hiddenintellect (hiddenintellect) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-08-12 18:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, billy kaplan (wiccan), gareth visser |
Who: Gareth Visser & Billy Kaplan
What: Grizz goes over to check up on Billy after his power malfunction
When: Sometime after this
Where: Dorms
Rating/Warnings: PG | None
Status: Log | Complete
Grizz's experience with lightning being shot out of somebody's hands was literally non existent but Billy was a friend and he was quite clearly freaking out. Obviously. Any sane person would be pretty freaked out especially as it fried a toaster and cut all the power to the building. Definitely not your standard morning.
He'd shut his laptop down and tugged on a t-shirt but not bothering with shoes because he couldn't imagine they would be going anywhere anytime fast unless of course Billy wanted to get some air and he could always grab shoes, no big.
As promised the door was unlocked and Grizz pushed it open, stepping through and searching the room for where Billy was.
Having decided that the kitchen was definitely not a Safe Place for him to be, Billy had retreated to his room where he'd been googling various terms such as 'human electrokinesis' and 'mutant abilities' (because that was what it had to be, right? He was like the X-Men or something?) but nothing turned up because none of that was real.
Jumping a little and closing his own laptop when he heard the door open, Billy glanced up from where he'd been sitting on the bed, cross-legged and pressed up against the headboard.
"Hey," he mumbled, rubbing the side of his head. "Not sure I like this whole Dreaming thing."
"I thought you were turning that thing off?" Grizz asked, arched eyebrow. He shut the door after himself and strayed further into the room before he settled himself on the edge of Billy's bed. "I mean yeah it sucks that you know you dreamt something and now you're like... electrocuting things, but at least you aren't missing a limb or uh, I dunno, a total asshole in your dreams?"
He offered a soft smile.
"Has anything else happened?"
" I was gonna," Billy protested, having shut it off now, he pushed it to the bottom of his bed, "but somebody commented that they've got similar powers and I wanted to ask them about it. Not... lightning powers but energy based of some kind. There's a place where it's safe to practise them. I think it was a she, she thinks I should take up yoga."
He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to take up yoga.
When Grizz sat down on the bed, Billy pressed his lips together and wrinkled his nose. "Have I electrocuted anything else, you mean? I- I might not be an asshole in my dreams but I did nearly kill someone." He'd have to mention it to his therapist, surely, because waking up knowing what the smell of burnt flesh is isn't something that'd get out of his head any time soon. "In the dreams," he repeated, just in case that wasn't clear.
Grizz pulled a slight face at the thought of yoga. "And why would yoga be good for you?" He'd known a couple people who did it in school back home but they were the complete opposite of relaxed and chilled so not really good ambassadors for it.
He felt his brow furrow when Billy admitting to nearly killing someone. "Wait, wait, wait," he said as he moved his hands in a confused manner as he gestured to Billy. "You, Billy Kaplan, nearly killed somebody in your dreams?"
"It helps her control her emotions, or something?"
Billy nodded, miserably. He uncrossed his legs only to lift his knees his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin atop them. "My high school bully. He- Yeah, I didn't mean to." He sighed, rubbed his fingers through his hair. "It was when my powers... manifested, I guess?"
"Would have thought meditation or mindfulness would be better for that but what do I know?"
Grizz nodded at what Billy said. "Well, that kinda makes sense. I mean, bullies suck and if whatever is you can do is linked to your emotional state then having some dickbag in your space is bound to make something happen. And I mean if you look at like Marvel and DC and stuff a lot of those characters and their powers happen at a certain age and because of a certain event."
"You know more than you want people to think you do," Billy pointed out with an arch of his eyebrow. It was tempting to flop forward and wriggle onto his back, rest his head on Grizz' thigh while they talked but he didn't. That would be weird.
He nodded, a little energised by the mention of his beloved comic books. "Hey, in the dreams I'm a really big fan of the Avengers. But, like, they're real, dream!Billy would go by the Avengers mansion - which was totally abandoned - when he was feeling crappy, which was a lot. So maybe I'm a mutant or something? It'd make sense..."
Grizz put his finger to his lip and playfully shushed Billy as if somebody was listening in on their conversations. "Dude, that's totally our secret."
"Yeah, yeah it would. I mean either that or you're just magic." He shifted a little more onto the bed until he rested his back against the wall and stretched his legs out in front of him. Blessedly he had clean and relatively nice feet so he wasn't inflicting gnarly toes or weird growths of hair on Billy. "I mean I know a lot of people who would kill to have superpowers."
Billy snorted, "I'm not shouting that you're a secret genius from the rooftops," he retorted, poking Grizz's leg with his socked foot. "I don't see why you want it to be a secret anyway. You're so smart, man, you coulda got a scholarship."
He watched the other get comfortable, stretching out on the bed like he belonged there. Billy envied that; Grizz moved through the world like he knew his place in it. Exuded a confidence Billy wished he had. Now, the sudden manifestation of magical - or mutant - abilities was an additional knock to Billy that he really didn't need. Not going into his second year of college. Not when he was trying to live his best life out in California and prove to his parents that he was fine.
"Oh yeah, my Jewish parents would love that," he drawled, "suddenly after living in California for a year their adopted, gay son turns out to be some kind of Wiccan magician."
Grizz folded his hands together and linked his fingers together before he tipped his head to look over at Billy. "I dunno, I just- Back home it wasn't exactly something you advertised." At least not with his mother who after finding out her son enjoyed tap dancing proceeded to freak the fuck out about how he might be gay and signed him up for football. Welp, sorry mom, had the exact opposite effect, but Grizz knew that was an argument he'd never win, not with his mother.
"You think that would really matter to them?"
"To my folks? Probably not. I mean, they'd be disappointed but they'd get it. They're both really progressive, you know? But that didn't make coming out to them any easier." He gave Grizz a small smile. "Still, at least they accepted me for who I am and didn't try to make me into someone I'm not because of a fear of what I might be."
He remembered Grizz saying that his mom had been worried he was gay when he liked to dance so signed him up for football but Billy's gaydar had never really been that accurate or reliable and he figured Grizz had been bothered by that because he wasn't gay.
"Though I'm less worried about them finding out I've converted to Wicca as I am about the thought of having some kind of really dangerous superpower."
He wrinkled his nose and pushed his fingers through his hair, "I always figured that if I- I mean, I thought about what it'd be like to have powers and I thought it'd be way different to this."
"You're definitely lucky," Grizz shared with a nod of his head. "My mom, she's a good person, but she just doesn't get a lot of things." Not very progressive and also afraid of pretty much anything that didn't fit her world view, it was one of the many reasons he'd been glad when he finally graduated high school.
He pulled his lower lip into his mouth and chewed on it absently.
"I mean power is dangerous, period, but you don't have to have superpowers to be dangerous. There's a ton of people out there who aren't powered who are just as dangerous if not more so." Grizz shrugged his shoulders. "I think for the most part it's all about intent, Billy. " He turned his head to look over at Billy. "Yeah, okay, you've gotta learn control but that'll come, with time, and because you want to be able to control it and not hurt anyone, right?"
"You can share my parents if you want," Billy offered with a little grin, but was distracted momentarily when Grizz chewed on his lip. He pushed his hands through his hair again as a means of pulling his attention away from watching his stupidly handsome across-the-hall-neighbour and more-often-than-Billy-would-like-to-admit-saviour gnawing on his lip.
He wrinkled his nose and leaned back against the headboard, looking at his hands with a lightly furrowed brow, like that would somehow magically allow him to control his powers or, maybe, like it'd make lightning arc across his fingers to prove that he wasn't insane.
"I better learn control otherwise I'll have to take out extra home insurance if I want any hope of renting anywhere ever again," he joked, lamely. Wetting his lower lip, he looked up from his chipped black nail polish to Grizz again. "I can't believe you just..." he waves his hand, "believed me."
Grizz chuckled at the thought of that and lifted his eyebrow. "Oh yeah, I bet they'd love that." His attention drifted to Billy's hands in his hair and not for the first time he wondered if it was as soft as it looked. Obviously he'd never asked or even tried to touch because that would be super creepy and Grizz didn't want to scare off his first friend in LA by being that guy.
"Well, you don't exactly strike me as somebody who would make that shit up." He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "And besides, it's kinda like, I dunno, being a scientologist. Why the fuck would you want to lie about something like that when you know what the world thinks of people who follow that religion?" His lips tugged into a soft understanding smile.
"Not sure developing superpowers is the same as scientology but I get where you're going," Billy teased, chewing on his own lower lip in thought. "It seems totally weird though, right? Because superpowers aren't a thing in the real world. But here I am. Dreaming about one of the Avengers - hey did you see there's a Tony Stark on the network and he had an Iron Man suit? Like, the Iron Man?" He'd digressed, distracted by remembering how he'd totally wanted to geek out and gush on that post but at the same time being unable to do so because he didn't want to be that guy.
"Nope," Grizz said with a shake of his head. "I'm gonna be honest I don't spend a lot of time on the network unless it's late or I'm bored." Obviously he knew who Iron Man was but Grizz, well, he was more of a Captain America fan as Tony Stark always struck him as a total douchebag with way too much money. "But that's cool."
Mena the MagnificentLast Thursday at 12:38
"Oh, man, I spend too much time on the network. Probably more than's healthy," Billy admitted with a bashful grin. "Not that I speak on it much, I don't see the point but- I mean- it's interesting to read. I guess it's a good thing? 'Cause I- I mean, I can see a bunch of stuff about other people having these weird dreams too."
He chewed on his lower lip and lifted his hands again, scowling at his fingertips. He hadn't meant for anything to happen earlier and it had, and ever since, when he'd actively tried nothing worked.
Biting down a little harder, he released his lip as a bolt of bright blue-white arced across his fingertips, jumping from his right pinky to his thumb and then in reverse across his left hand before discharging into the light on the other side of the room, causing the bulb to explode.
"...shit."
Grizz figured it was only a matter of time before he started dreaming because it stood to reason if everybody else was doing it then it was bound to happen to him, eventually. Hopefully he didn't have any nasty surprises waiting for him. A guy could hope, right? He tipped his head to watch Billy as he took to scowling at his fingertips and Grizz wondered if he realised that the more he thought about it and the more he got frustrated then it was only going to make things harder.
Emotions were after all highly volatile and totally irrational so they were bound to have a considerable impact.
Of course then something sparked across Billy's fingertips resulting in a sudden bulb explosion on the other side of the room.
"Well, that was, wow," Grizz murmured before he reached out to close his larger hands around Billy's wrists. "Billy, do me a favour, yeah? Just breathe and focus on right here, right now, and not whatever is going on in your head."
Billy’s brain went utterly blank as Grizz’s large hands curled around his wrists, easily enveloping them. It was hard to focus on anything when his world narrowed down to the warmth at his wrists. His fingers relaxed, the tension draining from where he had been tensed to try and activate the powers. Which, at least, had worked even if it was only briefly and had resulted in the explosion of a lightbulb.
Better than flipping the breaker.
He licked his lower lip and caught it between his teeth. “At least I can show you what happens,” he smiled shyly. “I know you didn’t doubt it but at least- y’know. You saw.”
Grizz watched closely as all signs of tension seemed to drain out of Billy and he let out a breath he hadn't been aware that he'd been holding. You never could tell how somebody would react to being touched until you did it and thankfully it seemed to have had the right effect on Billy.
"Yeah, I did, and I figure if you now have these powers then learning about them and doing it in a safe environment is a good idea."
Kinda like that movie, about the kid who suddenly became a superhero, a lot of trial and error.
Even after a year of being away from people who would bully him for being who he was, Billy still had the instinctive reaction of flinching when people touched him normally. He supposed, because he’d been watching Grizz anyway, he was ready for the touch and that explained why he didn’t flinch. Still, he wasn’t used to being touched in a way that was gentle by anyone that wasn’t his family.
It made his stomach swirl a little.
“There’s a ranch,” he said, unsure if he’d talked about it already. “Where there’s space for people to practise their powers. I’m gonna go at the weekend.”
"Okay, cool," Grizz said with a nod of his head. "You going alone or is somebody going with you?" Like the person he'd been speaking to on the network who had told Billy about the ranch in question.
He'd be willing to go with , for moral support, but he had no idea if people without powers were welcome or it was some sort of exclusive club that you needed powers to get close to.
“I think the person from the network is gonna take me,” Billy said with a nod of his head, half tempted to invite Grizz along anyway just in case it went horribly wrong and they needed to make a quick exit but also, if he was going to be playing around with powers he didn’t know how to control, he didn’t want to risk hurting fifty percent of the friendships he’d managed to make over the last year here.
He swallowed, “But, uh, if I don’t blow myself up or anything did you wanna maybe grab lunch after?”
Well, that was a relief, knowing that somebody would be there with Billy as he attempted to tackle his new found powers. "Well, that's good. Would've sucked for you to have been told about the ranch and then see you later." Definitely would have been the epitome of suck.
He belatedly realised he was still holding onto Billy's wrists and released them before shoving one of them into his hair.
"Uh, yeah, lunch sounds good and you can tell me how it went."
Billy ignored the way his skin felt cold and prickled unhappily when Grizz’s hands let go and he just nodded, drawing his hands closer to himself and rubbing his thumb over the inside of one of his wrists. He watched Grizz’s fingers disappear into his hair and let out a slow breath.
He felt relieved that at least the offer of lunch went down okay. “Yeah? Cool. I can do that. Oh- also- uh- have you- I mean, do you know where you’re gonna live next semester? I need to start looking like soon ‘cause we can’t stay in halls for much longer.”
"Uh, probably look to get a shared house or something?" Grizz muttered as he secured some of his hair in place with a black hairband. "I mean if you don't have any idea either then maybe we could share? Unless of course you've already got plans."
It was possible after all.
"Having other plans would indicate that someone wants to live with me," Billy deadpanned, leaning back against the headboard and tipping his head back against it, looking up at the ceiling as he blew out a breath.
He glanced at Grizz, surprised at the offer as it filtered into his mind that he'd just been asked to share a place with Grizz.
"You'd wanna do that?" he asked, "With me, I mean? You'd wanna share a place with me? Are you- are you sure?"
Grizz looked a little taken aback at the surprise written all over Billy's face. "Yeah, wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." Grizz tended to speak his mind, good bad or otherwise. Just the way he was. "I mean you might wanna leave all the DIY shit to me but aside from that? Yeah."
Billy snorted, "Yeah, I'm... I'm not good with DIY. But hey, you never know, maybe this isn't gonna be my only superpower. I might wake up with the ability of Incredible Manliness or something." The smile was quirked, one corner of his mouth raised in something that might have been self-deprecation but honestly Billy couldn't even tell the different anymore.
He rubbed the back of his head. "I- uh, I'd like that."
"Yeah?" Grizz asked, entire face lighting up with a delighted expression along with a big grin. "Okay, cool, that's settled then. I'll start looking for a two bedroom place that isn't too expensive. " He had plans to get a part time job because living as an adult was expensive, really fucking expensive.
Billy was taken aback by the delighted response from Grizz and it pulled a shy grin out of him in return. He rubbed his hand through his hair and nodded, "Yeah- that- cool. Hopefully it won't be too hard."
He chewed his lower lip as he added, "Maybe we can go look at some places this weekend? If you find any, that is. I can look too." Plus he knew his parents would pay their deposit and first month's rent just out of delight that Billy wouldn't be living alone.
Grizz nodded his head. "Yeah, let's do that. No harm in getting ahead of this thing before it creeps up and bites us in the ass when we least expect it." That was fun for literally nobody.
Billy nodded, "Uh- you- thanks for coming over, Grizz. It means a lot."
Grizz offered Billy a sincere smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Anytime, Billy. Anytime." And he meant that.