1964-06-26 - Congratulations! It's A Boy
Summary: Billy takes Vic to meet Strange, who figures out who the kid's parents are.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
strange vic billy 


So. Billy met a guy, and Billy made his shirt and pants vanish— but gave him swimtrunks— as a wormhole malfunction went weird. This led to him hearing a guy's life story, which… was really rather short, all things considered. And weird. Weird enough that he thinks the Sorcerer Supreme, aka Magic-Dad, should hear about it. So said guy and Billy show up at the Sanctum, and Billy knocks, "Now I can't be clearer about this: don't touch *anything* in there unless you're like handed it *by* Stephen. And even then hold it gently, okay? I mean this is super serious. You don't want to get eaten by an eldritch horror, right?" He's not at all kinda joking.


Vic stuffs his hands in his pockets and says, "I hear you loud and clear. Don't touch anything." He looks around the place, eyes wide. Maybe the Sanctum itself isn't familiar, but the feel of it tugs at the back of his mind. Not this, but something like this, he doesn't quite remember. It's just a disquieting feeling, and he admits in a low tone, "This place kind of gives me the creeps, man."


Billy's favorite guardian-wards report the arrival of the young man as well as another at his side. Excellent timing: the Sorcerer Supreme is just pouring himself a cup of rejuvenating tea upstairs. It turns out that returning a missing relic in another dimension is twice the work when everything in that dimension is out for your blood.

Hey, who would have guessed.

He nods to the wards and makes some dismissive waving motion even as he clomps down the steps to the second floor landing. Down the Grand Staircase, not spilling a drop of tea from the cup, and that's how he opens the door:

Wearing the storm-blue battle-leathers and the Eye, diadem of his mantle, and with the crimson flourish of the Cloak at his shoulders…and holding a teacup.

"Ah, Billy. You can come inside. The wards won't bite you," adds the man over his shoulder with a wicked Dad-grin. The silvery spells flit over to and circle about each gentleman in turn, gathering what information they will. "Close the door behind you." Not to the living room right away, it seems. Instead, Strange pauses at the doors and gives the other young man a second look. It lingers, pushing the envelope towards 'rude staring'. What…is it about him? The man's eyes narrow and gain a faint glow of lavender about their centers.


"Stephen, this is Vic, vic, this is Stephen, my Magic-Dad." Billy steps in and he makes a gesture between them, "Vic… has a very strange life story, and I thought you should hear it. Not to mention, I dunno. Maybe you'd be able to have some answers for him. About him. He's…" Billy hesitates, not quite sure how to tell this story, so he nods to Vic encouragingly.


Vic looks at Stephen in turn, but he's cowed pretty easily, and his gaze drops to his feet, which scuff idly. "Hey there," he says. "Uh… Yeah. I'm Vic. Victor. Delano. He glances to Billy, and a shadow of a smile graces his lips. If Billy's there encouraging him, he can do this. "I was kind of born yesterday. The day before, I mean. I woke up in this body, and I think I was created by magical people, but I don't know for sure and I just realized how dumb that sounds."

Deep breath time. "But Billy here says you might be able to help me figure out who they are. I just want to know them, you know? They're the closest thing to parents something like me has got."


"I…see." With a rather frantic and faint waving of his subconscious memories distracting him, Strange can't muster anything more than that initially. He clears his throat and nods. "Come in to the living room and we'll see what I can do for you."

Once inside, he places his own cup on the side table next to his highbacked chair before turning back to the two young men. The crimson Cloak swirls lightly about him for the abrupt, controlled movements of the master of the manor. "Vic, you said. My formal title is 'Sorcerer Supreme', in case Billy didn't mention it. I'm in charge of the metaphysical safety of Earth's reality. I have the ability to help when I can with Mystical issues. You said you were…born yesterday and you think you were created from or by practitioners of the Mystical Arts." The rise of eyebrows conveys his mild disbelief in the matter, but still, he offers out a scarred hand as if to shake. "It's fairly simple. Skin-to-skin contact will tell me if you have any latent Mystical abilities as well as your sympathetic magics, if there are any." Motes of dust dance about his palm as the beam of sunlight cuts across him, accenting cheekbones and gilding his person. "I apologize if it's a jolt. I've been told it's like grabbing hold of an electrical fence sometimes."


"He's in some guy's body, someone who was in a permanent coma? Persistant vegetative state? He has all of the guys memories but they aren't *him*. For one thing the guy was a jerk, and Vic isn't." Billy tries to help explain these things, "I could see some magical residue on him at the beach yesterday, but I couldn't make sense of it. He's got some telekinesis and can affect energy— he boosted my electrokinesis, actually. It was cool." But, he steps back and tucks his hands in his pockets to watch the procedure.


Vic nods his agreement to Billy's words. "Yeah, this body was just a house for a heartbeat and a brain stem. It sucked me in. I didn't try to hurt anyone." He shuffles a little to where he's almost hiding behind Billy, but then that hand is extended, Billy's stepping back. It prompts Vic to step forward and brace himself as best he can as he clasps the Sorcerer Supreme's hand. "I've never grabbed hold of an electri—" He stiffens as there is, indeed, a jolt.

He is shiny and new, a tiny mote gone supernova in miniature all wrapped up in a neat package of living flesh. Perhaps a better alternative than consuming the world or whatever it is beings of pure energy do in their moment of genesis.


And the jolt flies back at the Sorcerer Supreme, grounding itself in his teeth like biting tinfoil with fillings and then resonating throughout him like the thrum of a thousand cellos. Violins dart overtop, something sweet and pizicatto in harp strings and scarlet and WHAT?!

Heyo, subconscious, with its waving flags — it snags his attention and even as his eyelids snap open, it all comes tumbling to the proper level of processing. Literally glowing amaranthine eyes take in what he can see of Vic on the Mystical spectrum and it's dazzling. A star contained in a body, its colors shifting through the spectrums and lingering heavily towards ultraviolet. There, he can see it in the structure of the young man's face, and — and —

Strange disengages abruptly from the shared handshake, feeling as if all of the hairs on his arms and neck are standing on end. The silvery wards swish up behind him, lingering behind his shoulders with weighted focus upon Vic. No threatening…not yet.

"Gods below," he mutters before swallowing. "That explains it." His laugh is a breath, hesitant in nature, and he never looks away from Vic. It's probably like being pinned by a laser sight and wondering who's at the other end of it.


Billy has absolutely no idea what's going on here. But he doesn't seem to mind. He barely understands his own magic, let alone the wizardry that Stephen practices: he just sees the world differently. And he's learning patience. So he rocks on his heels, hands in his pockets, looking on curiously, "Do you know what he is?" he asks finally, a hint of worry, "I know based on what you've told me that you might be opposed to the idea of possession, but Vic here is a good guy— I mean we don't know eachother well but I have good instincts for people— and it really was just an empty body. Can you, uh, help him?"


Vic stares at Strange, like a deer in headlights. Laser sight indeed. His mouth opens to speak, but it takes the words a few beats to catch up to the intention. "I don't know what it explains," he says. Then, on the heels of Billy's words, he reiterates fervently, "The man was dead. The body was deteriorating." Though it's in perfect form now. "I didn't have a choice." He didn't ask to be born, Dad.


Billy gets the first response. "I think…your friend is something that went missing not long ago." The Sorcerer Supreme seems to draw up taller as he then considers Vic. The explanation is for all at this point, quiet as it is. "A Mote of Cognizance left the Sanctum. You…" And he points at the young man directly in front of him, brows furrowed. "You found a housing in this body. I would guess a coma, since I can't find any signs of conflicting psyches. It's not uncommon, but with…"

The finger remains arrowed towards the being. "You said your name was Victor." Then Strange runs said hand down his face, from brow to chin. "It has to be that," he whispers, scrunching his eyes shut as if running through memories at tripled speed behind them.


Billy has no idea what's going on here, still. He just sort of blinks. "A mote of cognizance? Wait, it left *the sanctum*?" He asides to Vic, "_This_ is the Sanctum." he explains, sort of wide-eyed and 'wtf' written all over his face, to speak to Stephen again, "*You* lost this motey thingy? Did you make it?" Pause, "..him?"


Vic looks from Strange to Billy, then back to Strange. He shoves his hands in his pockets again. "Victor Delano," he says. "That's what this guy was called, and now he's me, so…" He looks around the place from where he stands, and he asides to Billy, "That would explain why this place is just familiar enough to make me feel all weird in the back of my head." The itness of himself doesn't seem to bother him, though he does look to Billy when he makes the correction, and he smiles faintly.


Strange looks from Billy to Vic and back again. This is probably the most flustered that the Kaplan has ever seen his Magic-Dad. It might be the most flustered ever — unless he goes about opening doors and Billy's already learned not to traipse about the mansion without one of his Mystical parents around to run interference with the various things that want to taste him or his aura.

Billy gets a nod. The Sorcerer is without words. He does not want to explain anything further regarding the creation of the Mote of Cognizance. Nooooope.


Billy eyes Strange like he's grown a second head, maybe a third eye, or just turned green. Wait, he's gotten oddly attracted to green men: DO NOT THINK ABOUT YOUR DAD BEING GREEN. There's a moment of augh bleach on his face before he's shaking his head violently to clear that thought, holding his hand up, in a universal sign of 'stop wait leave me be'. When finally he purifies himself of the awful notion, he is back to eyeing Strange. "Let's try this again." he says helpfully, "You, the Sorcerer Supreme, *lost* the motey thingy. I don't yet understand what a motey thingy is or see how its at all possible something got out of here— here of all places— and into Vic's body to become the cooler, nicer Vic."


Vic blinks at Strange, unable to appreciate in this moment just how rare it is to have rendered the Sorcerer Supreme speechless. Surely in the future he can look back and appreciate what he's done, but in the moment, he just regards the mystic with a mild expression in his bright blue eyes. He looks to Billy as his sorts it out, and then back to Strange. "Are… are you my father?" he asks. That's the part he's hung up on. The part about being a Mote of Cognizance he's already come to terms with.


Strange looks an awful lot like he just sucked on a lemon for all of this. The best defense is scowling when it comes to immediate family members, he's learned. Finally, however, watching the earnest expression on Vic's face and in his eyes — so blue, a very familiar shade of blue, dammit — the Sorcerer relaxes his guard. His shoulders drop and he gains the usual air of solemnity that arises when faced with abrupt novelty.

"A Mote of Cognizance is a powerful entity made of pure energy. It has a sentience and intelligence at human threshold. It would have known to wait until a door opened, not just smack against the wards repeatedly. In essence…" Oh gods, it scares him inside, it does. Where's Wanda to back him up on this?!

"Yes, I am. My Consort, his mother," and Strange nods towards Billy, " — is, in essence, your mother. The energetic sympathies don't lie. Your aura…no wonder it's so familiar."

He keeps the serendipitous fact of sharing a name with a lost younger brother to himself, though there's the deep cutting of grief that flashes through the man's Mystically-lit eyes.


Billy stares. Then he stares at Vic. Then he stares at Stephen. "Are you seriously telling me you magiced me up a brother?! Because explaining my life and family was not in any way shape or form already complicated enough." He sighs deeply, and he rubs at his forehead, remembering liking the look of Vic without a shirt, though he wouldn't tell Teddy that. Oh, woe is Billy. The dramatic sigh he gives is profound in its nature. Pinching the bridge of his nose for a minute, he takes a deep breath, and lets it out. Turning to Vic then, he says soberly, "First, what you have to understand is that whatever Tommy suggests is suspect and likely a bad idea. Second, you're forgiven for checking out Teddy since clearly its genetic." Pause, "Or something." Pause, "Anyways, Third, Mom feels more then she shows and Dad yells less then he looks like he would."


Vic's eyes widen and his heartrate jumps, along with his breathing. He sees the grief, and he doesn't understand. He does know though that dedVic would've been very upset to find out he was a dad. Is this like that? Oh god! "I'm sorry," he says. It hasn't even hit him yet that he was admiring Billy shirtless, too, and what implications that'll have. He's still grappling with that look in his dear old dad's eyes.

Then Billy is giving him The Deal, and he blinks a few ties, looking to him. "Okay. Is Tommy yo—our brother?" His voice cracks. Not panicked yet, but definitely on the way to hyper-ventilation. He wasn't sure how he would react when he found his parents, but this? This is apparently it. "I think I need to lay down."


"The chair, there," says Strange to Vic, gesturing to the highbacked chair on the left, the Petitioner's Chair. He gives Billy a flat Unimpressed Dad Look and points to accentuate that, "If I yelled, reality would come apart at the seams." Well, not literally, but the Sorcerer Supreme losing his temper would be quite the fireworks show.

"Victor. Sit down and breathe," he impresses upon the young man. "Don't apologize. You didn't ask to be brought into this world. I can sense that you're stabilized within your body. I can't ask for a better outcome given the unpredictable nature of Fate. It's a good name too, Victor… Little brother had it." That admission signals the end of his ability to further continue the conversation at hand. Clearing his throat again, with a hint of a catch, he nods curtly. "Billy, if you'll make certain he doesn't pass out, that would be best. I need to speak with your mother."

And with that, the Sorcerer turns on a dime and Gates out of the living room, leaving the young men at the mercy of the guardian wards — who are simply curious and ever-watchful. And won't let them open any door or really go beyond the living room, but that's better than being dismantled atom from atom, assuredly.


The look Billy has for Strange's Unimpressed Dad Look is all: dude you magiced me up a brother. Clearly Billy thinks he won this round of the Looks department. He reaches out and gestures Vic to the chair, nodding to the guy, "Tommy's my twin. We didn't know that because we were in separate families— we don't know why, because … time. He's my best friend." explains Billy, "I know this is weird but everything about this family is weird. I had no idea Tommy was my brother until I magiced us all back into the past, where my mom is maybe four years older then me— and my dad is Chief Wizard. The weirdness doesn't really have a *limit*, I'm finding. You get used to it over time." Pause, "Okay you don't at all but you get practiced at dealing with it. Hey, you like tea? They do tea here. I know its kind of lame but whatever."


Vic is led to the chair, and he sits. "I have brothers," he murmurs. "Older twin brothers. This is nuts." Though are they really older if they're all eighteen? Maybe if one of them is also three days old. He blinks at Billy, and he says, "I might like tea." He's starting to separate himself from dedVic's memories, especially prejudices, like regarding tea as a 'poof European thing.'

He swallows, and he looks to Strange. "Thank you, Father. For making me. I've been having such a good time." Such his his parting words for the Sorcerer Supreme.


"I know you're new, but I don't think of you as two days old. You got this whole…life…" Billy shrugs as he regards Vic for a long moment, "You're not like this Vic and from what you tell me of exVic, that's good. But you still have this experience. So you're as old as he was, which can't be much younger then me?" He waves, at Vic looking Vicish. And he blushes. Because he's still not dealt with omgicheckedoutmybrother yet. "You stay put. I'll make you some tea. It can't hurt. And… uh, do you have a place? You can stay on Teddy and my couch if you need it, since,… well, you're my brother." He nods. He's accepting this quite well, really. But its not the first time in recent memory there was SURPRISE! brother shoved into his life. "You think about it." And then he leaves Vic alone for a couple minutes to think and gather his thoughts while he goes and makes tea. As he returns…


"I don't know that he was a really bad person," Vic says. "He wasn't allowed to be sad, so it became anger and obfuscation." He wraps his arms around himself, keeping his hands occupied with not touching things. "I've been staying at Kellan's," he says, and he grins stupidly despite himself. "He seems okay with it, but if he gets tired of me crashing there, it's good to know I've got a place to go. I…" He looks around. "I think it would be too weird to try staying here."

The couple minutes alone give him a chance to compose himself. By the time Billy returns, he's sitting casually, hands no longer clasping his opposite elbows, no longer unconsciously protecting the vitals. He even smiles when he sees the youth. "I have a family," he says. "Oh, my God, that's our Dad. He's the Sorcerer Supreme."


Billy brings tea. See? Tea. He offers it. He has none for himself, but he only ever drinks tea to make polite father-son time. But maybe Vic likes it? Billy nods soberly, "From what I understand, the whole Sorcerer Supreme thing means he's in charge of wizarding. He protects earth's reality and trajectory through time and makes bad stuff go away. But, its not just that." he shakes his head slowly, "Mom is super powerful too. She does magic like he does, but she *also* does magic like *I* do. Reality manipulation. Wanda. She… has had a hard life. But she's a super good person. After you give her a few days to get her mind around it, hug her. She's not a hugger but hug her anyways. To her family is everything. She has a twin, too. Like me the mage, and my twin the speedster, her twin is a speedster too. Pietro. He's…funny. And cool." He shrugs, "I … come from later on. When things are different. When its not such a big deal that I'm into guys— that I love Teddy— and back here? Now? Its hard. But none of them, not Stephen not Wanda not Pietro not Lorna— our aunt— care. And they teach what they can teach, and they trust when you're honest. That's the family you got, Vic."


Vic takes the tea and samples it, then nods a little to himself. "I like tea," he tells Billy. He starts to say something about how dedVic felt about it, but he stops himself. That man's gone. This is nuVic and he likes tea. "I think I was a mistake," he says after another sip. "But I'll try to be a good son. And brother, and nephew, I can't believe I have a family, and they're magical too." He sighs with relief. "I was kind of afraid I was just a fluke and my parents were, like, cabbage farmers or something."


Billy shrugs indifferently, "Maybe I was a mistake, I don't know. We only know that Tommy and I were given up for adoption in separate families, but we have no idea why Wanda and Stephen would do that— in fact, it seems completely contrary to their character. I was raised with the Kaplans, and I love them. They're my Muggle-Parents." Billy says these words and they mean nothing to anyone but he says them anyways. "I have two muggle-brothers, too. *Something* will happen in the future, where Wanda will get pregnant and give up her sons for adoption. We have no idea what. Obviously she wouldn't intend that and give us up, so clearly we were a mistake." He shrugs again, "But who cares?" He reaches out to lay a hand on Vic's arm, "The point is you are." Billy nods, "And you're my brother. That means if anyone messes with you I will twist reality until it breaks and erase them from existance." The loyalty in his voice is absolute. Billy has many flaws. Billy has some virtues. But for Billy, loyalty is like breathing.


Vic shakes his head slowly. He's coming to accept that sometimes Billy's just not going to make sense. He smiles, though, as Billy declares his devotion to their brotherhood. "Thank you," he says. "If anyone messes with you, I'll suck out all their energy til they pass out, then I'll kick them to the moon." He purses his lips, then he adds, sheepish, "And I won't look at Teddy anymore. It was just that one time. I was young, I didn't know any better."


Billy offers a hand to do a fistbump thing, even if fistbumps aren't quite yet a thing. He'll make it a thing! He will! "Brothers forever." On the topic of Teddy, he waves his other hand and shakes his head, "Its okay, I trust you." And he does from the tone: its just automatic. Its possible Billy is an idealist in certain regards. "Teddy's hard not to look at. Even when I'm asleep I dream about him. And we stopped pretending we slept in different rooms weeks ago." To this, Billy blushes. Augh. Sex talk. Blush.


Vic regards the fist, tensing at first because a fist coming at him does that to a guy. Finally, after some thought, he makes the same gesture. He doesn't bump, but at least he's on the right track. "Brothers forever," he agrees. Then he grin as Billy blushes. "He's good-looking," he agrees, "but he's my brother's boyfriend, so." So he's a non-option, full stop. Sometimes that idealism isn't ill-placed. Vic takes another drink of tea, then he says casually, "Besides, I'm into Kellan. He's cute."


Gently, Billy makes the final bit of the bump. Then he explodes his hand because, this what you do. And this is how you train bros to be. You show them The Way, you see. On Teddy being good looking, Billy just nods. On Kellan? The dude-witch takes a contemplative expression, "Is he into guys? You gotta be careful about this. This was hard for me at first— where I'm from its not so big a deal— but nowlike, its a big deal and dangerous. You can get killed if you are all into guys. I mean, Kellan didn't seem the bad sort, but he did seem the shy sort. Take care." He pauses, then adds, "… but I, who am totally loyal to Teddy's biceps and worship them and his abs like whoa, can admit Kellan was okay looking." Meaning, Kellan's cute, but Billy can't *say* that.


Vic's brow furrows, but he imitates Billy, albeit awkwardly. The little brother can be trained! Then he grins, no longer awkward but cocky as hell. "Oh, he's into guys," he says, and he inspects his fingernails idly. "It came up in conversation." Then he takes another drink of tea, nearly finishing the cup. Okay looking? That gets Billy a sidelong look, but ah, he gets it. Still, Vic gets to say, "He's hot. I'm going to make my move, I just don't know when."


"Make the move." Billy encourages, "But be careful otherwise. Out and out you gotta not make it obvious, right? It's just dangerous." He rises up and grins, "Speaking of, I gotta get back home." He nods to emphasize this, "Teddy's waiting for me and my spine hurts." He gestures to a side room, "That's the kitchen, relatively safe. You can leave teacup in sink, with no risk of eldritch horror." He's so serious about this topic: there's absolutely nothing in his voice that is joke. "Otherwise, its okay to head that way into the living room, just don't touch anything. And this is really important: don't open any closed doors. Really." Pause, "Not even kinda joking. The bathroom is right over there, but if its closed, best bet is to assume its unavailable. Not that ever happens, its always been left ajar every time I've been here, but the point is, closed means out. Follow these very, very— seriously not joking— very clear rules and all is cool."


Vic says wryly, "I'll be careful. I've got the memories of a paranoid closet case. If I follow only half his personal rules on making sure no one finds out, I'd still never get found out." He looks down at his teacup, and he says, "I think I'll sit here for awhile." And not move because eldritch horrors. "I'll be careful. I'm not looking for any trouble. I just want to get home in one piece so I can put the moves on the guy who keeps feeding me." Which brings a smile to his lips. "Tell Teddy I said hi. Brother. Hee."


And then, Vic has a whole handful of Billy hugging him. This is just how he works, okay? Its how he flows. He learned Vic is his crazy magic bro, so, hugging happens. Its quick and firm and hen he's pulling aaway and flushed, "Right, so— right. Right." And then he just vanishes. Becaause teleportation is a thing of his he's good at.


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