Do You Feel Like a Young God?

Where: Billy’s house and District X

What: After using powerful magic to create a pocket universe, Billy trips a thread of reality on the way home and shakes someone free. Neither of them realize just how bizarre the situation is. 

@maximoff-kaplan

John Constantine’s recent exercise in dowsing had managed to highlight a few areas of concentrated magic in the city, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of divination that would tell him what or who was actually responsible.  For that, he actually had to get off his arse and look for himself.

Flicking his lighter closed, John drew a deep lungful of smoke from newly lit cigarette and gazed up at the tall building in front of him.  It was clad in what looked like white marble, with gold details and flowing curves that had pretensions of being part of the 1920s architectural revival.  It also oozed so much magic that John felt like he needed to scrub the inside of his skull with bleach.

If you’re a sensitive person, then magic can feel different depending on who’s performing it and what their reasons for it are.  Some magic would feel like summer sunshine warming your skin… others might feel as if tiny shards of ice are being driven into your flesh… But this was like getting a happy massage after eating a dozen oysters.  Whoever wove the spells into this place wanted to make sure that the people inside had a very good time.

It was also very, very familiar… Like that uncomfortable, yet slightly exciting feeling when you accidentally encounter an Ex, along with their new partner, and you both realise there’s still a spark there.  Awkward, but oh so tempting.

John decided that he was going to finish his cigarette before making any further decisions of what to do next, when someone with dark hair came bursting out of the doors and almost tripped down the short stairs to the sidewalk.

“Oi mate!,” John called out, dropping his cigarette and crushing it as he hurriedly walked towards the young man. “D’you work ‘ere? Is this place owned by some bloke callin’ himself Lucifer Morningstar?”

Billy was nearly late for one of the League meetings. He’d overslept and was still shoving his hair into place as he walked outside. “...Work here?” He looked back behind him, where he’d certainly not been working. “I stay here.” Most nights, anyway. 

Today was too much. Even for the reality she’d created inside her head. Wanda had sought the plush bed and buried herself in the thick blankets as incense perfumed the air. Marya and Django had both been in to see her, and she couldn’t even properly create a figmented Bruce to hold her. So it had taken a while of crushing depression before she had sat up to eat the soup that was left, mostly a method of comforting herself, much like all of this was.

Finally, she had managed to walk from the caravan and sink into a field of wildflowers opposite of where the cliff’s edge was. She sat surrounded by them, fingers charming them and growing them larger. Some had thorns that she grew from strong stalks, and others wilted the moment she put them up.

Wanda knew that Billy was there the moment he was in her mind, but she also knew that he wasn’t physically with her the way the other’s had been. Her little Bubi… far too clever for any of them. “Hello, little one,” she greeted as he sat. “The sun has finally come out from behind the clouds for a little while.”

Billy had never conjured up a dreamscape as vivid and real as the one that his mother had locked herself into. If he hadn’t known better, it would have felt so real, but he knew how he’d got there. The threads that wove the place together weren’t ones tethered to any reality that fully existed. It was just...many from different directions and different times that Wanda had pulled in around her. 

“Oh, no, everything’s fine with me. No need to worry.” Teddy assured the raven-haired young man and waved his hand slightly. “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t let you know ahead of time. I just… I heard about what had happened. You know, with Bruce Wayne and the team that had been at the NOVA facility outside of town.” Teddy explained.

“How is your mom doing? I couldn’t help but worry about her after hearing she and Bruce had been together.” The blonde asked and stepped into the building finally. “And.. how are you? I don’t know if you were close to Mr. Wayne or not…” He added softly.

His shoulders fell. Teddy was sweet for still caring, and sweeter for showing up to check, but it wasn’t as if he had good news to offer on any front. “She’s...” he swallowed, and decided that it wasn’t a conversation for the doorway. He motioned Teddy inside and walked into the living room so that he could sink down into the corner of the couch. It was a change from the bed, at least. Teddy was probably the last person that needed to be told how Billy had been dealing. He knew too well that he tended to slip into a kind of paralysis when depression came creeping in. 

When: Present Day Where: District X - Maximoff House With: Billy @maximoff-kaplan​

Zach didn’t do nice things, well… not unless they’d benefited him, and even then that’d been rare. But, he was trying to be a better person and after finding out what happened with the Avenging League’s mission against NOVA (he’d been out of town during it) he’d figured he may as well try and offer a little help. Course he couldn’t fix whatever was wrong with Wanda but he was actually pretty knowledgeable on magically matters of the heart.

Thanks to Tommy he knew where he, Wanda and Billy would be, so he portalled over and knocked on the door, looking up when Billy answered. “Yo.” he greeted dryly, raising a hand, “I heard about everything that happened with the mission and I have a thing I thought would help… so…” he shrugged, not really sure what to say next.  

It wasn’t that Billy didn’t want to be on good terms with Zach. As a rule, he didn’t really like not getting along with people, and it was rare that someone was so off putting that he stopped trying. The two of them had just clashed. He hadn’t been able to handle the attitude, or narcissism, or whatever it was that prompted Zach to...be the way that he was. But Billy had started to study with Zatanna, even though that was very new, and it gave him a new incentive to try to make amends. Still, he didn’t expect to open the door and just see him there. 

She was a few inches shy from the front of the door when she heard Billy knock on the other end. A short pause followed. She took a deep breath, furrowing her brows at a passing thought, much to her dismay. “t'noD kniht tuoba ti,” she mumbled to herself, forcing her to clear her throat. A gentle smile graced her features, temporarily detracting her focus from the troubling thoughts.

“Right on schedule,” she said, opening the door all the way for the other, gesturing a welcoming hand towards her foyer. Raising a hand, she mumbled her incantation in the direction of her parlor, revealing the conjured door, opening to reveal her garden with her previous set-up. “We can go to the garden. I have tea and snacks prepared for us as well.”

If someone had asked him why he was nervous, exactly, he wouldn’t have had a good answer for them. Zatanna was intimidating, but not on purpose. Or at least...he was fairly sure it wasn’t on purpose. Billy had always been the type of person to idolize heroes, even after he technically became one himself. It always made him feel like he never quite belonged on teams with them, or working beside them, even though it kept happening. It was much the same as he stepped into Zatanna’s house.

The speedster isn’t sure how long it would take his arm to heal. It’ll be faster than that of an ordinary person but still be several weeks of wearing the cast. He hasn’t used his abilities since the injury and it’s making him feel a variety of emotions. This is the first broken bone he has ever had after all … but will have to deal with the healing process. Two days ago Tommy slept at Noh-Varr’s place but he returned home last night. This morning felt quiet, staring up at his ceiling while remaining lost in his thoughts. He’s tossing an old tennis ball up into the air and letting it hit the ceiling a few times before growing bored of the activity. He lets it fall out of his palm and roll onto the floor. It keeps going until hitting his closet doors. Everything feels complicated now but just hopes his mother will be okay. Tommy doesn’t care about anything else.

There’s a knock on his door and that pulls him out of the chaos that’s his own mind. Green eyes look at the door and groans softly while getting out of bed. He pushes white strands of hair out of his eyes … moving to open the door. It was only the two of them here so Tommy expected to see Billy on the other side. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep each other company after everything that happened. “I’ll play Mario Kart. You go get it set up and I’ll grab some snacks. We can’t do some gaming without something to eat.” Maybe they both wanted to remain in bed all day but they gathered enough energy to keep each other company instead.

There was a little spike of relief as Tommy agreed. It would have been far more stressful if his brother, against all odds and inclinations, had sealed himself away and alone. That would’ve been as worrisome as what their mother was doing. Maybe even more. Wanda, at least, tended to often be in her own head like Billy was. Tommy was usually quite the opposite.

“Sup,” Was the first thing he said before stepping inside, looking around he took one quick glance at Billy, and noticed the man’s confusion as to why Kai would be the person at his door. “Brought you breakfast, kind of. Pick your poison of sugary sweet donut, or those lady gaga cookies, and if you’re wondering as to what the hell this other gay is doing here…well, I just came to make sure you were doing alright.” Kai shrugged.

Taking residence on the couch he crossed his legs before sighing. “I know we’re not friends, or anything remotely close to that, but you’re one of the few people I know by name in this city. So I thought I’d pop just to check up on you or whatever. Heard it’s what people do when they kinda like someone.” Kai shrugged. “I’m also here…to ask for your advice.”

“I want the cookies,” he said immediately, having forgotten they existed until that very moment. He’d looked once and the store was all out of stock, then it fell off his radar entirely given that the city kept trying to turn inside out and all. It was beyond bizarre of Kai to be there, but he’d done nothing to merit Billy feeling any negativity toward him. If it was there, it was just borne of something irrational and jealous and unfair, which at least he could admit to. He didn’t have room in his heart for it right then when it was already so full of too much else so he said the simple thing, instead. “Thanks.”

Just Like Old Times || Zee and Billy

@maximoff-kaplan

There was never a time when Zatanna wasn’t surprised by offers to be a mentor. Such opportunities were rare, being as there weren’t many that came and asked her directly. Whatever coerced certain individuals to be so eager to learn from her, in spite of her abilities, were almost baffling. For now, she set her hesitations aside, prioritizing her tasks at hand.

In the middle of her “backyard,” a kettle of warm water was set in the middle of small white table. Underneath the varieties of finger foods was a silk black cloth, long enough to cover the table, edges hovering over the hardwood floors below her feet. 

Dark brown eyes scanned the rose bushes a few feet shy from where she was standing. A small grin followed, noting the lush flowers making progress in their growth. One last inspection of her phone hinted she needed to make haste. With a quick snap of her fingers, she conjured a plate of cookies on the left side of the table. From there, she made her way towards the front of her abode, awaiting for a possible knock at her door.

With everything going on with his mother and the aftermath of everything that happened, Billy desperately needed a distraction. He’d spent far too many days in bed, caught up in himself and his own feelings and worry about everything. He needed something else to focus on, even if it was only for a few hours, and studying with Zatanna was something he’d looked forward to since the day she’d agreed to it. 

The time between the explosion at NOVA’s base and and the rest of the League finally getting contact from Team A felt like it lasted a hundred years. Billy heard from his grandfather before it came, in fact, and it was through him that he found out that his family was safe. His mother, grandfather, and brother had all made it out alive. That couldn’t be said for everyone, and Billy did grieve for Bruce Wayne and for the state it left Wanda in, but there was some selfish relief in there, too, that the three of them were alright. He regretted not going to the site of the explosion, couldn’t help but think if he’d been there with them that he might have been able to do something. If Wanda hadn’t, though, then...maybe not. He didn’t voice the thought, anyway. 

Tommy’s busted arm would heal, probably far more quickly than a regular person’s. If it had happened under different circumstances, Billy might not have paid it much mind. As it stood, though, their mother had put herself in some kind of fugue state. She was staying with their grandfather and Anna. Things with Lucifer were...complicated, and Billy felt like he was left floundering all around. Tommy was he only person he had fully accessible, and he was lonely. 

@maximoff-kaplan​

Billy and Kai had a very weird relationship, if it could even be called that. Teddy was the disgruntled and heartbroken ex of Billy who was dating Lucifer. Kai knew that was just the perfect set up for some weird sci-fi sitcom with over dramatic young adults with powers. Last time they spoke it had just been rather awkward with Kai trying to give Billy reassurance but he felt as if it didn’t really work at all. Now he was on his way to meet the guy, trying to see if he was okay during these chaotic times. Knocking on his door he waited, with a box full of some donuts in his hands, not really knowing if these were what people who didn’t really know each other did. He added some chromatica cookies cause the gays love gaga.

Billy heard the knock at the door, but as he’d not asked anyone over and could tell that it wasn’t Lucifer, he didn’t have a clue who’d be bothering to knock. With a groan of protest to the empty room, he hauled himself up off the couch where he’d been a permanent fixture in the days following the attack.