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“I appreciate your help,” he replied earnestly, feeling a sense of calm wash over him as she took his hand as if to lead him. He could deactivate the spell that was draining his energy, and he didn’t have to materialize his cane. He trusted her explicitly, and part of his mind told him that he was being foolish - after all, being a fan of someone and knowing them were two entirely different things. But this... felt deeper than that. Perhaps his powers had truly attuned enough that he could sometimes sense intention. That was nerve-wracking to think about. Either way, he knew that she didn’t have any ill will toward him.
It was with a sigh of relief that he concluded the spell, feeling a brief bout of lightheadedness. His magic had gotten stronger, even perhaps more intense for lack of an accurate description. Still, this was advanced stuff. He’d been gaining power in a way that made him fear growing faster than he could learn.
Without thinking, he began to talk, perhaps in part to sort through what he wanted to say to Charles, or perhaps simply because he was grateful for an ear.
“I’ve been.. trying to figure something out for a long time, actually. And... I thought Professor X might be able to help. I don’t know if you can feel it, but... something is...” he paused for a moment, thinking about what he was trying to say. “Something’s wrong. With my powers. It all started... when I was with SHIELD.”
The Soul Reason (Wanda & Billy) 20 September 2016
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“Wanda,” Billy repeated, letting it register for a moment. He had been, first and foremost, a fan of superheroes, long before he’d developed his own powers. A temporal anomaly, the name Wanda... a light went on, and his soft smile turned into a grin, though he tried to keep himself from being too enthusiastic. Now really, really wasn’t the time.
“Wanda Maximoff, right? As in, the Scarlet Witch?” he offered out his hand, still fairly confident as to her whereabouts. Soon, he’d have to deactivate the spell - it did no good to sap himself entirely of energy in a foreign place.
“Sorry, that was rude, I didn’t even introduce myself properly-” he added a little sheepishly. “I am... Doctor Strange’s apprentice. My name is Billy Kaplan. I used to think I was just a mutant with lightning powers, but.... it turns out... you and I have some similarities,” he admitted. There was no reason to hide it from her, right? He had no reason not to trust her.
It seemed the world had it in its mind for him to encounter the Maximoffs one by one, the first one having been Lorna. But he had to admit, having someone he’d looked up to once offer to help him made him feel relieved, and even a little comfortable. Even if Xavier’s didn’t have the help he needed, it was a step somewhere - in a direction, if not the right one. He could no longer stand still.
The Soul Reason (Wanda & Billy) 20 September 2016
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Billy Kaplan had come to the end of his rope. It seemed that every single avenue he explored was a dead end, and things still didn’t feel right. He was convinced, by now, that it was not a lack of acceptance of his blindness - this was something deeper. And even with the vast libraries available to him in the Sanctum Sanctorum, there was only so much he could do alone. This perpetual cloud surrounding him had become more palpable - was it the fact that his magic was growing, too, or something else?
Still, he had not explored all his options, and he had found ways to make his life easier as he continued his research. For example, he was currently operating a spell that allowed him to mentally visualize shapes around him, making it infinitely easier to navigate. It was nothing like a lack of visual impair, but in blacks and grays, he could make out shapes, for a short period of time. It took a good deal of magic. Still, in an unfamiliar area such as he was, it came in handy.
He had teleported to the gates of Xavier’s School, walking up the pathway. He noted a good deal of movement on the lawn, and a temporal anomaly ahead of him that disappeared as soon as it began. His nerves beat in his throat, but he steeled his resolve. Perhaps, he had reasoned, if something was going on in his mind, Professor X would be the one to help. But as he approached the building, it was not Charles Xavier that he encountered.
There was a woman seated on the porch, and his own auras confirmed that she was the source of the temporal anomaly. Her shape, as odd as it was to say, was familiar to him, but he didn’t want to assume. He drew his jacket closer, stepping through the altered terrain until he was near enough to speak.
“Sorry to interrupt your morning coffee,” he began, attempting to sound relatively confident. He looked at her with sightless eyes, offering a sheepish smile. He could smell her hot beverage - he had learned to focus on his other senses. Perhaps it had been... good for him, if only in that way.
“I was looking for Professor Xavier... I had a few questions for him. Do you... know where I might be able to find him?”
The Soul Reason (Wanda & Billy) 20 September 2016
Charles Xavier’s school for young mutants could only ever be a temporary solution to a complex problem. Wanda had the nagging feeling as she watched a few teenage mutants in the lawn dodging laser grids and jumping over exploding bombs in preparation for war. What else could it be? They were preparing the same way she had been prepared–whether they were on the same side was up for debate. Here they were, away from their families, away from the rest of civilization. They were being kept cloistered. It was for their own good, of course, but for how long? This solution to keep them in the middle could never last. Her father believed mutants could and should take over the world. Wanda herself had tried to live amongst them–happily for some years. In the end, this had failed. How long could Charles Xavier’s school stay in the middle, not part of a Mutant Triumph, and not integrated with the world at large? It couldn’t be permanent. Wanda would be interested to see what happened to it when one side ultimately prevailed over the other.
Silver spoon clinked against porcelain cup as Wanda stirred her coffee and tapped the extra drops off. The first day of fall had arrived with a chill that bit her skin and made Wanda wish she had packed something heavier when she had left the Avengers Facility. She would be back soon enough, if she returned at all. She hadn’t yet called Vision, for fear he would track her location from the phone. Perhaps when she left, then, she would make contact, then leave for her next location. Back at home, he was probably lonely without her. She was certainly lonely without him. Since he had come back from his time away, this week was the first he hadn’t been by her side. She had underestimated how used she was to having him around the house and in her bed. Then again, it may be the new house that had her up in the middle of the night and needing coffee so badly. Or maybe it was the uncertainty of what she was doing.
A young woman tripped over something in the grass–a sprinkler, perhaps–and fell towards some flagstone steps. Wanda flicked her wrist towards her, meaning to set her upright, but instead the lawn flattened itself out. The steps disappeared and the pathway extended down an even landscape. That was quite possibly the most difficult way to keep someone from falling down the steps. Wanda waited to see if anyone would notice. The girl got up, shaking and relieved.
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Something about Coulson’s advice bolstered Billy’s confidence, though he supposed he should have expected it. He’d never had a bad conversation with the man - there was something about him that was just... mentor-y. He even smiled a little, nodding as the older man instructed him. It all made sense. So much sense, in fact, he didn’t even have the urge to argue, and he couldn’t feel sorry for himself. The plan, all in all, was too solid.
“You’re absolutely right,” he replied. Despite all of his concerns, it was like Phil had just slapped a band-aid of logic and understanding over it and told him to suck it up - in the nicest way possible. That was Phil, really, when boiled down to brass tacks. Caring, Wise, and with a casual approach to No-Nonsense. Perhaps that was why his advice resonated so well.
“Training with the team, first. I never thought of that. I wonder if they’d have me..?” he couldn’t help a smile quirking upward from the corners of his mouth at the idea. The thought that he might get to work with his friends... that was something to reach for.
“That way, we could really get in sync, really - work with what we have. I wouldn’t have to worry about being a distraction or a liability. I’d could just - get better, and still be working toward something. Wow. Why didn’t I think of that..?” he laughed, the faintest sound, but the expression on his face was clear. Such a simple thing had given him... hope.
I like Hot Dogs || Billy & Phil
“Oh, yeah, nothing exciting at all. Sounds like I didn’t miss anything,” Billy deadpanned, taking a bite of his hot dog. He found it funny, but also… well, a little bit sad. There could have been a zombie apocalypse and he would have just been holed up in medical, and then in his bedroom. He wondered if the disease had broken out while he was in medical, or at the Sanctum Sanctorum. If it was the latter, well, that would just add to the guilt that he’d checked out so thoroughly he didn’t even know anything had happened to Clea.
He tried not to dwell on it. No use kicking himself over things that had passed, he’d just have to try extra hard not to fall by the wayside again. After all, people got busy and things got brushed aside, but he had good friends that cared about him. If he would have asked… they would have been there. When they weren’t busy being kidnapped or almost dying, apparently.
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Billy willingly allowed Stephen to lead him to sit, feeling a great relief as he did. It had been a bit of an endeavor, really, to get as far as he had. It was all so overwhelming. He supposed this was what it would feel like to get well again - slowly, carefully plotting out each place anew, feeling them once more through both his emotional instability and physical, until both were strong again. It seemed an almost insurmountable task - but he hadn’t come this far to give up.
He listening with grateful patience as Dr. Strange began to recount his story, and in a way, sad as it was, it felt then as if their weight was shared. That if he could understand, and even empathize with Stephen’s story, than the other man was surely doing the same. It seemed to Billy to be some sort of magic, though he was quite certain that nothing had been cast between the two of them. Yet, it still came to pass that an invisible and entirely metaphorical thread began to unravel itself from his heart, slowly untangling with the carefully chosen words from his mentor, gentle fingers in the knotted bits of string. And for the first time in months, that ever-present constriction lightened, however slightly, and his heart beat what felt like a full pulse. He couldn’t deny the small sigh of relief that passed his lips, even as Dr. Strange’s hands shook just the slightest bit - the contact was still reassurance, perhaps all the moreso for their now-shared encounter with seemingly impossible obstacle.
Then, as if to cement in the affirmation, Doctor Strange reminded him of yet another important fact - that he had friends. Family. He had support. These people he had shut out for months, perhaps some of them would still have him. The thought caused those strings around his heart, loosened though they were, to pull upward. He even sat straighter, then, battling with the conflicting emotion. What if they didn’t take him back? Certainly, some would. Stephen had. He nodded, swallowing, as he tried to find his tongue and subsequently his voice in his suddenly dry and speechless mouth.
“Y--” he pressed his lips together, wet them, and tried again. It wasn’t going to be easy, he told himself. That was fine.
“You’re right. I know, you’re absolutely-” he shook his head, his hands unmoved from where they had been resting. “Thank you. For... telling me and, and for reminding me,” he added, taking a moment to inhale, exhaling as much of his nerves as he could rid himself of.
“I... shut everyone out. I didn’t mean to, and I didn’t think about- how... worried... they must have been. Talking to them now... it’s the least -” No, that wasn’t it. This wasn’t supposed to be about obligation. He shook his head, trying again.
“It’s important. I know that if I’m going to get... better... I’ll need them. I’m... really lucky, aren’t I? To have you, Mom, Dad... everyone.”
One More Time With Feeling | Billy & Stephen
“I’m, um- Well, I’m better than I was,” Billy tried, his small spark of optimism (or at least realism) leaking through his voice, making it past that heavy block around his head. It pulled at him in strange places, making his throat tight, his head ache. Sometimes it felt like something was actually there, but - no, there was no way. It was all in his head, wasn’t it? So many things were, these days.
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#stephenstrange-sorcerersupreme#deityintraining#c: doctor strange#c: billy kaplan#enjoy my insomnia laden purple prose wow it's been a while for that
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Crashing Down [Billy & Cassie]
It had been a hell of a day... or maybe week. In fact, for Billy Kaplan, it had been a hell of a half a year - at least. Ever since that failed mission, his life had felt like a living nightmare. And just when he’d picked himself up and started resuming life as normal, it had all started falling apart. Bit by bit, small things here and there, until his magic was going haywire and he was knocking out robbers (?) in a coffee shop and falling unconscious, himself. He had been fortunate that Lorna had been there, and taken him away from the scene. Who knows what might have happened if the cops had arrived.
She had seen him home - or back to the Sanctum, rather. Billy wasn’t sure where to be, now that he knew his magic had gone up in flames. He supposed that, were it to come down to it, Doctor Strange was the most equipped to deal with him. He sorely hoped it would not, in fact, come to anything of the sort.
Sitting on the stoop, the pounding headache having progressed to something in between a migraine and something sinus, he groaned aloud. Despite being unable to see, he could almost sense the light around him, and it was too much. He thought about calling for Doctor Strange, but somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered something about the man being out today - and he really didn’t want to bother Wong. He’d done that enough over the past few months. Picking up his phone, he dialed his best friend - Kate.
Having gone straight to voice mail, he swore, trying not to get emotional. He really didn’t know what he should be doing. In fact, he could barely think straight. Something was very wrong - but really, he wasn’t sure what the source was. Maybe he was getting sick. His magic had occasionally gone haywire when he was sick - but nothing more than accidentally floating a sofa...
He’d call Teddy. He knew that the other had been dealing with plenty of things himself, but... well, he also knew his friend would support him when he needed it. He instructed the phone to dial the shapeshifter, listening to it ring over and over until it finally went to voice mail again. He cleared his throat, trying to sound all right.
“Hey, Teddy, just - thought I’d give you a call - haven’t really seen you since Valentine’s, and... I know I’ve been wrapped up in - all of this - I’m hoping it’ll get resolved soon, I just... miss you. And - er- I sort of had a favor to ask. Don’t rush in calling back, though. I -” he took a deep breath. “I’m fine. Talk to you later, yeah? ...Bye.”
He took a shaky breath, trying not to cry. It was a battle he was losing - he felt like he’d just run a mile with a bad case of the flu, and he didn’t even know why. Maybe he should call Doctor Strange. He’d know what to do. But then... he’d been enough of a burden on him, too. Who else was there..? His parents? No. They wouldn’t know what to do, and they’d be worried sick. Playing with his phone in his hands, he went on a whim.
“Call Cassie,” he instructed, resting his head back against the building.
“Please, please pick up...” he whispered, pressing his lips into a tight line, trying t stay composed.
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‘Metal is kind of my thing,’ The statement rang a bell. What did she say her name was..? Billy sat up slowly, bringing a hand to his aching head. This was wrong. Something felt very, very wrong. He shouldn’t be tapped out like this, and he definitely shouldn’t go off like a bomb. Sure, he’d had some troubles while getting a hold of his powers, but nothing like this. He took a deep breath.
“You... you’re.. Polaris, aren’t you?” he asked quietly, not sure how close they were to anyone else. Probably not very, he didn’t hear much movement. If there was one little known fact about Billy Kaplan - save for within his circle of friends - it was that he had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. After all, he had been a fan before his powers had manifested.
“Anyway- um, I was just having a coffee. You know, trying to have a good day. These guys busted in. They were holding the cashier at gunpoint, I could tell there were at least three.. maybe five of them? I asked them to let her go, and they were talking to me, but.. I mean, I guess a guy had snuck up behind me, because next thing I knew, he got clubbed with what - uh, sounded like a chair, by some patron, I guess, and then there was a scuffle. I just sort of panicked. I tried to make them stop, but my powers....” he fell silent, swallowing hard. It wasn’t a good omen.
“They did something I didn’t ask them to. I’m lucky they were only knocked unconscious. I... I’m not an active duty superhero, you know. I just wanted...” to help, he thought, frowning.
Wrong place wrong time||Lorna and Billy||April 4th, 2016
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Something about the Woman’s voice struck a chord with Billy, but he couldn’t quite place it. He did, however, feel like he could trust her. Her touch was gentle and her voice was reassuring. But the name... wasn’t something he recognized, not immediately. Though, it wasn’t one that too many people had, anymore.
“Billy,” he replied without hesitation. “Should we move..?” he asked hesitantly. He wasn’t particularly keen on the idea, but his head was probably going to keep pounding whether he was sprawled out on something metal in the park or walking somewhere safer. As it stood, he was still a little bit disoriented.
“How did I get here?” he figured that question probably should have come before asking to move, but things were a little jumbled, right now. He was proud of himself for thinking at all. “Were you there, when it happened? Is everyone okay..?”
Now that it was coming back to him, he was starting to feel a little bit worried about everything. It wasn’t often he lost control of his powers like that. In fact, the idea of losing control really concerned him. He knew that learning to control your powers was something every mutant or - well, probably anyone with powers, really - went through. That wouldn’t have made it any easier to explain to anyone. ‘Sorry, sometimes it just kind of escapes,’ wasn’t particularly confidence inspiring, and neither was ‘Wow, this is really strange. That shouldn’t have happened.’ -- It sounded like the criminals who had broken in were alive, just unconscious, so that was good. Unfortunately, he had been, too. He wondered what would have happened if Lorna hadn’t found him.
He didn’t want to think about that for too long.
Wrong place wrong time||Lorna and Billy||April 4th, 2016
When Billy woke up, blinking blearily, he realized quite quickly that;
1. He didn’t know where he was, and -
2. His head was absolutely killing him.
Where he was laid down definitely did not feel like the floor of the coffee shop, and before his senses kicked in enough for him to really think or worried, he had lack of common sense to lament the loss of his coffee. That was, of course, before the panic set in. He gasped, trying to sit up, but the pain in his head multiplied as he did, and he returned to his former position, taking a slow and calming breath.
He would be fine, everything was fine. He was fine..?
He reached a hand up, feeling around his head. No cuts. Hopefully no concussion. But, he reminded himself, he still didn’t know where he was.
“Hello..?” he called out, not wanting to yell. First off, his head would probably have something to say about that, too, and secondly, well, he had no idea where he was. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, grimacing as his thumb ran across a shattered screen. Well that’s what happens, he told himself morosely, when you keep it in your back pocket and decide to faint. He’d have to get the newer model, this time. He’d heard those things were virtually unbreakable, which was something apparently even hiatus’d superheroes needed.
Still trying to orient himself, he flipped the ringer on with his thumbnail and tested the volume. At least that worked, which meant the phone was operational, despite the shattered screen. He could call Teddy. Or… Doctor Strange, or maybe his parents, but… well, Teddy would yell the least. Probably. Maybe he’d call Kate.
The mage grasped the phone, tucking it away again for a moment. Seeing as he didn’t know where he was, he also didn’t know if he was in a friendly area. If someone was out to get him, the first thing they’d do is finish off the phone. It made sense, right? Make sure he couldn’t call anyone. Then again, if his magic wasn’t so tapped, he could just teleport home…
“Hello?” he called out again, wondering if he’d even spoken aloud the first time. Maybe it had come off as more of a groan - he wouldn’t have been surprised. “Who’s there? Where am I?”
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When Billy woke up, blinking blearily, he realized quite quickly that;
1. He didn’t know where he was, and -
2. His head was absolutely killing him.
Where he was laid down definitely did not feel like the floor of the coffee shop, and before his senses kicked in enough for him to really think or worried, he had lack of common sense to lament the loss of his coffee. That was, of course, before the panic set in. He gasped, trying to sit up, but the pain in his head multiplied as he did, and he returned to his former position, taking a slow and calming breath.
He would be fine, everything was fine. He was fine..?
He reached a hand up, feeling around his head. No cuts. Hopefully no concussion. But, he reminded himself, he still didn’t know where he was.
“Hello..?” he called out, not wanting to yell. First off, his head would probably have something to say about that, too, and secondly, well, he had no idea where he was. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, grimacing as his thumb ran across a shattered screen. Well that’s what happens, he told himself morosely, when you keep it in your back pocket and decide to faint. He’d have to get the newer model, this time. He’d heard those things were virtually unbreakable, which was something apparently even hiatus’d superheroes needed.
Still trying to orient himself, he flipped the ringer on with his thumbnail and tested the volume. At least that worked, which meant the phone was operational, despite the shattered screen. He could call Teddy. Or... Doctor Strange, or maybe his parents, but... well, Teddy would yell the least. Probably. Maybe he’d call Kate.
The mage grasped the phone, tucking it away again for a moment. Seeing as he didn’t know where he was, he also didn’t know if he was in a friendly area. If someone was out to get him, the first thing they’d do is finish off the phone. It made sense, right? Make sure he couldn’t call anyone. Then again, if his magic wasn’t so tapped, he could just teleport home...
“Hello?” he called out again, wondering if he’d even spoken aloud the first time. Maybe it had come off as more of a groan - he wouldn’t have been surprised. “Who’s there? Where am I?”
Wrong place wrong time||Lorna and Billy||April 4th, 2016
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Really, Billy Kaplan had just wanted a coffee. For once in his life, he just wanted to go to a coffee shop, get a coffee, benefit from the slight caffeine buzz, and be on his way. He thought this exact phrase, as if he routinely had extraordinary things happen to him when he went to get coffee, and this really was not the case. It was rather that Billy had been in sort of a mood lately, for a few decently good reasons, and the last thing he had wanted to do was superheroing of any sort.
The problem with that, as most hiatused superheroes tended to discover, was that trouble always seemed to find them. And the majority of them just didn’t have it in them to stand by and watch. So, when a small gang of men had rushed the coffee house (it had been his first time there, too. What if he’d just gone to Starbucks? He should have gone to Starbucks), he had listened carefully, letting the situation progress only until he’d heard the scream of the cashier that had gotten him coffee only minutes before. It seemed that one of the employees had been wrapped up in something pretty sketchy. Words like ‘powers’ and ‘mutant growth hormone’ were getting thrown around, and that had been enough. Billy had seen a few of these situations, and he knew how they ended.
Standing up, he’d asked for them to leave. Well, shouted, more like. People didn’t tend to take lithe, slightly dorky looking teens very seriously. He might have been out of practice, but he was still willing to wager that underestimating him was a really bad idea. He tried to focus on movement, sensing what was going on. His keen senses could pick up that no one had left the coffee house (okay, there was a bell on the door), and there wasn’t the sound of much fighting. It was a standoff. Even the woman behind the counter didn’t scuffle.
“Let go of her,” he commanded. He wasn’t sure how many men he would have to take on - maybe five? He knew there were blind superheroes, he thought of them often, but he still couldn’t figure out how they did it. Guess he was about to find out.
“Oh, and you’re gonna stop me, kiddo?” came a gruff voice. He moved his head to where it had come from - by the cash register. The man holding the woman hostage.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to,” he replied honestly, and in that moment, he felt kind of cool. That feeling faded quickly, however, as a scuffle ensued. The sound of someone getting hit with something heavy rang out nearby him, and he gathered that there had been a man much closer to him than he thought, and that someone had hit him over the head with a chair. Kudos to the badass who must’ve had a triple shot of espresso in their drink, but that set off a chain reaction.
Amid the screaming, scuffling, and fighting, the man behind the counter seemed to be growing anxious. Rightfully so, too much of a commotion would bring the attention of outsiders. Besides, someone had probably already called the police.
“Everyone on the ground, hands up, or I shoot her!” he yelled, and only a few seconds decision echoed the resounding agreement from the customers as the all dropped to their knees, surrendering.
“You’re not going to shoot anyone,” Billy replied, focusing all of his energy. It felt like wading through a thick muck, like his real power was in there somewhere, behind all the despair and disuse. But it was there. He was, after all, a superhero.
“I want you to stop I want you to stop I want you to stop-” he chanted, blue light surrounding him and spreading out in a blast throughout the coffee house. Several thuds sounded, and then a shaky voice - the cashier - called out, as if for his benefit -
“They’re dead!” A moment’s pause followed, in which Billy was sure the color had drained from his face. No way. There was no way he’d just murdered those men-
“They’re unconscious,” Came another voice, and the mage breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“Thank you-”
“I’m calling an ambulance-”
“The police are on their way-”
Voices began to blur, swirling around Billy as he stood in the center of several unconscious men, and then fatigue and lightheadedness overtook him, and he joined them, his body falling limp to the floor.
Wrong place wrong time||Lorna and Billy||April 4th, 2016
Lorna walked the streets of a town she had called home for a few years, her fingers flying over the touchscreen of her phone. She was headed out of New York soon. She’d been moving between her apartment in upstate, where she currently was, the apartment in New York City for Serval and the group home (that sounded like some halfway house and gave her the heebeegeebees) in Virginia. It was time to head back.
Her emotions were running the gamut lately. She’d been run through the ringer a lot more than she wanted to admit. With Scott and Jean coming back to life. With Alex magically appearing again and thinking he had a chance to make it right after what he’d done… the man was a fool if he thought she had actually waited for him. Maybe Juggernaut should have let her kill him.
She sighed and shook her head. She wasn’t going to dwell on that. Or any of it. She’d seen her sister a few days ago for the first times since the wedding that never happened and it had been… nice. Sad and shocking, but nice as well. She missed her sister. The only one in her family she really talked to was her brother. She spoke to her father once in awhile, but she just didn’t agree with his methods and she wanted to experience the world. Branch out on her own.
Okay, it hadn’t all been bad, if she was being honest with herself. Her and Scott were… She had no idea, what they were, but she knew there was something there. She really hoped this, whatever it was, worked out. She was all in now, even if maybe she shouldn’t be. She’d wanted to be back then, but the job with Serval had prevented that.
Lorna stopped when she heard a commotion, looking up from the phone she’s been so focused on that she’d almost missed her destination. Her favorite coffee shop in the little town sat on the corner and she’d almost walked right past it. Fortunately, something had caught her attention and forced her to focus, unfortunately, whatever the commotion was was coming from Steampunks coffee shop.
Without thought, Lorna was putting her phone into her bag and sprinting forward hoping to help in any way she could, despite not knowing what it was she was walking into.
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All Possible Worlds | Billy & 616 Avengers Founding Members
It was raining; a vast, heavy downpour that had started as a drizzle until the sky had decided to open up. Billy couldn’t see it - he hadn’t seen anything in a long while - but he liked to imagine that the clouds had literally parted in order to dump bucketfuls of water down on the city of New York like it had ordered a mediocre car wash at one of the sketchy gas stations near the bridge.
It wasn’t normally a complaining matter, a bit of rain never did anyone any harm, but as it was, he was stuck several blocks from the Sanctum Sanctorum, having been spending the afternoon once again in Washington Square Park. He wondered if he had become a fixture, like the middle aged woman who came every weekend to feed the squirrels, each of whom had their own name. He also wondered if Squirrel Girl had ever visited Washington Square Park. Tippy Toe would have plenty of friends.
The idea of navigating wet and busy streets of Greenwich Village was not at all appealing to the young mage, who still took his relative time while moving around the areas he was comfortable in, all things considered. But the other option was the use of his powers, and he was equally uncertain of that outcome. It wasn’t as if he had sworn them off - he’d used them around the girl who had been helping him research his conundrum, as well as the occasional transport spell. In truth, it made him a little bit anxious every time, after the mission that he couldn’t remember. What was worse, was he felt tired, like every time he used magic it was being sucked out of him. He had reasoned with himself that it was the lack of use, but it really didn’t ease his anxiety all that much.
Nonetheless, after some quick deliberation, he decided it was the best option. With a quiet chant of “I want to be back at the Sanctum Sanctorum,” he found himself on the porch, still sopping wet. He didn’t even bother to try a spell to lighten his dripping clothes, his magic was always startlingly absent whenever it benefited him directly. He would be lying, of course, if he didn’t admit privately to having wondered about whether or not that was related to his own self consciousnesses, but that was an issue for another day.
As he trudged through the hallway of the Sanctum Sanctorum, he felt more than a little bit guilty for dripping all the way up the stairs and to his bedroom. He supposed, had he his wits about him, he could have stopped at a lower floor bathroom or even the tiled kitchen to rid himself of the worst offending pieces of clothing, but as it was, there was simply now a trail that clearly communicated ‘Billy got stuck in the rain.’
He threw his wet clothing piece by piece onto an old iron heater by the window, one that to his recollection had never been on. The house, like many other older installations in the city, sported plenty of notes from its old life, though it was now heated by other means. Had he not been damp and suffering from that vague chill that clung strongly to skin after you had shed it of wet, sticking clothes, he might’ve had the presence of mind to wonder if it was heated supernaturally. But then, that was a bit silly, wasn’t it? Why do things the hard way?
The sodden magic user pulled on a pair of dry sleep pants and a t-shirt, not intending to leave the Sanctum again that day. Heck, he’d be lucky if he left his room. One unexpected downpour was more than enough to spoil the effort he’d been making to pick up his mood. A nice, sunny day out at the park. What could possibly go wrong?
With an exaggerated sigh, the teen laid back on his bed, trying to focus on the slightly warmer temperature of the inside air. His mind wandered to a hundred different places, but settled firmly on superheroes. His life had been a roller coaster since his powers had properly manifested, and this was just another downturn. It wasn’t all bad, no. There was Teddy, and Kate, and - well.. everyone was a superhero, still. Even after the fall of shield, after his own swearing off superheroing (at least until everything was figured out) the rest of them even sort of had, well, a team. The Young Avengers. Kate had mentioned it, and really, the names were appropriate. They’d all sort of taken after an avenger, hadn’t they? And, who was he? Thor? That was a laugh. Sure, his first manifested power had been lightning, but that was where the similarities ended.
As his thoughts drifted, he wondered what it would have been like if they had been The Young Avengers first. If SHIELD hadn’t happened. Maybe, just maybe... things wouldn’t be like this. Maybe he would be able to see, and maybe he would still be a superhero. A proper one. He hadn’t even trained with Doctor Strange since everything had happened, and sometimes he wondered why he didn’t just go home. But that would be giving up, and he wasn’t going to do that. At the very least, he would try to push forward. If only he could go backward, instead. That would be easier, wouldn’t it? Pedaling backward on a bike didn’t get you very far, but there wasn’t much resistance, either. Maybe he could just... coast.
What if they could go back, before everything went the way it did? Or better yet, what if everyone had made different choices -- or even had been different people? Would everything have changed, or would he still end up here, some parallel universe Wiccan, still blind, still without answers? What if the Avengers had formed differently, what if SHIELD hadn’t fallen? As he began to wonder, playing through thoughts and ideas in his head, he felt warmer - as if the thoughts themselves had comforted him, wrapping him like a warm blanket that had just come out of the dryer. The thought that somewhere in the multiverse, there might be a universe where everything was okay. Where everything felt okay. If only...
“I want everything to go back to the beginning,” he lamented sadly, exhaling in the newly found warmth. It cocooned him, and he suddenly felt very tired indeed - the rain must have taken a lot out of him, or so he reasoned. Still, wishing did very little good in the long run, didn’t it? What was that Harry Potter quote - it did not do well to dwell on dreams? Well, maybe Dumbledore was right, but that wasn’t going to stop him from taking a good, solid nap.
The young mage began to slip off into the refuge of his dreams, then, oblivious to the blue energy swirling around him - or the fact that nearby, small cracks had begun to form on the surface of reality.
#All Possible Worlds#C: Billy Kaplan#I'm not sure who all ended up involved in this so I left the title somewhat vague#And I'm sure if anyone wants to be involved just hit us up?
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Billy chuckled slightly, a little more genuine as she spoke about his magic - and the blindness. It was all linked, in a way, somehow, he just... couldn’t put his finger on it. Shaking his head slightly, he ran a hand through his hair, thinking about how best to reply.
“Here’s the thing... I’ve got access to all of the books in the Sanctum Sanctorum - well, almost all of them. Dr. Strange is a literal plethora of magical information, but the biggest problem is.. I don’t know where to start,” he sighed, folding his hands in his lap. He wasn’t really sure what else to do, and he didn’t want to fidget.
“I.. don’t have any memories from the night. I was on a mission, I got separated. I woke up in medical with amnesia and... without any sight,” he took a deep breath in through his nose, releasing it slowly. “I’ve tried spells to jog my memory, I’ve tried having people read to me about - extra dimensional beings, amnesia spells, blindness - blindness spells. Tried reversing. Counteracting. Counter-curses, nothing. And all I know is that.. sometimes it just feels... heavy?” he bit his lip, thinking about how to word what he was feeling.
“At first, I thought it was the depression, you know? I mean, my - depression. I thought it was just worse than it had been but - but it feels sometimes like there’s literally a cloud around my head. Darkness, you know? Like something’s there, and it’s just... sucking all the life out of me. Like a - did you ever read Harry Potter?” he grinned.
“Like a Dementor. But one that sucks energy even more than happiness. I don’t know, that really sounds dumb, doesn’t it? I don’t think anyone’s seen anything. And if Dr. Strange did, he sure didn’t tell me.”
Subtle Hints || Billy & Skye || 1/6/15
“Ah, well, not exactly,” Billy smiled in response to her last question first, but the smile certainly didn’t reach his ears. He wanted to be involved, it had been mentioned to him, but… he couldn’t, not with all of this. He wasn’t used to being blind yet - he would be more of a danger to them than a help. Besides, if something else was going on, well.. he couldn’t bring that kind of baggage to a team. He would have to deal with it, first. Who knew when it could come up - and if there was one thing he’d learned about being a hero, it was that your awful baggage always came up at the absolute worst time.
He shifted awkwardly, inclining his head toward the sky so as to give the illusion of not staring at her. They both knew full well that he couldn’t see, but he imagined that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable to have someone’s gaze fixed directly on you. “They… my friends are the Young Avengers. I’m just… Wiccan, I guess. I’m inactive. This- whatever is going on… I can’t bring it to a team. Not right now,” he said softly.
“Tell you what-” changing the subject, he let his palms rest on his thighs, thinking about what she had asked him. It probably was better that they didn’t just discuss this sort of thing out in the open, even though he really wasn’t sure he wanted to take her to the Sanctum Sanctorum. “I’ll cover the privacy issue - “ he thought for a minute. “And you’re probably cold, aren’t you? I can fix that, too, I think.”
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes out of habit, before speaking. “Iwantustogounnoticed - Iwantustogounnoticed-” he murmured, the two of them beginning to glow blue. As his verbal spellcasting faded, the blue settled into subtle shimmers around them, and people now walked by their bench without so much as glancing their way. “That should take care of that - try to call to someone passing by to test it out?” he added, and then held out his hand.
“If you don’t mind, just - take my hand a second - this’ll be easier if I can touch you,” he waited until she obliged, holding her hand gently. “Iwanthertobewarmer - Iwanthertobewarmer - Iwanthertobewarmer-” he felt a soft, subtle heat pass from him to her, and he sighed in relief. “Any better? I wasn’t sure that one was gonna work - I can never do it on myself…”
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Billy’s first, split-second feeling when Teddy asked him out for “Pal”entine’s Day was... well, confusion. They were friends, yes. Friends that... kept... kissing each other. Friends that stood as close as possible to each other, and didn’t - at this point - work under any false assumption that it was not noticed. Of course, to some extent, Billy passed it off as feeling comfortable around Teddy, trusting Teddy to lead him, not having to rely so much on his cane when the blond was around. But, that was only half true. After all, he was stubborn by nature, and rarely let Kate do more than open a door or steady him across the street.
He could hear a slight tone of amusement in his mother’s voice - his mother, who had helped him pick out an outfit for the night. Still spending most of his time in the Sanctum, he had been at his parent’s house for most of the week, and it just so happened his nicer clothes were still mostly there, too. She had been fully aware that he had been asked out for the evening - in fact, part of him wondered if she had been aware before he was, but he wasn’t going to question it. Billy had honestly forgotten what a good deal of his clothing looked like, save for his favorite pieces, so Mrs. Kaplan had walked into his room to find the young man with several ties in his lap, looking distraught.
“Forgo the tie, dear,” she had told him gently, pulling him up. It didn’t feel strange at all for her to lead him to his closet, the clicking of clothes-hangers sounding softly as she pulled out a button up, a blazer, and a pair of slacks. “This is the outfit you wore last February. When we went to the concert, you remember?” She spoke conversationally, handing it to him. “I think it’ll be perfect.”
For most people, going on a date - friend date though it may be - with their mother having dressed them would be embarrassing. But for Billy, it was a relief. He’d dressed himself last time he wore the outfit, after all, and he’d liked it. So really, she had been more of an adviser.
As Teddy - still holding his hand - led him inside, the sound of a light violin reached his ears and he felt himself start to relax. Well, part of him relaxed. His heart was not that part of him, though, because something about this setting felt distinctly romantic, and he was fairly certain at this point that his telltale blush was spreading across his cheeks and up to his ears.
Even the way the greeter had addressed them was... specifically coupley. And really, there was a much larger part of himself than he was willing to admit that completely liked it. It felt natural. It felt normal. It felt like that was the way things were supposed to be, but they were both just too nervous to do anything about it. Maybe some day soon he’d work up the courage, he thought. But not tonight.
As the waiter asked for their drink order, followed immediately by Teddy’s offer to take care of things, Billy found himself wholly unprepared. “Teddy-” he started, about to thank him, perhaps tell him he didn’t have to, until he realized the waiter was likely still there, patiently waiting for them. “Oh - a, um, just a water, thanks,” he smiled in the waiter’s general direction, waiting for Teddy to order and for the man to leave them before he spoke again.
“That’s- really sweet, Teddy,” he said, not wanting to cheapen the gesture by arguing with him over it. He reached across the table for the blond’s hand, glad to find it without too much trouble - his instincts were getting better. Squeezing it, he took a deep breath. “Thank you. Thanks for asking me out here, tonight.”
Pal-entines || Teddy & Billy
For a member of two alien royal families, that were fighting an eternal battle with each other out in the cosmos, Teddy Altman was certainly jittery as he stood outside of the small restaurant. He hadn’t been able to book actually on Valentines Day itself and the thought of doing that seemed far too obvious and mainstream for a pair like him and Billy. Instead he waited outside for his date to turn up.
The last few months had been a rollercoaster of Teddy “accidentally” kissing Billy, Billy returning his kisses and then both of them breaking away in a flush of rosy cheeks and fluttering heartbeats but Teddy decided that tonight should be the night that they got everything out into the open, their first official date in a tiny, quiet restaurant in downtown New York. Not that Teddy had told Billy that of course, Teddy called the night a “Pal-Entines” day date rather than Valentines. As a car pulled up next to the kerb, Mrs Kaplan beamed from the window and gave Teddy a small wave and a wink. She knew exactly what was happening, and it was evident that the woman was just as excited as the two teens.
“Hey.” Teddy offered as he reached out his hand for Billy to take. “Bang on time too.” What Teddy didn’t reveal was that he’d been outside the restaurant 20 minutes before the time that they’d arranged to meet, the last thing he would’ve wanted was for Billy to be waiting on him. “Thanks Mrs Kaplan, See you later!” Teddy crouched to look into the car.
“Oh I know you boys won’t get into any trouble, have a good night.” She replied with a smile as Teddy closed the door to the car and the matriach of the Kaplan family drove off into the mid-evening.
“Shall we go in?” Teddy asked, leading Billy to the door and pushing it open, the strains of a violin filling the air as the waiter beamed at the pair.
“Ahh, Mr Altman and Mr Kaplan I assume, your table is right this way.” He greeted, his accent thick and heavy and somewhat unconvincing. The waiter obviously knew that the pair were here as a couple, and he’d placed them in a quiet but pretty area of the restaurant. “Can I get you any drinks?” The man asked politely as Teddy mentioned for his date to order first.
“Anything you want tonight.” Teddy smirked across the table. “Tonight’s on me.”
#c: billy kaplan#c: teddy altman#Pal-entines thread#I'm sorry this took me so long to reply to i'm the worst
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“Pizza sounds awesome. And... Things are good for me,” Billy replied, following Kate easily now that he’d grown accustomed to his circumstances. That didn’t mean he’d given up, no, but he was more frequently seen out and about than he used to be, and he’d grown confident the more he’d let himself carry on as normal. When his phone had read him a text from Teddy asking for assistance, he didn’t even hesitate to think that he might be able to be useful in some way. Of course, he would have to get creative, but... well, that’s what magic was about.
He came to a stop when he heard Kate pause her movement next to him, and assumed pretty quickly that Teddy had been talking about boxes. He wondered how much of the actual moving Teddy had done himself, and wished he would have called sooner. Friends were there to help, after all, right? After a quick coordination with Kate, they had both set off to Teddy’s new place. He wondered what sort of building it was in, now, and what it looked like on the inside. He supposed - hoped, really - that he would find out, some day.
“Hey, Teddy, do you want me to, you know -” he made a vague circular motion with his free hand, shrugging slightly to follow it up. He lowered his voice slightly, though he didn’t sense anyone around save for the other two. “Magic anything up there? I may have a dubious range of physical movement, but my teleportation is getting even better than before,” he offered, wanting to be of use. He was sure that there was something he’d be able to do, but... half of the worst part of moving was the actual act of moving. Carrying boxes, furniture, even when you had very little, it was tedious and strenuous at the best of times.
Still, he supposed, it was probably not as challenging for Teddy as it might have been for someone else to do solo. He was strong, and had great endurance - an observation that Billy had admittedly made on more than one occasion, and not always in the most innocent of mindsets. He really needed to get his teenage hormones under control -- though his internal reprimand only made him smile slightly to himself.
Intrepid Adventures In Adulthood || Teddy, Billy & Kate
Teddy wasn’t quite sure how it would work, but he had sent a mass text out to his friends for help in moving from his mothers house to a small loft in the middle of New York City. The alien prince found himself in the city so often that it seemed like the smartest thing to do. When Teddy had told his mother about the plan she didn’t even flinch, the light behind her eyes was gone and Teddy could feel everything about her presence repelling him, like there was something that had taken over Mrs Altman and his ability to instinctively detect danger wasn’t quite registering. As she’d slinked away from him with barely a remark to return to cleaning the house - as she had done in every waking hour since Teddy’s kidnapping - Teddy decided that she wasn’t going to be the one to help him with the move or adjusting to a new life.
The boxes that were piled up outside the block of apartments weren’t much, but over the months working with SHIELD, Teddy hadn’t spent much so he’d put together the things he would need. His super strength meant carrying was easy, it was the tedium of going up and down the stairs over and over that left him bored, hence why when Billy and Kate arrived he was sitting on the steps to the main foyer.
Teddy’s face lit up at the sight of his friends and he quickly enveloped them both in quick hugs before pointing to the boxes.
“They’re not heavy, but the elevator is busted.” He explained. “And I’m on the top floor.” The thought of sprouting wings and flying to the window had crossed Teddy’s mind but he didn’t want to make too much of a first impression, instead he’d kept himself normal and carried the boxes one by one, there were only 3 remaining. Teddy could take two if Kate carried the others, then would come the unpacking.
“I totally owe you both Pizza for this.” Teddy smirked, hoisting a box onto his shoulder. “So how’s things?”
#Intrepid Adventures in Adulthood#c: kate bishop#c: billy kaplan#c: teddy altman#deityintraining#teddy-dorrek-altman#arrowknocks
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“Ah, well, not exactly,” Billy smiled in response to her last question first, but the smile certainly didn’t reach his ears. He wanted to be involved, it had been mentioned to him, but... he couldn’t, not with all of this. He wasn’t used to being blind yet - he would be more of a danger to them than a help. Besides, if something else was going on, well.. he couldn’t bring that kind of baggage to a team. He would have to deal with it, first. Who knew when it could come up - and if there was one thing he’d learned about being a hero, it was that your awful baggage always came up at the absolute worst time.
He shifted awkwardly, inclining his head toward the sky so as to give the illusion of not staring at her. They both knew full well that he couldn’t see, but he imagined that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable to have someone’s gaze fixed directly on you. “They... my friends are the Young Avengers. I’m just... Wiccan, I guess. I’m inactive. This- whatever is going on... I can’t bring it to a team. Not right now,” he said softly.
“Tell you what-” changing the subject, he let his palms rest on his thighs, thinking about what she had asked him. It probably was better that they didn’t just discuss this sort of thing out in the open, even though he really wasn’t sure he wanted to take her to the Sanctum Sanctorum. “I’ll cover the privacy issue - “ he thought for a minute. “And you’re probably cold, aren’t you? I can fix that, too, I think.”
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes out of habit, before speaking. “Iwantustogounnoticed - Iwantustogounnoticed-” he murmured, the two of them beginning to glow blue. As his verbal spellcasting faded, the blue settled into subtle shimmers around them, and people now walked by their bench without so much as glancing their way. “That should take care of that - try to call to someone passing by to test it out?” he added, and then held out his hand.
“If you don’t mind, just - take my hand a second - this’ll be easier if I can touch you,” he waited until she obliged, holding her hand gently. “Iwanthertobewarmer - Iwanthertobewarmer - Iwanthertobewarmer-” he felt a soft, subtle heat pass from him to her, and he sighed in relief. “Any better? I wasn’t sure that one was gonna work - I can never do it on myself...”
Subtle Hints || Billy & Skye || 1/6/15
Billy had taken to hanging out in parks, lately. He wasn’t sure why, exactly, but it started with wandering to the park in Greenwich Village nearest to the Sanctum Sanctorum, and had moved from that to Central Park. From Central Park to Union Square (through it wasn’t really a park), and when he got really bored, he started going to parks elsewhere. San Francisco, D.C., he couldn’t see, anything, but he could hear it. He could hear everything. The birds had different calls, people played different sports. The grasses felt different, the smells… smelled different. And it was parks - just like the one he’d visited when he met up with Coulson only a few weeks prior - that had helped him stay focused.
He had been using his teleportation more, which he supposed wasn’t a bad thing. Getting precise was even more important when you couldn’t see. And after weeks of actually going places, leaving his room, interacting and studying his surroundings, he was beginning to recognize people, too. Kate’s favorite shoes made a different sound than her comfortable sneakers, but her steps were always the same. Doctor Strange rarely made any noise walking, at all. Teddy stepped surprisingly lightly for someone of his size, but the footsteps he heard nearby him now were unfamiliar.
That led him to believe, falsely, that it was simply another visitor to the park, just the occasional person who would pass too close, but he was mistaken. A feminine voice addressed him, one he’d never heard before, and he looked up immediately, paying attention. Feeling her sit down, he turned slightly to face her, a small smile on his face, attempting to be approachable. If it was someone Coulson sent, he trusted them.
“Billy, yes, that’s my name,” he offered his hand for her to shake, if she wanted, continuing to talk as he did. “You didn’t startle me, really, I heard you. But I sure was a little surprised when you said my name. Speaking of which… I don’t think I caught yours?”
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“Yeah... thanks, Kate,” Billy said softly, not really knowing quite what to say - not in the moment. She was probably, in all truth, his best friend. Of course she had his back. Of course she was going to be there for him. But... choosing to put her through all of that? Well, that took a lot of convincing. He really didn’t want to ask anyone to deal with everything that was going on inside his head.
He took another slow, deep breath, thinking about what to say. He likewise didn’t want to brush her off, not when she’d extended the offer like she had. He wanted to trust her, to let he know how much it meant to him - without totally overloading her. He didn’t think he’d had this much trouble with balance before this most recent bout of depression.
“It’s... uh, you know, it’s hard to describe what’s going on in my head right now,” he admitted. “It’s like- there are all these thoughts and feelings and... a lot of really useless crap, you know? Stuff I should be able to shrug off, to get rid of, but instead it circles around and comes back and reminds me of all of the mistakes I made and nags at the back of my brain, and-” he swallowed hard.
“And, I just- what if I can never see again, Kate? I mean, being blind is usually permanent. Which is - it’s fine, I mean, it’s fine. But...” he groaned in frustration, knowing he wasn’t getting his point across. “But it’s not, you know? I can’t fight like this. I’d be a liability. And I just - I don’t know if there’s anything else I’m good at. Or anything else I want to do,” he paused, glancing over to her even though he couldn’t see her.
“Sorry, I guess I mean to say... thanks. Thanks for watching out for me. I just wish I knew what I needed right now,” he added reluctantly, not wanting to dump everything on her at once. He knew he needed to talk about this much more in depth, because something felt... wrong. Something about the whole situation was suspect.
And then there was that weird feeling, that... block, that dark cloud. The swirling miasma of doubt and uncertainty that couldn’t - just - could not be the depression. Perhaps he was in denial, that would just figure. But if there was one thing a superhero knew, it was that it wasn’t a bad idea to trust your instincts.
Rise and Shine | Kate & Billy
“Starbucks sounds great,” Billy admitted without much hesitation, genuinely relieved that Kate had a car and that they were going to be driving in it. Driving in the city wasn’t fun for anyone, but this was basically his first time outside since the mission, and he wasn’t sure he could handle the walk to the nearest Starbucks - even if, knowing Manhattan, it was probably five blocks away. Then again, in the village, they were slightly sparser, favoring independent places perhaps slightly more than the chains.
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