The Lost Boys | Invitations
Sep. 8th, 2025 06:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_wiccan posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsWhat to do with a couple of weird teenagers, particularly one who's a fugitive from the law? If you're the X-Men, you invite them to your home.
Were he not bone-dead weary and braindead after the encounter with "Master Pandemonium" and his demon body parts, Billy might have found it amusing that his parents were more worried about his body looking like one giant bruise than the fact that a team of mutant superheroes miraculously appeared in suburbia to save them. There was going to be a hell of a lot to explain to the neighbors later, but for once, Billy couldn't find it within him to worry about that. All his concern was directed at the white-haired speedster with a broken nose. So, while the redhead and the guy whose hairstyle might have also been part of his mutant powers explained the whole mutant thing to the Kaplans in the kitchen, Billy slipped out and joined Tommy in the living room, where he was sitting with the other DILF and the lady who gave him the creeps for no reason he could understand but was still spooky.
"I promise I'll never try to do magic again." Billy cringed at his lame attempt at an icebreaker.
Tommy was staring at the floor dejectedly, but the corner of his mouth quirked up in spite of himself. To the two adults, he said, “Can we just get this over with?” He understood what came next.
Billy frowned. "Wait, you don't mean . . ." He jumped to his feet, having rushed to a conclusion as fast as Tommy could rush the hell out of here to anywhere else he would be safe. "You can't go back to prison! It's not right! No I-I-I . . . I won't let you take him!" His telltale blue energy sparked between his fingertips and the M-shaped crown appeared on his brow.
There was something almost sweet about that protective instinct to rush in and save his friend no matter what they were facing, a blind loyalty that was far too precious to lose, and too ephemeral to last. The X-Man raised his hands very slowly, letting his amusement dance across his features. "Do we look like the police? We're not here to take anyone to jail, I swear."
Raising her eyebrows, Wanda just looked at Scott. "To be fair, I do not look like the police. You on the other hand...eh..." She gave a small hand wiggle before turning back to the boys.
"Oh." The energy faded and Billy sheepishly sat back down in the armchair. He tried to glance over at Tommy, but, too embarrassed, kept his gaze on the floor instead. "So, what's going to happen?"
The other boy didn’t seem too convinced. “No, it’ll be a ‘youth rehabilitation center’, right? Newsflash: they already kicked me out of one of those. Might as well just send me back inside.” They weren’t cops, no, and not some mutant radicals. Somewhere in between that Tommy couldn’t quite trust. “It’s fine, I’ll go. Just don’t punish Billy and his family… they didn’t know.”
"I think that Billy and his family have their own issues they're going to need to talk about." Scott noted, "But honestly, we're not here to punish anyone, or send you to any kind of rehabilitation or foster center. I've been through the system, trust me, I don't want to send anyone into the system. We're here to help, that's all."
Straightening, Wanda followed with, "I can understand not trusting us - I would not be as well if I were in your shoes. But you both can do incredible things thanks to your abilities. However, you're young, untrained and living in a world that generally does not like what it does not understand." She rubbed her face, suddenly feeling every ache in her bones. "You became targets the moment you developed powers." Wanda glanced at Scott as she dropped her hands. "Do you want to do the spiel? You are much better at it than I am. Though I have some specific words of advice for Mr. Kaplan here afterwards."
Wanda was happy to let Scott do what he did best in these cases - convenience scared teens that coming with them was not a prison but a place where they could grow. Her mind was busy mulling something over. She'd heard of a Billy Kaplan and this was not the same person. With an uncommon name like that, what would be the odds of two of them?
Scott let his hands fall as he nodded at Wanda, "We come from a...well, a sanctuary, believe it or not, a place where people like us can find some safety in numbers, where we can watch one another's backs. It's somewhere you can learn to control your powers, so you don't need to live in fear of accidents happening anymore." That was a fear Scott knew all too well. "Somewhere we can help protect you till you're able to protect yourself against things like this, and everything else in the world that makes it so dangerous for people like us. We don't want to force you, or lean too heavily on you, but we'd like to offer you a place there."
Wanda's and Scott's words made Billy turn his attention for a second to the curio cabinet that housed his family's Hanukkah menorahs. And then to the mezuzah hanging on the entryway into the living room. The world does not like what it does not understand, for sure. And now he had to accept another layer on top of that? He frowned. "I don't know. I mean, I have school. And friends and drama class . . ." But there was also Tommy. No longer a stranger, and despite the mystery still surrounding them (or maybe because of it), he knew he would feel compelled to do whatever Tommy would.
Still watching his feet, another sort of dread took over Tommy. “… You’d have to ask my parents… I dunno.” Did they even know he had escaped? Did they even care? “If you’re serious though, yeah, I’ll go.” It lowkey sounded like a commune, but a cult was better than prison. Probably. The other options didn’t seem great.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't serious," Scott noted, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them. "It's just up in New York, so why not just come up and visit, see what you think? If it's not for you, if you don't like it then we won't force you to stay, besides, you can call us anytime you need help."
“Plus, Billy, your powers?” Wanda smiled, her voice kind. She raised a hand to showcase a moment of brief red light before dismissing it. “Are much like mine. I can see and manipulate the natural state of chaos around us. And I am more than certain you can as well. Whether that’s your full ability or not, being able to shift reality around in any aspect needs training. It can be with us or friends of mine but you need to be confident in your abilities.” She glanced at Tommy. “Both of you.”
Billy couldn't grasp the concepts of chaos, probability, or reality manipulation as Wanda put them. That just sounded like the same crazy black magic that got them into this need in the first place. And—as always unable to hide his feelings when the anxiety gripped his heart so tightly—his concern showed on his face, too.
"Are you sure?" he asked Tommy. Ultimately, the only voice who mattered.
“Dude, where else am I going to go?” He felt a bit guilty — for showing up and uprooting Billy’s life — but it seemed that things were happening that neither of them could control. Even if Tommy had to walk around in an ankle monitor.
Billy's fingers sparked again, but not from a sudden surge of adrenaline this time. No, this was dramatic introspection and self-contemplation. As much as he had tried to ignore it these last several months, he now knew he had to learn what he was doing. He needed to know what Master Pandemonium meant about a doppelganger spell. Was Billy's scrutiny of this offer the equivalent of his I Want song? Where he explained to the audience through verse his dissatisfaction and burning need to find meaning. Another Elphaba moment for this young witch.
"OK. Me too."
“Cool.” He finally looked up at Scott and Wanda. “Well, I’m all packed so, might as well get going?” Tommy had thrown away all his prison gear, so the only thing he now owned was Billy’s clothes. Let the other boy say his goodbyes and all that without him in the corner.
Were he not bone-dead weary and braindead after the encounter with "Master Pandemonium" and his demon body parts, Billy might have found it amusing that his parents were more worried about his body looking like one giant bruise than the fact that a team of mutant superheroes miraculously appeared in suburbia to save them. There was going to be a hell of a lot to explain to the neighbors later, but for once, Billy couldn't find it within him to worry about that. All his concern was directed at the white-haired speedster with a broken nose. So, while the redhead and the guy whose hairstyle might have also been part of his mutant powers explained the whole mutant thing to the Kaplans in the kitchen, Billy slipped out and joined Tommy in the living room, where he was sitting with the other DILF and the lady who gave him the creeps for no reason he could understand but was still spooky.
"I promise I'll never try to do magic again." Billy cringed at his lame attempt at an icebreaker.
Tommy was staring at the floor dejectedly, but the corner of his mouth quirked up in spite of himself. To the two adults, he said, “Can we just get this over with?” He understood what came next.
Billy frowned. "Wait, you don't mean . . ." He jumped to his feet, having rushed to a conclusion as fast as Tommy could rush the hell out of here to anywhere else he would be safe. "You can't go back to prison! It's not right! No I-I-I . . . I won't let you take him!" His telltale blue energy sparked between his fingertips and the M-shaped crown appeared on his brow.
There was something almost sweet about that protective instinct to rush in and save his friend no matter what they were facing, a blind loyalty that was far too precious to lose, and too ephemeral to last. The X-Man raised his hands very slowly, letting his amusement dance across his features. "Do we look like the police? We're not here to take anyone to jail, I swear."
Raising her eyebrows, Wanda just looked at Scott. "To be fair, I do not look like the police. You on the other hand...eh..." She gave a small hand wiggle before turning back to the boys.
"Oh." The energy faded and Billy sheepishly sat back down in the armchair. He tried to glance over at Tommy, but, too embarrassed, kept his gaze on the floor instead. "So, what's going to happen?"
The other boy didn’t seem too convinced. “No, it’ll be a ‘youth rehabilitation center’, right? Newsflash: they already kicked me out of one of those. Might as well just send me back inside.” They weren’t cops, no, and not some mutant radicals. Somewhere in between that Tommy couldn’t quite trust. “It’s fine, I’ll go. Just don’t punish Billy and his family… they didn’t know.”
"I think that Billy and his family have their own issues they're going to need to talk about." Scott noted, "But honestly, we're not here to punish anyone, or send you to any kind of rehabilitation or foster center. I've been through the system, trust me, I don't want to send anyone into the system. We're here to help, that's all."
Straightening, Wanda followed with, "I can understand not trusting us - I would not be as well if I were in your shoes. But you both can do incredible things thanks to your abilities. However, you're young, untrained and living in a world that generally does not like what it does not understand." She rubbed her face, suddenly feeling every ache in her bones. "You became targets the moment you developed powers." Wanda glanced at Scott as she dropped her hands. "Do you want to do the spiel? You are much better at it than I am. Though I have some specific words of advice for Mr. Kaplan here afterwards."
Wanda was happy to let Scott do what he did best in these cases - convenience scared teens that coming with them was not a prison but a place where they could grow. Her mind was busy mulling something over. She'd heard of a Billy Kaplan and this was not the same person. With an uncommon name like that, what would be the odds of two of them?
Scott let his hands fall as he nodded at Wanda, "We come from a...well, a sanctuary, believe it or not, a place where people like us can find some safety in numbers, where we can watch one another's backs. It's somewhere you can learn to control your powers, so you don't need to live in fear of accidents happening anymore." That was a fear Scott knew all too well. "Somewhere we can help protect you till you're able to protect yourself against things like this, and everything else in the world that makes it so dangerous for people like us. We don't want to force you, or lean too heavily on you, but we'd like to offer you a place there."
Wanda's and Scott's words made Billy turn his attention for a second to the curio cabinet that housed his family's Hanukkah menorahs. And then to the mezuzah hanging on the entryway into the living room. The world does not like what it does not understand, for sure. And now he had to accept another layer on top of that? He frowned. "I don't know. I mean, I have school. And friends and drama class . . ." But there was also Tommy. No longer a stranger, and despite the mystery still surrounding them (or maybe because of it), he knew he would feel compelled to do whatever Tommy would.
Still watching his feet, another sort of dread took over Tommy. “… You’d have to ask my parents… I dunno.” Did they even know he had escaped? Did they even care? “If you’re serious though, yeah, I’ll go.” It lowkey sounded like a commune, but a cult was better than prison. Probably. The other options didn’t seem great.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't serious," Scott noted, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them. "It's just up in New York, so why not just come up and visit, see what you think? If it's not for you, if you don't like it then we won't force you to stay, besides, you can call us anytime you need help."
“Plus, Billy, your powers?” Wanda smiled, her voice kind. She raised a hand to showcase a moment of brief red light before dismissing it. “Are much like mine. I can see and manipulate the natural state of chaos around us. And I am more than certain you can as well. Whether that’s your full ability or not, being able to shift reality around in any aspect needs training. It can be with us or friends of mine but you need to be confident in your abilities.” She glanced at Tommy. “Both of you.”
Billy couldn't grasp the concepts of chaos, probability, or reality manipulation as Wanda put them. That just sounded like the same crazy black magic that got them into this need in the first place. And—as always unable to hide his feelings when the anxiety gripped his heart so tightly—his concern showed on his face, too.
"Are you sure?" he asked Tommy. Ultimately, the only voice who mattered.
“Dude, where else am I going to go?” He felt a bit guilty — for showing up and uprooting Billy’s life — but it seemed that things were happening that neither of them could control. Even if Tommy had to walk around in an ankle monitor.
Billy's fingers sparked again, but not from a sudden surge of adrenaline this time. No, this was dramatic introspection and self-contemplation. As much as he had tried to ignore it these last several months, he now knew he had to learn what he was doing. He needed to know what Master Pandemonium meant about a doppelganger spell. Was Billy's scrutiny of this offer the equivalent of his I Want song? Where he explained to the audience through verse his dissatisfaction and burning need to find meaning. Another Elphaba moment for this young witch.
"OK. Me too."
“Cool.” He finally looked up at Scott and Wanda. “Well, I’m all packed so, might as well get going?” Tommy had thrown away all his prison gear, so the only thing he now owned was Billy’s clothes. Let the other boy say his goodbyes and all that without him in the corner.
