InsaneJournal

log: betsy braddock and brian braddock.
summary: the braddock twins finally decide to put aside their differences and meet up for drinks. betsy proudly informs her brother that she's clean and brian wants to know if she's crazy or really telepathic after all. turns out having powers might run in the family. backdated to the day before the fairytale plot kicked off.

BRIAN: Brian had been staying in California for an entire week before he'd finally picked up the phone and called his sister. It had taken that long for him to work up the nerve to do so -and to exhaust all other distractions. There were only so many clubs he could go to or so many nights he could watch ESPN in his hotel room before his thoughts inevitably turned to Betsy. When they'd first gone their separate ways Brian had assumed that within two or three months he'd be used to not hearing his sister's voice every other day and he'd get over opening his inbox and automatically scanning the names of the senders for Betsy's. That hadn't happened though and if anything things had just gotten worse with every month of silence that had passed. He'd found out things through his brother and parents of course, so he knew Betsy wasn't dead or lying in a ditch. There was no way Brian would have been able to cope with no communication whatsoever, he worried too much about his sister and didn't trust her enough to look after her own well being. But it was the little things he missed; going out for a meal together and catching up in person, the way he'd tease her about her diets, the look she'd give him when she caught him flirting with one of her friends. He'd never realised just how much he actually liked Betsy's company until it suddenly wasn't there any longer and he wasn't used to that. Apparently he never would be. So maybe Brian had been looking for an excuse to get back in touch, maybe he'd been too stubborn to simply dial her number and apologise and had needed some sort of cover story instead. In that way the sports scandal was a blessing in disguise, it had given him the nudge he'd needed to fly out and reconnect with his twin. Normally he would have suggested that she come to his hotel room or he to hers but given the events of the past year it had seemed like the best place for their awkward reunion was neutral territory. So Brian had suggested dinner and Betsy had mentioned a restaurant known for being low key, which was where he was seated now. He'd managed to get them a table in a quiet corner of the room and was already on his second glass of wine as he anxiously waited for Betsy to appear.

BETSY: During her time in Los Angeles, at least her recent time there as defined by living in the Paradise Hotel, Betsy had found that in direct contrast to her usual habit of finding the most fashionable and thriving clubs and the high end restaurants she had gravitated towards the quieter places much more, in fact she hadn't so much as stepped foot in a club for the last few months. It was noisy enough the rest of the time with trying to pull her telepathy under control without having to listen to the thumping baseline of a dance track and everyone yelling over one another to be heard. So thinking of a place to meet Brian in hadn't been too hard, she'd been scouting out places that she could sit in and not be bothered or photographed for a while now. Ridiculous really, a model not wanting to have her picture taken, but Betsy was well aware that she had damage control to do on her career and she wasn't prepared to let the media control her comeback. While he had been drinking that first glass of wine Betsy had been outside, out of sight and watching the restaurant nervously. Ever since waking up from what she had been told was a coma she had found herself missing her twin terribly and she'd been on the brink of calling him several times since then but she just couldn't manage to pick up the phone, dial and speak all in one go. They hadn't left things terribly well and she felt guilty and anxious. While she hadn't been in the news, she had been following it, especially stories from home which made her feel a little less like she had lost touch with London and her original stomping ground, so she knew about the rumours going around regarding mutants in sports and she was worried. Knowing that she was a mutant, surely it meant there was a good chance that her twin was too? What would that mean for his career? It was that concern for his welfare that eventually got her moving, had her crossing the street in long strides and pushing through the doors into the restaurant. It was easy to spot him in the quite corner he's chosen and she made a bee-line for him. Betsy hovered by the table uneasily, not sure if she should just sit or if he would want to hug her. When had it gotten this hard to be in the same room? At what point had things become so weird? "Sorry I'm--" she started. "I didn't mean to be late."

BRIAN: Brian had been so busy staring at his glass and willing himself not to get cold feet and leave that when Betsy first walked in he didn't even noticed. So he was caught off guard when her voice suddenly cut into his thoughts, and looked up at her in surprise. "No, it's fine. Gave me a chance to butter up the waitress. I don't think we'll have to wait long for our food," he forced himself to reply with his familiar, easy grin. It was entirely false of course because Brian was far from feeling like his normal, cheeky self and that meant he hadn't even bothered to try to charm the girl who'd taken his drinks order. Instead he'd been focused on working out exactly what he was going to say to his sister when she arrived and now that she had, Brian still wasn't sure how to act or what to say to her. The awkwardness radiating from their table could probably be felt four blocks away and after another moment of uneasy silence Brian belatedly got to his feet, his manners finally kicking in, and reached out to give her a hug. Except that the hug ended up being a strange pat on the shoulder because he couldn't quite make his arms go around her, he wasn't sure if she'd even want him to. And suddenly having to cope with the concept of personal space with Betsy of all people seemed completely insane. "You look good," he added once he'd sat back down, "Really. Better than I've seen you in a long time." There might even have been an impressed tone to his voice there because what he was saying was true. The last time he'd seen Betsy she'd been a bit of a train-wreck, to put it mildly, and seeing her now reminded him of how she'd looked when she'd first started modeling. "California must agree with you," he added with a small, genuine smile this time.

BETSY: Well. A shoulder pat was... better than nothing she guessed, but it wasn't exactly the type of movie reunion with the swelling orchestra that she might have been secretly hoping for, no matter how irrationally and frankly Betsy didn't really know what to do with that at all. So she smiled, much like her twin the expression was rather forced and for an awkward moment she stood motionless with that expression on her face before she made to sit herself down at the table, placing her handbag by the chair leg where she could reach it if necessary, either to make a sharp exit if they got into an argument or... well that was really her only consideration. Betsy hadn't come to the restaurant expecting a fight and she certainly didn't want one, but with things already awkward and uncomfortable she didn't know how it was going to go, and lying to Brian had always been ridiculously hard, he could always tell when she was fibbing either because of the twin thing or just being able to read her particularly well and something as big a having been on a coma earlier that year, manifesting the ability to read people's minds and living in a hotel full of mutants all within the last year wasn't exactly the sort of thing she imagined she could hide from him. That last comment of his diffused some of the weird tension though and Betsy found herself relaxing a little, her smile easing into something more natural. "Thanks, I feel better. I think California agrees with everyone." It was true she'd been a mess the last time that she'd seen him, and actually hearing him say that she looked better now was a big relief that she hadn't necessarily been aware she was waiting for. "I suppose I had a bit of a wake up call." In the shape of being possessed, but it might be better to save that revelation until after the starters. Shaking herself off under the guise of getting more comfortable in her seat, Betsy toyed with her napkin absentmindedly, refocusing on Brian. "I'm really glad you called. I picked up the phone about half a dozen times this summer, I just didn't get around to dialling."

BRIAN: "Well they say you need to hit rock bottom before you can start to pick yourself up," Brian offered with a shrug. What little he knew about addictions came from sheets printed out by the way of Google and his own direct experience with Betsy. The former hadn't been hugely informative and the latter hadn't been very pleasant, so he was mostly winging it here. "I wasn't sure what to order for you," he explained, gesturing at his own glass. It only struck him now that he should have perhaps stuck to water and soft drinks himself, as a sign of solidarity in case Betsy had gone completely tee-total. Unfortunately Brian had needed something to steady his nerves and generally he wasn't the type to think that far ahead about another human being. At her admission Brian smiled ruefully, knowing exactly how she felt. "I know, I wanted to call you so many times but I was too stubborn. And then so much time had passed and I thought, well, maybe we were finally growing apart." Which seemed a ridiculous notion in retrospect, given the fact that being separated in their teens for school hadn't lessened their bond any. "But it doesn't matter now. We're both here, that means something. And I want to move on, get back to how things were between us. I don't want the relationship I have with you to be like the one I have with Jamie." Which was basically emotionally distant with equal feelings of disdain. Brian didn't hate his brother or anything as dramatic as that, he just didn't particularly like or feel close to him. And to have that same relationship with Betsy just wasn't worth keeping his pride, he'd rather swallow it and go back to having her in his life again. "So, fresh start?" he asked hesitantly after a moment.

BETSY: That statement about rock bottom was certainly true, and Betsy felt like she'd most definitely been there, or what was rock bottom for her, it probably varied for other people. Betsy herself didn't really know a lot about addiction, not in the academic sense, she'd lived it, but it was all so much of a blur looking back and she had so much on the plate to deal with that it had almost taken a backseat in her mind these days. For the time being Betsy was definitely tee-total, she didn't intend to stay that way for the rest of her life but she felt that she would be giving herself the best shot at recovery if she just completely went off alcohol for a while, but it didn't matter to her that he was drinking in her presence of anything like that and she waved a hand dismissively at his gesture, ordering a diet coke after flagging down a waiter. It was comforting to know that they had both been wanting to call, even though neither of them had actually managed to follow through, it was nice to know that it had been two sided, they had both wanted to reconnect, it made things seem like they might be easier after all from this point on. Expression dipping slightly at the mention of his strained relationship with their other sibling Jamie, whom she didn't feel all that close to either, she couldn't even really recall the last time that she'd seen him, it had to have been back in England though. Betsy didn't want her and Brian to be like that either and she nodded. "I want that too. The way things are with Jamie, it's not how things should be with us. A fresh start it is." Whilst repeating his words she lifted her diet coke by way of a toast to just that, taking a sip and then setting it down again neatly on the table cloth. "What made you call in the end, then?"

BRIAN: He smiled widely at her agreement, pleased that they both seemed to be on the same page. For a while he'd been worried that she wouldn't want to start over, that it would take more time and space before they could work at their relationship. So it was a huge relief to know that Betsy felt the same way as him. "I got fired," Brian declared in response. "Well, technically suspended and then I quit," he amended with a grimace. "You know all those people coming out as mutants? Well, they've not had the best effect on sport. All the coaches have started to get really paranoid and they even sent some of us for tests. Apparently mine were inconclusive but I wasn't staying on the team with everyone thinking I was a cheat." Not only was it insulting and demoralising but Brian had the awful suspicion that maybe he was a cheat. And had been since high school. Now of course came the uncomfortable part where he had to ask his sister if she was in possession of some fancy powers or just plain crazy. "And I thought, well. You had mentioned hearing voices a couple years ago and I wanted to know if..." Brian trailed off awkwardly for a moment, his gaze flickering to the table and away from Betsy's face. After a minute he looked back up at her and finally asked in a low voice, "Are you like the people on theinternet? Worthington? The Powers family? Are we... mutants?"

BETSY: Of course she'd read some bits in the papers or seen on the internet about the sporting world and it's 'mutant problem' but in recent months she had been too caught up in her own problems to really take too much notice and hearing Brian tell her that it had actually affected him and his career so directly made her feel a bit guilty about that. Before she could react the awkwardness came up again. Thinking about it she probably should have seen that coming, it only stood to reason that there was a good chance that with her being a mutant her twin brother would be too. After the direct question Betsy echoed her brother's dip in eye contact, her fingers playing with her coke glass autonomously, turning it around on the spot as she aligned her thoughts which was suddenly difficult in the restaurant setting, and it took her a moment to really focus and remember what she had been practising back at the hotel; how to shut out thepsionic white noise. A sigh passed through her lips before she could muster the strength to look up again and nod. "The voices, they're thoughts. I'm telepathic." That sounded so odd to just... say out loud like that, and Betsy hadn't even noticed that she'd moved to lean on the table, speaking somewhat surreptitiously and in a low voice. "It makes sense that you'd be a mutant too. I should really have realised it before but-- well, I was caught up in some things here." Maybe she'd be lucky and he wouldn't ask how it was she had come across her own powers. "Did something happen to you? It's just, you're asking me as if you're not sure..." Inquisitively her fingers gestured across the table to him, a thin frown lacing her features.

BRIAN: Hearing Betsy actually say the word 'telepathic' out loud and mean it definitely sounded strange to Brian's ears. Sure, he'd seen theyoutube videos like everyone else. The girl on fire at UCLA, some kid in Japan who could melt objects by looking at them, but those incidents had seemed so far removed from his life. Except now he was finding out that his sister was a mutant after all and suddenly the whole issue was being brought home. This wasn't something happening half-way across the world, it was happening to his family. Possibly even to himself. "So you're potentially the best poker player in the world," Brian finally said after a long pause. "I'll remember that if the trust fund ever runs out." He sighed then, running his hand over his hair, which was pointless considering how short the cut was but it was a nervous gesture leftover from childhood. "Look Bets, you know I'll love you no matter what, yeah? This doesn't change anything." Maybe it went without saying but Brian needed to let her know anyway, just in case. He shook his head at her then, shrugging his shoulders. "No,nothing's happened as such. It's just small things really, like being able to lift more weights than guys twice my size. Or the way people struggle to tackle me on the field. I brokesomeone's jaw last year, which granted, isn't that out of the ordinary for the sport but I barely even touched him." It felt good to get this off his chest. Brian had been so wrapped up in not voicing his suspicions for fear his coach would find out that he hadn't had anyone to talk to about it. And regardless of whether he'd admit it, the idea of being different, of his body changing, well that scared the hell out of him. Though admittedly he felt slightly better about the idea knowing that Betsy was in the same boat. "Oh," he added with a grin, trying to lighten the mood, "And I haven't met a jar yet that I couldn't open."

BETSY: Having been submerged in life at the Paradise Hotel for a while words like telepathy and pyrokinesis had sort of lost their edge of Betsy, she was surrounded by people who could create earthquakes with their fists, hack a computer with their mind and even fly, apparently the desensitisation was already kicking in, or at the very least she had simply had more time for it all to sink in. His quip about poker made her smile and the tense energy in the muscles of her back released a little bit, she didn't know if she had been expecting some kind of backlash or rejection or something along those lines but if he was making light of it that somehow made it a lot better. "I know," Betsy said softly. "Me too." That was where the real relief kicked in. They would be okay despite things being so different, she didn't like the shapeless idea that had been fogging up the back of her mind that she would get him back for all of five minutes, drop the mutant bomb only to have him turn tail, and with that scenario out of the picture she could focus more. Certainly listening to what he was telling her about the small things that had happened, it sounded as though a mutation had kicked in, from what she'd heard about some of the people at the hotel and how their powers had surfaced it could start very small, almost completely overlooked. Betsy couldn't help a smile at the jar comment, the widest and most genuine yet; even given the subject matter of their conversation she couldn't deny or hide that she was pleased to be able to talk like this with him again. "It's good you told me." Because she sure as hell hadn't coped well with her mutation when it had first come about and the last thing she wanted was for Brian to have to deal with something unpredictable and scary on his own. "Have you had any headaches or other symptoms like that? I'm not really an expert or anything, but I've had some pretty massive headaches because of my powers."

BRIAN: It probably took living with people who could do all sorts of weird and wonderful things to make you immune to the shock and surprise of mutant powers. It certainly wasn't something Brian was going to become accustomed to over night, that much was for sure. He frowned at Betsy, trying to think. "The only thing I can think of is growing pains but that was probably just thanks to puberty." He had shot up about five inches overnight after all, that being more or less the standard for boys hitting their mid teens. "Is there any way of knowing for sure? I mean, do you know anyone who can... who's an expert on this?" Brian didn't have a clue how the mutant community worked or even if Betsy knew that many people with powers she was his best shot. Otherwise he wasn't sure what he was going to do. Either go life worried that he'd one day activate some hidden power or treat everyone he met like glass in case he accidentally hurt them. It wasn't much of a choice.

BETSY: After she'd first woken up and found herself in the hotel surrounded by people who could do the crazy things that the residents of the Paradise Hotel could do, Betsy had definitely been in a state of shock and it hadn't worn off quickly, a few month down the line and she was better adjusted that was true, but every so often she had an almost out of body experience where she looked at the situation she was in and found herself thinking This Is Nuts. Feeling conspiratorial she leaned forward across the table a little. "I'm staying in a hotel," she told him quietly though her tone hinted that she was going somewhere with that obvious statement. "It's sort of like a, I don't know, a half-way house for mutants but there are people there who we could talk to." It escaped her notice that she had used We instead of You there, she intended to stick with Brian now that they seemed to be getting off on the right foot after what had been far too long a separation. "I'll tell them to expect you, they helped me figure out a lot of things, Brian. At the risk of making them sound like a cult, they can help you too." Betsy gave him a winning smile at that.

BRIAN: Well at least Betsy wasn't living in a half-way house for crack addicts, Brian had to see the silver lining in that. He wasn't entirely happy about her staying with complete strangers of course and ordinarily he would have persuaded her to stay with him instead. However his curiosity was getting the better of him and out of selfishness, he wanted to see if she was right. If maybe they could help him too. "Well, so long as they don't offer me any kool-aid," he replied with a smile. And if they did, his newfound strength might suddenly come in handy.