House of M - The Beginning

[selfhelp]

Who: Billy Kaplan + Anyone who wants to be involved in the House of M Plot + Related CR + Anyone Really
What: Um. The House of M Plot.
When: October 1st-7th
Where: Literally anywhere in Luceti, yo
Summary: Billy returns from a kidnapping feeling a bit, er, different. A white light envelops the village for just a moment, and when it fades... well. All kinds of things are different, actually.
Rating: Varies, anything above R take it elsewhere!

Still accepting last minute sign-ups, if anyone is interested.


It starts off so innocently, early on the morning of October 1st. A burst of light, a warm rush of energy that consumes everything it touches, and it's gentle enough to feel like stepping out into sunlight from the shade. It's so brief that some people might not even notice it happened. But there are certainly... differences. Some subtle, some not. And those changed won't even understand the problem.

After all, why would perfection be a problem?

The truth is, there are no problems. There can't be. It's perfect, Billy thinks. Believes it. His belief is his reality, and now, it's their reality. It all has to be perfect; they deserve it, all of them, for one reason or another. And he'll do whatever he has to protect that perfection from being tainted, ruined, taken away from them.

Teddy died so this could happen, after all.

So what is your new reality?


((first two threads reserved for the intro thread and billy's status; after that consider this log a free-for-all.))

Comments

Re: Any Day

[tryit]

[It's pretty often that Kate's over by the Maximoff house. It's nice having a mother figure around, what with her own back in New York. Even if the house otherwise tends to be filled with boys. But one of them is Tommy. And that tends to make all the distance.

She's dressed down today, indication that she was mostly around to score free lunch and company while she worked on her business plans. But when she sees Wanda, Kate waves and walks over to the woman.]

It's always good to see you, too, Ms. Maximoff. [She smiles as she says the words, hands clutching the strap of her shoulder bag.] I was just leaving. But I'm not supposed to meet up with Cassie for another hour.

[which_witch]

Well then... Why not sit? Stay? Let's chat, hmm? [Wanda really does like Kate. The girl is smart, friendly, and opened minded. And, more importantly, her boys like her, and that counts for everything in the world.

When she and Tommy became more serious, however, Wanda's attitude towards her changed, ever so slightly. In practice, hardly at all. Mentally, however, she had become more critical of the girl, wanting to-- smooth out the rough edges.]

Tell me; How have things been for you, recently? You and Tommy... still getting along, then?

[tryit]

[She nods. It's not the first time Wanda's stopped her to chat. Kate doesn't have a mother here and Wanda sure as hell doesn't have any daughters. It's nice to have someone to talk to about girly-type things sometimes. Cassie's great and all but she doesn't necessarily have Wanda's experiences.

She takes the offered seat and reaches to pull her water bottle out of her bag. Just as she's about to take a sip, Wanda's question sinks in. She coughs, sputtering. Oh god, Wanda's not... No. No, no, no. This isn't going to be some sort of sex talk, is it?

Oh god, she hopes not. She and Tommy haven't even had that talk yet. Let alone... Coughing some more, she stares at Wanda.]

Um... what?

That icon. LOL.

[which_witch]

Careful-- drink then breath. [She smiles, brightly and amused, completely unaware of Kate's train of thoughts. Kate's still breathing and talking, so clearly a little bit of teasing is ok.] You and Tommy. You're still... getting along? He does like you so. And you're so good for him. I've never met anyone, human or mutant, that can wrangle a speedster quite like you. [She chuckles.]

I love it!

[tryit]

[She coughs a little more, struggling to catch her breath. Drink then breath. Advice that comes a little too late. Right now, she's just focusing on breathing. Breathing and in no way thinking of sex and Tommy in the same sentence.]

Lots of, um, practice. [She finally forces the words out, still coughing just a little more.] Kind of comes with the territory of leading the team.

[which_witch]

[Not thinking of sex and Tommy in the same sentence while talking with Tommy's mom, even! ]

Practice does help, yes. ... Powers do, too. At least, that is how it was for me, with Pietro. And when Tommy was young.

[tryit]

[She doesn't exactly mean to be rude when she replies. Because this is Tommy's mom, after all. But, well, being the only human on a team full of superpowered individuals can really suck sometimes. And she's since grown a little defensive when it's come to that topic.]

Well, not all of us are kind of blessed with superhuman abilities.

[which_witch]

I know. .. I do know. [She nods, a bit sadly. Then looks up at Kate. This segued nicely! ] Would you like to be?

[tryit]

[Blink.

Blink, blink, blink.

Holy fucking shit, is she joking?]

...am I being punk'd?

[which_witch]

[Wanda is not entirely sure what "punk'd" is, but she can guess from the context, and tone of voice. She does her best to smile gently, as she doesn't want to pressure Kate. Not overtly, at least.]

I assure you, you are not.

[tryit]

How?

[which_witch]

[Wanda spreads her hands, palms up, bringing up her hex aura to dance around her hands. ] In a word? ... Magic. But to be a bit more verbose-- I've been thinking. And I believe with the right spell, I could either activate a dormant x-gene in you, should one exist... or, if not... I could grant you one.

[tryit]

[She's seen that hex aura millions of times, it seems. If not from Wanda, then certainly from Billy. She knows far too well what it's capable of. But never once did she think it could do something so... fundamental as alter genetic structure.

Talk about the chance of a lifetime...

Kate lets out a low whistle, leaning deeper into a chair.]

Oh. Wow. You're really serious, aren't you? This whole mutant thing. But... why me? You know I can already hold my own with the team.

[which_witch]

[Ah hah. A tricky question. Wanda is careful in how she words her next phrase.] Oh, to be sure...! No one would ever argue that. [Except, in a way, Wanda is.] ...I like you Kate. You're like-- the daughter I never had. ... Being a mutant has always been a good thing, for me. It's brought me some hard moments, perhaps, but overall, it's something that has made me very happy in my life. ... I want you to have good things too, if you want them. [Or, more to the point, she wants Tommy to have good things. Like a mutant girlfriend.]

You are fine the way you are, of course! But. If you wanted... [She leaves the offer hanging in the air.]

[tryit]

[She watches Wanda carefully as the woman talks. It's tempting to beam in pride at the whole daughter thing. Since arriving in Luceti, Wanda's sort of taken over the role of substitute mom. And it's been kind of nice since her own is back in New York.

But still. An offer this good? It seems almost too good. Because, she's got to admit, it'd be pretty cool to have powers, too. Maybe then, villains would stop going for her first.]

I already have good things. [She says that slowly.] I have my career. I have Tommy...

[But that 'but' still lingers in the air.]

[which_witch]

[Wanda smiles. She feels like Kate is taking the bate. YES.] There's no limit to the amount of good things you can have, Kate. There will never be a... glass ceiling for you to run into, so long as you are around me. And so long as Tommy adores you so... I see no reason you shouldn't be.

[tryit]

[It's totally immature and makes her feel younger than she actually is, but Kate giggles a little at the mention of Tommy adoring her. Oh, she's well aware of how much her boyfriend loves her. And it goes both ways. But sometimes, any kind of reminder helps. Especially from said boyfriend's mother.]

Well, yeah. That's not going to change any time soon.

[which_witch]

Such is the impression I received as well. [She smirks. Kate really is just shy of perfection. Just this one little change needed...]

[tryit]

Yeah?

[Because, right now? She's still playing the role of lovestruck teenager, offer almost entirely forgotten.]

[which_witch]

Yes. [Kate's twitterpated mood is adorable-- after all, who WOULDN'T be head over heals for her boys?-- But enthusing over how great Tommy is isn't quite the goal of today's chat though it is one of her favorite pastimes. ] Which is why... I want to offer you this gift.

[tryit]

A gift of superpowers of my very own. [She almost deadpans that. Because, c'mon, it's still a bit incredible if you think about it.] That's, um, kind of a huge deal.

[which_witch]

Is it-- something you'd like? [That's more of a loaded question than she's letting on. But the answer really needs to be "Yes" for her to have a future in this family. ]

[tryit]

[Is it something she'd like? Is the sky blue? Should Tommy never, ever be allowed caffeine?]

Yes!

[It's something she probably should think through. This is a life changing decision. Becoming a mutant? That's changing her fundamental genetic structure. That shouldn't even be something possible, right? But, then again, she never really had much interest in high school biology. Maybe, sometimes, the impossible could be possible.

She had found Tommy, hadn't she?]

[which_witch]

[Wanda's smile is instantaneous and stretches from ear to ear. She knew Kate was a good girl. She knew her boy wouldn't have picked anything but for himself. ]

Oh, Kate, I'm so happy to hear that!

[She almost wants to hug the girl. In fact-- WHY NOT. She will totally hug Kate if Kate lets her.]

[tryit]

[Kate hugs her back without hesitation, barely able to process the turn of events. Because it's seriously unbelievable, the idea that she - Kate Bishop - might actually be able to have superpowers just like the rest of her teammates. Somehow, though, she manages to remain composed.]

You're happy? You have no idea what this means to me.