lucetilogs | House of M - The Beginning

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House of M - The Beginning

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.))

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[He winces at that, sighing and leaning back in his chair, arms folded stubbornly over his chest as he looks back at Bucky.]

You're not even going to listen. Of course not. Why did I ever even... forget it. Just... forget I said anything. But I'm sorry. For when it ends.

[Because it would. Because it was wrong, because something this elaborate couldn't be sustained forever, not when other people knew about it.]

[Bucky doesn't even remember the last time he was this angry. He's not really the type to let things get under his skin, but this - this gets right down to his bones.

Max planting himself in the chair doesn't help at all. For a second, he thinks maybe he really wants to start a fight with the reality bending wizard because there's nothing he'd like more than to leave a bruise on that smug, pretty face; but even as his hands curl into fists against the table top, he knows he can't. He has his family to think about first. Always.

So instead of saying what he wants to, he swallows.]

Please. Leave.

Edited 2013-10-15 20:21 (UTC)

[It drags a frustrated noise out of him, all sorts of bad memories brought back up. He hates not being believed, he hates being told no and that goes double, triple, when he knows he's right. He grabs his things, shoves them into a bag and winds a few of the threads around his fingers. Just in case.]

This is so far out of your realm of experience you have no idea. But it is in mine. This is my life, Barnes. I don't hold back.

This is my life and you don't know a damn thing about it. If this is a dream, why the hell would I ever want to wake up?

Because it isn't real! It's about as real as any of the shifts the Malnosso put us through. I didn't see you clamouring for those to stick around.

It's a pretty film set, and you're following a script.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Way I'm feeling right now, it would be a mistake for it to try.

[Bucky doesn't answer, but from the tense line of his shoulders and the way he looks at Max, he couldn't be asking him to leave any louder if he was shouting it.]

[Max gives him a hard look and he kind of desperately wants to do something, wants to fight or argue or something to make Bucky see the truth. But there's nothing he can do. Nothing that would help anyway, not right now. He heads towards the door, shoulders taut and tense. He pauses as he passes Bucky, just out of arm's reach.]

The accident I mentioned. There's a friend of mine back home, who never existed.

According to you, he and my family have that in common.

I get your point. I don't want to hear it.

Never took you for the sort to close your eyes and live a pretty lie.

[She doesn't know what they're arguing about and she's not particularly sure she cares, except that it's in her cafe and they're getting louder and she can tell from Bucky's posture that things are escalating very quickly.

She does hear that last jab from Max as she approaches and there's part of her that almost coolly lets her husband punch him for saying something like that, even if she doesn't know the context. But no, this is still her cafe and there are customers here and the last thing Rue needs to hear about after school is how her Papa got into a fistfight in town.

So her hand is there to grab Bucky's wrist in a firm grip before he goes for Max, stepping between them and making a physical barrier she doubts either of them are going to be so eager to push past, leveling them both with an unimpressed look.]

Hello, boys. Do we have a problem?

[The 'you're about to' is unspoken but very strongly implied.]

[Bucky jerks against her hand - not because he's trying to fight her, but because she stops him mid-motion. He doesn't go any further than that, the snarl on his lips fading as he meets his wife's cool gaze. He slowly becomes aware of the fact that they're making a scene. After that last comment, he finds all of two reasons to care about that. One of them is obviously very real, and none too pleased.

He steps back.]

We don't. Max was just leavin'.

[He freezes when Natasha comes over, stepping between them to block them from each other. His expression is entirely stubborn, his arms around his bag defensively. He feels kind of like he had back then, trying to convince his brother that he wasn't crazy, that he wasn't just suffering damage from his coma.]

No problem that anyone wants to see at least.

[She relaxes slightly when Bucky steps back, backs down from whatever was building between them. She fixes her husband with a look, something silent passing between them, because she can read both their postures all too well.]

I'll take that as a yes then. Bucky, if you wouldn't mind helping Eugene behind the counter a bit? I'll walk Max out.

[Bucky glances at Max sharply when he says that. A muscle in his jaw twitches, but he turns to Natasha instead and gives her a tense nod.

He goes without another word to either of them.]

[He meets Bucky's gaze squarely, his own expression hard and angry as the other man runs away.]

I can see myself out.

Of course you can. [She tucks her arms in Max's and turns him towards the door, blithely ignoring his angry comment.] Humor me.

Fair enough.

[He grits his teeth and lets her guide him towards the door, although he's on edge enough to keep ready a shield to be thrown up if something happens.]

[She guides him outside, but doesn't see him off. Instead, she turns them to one of the little patio tables she has set up out front of the cafe, motioning for him to sit.]

Please. [She adds politely to the invitation, meeting his gaze a moment.]

[He's about ready to bolt but she doesn't let him go. He's pretty sure he could get out if he really wanted to, but doesn't really want to try it.

After a stubborn moment, he sits down, arms across defensively over his chest.]

Max. [She sinks down across from him and she doesn't know him as well as some of the others, his roommates, for one, but she knows him a little and this... this was unusual. Especially from Bucky.] Will you tell me what that was all about? What is it that no one wants to see?

[He stays stubbornly quiet for a moment before sighing.]

I can but you won't like it and you'll have to excuse me if I'm on edge enough to throw up a shield if you try to punch me.

Someone changed reality for a lot of the people here, and made it so it had always been that way. But it didn't affect everyone and now we just have to watch as people we care about live some fake life.

[He's right. She doesn't like it. But she's not punching him. In fact, there's barely a flicker of reaction on her face as she absorbs his words.]

A Shift?

[It's not as if those had been unheard of, once. Not in a long time, though. They've been happier here in recent years.]

No. It's magic. I know because I... I did the same thing once. Much smaller scale, much more completely.

How long do you think you've been in Luceti? How long do you think I've been in Luceti?

Re: Any Day for Bucky

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/threadjacks all smoothlike

hi honey

Re: hi honey

Boys. :|

He started it!

Lies and slander! Bucky asked! Max answered.

You both need time out :P

Re: You both need time out :P

Re: You both need time out :P

Re: You both need time out :P

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