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[wiccant]

@william.maximoff| ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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b-b-b-backdated to the safehouse seclusions intro period, action

[rehandle]

[ he's met the brother, had the crib notes from Loki, and by now it's been long enough that he's had time both to let the kid settle and to identify him beyond much of a shadow of a doubt. so it's about a day and a half in. Stephen's kept busy, given the so-called demiurge room just to be. he remembers what it was like to lose his magic: those first few days, those first weeks. he can't wait quite that long, but some time without a walking reminder seemed only right.

he's been out, grabbed a couple of cups of a subtle, sweet iced tea blend from a preferred shop and some veggie samosa things that wouldn't shove insects down the throat of the uninitiated for lunch, and on return crosses the sleeping/living quarters with his bag of food in one hand and tray of two drinks in to other over to the spot one William Maximoff has claimed as his own.

by the way things have gone in the past, it seems he's relatively recognisable even to people he doesn't recognise, so he won't bother with any hesitation on the approach. ]

Hey. Hungry?

[ time to talk, but the question means he's willing to wait longer if there's a need. ]

[wiccant]

( he hasn't had the magic longer than a few years, knows well how to adjust without it. hell, billy--has had it taken away before, too. had things put over his ears, inhibitor collars, just enough to take him out of the game for as long as stark found necessary for the war. but it wasn't the same. there's nothing he can pull out, nothing drilled into cartilage or latched tight around his neck. nothing to fix to get what he had back. no magic spell to try and undo.

just himself and this place and the glowing weird stuff in his chest. for the most part, billy isn't alone in the safehouse. tommy's close by somewhere, doesn't wander off for extended periods of times even when he does leave. there are two beds pushed together, an assortment of clothes thrown over the foot of one of them (what they could get from morningstar) and a few things thrown under them.

billy, for his part, sifts through what he can find on his new implant--eyes focused on something else until he hears the voice. blinks and slips the screen he was looking at away, and refocuses his attention on strange himself.

not the one he knows, but he knew that already. there are enough similar features to connect the two, even if they are different. it's enough that it takes him a bit before the recognition filters over his face, but he and loki have had this discussion already, too. )

Always, ( the typical teenager response, even if it isn't quite accurate. he's not that hungry, more nerves than anything else. but he can eat. a hand moves to pat the mattress a bit off to the side of him--an invitation. )

Strange, right?

( loki mentioned a chat. he's guessing this is what that's about. )

[rehandle]

I'd say "the one and only", but. [ but that doesn't appear to ever have been the case.

Stephen accepts the invitation, sitting himself down in the offered spot and placing down the food bag to pluck a cup out of the tray, handing it over. that the kid seems chipper is a good sign. not that anyone here has any choice but to adapt, and not that he imagines adapting is anything new to him, but better to be served by a difficult past than hindered by it.

next, with this own cup wedged between his knees, lunch appears from the bag on the bed. this is handed over too, one large samosa wrapped in foil. ]

Bug-free beginners' menu.

[wiccant]

( as terrible as it is, he's used to being thrown around. had kate not been here, or if tommy hadn't, or loki--this would be a lot harder to adjust to. but there are people here who know him, who will support him as he will them, and as much as billy does have a penchant for letting him shut down--

he doesn't when he's needed. )

Thanks. ( fingers wrap around the offered cup, raising it to his lips to take a few sips of the tea. there's a small curl to the corners of his mouth, pleased at the taste, before that cup gets placed between thighs so he can wrap fingers around the samosa. )

So, uh, ( look he hasn't had many conversations with stephen strange but they've all really been about one thing and billy probably isn't wrong to assume this is also about that same thing because. what else does a stephen strange do that billy also has a vested interest in? ) I'm as de-powered as anyone else, I guess?

( free hand raising up to cup an ear, like he's looking for something but it. obviously isn't there. ) I don't really know how that happened, but I've tried everything I can think of without getting anything so I'm definitely not going to be able to pull anything--

[rehandle]

— I know.

[ he gets it in as soon as he can, as soon as he realises what's being said.the kid's magic is the reason he's come, but not in the hopes that he brings with him salvation.

more in the hopes of liberating him from that expectation. to make sure he's getting through the transition okay. ]

If Loki and I are both without our sorcery, and now you, we're not up against something that the magic of our universes can combat. It's not about ability, it's the nature of the place. Of this.

[ a tap of his chest, where something both is and isn't. undetectable by scan or mutilation, but there. disconnecting them from everything it shouldn't be able to. ]

I heard you made yourself ill trying to gain access.

[ there's an edge of something then, understanding perhaps, empathy. his chest has never burned before or since quite as badly as it did those first times he tried with everything he had to reach out to an energy that just didn't want to be touched. ]

[wiccant]

( thank you loki, for tattling on him to everyone he could possibly tattle on to. lips twist into a grimace before billy's raising a hand and shoving his fingers through his hair. a nervous tick, before he's dropping it back down and turning his attention back to the samosa to take another bite out of it.

this is not a conversation he wanted to have. )

I was kind of having an anxiety attack. I'm fine now. I think? I haven't had my magic for long anyway, readjusting to not having it shouldn't be too hard.

( it's been a few years, billy is definitely more used to having it than not now, but this isn't the first time someone has rendered his magic useless either. ) It doesn't work, I know that now. So I won't be trying that again.

@stephen.strange

[rehandle]

Are you and your brother famous yet?

[ priorities:
1. check on the kids
2. find a cool casual way to lead in to an old man asks hip youth how to effectively use social media chat ]

[wiccant]

We've got a lot of followers.
But we haven't had any offers to sponser yet. Why?

[rehandle]

I may be in need of guidance.
You two seemed likely to have the relevant experience.

[wiccant]

With being famous?

[rehandle]

[ yes ]

I woke up with considerably more followers than I went to sleep with, a business license and a bookings website. I've been receiving requests for endorsements since before that but the dreams seem to have escalated things. I'm planning to make the most of it, but that's not going to be possible if I can't keep up momentum.

[ what do the kids like, billy ]

[wiccant]

I'm honestly not the best person to ask, but I can take a look.
Show me what you've got already?

[mutriarchy]

[Bad username or site: thomas @ maximoff] has mentioed you.

@caroline.forbes — 03 dec, afternoon.

[gasping]

[ caroline's been caught up in her own stuff lately. she hasn't been back to the safehouse, or really thrown herself into welcome committee things — but she knows that she should do something.

so, she reaches out to people she hasn't seen in a while. people who might need a little extra push to enjoy the holiday spirit. ]

hi
you busy?

[wiccant]

( they're--all caught up in their own things right now, aren't they? everyone's losing people. billy's lost two just recently. he doesn't want to answer this at all but realizes that not answering a text when it goes into one's brain can come off as suspicious all on it's own. there's--a bit of a lengthly pause. but. )

in what sense?

( he's not busy. but he is busy trying not to exist. does that count. )

[gasping]

in the 'hey do you have plans tonight' sense?

[ she got her invitation yesterday. she has a feeling billy did too. ]

hanging out alone binge-watching bad future reality tv does not count for the record

[wiccant]

I'm not going anywhere tonight, no.
But the not going anywhere thing is kind of a plan of mine.

[gasping]

have you considered changing your plans and having fun instead?

[wiccant]

I'm not in the mood for fun, sorry.

pre-event

[mutriarchy]

[ hello billiam, are you SAD??? in a sad bundle of blankets and misery??? enjoying some takeout???

yeah okay you are but now you've got a brother flopping onto the blanket pile, finding where your face is and latching onto it with both hands. enjoy the shock of static electricity. ]

Sup.

[wiccant]

( vegetarian chinese in hand and blankets absolutely covering him and every other inch of their sofa--except now tommy is there too, and his pile starts to fall off edges.

thanks tommy. it--takes billy a moment to focus his eyes on tommy but he does. purses his lips after in iritation. )

Nothing. Why? What'd I miss?

[mutriarchy]

We're trending on Cooltalk again.

[ He elbows his twin lightly, shouldering himself into a more comfortable position beside him on the couch. ]

[wiccant]

( he moves easily enough. slides over to make room for tommy and even offers him a corner of a blanket. )

What for this time?

[mutriarchy]

They want us to collab with Techno Terry. Y'know, that parkour guy?

[ Snagging that corner even if it's much too hot for a blanket. ]

[wiccant]

( that's a whole four seconds of being upright; it's enough, isn't it? so tommy grabs hold of the blanket and billy slouches over to the side, leans his head against tommy's shoulder.

and just. groans. like a sad, dying animal. is that enough of an answer. )