[ Oh, he thinks at the text, but isn't surprised. They'd known if this was some trick of the Fae or whatever it wouldn't be long. He'd gotten used to disappearances, too. But this isn't quite the same, is it? ]
Thank you. Technically not. And technically yes. You are you and he is him and some complicated mix, right?
[ It's not avoidance so much as guilt that doesn't have him reach out again. So much guilt - but then, he's always full of that, isn't he? He keeps busy at the shop because now he has a deal with that he didn't quite agree with but doesn't hate anyway to keep. ]
[ But he sees them, eventually, and it's not immediate he tries to make a connection. He knows there's one last thing he needs to do - should do - but it still feels weird. It's not like their specific relationship is suddenly better - it's probably worse - and really, would this Loki want to see it?]
[ The 'Do you have a moment?' text is typed and written and stared at for longer than he'd like to admit and.... Almost as if Loki reads his mind the text comes in. He huffs a laugh to himself, backspaces out of written text: ]
Three wonderfully calm, flamethrower and antics-free days for Billy, very probably. His life is much improved without Cliff throwing it into constant chaos. However, he really shouldn't be surprised if one evening, he returns to his rooms above the shop to find a boy once again sitting cross-legged on the floor. Given that there are chairs, this seems to be a purposeful decision for some reason.
If he keeps his windows locked, then there is a faint clattering sound on the roof followed by a rapping on the window.]
...Hey.
[a slight pause]
If I turn you on too much, tell me, and I can put a bag over my head.
[ Honestly, he lowkey probably expects it, which is exactly why the windows are unlocked. In the interim between the party, though, he's had his own self-finding adventures (literally, going on a mentalscape to find his memories with Strange). ]
Hey.
[ Billy colors just a tinge in embarrassment but snorts. He'll take a seat. ]
Don't worry, you won't. As in, I'm not really in love with you.
[ she doesn't wait that long to go looking for him again. the more time she holds onto the memory, the more chances there are of losing any details. it's preserved well, given her practice with sharing telepathic images, but she wouldn't be able to bear the weight of her shame if she screwed this up.
once she is sure that he is back to himself (or, rather, the version that she knows), agatha treads now familiar ground to practical magick. the name makes her snort derisively. but, as usual, most of it is for show. there's part of her that quite likes the 'tongue and cheek' of it.
agatha slips into the shop, hands in her pockets, squinting at the inventory as if she wasn't just here. perhaps it's nerves, prickling at the thought of what she must do and the emotional swell that would inevitably follow. ]
Knock, knock. I need an outfit whipped up immediately. For a hot date. Tonight. You can work with that kind of timeframe, right? [ she pauses to grimace at her own joke. because there's only one person he'd assume the date would be with. ]
[ There's very few things that their shared magick - or whatever fae traits - hid from him about Phoenix's time here. The stuff with Agatha was one of them, so naturally, Billy doesn't anticipate his arrival. ]
[ He's a little anxious at having his own shop - something that feels wildly beyond the possibility of a sixteen-year-old even if the logic behind it felt sound. After all, if money wasn't real, if places can be bought on skill and talent alone, wasn't it a good way to get to do more of something he liked doing? ]
[ Thus, the teenager is mid-fixing a self to the wall when she storms in (with magic, even, be proud of him! He doesn't even lose focus when she comes in). His attention takes a moment to turn to her and when he does it's with a raised brow: ]
You sure you want me to put you in something after everything? [ The quip is out of his mouth before he can stop himself and then an added: ] Please tell me you two aren't a thing again.
[ Thankfully, this is made less spooky when there's fewer Adopted out where the shoppe is - this is partly intentional - and he can't hear the Fae anymore. So he's aware Cliff is there before he speaks or the eyes. ]
[ He looks concerned all the same from his desk, brow furrowing. ]
[ Either left outside the door or handed over in person is a handmade mug. Steve has themed each mug around the person as much as his developing pottery skills have let him. ]
Happy Hanukkah, Billy. Thanks for the party. I had a really good time.
Left in his shop on Christmas day, the package resembles a hat box. Pinstriped and a deep, emerald green.
Once opened, within lays a black tiara, glittering with limitless small stones.
When worn, Billy's vision changes dramatically. Most of the Faerie world fades into a softened, near-monochrome darkness, whereas all items that have belonged to, or interacted much with the Adopted, hold a nuanced and colored light, like auras, that will remind Billy, obscurely, of the owner. Recent contact between the Adopted are also hinted at, [OOC: pending player consent] in the admixture of color and tint, in the places or near the objects where the residents of Faerie spoke, sparred, or otherwise entangled.
Occasionally, the flickers of light might even suggest who they speaking about.
The card simply reads: "Some things are clearer in the dark." It is signed 'Claudia.'
xmas drabble 2025; (Three Times Clifford Was Right And Billy Shouldn't Trust Her [Already])
1. Total coincidence: at a café, Billy’s glass breaks. Cuts his hand. He heals it fast. Magic. But the sudden scent of blood, sweet and alive, forces her eyes away, narrowed.
2. Somewhat accidental: she loses the enchanted cloak. On Boxing Day. Has to have a replacement. Pastel, perhaps? A week later, she has two beautiful garments. Funny.
3. Entirely intentional: she's slow for her kind, but swift everywhere else. Billy's about to meet that Coriolanus again. Her fingers snakes out and back. Turning up his shirt tag, that someone watchful, particular, and concerned with appearances might tuck it in.
Merry Christmas and/or Merry 5 Days After Hanaka (sp?)
I just got you a present so I'm outta ideas cause I'm kind of bad at this but it's the thought that counts.
[Inside a box is a piece of note paper resting on top of a bunch of torn up stuffing paper that says "One (1) Free Punch in the Arm Whenever You Try to Say You're a Bad Person JK but no really." Inside all the torn up stuffing paper is a blue-gray scarf approximately the same color as Billy's eyes and some cookies and candies.]
[ on the morning of december 30th, billy will find a box wrapped in dark blue paper sitting outside the shop.
inside, there is a small leather pouch containing four stones. each one has been carved with protection runes that vary slightly to coordinate with the four elements. the stones can be buried or placed to create a protected square within them. these specific runes protect anyone inside the space from having their mind read. magick used with the intent to harm also doesn't work within the space. the larger the area, the less effective the runes will be (too big of an area won't be protected at all).
there is also a leather journal stamped with a pentagram. a slip of paper has been tucked in its pages. the crooked handwriting reads: It's tradition that every witch receives a blank grimoire to fill throughout their lifetime once they've been initiated. We never did have a proper ceremony but you're well past that point.
and, finally, a crocheted scarf (but the purple details are blue instead, of course). she's a little rusty. ]
[He can sort of feel the distance the night Lucy Gray shows up, and maybe he tried to keep it, because his head is in a mess, and he knows that Billy could feel that. It's not that he wants anything different, but he does need to take some time to sort the fact that there is still something that will likely always draw him to her, but he knows there's parts of him, very large parts, that want Billy.
He doesn't sleep that much that night, weighing things and going over some 'what if's in his mind. There are parts of himself that only Billy has seen, and he does know he would do better off with Billy. They've been intimate now. Billy asked for something real. He can't just let all of that fall a part, because a girl from home showed up, right? A girl he was never truly with, but pushed together through trauma. He's not quite emotionally aware of that, but there's still a prickling of when he thinks that she could be someone else's here. The same reaction when he thinks of Billy Taupe.
But Lucy Gray should be her own person. Is that growth? To think of her as a person now and not just his? She's not just District here. There's that change, but maybe being in Faerie is starting to have some of this thoughts shift, being away from Panem for so long.
It's early when he does finally roll over, getting no more than a few hours, but he's sure that Billy is likely up-- getting coffee or something. He just knows he should probably have some buffer before just appearing in the kitchen.]
[ The distance isn't really intentional - No, it is. Billy wants to give Coriolanus space as much as he is sure, somehow, having pressed the situation all made this happen. Not that it's a bad thing, more than anything he wants the other boy to have people he cares about here. And it had taken no time at all to figure out who the girl was, though the name had never been given - thought, maybe, but never that. ]
[ He tells himself that if Coriolanus, still more newly arrived, felt those feelings were the ones he wanted to follow he would be okay with it. Mostly, he it - It's not like he doesn't understand. It's just easier, after that night, to not go to his room. To give him that space and leave food out if wanted it and keep busy. ]
[ He doesn't sleep well either, but there's no surprises there. He hadn't slept well in months and he's not ready to admit the quiet solace that came in checking on him had help. It's unsurprising he gets the text, it's less unsurprising he's actually in the kitchen. He's been practicing cooking more and pancakes are something easy enough to make in Faerie. Easy and not terrible left out. ]
[ He stares at the text for a solid few seconds, trying quietly to decide in what way it might go. It's easy to hear things, but he tries not to. The response is as unsurprising as the rest: ]
Yeah, of course. I'm in the kitchen with Greg. Do you want me to come to you?
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text | un: loki
Re: text | un: loki
I'd like that.
Castle kitchens again or somewhere else?
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cw: child death
Re: cw: child death
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cw: more child death from this point on also metaphorical suicide
Re: cw: more child death from this point on also metaphorical suicide
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ok i'm back | text | un: loki
i mean technically.
technically not, also.
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Thank you.
Technically not.
And technically yes.
You are you and he is him and some complicated mix, right?
How are you?
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mostly i'm relieved i haven't done anything too destructive.
although that could be fun in its own way...
you're still your alternate universe self then?
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text | un: loki
now?????
Re: text | un: loki
[ But he sees them, eventually, and it's not immediate he tries to make a connection. He knows there's one last thing he needs to do - should do - but it still feels weird. It's not like their specific relationship is suddenly better - it's probably worse - and really, would this Loki want to see it?]
[ The 'Do you have a moment?' text is typed and written and stared at for longer than he'd like to admit and.... Almost as if Loki reads his mind the text comes in. He huffs a laugh to himself, backspaces out of written text: ]
Yeah.
Present now.
Where do you want to meet?
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Three wonderfully calm, flamethrower and antics-free days for Billy, very probably. His life is much improved without Cliff throwing it into constant chaos. However, he really shouldn't be surprised if one evening, he returns to his rooms above the shop to find a boy once again sitting cross-legged on the floor. Given that there are chairs, this seems to be a purposeful decision for some reason.
If he keeps his windows locked, then there is a faint clattering sound on the roof followed by a rapping on the window.]
...Hey.
[a slight pause]
If I turn you on too much, tell me, and I can put a bag over my head.
[humor defuses all tension right
right??????]
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Hey.
[ Billy colors just a tinge in embarrassment but snorts. He'll take a seat. ]
Don't worry, you won't. As in, I'm not really in love with you.
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once she is sure that he is back to himself (or, rather, the version that she knows), agatha treads now familiar ground to practical magick. the name makes her snort derisively. but, as usual, most of it is for show. there's part of her that quite likes the 'tongue and cheek' of it.
agatha slips into the shop, hands in her pockets, squinting at the inventory as if she wasn't just here. perhaps it's nerves, prickling at the thought of what she must do and the emotional swell that would inevitably follow. ]
Knock, knock. I need an outfit whipped up immediately. For a hot date. Tonight. You can work with that kind of timeframe, right? [ she pauses to grimace at her own joke. because there's only one person he'd assume the date would be with. ]
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[ He's a little anxious at having his own shop - something that feels wildly beyond the possibility of a sixteen-year-old even if the logic behind it felt sound. After all, if money wasn't real, if places can be bought on skill and talent alone, wasn't it a good way to get to do more of something he liked doing? ]
[ Thus, the teenager is mid-fixing a self to the wall when she storms in (with magic, even, be proud of him! He doesn't even lose focus when she comes in). His attention takes a moment to turn to her and when he does it's with a raised brow: ]
You sure you want me to put you in something after everything? [ The quip is out of his mouth before he can stop himself and then an added: ] Please tell me you two aren't a thing again.
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[Since they're living together now, Billy gets ominous glow-in-the-dark eyes after midnight in his bedroom instead of a text.]
Are you busy?
I need you for something.
[Billy knows it's serious because Cliff is asking politely instead of just forcing him.]
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[ He looks concerned all the same from his desk, brow furrowing. ]
Not enough for you. What's up?
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1/2
2/2
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Heeeeey Billy...!
[The front door of Practical Magick opens and Cliff's voice comes drifting up upstairs.]
I've, uh. Got good news. I made a new friend!
[If it's good news, why does he sound so sheepish?]
He's... coming over. Wanna meet him?
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[Okay, well, he'll curiously come halfway down the steps to raise a brow. ]
Don't tell me you got in a relationship first.
[He's teasing because why is Cliff THAT sheepish?? ]
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Delivery
I recommend making a cloak with it.
Strange.
Christmas Gift
Happy Hanukkah, Billy. Thanks for the party. I had a really good time.
S. Rogers.
xmas gift 2025;
xmas drabble 2025; (Three Times Clifford Was Right And Billy Shouldn't Trust Her [Already])
on christmas
I just got you a present so I'm outta ideas cause I'm kind of bad at this but it's the thought that counts.
[Inside a box is a piece of note paper resting on top of a bunch of torn up stuffing paper that says "One (1) Free Punch in the Arm Whenever You Try to Say You're a Bad Person JK but no really." Inside all the torn up stuffing paper is a blue-gray scarf approximately the same color as Billy's eyes and some cookies and candies.]
december 30th
inside, there is a small leather pouch containing four stones. each one has been carved with protection runes that vary slightly to coordinate with the four elements. the stones can be buried or placed to create a protected square within them. these specific runes protect anyone inside the space from having their mind read. magick used with the intent to harm also doesn't work within the space. the larger the area, the less effective the runes will be (too big of an area won't be protected at all).
there is also a leather journal stamped with a pentagram. a slip of paper has been tucked in its pages. the crooked handwriting reads: It's tradition that every witch receives a blank grimoire to fill throughout their lifetime once they've been initiated. We never did have a proper ceremony but you're well past that point.
and, finally, a crocheted scarf (but the purple details are blue instead, of course). she's a little rusty. ]
text; un: c.s.
He doesn't sleep that much that night, weighing things and going over some 'what if's in his mind. There are parts of himself that only Billy has seen, and he does know he would do better off with Billy. They've been intimate now. Billy asked for something real. He can't just let all of that fall a part, because a girl from home showed up, right? A girl he was never truly with, but pushed together through trauma. He's not quite emotionally aware of that, but there's still a prickling of when he thinks that she could be someone else's here. The same reaction when he thinks of Billy Taupe.
But Lucy Gray should be her own person. Is that growth? To think of her as a person now and not just his? She's not just District here. There's that change, but maybe being in Faerie is starting to have some of this thoughts shift, being away from Panem for so long.
It's early when he does finally roll over, getting no more than a few hours, but he's sure that Billy is likely up-- getting coffee or something. He just knows he should probably have some buffer before just appearing in the kitchen.]
Hey. Can we talk?
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[ He tells himself that if Coriolanus, still more newly arrived, felt those feelings were the ones he wanted to follow he would be okay with it. Mostly, he it - It's not like he doesn't understand. It's just easier, after that night, to not go to his room. To give him that space and leave food out if wanted it and keep busy. ]
[ He doesn't sleep well either, but there's no surprises there. He hadn't slept well in months and he's not ready to admit the quiet solace that came in checking on him had help. It's unsurprising he gets the text, it's less unsurprising he's actually in the kitchen. He's been practicing cooking more and pancakes are something easy enough to make in Faerie. Easy and not terrible left out. ]
[ He stares at the text for a solid few seconds, trying quietly to decide in what way it might go. It's easy to hear things, but he tries not to. The response is as unsurprising as the rest: ]
Yeah, of course. I'm in the kitchen with Greg. Do you want me to come to you?
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soup lmao soup ends up in the drawers i'm crying
drawer soup delicious
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