selfhelp | [Voice/Action]

[Today is a good day for serious business, apparently. There's a certain something he's been putting off for a while, and after one-too-many dreams interrupting his sleep, he's had enough: this morning when Billy wakes up, the first thing he does is jot out a note in the journal-]

[Private to Ben Grimm]

Hey, would it be okay if I swung by to ask you a few things?

[He'll work through his morning routine until he gets a response, after which he'll go for a visit and get a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

After that, his mood for the day is drastically altered; he'll skip out on school, trying to sort out his feelings on the matter. Tommy's still AWOL, and he's trying not to worry Teddy, but what he's just been told has really got him thinking- about people, and heroes, and the unfairness of mankind in general. And eventually he'll just go ahead and return to his journal for it. He's kind of in over his head here.]

[Open to All]

I know Luceti's full of heroes- seems kind of a standard trait for most of us, for whatever reason. Back on my world, super-humans aren't that uncommon, and in general they're revered for everything they do for the world. Some of them were born that way, and some of them are from other planets, and some were altered to get their powers, and some have a lot of talent or skill instead of powers. But they're all considered to be super heroes. There's bad guys, too- just as diverse and unique as the heroes they fight. People fear them and celebrate their defeat.

There's another group, though... humans who got their powers because of evolution. It's much more natural, in a lot of ways. Some are heroes, some are villains. Some are just trying to get by without becoming one or the other. But regular humans fear them, and hate them for it, even if they save the world just as much as the heroes they love. They're called criminals or monsters, no matter how innocent they might be.

[He hesitates- it's probably obvious to some, what he's talking about, and he's not sure if he should lock it from the mutant population, or apologize, or something, but it relates to them even if it's not by name. Hiding it wouldn't be right.

In the end he just leaves it be.]

...Sorry for the ramble. But it's not fair, and... I just can't understand why. Why hate one and love the other, when they're basically the same?

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And I am very certain that the people of earth are very grateful-- unless they're a lot of ignorant masses who wind up inadvertently blaming their benefactors?

[Smiles when Billy spoke of dating Teddy, the two of them young but... given his own situation, he had a sense they knew what they were doing.]

I wouldn't say inhumanly perfect, but he did seem like a model for beach wear or something-- not that I'm looking, I just... noticed.

[Honest. He could appreciate without being a creep right? He wasn't too old to claim that...]

[Billy can't help but grin a that. It's not creepy as long as it's hands-off, really.]

It's okay, I'd be questioning your sexuality if you hadn't looked. I won't hold it against you.

[It's not like he hadn't given Jack a once-over, himself. His smile is short-lived, though, because he has to come back to the comment about the blame game. Oi...]

I think... it's easy to blame the super heroes for the bad stuff that happens, because they're supposed to prevent it from happening in the first place, according to the public. And the heroes aren't always accountable for their mistakes, so I guess the people who want justice for accidents have no way to get it. You can't really sue Spiderman when the Green Goblin throws him into your car, you know? It's sort of like that.

Well, generally I don't discriminate, but having Jack around...

[Sorry, Billy, cue the sort of sappy, soft grinning sigh that accompanied all fools in love. Or most of them, that is. He is inevitably drawn out of it when Billy makes a very good point, in reference to heroes, accountability, and societal expectations.]

Yeah, and I guess you can't really just blame it on them being more-than-human. Back a long time ago I suppose they could blame things like the gods and just carry on with their lives... you know?-- is this making sense? Am I sounding like I have no idea what I'm talking about?

[He did feel a bit out of his league discussing this with someone who had probably already thought this or disproved these theories. And he wasn't trying to be rude. The smile he gave was sheepish but hopeful and a dash apologetic if he was stumbling into something best left alone]

Just, well, it seems like it makes sense if you look back with super powers in mind.

[No apologies necessary; he feels much the same, after all. The glorious burden in being hopelessly, disgustingly in love with someone.]

No... it does make sense. People always need someone to blame- it's why suing people is America's favourite pastime. [It's kind of depressing to watch, but thankfully his exposure to it is pretty minimal due to being sixteen and therefore less interested in that kind of news.] With superheroes, compensation isn't an option as long as secret identities exist, so forcing them to go public and criminalize unlicensed heroics is the only option.

It still seems really wrong. Good intentions aren't always going to lead you to hell, right?

[But he suspected he was preaching to the choir so to speak and let that end with that. And a soft sigh. And a pretzel, because the reese's had mournfully been eaten.]

So, if you don't mind my asking, how did you and Billy meet?

[Billy pauses at that, brows lifting a bit, chewing idly on the pretzel in hand. How he met Teddy? The day an armored supervillain from the future got together a group of super-powered teenagers and then killed himself? ...In a manner of speaking? Yeaaaaah, that's easy to believe.]

Um... mutual friend introduced us. In a club.

[Ah, that little hesitation was cute. It made him smile to see something familiar in the two of them.]

I really can't judge, I met Jack-- er, well... that's a story better told together. Trust me, he gets so excited. Was it an illicit club or are you talking about something benign like rock climbing or something?

[Illicit club, oh god, Eugene, are you trying to kill him via blushing.]

Pretty sure I could never get myself into one of those clubs, even with the best fake IDs in the world.

[He so does not look 21.]

But no, I meant like- we were all kind of huge Avengers fans, so we got together and started hanging out. Teddy and I just clicked.

[Questions like that should make you question the questioner, possibly. Maybe. But he liked to think he looked wholesome and trustworthy enough. And speaking of age, Jack doesn't look his age, either, but that never stopped him]

An after-school club then? That is so cute.

[Can't help but grin from ear to ear. It wasn't like he enjoyed teasing, he simply found something so casual like that a very nice way to say you'd met someone]

So aliens go to school with normal humans and... not-so-normal humans as well?

[Ha... hahaha... casual.

Yeah, maybe someday he'll explain that part.]

Well... yes and no? Teddy didn't actually know he was an alien until about a year ago. He was raised with regular humans and thought he was one, too.

[Nods... and then it sort of sank in that Teddy didn't actually know he was an alien until about a year ago.]

...Seems like that'd be a kind of... well, identity crisis time. I mean, he seems to have managed well despite that, so I'm glad it worked out.

[Checks the dish and notices it's been empty maybe for a little while longer than he'd meant it to be. That and he didn't want to keep Billy too long-- or make him feel like he was being shoved out the door, either...]

...Want some more pretzels?

Oh- no, actually, I should head home. It's getting kind of late. ...Ish.

[He wanted to be home before Teddy got back from school, so he's getting close to his limit. Eugene gets a smile though, as he stands up, and an offered hand to shake.]

But thanks for the offer- and the company. It cheered me up, really.

Ah-- yeah! Sure, I really don't mind.

[At his core, he did want to be useful around here. In some fashion. Takes Billy's hand and shakes it firm before rolling his way toward the door to open it]

If you want to take anything with you, I mean... not that I doubt you're more than capable of looking after yourselves.

Ah, don't worry about it. We've got plenty of stuff at home, and it sounds like you guys really need the extra treats. And if I find any more Reese's, I'll share a few.

[He grins, stepping through the doorway.]

Say hi to Jack for me. I'll see you around.

[Aaand with that, he's off.]

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