[Billy shudders, fingers clenching in Teddy's shirt. He doesn't want this memory anymore. He doesn't want to say it. He doesn't want to share how badly he'd failed.]
I'm so stupid... I screwed up, Teddy... I thought I could help, but I just- I got in trouble, I got hit by one of those- shift soldiers, the ones who can kill your powers. My magic wasn't working, and they were chasing me... Thor found me. He saved me...
[His throat constricts, and he has to stop for a minute, trying to steady his breath. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want to say it. Saying it makes it real. It makes it worse, it...
...he wants to know... why I'm hurting. Why I'm having these nightmares.
He wants to help me...
He can practically hear his mother prodding at him to carry on. God, but her presence would be a blessing right now. But Teddy's here instead, managing this mess on his own, and at least he's trying rather than just ignoring it like Billy'd tried to do all week. He's helping more than anyone could ever hope. Billy won't forget that.
So, finally, reluctantly, he continues.]
He beat the cultists, but... then the shift hunters came. Those dog things... no, they were monsters. [He likes dogs. Dogs are cute and huffy and unconditionally loving and lick your face off if you leave them for more than ten minutes. These were nothing like dogs.] Thor tried to get us out of there... we almost made it. But they pulled him down, so he told me to fly us out instead. I tried... I tried, I did... I cast as hard as I could, I was focusing just like we practiced, and I could feel the magic there, but... but it wouldn't... I couldn't...
[His voice breaks again, and he has to stop again, burrowing once more like a scared child. With his face pressed tightly to Teddy's shirt the tears finally come, trickling down his cheeks, just a few drops at first, but once he gets started he can't seem to stop. His breath heaves with a sob, and all he can do is make himself breathe for a little while. It helps, the way Teddy's holding him, the way he's touching him. Soothing, warm, a constant presence that reminds him that he's home now. Safe. Not there anymore.
Eventually he speaks again, his voice barely a whisper.]
...they... they ripped his arm off, Tee...
[It's all he can say. The memory's too horrible; he can still feel the blood on his face sometimes, coating his skin and staining his clothes. His costume had been so wretched he'd nearly burned it when they got back to Luceti. Thor's blood. The blood of a hero he couldn't save.]
[Action, May 30th] YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE SO QUICKLY...
I'm so stupid... I screwed up, Teddy... I thought I could help, but I just- I got in trouble, I got hit by one of those- shift soldiers, the ones who can kill your powers. My magic wasn't working, and they were chasing me... Thor found me. He saved me...
[His throat constricts, and he has to stop for a minute, trying to steady his breath. He doesn't want this. He doesn't want to say it. Saying it makes it real. It makes it worse, it...
...he wants to know... why I'm hurting. Why I'm having these nightmares.
He wants to help me...
He can practically hear his mother prodding at him to carry on. God, but her presence would be a blessing right now. But Teddy's here instead, managing this mess on his own, and at least he's trying rather than just ignoring it like Billy'd tried to do all week. He's helping more than anyone could ever hope. Billy won't forget that.
So, finally, reluctantly, he continues.]
He beat the cultists, but... then the shift hunters came. Those dog things... no, they were monsters. [He likes dogs. Dogs are cute and huffy and unconditionally loving and lick your face off if you leave them for more than ten minutes. These were nothing like dogs.] Thor tried to get us out of there... we almost made it. But they pulled him down, so he told me to fly us out instead. I tried... I tried, I did... I cast as hard as I could, I was focusing just like we practiced, and I could feel the magic there, but... but it wouldn't... I couldn't...
[His voice breaks again, and he has to stop again, burrowing once more like a scared child. With his face pressed tightly to Teddy's shirt the tears finally come, trickling down his cheeks, just a few drops at first, but once he gets started he can't seem to stop. His breath heaves with a sob, and all he can do is make himself breathe for a little while. It helps, the way Teddy's holding him, the way he's touching him. Soothing, warm, a constant presence that reminds him that he's home now. Safe. Not there anymore.
Eventually he speaks again, his voice barely a whisper.]
...they... they ripped his arm off, Tee...
[It's all he can say. The memory's too horrible; he can still feel the blood on his face sometimes, coating his skin and staining his clothes. His costume had been so wretched he'd nearly burned it when they got back to Luceti. Thor's blood. The blood of a hero he couldn't save.]