selfhelp: ([billy] it's me. I'm the bad guy.)
William "Billy" Kaplan (Wiccan) ([personal profile] selfhelp) wrote2013-11-07 09:39 pm

[Action / Voice] House of M Follow-Up

[So... he's probably delayed this long enough, even if a part of him would love to delay it indefinitely. Not only is it a month overdue, but now that he's home again and fully recovered from whatever had been affecting his mind, putting it off any further will just make things more difficult. Frightened as he is of the consequences, he won't get anywhere if he keeps hiding. It's time to apologize for the damage his spell caused, and make things right... if he can.

First, Billy seeks out those he knows personally, friends or acquaintances whom he remembers being affected or involved. Whether they're people he hasn't spoken to since the spell was in place, or people who visited him while he was possessed and halfway out of his mind, he'll try to be as thorough as possible. Teddy accompanies him from place to place, bless him, and they can be found walking hand-in-hand through the village and talking quietly, though Billy will be speaking with the people he's looking for on his own. Teddy's there for moral support, nothing more; the rest is his responsibility.

After those visits, presumably the hard part is over, but there's one thing left to do - reach out to those he couldn't find, missed, or simply doesn't know, as well as the general populace who'd probably noticed strange things going on at the time. They deserve to know about... well. To put it bluntly, the menace to society that he can be. Not that he'd give that reason out loud. Certain people would take issue with it.

They'd be wrong, but.

This time, he uses the journal network, his voice tentative, worried, and sick with guilt, and it happens later in the evening:]


...Hey... it's Billy. Um, Kaplan. I'm kind of a witch. You might not know me. Sorry if you do. ...Last month, October 1st, I was sent back from a Malnosso abduction... kind of a mess. I wasn't thinking straight, and... I cast a spell. It... it screwed with a lot of people. Badly. I don't know the full extent of the damage it caused, or how far it went, but- I do know that- people were hurt. And I know I might not be able to make things right again, either.

["Might". His hope for that one is still pretty pathetic; the forgiveness he's already received is something of a miracle to him. The day's meetings are still weighing on him, and there's an ache in his heart that refuses to go away.]

...Still. I- I need to apologize. Whether or not the Malnosso were the cause, it's still my fault. S-so I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I'm so...

[....]

...I'm... not going to use magic anymore. I'm done. I'm no good. At it. I mean. I- sorry. ...This won't happen again. And if you want to yell at me, or get a better explanation of what happened, or... whatever you need, I'll... be here.

Thanks. For hearing me out.

[And... that's that.]
tryit: ([anger] hand on hip)

[personal profile] tryit 2013-11-08 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
William Kaplan!

[Her voice is sharp and loud as she barges into the apartment, not at all hesitant in using the spare key meant for emergencies. She rests on hand against her hip as the other holds the journal open, thumb bookmarking Billy's entry. She has barely been home for fifteen minutes before coming across his universal apology. Hell, she hasn't even changed out of her unitard yet.

But this? God, it sounds as bad as everything she said after Cassie died. As anything any of them said. She's seen him spend the better part of two years moping. She doesn't know if she can do that again.

Without waiting for a response, she continues, slamming the door behind her as she makes her way further into the apartment]


God, that sounded as bad as anything Clint might say. You don't get to do this. Punish yourself for something that was as much of an instinctive reaction as lashing out in anger is to someone else.
Edited 2013-11-08 03:34 (UTC)
touchofrogue: (Gloves On | Every Day Starts Like This)

[personal profile] touchofrogue 2013-11-08 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
[Rogue is not in the X-Man House.

She is also not in the Item Shop. Neither is she at Loki's, or in the Battle Dome, or in the library. She's in the stables, hair pulled up into a messy ponytail as she sets about doing some of the care for the wear and tear of the place. The door is open, and anyone could just come on inside...]
complicatedliar: (Default)

[action] wow so he also wants to call Billy a moron for the journal message...

[personal profile] complicatedliar 2013-11-08 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Loki is actually out and about a surprising amount. He's trying to get himself moving again, in an odd way following Rogue's example. He's out most of the day riding. But eventually, he does return to his house. Perhaps that's where Billy finds him.]
ledbythewind: (Windswept Prince)

[Voice]

[personal profile] ledbythewind 2013-11-08 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
[It takes Richard a while to respond to this. He's quiet at first, thinking it over-- or, more precisely, thinking the offer he's about to make over. He doesn't like sharing details of what he was responsible for in his world for obvious reasons; the only one here outside of his friends who knows the truth is Isamu, and Isamu is a special case.

But right now, something tells him that it might be exactly what Billy needs to hear. If nothing else, he can at least offer some sympathy from the position of someone who has been there.]


Would you mind if I came over?
iwannabethegai: (Default)

voice

[personal profile] iwannabethegai 2013-11-08 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shu doesn't know Billy. He's feeling sympathetic for the other person because they sound very apologetic.]

Are you sure you don't want to use magic? Because I've seen just how much magic can help people. [He's been trying to learn magic himself. Although, Billy's apology got him to reconsider learning Filial magic. Can it really be that harmful?]

Does using magic now make you feel uncomfortable?
neversurrender: ([PB] =|)

voice;

[personal profile] neversurrender 2013-11-08 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Steve hadn't been personally effected by Billy's magic, but he had seen from the outside the kind of effects it had had on people. With so many of the people close to him being effected it was impossible for him not to notice, especially when the fall-out came. Steve had wanted to do something then, to reach out and help, or something. But the situation was too far over his head, and before he knew it it was over. Then there were other things to worry about.

But now...this, it brings back Steve's guilt for trying hard enough. For not at least going to check and see if Billy was okay. It's a mistake he wants to correct. Now.]


Would you mind having some company now?

[He's not going to mention anything Billy just said. Not yet. There are some things better left in person to discuss.]
frost_jewel: (thoughtful)

[voice]

[personal profile] frost_jewel 2013-11-09 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
It seems you've had a busy day.

[They did not talk in person, and she believes more than enough people have taken him to task about what they think of his decision.]

Did it help you?
250mhzwabl: (there is fiction in the space between)

[voice]

[personal profile] 250mhzwabl 2013-11-09 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
[Jack had just assumed that what had happened a month ago was some sort of shift, honestly, with how widespread it had been. That it had been Billy - Billy, of all people! - comes as a surprise. Because sure, Jack had been sort of suspicious that most New Yorkers in Luceti were actually superheroes, and Billy had done a few things here and there to lift Jack's eyebrow in his general direction. But at the same time, he's the Billy who let Jack rip the better part of his music collection. He's the Billy who nearly pissed himself over a Slenderman video game. Hearing that tone in his voice . . . magic or no magic, it leaves Jack feeling a little sick to his stomach, both with the immediacy of the situation and the detached, distant familiarity of it.]

Hey, Billy. I- yeah, the thing didn't hit me, so it's not my place to forgive. But . . . well, I've seen friendly fire, I guess. And it's absolutely awful, you're right. But it's human too. Pretty common, even.

[He pauses, just a moment, put so soundly back into the world he'd left behind it's a little disorienting. But this had happened all the time, back at the beginning. Sometimes he wonders how many of the early deaths were really zoms, and how many were living men against one another.

He huffs a little noise that might have been a laugh, if there was so much as a smile in it.]


. . . now I feel like a right tit making you fetch us dinner.
handing: (subtle smile)

[action]

[personal profile] handing 2013-11-09 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
[Pepper isn't too hard to find, especially now. Enough time has gone by that she not only has started sticking to her normal schedule again, but she also enjoys it. There are still moments, of course, ones when she sees where something should be that catch her off guard. But by and large she's doing better, and she's glad for it.

So when Billy comes looking, Pepper is in the art gallery where she spends most of her days. She's clearly glad to see him as well; it's been quite some time, and she offers a friendly smile when he comes in.]


Hey, Billy. How are you doing today? [Maybe less than well. It looks like he has something on his mind.]
noitatnacni: (debriefing)

[voice]

[personal profile] noitatnacni 2013-11-09 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
You know that's not how it works, right?
wildbluevagner: (holo - dishwashing)

[Action]

[personal profile] wildbluevagner 2013-11-09 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kurt will be in the item shop, where he's in the process of lining up all the slinkies he was able to find on a shelf. The illusion still weighed on his heart - and gave him a mix of dreams and nightmares - but it was something he was trying to move on from. Having Kitty around and having fun with her had helped him to feel like he was in a simpler time at least - to worry about what had happened less.]
idealism: (kings over fours.)

[video]

[personal profile] idealism 2013-11-09 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[Tsuzuki didn't mean to scowl, but it's hard to feel sympathy for someone who abused his partner while on a power trip. In the end, the apology didn't do much, even though he would normally accept it. Hell, he would feel sympathy being unable to control his magic and destroying things in the process. But....]

Good. If you hurt people with your magic, it's better off not being used.
not_a_troll: (agreements are meant to be broken)

[action]

[personal profile] not_a_troll 2013-11-09 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Loki dreads difficult situations and conversations. Of course, he has his words and words have always come easy to him. But there is also a sense of betrayal, anger...emotions he rather does not have. He has no idea that Billy has been responsible for this, he figures it is a mean trick the Malnosso played on him. A very mean trick.

Because he knew he had Leah and Thor around him and he had been quite happy. Not that Loki dares to believe in a perfect life, things are never perfect. There was always a catch and if he would wish things to be perfect he had to work for it. But those days, he did.

Until that one day where they were gone and he was without them again. And he was so very sure that they were here, with him. Because Leah left a mean punch in the gut and he was quite sure he had been sitting on Thor's back when he flew above the village. And now his apartment was awfully empty again and Loki feels awfully empty as well.

He knows he will feel better eventually, get over it and move on. Time heals all wounds.

But then there is a knock on the door and Loki knows he has to get on his feet and pretend he is okay. Only not. And a full smile is difficult when he opens the door.]


Ah hello, hello. I have not prepared shaken milk...or tidied my quarters.
wise_maiden: (when you've got eyes like that)

[Voice]

[personal profile] wise_maiden 2013-11-09 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hm. She could lecture him, easily; so many others were jumping to do that one way or the other. But that tone... it was clear that this was something he thought he needed to do; a punishment to make up for something that he had caused. It was extreme, there was no doubt about that. In his current state of mind, however, being told that his solution was no better than what the problem itself had been...

Well. For now, really, she had other concerns.]


Billy, can you drop by the flower shop to see me tomorrow afternoon? Hopefully the weather will have cleared up by then. [And it would be a day off from school from her, so less stressful on all fronts with her current fear.]
maximoff_girl: (Blank)

[personal profile] maximoff_girl 2013-11-10 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
[For her part, Wanda is at work doing exactly what Billy no longer wants to; practicing magic. It's a more active meditation exercise she used to do with Agatha, Guiding and controlling the colour of light, making a shimmering aurora borealis in her room. It is tricky, still, though she is doing much better than she was when she first arrived. Re-learning to use her magic. Re-learning to control her magic.

It was a good thing.

Strangely, her hair is still long, left over from whatever strange shift assisted Kitty and hers costuming efforts. It's actually longer than it was in Billy's Perfect World, though the overall effect is basically the same. She plans on cutting it, she just... hasn't gotten around to it, yet.

She has had some time to adjust to the idea of really actually for real-reals having actual children in some other time or place. And that they're here. She's almost wrapped her head around it, actually. But her questions are bubbling, and whenever she and Billy next meet, he's liable to find himself on the receiving end of more than a few of them.]
fashionably_strong: (worried)

[Action] Please pretend this was on time

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2013-11-10 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Bulla hears the message, and she found Teddy in a rough state and gave him some of her energy so that he could function. Still, she can't be angry at Billy for what happened during a Malnosso experiment. Her life wasn't even tampered with, although she did notice several people she knows acting weird around then.

Rather than sit around, she decides to go and pay him a visit.

Knock, knock.
]

Billy? Are you in there?
widows_kiss: serious, curious (Patient)

[Action; cafe]

[personal profile] widows_kiss 2013-11-10 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Natasha's already spoken to him about what happened, so she doesn't reply over the journals when she hears his transmission. Although she's not surprised when she sees him slip into the coffee shop late that evening, looking miserable. She starts making him a drink before he's even found an empty seat, bringing it over to him a few moments later as she slides it across the table and sinks down across from him.]

Rough day?
folklorist: (Dour. Something is coming)

[voice]

[personal profile] folklorist 2013-11-11 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ah so it was Billy who had caused such turmoil in Max those few weeks ago. Helios can't be angry at the young man for what happened as he wasn't affected directly. It would be contradictory even if it had affected Max because he caused something of a similar fallout with he own problems back last August. He sighs and he sounds a bit dour because it's always sad when such a promising mage of talent gives up on their livelihood. ] A similar thing h-happened to me as well around l-last August. It-it takes some time to, ah, recover from it. [ He's still not entirely recovered after all is said and done. ]

You sh-shouldn't give up magic though, just because of what the Malnosso made you do. You could l-learn to control it better.
abjurer: (Miserable)

[Voice] Locked 75%

[personal profile] abjurer 2013-11-12 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
[He isn't sure if he should say anything. Really, it might be better if he just... avoided Billy for a while after everything that had happened. It's brought too many dangerous thoughts to the surface, that edge of fear. But that last bit...]

It won't work. Giving up magic I mean. Innate magic is part of you. Giving it up isn't that easy.
halfnhalf: ([teddy] mmm frappucino)

[action]

[personal profile] halfnhalf 2013-11-13 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Teddy had seen the message early on, and he felt a wave of exasperation and worry. It's no different from going door to door and apologizing like Billy did earlier, but - Teddy had wanted to be there when he made his journal message. Offer support, talk to him in between replies...

He almost goes home right then. But seeing Billy talk, and seeing the replies, the fact that several people had decided to go visit him... Teddy would rather not barge in on a conversation between the two of them.

So he stays. The sun's setting, and Optimus is wearing down, but he stays outside anyway.

It's night time by the time Teddy and OP get home. Teddy knocks first, then unlocks the door and steps inside, allowing Optimus to sidestep around him and go straight to Billy. Teddy, meanwhile, leans back against the door frame, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, though the small, half smile lets him know that he's not really mad.]


Hey... You couldn't have waited for me? [He raises is journal, open on Billy's post.]
alloys: (☢ if it's a broken part replace it;)

[ action ] could i be any later to this post

[personal profile] alloys 2013-11-15 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Billy will find Tony at home, in a rare moment when he's there by himself, picking through old notes he and Jane put together before the portal project. He doesn't expect to find any stunning revelation there - he'd been over them too many times for that. Truth told, he wasn't even sure why he was bothering reviewing them. But it's let his mind wander to the comfortable complexity of physics and he barely hears the front door open - or Billy entering with Pepper.

If they needed him, they'd come to him. ]