[Character Information] 1-Sentence Headcanon/Ficlets: Billy / Wiccan

[selfhelp]

Theme Set: Gamma


#1: Ring

"It's not really an engagement ring, more like a promise," Teddy explained a bit sheepishly, but that didn't stop the words "till death do us part" from echoing in Billy's mind as his boyfriend draped the One Ring of Power around his neck.

#2: Hero

There's a certain degree of glamour and excitement attached to the word "hero", and while the prospect of being one had always thrilled him as a child, when the opportunity to make it a reality appeared before him Billy kept thinking oh my god, I am going to be killed by Kang the Conqueror (which, admittedly, would be a pretty cool way to die).

#3: Memory

Billy's earliest memory of himself is facing down his mother, clutching a doll - action plushie, he insisted - to his chest, and announcing that he was going to marry Captain America; he'd been age five or six, and at the time he'd been pleased with the fact that she hadn't laughed at him, though in retrospect he's realized that it was probably the first sign of many that he was gay.

#4: Box

Most of Billy's comics are in binders, stacked and sorted neatly on his shelves with double protective plastic covers, and the single exception to this is an old Tales of Asgard issue, his first comic ever and a gift from his father, which is buried in a padded shoebox and a lidded bin beneath his bed, never to be touched (and therefore damaged) by anyone.

#5: Run

After years of being John Kesler's mobile punching bag, you'd think that Billy would be better at running away, but while he has no qualms with avoiding conflict, the idea of turning tail and fleeing an enemy (even an undefeatable one) has never agreed with him.

#6: Hurricane

The first time Billy had tried to summon lightning after the incident with Kesler and accomplished more than a tiny fizzle of energy, he accidentally created a storm in Central Park so intense it was reported on the evening news as a self-contained freak hurricane, and the whole experience would have been mortifying had it not been the first time he'd been eclipsed protectively in the arms of Teddy in Hulkling form, and to this day he swears he'd seen a blush on those shifted green cheeks.

#7: Wings

Teddy had been such a tremendous help to Billy, as he slowly gained more and more control over his powers, that the moment Teddy approached him with the idea of shifting himself a pair of wings he jumped at the opportunity to repay the favour; he never said it, but selfishly he was happy to have someone special with which to share his sky.

#8: Cold

His mother instilled a fear of the cold in him at an early age, always bundling him up in layers and fussing excessively when he got sick, making him overly cautious and keen to avoid that sort of attention, and the habit of wearing clothes on top of clothes had been something of an inconvenience until he befriended a shapeshifter with a penchance for ripping his shirts, and suddenly one bad habit balanced out another.

#9: Red

There was something bold, daring, loud about the colour of his cape that appealed oddly to Billy, surprising even him - he was so used to wanting to be invisible that the desire to be seen and acknowledged is addictive and exhilarating.

#10: Drink

Billy has loved coffee since he was small; he can't remember exactly when it started, but he used to steal a tiny gulp or two from his father's mug in the morning because the smell intrigued him, and the habit became a game between the two of them of sneaking a sip when his mother wasn't looking.

#11: Midnight

He'd never been much of a cuddler with his parents - Teddy had inspired this new love of physical contact more than they - but on the first day of his return home after the war ended, he'd woken the household in the middle of the night screaming and it was his mother, not Teddy, who'd been at his side to hold him as he wept over what he'd seen.

#12: Temptation

Billy didn't cope well with temptation - he'd always been impulsive, a little reckless, eccentric to an alarming degree sometimes - so it hadn't taken him very long to give in, to take a risk, and to kiss Teddy senseless one day when they'd found themselves alone after practice, with no regrets.

#13: View

The view of New York City isn't all that spectacular, really - it's grey and brown and loud and flashy and you never quite reach open air with all the skyscrapers looming above - but sometimes, balanced on arcs of crackling electricity or waves of blue fire above Central Park, Billy feels like he's on top of the world.

#14: Music

He'd been 9 years old the first time he watched The Sound of Music, trapped and bored at his ailing and mostly deaf grandmother's house while his mother screamed her way through her second childbirth; it had been love at first sight, and by the time his father called to say that he had a little brother he'd already watched it twice, and was cranky about the phone call interrupting round 3 (admittedly at the time he hadn't wanted a little brother anyway).

#15: Silk

For a long time he'd had pretty nice hair, the result of years of discovering proper maintenance after a childhood of hating how fluffy and untamed it was when left to its own devices, but it wasn't until he ran his fingers indulgently through Teddy's that he discovered that perfect natural hair did exist and how unfair is that?

#16: Cover

It has occurred to Billy on numerous occasions that he really ought to get better at dodging attacks, mostly because more often than not any attacks that could take him down on the spot never have a chance to hit thanks to his shape shifting, super-strong boyfriend, and it would be selfish not to learn just because he loves being protected like that.

#17: Promise

Sometimes he wondered why Teddy never seemed to want him to promise to try and stay out of trouble, but almost immediately it would occur to him that Teddy wouldn't want to put him in the position of making a promise they both knew he wouldn't keep.

#18: Dream

The first time he dreamed about being the son of the Scarlet Witch, it was a nice dream, and he'd been happy, because Mephisto had played no part in the illusion- only Tommy, and their mother, and his bliss hadn't been shattered until breakfast when the mother who'd raised him from birth kissed his forehead affectionately and asked what he was smiling about.

#19: Candle

The night after Mrs. Altman's memorial ceremony at the mansion Billy had wandered into Teddy's room with the intention of helping him pack and found him brooding quietly over a vanilla-scented candle, resistant to questions but not, thankfully, a kiss and a comforting embrace.

#20: Talent

His claim to fame before the heroic business started was his sharp wit and biting sarcasm, which is why he thought Teddy's theory that self help books and positive thinking was the key to unlocking his power was ridiculous to the point where, when it actually worked, he was especially embarrassed to admit that he couldn't come up with a decent sarcastic remark about it to save his life.

#21: Silence

It's a strange, inexplicable existence to be an introvert who couldn't keep his mouth shut, but Billy blames the combination on the fact that he takes an almost sadistic amount of delight in keeping his therapist mother confused and ever on her toes about his behaviour and personality.

#22: Journey

Since revealing the full spectrum of his powers to his family (to the extent that he's actually aware of, that is) Billy has found that he gets about four times as many phone calls or texts from his mother asking where he is; he understands the concern of a mother who has just discovered that her son is a mutant teleporter, but that doesn't stop him from occasionally telling her that he's currently in France for lunch.

#23: Fire

When he first discovered his magic it was lightning in his hands, powerful, energizing, dangerous; as his control developed and the nature of his role on the team changed, it was transformed gradually into a gentle but no less terrifying fire, fueled by the growing flame of his own identity and confidence yet still very capable of burning him if he wasn't careful.

#24: Strength

He'd never been very strong, physically, at least not compared to the jocks who'd pushed him around since childhood, so he'd always thought he would resent anyone with the kind of power Teddy was packing, but instead he finds himself occasionally wishing he could tell people that his boyfriend can bench-press a car on his worst day.

#25: Mask

During the costume development process of the Young Avengers assembly, Eli had criticized his lack of disguise since he was the only one on the team not hidden behind a mask, or a helmet, or someone else's face, but Billy remained steadfast in the belief that his true self was, much like Clark Kent, a persona made of 100% uncool and therefore the most effective disguise of all.

#26: Ice

He's a horrible skater - a few too many mortifying run-ins with hockey jocks and the risk of sliding over the ice on his ass - but Billy has a weakness for the partnered routines, a chilling and romantic style of dance that is both elegant and dangerous and reminds him of flying.

#27: Fall

The first time Billy tried to fly, he spent about thirty blissful seconds in the air before he lost control and fell, and he thought he was going to die until Teddy caught him; looking up into those brilliant, worried blue eyes, Billy realized with a flare of excitement and panic that he was still falling, but it was in love instead of in the sky and it would be nice if Teddy could catch him there, too.

#28: Forgotten

Sometimes he wishes he could remember his brief life as William Maximoff, if only to have proof beyonda doubt that he is Wanda's son, but then he remembers where the souls came from and where they'd gone, and it occurs to him that maybe he's better off without those memories.

#29: Dance

There are times that Billy wonders if one of Teddy's superpowers is copying movements and behaviours, such as when Billy drags him, laughing, into a dance position with the intention of teaching him how, and after ten minutes of fumbling and foot-stomping they're dancing together as if they'd done it all their lives, and it would be terribly unfair if it wasn't so damn romantic.

#30: Body

Billy would never think to boast about his body - he wasn't particularly tall or muscular, and when Teddy complimented his looks he was more likely to scoff than agree - but even he knew that his legs were inarguably his best feature, and that sometimes even introverted little nerds like to show off a bit.

#31: Sacred

He once told Teddy, in between bites of meat-lovers pizza (with extra bacon), that them dating has made him a bad Jew, but Teddy just laughed and pointed out how many sinfully un-Kosher hotdogs he'd eaten after the first Young Avengers team practice, and instead of arguing further Billy had just given him a big, bacon-flavoured kiss to shut him up.

#32: Farewells

When Iron Lad had first said he would leave their time period in order to prevent more damage being done to it, and had mentioned that it would probably make them forget they'd ever met, Billy had felt a sudden, painful fear of losing everything - the team, his friends, but most of all, Teddy - because he knew that this was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

#33: World

There are bad days - days where he wakes up trembling after a nightmare, or he's shoved into a locker with "mutant" scrawled hatefully over the door, or he's thrown into a wall mid-battle so hard he can't breathe for ten seconds straight - where he feels like leaving, running away and vanishing to the ends of the Earth like his mother, but then he wakes up to Teddy's arms around him, or he faces down a bully and they back off because surprise attacks are the only safe way to beat on a living taser, or he saves a life with his magic, and he remembers why he stays.

#34: Formal

He never really had a reason or desire to attend school dances - just another way to be mocked for his sexuality or reminded of how pathetic his reputation is - until Teddy transferred to his school, and suddenly not only did he want to go, but he actually had fun, if only because a dress-up dance party was right up his alley, a collective of giggling, cooing single ladies were fabulous and amusing company, and Teddy looked very good in a suit.

#35: Fever

After their imprisonment at the Cube, the lack of anesthesia or care in the warden's experimentation caused Billy's ears to become infected, and he liked to blame the hallucinating nightmares that plagued him nightly on that, rather than the traumas he'd witnessed, but try as he might Teddy was never fooled.

#36: Laugh

He never used to laugh much - being such a sarcastic person meant that his humour was mostly inward and somewhat caustic as a result - but there were rare times when Teddy could get him laughing so hard it became difficult to breathe, and his mother had to keep checking on them to make sure he hadn't died or something.

#37: Lies

In general he tries not to lie to Teddy - he loves and respects his boyfriend too much for it - and while he more often than not has to tell himself that omitting the truth can be just as bad, if not worse, than an outright fabrication, it doesn't really stop him from doing it anyway.

#38: Forever

"Till death do us part" is such a terrifying phrase, particularly after Cassie; Billy knows this, dreads it, because as powerful as he is, as strong as Teddy is, the threat of death in their profession hangs over them like a funeral shroud, and there are nights where he holds Teddy just a little too tightly and pretends that it will never happen to them.

#39: Overwhelmed

There are days when Billy can't seem to get past the fact that he, Billy Kaplan - a sarcastic, small, inconsequential, nerdy gay Jew from NYC - is a super hero, has a super boyfriend, and has helped save the world a few times before even graduating high school, and on those days all he can think is "wow, wow, how did my life become so cool?"

#40: Whisper

He's never been particularly soft-spoken, for all the time he's spent dodging attention and trying to be as invisible as possible; Billy Kaplan is above all else a boy fixated on accidental foot-in-mouth syndrome.

#41: Wait

Patience is not his strong suit, and sometimes Teddy's seemingly endless calm drives him crazy; sometimes he suspects that is at least half the reason why he's always getting himself into trouble.

#42: Talk

Most people have difficulty shutting Billy up - either his mouth works a mile a minute or his comments become sniper ninjas in the middle of a conversation - but for some reason Teddy never has trouble with it, even though more often than not he's content to just listen; Billy doesn't understand why, but Teddy seems to actually like what he has to say.

#43: Search

After his search for the Scarlet Witch with Tommy ended, his nightmares seemed to improve, despite the lack of success overall, which is good because otherwise he might've had more reason to regret not going to San Francisco with Teddy instead.

#44: Hope

"Hope is what keeps you alive" is a saying Billy's heard, but he doesn't really believe in it the way an idealistic super-youth probably ought to- hope didn't help him or Teddy in the Cube, didn't bring back his magic or break their bindings or keep that horrible man from killing them, Xavin did, which has led him to believe that maybe hope is just a placebo for when you're so helpless you can't do anything else until someone saves you.

#45: Eclipse

He used to feel fear when a shadow loomed over him, blocking out both light and an escape route, because it meant violence and pain would soon follow, but lately it's been a cause of very different feelings: safety, security, affection, love, and the promise that he could work under the shadow of someone whose only priority is his protection.

#46: Gravity

After the team practice where he'd first learned to fly, Teddy had caught Billy singing "Defying Gravity" on the way home, which (after the initial fumbling embarrassment) had led to a conversation about musicals, wicked witches, an attempt at a duet (Teddy had woefully absconded)
and an invitation to Billy's house to watch one of his favourite movies.

#47: Highway

Once they'd escaped capture from the SRA the night the registration act went live, and the team had settled in Nick Fury's secret base, Billy had slumped wearily against his boyfriend's armored shoulder and marveled over the fact that he'd actually managed to pull it off - it had been his biggest teleportation yet, and against all odds he'd actually managed to get them to a place he'd never even heard of before.

#48: Unknown

He doesn't remember much about the time between electrocuting Kesler and meeting Iron Lad outside the manor (it had been something of a blur) but he recalls, with painful clarity, the question running through his head the most was "What's going to happen to me now?" followed swiftly by the realization that as a scrawny, nerdy, gay mutant, he was now the very definition of a modern age hate crime and he is dead, dead.

#49: Lock

Being a super hero, even part of a team, does not automatically make your entire life wonderful, a fact that became all too apparent the Monday following the incident with Kesler when he reached his locker and found "MUTANT FREAK" scrawled messily on his locker with permanent ink, and no amount of magic could make his classmates stop staring at him.

#50: Breathe

People often gush about the importance and romanticism of a first kiss, but now that he's gone further, Billy doesn't really get it; his first kiss was clumsy, awkward, fearful, even, and it's the second kiss he shared with Teddy that he remembers more fondly - the passion (that his affection was true), the relief (that he wasn't rejected), the urgency (he wanted to hold on and keep going till he ran out of air), and most of all, the promise of more, which meant it could only get better from then on.




Theme Set: Alpha

#6: Rain

Teddy had walked home with him the night of his "hurricane", the pair of them tucked pointlessly and awkwardly beneath a pile of newspaper sheets while Billy cursed his own incompetence in such an impressively creative manner that it got Teddy to laugh, and the sound of it was so nice that it made Billy think that maybe the whole situation wasn't that bad, after all.
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