selfhelp | [IC] Appointments Post

[ Billy moping is never good. Tommy has no idea what to do with him moping here, just as he had no idea what to do with him moping back home. Covering him in toilet paper, giving him a sour cream beard, nothing even roused him then.

But this isn't as bad as then. No one died. No one had anything done to them that a few weeks of being pissed off couldn't fix... and he owes Billy an explanation. Some kind of peace of mind, if only so the moping will stop and he doesn't feel the need to take off into the mountains again.

He knocks on his door. ]

Hey, you in? I brought smoothies.

[Contrary to Tommy's assumption, today? Billy is not moping. Or at least not right now. At the moment he's packing a couple of bags with both his and Teddy's stuff- clothes, food, essentials. He's in the middle of deciding whether or not he's optimistic enough (or at all) to pack some lube when the door knocks. And since the only one he'd be okay with being discovered with that is Teddy, and Teddy wouldn't knock, he hastily puts that business aside and responds.]

Yeah, I'm here- come on in.

[He's down with smoothies, even if Tommy being nice enough to bring them is... unusual. Suspicious, almost.]

[ He's even nice enough to use the door. Mostly because with his powers being decreased, he's likely to vibrate the smoothies out of their plastic cups and all over the walls.

He's not good at this small talk thing. He just drops the smoothie on the dresser and drops into a chair, slurping noisily. ]

I figured we should have a talk.

[A talk?

Since when did Tommy want to talk?

The suspicion is more prominent now, so Billy abandons his packing and heads over to snag the remaining cup, hopping up to sit on the desk next to Tommy's chair, fingers drumming thoughtfully on the side.]

...Probably, yeah.

So.

[ This is hard. He bounces his leg, slurping his drink and letting that sit for a minute. ]

I'm going to spoil you. Just a bit. And you're going to sit there and listen, and when it's not you're not going to hug me or react in any other way than nodding, got it?

[Oh god. That's not nerve-wracking, not at all. Billy lifts his brows, biting at his lower lip uneasily. Spoil him? So... for the future? About all that stuff he's assumed is horrible and doesn't want to know about? What's he going to say?

...But for Tommy to act like this... it must be important. He already hates how Billy is behaving, so... he wouldn't do this if it would make it worse, right?

Right?

Ugh, he hates this. Fine. He'll do it. He can do it. He nods, though he doesn't promise. If it's something that could merit hugging... well, Tommy might have to suck it up.]

Got it...

[ He has to figure out how to even start without giving too much away. ]

So, okay... Remember how you were insisting to the Avengers that the Scarlet Witch wouldn't do what she did unless she was under something's influence? [ Wait. ] Okay, so you do that in the future, and I'm guessing you think it now because you're stubborn as hell and your geekery knows no bounds.

[He doesn't remember that, actually. But it does sound like something he's thought before- not just when the truth about her killing Hawkeye, Ant-Man, and Vision came out, but when Ben told him about M-Day and what had happened before. The parallels are actually kind of terrifying, now, knowing that he'd repeated her crimes here, with his own friends. Thank god it hadn't actually begun with murder, but... almost...

He winces, but nods. He still believes it, even now.]

You were right.

[ It brings back so many awful memories, but he just drums his fingers on his knee. ] It could've happened to anyone. Has, actually. Considering the Avengers history.

[Billy abruptly leans back in surprise at that, eyes widening, staring at Tommy in shock. He was right? About all of that?

And Tommy's bringing all of that up now because... he...

...oh, god.]

So... so... those deaths, House of Magnus, M-Day... it was all because...?

[That thing he had inside of him, that power, that presence... Wanda felt it, too? It had overpowered even her? And it had made her kill people, steal the powers of a million mutants, remake the entire world?

God. God. What he did was unbelievably awful, but what kind of bullet did he dodge?]

Yeah.

[ Tommy stops drumming his fingers against the cup and stops bouncing his leg. ] Apparently, the whole thing was Dr. Doom's doing. [ And. ] Basically, from how I understand it, whatever happened overloaded her. She didn't have any control at all, so it wasn't really her fault.

[....

Billy sets the smoothie down on the desk and leans over, elbows on his knees, and rubs at his face with both hands, just quietly letting that sink in.

Dr. Doom. Of course it was Dr. Doom. And... the Malnosso got that power, somehow. And he...

...shit...]

Okay. Okay. Okay. So... so what they did to me...

["It wasn't really her fault."

"It wasn't really her fault."]

[ Yeah. ]

I figured you should know. { A-anyway. ]

[....

....

....

Yeah, no, fuck it. He hadn't promised.

Billy slides off the desk, turns around, and throws his arms around Tommy, holding tightly. He really, really needs to hug you for that.]

We had a deal! [ UGH. Ugh.

He wraps an arm tentatively around the other teen, just for a second. Maybe longer than a second, maybe thirty.

... okay, maybe a little longer. ] Don't you start crying too, I just did my laundry.

I don't... make promises I can't keep.

[It's hard not to cry, to be honest. He doesn't particularly want to, either- he'd promised to pack while Teddy took Optimus for a good long walk before they left, and he'd been in a decent mood beforehand. He doesn't want Teddy to come back from that and find him a mess.

He's just... so relieved, though. He is most certainly trembling.]

...thank you... thank you, for telling me...

[He'd known. He'd known there was something there, but to know, and to really know...]

[ He'll never get used to being appreciated. Or being part of a group. Or...

Well.

Anything involving a family, really. He pats Billy's shoulder awkwardly, looking off to the side. If only it'd been this easy back home, just... a few words, Teddy's love, some stupid brotherly moments. If it had been that easy than maybe...

Nah, better not to think about it. ]

Yeah, yeah. I'm amazing... I probably should've mentioned it a little sooner.

[Billy pulls back before too long- he knows hugs make Tommy uncomfortable, even if he doesn't buy the claims that he doesn't ever want them. He leans back against the desk, scuffing a hand through his hair and looking like his whole world's been flipped upside down.]

No... it's okay. I might not have believed it until I had some time to... work stuff through, I guess.

... You know what, that wasn't even the weirdest part about finding mom. I don't know if your geekery can handle this.

...What? Then what was?

[He's not sure if he'll regret asking... but with Tommy so unusually forthcoming, he can't help but indulge his curiosity.]

Dr. Doom was almost our soul-stepdad.

[......

.......

.......

....n....o....]

He's what!?

[But- that would mean-

-Wanda-]

He was almost! We broke up the wedding, don't worry.

Why the hell was Wanda marrying Doom?

[Was the kidnapped? Brainwashed? Mind-controlled??]

Amnesia.

action, november 22

action, november 22

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