[Voice / Action]

[selfhelp]

[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.

Comments

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

I just have to put up with it until I go home, though. And... a few months between, apparently.

[And try not to worry and freak out about it.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Dryly:]

Somehow, I'm not sensin' the joy here.

[Poke, poke.]

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

[Ahaha. He winces, not from the poke but from how right she is.]

When I first contacted him, he said, "hey, you're talking to me." But then he wouldn't explain why he said that.

[It seems so small and inconsequential, but he can't stop thinking about it. Her perpetual state is that of worry, apparently.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[She turned that over in her mind for a moment, settling her elbows on her knees and leaning down.]

Look at it this way - 'least he was glad you're talkin' to him.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

That's another thing: Tommy and I aren't exactly what I'd call close. The idea of him being glad that I'm talking to him is pretty weird by itself.

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue thinks on that for a moment as well. And her response is... somewhat hesitant.]

Sometimes it can make a big difference - knowin' that you're family.

[And that, while it may sound like a platitude, just comes from her raw personal experience. Billy has no real way of picking up on that, though, unless he counts the hesitance and Rogue's general abhorrence of platitudes.

And... she really hopes that's the case. Because if it's not, then that can only mean something... bad.]

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

[He pauses at that, noting the hesitancy and - after a moment of quiet observation - what she's trying to do for him here. It takes a few moments longer, but he finally musters up a decent smile.]

I'm complaining an awful lot about good news, aren't I?

[Maybe he'd just been going through a rough spot. Or maybe they did have a fight. Or maybe he just hadn't felt like talking to Tommy at his time period. Stranger things have happened, and the speedster did have a way of casually infuriating people.

Maybe he's making a mountain out of a molehill as usual and he just needs to shut up and be grateful.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue bobbed her head from side to side, considering.]

Ya haven't moved into whinin' yet. So I guess you've still got about three minutes of wiggle room.

[A softer, genuine smile.]

I don't think ya need ta shut up an' be grateful, or walk around with blinder's on when ya see warnin' signs, but...

[Her smile fades.]

Knowin' the future's never brought anyone a lot of joy.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

[Well, she's not wrong about that. He can't help still loving the idea of being Wanda's kid, even if it doesn't win him any favours with the Avengers, even if it makes him Magneto's grandson, the heir to a family of terrorists and distrust and little else, in the eyes of the super community. Even then. Because he'll still be hers.

He'll probably always love that. He can't imagine anything changing that. It's gained him a second family, another brother, and a mother who might understand his powers and accept them readily, rather than wonder about him and avoid asking questions for fear of not liking the answers. He loves his biological mother, he does, but she can't possibly understand the way Wanda would.

He's... probably just worrying about nothing. It's stupid. He nods slowly at her words, turning them over a few times in his head, and then looks up at last, expression shifting to one of slight mirth. Why make everyone worry right along with him?]

Three minutes to complain, huh... I could complain about having my most obnoxious brother living with me, now.

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue huffs an amused breath, relieved enough to drop the subject but... concerned that he might moving on just to put up a front. These things don't come to a place of calmness so easily. But... she didn't see the need to push either. This might be something he has to work through on his own.

She eyes him, smiling a little.]

Or we could skip the complain' all together. It's not a requirement.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

True, we both probably have better things to do than talk about Tommy.

[This is nice. Lighter, more casual. Like a weight off his shoulders.

He can do this.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue eyed him.

Heh.]

Probably.

[Pause a beat.]

I thought he was Pietro at first.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

You too? That's what Storm said.

[Maybe it runs in the family. The speedsters are obnoxious flirts and the witches are...

...are...

...crazy? Oh dear.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[She shrugged.]

Same height. Same powers. Similar attitude. Didn't stop ta harass me the first time he ran by, that was my first clue.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

He and Wanda start out on Magneto's side of the equation in your universe, too?

[Took them a while to ditch the Brotherhood, as far as he can recall. It's just a good thing Cap took them in after that.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue is suddenly aware of just how much she does not want to discuss her world's Wanda's issues with Billy.]

Mmm.

[She makes a small noise of agreement.]

It's not exactly simple, but... yeah, they're both with the Brotherhood.

[A half-shrug.]

Which means different things at different times.

[And she'll just... leave that there, rather than going on and on about something she's not even sure he's interested in.]

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

No, I hear you. Honestly, there's a lot that I don't know, and... I'm not really sure I should. I mean, alternate-universe aside, it kind of feels like cheating, or... you know, dragging their names through the mud. Everybody has stuff that happened in their past that they don't want to get spread around, but it doesn't mean they can't be heroes later in life.

[He knows that, and certainly Rogue ought to as well. At least, he hopes she feels more or less the same.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue thinks about it a moment.

And then she decides that this conversation is entirely too heavy.]

So would tellin' you the time Pietro brought three girls to the Sadie Hawkins Dance be entirely out of line?

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

[...wow, Rogue, way to successfully 180 the entire mood.]

He did what?

[Oh god Tommy would totally do that if he could, wouldn't he.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

I'm still not sure how he managed it. But he did.

[She shakes her head, smiling a little.]

It was one of the tackiest things I ever did see.

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

Well, hey- speedster. He probably figured he'd have enough time to spare for all three of them.

[He's really hoping Tommy has more class than that, but... who knows.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[She gives him a look.]

An' that makes it less tacky... how?

[Rogue shook her head.]

'sides. That was before the world [briefest pause] knew about mutants.

[Gawd it seems like ages ago.]

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

Oh, wow. It's hard to imagine that kind of world, to be honest- knowledge about mutants was pretty widespread before I was even born. I'm surprised my parents even wanted to have more kids before they knew if I was one or not.

[It doesn't even occur to him how weird that sounds, considering the only parent he's referred to has thus far been Wanda.]

[ action ]

[touchofrogue]

[She did give him a bit of a searching look at that, but it's not her way to ask questions that she wouldn't want to have to answer herself - especially questions about family.]

It's just as surprisin' ta hear that it's so common in your time.

[And you can thank your grandfather for that, Billy. 8|]

[ action ]

[selfhelp]

[THANKS GRANDPA- oh wait it's a bad thing.]

I can't say it's a good thing, but it's not all bad, either. If knowledge of mutants was widespread then I might've been taken right to Professor Xavier's school as soon as I discovered my powers. I probably wouldn't have met Teddy, or the rest of the team- maybe not even Tommy, either.

[Who knows, he probably wouldn't even exist if Magneto's crazy hadn't driven Wanda off.]