Billy & Tommy, backdated to November 22
Nov. 22nd, 2025 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTommy tries to help Billy through a Wicked crisis.
Billy had originally planned to spend the entire weekend back home in Eastview. He left Salem Center straight away after school on Friday but was back at the mansion mid-day Saturday. He prayed and prayed on the trudge back to his room from the garage that he would not meet anyone else on the way. No one needed to see his face red and swollen from trying (and failing) to hold back tears the whole drive up.
But while the hallway was empty, the suite was not, and Billy was not fast enough to avoid Tommy.
"Oh hey, you're back! How wa- what's wrong?" The speedster had zipped over from his room when he heard the suite door open, and a rush of emotions flew across his face. Confusion, excitement, finally landing on concern.
If Billy wished for the ground to open and swallow him, would it? He was tempted to find out, except in the couple months he'd known Tommy, he hadn't seen him wear an expression like that before, so Billy couldn't but relent.
He set aside his small roller bag and sat (plopped) on the couch. "I, um. They went to see Wicked without me. My friends. Or I guess not friends anymore."
Seeing as his only friends had ratted him out and sent him to prison, this was something he could relate with. “Dude. That sucks.” Tommy patted his shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting motion.
It was a little weird but at this point, Billy would take what he could get. "It's just. We had plans! Or I thought we did. We talked about it on the group chat. They said we'd see it Friday night. No one chose a time so I thought we'd just see what's open. Which, you know, kind of weird for the greatest movie of the century on opening weekend, but whatever. But they didn't respond to texts or show up at all."
Musical theater people. Internally Tommy was sighing and shaking his head. This all seemed important to Billy though (if the incessant shower singing was anything to go by), so he made an effort to be nice. “That’s really shitty of them.”
"So I saw it on my own because I wasn't going to not see it, obviously." The words were now pouring out of Billy's mouth, so he continued without even noticing Tommy's comment. "And I stopped at Gong Cha on the way home for a sweet treat, and, and . . . There they were. They went to a different showing without me! Even Ezzy.”
“Who’s that?” It wasn’t a name that Tommy had heard the other guy mention before, but he did mention a lot of names.
"He . . ." If Billy's face wasn't red before, it certainly was now. "Just a guy I dated last summer." The D-word was muttered. There wasn't shame in saying it so much as discomfit admitting any level of intimacy in his personal life to anyone. Which, Billy's therapist helped him realize, was part of the reason that relationship had not lasted. "But I thought we were good. After you left and came I even went to his place and . . . never mind. But I told him everything. Almost everything. And he seemed okay."
"Oh." They were firmly out of Tommy's comfort zone now with the feelings talk, and his ability to console was being tested. It was obviously something that was really affecting Billy, so he powered through. "Well, um. That's rough, dude." How to tell this poor sheltered kid that it probably wasn't personal, just that people hate mutants? Time to pivot. "If you want, we can go and see it maybe? If you feel like going again. Some of the others here would probably tag along."
"That's nice of you to offer, but you'd hate it." And this whole even tainted the film now, too. "It's just, it's kind of funny. Elphaba's the outcast but she's the hero. Did they totally miss that message?"
Tommy shrugged. “Dunno. People aren't all that tolerant of green people off screen I guess.”
"Maybe. I dunno. Maybe it's my fault, I probably did something wrong. I upset them. I wish I knew what I did so I can apologize."
And that was the end of the speedster's limited patience. "Dude, it's like a 95% chance that it's just because you're a mutant. Fuck them."
That thought had never even crossed Billy's mind, and now that Tommy had put it there, he felt sick, like he might hurl on the spot. "What? No, that's . . . that can't be. Can it? They never said anything bad about mutants before. Why would they . . . why would you say that?"
“Have they said anything positive about them though? I doubt it.” Tommy began pacing now, buzzing slightly. “You say you haven’t done anything to piss them off — the only thing that’s changed is that you’re a mutant now.”
Billy pulled his knees to his chest, as if trying take up less space in the suite he shared with one other person. He had nothing to say to Tommy, either. Maybe he was right. His second coming out had given his "friends" an excuse to voice heretofore unspoken bigotry and drop him like he had just proclaimed Dance of the Vampires the greatest triumph of the modern stage. He had only himself to blame for not seeing that before.
Another pat on this shoulder, this time a lot less forced. “I’m… sorry. People suck.” He of all people would know.
That wasn't a worldview Billy wanted to share, but for the moment, he he could at least commiserate with Tommy's position. He tried to smile but it was as strained as Tommy's own sympathy. "Yeah. I . . . maybe I'll try talking to Ezzy again. Later. He's really not like that."
The speedster stopped pacing long enough to shrug again. "Sure, you know him best. Give it a go." Just because he was a realist, didn't mean he should trample on Billy's dreams of kumbaya.
Billy had originally planned to spend the entire weekend back home in Eastview. He left Salem Center straight away after school on Friday but was back at the mansion mid-day Saturday. He prayed and prayed on the trudge back to his room from the garage that he would not meet anyone else on the way. No one needed to see his face red and swollen from trying (and failing) to hold back tears the whole drive up.
But while the hallway was empty, the suite was not, and Billy was not fast enough to avoid Tommy.
"Oh hey, you're back! How wa- what's wrong?" The speedster had zipped over from his room when he heard the suite door open, and a rush of emotions flew across his face. Confusion, excitement, finally landing on concern.
If Billy wished for the ground to open and swallow him, would it? He was tempted to find out, except in the couple months he'd known Tommy, he hadn't seen him wear an expression like that before, so Billy couldn't but relent.
He set aside his small roller bag and sat (plopped) on the couch. "I, um. They went to see Wicked without me. My friends. Or I guess not friends anymore."
Seeing as his only friends had ratted him out and sent him to prison, this was something he could relate with. “Dude. That sucks.” Tommy patted his shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting motion.
It was a little weird but at this point, Billy would take what he could get. "It's just. We had plans! Or I thought we did. We talked about it on the group chat. They said we'd see it Friday night. No one chose a time so I thought we'd just see what's open. Which, you know, kind of weird for the greatest movie of the century on opening weekend, but whatever. But they didn't respond to texts or show up at all."
Musical theater people. Internally Tommy was sighing and shaking his head. This all seemed important to Billy though (if the incessant shower singing was anything to go by), so he made an effort to be nice. “That’s really shitty of them.”
"So I saw it on my own because I wasn't going to not see it, obviously." The words were now pouring out of Billy's mouth, so he continued without even noticing Tommy's comment. "And I stopped at Gong Cha on the way home for a sweet treat, and, and . . . There they were. They went to a different showing without me! Even Ezzy.”
“Who’s that?” It wasn’t a name that Tommy had heard the other guy mention before, but he did mention a lot of names.
"He . . ." If Billy's face wasn't red before, it certainly was now. "Just a guy I dated last summer." The D-word was muttered. There wasn't shame in saying it so much as discomfit admitting any level of intimacy in his personal life to anyone. Which, Billy's therapist helped him realize, was part of the reason that relationship had not lasted. "But I thought we were good. After you left and came I even went to his place and . . . never mind. But I told him everything. Almost everything. And he seemed okay."
"Oh." They were firmly out of Tommy's comfort zone now with the feelings talk, and his ability to console was being tested. It was obviously something that was really affecting Billy, so he powered through. "Well, um. That's rough, dude." How to tell this poor sheltered kid that it probably wasn't personal, just that people hate mutants? Time to pivot. "If you want, we can go and see it maybe? If you feel like going again. Some of the others here would probably tag along."
"That's nice of you to offer, but you'd hate it." And this whole even tainted the film now, too. "It's just, it's kind of funny. Elphaba's the outcast but she's the hero. Did they totally miss that message?"
Tommy shrugged. “Dunno. People aren't all that tolerant of green people off screen I guess.”
"Maybe. I dunno. Maybe it's my fault, I probably did something wrong. I upset them. I wish I knew what I did so I can apologize."
And that was the end of the speedster's limited patience. "Dude, it's like a 95% chance that it's just because you're a mutant. Fuck them."
That thought had never even crossed Billy's mind, and now that Tommy had put it there, he felt sick, like he might hurl on the spot. "What? No, that's . . . that can't be. Can it? They never said anything bad about mutants before. Why would they . . . why would you say that?"
“Have they said anything positive about them though? I doubt it.” Tommy began pacing now, buzzing slightly. “You say you haven’t done anything to piss them off — the only thing that’s changed is that you’re a mutant now.”
Billy pulled his knees to his chest, as if trying take up less space in the suite he shared with one other person. He had nothing to say to Tommy, either. Maybe he was right. His second coming out had given his "friends" an excuse to voice heretofore unspoken bigotry and drop him like he had just proclaimed Dance of the Vampires the greatest triumph of the modern stage. He had only himself to blame for not seeing that before.
Another pat on this shoulder, this time a lot less forced. “I’m… sorry. People suck.” He of all people would know.
That wasn't a worldview Billy wanted to share, but for the moment, he he could at least commiserate with Tommy's position. He tried to smile but it was as strained as Tommy's own sympathy. "Yeah. I . . . maybe I'll try talking to Ezzy again. Later. He's really not like that."
The speedster stopped pacing long enough to shrug again. "Sure, you know him best. Give it a go." Just because he was a realist, didn't mean he should trample on Billy's dreams of kumbaya.
