1963-07-08 - Young and the Wooshless
Summary: A group of four young would-be heroes gather to socialize and discuss the possibility of being heroes
Related: None
Theme Song: None
billy teddy david karolina 


So by the time Teddy and Billy get to Karolina's house; a fancy apartment on the upper West Side with a doorman called Howie and all, the young blond has changed into a pair of pedal pushers and a white and lime green top, there's the lingering smell of Italian in the air, and a record player that's currently playing the Supremes. It's a trendy place, the furniture still painfully new and it's fashionable accoutrements not having that 'lived in' kind of a feel. But the barefoot blond bounds over to open the door and give them a broad gesture of welcome inside.

*

Teddy walks along with Billy, his hands in his pockets, and seems just a little tense about it. Why? Well he wants to do something real bad and he's not doing it, thus, hands in his pockets. He's wearing a simple yellow t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and he's ignoring any odd looks given him with all his many earrings, as usual. He asides to Billy as he walks, quietly of course, "So yeah, I met these two and they're great. They're like us. And one's in trouble, and needs help. And then they might want to join up and …" There's a friendly nod fro Howie, he gives over his name, and soon enough they're up at the apartment and Teddy's knocking.

*

Billy is wearing a blue t-shirt and shorts over converse allstars as he walks along beside Teddy with his hands similarly in his pockets with that same tense look about him as they enter the well to do building with a doorman. He offers Howie a little smile and glances up at the taller, bigger Teddy a little nervously because Billy is not very good at meeting people in his experience. "I trust your judgement." He says quietly in the elevator on the way up to their new friend's floor.

*

Indeed. Someone was /cooking/ in here. Not only cooking, but turning the place into a restaurant. David looks to be the guilty party in this when the guys do wind up arriving. The mess in the kitchen has at least been organized for later cleaning. The knock on the door is what draws his attention away from Karolina as they sit and talk on the couch while listening to records. Standing up, he looks over to the girl he's been spending this expanse of time with and raises his brows. "Want me to get that or…?" The question is only partially asked, though he's already making his way towards the door to peek through the peephole. "It's Teddy," he tells her before reaching out to unlock the door and allow the both of them entrance. "Hey! We were just…have you head of this band from London called the Beatles? You should come inside."

*

Karolina can't help but laugh,"See? I knew you'd like them." the blond girl calls out from the sofa, letting her guest answer the door though she gets up to turn the record player down some,"Come in guys, would you like something to drink?" she adds as she heads towards the kitchenette.

*

"Sure, whatever you're having." answers Teddy with a smile to Karolina as he comes in, and he gestures around, "Billy, that's Karolina and that's David, guys, this is Billy." Taking one hand out of his pocket he claps Billy on the back in a friendly manner, and doesn't at all just sorta let it linger there and rub a bit. Okay, so he totally does. But then he's putting his hand back in his pocket. He looks to David then and shakes his head, "No, I mean I think I've heard of them but don't have any of their records." He sniffs the air, "… is someone cooking?" Because food. Mm.

*

Billy looks a little sheepihs between the hosts, but that hand on his back seems to comfort him a little. "Hey guys." Raising a hand out of his pocket to offer a wave, "Uhh.. yeah, um.. whatever. I mean, sure I'll take a drink. What are we drinking?" He turns a little towards Teddy and takes a step towards him, proximity gives comfort. Billy is shy around new people.

*

David looks back towards Karolina and smiles as she too invited everyone along inside. Particularly, he looks to Billy and extends a hand out to the other young man. "Hey. I'm David. It's a pleasure to meet you." As he shakes his hand, he is also pushing his glasses up a bit further on his nose. If he shakes hands, that is. "Well, there's apple and orange juice, I think. Nothing alchoholic unless Karolina's been hiding it." A teasing look is shot back over to the blond girl. Teddy gets a smile beamed at him as well. "Hey! Good seeing you again."

*

"Well I have apple juice, orange juice, or milk?" of course there's alcohol in Karolina's place, but that's not where her mind goes, the sunny blond electing to poke her head out from the kitchenette to offer Billy a bright, reassuring smile,"Hi.. and oh wait.. alcohol? Well we can totally do that I suppose. Mom always has some around." she disappears back into the kitchenette,"Make yourselves at home guys, really! It's okay!"

*

"So, Billy. David's a mutant like us, but Karolina? It's so awesome. She's an alien! Aliens exist and are here." Teddy the sci-fi nerd seems to find this to be the coolest thing since sliced bread. Even if maybe he just broke Mutant Club Rule 1. And with Billy stepping over, Teddy hesitates half a heartbeat, glances at the pair, and lifts an arm and drapes it over Billy's shoulders. Its a companionable sort of gesture, doesn't necessarily mean anything in particular, but Teddy's expression takes on a bit of a challenging expression anyways. Just a bit.

Teddy doesn't immediately go to make himself comfortable, since well, that'd be weird, since he just made a point to put an arm around Billy's shoulders. "I mean juice is fine, I don't need a drink of anything harder. I was just wondering, wasn't sure what kind of get-together this is." He pauses, then grins at David, "Yeah, good to see you again, man."

*

"N-.." Billy goes a little red in the face, "I mean, yeah I'll take a scotch or something?" Whatever, the drinking age is 18, he's allowed. It's his civil rights and all that. Plus, Teddy is right there, this is making it easier to be less uncomfortable. "Nice to meet you both. Teddy speaks very highly of you and he was super excited for us to meet.." Looking around, "Nice place."

*

Teddy is clearly pretty excited over the whole thing and it draws a definite smile from him. The door is closed and locked behind them before conversation even really starts, of course. David looks back to Karolina again and wags his brows a little. "Nah. Your mom might go nuclear if she finds out we drank her booze," he says. "But if you guys want, I mean…we could always make a liquor store run." There's a bit of a sheepish look as he suggests the illegal activity. It's harmless evil, really.

*

"Scotch!" Karolina agree's, grabbing some glasses and digging out the bottle of scotch with a laugh,"Oh, like Howie isn't going to tell her that I had three boys in the apartment while she was gone. Of course, she'd take it as sign that I've changed my mind about liking girls." she gives a flash of a smile,"And he's right, I'm an alien, and he mentioned you too." she perches herself on an ottoman in order to set the glasses down and start pouring, generously, even,"So David was saying something about metamaterials and I'll let him explain that because it involves labs and so on but I was doing some sketches earlier but not knowing what Billy looked like I didn't want to even think about colors or that sort of thing."

*

Deciding he's made his point enough, even if the point didn't at all need to be made, Teddy heads over towards a couch or something, tugging Billy along. "Hey, worst case scenario, Billy and I can woosh to the store and pick up some replacement and bring it back so she doesn't find out. I've got money, I just didn't think of bringing anything. That… was probably stupid of me." He flushes slightly.

And then Teddy looks blank, "What? Metamaterials? Sketches?" He looks between the three of them, all like: what is this what is happening I do not understand. "Sorry I think I blacked out there for a minute and missed half a conversation."

*

"Metamaterials?" Billy echoes Teddy's statement with just as blank an expression, but he's slowly pulling Teddy towards one of the couches. For whatever reason he's loosened up, perhaps it was Karolina saying she likes girls, but he's taken the bigger teens hand in the process. "Explain?"

*

The call for scotch brings a more mischievous look to his features as he looks between Billy and Teddy. "So Karolina's already been working on a motif for costumes. I'm trying to figure out what composites and metamaterials to use, specifically. Also…" There's a look for all of them then as he gestures to Karolina's sketch book on the couch. "We're going to trade some stocks for financing and such. We're…well. We're going to need a lab, right?" A look to Teddy is given then and he smiles again. "Synthetic. I can make our…well. Karolina's trying out some uniform designs with oranges and yellows. We definitely wanted you guys to chime in too. And I figured I could make them a bit more durable and maybe even have multiband, encrypted radio communication. It's going to take a bit, but…Teddy, you know radios, right?"

Finally, David looks to Billy. "I'm a psychomimetic," he explains, having shortened the description of his powers since last he spoke with Teddy. Speaking of Teddy, David looks to him briefly again. "We were thinking gear. And cheating the New York Stock Exchange. Only a little, though." Pause. He looks to Billy then and explains more fully to him. "Basically? Assemblies of key elements from composite materials and created synthetically into…well. A stronger fabric, mainly. Something that can absorb a little more kinetic and ballistic force, but I'm a ways from making anything truly bulletproof."

*

Karolina elects to pass out scotch as David word-vomits, because she at least has about half of it fly over her shiny little head. Teddy and Billy first, then one for David before she sits back with her own and lofts her palm in David's direction like 'yeh, that',"If you guys are hungry.. well, David cooks, but I was going to just order in some Chinese? Whatever works for you." she does offer over her sketchbook for the pair, adding apologetically for Billy,"I didn't know what you looked like so I haven't drawn one for you yet. But now I'll be able to."

*

"Oh. Well, don't worry about costumes for me. I'm naked." Teddy grins suddenly. "My clothes are really my skin, they just look like clothes. So in reality, all the time now— I only learned to do this a week ago— I'm walking around naked. Its… pretty hilarious. I couldn't stop giggling the first day. Anyways, so whatever you design, don't bother making anything for me, I'll just shift it." That said, he nods more seriously at David, "Yeah, I'm good with electrical engineering. Not an expert, no, but I've word that I can get a scholarship to NYU with my grades and recommendations, so I can hold my own." He grins at Karolina and takes the scotch, settling back, and with his free hand, squeezing Billy's own hand now that they've decided not to be awkward. Mostly. He does gesture to Billy, "He does have a costume he likes. Its pretty great. We don't maybe have to match. I mean the Hulkling doesn't do clothes exactly. Just shorts to cover my netherbits."

*

Billy is trying not to be awkward anyways, it's rare and it's cool, and he's got scotch. Also Teddy. And talk of matching suits. "Wait, we're going with matching drapes?" Billy blinks a few times and leans forward to take a look at the sketches, "I mean, I kind of have a style I'm going with that… I guess I can do matching stuff.." But Teddy just said he's always naked. You want awkward?! Billy's eyes go wide, they go wide and Billy drinks a lot of scotch very suddenly. Billy coughs becaust scotch is not a drink fast kind of beverage. Billy is not here right now.

Billy is back.

"Yeah, he's nude. That was just said." He needs to think on that for one more second.

"Alright, I'm good now. What's for dinner?"

*

David is entirely oblivious to Karolina practically rolling her eyes at him and going 'anyways…'. Still. Science is fun. The young, dark-skinned man looks then to Teddy to assess him while he speaks. He might have something to say to her derailing his explanation of metamaterials, but then Teddy says he walks around in naked illusion all the time. "You…wow. You can change your form that articulately? That's absolutely…HOW?!?!" No, not: Ew, you walk around naked all day? Not: Last hug for you, buddy boy. Just geeking out apparently. "And! You can help me with the radios. Shouldn't be too difficult."

"Well, we were thinking about it," he answers Billy finally, letting the question to Teddy hang. "But if you have a thing you're going with, we can always copy that motif over to some more protective material. If you want."

*

"I.. what?" Karolina nearly chokes on her scotch and can't help but stare at Teddy,"Well.. then.. that.. solves that problem? I think?" she can't help but shake her head and decides that yes, more scotch is totally needed right now,"And well, yes. I've never tried.. saving people, before but costumes! I mean.. Captain America has one. Right? Besides.. some guys kidnapped David and stuck a thing on him to track him and my mom is already going to go ape if we wind up on television or something but maybe not everyone should know who we are? For safety? I'm totally not going naked though. Not happening."

*

"I'm not quite sure how it works, only that it does. Its my mutation, I shapeshift. Look." Teddy holds his hand up, and there's a blur, and he has a watch around his waist. "Looks like a watch." he twists it about, "Acts like a watch. If you touch it, feels like a watch. And as long as its in contact with me, its a watch." He takes it off, holds it up, and lets go… and immediately it just dissolves into this incredibly fine particulate matter that just disappears, adding to the dust in the room. "It was always only skin. I'm not really naked, my outer layer of skin just shapeshifts into whatever clothing I want. I can be… anything. A fly. A chair. A dog. A purse." He shrugs, "Anything. Its my gift."

Teddy does look to Billy, nodding, "Wiccan should be who Wiccan is." he says firmly, "But if Wiccan can be what you want to look like, but be in something armored, would that be good, Billy? In case someone gets by me and throws a punch at you." He grins at Karolina, "I don't mean we shouldn't have uniforms. Just maybe not ones that all match. Wiccan has his disguise. I have mine: its a giant green guy. Believe me, I don't want anyone finding out I'm Hulkling."

*

"I'm not against a team design or anything." Billy points out with a smaller sip of scotch than previous chocking attempts, "I mean my costume is pretty simple anyways.. I can wear my cloak with whatever." Grinning a little up at Teddy, "I wouldn't say I wear a disguise, though… and I make shields. When I'm not being a goober and dropping them for no good reason when people are punching at me." Gaze shift to Karolina and David, "But if you've got a style you want to go with, I'm cool with it, you know? Give us that unified look…"

*

David nods back to Karolina in agreement before turning back to Teddy. "I had no idea how I was going to formulate some…thing that would change along with you. It does solve that problem, definitely." Apparently, the two of them have been busy since they last saw Teddy. All manner of plans and ideas all formulated with raw energy. He does nod in agreement to her words about the tracking device, though. "I basically…lost months of my life. My mutant power, well. It /was/ the ability to know how to do everything people around me know how to do. While I was around them. Now I just…keep all of the knowledge." Pressing his tongue out between his lips to wet them, he once more looks to Teddy and Billy. "Then…I can't remember. It was a few months later and I found this…electronic device planted on me." There's a shake of his head then and he once more looks to Billy. "Oh, absolutely. I mean - we don't /all/ have to match. We can all do different stuff if you guys want. I just figured you'd dig the orange, Teddy," this last bit said to The Hulkling, of course. Again, he does look fascinated at his shapeshifting ability. "Cloak? Cloaks are cool." With that, he beams a smile at Billy.

*

"Which is amazing, but kinda gross, not going to lie." Karolina declares,"I would love to see your costume, Billy, it would be a place to start? I normally draw dresses, so." she sets aside her scotch and says,"But well, yes. Here." and unsnibs the bracelet from about her wrist. Because she does actually like show and tell when she's getting to pick the audience. After all the radiant golden glow of her is multihued like a shimmering rainbow,"David suggested I should be called Tinkerbell. After the fairy in Peter Pan.. but I'm not a fairy, not really." she offers with a literally dazzling smile as she reclaims her drink.

*

Teddy finally realizes, hey! He has a glass of scotch. So he lifts it up and gulps half of it down, and doesn't have the decency to choke, either. He just sorta blinks a moment. He grins back at Billy, "Yeah you make shields but just in case if for some reason you're being a goober— not that you're ever a goober oh my god you're way too awesome for that" Goofy grin on Teddy, check, " but just in case, some extra armoring is a good idea. Someone might surprise you."

Then Teddy grins at David, "Yeah I'd really love to see how you manage to formulate armor for a housefly. It would be very impressive. If its yellow and black I would call myself Bumblebee, the fly trying to look awesomer. But… I do like orange."

More seriously, he nods to David again, "And its not at all cool that someone was putting some tracker on a mutant. That bodes ill for secret supervillain or secret government secretness. Neither are okay." Then Karolina is taking off her bracelet and becoming the shiny girl, and Teddy grins a bit stupidly and gestures, looking at Billy, "Alien. Awesome right? Tinerbell works. What's a fairy anyways? Maybe they're all aliens."

*

It's not that he hadn't heard that whole thing about David being tagged with a tracking device, but even for a guy who can change reality to suit his desires, that's a hard pill for Billy to swallow. For instance, what the hell ''is'' a tracking device? How would that even work? It would have to be the size of a basketball court, right? So while he's thinking about these intricancies of inappropriately sized technology, the thought of Teddy always being naked, and the fact that he's getting a little drunk from gulping scotch, Billy focuses on what he does know…

Clothes.

Karolina wants to see his costume? That he can do. That is easy. That is not a Chevy bubble truck being stuck on someone's back to keep tabs on them like one of those rockets they sho fired into space only a few years ago. So with an upturned hand and a flash of blue energy he's wearing his costume. Because magic is fun and easier than phonebooths.

*

Capturing a drink for himself, David takes a confident sip of scotch as well with only the mildest of winces. He'd never really bothered with alchohol before, but he expects the burn because those around him have felt it. "I dunno. You're a /little/ fae-like." This is spoken with a slightly more bashful tone and immediately averts his gaze from the girl. "I mean, you glow and fly." Ahem. Yes.

Once more, his attention is on Teddy with a renewed smile and welcome distraction from his awkward plight. "Yeah, so would I," he says. "Considering it's impossible by any means I know. Then again, I definitely need to adjust my definition of 'possibility'. I mean…" There's a gesture to the four of them. "So there's that. I just need to hit the books harder. Or maybe rub elbows with more scientists."

With a smile to Billy then, he considers the guy for a second or two before speaking. And then he's glowing blue energy and…a costume? David blinks a few times at him and then sucks in a deep breath. "How in the world?"

*

"Billy can woosh." explains Teddy in a totally serious, clear tone, as if it totally explained everything. And he nods in a satisfied, proud way.

*

"Oh.. wow." Karolina can't help but say for Billy's shift and the crackle of blue energy, only to turn her eyes in David's direction,"Woosh, huh?" she asks with delight,"That's neat. I wish I could do that. Without my bracelet it's like.. this.. all the time." the radiant creature utters as she sips her scotch.

*

Billy takes the out of place with ease and poise, sitting in someone's living room drinking scotch with his boyfriend and superhero friends talking about crazy technology with Tinkerbell. He's cool guy. Shifting a little in his seat to adjust the costume because it was most certainly not designed to be super comfortable, "Thanks. It doesn't cover my face, though. Maybe I could wear a mask or some junk."

*

It would all sound ridiculous from an outsider's perspective. David blinks his eyes a few times again at Billy before shifting his eyes to Teddy. "No kidding, whoosh," he says. "That…I really need to redefine 'possible'." With no real flashy powers of his own, David has no poise with these things. He's intensely curious with how his new-gotten friends do what they do. Glancing Karolina's way once more then, he nods to her again. "I really wish I understood how that bracelet works."

*

"Woosh." agrees Teddy, nodding seriously, "I don't at all understand what Billy can do, only its amazing." He tightens his arm around the guy, even if he's sorta slipping awa into dozing. "The real question is, how do we leverage our separte awesome."

*

"Well, David can.. you know.. work the stock market.. to help get some money together.. so we can have a place to meet, and practice, yes? I can fly, so I can take David when there's something we need to do.. and you guys have your thing." Karolina suggests,"I mean, I can't make shields or anything like that and I have no idea how to help, but I can at least.. um.. carry?"

*

"See, that's where I'm drawing a bit of a blank," David says with a slight frown. "I mean, I know some small-unit…police-type tactics? Nothing that even touches what you guys can do." There's a shake of his head slightly and some more consideration there. "What I need to do is spend some time around someone who knows…super tactics…or whatever we're going to call that." A slight look of distaste crosses his features at the term he coined himself. "Any suggestions?" Chocolate brown eyes shift from Karolina to Teddy and back. "The other option is that we all kind of practice and see how all of these different talents congeal."

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