(no subject)

[doubled_speed]

WHO: Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Tommy Shepherd, Billy Kaplan, Sansa Stark, Vision
WHERE: Billy and Tommy's room, then Wanda and Vision's space
WHAT: Some Secrets Shouldn't Keep? Aka Billy and Tommy FINALLY tell Wanda she's a mom. Sorta? And then Wanda goes to Sansa and Vision to talk about what she has learned.
WHEN: Early January
WARNINGS: Emotions, discussion of death of previous incarnations.



They'd been putting this off too long. Far too damn long. Since they showed up. Tommy sighs and when he wakes up he's high energy. High anxious energy. Because they've been doing this too long. They've been hiding and lying and Tommy? He can't take it anymore.

So he reaches over to Billy, starts shaking his shoulder and keeps prodding until Billy wakes up.

"Get up, dude. We're going to talk to Wanda. I can't do this anymore. We gotta... We just gotta. Today. Now. Get up."

Comments

[wearingthestars]

Billy groans, rolling over and trying to evade the attempts to wake him until he's forced to sit up, blinking at him bleary eyed. He is not a morning morning.

"Wh-....right now?" he asks, yawning and trying to force himself to summon his energy. "Why so urgent?"

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, well, Tommy's not much of an any time person. Or maybe he's also just an always person. He's going to go with that.

"No, Billy. I mean in seven months when this world has decided to eat us and we're dying an ultra dramatic death and our tearful passing will inspire true love and unity in everyone and the Agrii."

Of course he meant now. This was Tommy, and when he got it in his head that he wanted to do a thing, he wanted to do a thing. Which was why he was up and pacing now.

"Because... because what if she's gone tomorrow? What if we're gone? What if she loses Pops and things there isn't anything here for her? What if one of us says it stupidly on our own and then it's all a fucking mess?"

This has been eating at him since he met her here. Shouldn't Billy get that? He was the one that had spearheaded the 'find Wanda' thing in the first place. Back home.

[wearingthestars]

He gets it, he really does. He's just not entire conscious yet, and that it a whole lot of words and-

Billy nods, scrubbing a hand through his hair. This is important to Tommy. He needs to focus up.

"Right, no, I know. We can tell her. Let me just...get dressed and stuff."

This is all very different from telling their Wanda. A whole different set of nerves, a whole other twin leading the charge.

"...Do you know what we want to say?"

[doubled_speed]

Probably helps that this whole other twin already loves the parents he's got here, even if he won't say that to Wanda. He thinks Vision knows though. He thinks the guy gets it, gets it in what Tommy's taken to calling him. The claiming with the term.

"No. I... I don't know. I just know we have to say it. I keep slipping up around her, okay? I'm going to say it sooner or later and then she'll know and she'll be upset because I did it WRONG. She can't know about the whole mutants thing. Or killing Vision. She probably shouldn't know about people not liking her because it's fucking bullshit or what we went through to get Wanda back."

There's a lot of bad. He only wants her to know who they ARE to her.

"And we've gotta talk about the reincarnation stuff. Because she saw the super juvie thing. And doesn't know how a parent could let me go through that."

Doesn't want her to think it was HER fault.

[wearingthestars]

"You're not going to do it wrong," Billy assures, magicking up some clothes and making a vague attempt to tame his hair so it doesn't look so much like he was dead asleep a few minutes ago.

It's good to have the talking points to avoid though, and Billy commits them to memory with a frown. Knowing him he'll probably reveal way too much if he's allowed to go unchecked.

"Retro-reincarnation," he corrects, trying for humor to help Tommy relax a little, "...It's okay. We've had practice. We can do this."

[doubled_speed]

"Yeah, whatever the fancy word you totally made up for it was," Tommy said. Which was silly, because he used it too. Around Vision, and around Sansa. But the humor had to be returned in kind so there you had it. But he nodded and offered his arms out to his brother. "Let me carry you there. I know where they stay. Mostly because I really wanna avoid it at night because, you know, parents getting it on."

Which would be SO WEIRD.

[wearingthestars]

"Hey, it's a good word. I'm proud of that word." Billy pauses then and gives his brother a reassuring smile. "...Really. It's going to be fine."

He nods and steps closer so Tommy can carry him, twisting a face at the mental imagine, thank you SO much for sharing, Tommy. "That's all I'm going to be able to think about now-..."

[doubled_speed]

"Dude, it makes us sound like we are the hipsters of reincarnation," Tommy grumbled. And hipster was bad. Clearly. "And yeah, you can join me in the horror of thinking about how Wanda and Vision PROBABLY did it back home too."

Then he picks up his brother and, regardless of the energy toll it was going to take out of him given he hadn't eaten anything yet, put on a burst of speed to reach the abandoned shops and come to a stop just short of the entrance to Wanda and Vision's space. Only then does he put his brother down and struggle not to sway on his feet.

"Okay, let's hope they're awake and not, you know... engaged."

[wearingthestars]

"Aren't we?" They were being born before they were even born, ultimate hipsters. Magic is weird. "Yeah, most parents do it, Tommy. You just don't think about it, ugh," Billy groans.

Billy's a little unsteady himself from the disorientation, but he frowns, moving to offer support. "We should have eaten first. Do you want something? I can magic something?" Now he feels like his parents, anxiously pushing food as a sign of love.

"You keep saying it and it's going to happen, that's like a law of the universe."

[doubled_speed]

"The universe can bite me," Tommy grumbles, waving off the offering of food. That isn't his concern right now. Instead he starts pushing Billy forward. "It's time. Let's do this."

And to that end, he really hopes the folks are home.

[wearingthestars]

"Oh, what, I have to knock now?" Billy half protests as Tommy pushes him forwards. And okay, maybe he's a bit more nervous about all this than he's been letting on. He reaches to give Tommy's a hand a quick squeeze and knocks on the door before he can take it back.

For Sansa

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda manages to hold it together until they leave and then she just crumbles. She really hopes their psychic bond won't let Vision feel her distress because she just can't face him right now - she's the only reason this can't be their future, if they wanted it. Her powers just don't work like that. She'd tried, oh how she'd tried, to will life back into her brother's body. She'd tried until her powers turned painful under her skin but no matter what she'd done...

There are many things she can't forgive her other self for. Having the ability and safety to choose, that giving her children powers didn't seem like an unspeakable cruelty...that's just another one for the list.

How in the world is she going to explain all of this to Vision?

She has no right to ask him for any comfort or to help her process everything when this is her fault, so...not Natasha, not when Wanda knows what had been done to her. Maybe Sansa, if she's feeling up to it, except she's probably in the greenhouse. Where Vision also is. And also Wanda's not confident in her ability to hold it together in public right now. Text it is, then.]

Are you free?

[seeingscarlet]

"Just a minute!" Wanda calls from the other side of the door. But they have nothing to worry about - Vision had already left for the day, and Wanda was only still around since her days were much less structured.

She answers the door with wet hair, still in her loose-fitting sleep clothes. "Billy? Tommy? Is everything all right?"

[doubled_speed]

Oh man, there she is. This is happening. They are doing the thing and the thing is this and it's here and it's now. Tommy bites his lip and pushes Billy forward again.

"We... sorta need to talk. Is that okay? Do you have a few minutes? And maybe somewhere to sit down? You should probably sit down for this. Iwannasitdownforthis."

He's gotten SO good at controlling the tempo of his speech over the time he's had his powers. So good. But he can't seem to keep it down now. He's too nervous. Probably won't even be able to sit, he'll pace too much.

[wearingthestars]

Billy catches hold of Tommy's wrist so any pushing will pull him along too. They're in this together.

He flashes a bit of a sheepish smile at Wanda and nods.

"Breathe," he reminds gently, eyes skirting to Tommy with faint concern as his words start to run together.

"I know it's kind of early, but it's important."

[seeingscarlet]

The look of mild concern on Wanda's face deepens. Its early, they didn't call or text first, and she can feel the anxiety rolling off them without even trying. It's enough to make her stomach start twisting itself into knots in sympathy.

"Come in," she says, ushering them inside. The furniture is a mix of newly-crafted items and things they had found at 'space-IKEA' and fixed or cobbled together. She had once taken such pride in having a space of her own to decorate, and this is far from how she'd like it to look. But it's home.

More to the point, there's a couch (surprisingly complete with pillows) and a table with several chairs.

"Can I get you anything?"

[doubled_speed]

"Nice stuff," Tommy muses as he comes inside. Their space hasn't been decorated much by him. Really should head to space-IKEA to get them more stuff. The only thing he cares about in there are the paintings Vision did of the family. But the couch definitely wins his attention. He's across the room in a breath and flopping down on it, trying to hide the dizziness threatening him again.

"Thanks for inviting us in. Maybe you can get us coffee, B?"

[wearingthestars]

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure, no problem." Billy makes a vague gesture with his hands, a blue enveloping them that looks very similar to Wanda's magic, and a moment later he's holding two coffee. They look like Starbucks, though a closer look will show he's changed it to Billybucks, a chibified version of Wiccan standing in for the Siren.

"I wasn't sure how you liked it," he apologizes, offering one cup to Wanda. Tommy's preference he knows, crossing to hand the other to his brother and taking a seat beside him.

Hands free, he magics up his own drink, and tries not to look too awkward.

"So um...how do you wanna start this?"

For Vision

[seeingscarlet]

[At first glance, all is normal when Vision returns home. Thistle greets him happily and Wanda's not far behind. If she clings to him a little tighter or a little longer than she normally would, well, that's not too terrible. She'd promised herself she'd do her best to be strong for him, because she's sure the lost possibilities are going to hurt no matter how much joy the revelation brings him. Maybe the extended hug is a little selfish, but Wanda doesn't think Vision will mind too much. When does he ever?]

Vizh... [The cracks are starting to show: there's a slight tremble to her voice.] I need to tell you something. We should sit down.

[seeingscarlet]

"How did you--" Wanda laughs and takes the cup, grateful for it no matter how it tastes. "I wish I could do that." And the little Billybucks modification is a nice touch.

She takes a long drink of the coffee and uses her powers to pull a chair across the room for her to settle into. It seems like no one's hurt, at least, but now she's just confused. It was important enough to show up at her door this early but no urgent that there isn't time for coffee. "Maybe you should start at the beginning. What happened?"

[doubled_speed]

"Billy's a reality warper," Tommy answers with a shrug. Something that runs in the family and is absolutely going to be explained in the course of this he expects. And so Tommy takes a sip of his drink. "This place seems to diminish that some but not nearly as much as it could. Enough that he can't take us back to where we're from though."

But he has to laugh at the idea of the beginning.

"Which one? The beginning three years ago, or the one nineteen? Whatever. What happened is that there's this stupid complex story you need to hear."

[wearingthestars]

Billy nods to affirm Tommy's answer, flashing Wanda a shy sort of smile. Really, the answers been staring her in the face all this time. Twins. One magic, one a speedster. One with dark colouring, one with light...

"It's about us. And our Wanda," Billy starts, fiddling with his cup.

[seeingscarlet]

It's not that Wanda isn't perceptive, it's just that she doesn't have any reason to make that close of a connection. Her Pietro had been born with brown hair like hers and for all she knows white hair is just a speedster trait. And her powers are completely different from Billy's.

She is perceptive enough that that ambient nervousness seems to coalesce. She tilts her head at them, eyes going to Tommy. "This sounds serious. Is this part of why you were worried about me accidentally seeing into your head?" She knows there's something about what he's told her about his family that seems strange, but the other Wanda's life is so different that it's hard to put her finger on it. It's just...hard to believe that she wouldn't have known about a cousin ending up in that awful place she'd seen in their shared nightmare.

[doubled_speed]

“Yeah. There is a lot of stuff back home that sucks. And you don’t deserve to have to live through our shut. Heroes and heroics and mutant issues and oppression and all that? You sure as fuck don’t need it.”

Should he just say it? But he can’t, right? Dammit how do you tell this to a person that matters.

“We’re... Maximoffs. By soul. Not blood.”

[wearingthestars]

"Originally by blood," Billy adds, wincing a little, sure that only adds to the utter confusion of what they're saying. Their existence is particularly complicated. "...there's a lot of magic involved," he explains, and that's probably all ready a whole LOT to process, so he gives her a moment before they start getting into the details.