Billy R. and Scott, Backdated to May 8th
May. 8th, 2018 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ax_cyclops posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ax_mainScott runs into the school's most cheerful assassin, and they catch up.
Billy hadn't meant to wind up quite this high. He hadn't meant to end up in this oak tree at all. But one thing had lead to another
(specifically, Goodnight napping had lead to boredom, which had lead to him daring the vast outdoors alone, which had lead to following a chorus of chirps to a bird nest, which had lead to his being driven further up the tree by an irate mother jay)
and here he was. Not that he was scared of the height, it was just new and interesting. And he figured he could stay up here for a while, getting a feel for the view. Maybe practice his French a little.
And contemplate just how he was going to get down without being attacked again.
It had been a long week. A long several weeks. Months, maybe. Scott could feel it pressing down on him, and so he'd escaped outside. Being outdoors made him feel less trapped, even if, at the end of the day, any differences between the grounds and the mansion were more illusory than meaningful. Still, walking outside helped.
He meandered through the trees, occasionally looking up when movement caught his eye. Wind. Birds. A...person? Was that, "Billy?"
Billy leaned a little too far out on the thin upper branches to be strictly safe, and waved to Scott.
"Hi. You were looking for me?"
Scott shook his head 'no.' "Just walking," he explained. "What're you doing up there?"
"Ah." Billy let out a brief, embarrassed laugh. "There's a bird down the tree that really doesn't like me. It's got...um...babies?" He couldn't remember the English word specific for young birds, but close enough. "So I thought I'd stay up here a while."
Scott smiled, just a little. "Got treed by a bird? Don't see that everyday," he commented, though his tone was more good-natured than mocking. "How're you gonna get down?"
"Maybe it'll leave?" Billy glanced down. "Or I could climb down really fast."
"I'll wait here, then. In case you fall." Not that Scott would be able to do much to help him other than calling for medical help, but still.
"OK." Billy backed up onto the stronger branches near the tree trunk, peering down toward the ground. Aiming a jump for the really thick branches about halfway down would be the fastest way. Then he could swing down to the lower ones and hop to the ground from there. He might miss, which would... well, it would be really bad. But he was pretty sure he wouldn't.
Billy focused himself, then jumped.
"Christ." Scott hadn't meant to suggest Billy needed to hasten his leap to his death, but here they were. Watching as Billy descended, Scott began making rapid-fire calculations of speed, trajectory, branch strength....he'd feel bad if Billy ended up a smear on the ground.
Billy hit the branch feet-first, but missed his balance and had to scramble to get his arms around it quickly enough to break his fall. As it was, he was left hanging, scraped up, and a little bruised. He frowned and dropped down to the next lowest branch, then the next, then down to the ground. The jay made a parting dive at him as he landed, but he ducked and trotted over to Scott.
"Hey."
"Hey," Scott greeted, eyebrows up near his hairline. "I didn't expect you to leap for it right that second."
Billy rubbed at a scrape on his chin, as if annoyed he couldn't just scrub it off.
"I wanted to get down without getting bitten. This was the fastest way."
"As long as it wasn't on my account. You okay?" Scott asked.
"Nothing's broken." Billy grinned and pushed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "It looked like it might be less boring down here."
At that, Scott actually chuckled a bit. Billy's incessant perkiness could rub off on a guy, apparently. "That may be the first time I've been less boring than the alternative."
"More boring than getting attacked by birds, less boring than being stuck in a tree, less frustration than French. That covers it all, right?"
"I think so," Scott agreed, nodding. "French?"
"I'm taking French," Billy clarified. "It's harder than I thought."
"Got it. Why French?" It occurred to Scott that it could simply be the only language they taught that Billy didn't already know - if you were going to train an assassin, why not go multi-lingual? - but the question still stood.
"Goody speaks it, but I don't. And the school doesn't offer Korean." Billy frowned a little. "Learning languages used to be easier. Maybe I went too long not talking to people. Got out of practice."
Goody spoke French. Scott filed that away, just for his own knowledge. "Makes sense. Everything gets rusty without maintenance," he observed. And, since he'd been MIA, he had to ask, "did you train while I was gone?"
Billy nodded. "I got Ororo to help me. We worked on precision exercises a lot. She was nice."
Scott smiled, just a touch, at that. "Ororo is good people. And very skilled," he said. High compliments, coming from Scott. "How'd it go?"
"OK?" Billy's smile went sheepish. "She had to explain a lot. I guess I'm not very 'centered' yet."
"I am not one hundred percent sure what that means," Scott admitted. He had a vague sense, from pop culture and from context, but he couldn't have easily explained what it meant in the DR.
"Goody said 'the lady's trying to explain that you need to calm down and loosen up'. And Ororo laughed, but she didn't say he was wrong. So..." Billy shrugged. "We worked on that."
Scott nodded. Undoubtedly good advice; for all of his cheerfulness, it was clear that Billy was strung tight. And Ororo was a much better place to turn for advice on relaxing than Scott was. It was not even a close call. "Glad it went okay. I'm sorry I missed our practices."
Billy offered him an easy smile. "It's OK. Where did you go?"
"Camping." Both true, and not. Ever the master of understatement, he added, "I had a lot on my mind. Needed to clear my head."
"OK." Billy only expected to be a confidant to two people in the world. Which meant just about everyone else got unquestioning acceptance and no prying for details when it came to the parts of their lives that didn't involve him. "Glad you're home. When do we get back to work again?"
It was a semi-expected relief, not being asked for details. Billy wasn't exactly the type of person you expected to make things more normal again, but he'd done that here. Scott tilted his head slightly, in thought. "Day after tomorrow?" He offered.
"Yeah, OK." Billy nodded. "Want to get something to eat?"
"Sure." It was rare that Scott wasn't at least a little hungry. "Is Goody around here somewhere? Do you need to warn him?"
Billy laughed, again brief and curbed. "If he was, I wouldn't have been in that tree. He didn't sleep well. He's catching up now."
"Ah. Okay." Hey, he'd had to ask. Scott thought their co-dependence was mildly troubling, but he wasn't a psychologist and no one had asked his opinion, so instead he simply bowed to it for now. "Let's go grab something to eat, then."
Billy hadn't meant to wind up quite this high. He hadn't meant to end up in this oak tree at all. But one thing had lead to another
(specifically, Goodnight napping had lead to boredom, which had lead to him daring the vast outdoors alone, which had lead to following a chorus of chirps to a bird nest, which had lead to his being driven further up the tree by an irate mother jay)
and here he was. Not that he was scared of the height, it was just new and interesting. And he figured he could stay up here for a while, getting a feel for the view. Maybe practice his French a little.
And contemplate just how he was going to get down without being attacked again.
It had been a long week. A long several weeks. Months, maybe. Scott could feel it pressing down on him, and so he'd escaped outside. Being outdoors made him feel less trapped, even if, at the end of the day, any differences between the grounds and the mansion were more illusory than meaningful. Still, walking outside helped.
He meandered through the trees, occasionally looking up when movement caught his eye. Wind. Birds. A...person? Was that, "Billy?"
Billy leaned a little too far out on the thin upper branches to be strictly safe, and waved to Scott.
"Hi. You were looking for me?"
Scott shook his head 'no.' "Just walking," he explained. "What're you doing up there?"
"Ah." Billy let out a brief, embarrassed laugh. "There's a bird down the tree that really doesn't like me. It's got...um...babies?" He couldn't remember the English word specific for young birds, but close enough. "So I thought I'd stay up here a while."
Scott smiled, just a little. "Got treed by a bird? Don't see that everyday," he commented, though his tone was more good-natured than mocking. "How're you gonna get down?"
"Maybe it'll leave?" Billy glanced down. "Or I could climb down really fast."
"I'll wait here, then. In case you fall." Not that Scott would be able to do much to help him other than calling for medical help, but still.
"OK." Billy backed up onto the stronger branches near the tree trunk, peering down toward the ground. Aiming a jump for the really thick branches about halfway down would be the fastest way. Then he could swing down to the lower ones and hop to the ground from there. He might miss, which would... well, it would be really bad. But he was pretty sure he wouldn't.
Billy focused himself, then jumped.
"Christ." Scott hadn't meant to suggest Billy needed to hasten his leap to his death, but here they were. Watching as Billy descended, Scott began making rapid-fire calculations of speed, trajectory, branch strength....he'd feel bad if Billy ended up a smear on the ground.
Billy hit the branch feet-first, but missed his balance and had to scramble to get his arms around it quickly enough to break his fall. As it was, he was left hanging, scraped up, and a little bruised. He frowned and dropped down to the next lowest branch, then the next, then down to the ground. The jay made a parting dive at him as he landed, but he ducked and trotted over to Scott.
"Hey."
"Hey," Scott greeted, eyebrows up near his hairline. "I didn't expect you to leap for it right that second."
Billy rubbed at a scrape on his chin, as if annoyed he couldn't just scrub it off.
"I wanted to get down without getting bitten. This was the fastest way."
"As long as it wasn't on my account. You okay?" Scott asked.
"Nothing's broken." Billy grinned and pushed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "It looked like it might be less boring down here."
At that, Scott actually chuckled a bit. Billy's incessant perkiness could rub off on a guy, apparently. "That may be the first time I've been less boring than the alternative."
"More boring than getting attacked by birds, less boring than being stuck in a tree, less frustration than French. That covers it all, right?"
"I think so," Scott agreed, nodding. "French?"
"I'm taking French," Billy clarified. "It's harder than I thought."
"Got it. Why French?" It occurred to Scott that it could simply be the only language they taught that Billy didn't already know - if you were going to train an assassin, why not go multi-lingual? - but the question still stood.
"Goody speaks it, but I don't. And the school doesn't offer Korean." Billy frowned a little. "Learning languages used to be easier. Maybe I went too long not talking to people. Got out of practice."
Goody spoke French. Scott filed that away, just for his own knowledge. "Makes sense. Everything gets rusty without maintenance," he observed. And, since he'd been MIA, he had to ask, "did you train while I was gone?"
Billy nodded. "I got Ororo to help me. We worked on precision exercises a lot. She was nice."
Scott smiled, just a touch, at that. "Ororo is good people. And very skilled," he said. High compliments, coming from Scott. "How'd it go?"
"OK?" Billy's smile went sheepish. "She had to explain a lot. I guess I'm not very 'centered' yet."
"I am not one hundred percent sure what that means," Scott admitted. He had a vague sense, from pop culture and from context, but he couldn't have easily explained what it meant in the DR.
"Goody said 'the lady's trying to explain that you need to calm down and loosen up'. And Ororo laughed, but she didn't say he was wrong. So..." Billy shrugged. "We worked on that."
Scott nodded. Undoubtedly good advice; for all of his cheerfulness, it was clear that Billy was strung tight. And Ororo was a much better place to turn for advice on relaxing than Scott was. It was not even a close call. "Glad it went okay. I'm sorry I missed our practices."
Billy offered him an easy smile. "It's OK. Where did you go?"
"Camping." Both true, and not. Ever the master of understatement, he added, "I had a lot on my mind. Needed to clear my head."
"OK." Billy only expected to be a confidant to two people in the world. Which meant just about everyone else got unquestioning acceptance and no prying for details when it came to the parts of their lives that didn't involve him. "Glad you're home. When do we get back to work again?"
It was a semi-expected relief, not being asked for details. Billy wasn't exactly the type of person you expected to make things more normal again, but he'd done that here. Scott tilted his head slightly, in thought. "Day after tomorrow?" He offered.
"Yeah, OK." Billy nodded. "Want to get something to eat?"
"Sure." It was rare that Scott wasn't at least a little hungry. "Is Goody around here somewhere? Do you need to warn him?"
Billy laughed, again brief and curbed. "If he was, I wouldn't have been in that tree. He didn't sleep well. He's catching up now."
"Ah. Okay." Hey, he'd had to ask. Scott thought their co-dependence was mildly troubling, but he wasn't a psychologist and no one had asked his opinion, so instead he simply bowed to it for now. "Let's go grab something to eat, then."
