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Thread: The Morning After

  1. #1
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest

    Closed Roleplay [X-Men] The Morning After

    Billy grunted as he woke. His shoulder ached like hell, and his elbow wasn't much better. He remembered injuring the latter - even Titan's bones and joints weren't strong enough to survive elbowing a vault door completely unscathed - but he had no clue about the shoulder. Given the odd way his elbow was angled, it might even have been self-inflicted; some awkward pose he'd lain in that had aggravated the muscles.

    Wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with slightly strained elastic - his shirt and pants had been, as usual, too badly torn during the transformation to be salvaged - he padded barefoot against an apartment floor that were he more awake would have been disgustingly sticky. Fortunately, his subconscious was in control, and his powers managed to modify the soles of his feet enough to spare him the discomfort. He scratched idly at his chest as he wandered into the kitchenette, hauled open a cupboard, retrieved a box of cereal that the artwork suggested was supposed to be for children - his transformations burned a lot of calories, and that was the excuse he was sticking to - and dumped it into a bowl. The fridge creaked open, and his eyes settled on an almost total lack of milk. His mouth smacked a couple of times and his eyes blinked with tired slowness, as if somehow he could will milk into existence.

    Idly, he contemplated the orange juice as an alternative. It might not be so bad; and even if it was, he could always reprogram his taste buds to make it tolerable. His gaze lingered longer.

    With a half-hearted sigh he swung the door closed, holding the bowl in one hand while the other shovelled dry cereal into his mouth half a fistful at a time. He turned, setting a course for the sofa.

    He stopped.

    Frowned.

    "You're a girl," he observed aloud, around a mouthful of Marvel-o's.

  2. #2
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    "And you're not Casius." Catherine couldn't even muster the early morning snarkiness that wanted to come with the reply and instead focused on taking another drink of the tea in her hands.

    She would have liked to really act surprised that there was some half naked guy standing around in her kitchen, really she would. But Catherine had seen all manner of weird things the last few weeks of her life. Currently her top of the weird-shit-o-meter was dominated by the little girl in one of the other rooms who never seemed to sleep and would show up, grab something to eat, and then retreat back to a room filled with more computer monitors, towers, and misplaced wires than Catherine had been able to count. Though the brother and sister duo who stopped by sometimes who spoke in seriously outdated slang were right up there, especially when they started drinking and began seeing if the woman could douse out the fires her brother was causing in various parts of the room when both of them sat giggling on the couch.

    "You're also eating my food and not wearing any pants... I can keep going if you want."

  3. #3
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    "Your food, huh?"

    Billy was not a naturally aggressive man. In fact, he was such the polar opposite that his body felt the subconscious need to turn into a giant purple rage monster every time he needed to do anything particularly confrontational. His naturally timid conscious mind was all too happy to stand behind the Big Guy in these sorts of situations, usually, but this was different. This was crossing a line.

    "These -" He explained, brandishing a fistful at her. "- are Marvel-o's. They cram just about as much sugar, additives, and food colourings into a single foodstuff as it is scientifically possible to do. This is pure energy, in sickly, crunchy form, and the box -" He gestured wildly at the cupboard behind him. "- has a giant blue super space Captain on the front. This food is mine, it's the only thing that can replace all the calories I burned off using my powers last night, and god damn it I -"

    He realised that he was shouting. Shouting at a woman while waving cereal in her face and wearing nothing but a pair of Batman boxer shorts. He noticed a slight purple mottling beginning to appear on the skin around his knuckles; panicked; dialled it back a notch.

    "- and I get a little bit grumpy when my blood sugar is low. And you would not like me when I'm grumpy."

  4. #4
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    "Huh."

    She raised an eyebrow during his almost-outburst but as he finished her face resumed the impassive expression of the unimpressed. It wasn't that she hadn't actually been genuinely unsettled when he had started shouting at her, mentioning powers in the process, it just seemed like more effort than it was worth to actually react to it. Damn Kelly genes and their need for caffeine, or maybe it was just her and she figured it was better to focus on her want for another cup of tea since the one in her hands had started to go cold. Either way, Catherine had been slightly preparing for what would happen if Grumpy here actually tried anything.

    "So it would seem." Her shoulder shrugged as she stepped past him and put the kettle settle back on. "For the record - Never really thought that was mine, figured it was the kid's. "

    Once tea preparation was in place she turned back to the mostly naked man standing around in her kitchen. Not that she owned it, more of it had become hers by it being the only kitchen she used any longer. She thought about pointing that out as well but thought better of it considering his earlier reaction.

    "Batman, eh? Always liked Poison Ivy myself, girl has class." Really, what else were you going to talk about with an apparently short tempered junk food addict?

  5. #5
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    The kid's.

    Billy wrestled with that idea for a few moments, trying to fathom two whom Catherine could have been referring. Realisation dawned, a little confusion in it's wake. He hadn't thought of her as a kid since about ten minutes after they'd first met, and was pretty sure that she wouldn't take too kindly to being referred to in such a manner either. He considered offering a little friendly advice to the new visitor by setting her straight; but screw it, she'd done absolutely nothing to endear herself to him, which was a really stupid mistake for her to have made when his blood sugar was low. If she tore her a new one? That'd just be fun to watch.

    "Poison Ivy?" he said instead, a dismissive snark in his voice. "Oh yeah. Because that's exactly what I want rubbing against my groin."

    He narrowed his eyes, still suspicious of the new girl.

    "Where the hell did you sleep?" he asked, almost accusingly. "I rarely miss things, and I did not see you kipping on the sofa when I came in."

  6. #6
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Catherine didn't bother to hide the what the fuck kind of question is that look that showed up right on schedule. She cast a glance back at the kettle, silently cursing it for not choosing such a perfect opportunity to chime in and interrupt this delightful little exchange. The unfortunate realization that was dawning on her was that she wasn't exactly standing across from someone new. New to her, yes, but not new to the apartment. Which meant, technically she was the newbie despite having been the only real constant in the place for the last few weeks. It was downright odd to be considered a stranger in your own home.

    "My bedroom." She left off the 'obviously' that wanted to follow, but the way she'd started off it didn't really need to be said.

    Of course it did bring up another question that Catherine immediately had to follow with. "Why...?"

  7. #7
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    Billy's brow furrowed deeply. Her room? Admittedly, it had been a pretty crazy few days, but Billy was relatively sure that the apartment had not been replaced by a TARDIS while he was away. There were only three rooms; his, his sister's, and his -

    His face contorted through a whole string of emotions: first realisation, then horror, then borderline disgust. He looked Catherine up and down again, this time with the wary eyes of someone who was suspicious that she might be infected.

    "Oh my god," he muttered; his words were feeble, his brain too busy trying not to process what he had just realised to inject anything more than dumbstruck into his words.

    "Are you sleeping with my dad?"

  8. #8
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Dad. The word sounded funny to her, foreign, like Catherine couldn't quite make out the meaning of it. At first she'd tried to figure out exactly who was being referred to but there really was only one answer - Casius. She hadn't really thought of him as that old. Not old enough to have a son who looked to be, well, about her age. If that wasn't enough to fuck with her mind the trailing thought of Ha, I wish wasn't helping any. She'd managed not actually say it, so that was something. Though, Catherine thought in just barely too late hindsight to make it work, it might have been worth it just to watch the guy look like he was about to peel out of his skin again.

    It was however fast enough to mask her look of What? with some raised eyebrows and a small laugh: An answer and not an answer all in one. Luck provided the next distraction to perfect the scene as the kettle began to whistle behind her, allowing her to fully look away before the bemused smirk fell from her face as she let herself actually experience the mild horror that came with complete confusion. Casius had never said anything so what the hell was that about? She could have easily crashed out on the couch and he had to know... Catherine was very thankful her hands had something to occupy themselves with or the mental conversation would have been highlighted with gestures that only the severely bewildered could pull off.

    Once the water had been poured into her cup she quickly took hold of it to keep some sort of anchor on... Well... Something.

    "So, you're his son." It wasn't nearly as flat as she had wanted to speak, that questioning edge refused to calm itself. "That explains a few things."

    She absentmindedly sucked on her lower lip for an instant before bringing up the too-hot tea to her lips for an excuse to do something. Tongue on fire and stinging she nodded her head and shrugged a shoulder as if everything was clear as blue skies. The smile she forced was at least marginally believable.

    "Guess that means I'm your flatmate."

  9. #9
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    It wasn't an admission of guilt, but the whole not-answering and eyebrow raise thingy wasn't entirely reassuring. That in itself made matters worse, because the part of his brain that wasn't busy dry heaving into a potted planet in the back corner of his mind had suddenly realised that holy crap, this was probably the longest sustained conversation he'd managed to maintain with a woman he wasn't biologically related to in nearly two years. The other part of his brain stopped dry-heaving long enough to mock him derisively for that, and then the mocking turned to shouting, fist throwing, and all descended into a cartoon style swirling bundle of thought lines with the occasional hand and foot poking out every now and again; he could feel the headache starting, and it was only going to get worse.

    He wanted to fold his arms, but quickly discovered that doing that with a bowl in one's hand was not logistically possible. He tried to make his failed attempt look like a casual shrug, but didn't really succeed at that either; in the end, he just ended up standing there looking as awkward as possible.

    Idly, he wondered if his ability might be able to pull off adapting some chameleon style skin camouflage so that he could disappear from view, and Catherine would stop looking at him like that.

    "So you're... staying?" he asked; neither the surprise nor the borderline dread in his voice was the suave coolness he was hoping for.

  10. #10
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    "Until your father tells me to leave, yes." She had to admit, she liked watching the way his face minimally twitched as she spoke. It didn't nearly make up for the fact she own insides seemed to cringe in upon themselves at the same time, but it helped some.

    As much as she had been praying someone would come and end their rather graceless little stare down, Catherine was pretty sure the only other person in the apartment wasn't about to show any time soon. Not that Casius couldn't have appeared any moment as well, but it had been some days since she had seen him last so no real hope was holding out there either. Fine, the thought interrupted everything else as she let out a sigh, staring match goes to the guy in his underwear.

    Another drink was taken from her cup of tea as she pushed past it all, walking to the couch and let herself drop heavily onto it.

    "Well then, roomie, you going to tell me your name or do I get to call you 'Bruce' for all eternity?" An amused little smile danced across her features for a second before she continued. "And before you ask, mine's Catherine. Strange you weren't told about me."

  11. #11
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    The Bruce thing confused him; or at least it did, until he looked down and saw the Bat-boxers. Panic followed by instant relief washed over him; no doubt he'd work his way around to embarrassment eventually, but right now he was just glad that he wasn't displaying anything he shouldn't be.

    He considered her offer for a moment or two; being likened to Bruce Wayne on a regular basis didn't sound all that terrible, though part of him was a little disappointing that he wasn't wearing his 007 or Mr Incredible shorts. He wondered if maybe he could get away with a fake name, at least for a few days; something really awesome and manly-sounding like Brutus or Maximus. Then, again, he remembered the Batman boxers. Shooting for manly probably wasn't going to fly.

    "Billy," he said with an eventual sigh, grabbing a handful of Marvel-o's and entertaining himself by flicking them into the air and catching them. The first few shots were nothing but net, but the last tumbled a little off-course. Reflexes kicked in, and so did Billy's abilities; suddenly adapted, his tongue lanced out two feet into the air, speared the errant cereal, and snapped back in less than an instant.

    Mouth now half-full, Billy's eyes suddenly widened in horrified realisation; his gaze shot straight to Catherine. "Did you know that I -?" he trailed off, words muffled by oats, corn, rice, wheat, and oh so much sugary goodness. "Or are you gonna start freaking out right now?"

  12. #12
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Despite the Frogger impression that had caused a moderate amount of shock, the questions he posed right after had only one reaction. Catherine laughed. Not an amused chuckle, or a girlish giggle, but one of the type that she never would have been able to hold back even if she had tried. Her attention quickly became focused on not spilling her tea and trying to get control over herself before her side starting hurting - both of which she was mostly successful at. As she recovered she looked down at her shirt, glad for it's already off-white color that would probably hide whatever stain the tea would inevitably leave behind. She certainly wasn't about to go running off to the sink.

    As she looked back up at Billy she began fighting the laugh again and shook her head. "You can't be serious. Never mind the fact that the first time I was brought here was by some sort of electricity charged teleportation trick. You really think I'd be here if I wasn't... well... Like everyone else who ends up here?"

    Her cup of tea was finally placed on a nearby table. "Dude, you're talking to a girl who has been technically dead. It'll take a lot more than a magically growing tongue to freak me out."

  13. #13
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    Honestly, that made Billy a little jealous. Not the technically dead thing, and not the not freaked out thing; but no matter how many times he'd seen his dad zip from place to place in a crackle of awesome static, he'd never brought Billy along. So okay, Billy hadn't exactly asked: he'd always tried to downplay it as a subtle little suggestion of logic, and dad had always countered by giving him the keys to the car, or explaining how important it was that he did something else. And yeah, the something else usually was pretty important, in the whole grand scheme of things. But Billy couldn't help feeling like a kid who'd never had the chance to play catch with his dad, and had just caught him in the park throwing a ball with some random blonde bimbo.

    Not that Catherine was a bimbo or anything. Billy wasn't even sure what that word actually meant; he'd heard his brother use it a lot though, and it certainly didn't sound like it was a good thing. Catherine actually seemed nice, when she wasn't all unexpectedly trespassing and trying to claim ownership of his food.

    Her question lingered in his mind, and he weighed up the meaning of like everyone else. It was a subtle admission, he supposed; a way of saying that she was a mutant too without blurting it out all crass and abrupt and, well, exactly like Billy probably would have done right before instantly regretting it. But though she didn't know it, there was more to it than that.

    "Actually," Billy countered, "Everyone else whose been brought here is family. My dad, my half-brother and half-sisters..."

    He trailed off; frowned at the floor. "Family is everything to my dad. If you aren't family..." He mustered a small smile. "Then I guess you must be someone pretty special."

  14. #14
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Catherine wasn't quite sure which of the things he said made her more surprised, the little insight that everyone she had met since coming to California were apparently related, siblings at that, or that uncomfortable use of the word special that had her questioning if he meant it as a strange compliment or was making a vague insult. The fact Billy didn't really seem like too bad a guy and the way it had been said made her pretty sure it was the former. It made sense to her when coupled with the mentioning of the importance of family.

    "He's helping me with my sister." A frown threatened to form before she pushed it away with a small look to the side. "Well, eventually will. Guess it's not so simple as just teleporting in there and getting her away from..."

    Her voice trailed off as she found her fingernails had started to dig into the palm of her hand. It wasn't that Catherine thought Casius was stalling on helping get Alice escape from that Harriman guy, it was just frustrating there wasn't anything she could really do to help. The new knowledge that Casius had his children around made it make all the more sense. Alice seemed relatively safe for the moment from what she had been told, of course it could wait until something solid was in place that could avoid retaliation against his family. These sort of things took time.

  15. #15
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    "- Harriman," Billy finished.

    With that statement, things suddenly started to make a lot more sense. There were many plans, many objectives that they were working towards - Billy's latest errand was entirely unrelated - but he did remember some passing mention of a sister to the woman that Tom Harriman had shacked up with; not much, since it wasn't his mission, but enough to know it was going on.

    The thought of Tom Harriman unsettled him deeply. It seemed all noble what he claimed he was setting out to do: learn how powers worked, unlock them with technology, and benefit the world. That was just great, if you were a mutant with healing powers, or powers that could fight drought or famine or all that stuff. But what if your mutation was only dangerous? What if the only possible way the wourld could benefit from your abilities was to find new ways to kill and destroy? Harriman preached all noble and benevolent; but the Treadstone Industries logo looming behind him was a reminder that military contracts weren't far behind anything he came up with.

    Billy reached out, placing a hand gently on Catherine's upper arm. He wasn't sure if he was doing it right - wasn't sure if the gesture would be even vaguely reassuring - but he was trying, damn it, and it was the best he had. "Don't worry," he said, in the most reassuring voice he could muster. "If your sister is the girl with Harriman... my big brother and sister are working on it."

  16. #16
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Catherine hadn't expected the continued surprises and she was getting tired of trying to keep the apathetic front up, so when Billy had actually mentioned the name of the guy who had her sister she didn't bother to try and cover for it. In hindsight she should have figured he would know something about it. The thought would have to wait until later, however. Back in the present Catherine was trying very hard to not suddenly pull away from the hand that touched her. It wasn't that it hurt, or that she was even afraid of him or even herself, it was just a risk she never really wanted to take. Learning about certain aspects of her late manifesting mutation had been difficult so she was never really sure when it was on and willing test subjects were in short supply. The last thing she wanted to do was cause her new roommate to touch her and suddenly feel like he was licking a battery.

    There was really no point in dancing around the subject though. "Look, I appreciate the whole show of compassion thing given the circumstances but you really probably shouldn't be touching me."

    Given all the earlier connotations and innuendos she hadn't sought to dispel Catherine immediately realized how bad that sounded.

    "I kinda short circuit people." That, she figured, was only marginally better.

  17. #17
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    Huh.

    Getting shot down was not exactly a new sensation for Billy, but getting shot down when you weren't even flying was kind of a new experience. It wasn't that he was disappointed or anything - hell, the thought hadn't really even crossed his mind - and maybe she didn't even mean anything by it, but even so it was a pin to the lungs that made his insides feel deflated, like showing up on the first day of High School and being told not to even bother showing up for football try-outs before you'd even walked through the door.

    Not that he was still bitter about that little gem of childhood memory or anything.

    He mustered a smile; not a creepy smile, or an inappropriately happy one, but one of those small little acknowledging smiles that died after a second or so. He drew his hand slowly away but it lingered in the air between them. Billy's attention shifted from Catherine to it, and with a tug of a frown he began to concentrate, focusing on the pale and pasty skin on his hand. It was harder than you'd think, delving into the recesses of your mind and picking just one trait among dozens to draw upon. Usually Billy let his abilities run on instinct, letting his subconscious break out the quick reactionary adaptations he needed in the spur of the moment, and simply retreating back on the familiar whenever he needed to choose. More often than not, that meant resorting to his other self: the monstrous Titan his abilities had transformed him into in order to save his life. Strength, speed, heightened senses, resistance to pain, animalistic ferocity, super-sized adrenal glands, and hyper-charged organs to scrub out the bad hormones and chemicals before they did any damage; things like that had saved him countless times. But this wasn't a fight, or a chase, or a job; this was a demonstration, and there was just the one thing he needed.

    From a patch on his palm, his skin began to change, the Caucasian tint giving way to a dull and drab purple almost the colour of slate. He resisted his instinctive urge to bolster his muscles and reinforce the connective tissues: just focused on the skin that thus far had proven to be knife-proof, bulletproof and, as that one time he'd accidentally swan-dived into an electrical substation had proven, shock-proof. He didn't quite succeed, the grey blue of his eyes subsiding to be replaced by a colour like burning embers; but it was his best effort.

    "No touching," he agreed, flexing his fingers slowly, "But you don't need to worry, Johnny Five. I'm tougher than I look." He offered his arm towards her for inspection. "Pretty sure you couldn't hurt me even if you wanted to."

  18. #18
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    Billy had managed to pull a small smile from her with his Johnny Five comment, which was fleeting before returning to the land of expressionless morning fog. She did however quirk an eyebrow at the sudden display, especially as his eyes shifted color. Since arriving at the apartment Catherine had read over the various news clippings, articles, and just about everything else that Casius had laying around regarding other mutants. There had been one about a kid who could shift their appearance, eye color, hair color, so on. That was nothing compared to what Billy was showing her. This wasn't just cosmetic, it seemed useful. Though Catherine knew quite keenly how useful could turn into infuriating.

    "Let's not find out, okay?" A small sigh left her before Catherine settled back on the couch, taking the mug of tea back into her hands.

    A quick short laugh left her as she shook her head. "You ever going to get dressed? Or do you feel the need to display more," She paused to wiggle her fingers at him. "Skin changey stuff?"

  19. #19
    Billy O'Neill
    Guest
    "Actually," Billy shot back, defensively, "I figured that since this is my home, I'd spend my morning sitting on the couch, eating cereal, and watching cartoons."

    He tried his best to pull of an expression that was supposed to be aloof and sassy, but ended up more comical and ever so slightly gassy. Even so he stuck with it, striding confidently past her as if continuing the conversation was now beneath him, and Miss Home Invasion Judge Fest was no longer worth his attention. He managed to keep up the ruse for a full two minutes: long enough to strut to the sofa, hesitate for a second or two to work out how best to sit down without accidentally spilling cereal or spilling out of his shorts, and slouch his way comfortably into viewing position, feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table.

    He scrolled through the channels manually: he'd tried configuring the favourites to his favourite channels, but his sister kept coming in and reprogramming it to boring educational and political stuff. She didn't even watch TV, especially not on the TV in the lounge; it did occur to him that maybe she was trying to drop subtle hints about how he might be better off watching serious programming instead of shows aimed at children, but damn it he was one of the smart ones in this family, what with the whole having 85% of a PhD in genetics and biochemistry, thank you very much you judgemental little midget.

    As he found what he was looking for, and the familiar title credits began to play, Billy felt his eyes irresistibly dragged in Catherine's direction, as if someone had injected iron into his eyes and Catherine had magnets instead of nipples. Not that he was compelled to stare at her breasts or anything. The magnets could have been anywhere, it's just that he'd always thought bras were a wasted opportunity for storage potential, and if you were going to have things sticking out you might as well put them somewhere that already had things sticking out, unless you were planning on implanting them somewhere, or finding some sort of place to, you know, insert, or -

    Billy's eyes flicked away sheepishly; then back to where they shouldn't have been looking; then away; then back this time to a more socially acceptable point of focus. "You can, uh -" He waved vaguely at the screen. "- watch too, if you want. This episode is actually pretty awesome: Aquaman is taking his family on a road trip, and, well -"

    He trailed off, another sheepish glance away, with a little awkward shuffling this time.

    "The no pants thing isn't mandatory?" he tried, grasping at straws.

  20. #20
    Catherine Kelly
    Guest
    An amused smirk crossed her lips... Sugary cereal - check. Batman underwear - check. Cartoons - check. She wasn't sure why but it was actually endearing in a way. Since the moment she had been discharged from the Hospital after her miraculous recovery, Catherine's life had seemed like a never ending stream of strange happenings that she wondered would eventually cause her to snap and scream into a pillow for a few hours. But here was Billy who, okay aside from the fact he could apparently change body parts at will, was just normal: A guy bumming around his home eating what he wanted, wearing what he wanted, watching what he wanted and everyone else could just deal with it.

    "Sure." A casual shrug followed. "Who knows, depending on how long we're stuck living together maybe next time you an convince me to play along."

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