selfhelp | [Voice / Action]

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[Voice / Action]

[Okay, so. Several things need to be dealt with here, one way or another. First being the fact that he has a facetwin hanging around who is pretty damn hard to explain, though Tommy being more or less okay with the "brother" title helps with that. Second is that he knows the truth about his heritage now, which is, in short, a huge weight off his shoulders. Third is that his strength is mostly back in his arm as long as he doesn't bend or twist it in a way that stresses his brace too much, which admittedly doesn't mean much, but it does mean that he's able to finish the sketches he'd promised to Pepper's art gallery.

Thus, since it's so warm and dry today, he'll be heading out to deliver a set of hefty-sized rolled sheets of drawing paper to Pepper's art gallery, and then to swing by Tony's house to catch up on some work and maybe fill his... sort-of employer in on the recent developments. Mainly the kid with Billy's face who is probably going to hate him for a while. Tommy's not as keen to forgive as some people.

His last stop will be the plaza, armed with a miniature sketchbook, and props himself up against the side of the fountain to draw whatever comes his way. Occasionally he might have to stop and give his hand a frustrated shake, but hey, there's no physiotherapy like a good work-out, right?

At some point while he's out, though, he'll be doing what he told himself he'd get done: a journal entry that is better late than never.]

[Voice, locked from Tommy]

Hey, it's Billy. Just wanted to get it out there that if you see anybody with my face - or hear my voice, I guess - that's Tommy, my... brother. Kind of. It's complicated. He might be a bit tough to deal with sometimes, but he's not a bad guy, so just try to put up with him, if you can. He could use some friends.

[....]

Just don't let this get back to him, I'd never hear the end of it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Well, gosh, you don't have to be so pushy about it.

She wakes with a violent start, shooting into an upright position, startled near out of her skin. She breathes hard, looking around, taking in the bizarrely familiar sights of the village square, before finally looking at the boy kneeling beside her. ]

.... Billy?

[He jerks back as she wakes, still startled, but far more relieved now that she's up. Phew, she's okay.]

Hey. Been a while. Are you all right?

I...

[ She's bewildered, still a little groggy, her back hurts, and she's suddenly coping with a double set of memories that she can barely understand. ]

... just -- hang on.

[ She curls up, knees bent, pressing her fingers into her hair and breathing in deeply as the memories settle. That's right... his name is Billy. And this place... is Luceti.

The memories return to her in a rush, but she deals with them methodically, leaving her silent for an uncomfortably long moment. Hardest to deal with is the draft; when those particular memories slam into her, it's enough to make her feel ill.

When she finally lifts her head, she looks at him again with new understanding. ]

... [ shakily: ] Yeah, I think so. I mean ... I just remembered a lot of things in a really short amount of time. But ... [ She swings her legs off the bench, sitting up straight. ] ... I'll be fine.

God, how long has it been?

[He straightens up, recovering his sketchbook and setting it in his book bag before sitting down on the bench beside her.]

Not too long. Just over a month, I think?

[She looks kind of disoriented, not that he can blame her. Waking up in Luceti isn't the easiest thing. At least she remembers it.]

I spent -- maybe five minutes at home. Maybe. God, that's surreal. A month? [ She tucks her hair behind her ear, then wraps her arms loosely around her middle. ] I just-- this is weird. Even for me. I can't--

[ Finally she just sighs out, heavily, cutting herself off. That line of thought is going nowhere. ]

I guess, um... [ She looks over at him with an awkward smile. ] Hi? ... what did I miss?

[He returns the smile because really, what else can he do? As much as it can suck to be here, he is glad to see her again.]

We, uh. Kind of got invaded for a while, so there was some fighting. Other than that it's been quiet, more or less.

... kind of? [ This face. How do you "kind of" get invaded, Billy. ]

[It's Luceti, okay, shit gets weird around here.]

There's other enclosures besides our, apparently. We had a few hundred people show up out of the blue and crash in our barrier for a week. It was... crowded, to say the least.

[Too crowded, in fact, but there's no need to worry her so soon after she's arrived.]

[ She blows out a breath. ]

... yeah, I bet. Everything okay with you? [ She gets to her feet, glancing back at him. If he doesn't supply, she'll ask about Teddy in half a breath, too. ]

Actually, yeah- things are looking up lately. Teddy's here- you remember, right? [He pauses, and then adds-] And my brother showed up this week, so... more familiar faces, I guess.

[He's not altogether happy about this, but he's not unhappy, either. It's a weird mindset.]

[ Gives him kind of an odd, knowing look. ]

You don't sound a hundred percent happy about that. [ She nods her head. ] Come on. Why don't we walk while you tell me about your brother? I need to pick up something else to wear. [ With some flatness to her tone as she looks down at her dress. ]

Haha... yeah, I'm fine with that. [He pushes himself to his feet, setting one hand on his hip.] Those have never looked very comfortable.

[ She'll start them walking towards the clothing store, smiling crookedly. ]

Oh, they're comfortable, they're just ... breezy. [ And awkward. ]

Breezy... I believe it.

[His own little tenure as a Disney princess taught him more than he ever wanted to know about dresses, thank you very much.]

[ She laughs, gentle, before changing the subject. ]

So tell me about him.

"Him"? Him who?

[There's a few he could talk about, sure, but in the context of their conversation, he's not sure.]

[ Gives him a sideways smile. ] Your brother. I didn't know you had one.

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, he's... it's hard to explain. But I didn't know I had one either, until about half a year ago.

[ ... all she does is lower her chin and lift her eyebrows at him. It sounds like there's a story there - how do you not know? - but she won't force it out of him. If he wants to talk about it, he can. ]

[Ahaha, he knows that look- not specifically from her, but from anyone else he's said that to. 'Complicated' barely grazes the surface of the issue.]

You know that old cliche of twins being separated at birth and adopted by different families? It's kind of like that, with me and Tommy. Except there's also magic and amnesia involved, which makes it way more messy.

[ Pulls a face. They're walking into the clothing store now, so she pauses briefly to turn and look at him. ]

Considering your history? I'm really not surprised. Are we talking reality-bending magic, or just regular magic?

Reality-bending. Definitely reality-bending.

[He pauses, then glances over, lips pursing.]

This is really, um... it's private. I mean, I don't mind talking about it- [Liar-] But... not here.

[ ... she sighs out through her nose. ]

Billy, listen. It's okay if you mind. But sure, we can talk later. Right now? I'm really just interested in finding some pants. [ Makes a face, shrugs, and begins browsing.

She's letting it - him - go. Not that he has to leave or anything. But he's kind of an awkward kid, she remembers that much - and if he's deflecting the topic, that's fine. She's curious, but not burningly so - it won't kill her not to know. ]

[Billy doesn't respond to that, merely furrows his brow and splits off to do his own shopping, browsing listlessly through some t-shirts and not really looking at anything in particular, just seeking out a distraction. This all reminds him of the last time she'd shown up- meeting her, sharing things he isn't comfortable about sharing with just anyone, like he's known her a lot longer than the short time they knew each other. Maybe he has Cap and the resistance to blame for that. Or maybe just because she was his doctor- the one who'd looked after him when they'd returned from the Cube. Found him a place to feel safe with Teddy, gave him bandages for the wounds that were visible and meds for the ones that weren't.

It isn't her, not the same one. She doesn't remember that, and she never will.

But he's okay with that. Hell, maybe it's better.

He'll wait for her by the door when he gets tired of staring blankly at the shirts, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up, his expression pensive.]

[ Seeing him like that when she emerges - properly dressed, now, be-flanneled and carrying a bag with some more shirts, jeans, underthings, etc etc - is enough to give her momentary pause. She kind of wants to ruffle his hair, or put a hand on his shoulder.

But that's treating him like a kid. And she remembers being that age, and really hating it when people did that to her. So she just sighs and joins him, ducking her head just a little to get a look at his face. ]

... hey. Pizza?

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