selfhelp | [Action, July 11th-13th]

[To say that Billy is a bit of a basket case right now would be a severe understatement. His mom is here. His admittedly teenage and therefore doesn't-know-who-he-is-and-kind-of-alternate-universe mom, yes, but that doesn't seem to make the intensity of his feelings about the matter any different. One small comfort is that they're getting along (so far), and their shared powers gives them common ground, but there's still that lingering... risk that he can't stop thinking about. That he won't be able to keep his secrets, that eventually everything will come crumbling down. He's terrified of that.

The first day, he does little else but fret and mull over it, after separating from Wanda; Teddy's kind enough to cancel any of his daily doings, since he's in no state to be pretending like everything's normal. It had been hard enough with Wanda the first time. Today, though, he feels much better. His head is more clear, he's found his center of calm, and he spent at least half the day and night before meditating so he figures he has a firm grasp on his sanity again.

There are certain things that he knows he needs to do, especially since he ditched all his usual priorities the day before, so he's made himself a list, and today he's going through it all. It is as follows: He swing by the art gallery and removes some of his work, namely anything that features the Scarlet Witch (only a couple of pieces, mind you, and they're his, but art theft is still art theft). He attends training with Logan and begs for forgiveness about skipping the day before (beg may be an overstatement of what actually happens because he isn't really sorry at all). He'll attend X-Men Training and try to perform decently despite feeling ridiculously scatterbrained. And finally, he'll probably talk to some Very Important People in the process of completing the rest of his list.

In the end, well... he's decided to track down Wanda again, maybe not now, but some time in the near future. Because despite his fears and misgivings, despite everything he's likely to say to everyone else - that it's a bad idea, that he'll mess things up, that he'll accidentally reveal himself - the temptation of sharing his powers with hers, teaching her, helping her, is too strong to resist. This is about more than a lost family, now. This is about magic.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sounds good. My theoretical wallet is shaking.

[And his closet is full enough as it is, but hey, he's been trying to be a little more fashionable lately (since scruffy mismatched hoodies and loose jeans are not the epitome of class, nor are they particularly showy for his handsome boyfriend) so maybe some company will kick him out of his bad selection habits.]

Hopefully the shop has some good stuff today. Do you want to fly, or teleport there? It'd be faster than walking.

[Bulla is almost guaranteed to enforce good fashion choices, without forcing anything that isn't remotely to her shopping partner's liking.]

Let's fly. We can enjoy the view on the way over that way.

[It's also an ideal place for a private conversation if Billy wants to talk about what's bothering, and if not, maybe the view will help relax him a little. It often works for her.]

Awesome. I haven't had a good flight around the village for a while.

[Onwards to a window! Since, aha. Fifth floor and all. Billy gets it open with practiced ease, and with a flare of blue magic, he's lifting off into the air.]

[Bulla takes off after him a moment later, focusing her ki to let her fly out into the open air with him. Slipping out the window reminds her of something that makes her chuckle and smile fondly.]

My older brother used to slip out of his office window at work sometimes when he was stressed out. It drove his poor secretary nuts, because he usually didn't bother to tell her he was leaving the office.

Haha, I've... kind of done that a few times, myself. Though it was mostly out of my parents' apartment instead of an office. I got grounded so many times until they found out I had powers.

[Bulla laughs.]

It's kind of hard to ground a teenager who can fly and teleport. How long did you have powers before your parents found out?

Ah... just under six months, I guess? I tried to tell them earlier, but they just thought I was coming out as gay, instead...

Huh. I wonder if they already guessed before. Were you seeing Teddy back then?

[She could see someone not being entirely convinced that those two were just friends. Especially attentive parents.]

How did they take it when you told them about your powers?

Yeah, we'd been dating almost as long. We met just after I found out about my magic, and we hooked up really soon after. My parents, though...

[That's more complicated. And awkward, considering what else happened, so he'll just be vague.]

Um, let's just say they weren't thrilled. They tried grounding me, but it didn't really last.

It must have been a big shock for them, if they had no idea that you had them before.

To put it lightly. Having powers in my world isn't that rare, so they got over it well enough, but at the time it wasn't a great surprise.

I'm glad they accepted your powers in the end...are all powers in your world genetic, or do some of them come from martial arts training, or what?

[She's curious how exactly they work and how they compare to powers in her world. They've never really talked much about powers before.]

There's not really any particular way that people get powers in my world- it's all kinds, really. Though martial arts training isn't usually one of them. Mostly it's because of genetics or science.

Hmm...like bio-weapons and super-advanced androids kind of science? Or something else entirely?

[Bio-weapons gets her making a bit of a face. Negative bias? Just a bit.]

A little of column A, a little of column B. Every origin story's different.

Well, as long as people are using their powers for good instead of being evil jerks, that's the most important thing. Does your universe get a lot of people trying to either destroy or take over the world, too?

[She'd actually gotten lucky in that she'd grown up in a more peaceful time and didn't have to deal with anything like that until she was fifteen.]

Oh, plenty. Aliens, mutants, evil robots... we get all kinds of villains thinking they can do one or the other. Sometimes both. Otherwise the Avengers would get pretty bored.

So, watching movies or going out dancing at a club aren't really Avenger-type activities, then?

[She's joking, but it is quite an image, envisioning fully costumed superheroes out on the dance floor.]

Well, maybe for some of them. [He's not so sure he'd find Captain America or the Hulk at a rave.] The Young Avengers, on the other hand...

So, how old does a person have to be to be an Avenger as opposed to a Young Avenger?

[It's probably for the best that the regular Avengers aren't referred to as the Old Avengers, Bulla thinks.]

I'm... actually not sure. The Young Avengers haven't been around long enough to really transition into the other team. I guess right now it's teenagers versus adults?

So...what happens when one of you guys turns twenty? Is that when you'd become full Avengers, or would Young Avengers become teens and college age people?

I guess we'd be Avengers, yeah. I mean, assuming we got recruited. Honestly, we're still learning how to be Young Avengers, it's hard to imagine the whole growing up into the real deal.

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