting pretty tired of feeling useless.]

[By the time Teddy finds his way inside, Billy and Misty have settled in, though one couldn't say that they'd done so happily; Misty's beelined for the couch and is curled up on the cushion - the one that's generally designated as Billy's and therefore hers - and is staring at Billy, who's sitting cross-legged on the floor, arms crossed and resting on the cushion's edge to act as a pillow for his chin as he speaks quietly to her. They're close enough to touch, but Billy hasn't made a move yet.

He doesn't look up as Teddy enters the apartment, trapped in a stare-down with a pet who's as stubborn as he usually is.]

[He takes some steps closer to the bedside.]

So... how are you feeling, man?

[Teddy doesn't make a move to disrupt this, either. Once he sees what's going on, Teddy kneels down to eye-level with Optimus, holding his collar to keep his lunging kisses away while gives a quiet, "Shh, shh shh...". To keep him from running straight to the pair, Teddy wraps his arms around Optimus again and sits fully on the floor, using a little more strength so that the dog can't get out of his grasp. OP doesn't seem to mind, though, as he's content to wriggle happily in his grip and place wet kisses all over his face.

Teddy himself indulges him, but he's got his eyes on Billy and Misty. Let's see how this goes.]

[If it's even possible, he shrinks down even further around himself, limbs tightening, head bowed.]

I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I really messed up... I hurt you, too.

[....ah

our mom.

His gaze shifts to Tommy's feet, briefly, taking in the familiarity of it, then he looks back at his- his brother. Yeah. His brother.]

You're still... okay with that?

[IC] Appointments Post

[Action] October 20th

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[october 15th] ...not following through. that should have read not following through. /anal

October 24, Action

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