Tyler Lockwood (firstsuccess) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-08-19 19:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, billy batson (captain marvel), tyler lockwood |
Who: Tyler and Billy
What: Billy catches Tyler compelling the barista
When: Recently
Where: Some coffee shop
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Tyler still wasn’t sure if he was going to start working now that he was back. He thought about it sometimes. It felt like the thing to do, and it would be nice to have some money. But money was just so unnecessary when one was a vampire, not when you could compel anything you wanted for no charge at all.
“That’ll be $3,” the barista said, handing over the large coffee he’d ordered, two creams and a sugar.
“Really?” Tyler asked, looking her in the eye. “I thought it was on the house,” he said.
The barista looked almost dazed for a very brief moment as the compulsion did its work. “Oh, my mistake,” she said. “Have a great day!”
“Yeah, you too,” Tyler said, grinning cheerily back at her. He still got a rush every time he pulled that off.
***
If Billy hadn’t started dreaming, if he didn’t have six voices in his head, all the time, then maybe he would not have caught that, not have seen that. As it was, his eyes widened and he wondered what the man had done. He had felt… something. Ever since he had seen and dreamed of being Captain Marvel, he had been able to feel any kind of magical effect, ability, or anything, in his nearby area.
And that had been… something. Weird. Billy rose and followed the man, quiet for a moment before he spoke.
“Excuse me. Sir?”
Billy moved to the man’s side as he walked from the barista.
“That wasn’t very nice, what you did there.” Billy stood there, all of four feet tall, but his shadow, magically speaking, was a lot bigger.
***
Tyler turned, and then looked down at the kid who stopped him. He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why such a pipsqueak would stop him like that. He thought he was getting pretty decent at not making his compulsions obvious, and he’d never heard of someone who was able to sense it when he used it. He furrowed his brow, trying to think back on the conversation. He didn’t think he’d been rude.
“What, did I forget to say thank you?” he asked. He turned back to the barista. “Hey, thanks,” he called to her, despite the fact that she was now helping another customer. Then he turned back to the boy in front of him. “We cool?” he asked, already turning toward the exit.
***
“The magic you used, whatever it was. That kind of thing always comes back to bite you in the ass, you know.” His voice was quiet. He could feel Solomon, and Zeus, and all the others crowding in his head, whispering advice, or yelling it. He shook his head and sighed.
“Be careful. There’s always a price.” Concern for this stranger showed in his voice and eyes.
***
Magic? So he was talking about the compulsion. Tyler didn’t really know how he knew. Even still, as the guy in front of him continued talking, Tyler felt his rage rising up from his stomach. Of course he had to pay a price. He was technically dead, and he drank human blood to survive. Assuming they were still together, and he hoped they would be, he would have to watch Blossom grow old and die while he never aged. Unless she decided to be a vampire too, but he didn’t like the idea of her dealing with the near constant bloodlust. And while his heightened emotions could be a good thing, like when he was with Blossom or with his friends, they could also be a pain in the ass. Like right now.
He’d gotten good at controlling his anger when he’d become a werewolf a year ago. He’d had anger problems before, which he’d always attributed to his upbringing. But he had to learn to control it as a werewolf, in case he seriously hurt someone with his enhanced strength. His emotions had become heightened at that change, and he’d adjusted well. Even still, being a vampire-werewolf hybrid made things that much worse, and he had to take a deep breath to let the anger subside. The teenager seemed to mean well. It wasn’t like he was trying to start something, and even if Tyler couldn’t snap someone in half without even trying, he had no intention of fighting someone he literally had to look down on.
“Yeah, thanks,” he said. “I got the memo. You don’t need to worry about me.”
***
“Worrying about people is what I do. It’s kind of what I was made to do.” Billy gave him a lopsided smile.
“I don’t know what you’re going through, or what you've been through., I’ll never try to lie and say I do, but if you ever need to talk to someone, someone who gets that shit gets real, and more real than it was ever supposed to get? More real than anyone ever told you it could get? Give me a holler.”
He pulled out a card a simple business card, with his name, Billy Batson, on one side and a phone number on the other.
“Whatever it is, you don’t have to face it alone.” Billy nodded and stepped back, his piece said. He didn’t like what the man had done, but he could feel that there was a whole shit ton worse below it, and he was hoping things would work out for this guy.
Really hoping.
***
Tyler really wasn’t sure what to make of this kid. He was ballsy, Tyler had to give him that. He was tempted to throw away the business card that was handed to him, though further consideration convinced him to put it in his pocket. In a place like this, it never hurt to have connections, especially not to someone who clearly had some kind of knowledge of magic.
And before Tyler decided to just leave the kid to get his coffee, he decided maybe he could help the kid too. “I know I’m not alone,” he said. “You know, there’s a whole network of us if you didn’t already know.”
***
Glad things were not going bad, he was hopeful for the future and smiled warmly as the man spoke. Billy nodded. “Valarnet? You’re the second person to mention that to me in the last week. If people like us are there, I should probably check it out. Have you been using it long?”
He smiled brighter. “Thanks, sir! I appreciate it.’
He offered the man a hand. “I’m Billy. I hope things will go well for you.”
***
“A while,” Tyler said. He hadn’t used it much in the last few months, but then, he hadn’t really been in contact with anyone in the last few months. “If you haven’t checked it out though, you probably should. Just don’t call me ‘sir.’ My name’s Tyler.” He took Billy’s hand, not squeezing too hard so he didn’t crush Billy’s hand.
***
“I will. It sounds interesting.” Billy chuckled at the correction. “Alright. Tyler it is.” He shook Tyler’s hand happily. “I hope things get better for you, si-Tyler.” He really did. He was that kind of guy. He made a note to add Tyler to the list of people he would pray for.
Hopefully, this guy’s life would get better.
“Maybe I’ll talk to you there.”
***
“Yeah, you too,” Tyler said. He didn’t actually know if things were going badly for Billy, but his general assumption was that no one particularly liked their dreams. Unless he had dreams like Blossom did, which seemed, for the most part, pretty harmless. “Catch you around, Billy,” Tyler said.
And hopefully he’d still be able to enjoy his coffee after being scolded by some kid.