Teddy Altman (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} princessmuscles) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2020-09-01 07:46:00 |
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‣ WHO: Teddy Altman || Billy Kaplan
‣ WHAT: Billy teleports over to see the truth of things
‣ WHEN: August 17th. After this
‣ WHERE: Teddy's apartment
‣ RATING | WARNINGS: Low || References to death
‣ STATUS: Complete || Log
Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods
Teddy Altman & Billy Kaplan
Less than ten seconds later, Billy teleported himself into Teddy’s bedroom with as little ceremony as he had done before. The sharp smell of ozone disappeared almost instantly, and Billy - who looked exhausted, hair in disarray and oversized hoodie swallowing him in all his sweatpanted glory - pulled his powers back into himself, the blue glow fading from around him.
He looked around, and when his eyes fell on Teddy, his shoulders slumped and he rushed forwards, quite literally throwing himself at Teddy and pressing his face against the other’s neck, arms tight around his shoulders.
Teddy wondered if he would ever get used to that and if he wanted to? Not that he had much chance to consider the answer because in the next moment Billy was basically flinging himself at him and most definitely clinging.
Not that he could blame him. He’d seen him die after all.
Teddy’s arms encircled Billy moment later, and he squeezed firmly, one hand lifting to cup the back of Billy’s head. “Hey,” he murmured softly. “It’s okay.”
Billy’s words were muffled against Teddy’s chest, fingers fisting in the shirt he was wearing as he plastered himself against Teddy. The warmth of Teddy’s arms around him, the firm squeezed that was as grounding as Wanda’s hands on his when his anxiety was spiking, did a little to settle the nausea and spinning wheels of his brain but he didn’t understand.
“‘s not,” he muttered, because how could it be? “I tried to- I was too late to- I’m so sorry.”
Teddy swallowed in response to the intense emotions rolling off Billy and just did what he could to express in a physical way that he was present, alive, and as okay as he could be all things considered. He was still processing what had happened and the fact he’d “died” but he was definitely grateful to whatever higher power had seen it fit to bring him back. Not that he was religious or anything.
“Hey, hey,” he said as his thumb threaded into Billy’s hair and it brushed over the back of his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” Honestly what had he even been thinking? He should have left all the heroics to the people with superpowers.
Next time he was one hundred percent doing just that.
Billy didn’t say anything for a long moment before he lifted his head. He was such a jerk, Teddy was the one that died and here he was making it about himself. He really was a selfish idiot sometimes. He took a breath and his eyes dropped to Teddy’s lips, catching himself so he didn’t do something stupid and leaned forward again, tucked his face into the curve of Teddy’s neck.
“I wasn’t fast enough to save you,” he muttered. “But you- you’re so brave, T. You don’t even have y- any powers ye- any powers and you still tried to do the right thing and help people.”
Teddy snorted softly. “More like stupid.” He was brutally honest, to himself and others. That was just the way that Teddy was. He rarely sugarcoated and was firm but kind. Sometimes things needed to be said and it wasn’t always easy.
“And don’t feel bad. There was a lot going on and I bet you saved a lot of other people.”
Nobody had ever shortened Teddy to T before, but he liked it.
“I won’t argue that it was stupid,” Billy agreed with a chuckle, leaning back to look up at Teddy. His eyes dropped again, looking at the gentle smile on Teddy’s lips and fighting the urge to lean up and kiss it. “But it was also really brave.”
He let out a breath, forcing himself to let go from where he was clinging to the back of Teddy’s shirt. Okay, he could let go, Teddy wouldn’t disappear.
“Are you okay? You’re not- there’s no lingering… uh, stuff?” It had been brutal, watching Teddy be ripped apart. It was hard to believe that he’d come back from the dead without a single mark.
“Uh,” Teddy mumbled. He hadn’t actually thought to check which he probably should have. He’d sort of assumed that because he had all his limbs that there was no lingering stuff from his horrible death. “I think so?”
He ignored the sudden cold front due to the absence of Billy pressed up against him but chose to shove that down in favor of patting himself down and even going as far to pull his shirt up to check his skin for marks.
So far so good.
“I mean, I think I’m okay?” Physically anyways.
Billy nodded, hands reaching out when the shirt lifted like he was going to touch and then caught himself. He pressed his lips together and swallowed, tipping his head and looking up at Teddy. “I- uh- Do you mind if I check?”
He added, a second later, touching the curve of Teddy’s elbow, “Plus, you di- What happened to you was really messed up. If you’re not okay, that’s okay too.”
Did he mind? Uh, no. But it was probably sensible not to be too eager.
“Uh, go for it.”
He swallowed past a sudden lump at the back of his throat and nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just- I don’t really know how you process that, you know?”
“Yeah,” Billy admitted, “I have no idea how to process that either. C’mon,” he gently nudged Teddy back towards the bed and pushed him down onto it until he was sitting, and then stood between his knees.
Lifting two fingers, Billy’s hand glowed faintly with energy and he pressed them against Teddy’s forehead, sending a pulse of energy down, checking that he didn’t have any kind of lingering injuries from being resurrected. There was magic hanging around him, something that Billy didn’t recognise but he supposed that was probably what had brought him back.
His eyes were glowing with his power as he smiled a little at Teddy.
This was honestly the coolest thing ever. Not only did he have a really hot guy, in his bedroom, between his legs (not like that, unfortunately) but he also had powers. He went obediently with the nudge and arched an eyebrow when Billy pushed him down onto the bed, biting back what he was certain would be a completely inappropriate comment.
He looked upwards as Billy pressed two fingers to his forehead, letting out a small huff of breath in response to the way Billy’s hand glowed and there was definitely a feeling of static in the air which he was certain was causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end.
He finally met those glowing eyes of Billy’s and smiled back in response.
Billy drew his power back into himself after it had run through Teddy’s body, confirming that there were no physical injuries or marks left over from the death that had been brutally pressed on him less than 48 hours earlier. He didn’t move away, though, just stood where he was as the magic drained from his eyes. He met Teddy’s gaze and nodded, offering him a shy smile.
“You’re not- I mean there’s no marks or- I can feel magic but I’m guessing that’s the signature of whoever it was that brought you back.”
He touched Teddy’s cheek, then dropped his hand away. He knew that it wasn’t just dream confusion that had him wanting to lean down and kiss Teddy, that their hours of random conversation over Discord and sleepy phone calls had more to do with the urge than anything else, but still. He knew. He knew and Teddy didn’t.
“I would say we should chalk this event up to the OC weirdness, but you’ve not been here long enough to be a bit more blasé about it all.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Teddy resisted the urge to lean into the touch to his cheek and snorted a moment later. “Yeah, this was a first for me.” And if this was the norm for Orange County it was a very good thing he was resilient.
He reached up to rub at his neck. “I did see something on the network from somebody saying that those things were called Paradooms. I figure that links in with the OC weirdness?”
“Oh yeah, that’s prime OC weirdness right there,” Billy admitted with a nod of his head, “perfect example of the messed up nature of this place. It’s not magic so much as some kind of weird divergence where people have dreams of other places and lives and then some of the worst possible stuff from their dreams bleeds through and sometimes attacks the city.”
Teddy tipped his head to look up at Billy. “And you’re okay, right? I mean, you didn’t get hurt?”
That dream stuff sounded messy but also kind of cool. He did wonder if he would dream or would he be one of the few who didn’t?
“No,” Billy said with a shake of his head, “I’m okay. Just… nothing that won’t heal up in a few days.” Most of his bruising had come from before Teddy had been hurt. He didn’t remember what had happened after seeing Teddy fall, he woke up later somewhere safe, sheltered and shielded while Blossom and Wanda kept on kicking butt nearby.
Against his better judgement, he reached out and touched Teddy’s cheek again. “I’m fine. Just- did not enjoy watching you get hurt. Minus ten out of ten, would not recommend.”
Teddy gave a soft snort and he reached up, curling his fingers around Billy’s wrist, a firm reassuring squeeze being given. “No, I can’t imagine that was a lot of fun, but I’m okay.” Or as okay as he could be for having been ripped apart and brought back to life.
His aunt was never going to hear about this, not if he had anything to say about it.
Billy said nothing for a moment and then wet his lower lip. “So, since I owe you like, a thousand apologies for being an asshole over discord, do you wanna to grab something to eat?”
“Teleporter’s treat?” Definitely not a date but also maybe a date?
“Well, to be fair to you, you did think I was dead so actually it was kind of cool how quick you were to defend my honor.” And honestly, he’d be an idiot to turn down the opportunity to get food with Billy so Teddy smiled, nodding. “Yeah, sounds good. Just let me grab my shoes.”
Of course he did kind of need Billy to move. Was it wrong that he didn’t want him to?”
“As if I was going to let someone pretend to be you,” Billy managed, ignoring the way the words sort of stumbled out of him from his throat closing up in surprise at the earnestness of Teddy’s comment. He coughed a little and made to step backwards, out of Teddy’s space, the sides of his legs already feeling cold even though he hadn’t left the warmth of Teddy’s thighs yet.
God what was wrong with him?
“Want me to take us wherever we decide to go?”
“Fuck yes.” The response is instant, enthusiastic, and Teddy immediate flushes at the sheer and utter eagerness of his answer. Jesus, way to play it cool. He was thankfully able to move now which meant he could escape the sheer and utter stupidity of himself by rounding on the bed to grab his Vans.
Teddy tugged them on and very quickly laced them up, making sure that they were very secure.
“Okay, ready.”
“Where do you want to go?” Billy asked, having smothered his smile and his inordinately pleased reaction to the sudden explosion of enthusiasm from Teddy at the idea of being teleported somewhere. If Teddy did start to dream, the novelty of being teleported or flown around by Billy would fade quickly: after all, he gets his own wings in the dreams.
He chewed the inside of his lower lip, desperate to ask if Teddy had had any dreams, but he resisted the urge.
“I’ve never tested the range on this thing, but for the first trip let’s at least keep it within the OC, yeah?”
“Is it too late for an i-Hop?” Teddy asked, genuinely curious. He could go for waffles after having talked about them on the network with Tim he found himself with a craving. Now with the Vans on his feet he snagged a hooded sweatshirt and pulled that on so he was definitely ready to head out.
“I am good to go whenever you are ready to-” Vaguely he waved his hands in Billy’s direction. “Do your teleporting thing.”
“Not when your b- brilliant” - good catch Billy - “friend can teleport. C’mere.”
He took Teddy’s hands in his own and tipped his head back. A warm breeze swirled around them and he glowed again. Power thrilled through him, and them, and the ground beneath them flickered and pulsed and then-
Teddy’s room was empty, save for some loose papers that drifted to the floor.
He looked around, and when his eyes fell on Teddy, his shoulders slumped and he rushed forwards, quite literally throwing himself at Teddy and pressing his face against the other’s neck, arms tight around his shoulders.
Teddy wondered if he would ever get used to that and if he wanted to? Not that he had much chance to consider the answer because in the next moment Billy was basically flinging himself at him and most definitely clinging.
Not that he could blame him. He’d seen him die after all.
Teddy’s arms encircled Billy moment later, and he squeezed firmly, one hand lifting to cup the back of Billy’s head. “Hey,” he murmured softly. “It’s okay.”
Billy’s words were muffled against Teddy’s chest, fingers fisting in the shirt he was wearing as he plastered himself against Teddy. The warmth of Teddy’s arms around him, the firm squeezed that was as grounding as Wanda’s hands on his when his anxiety was spiking, did a little to settle the nausea and spinning wheels of his brain but he didn’t understand.
“‘s not,” he muttered, because how could it be? “I tried to- I was too late to- I’m so sorry.”
Teddy swallowed in response to the intense emotions rolling off Billy and just did what he could to express in a physical way that he was present, alive, and as okay as he could be all things considered. He was still processing what had happened and the fact he’d “died” but he was definitely grateful to whatever higher power had seen it fit to bring him back. Not that he was religious or anything.
“Hey, hey,” he said as his thumb threaded into Billy’s hair and it brushed over the back of his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” Honestly what had he even been thinking? He should have left all the heroics to the people with superpowers.
Next time he was one hundred percent doing just that.
Billy didn’t say anything for a long moment before he lifted his head. He was such a jerk, Teddy was the one that died and here he was making it about himself. He really was a selfish idiot sometimes. He took a breath and his eyes dropped to Teddy’s lips, catching himself so he didn’t do something stupid and leaned forward again, tucked his face into the curve of Teddy’s neck.
“I wasn’t fast enough to save you,” he muttered. “But you- you’re so brave, T. You don’t even have y- any powers ye- any powers and you still tried to do the right thing and help people.”
Teddy snorted softly. “More like stupid.” He was brutally honest, to himself and others. That was just the way that Teddy was. He rarely sugarcoated and was firm but kind. Sometimes things needed to be said and it wasn’t always easy.
“And don’t feel bad. There was a lot going on and I bet you saved a lot of other people.”
Nobody had ever shortened Teddy to T before, but he liked it.
“I won’t argue that it was stupid,” Billy agreed with a chuckle, leaning back to look up at Teddy. His eyes dropped again, looking at the gentle smile on Teddy’s lips and fighting the urge to lean up and kiss it. “But it was also really brave.”
He let out a breath, forcing himself to let go from where he was clinging to the back of Teddy’s shirt. Okay, he could let go, Teddy wouldn’t disappear.
“Are you okay? You’re not- there’s no lingering… uh, stuff?” It had been brutal, watching Teddy be ripped apart. It was hard to believe that he’d come back from the dead without a single mark.
“Uh,” Teddy mumbled. He hadn’t actually thought to check which he probably should have. He’d sort of assumed that because he had all his limbs that there was no lingering stuff from his horrible death. “I think so?”
He ignored the sudden cold front due to the absence of Billy pressed up against him but chose to shove that down in favor of patting himself down and even going as far to pull his shirt up to check his skin for marks.
So far so good.
“I mean, I think I’m okay?” Physically anyways.
Billy nodded, hands reaching out when the shirt lifted like he was going to touch and then caught himself. He pressed his lips together and swallowed, tipping his head and looking up at Teddy. “I- uh- Do you mind if I check?”
He added, a second later, touching the curve of Teddy’s elbow, “Plus, you di- What happened to you was really messed up. If you’re not okay, that’s okay too.”
Did he mind? Uh, no. But it was probably sensible not to be too eager.
“Uh, go for it.”
He swallowed past a sudden lump at the back of his throat and nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just- I don’t really know how you process that, you know?”
“Yeah,” Billy admitted, “I have no idea how to process that either. C’mon,” he gently nudged Teddy back towards the bed and pushed him down onto it until he was sitting, and then stood between his knees.
Lifting two fingers, Billy’s hand glowed faintly with energy and he pressed them against Teddy’s forehead, sending a pulse of energy down, checking that he didn’t have any kind of lingering injuries from being resurrected. There was magic hanging around him, something that Billy didn’t recognise but he supposed that was probably what had brought him back.
His eyes were glowing with his power as he smiled a little at Teddy.
This was honestly the coolest thing ever. Not only did he have a really hot guy, in his bedroom, between his legs (not like that, unfortunately) but he also had powers. He went obediently with the nudge and arched an eyebrow when Billy pushed him down onto the bed, biting back what he was certain would be a completely inappropriate comment.
He looked upwards as Billy pressed two fingers to his forehead, letting out a small huff of breath in response to the way Billy’s hand glowed and there was definitely a feeling of static in the air which he was certain was causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end.
He finally met those glowing eyes of Billy’s and smiled back in response.
Billy drew his power back into himself after it had run through Teddy’s body, confirming that there were no physical injuries or marks left over from the death that had been brutally pressed on him less than 48 hours earlier. He didn’t move away, though, just stood where he was as the magic drained from his eyes. He met Teddy’s gaze and nodded, offering him a shy smile.
“You’re not- I mean there’s no marks or- I can feel magic but I’m guessing that’s the signature of whoever it was that brought you back.”
He touched Teddy’s cheek, then dropped his hand away. He knew that it wasn’t just dream confusion that had him wanting to lean down and kiss Teddy, that their hours of random conversation over Discord and sleepy phone calls had more to do with the urge than anything else, but still. He knew. He knew and Teddy didn’t.
“I would say we should chalk this event up to the OC weirdness, but you’ve not been here long enough to be a bit more blasé about it all.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Teddy resisted the urge to lean into the touch to his cheek and snorted a moment later. “Yeah, this was a first for me.” And if this was the norm for Orange County it was a very good thing he was resilient.
He reached up to rub at his neck. “I did see something on the network from somebody saying that those things were called Paradooms. I figure that links in with the OC weirdness?”
“Oh yeah, that’s prime OC weirdness right there,” Billy admitted with a nod of his head, “perfect example of the messed up nature of this place. It’s not magic so much as some kind of weird divergence where people have dreams of other places and lives and then some of the worst possible stuff from their dreams bleeds through and sometimes attacks the city.”
Teddy tipped his head to look up at Billy. “And you’re okay, right? I mean, you didn’t get hurt?”
That dream stuff sounded messy but also kind of cool. He did wonder if he would dream or would he be one of the few who didn’t?
“No,” Billy said with a shake of his head, “I’m okay. Just… nothing that won’t heal up in a few days.” Most of his bruising had come from before Teddy had been hurt. He didn’t remember what had happened after seeing Teddy fall, he woke up later somewhere safe, sheltered and shielded while Blossom and Wanda kept on kicking butt nearby.
Against his better judgement, he reached out and touched Teddy’s cheek again. “I’m fine. Just- did not enjoy watching you get hurt. Minus ten out of ten, would not recommend.”
Teddy gave a soft snort and he reached up, curling his fingers around Billy’s wrist, a firm reassuring squeeze being given. “No, I can’t imagine that was a lot of fun, but I’m okay.” Or as okay as he could be for having been ripped apart and brought back to life.
His aunt was never going to hear about this, not if he had anything to say about it.
Billy said nothing for a moment and then wet his lower lip. “So, since I owe you like, a thousand apologies for being an asshole over discord, do you wanna to grab something to eat?”
“Teleporter’s treat?” Definitely not a date but also maybe a date?
“Well, to be fair to you, you did think I was dead so actually it was kind of cool how quick you were to defend my honor.” And honestly, he’d be an idiot to turn down the opportunity to get food with Billy so Teddy smiled, nodding. “Yeah, sounds good. Just let me grab my shoes.”
Of course he did kind of need Billy to move. Was it wrong that he didn’t want him to?”
“As if I was going to let someone pretend to be you,” Billy managed, ignoring the way the words sort of stumbled out of him from his throat closing up in surprise at the earnestness of Teddy’s comment. He coughed a little and made to step backwards, out of Teddy’s space, the sides of his legs already feeling cold even though he hadn’t left the warmth of Teddy’s thighs yet.
God what was wrong with him?
“Want me to take us wherever we decide to go?”
“Fuck yes.” The response is instant, enthusiastic, and Teddy immediate flushes at the sheer and utter eagerness of his answer. Jesus, way to play it cool. He was thankfully able to move now which meant he could escape the sheer and utter stupidity of himself by rounding on the bed to grab his Vans.
Teddy tugged them on and very quickly laced them up, making sure that they were very secure.
“Okay, ready.”
“Where do you want to go?” Billy asked, having smothered his smile and his inordinately pleased reaction to the sudden explosion of enthusiasm from Teddy at the idea of being teleported somewhere. If Teddy did start to dream, the novelty of being teleported or flown around by Billy would fade quickly: after all, he gets his own wings in the dreams.
He chewed the inside of his lower lip, desperate to ask if Teddy had had any dreams, but he resisted the urge.
“I’ve never tested the range on this thing, but for the first trip let’s at least keep it within the OC, yeah?”
“Is it too late for an i-Hop?” Teddy asked, genuinely curious. He could go for waffles after having talked about them on the network with Tim he found himself with a craving. Now with the Vans on his feet he snagged a hooded sweatshirt and pulled that on so he was definitely ready to head out.
“I am good to go whenever you are ready to-” Vaguely he waved his hands in Billy’s direction. “Do your teleporting thing.”
“Not when your b- brilliant” - good catch Billy - “friend can teleport. C’mere.”
He took Teddy’s hands in his own and tipped his head back. A warm breeze swirled around them and he glowed again. Power thrilled through him, and them, and the ground beneath them flickered and pulsed and then-
Teddy’s room was empty, save for some loose papers that drifted to the floor.