Steph and Billy - March 29
Mar. 29th, 2018 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainSteph goes to ask Billy for a favour regarding Ben and Ben gets an ally before he even arrives.
This was the most nervous Steph had been since her father had left. Meeting other kids was one thing, but asking a huge favour of someone you'd never met before was a whole different thing. Billy Kaplan, room 107, someone had told her. Nice guy. She hoped so, because this was important.
Steph knocked on his door.
Billy leaned back in his chair so he could look look at his door upside down, frowning a little at the knock. Please don’t let it be Kitty with more bad news, he really couldn’t handle anything else right now. “Come on in! Doors unlocked!”
He moved back into sitting mode and turned around, surprised to see a face he didn’t really know come through.
She only just stepped in and gave him a weak little wave and an unsure smile. "Hi, I'm Steph, the new girl? I was, um, told that maybe I could ask you a favor?"
“Oh.” Billy blinked, wondering who was telling new people that they could ask him for favors, but he could figure that out later. He smiled a little and shrugged a little. “Depends on what you need? I’m Billy, nice to meet you.”
"Well, I mean I'd pay you of course, but I heard that you can teleport? I didn't think that was even possible but there are a few of you here, right?" She put a hand on her stomach because it would not calm down. "And... I have um, I need to see someone sometimes? Or have him visit?"
“Oh, geeze. You don’t have to pay me or anything.” Billy reassured, waving his hands in front of him to show he didn’t want money. “Yeah, I can teleport, but I’m not as good as Clarice or...”
Shit, Yana wasn’t here anymore. Do not get sad in front of a stranger.
“I mean, I’m not bad at it, I just need a little detail on where I’m teleporting. If that’s okay with you, then yeah I can help ya.”
She smiled and nodded, but there were a few things to make clear. "Well, you're going to get paid. My dad won't let you go without something... " Even if he had to give it to Steph to slip under Billy's door, Billy would be getting paid. Her father had a very firm sense that debts needed to be repaid. "That's where you'd be taking me, home. And if it's okay, you'd be bringing a baby back? Just for a couple of days?"
“A baby?” Billy asked, passing over how firm she was on paying him. If she wanted to give him money, who was he to argue? “Like...a real one? What about it’s parents?”
Steph blinked. "I'm the parent: he's my son, Ben."
“What?!” Billy’s voice cracked in his shock and he gave the girl another look over. She couldn’t be more than seventeen and she was a-?? He knew teen pregnancies were like a thing, but he’d never really met anyone his age who’d actually gone and had a...yikes...kid. He gulped slightly and gave a small nervous laugh. “Ah ha, wow okay. I mean, cool. Good for you. Moms are great.”
That earned him an unsure smile. There was never a moment Stephanie felt ashamed or embarrassed about Ben, despite the expectation of some people back home that she darn well should. Ben had entered her life and somehow made everything harder, but also immeasurably better. So not ashamed. But awkward when she was dealing with the reactions of kids her age? Heck yes.
"Thanks. He's six months old. I didn't think I'd get to see him until school let it for the summer, so when I heard about people who could teleport..." She pushed a loose lock of hair behind her hair, and kept her fingers there, uncertain. "I got a little excited."
“Oh, of course.” Billy moved out of his chair to stand, offering her his best friendly smile and nodded. “I mean if it’s that important of course I’ll help. Where does he live? I’m going to guess out of state if you were going to have to wait until summer.”
He didn’t have kids and it was a slim chance he would, ignoring what TJ told him, but he couldn’t really imagine his mom handling not seeing him for a year. Specially with how clingy she was when his brothers were babies.
"Yeah, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Bratwurst Capitol of the World." She smiled and waved her hands, jazz-hands style beside her head. "Super impressive, right?"
Billy grinned and gave a small shrug. “Hey man, I’m a born and raised New Yorker and push all that state pride away I can see that other places have their charms.”
He stood up and walked over to her. “Besides, I don’t stick to kosher rules so bratwurst sounds amazing.”
Steph's face lit up. "Then maybe I can get Dad to pay you in that. He's not going to back down, I promise you, but if you'll take food...?"
Billy grinned. “You can always pay me in food. That’s the perfect way. Were you wanting to go now or some other time?”
"Sunday if that's okay, and then haul us back a couple of days later?" She wanted to grab him and pull him into a hug. This was really going to happen - Ben, here with her... all the excitement that had grabbed her when she'd learned about the teleporters came back because when she'd last seen him she'd been sure she wouldn't see him again until the summer. Of course, that made her sparkles, which had been relatively calm, explode like miniature fireworks, but Steph didn't care about that.
“Sunday?” Billy repeated and then nodded. “Yeah, I mean I’m not doing anything too crazy so a quick teleport to Wisconsin shouldn’t be that big a deal. Do we need to like....safety proof the school or something? Like those plug covers or anything in the hall?”
"Nope! I'll probably put some in my room, but otherwise I'll just stick right beside him."
Billy smiled, wondering how keeping a kid and doing school work was going to go, but he kept his mouth shut. “Okay, cool. Sunday it is then. I’ll just need like pictures or something of where we are going so I can picture it better.”
"That's not a problem at all! I've got tons on my phone." Okay, all them them had Ben's face smack-dab in the middle of them, but there were enough of the house, inside and out that it should give Billy enough to work with.
“That works!” Billy grinned then held up a finger. “Umm, you got any of outside your house like the backyard or maybe a room people don’t normally stay in? I don’t wanna cause any heart attacks in your family by suddenly teleporting into the living room or kitchen.”
Steph grinned at the thought. It would be her father who'd be shocked. Her mom too, but she'd bury it beneath an arched brow and never let on that a teenage boy suddenly appearning in the kitchen wasn't simply to be expected. "I'll let them know, but still, my bedroom is probably best."
“Your bedroom. Got it.” Billy wondered if he liked girls would he find that exciting? But he’d been in guys rooms before and it wasn’t that special...okay going in Teddy’s room the first time was pretty special so scratch that. He gave her a thumbs up and nodded. “Alright. Come find me here on Sunday and we’ll get your kid teleported. Hope he doesn’t get scared...there’s a little light show kinda when it happens.”
"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about that." She smiled and pushed her healing just enough to cause a small shower of extra sparkles. "His mother is a living light show."
Billy’s eyes widened at the sparkles coming from her hands, his shock turning into glee as he laughed a bit. “Wow, Okay. Ever think of doing kids shows? Me and you together would make a killing. Glitter girl and semi-adequate magic boy for kids parties, starting at fifty bucks.”
Steph opened her mouth to object, but that didn't sound like a horrible idea. "You should be careful with suggestions like that. I might decide to take you up on them."
Billy laughed again, this time loudly, and shook his head. “I think we’d make a killing. Blow all other party shows out of the water.”
He checked his phone for a quick second, noticing the time and gave a small shrug. “I gotta head in for homework help soon, but how are you liking Xavier’s school for youngsters?”
"Oh, a lot so far. Some of the kids are really different, but it's funny how quick you adjust to that." Steph stepped backwards into the hall. "A day or two and wings start to seem like something you see on kids every day."
Billy pocketed his phone in his jeans and gathered up a bunch of text books, nodding as he headed out after her. He nudged the door shut with his hip and nodded with a grin. “Right? Just your average day with mutant kids now.”
Steph nodded. "Pretty much. My Dad keeps texting me, asking me about some of the kids he saw when he dropped me off - just curious about them - and I'm like, eh, that's just a guy named Nick. He likes video games."
“Is he nervous or just curious?” Billy asked, smiling to let her know he didn’t think anything bad of her dad if he was. “My mom was super freaked about me just going to school two hours away, add kids with powers then you got a whole new Rebbeca Kaplan freak out.”
"Mostly just curious. What makes Dad nervous is me being out there." She waved her hand in a way that vaguely indicated the world beyond the school. "He drove me here from Wisconsin to make sure I didn't run into any issues. I think he actually found some of the weirder looking kids comforting because if they were accepted, who was going to have an issue with me, right?"
Billy beamed at that. “That’s cool. Your dad sounds nice, nice enough to drive a hell of a lot of hours to see you here. So, is he watching Ben while you do school?”
Steph nodded. "Him and Mom. They've been really good about everything, really supportive. Is your mom okay with it all now?"
Billy thought about all his mom had to endure since him becoming a mutant. Really, her and his dad had been his biggest support through all of this even when it must have been hard on them too, specially when the whole mother and brother from the future thing came about. “Umm, Yeah. Her and my dad are actually a lot more chill about everything that has happened than I thought they would. I mean, better than I probably would have been if I had me as a kid.”
"Maybe, but it's different when you actually have a kid compared to when you don't and you're just imagining how it might be. I bet you'd be just as great as them." She said it matter of factly, because the first part at at least, was absolutely true.
Billy flushed a little at her encouragement, remembering that in another timeline he did have a kid, with Teddy no less. He hoped that Billy was a good parent at least. “Thanks...But we’ll see. Well, I’m sure Ben will like it here. I can’t imagine many of the kid here that wouldn’t be charmed by chubby cheeks and little hands.”
Cause babies, man. They had their own kind of power.
"If they aren't, I'll just make sure I keep him away from them. I don't want to be a nuisance."
“Ehhh.” Billy gave a shrug. “Whoever has a problem with him I will frown greatly at them. I’m told I can be intimidating on the slight occasion.”
Steph flashed him a half-amused, half-grateful smile. How many minutes had she known him and he was already marking himself out as an ally for Ben? "I'm going to take you seriously about that, you know."
“Please do. If I don’t stick up for babies what kind of person am I?” Billy grinned and pointed down the hall towards the library. “I gotta go this way, but I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you then, because I’m going this way.” Steph nodded in the other direction. “But thank you again. This is huge for me, and I really appreciate it.”
“No problemo!” Billy grinned and gave her a wave. “Just let me know if you need to teleport anywhere else...er and can show me pictures of it so we actually get there.”
He gave one last wave and moved towards the library, already hating that he had to study instead of keep talking to the nice new girl.
This was the most nervous Steph had been since her father had left. Meeting other kids was one thing, but asking a huge favour of someone you'd never met before was a whole different thing. Billy Kaplan, room 107, someone had told her. Nice guy. She hoped so, because this was important.
Steph knocked on his door.
Billy leaned back in his chair so he could look look at his door upside down, frowning a little at the knock. Please don’t let it be Kitty with more bad news, he really couldn’t handle anything else right now. “Come on in! Doors unlocked!”
He moved back into sitting mode and turned around, surprised to see a face he didn’t really know come through.
She only just stepped in and gave him a weak little wave and an unsure smile. "Hi, I'm Steph, the new girl? I was, um, told that maybe I could ask you a favor?"
“Oh.” Billy blinked, wondering who was telling new people that they could ask him for favors, but he could figure that out later. He smiled a little and shrugged a little. “Depends on what you need? I’m Billy, nice to meet you.”
"Well, I mean I'd pay you of course, but I heard that you can teleport? I didn't think that was even possible but there are a few of you here, right?" She put a hand on her stomach because it would not calm down. "And... I have um, I need to see someone sometimes? Or have him visit?"
“Oh, geeze. You don’t have to pay me or anything.” Billy reassured, waving his hands in front of him to show he didn’t want money. “Yeah, I can teleport, but I’m not as good as Clarice or...”
Shit, Yana wasn’t here anymore. Do not get sad in front of a stranger.
“I mean, I’m not bad at it, I just need a little detail on where I’m teleporting. If that’s okay with you, then yeah I can help ya.”
She smiled and nodded, but there were a few things to make clear. "Well, you're going to get paid. My dad won't let you go without something... " Even if he had to give it to Steph to slip under Billy's door, Billy would be getting paid. Her father had a very firm sense that debts needed to be repaid. "That's where you'd be taking me, home. And if it's okay, you'd be bringing a baby back? Just for a couple of days?"
“A baby?” Billy asked, passing over how firm she was on paying him. If she wanted to give him money, who was he to argue? “Like...a real one? What about it’s parents?”
Steph blinked. "I'm the parent: he's my son, Ben."
“What?!” Billy’s voice cracked in his shock and he gave the girl another look over. She couldn’t be more than seventeen and she was a-?? He knew teen pregnancies were like a thing, but he’d never really met anyone his age who’d actually gone and had a...yikes...kid. He gulped slightly and gave a small nervous laugh. “Ah ha, wow okay. I mean, cool. Good for you. Moms are great.”
That earned him an unsure smile. There was never a moment Stephanie felt ashamed or embarrassed about Ben, despite the expectation of some people back home that she darn well should. Ben had entered her life and somehow made everything harder, but also immeasurably better. So not ashamed. But awkward when she was dealing with the reactions of kids her age? Heck yes.
"Thanks. He's six months old. I didn't think I'd get to see him until school let it for the summer, so when I heard about people who could teleport..." She pushed a loose lock of hair behind her hair, and kept her fingers there, uncertain. "I got a little excited."
“Oh, of course.” Billy moved out of his chair to stand, offering her his best friendly smile and nodded. “I mean if it’s that important of course I’ll help. Where does he live? I’m going to guess out of state if you were going to have to wait until summer.”
He didn’t have kids and it was a slim chance he would, ignoring what TJ told him, but he couldn’t really imagine his mom handling not seeing him for a year. Specially with how clingy she was when his brothers were babies.
"Yeah, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Bratwurst Capitol of the World." She smiled and waved her hands, jazz-hands style beside her head. "Super impressive, right?"
Billy grinned and gave a small shrug. “Hey man, I’m a born and raised New Yorker and push all that state pride away I can see that other places have their charms.”
He stood up and walked over to her. “Besides, I don’t stick to kosher rules so bratwurst sounds amazing.”
Steph's face lit up. "Then maybe I can get Dad to pay you in that. He's not going to back down, I promise you, but if you'll take food...?"
Billy grinned. “You can always pay me in food. That’s the perfect way. Were you wanting to go now or some other time?”
"Sunday if that's okay, and then haul us back a couple of days later?" She wanted to grab him and pull him into a hug. This was really going to happen - Ben, here with her... all the excitement that had grabbed her when she'd learned about the teleporters came back because when she'd last seen him she'd been sure she wouldn't see him again until the summer. Of course, that made her sparkles, which had been relatively calm, explode like miniature fireworks, but Steph didn't care about that.
“Sunday?” Billy repeated and then nodded. “Yeah, I mean I’m not doing anything too crazy so a quick teleport to Wisconsin shouldn’t be that big a deal. Do we need to like....safety proof the school or something? Like those plug covers or anything in the hall?”
"Nope! I'll probably put some in my room, but otherwise I'll just stick right beside him."
Billy smiled, wondering how keeping a kid and doing school work was going to go, but he kept his mouth shut. “Okay, cool. Sunday it is then. I’ll just need like pictures or something of where we are going so I can picture it better.”
"That's not a problem at all! I've got tons on my phone." Okay, all them them had Ben's face smack-dab in the middle of them, but there were enough of the house, inside and out that it should give Billy enough to work with.
“That works!” Billy grinned then held up a finger. “Umm, you got any of outside your house like the backyard or maybe a room people don’t normally stay in? I don’t wanna cause any heart attacks in your family by suddenly teleporting into the living room or kitchen.”
Steph grinned at the thought. It would be her father who'd be shocked. Her mom too, but she'd bury it beneath an arched brow and never let on that a teenage boy suddenly appearning in the kitchen wasn't simply to be expected. "I'll let them know, but still, my bedroom is probably best."
“Your bedroom. Got it.” Billy wondered if he liked girls would he find that exciting? But he’d been in guys rooms before and it wasn’t that special...okay going in Teddy’s room the first time was pretty special so scratch that. He gave her a thumbs up and nodded. “Alright. Come find me here on Sunday and we’ll get your kid teleported. Hope he doesn’t get scared...there’s a little light show kinda when it happens.”
"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about that." She smiled and pushed her healing just enough to cause a small shower of extra sparkles. "His mother is a living light show."
Billy’s eyes widened at the sparkles coming from her hands, his shock turning into glee as he laughed a bit. “Wow, Okay. Ever think of doing kids shows? Me and you together would make a killing. Glitter girl and semi-adequate magic boy for kids parties, starting at fifty bucks.”
Steph opened her mouth to object, but that didn't sound like a horrible idea. "You should be careful with suggestions like that. I might decide to take you up on them."
Billy laughed again, this time loudly, and shook his head. “I think we’d make a killing. Blow all other party shows out of the water.”
He checked his phone for a quick second, noticing the time and gave a small shrug. “I gotta head in for homework help soon, but how are you liking Xavier’s school for youngsters?”
"Oh, a lot so far. Some of the kids are really different, but it's funny how quick you adjust to that." Steph stepped backwards into the hall. "A day or two and wings start to seem like something you see on kids every day."
Billy pocketed his phone in his jeans and gathered up a bunch of text books, nodding as he headed out after her. He nudged the door shut with his hip and nodded with a grin. “Right? Just your average day with mutant kids now.”
Steph nodded. "Pretty much. My Dad keeps texting me, asking me about some of the kids he saw when he dropped me off - just curious about them - and I'm like, eh, that's just a guy named Nick. He likes video games."
“Is he nervous or just curious?” Billy asked, smiling to let her know he didn’t think anything bad of her dad if he was. “My mom was super freaked about me just going to school two hours away, add kids with powers then you got a whole new Rebbeca Kaplan freak out.”
"Mostly just curious. What makes Dad nervous is me being out there." She waved her hand in a way that vaguely indicated the world beyond the school. "He drove me here from Wisconsin to make sure I didn't run into any issues. I think he actually found some of the weirder looking kids comforting because if they were accepted, who was going to have an issue with me, right?"
Billy beamed at that. “That’s cool. Your dad sounds nice, nice enough to drive a hell of a lot of hours to see you here. So, is he watching Ben while you do school?”
Steph nodded. "Him and Mom. They've been really good about everything, really supportive. Is your mom okay with it all now?"
Billy thought about all his mom had to endure since him becoming a mutant. Really, her and his dad had been his biggest support through all of this even when it must have been hard on them too, specially when the whole mother and brother from the future thing came about. “Umm, Yeah. Her and my dad are actually a lot more chill about everything that has happened than I thought they would. I mean, better than I probably would have been if I had me as a kid.”
"Maybe, but it's different when you actually have a kid compared to when you don't and you're just imagining how it might be. I bet you'd be just as great as them." She said it matter of factly, because the first part at at least, was absolutely true.
Billy flushed a little at her encouragement, remembering that in another timeline he did have a kid, with Teddy no less. He hoped that Billy was a good parent at least. “Thanks...But we’ll see. Well, I’m sure Ben will like it here. I can’t imagine many of the kid here that wouldn’t be charmed by chubby cheeks and little hands.”
Cause babies, man. They had their own kind of power.
"If they aren't, I'll just make sure I keep him away from them. I don't want to be a nuisance."
“Ehhh.” Billy gave a shrug. “Whoever has a problem with him I will frown greatly at them. I’m told I can be intimidating on the slight occasion.”
Steph flashed him a half-amused, half-grateful smile. How many minutes had she known him and he was already marking himself out as an ally for Ben? "I'm going to take you seriously about that, you know."
“Please do. If I don’t stick up for babies what kind of person am I?” Billy grinned and pointed down the hall towards the library. “I gotta go this way, but I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you then, because I’m going this way.” Steph nodded in the other direction. “But thank you again. This is huge for me, and I really appreciate it.”
“No problemo!” Billy grinned and gave her a wave. “Just let me know if you need to teleport anywhere else...er and can show me pictures of it so we actually get there.”
He gave one last wave and moved towards the library, already hating that he had to study instead of keep talking to the nice new girl.
