i. arrival, adjustment, introductions

[demiurgency]

WHO: Billy Kaplan
WHERE: South Village fountain, Inn, schoolhouse
WHEN: November 20 through the following few days
OPEN TO: Starters for Tommy Shepherd and Wanda Maximoff, OTA for the rest
WARNINGS: Nada so far!

---

[Arrival-closed to Tommy]

He isn't expecting this dimension to be underwater. None of the rest of them have been underwater--well, there had been that one, the sunken New York filled with Atlanteans, but there had been a dome, and there was still air. Maybe that's why he's surprised to open his mouth to breathe and find nothing but water instead. The panic kicks in before he begins to choke, and Billy desperately kicks for the surface--surface? That's gotta be the surface, right--not even thinking to reach for his magic. He can't cast a spell if he can't speak, after all, and so he kicks with all he has, not even thinking about how easy it actually is, not thinking about how his cloak should be dragging him down, until he finally breaches the surface, gasping and choking. Flailing, wildly, he looks around. What is this? A fountain? That's a first. And where are the others?

Kicking for the side of the fountain, Billy hauls himself over the edge and is crouching on the cool stones next to the lip when he notices the next weird thing. He isn't wearing his costume anymore. He's wearing...green scrubs? Like, hospital scrubs? There's no sign of his cloak anywhere. Or his suit. Or any of the others. Standing and pushing his dripping hair off of his face, Billy lifts his hands to cup them to his mouth. It's not the best idea, but then, what is, these days? Has he had any good ideas since that last, first, most terrible idea, months ago now?

"Kate! Noh-Varr! David!! America!!! Any of you out there??" After a pause with no answer to his shouting, he tries again, with the least likely to respond, and the most likely to be the reason he's here in the first place. "Loki??? Anyone????"

[Introductions-closed to Wanda]

Okay. It's okay. He can do this. He can totally do this.

The internal pep talk doesn't really work. He's still standing there on that porch, hand lifted to knock but not quite there yet. Tommy had explained it all: alternate dimension, bunch of people there, no one from their home universe, but a bunch of familiar names from different versions. Including her. Wanda. The Scarlet Witch. He knows she isn't the same, but the lack of his magic is already an ache deep in his chest, a hollow he can't quite seem to ignore. If anyone would understand, it's her. Whatever version of her she is, he knows she'd understand. And Tommy's already told her about their own connection to her--the other version of her, anyway. It shouldn't be that hard.

Come on, dummy, knock before someone sees you standing here like a creep.

Taking a deep breath, Billy knocks on the door of House 20, weight shifting from foot to foot as he waits for someone to answer the door.

[Adjustment-OTA]

After getting the full rundown from Tommy (and maybe having several mild panic attacks in a row about most of it), Billy eventually settles on a plan. First things first, to the Inn. He needs to eat something, and he's heard there's a stockpile of clothes there, which is good because a. it's kind of freezing, and b. he's just given away his dry set of green scrubs to his brother. Thankfully, there's a small assortment of things that are both dry and warm, and after a quick change, Billy's back downstairs to spend some time just...figuring things out.

The best place to do that seems to be the schoolhouse, honestly; he's never been the outdoorsy type, and there is a lot to learn. The reading helps. This place has a book on everything. It also keeps him distracted. No thinking about the loss of his magic, no thinking about the loss of his friends, no thinking about Teddy or the dozen or so sick people now apparently recovering from a plague or something just up the road. Instead, just books. Billy reads like he's cramming for the SATs all over again, and for the next few days after he arrives, chances are you'll find him traveling back and forth in a triangle between House 58, the Inn, and the schoolhouse, nose buried in a book no matter where he is. He's probably not even watching where he's walking, honestly--sorry about that, whoops.

Comments

[expeditiousness]

"Well, you're getting me soaked, too!" Tommy sighs dramatically but still makes no move to pull out of Billy's grasp. It's definitely easier to comment on the less important minutiae than stray into deeper territory that could lead to discussion of feelings. Ugh.

He considers what Billy tells him, about David tracking him down once Tommy disappeared. He and David don't know each other well, but it's actually something of a comfort to know that David cared enough to let his twin know he'd been nabbed.

"I knew David was a cool guy." He was one of the only people at that factory who wasn't old and stuffy - a little slower than Tommy's speed, but most people are, so he's used to that, at least. Tommy grins. He'll have to thank David somehow once they get back to where they're supposed to be, treat him to coffee or lunch or something.

"It's some weird village, it doesn't really have a name. We should totally fix that! Call it 'The Village of Suck' or 'Lamesville' or something like that." Tommy chuckles at his own joke. "Lots of people kidnapped from different places, no one really knows exactly how they got here, no one's made ransom demands or anything. Supposedly we're being watched by some dudes called Observers, but nobody's ever seen 'em. They have some way of taking away our abilities and giving them to other people though? I can't go fast anymore, and it sucks."

It reminds him of being locked up in that facility where Billy and the other Young Avengers found him. Being forced to wear scrubs didn't help keeping that memory at bay, either. Tommy shoves the creeping thoughts of the similarities between this village and that "juvie" out of his mind.

"Hey, if you're cold, there's usually a fire going at the inn? Or we can go back to my place and you can change into something dry."

[demiurgency]

"Well that doesn't sound weird or creepy at all," he says about the Observers--what sort of name is that, you might as well call them Watchers, don't they have anything better to do--but all of his thoughts come to a screeching halt when the rest of Tommy's sentence finally processes.

They have some way of taking away our abilities.

He's cold for another reason entirely now, still hugging Tommy but reaching inside, reaching for a power that hasn't been absent for years now, ever since his powers manifested, a power that's only been growing, a puddle becoming a lake becoming an ocean--becoming a desert.

It's gone.

Tommy says something about dry clothes, a fire, and Billy is distantly aware again of his body, freezing cold and shivering. "Yeah. A fire. That sounds...okay." His voice sounds odd, he knows it does, but he can't quite help that, either. "Yeah. I should--dry clothes are good. Don't wanna get sick."

[expeditiousness]

Something about the way Billy's voice goes weird sounds an alarm bell in Tommy's mind. It reminds him of how Billy was a while back, when he basically shut down and disbanded the Young Avengers. Tommy is not keen to have a repeat of that episode. He releases his hold on his twin and steps back so he can study his expression.

"Yeah, you really don't - no pharmacy here." Tommy frowns slightly but quickly makes a decision. He remembers how disoriented he felt on arrival, how suffocating the realization that he didn't have his speed anymore felt. Billy's a lot more sensitive than Tommy, so he's probably having an even harder time with this whole nightmare.

"All right, house first, dry clothes, and then we can head over to the inn to hang out, maybe get you something to eat. Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

Tommy nods in the direction of his house, indicating Billy should follow him.

"Man, how did you end up with green scrubs? Totally unfair, that's my color. I got stuck with this weird blue color."

[demiurgency]

Billy does his best to look back at Tommy, but part of him is still reaching, grasping for something that isn't there no matter how much he tries. Maybe it's the words. Maybe he needs the words, he'd needed those at first, and he still does. So he'll try the words.

But first, Tommy's talking to him, and he should answer, right? He only catches about one word in three, until he shakes his head, trying to clear it, falling in beside Tommy as he starts to walk off. The last sentences are the first ones that process, his response automatic. "Teal. It's teal, not weird blue. You can have them, if you want. Mine. I'll take yours. We're the same size, anyway." It doesn't matter what color they are. If Tommy wants green, he can have green, and Billy can have--no magic at all--teal.

[expeditiousness]

OK, yikes, this is quickly taking a very bad turn. Tommy’s usual breezy demeanor clearly isn’t working at bringing Billy out of whatever darkness he’s slipped into, and Tommy absolutely doesn’t want to spend the next however many months managing his twin’s oncoming depressive fugue. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Tommy isn’t a touchy person by any stretch of the imagination, but he knows Billy responds well to touch. Tommy’s used to being mostly on his own, but Billy’s here without his boyfriend, his family, his friends, any support network at all - except for Tommy. It’s his responsibility to take care of Billy while they’re both here - and that means doing what Billy needs. He’s clearly just as distressed about being stripped of his magic as Tommy was about losing his super speed, and Tommy can think of only one other way to try to pull Billy out of the state of shock he’s fallen into. He stops in his tracks, retraces his steps back to Billy’s side, and throws an arm around his shoulders. There’s no one else here to see them like this, so it’s not like Tommy will be changing anyone else’s expectations of his reputation, right?

“I know this is a lot to take in,” he says, tone a lot more serious than usual, “but we’re gonna be OK. I’ve got your back, little brother.”

[demiurgency]

It's not much, an arm around the shoulders, but coming from Tommy, it's a lot. It's enough to help keep him from feeling like he's drifting off the ground, enough to keep him attached to his body, for the minute, although Tommy talking like that is also weird. He doesn't do serious. And if he's doing serious, Billy realizes belatedly, it's because he's worried. He has to have guessed how Billy's feeling, what he's realizing.

That means something, too. Which is why Billy redoubles his efforts to come back, to stop thinking about it for the moment, to try and stave off the impending panic attack. He does not make any effort to add distance between them, instead wrapping an arm that might be just a little too tight around Tommy's waist.

"What do you mean, little? We're twins, remember?" It's a far cry from his normal time, but an effort is made.

i'm a bad bro for taking so long D:

[expeditiousness]

To Tommy's credit, he takes Billy's aggressive display of affection in stride and doesn't wriggle away like he might otherwise. And if Tommy weren't in habitual denial about having feelings, he might acknowledge that Billy's brand of loving on him isn't actually all that bad.

"I'm still older than you," Tommy says, grinning widely as he turns his head toward Billy. It may or may not be true, but this is the hill he's going to die on, as Billy likely already knows.

"C'mon. Let's go home."