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After the beach party, contact information was exchanged and everyone went their separate ways. The following day, Kellan decided to take Vic out to the eight ball and so called up their new friends and invited them to go along.
Kellan chalks up a pool cue and leans against the table, waiting for Vic to choose his and break, the balls already racked up and ready to go. "So, you ever play before?" he asks, clearly meaning had Vic ever played before, studying Vic curiously.
Vic isn't sure about this whole 'sleep' thing, but he did it last night, and waking up was kind of a relief. Dreaming felt too much like being disembodied. It makes him all the more glad to be here, in a pool hall, watching Kellan chalk up. "I don't know if I can play this game without cheating," he says. "I used to play a lot, just never straight, you know?" He studies the table, stick in hand. Hrm.
Billy wanders over with a trio of daiquiri's, even if it'd make Teddy's head explode to see him ordering them for reasons passing understanding. He squints at Vic for a moment at the end there, "How do you *cheat* at pool? Well, I guess telekinesis would help, but it seems like it'd be super obvious."
"Either that or really subtle if you get it just right so it doesn't seem like it's more than normal physics would allow," Kellan says, "But that would require very fine control and at that point all I could really do is give'm credit for being able to fool me." He hasn't slept. He didn't sleep at all the previous night. But he's been caffeinated, and is awake despite the dark shadows.
"Misdirection and mind games. He played with people he could talk into believing what he said instead of what they saw." Vic takes one of the daiquiris and says, "Thank you." He'll encourage behavior that makes Teddy's head explode. "Man, telekinesis would make cheating fantastic. We should play using our powers sometime. Mind games, multiple players, telekinesis, super strength and speed…"
"I guess I'm having a hard time picturing how that would work." admits Billy, "I mean either the ball gets in or not— you can't talk someone into it. But I am awful at lying, so maybe this is just a skill I don't know anything about." Picking up one of the daiquiri's, he sips at it a bit and grins, "I could be all 'billywins-billywins' and teleport all the stripes into the holes."
"As long as you don't teleport our pants into the holes with them, I'm fine with that," Kellan says to Billy with a bit of a smirk. He reaches out and grabs one of the daquiris and take a sip, then he sets it down nearby and waits for Vic to go ahead and take his shot, "So wait.. was Vic able to make some sort of illusion? Like, actually mess with people's minds?" He seems to be with Billy on this one as to how Vic convinced people that a thing happened that didn't.
"You're way smarter than the people he'd play with," Vic points out. "And you'd notice if I said something jarring in casual conversation to distract you, or bumped the table with my hip, or knocked one in when you weren't looking and argued with you about how I sunk it three shots ago. Getting your opponent drunk first helps." He laughs then and says, "All right, you've got us. Leave us our pants and we'll concede you the win." He takes a shot, accurate enough to sink a ball, but there's nothing untoward about it. Except he does it three more times before not being able to get a clear shot. "Vic played people," he says. "He'd captivate them, get them to believe what he said instead of what he did. He was a nice guy but he wasn't a good guy."
"Hey, look, that thing with the pants could have gone way worse, okay? You got swimtrunks. It very well coulda been you ending up butt naked." replies Billy, flushing with some ebarassment. He blinks at Vic as he makes four shots all in a go, "Okay, if Vic was half that good he didn't need to cheat that much."
Kellan moves up to the table once Vic has taken his turn and listens while he lines up his shot. He moves over to one side of the table and then he goes for a banked shot. It gets close and then very very slowly tips in. With a look of relief, he sinks a second ball before he can't get a clear shot on a third. He leans back then and takes up his drink, sipping from it. "Yeah, I'm thinking you might have a little hustle going on."
"No, that was me," Vic tells Billy. He laughs at Kellan's accusation and says, "No, no, no I'm just using physics." He studies the table, slinking around it so he can get a look from every angle. "Can you imagine if that's how we returned to Manhattan? At least with the trunks you can say you were at Coney Island. He takes his shot, and it's not an easy shot, but it's one he could've made. And didn't. Look at that innocent face! No hustle here.
Billy sips his drink and gives Vic a somewhat suspicious expression, "I'm good at physics." he hesitates, "Well, for someone my age from the future, at leat. But I don't think that translates into spectacularly good at pool." He flashes a grin then, "Worst case scenario I woulda conjured us some pants if uh, things had gone that way."
Kellan can't help but laugh and shakes his head a little bit, "One wayor another, it woulda worked out alright. I was just teasing you, anyway." He stands back out of the way so that Vic can take a look at his next shot. He takes another sip of the daquiri and then says, "The beach was damn nice though, and the water was so good."
"You're from the future?" Vic asks, zeroing in on that. "Do we ever make it to the moon? Are there people there? Do they try to destroy our cities and teach our women about moon love?" He almost forgets to take his turn. Then he realizes pool has stopped, and with a quiet 'oh' he sets about lining up another shot. Which he sinks. He misses the second. When he's not thinking about it, he's not phenomenal.
"The beach *was* nice." he agrees with Kellan. Billy looks wistful for a moment, "…but anytime Teddy doesn't have a shirt on is nice." is added without really thinking about the fact that he's supposed to keep that quiet. He blinks at Vic, "Uhh, yeah. A spell went stupid and my whole life got written back in time, which is why I said my life is complicated. I have *two* sets of parents, and remember a life now and a life then— mostly. But the future memories are all a bit scrambled, so I can't really tell you anything but…facts. Not context, so its not *useful*. No predicting the lottery or anything. But don't be shocked if-when you meet my Magic-Mom that she's barely older then me. She hasn't *had* me yet."
Kellan grins a little at Vic when he begins to rattle off a bunch of questions to rival his own when Billy mentions being from the future. He looks between the two of them, as though curious as to the answers to at least one or two of them. When it is his turn to take a shot, he moves up to the table, sliding past Vic to go around to the other side. He lines up his shot but then Billy makes the comment about his magic mom being barely older than him and not having had him yet and he totally misses the ball, which bounces around and goes nowhere useful. He blinks slowly, "That is complicated."
Vic stares at Billy, and he says, "Wow, we could be like brothers." He shakes his head and says, "Not the future stuff, but how everything is complicated and there's these two lives and one of them's just like the facts." He grins. "And our parents are magical. Can I say that? Parent sounds nicer than progenitor." He looks at Kellan as he says, "Isn't this weird? And lucky we all met." Now Vic's got a bounce in his step, and as he lines up his shot, he says as an afterthought, "I like Teddy without a shirt." Clack, in goes one of his balls. Then another. He misses the third.
Billy nods knowingly to Kellan and then that last thing Vic says registers, and he narrows his eyes. "I am seriously considering turning you into a frog." he says threateningly, before he relents, "But I can not blame someone for noticing perfection. Still, hands off, he's mine. Or frogging will be in your future." He sounds a little serious, but he grins a dimpled grin a moment later. "Parents is a better word then progenitor, yeah."
Kellan smiles a little crookedly and nods to Vic, saying, "Yeah, kind of a cool coincidence. Sometimes things just happen.. serendipitously, eh?" Then he begins to move over toward the table. He sinks a couple of balls, fairly easy shots, and then the third misses, just shy of the pocket. He returns to sipping his drink, then glances back and forth between Billy and Vic. "My family isn't all that cmoplicated." Then he feels stupid for saying that, and his ears color a little. His drink slurps a little and he realizes it's empty. "Be right back.. I think vic's got this game won." He then turns and heads of toward the restrooms.
Vic holds up a placating hand and says, "Just commenting on the scenery, man. I don't plan to move into the neighborhood." He gestures with his nearly empty daiquiri glass. "Besides, I was born yesterday. Am I even old enough to date?" Kellan gets a sidelong look, just incidentally. "Yeah, serendipitous," he says with a crooked smile. Then Kellan is making for the restrooms, and Vic looks at Billy. "What just happened?"
Billy looks between Kellan and Vic, "I… don't know." He shrugs, uncertain. "But as for old enough to date, yes. You don't have the intellectual or emotional immaturity of an infant, and you've got an adult body and your mind seems to fit… so, yeah. I decree you old enough to date. After all, you're old enough to drink obviously."
Kellan is only gone for a short bit, but when he returns, he heads over to the bar and acquires himself another drink before returning to the pool table. There doesn't appear to be anything wrong, at least not from the smile on his face when he goes to lean up against the side of the wall nearby. "So, did Vic win yet?"
Vic grins and says, "Good. Because I think I like him." He nods toward the restroom to indicate which him. Then he finishes off the daiquiri and sets the glass aside. "Um, yes," he tells Kellan as he returns, and he sinks one of his balls with a sweep of his hand. "And this one." He sinks the eight-ball last. He doesn't have oldVic's gaslighting ways, so he just smiles knowing full well he'll convince no one.
"Oh?" asks Billy of Vic, his brows arching, "Already?" But he grins and he shrugs, "Good luck." He nods to Kellan then, "So. Me, Teddy, my brother— Tommy— his girlfriend— Hope— and my Magic-Aunt Lorna are in this team thing, as I was explaining the other night. Did you guys have any interest in joining up on a trial sort of basis?"
Kellan watches as Vic sinks the last two balls in and he laughs, shaking his head, "Didn't need precog to see that coming." He then nods toward Billy and says "Your turn," holding over his cue in offer with a grin. He listens as Billy explains the group that he's in with the others and he looks a little bit curious, glancing from him, to Vic, and then back again, "I mean.. I'd be interested in finding out more about it, sure. I could do a trial type thing, see what you guys are up to.. let you see what I'm all about." He pauses a moment and then says, "I should introduce you guys to my brother, too. He's.. out of town at the moment."
"Well, I mean, I think I do," Vic says to Billy. Then he grins at Kellan. "I sunk them before you left," he says without an ounce of conviction. He leans against a nearby table that's not being used, seeming content to cede this game to the other two. "I'm interested," he says. "It's not just honoring Vic's last wish. I really want to do good things."
"Oh, its not like… a sign up for life thing." explains Billy with a quick smile, "There's no obligation, you can join and leave as you see fit. Its just some powered people who know we can save more and do more together then apart. So, yeah, trial." He nods his head quickly, encouragingly, "The current mission is to try to solve the crystal spider problem, mostly because I don't think anyone else *is* on it, and there's not a lot of people who can make interdimensional wormholes." Pause, "…which I've never done before but I've been studying some spider remains and think I know how this will work."
"Think you do what?" Kellan asks, having missed the entire context of that conversation while he was headed off to the rest room and returning. Then he smirks, "Sure you did." But he grins a little afterward. Then he turns his attention to Billy, looking curious and nodding his head a little bit emphatically when it's explained that it isn't a "for life" sort of thing. "Right, the spiders. You mentioned that, and that you might have a plan for how to solve it. I'm willing to help in whatever way that I can."
"Crystal spiders?" Vic asks. "Sure, I'm up for whatever." Likely because he has no idea what's going on. He's literally been in a coma. "Whatever you need from me." He glances sidelong at Kellan, giving him a once-over as he says, "I think I'm old enough to date, because I've got all the memories of an adult in my head. Geez, this guy was repressed, too."
To Kellan's first question, Billy just grins and shakes his head. But then Vic answers, and he grins more. But more seriously he adds, "I don't have a complete plan, but we need some intelligence. So the plan is to put a team together and go in and recon, see if the people are alive or uhh, food. And see if we can get more information. All we really know is they're taking people."
"Oh, well, yeah, technically you have all that maturation and knowledge within your own mind now, I guess. Kind of an odd combination of both new and established. I guess you are as old as the body is, sortof.. " Kellan squints a bit and resists the urge to dedicate a whole separate set of resources to puzzling out that. Instead he looks over toward Billy and says, "Okay, so going in there and taking a look around and figuring out what's what. I suppose that I could do that. Sure. I mean, sounds dangerous but.. I'm up for it," he grins.
"Sign me up," Vic says. "I've got nothing else going on right now, so whenever, wherever. I bet Kellan and I could coordinate somehow. With his mind-thing and my body-thing." He's quick to explain, "Stronger, faster. Ugh, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I want you guy to know how to use me." When he spies Kellan's squint, he says, "Vic looked at a lot of gay pornography. I think I've got the gist."
"Oh, its going to for sure be dangerous— but! With my magic, and Teddy's strength — he said he's a shapeshifter, and that's true, but what he left out is if he shapeshifts himself into a massive ball of muscle he's strong enough to juggle tanks — and everyone working together, I think we can handle it. Worst case scenario we run away." Billy suddenly grins, dimples flashing, "I'm really big on running away when it needs to happen." He blinks at Vic, and bursts into laughter, "How to 'use' you in one breath and gay porn in the other." Snicker. "And hey, its not bragging. We gotta know what we can do. So: I throw lightning, my telekinetics can pick up a car, and I can teleport myself without a spell. Then there's the spells which… I can do… various things."
"I'm kind of good with running away," Kellan admits with a kind of lopsided grin. "I've never done anything really like this, so I'm pro not-getting-eaten." He then leans up against the wall, looking back and forth between Vic and Billy. There's a little bit of color that touches his ears but he clears his throat and says, "I can make copies of myself, but like, they're all tied together. If you shoot one, they all get hurt. If you kill one, I die, period. I'm a telepath. I can receive and project thoughts, and I can hold telepathic conversations. I can split consciousness and do multiple things at once… and yeah, but we talked about that."
Vic looks at Billy blankly. It takes him a moment to make the connection, then he laughs. "Oh. You know what I mean, though. I just want to be useful, independent of Vic's repression." He then nods to Kellan and says, "I'd run away, sure." He then says, "I'm fast, I'm strong, and I'm good on my feet. I've got the telekinesis. I can make people feel less tired." He pauses, then admits, "I don't know what else I can do. I've never had to test it. But I can do what Vic could, so I can break into places pretty easily."
The grin that Billy gives Kellan at mentioning the copies again is…downright wicked. Yes, he's still wondering if it counts as masturbation if you can do yourself. "The shared-life thing sucks, but otherwise that sounds like it could be really useful. The little ones are easy to kill, you don't need super strength, but they swarm…and you can sorta swarm back, right?" He nods to Vic and smiles, "Yeah, I was just teasing. I know what you mean. Wait, you can make people feel less tired?" He considers that for a long moment, "If I do big magic it wears me out hard— that'd be useful, that."
"Sortof. I can only make so many copies before it gets exhausting, or do something really strenuous with a couple of copies. I could probably stomp on a whole bunch of little spiders with a bunch of copies," Kellan considers as he thinks about it. There's a glance over to Vic and he nods at not knowing quite all what he's capable of. "Well, guess we'll find out." Then there's a look back to Billy and that wicked grin causes the color to rise up in his cheeks and ears once more.
"Sure, I can give you a boost," Vic says, and he grins, delighted to be useful. "If I try it with electronics, I end up shorting them out, and I blew up a light bulb, but people respond well." He laughs when he glances between the grin and the blushing. "You're bad," he tells Billy, only it's on a tone of high praise.
"Well to be clear, the 'small ones' are about the size of a cat. The big ones are the size of a pony." explains Billy with a certain gravity to his voice, though he can't help but grin at the blush. A week ago Billy couldn't talk about sex outside of the bedroom, now he's flinging innuendo around? Not that they know that of course. He winks at Vic with a grin, then suddenly blinks. He holds a hand out and electricity is suddenly crackling around that hand, coalescing into a ball of lightning right above his palm. This draws looks, but hey, we're all mutants here (though Billy isn't). "Try to boost that."
There's a slight widening of Kellan's eyes when the small ones turn out to be cat sized, "Okay.. so.. maybe not.. a whole bunch of them." Pony sized spiders. The thought sends a shiver down his spine and he says, "Kay. Expectations readjusted. Giant.. giant spiders. Got it." He just smirks between Billy and Vic a little bit though and tries to get that blushing under control, letting it fade a bit while the conversation focuses more on spiders.
"Pony-sized spiders? That's some nightmare fuel for you," Vic says. "But hey, we can do this," he adds to Kellan with a smile. After all, he's got no personal context for being terrified of giant spiders. Yet. Then he looks at the glowing ball of electricity in Billy's hand. It's like a baby picture brought to life. "Woah. Okay, lets see." He holds out a fingertip, and when a small arc forms to connect the two, he feeds it some of his own energy.
"Don't worry, Teddy is strong enough when he goes all green giant to deal with the big ones." Billy tries to be reassuring to the pair of them, but then he focuses on the ball of lightning. At Vic's addition, suddenly the ball surges out, so much so that Billy reaches his other hand out to contain it, "Whoooa, okay." He nods, and with a flick of a wrist the lightning vanishes, "Good to know. That's a solid boost to how much energy was there, so, good to know. I doubt you could overload me— I manifested this particular ability while getting beaten up in high school, and… well, suffice to say he survived, fortunately."
Kellan leans up against the wall, folding his arms in front of him as he watches the ball of energy manifest in front of Billy, watching with interest as the little arc connects the two, curious to see what will happen next. When the ball suddenly begins to grow, he takes a little breath and backs up just a scootch, but then it stops and he seems a little bit relieved by that fact, "Wow, that's pretty cool." He grins a little, though then he listens to Billy's story and his brow furrows. "Ouch."
Vic's eyes widen as the ball expands, and he claps his hand over his mouth to cover a delighted laugh. He might have enjoyed the bright sparklies a little too much just then; when he lowers his hand, he's still grinning broadly. "We can definitely do something with that," he says. Quickly, he adds, "Something that won't kill anyone. Spiders, though. I bet they don't respond well to electricity."
At Kellan's ouch? Billy shrugs, "It wasn't as bad then as it is now— but still. I manifested the ability to teleport when I was running away from bullies. All my powers manifested due to self-defense. Well, except the spells. The spells are… the root of it all and weird and complicated." But he is then nodding emphatically at Vic, "I don't know, on the spider front. They're *crystal* spiders. When they die they turn into a fine dust primarily composed of silicon — though they're far tougher then just silicon is capable of being. But its worth trying. And, frankly…" He shrugs, "I don't go out planning to kill anyone ever, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Good to know that in a pinch you can boost my blasting." He looks to Kellan then, thoughtfully, "Can you show me your clone thing? I'm just curious if it looks like magic or not."
"Mine just sort of started splitting all on their own, first my mind, and then my body. It sort of began with the telepathy and then reflections in my head, and then reflections of my body," Kellan says. "I more meant ouch that you had to find yours through getting bullied. I was lucky.. that didn't happen to me." He nods a little bit at the discussion of crystal spiders and electricty. When Billy asks to see his clone thing, Kellan nods and then he focuses for a moment and just next to him kind of just appears into being an identical copy of himself down to the clothing. Then another to the other side of him. All three wave in unison.
"We're going to make a good team," Vic says. "And if they stand up against electricity, we'll punch them to dust." He shoves his hands in his pockets. "Getting bullied is no fun," he says. "It happened to Vic, and sometimes he did the bullying. I'm kind of glad I bypassed a human childhood." He blinks several times when Kellan becomes three Kellan. "Wow. Hi, guys." He glances at Billy. Yeah, he's thinking it.
"I swear to god if I could do that I'd never leave my bedroom." Billy laughs softly. He's totally thinking the implications, too. He and Vic? Birds of a feather. Birds of a feather. "Teddy could.. man. Okay, stop, Billy, stop. Stop thinking about this. La la la la. Ahem." Even he blushes at this point, shaking his head, "And yeah I got what you meant. Most of my powers showed up due to people beating me up. It is what it is. In the future its not so bad, in the *now* you can get dead if you're the only out gay kid in school." Of course, neither 'out' nor 'gay' are actually in the common vernacular of the time, which he remembers a moment later, "… publically homosexual." he adds to clarify. "But, hey. I got the power and I'm not really afraid of anyone anymore, so I don't regret anything. I got bullied, yeah, but now, no one messes with Wiccan."
The blush continues in triplicate as he watches the look between Vic and Billy and Billy's comment. Then one of the copies wanders off to the bar to order another drink, while he slides his hands into his pockets, and the thirs copy goes off to sit by the television and watch it in the corner where others are. That leaves the original to stand there, scuffing one foot a little bit. "Your thoughts are really, really loud," He says to Billy with a little bit of a cough. Then he says, "Nobody really bullied me in school since uhm.. nobody knows anything about me.. I didn't let anybody know."
Vic whistles low. "No wonder you got beaten up. It's not right, but that's what happens. Vic was horrified anyone might think he was like that." He then adds, quieter, "Mountains of gay pornography. Mountains." He gives a knowing nod. Vic looks between the trio as they disperse. "Vic beat up guys he thought was hitting on him, then he'd go sleep with a woman. It seems like such a joyless existence. I'd rather be bullied. At least it's not me beating myself up."
"I can't help my thought-volume, dude." Billy is in no ways apologetic, despite these words, to Kellan. How can he not think of Teddy naked? Like..mmmn. He thinks of that just then for a bit before blinking, "I know the 60's suck, but I can't be but… me. If I could fix the world to not be stupid I would. Look, I'm gay." He pauses, "This word doesn't mean what you think it means. In the future it will mean homosexual. I'm a gay Jew nerd witch. This all adds up to whoa, beat up Billy." He shrugs, "I was then, now I'm now, and since I found Teddy I wouldn't change anything at all. But there's only so much I can put up with pretending I'm not me. I know the 60's mean I have to pretend some, but only some. I remember when it was legal to get married to a dude. It'll happen! Its a big deal but its gonna happen. So here I am, stuck in idiotville, and I'm dealing. Grudgingly." Billy sighs, then perks up, "But! My point is, *it gets better*. And no matter what, I'm a *power* now. And so its my responsibilty to use that power to help people. Even if they're idiots." He nod sover to Vic, "Well, count me as happy like… you aren't Vic. Vic. But, trust me, it really does get better. Wait for the internet." Whatever the hell internet means.
Eventually Kellan#2 comes back with the drink that he ordered, handing it over to Kellan#1 before simply fading out of existance complete with clothing and all. The drink remains. The Kellan by the TV also simply fades out and vanishes, leaving a single copy alone, focusing on drinking his drink. "Seems lonely," Kellan says of Vic's life, and then takes another sip from his drink. He listens to Billy though, both eyebrows raising a little bit as he lays out what he remembers of the future. "I.. well.. I sure hope it turns out the way that you experienced it," he says. There's a definite blank look at the mention of the internet, but he just smiles a bit and says, "Sure. I'll uh, wait for that."
Vic watches Kellan#2 fade out, and he looks to Kellan#1. He immediately looks for the other Kellan, who has faded away. Poor Vic looks like a confused puppy for a moment. It's just something he's still wrapping his head around. "Do you feel them when they go away?" he asks. Then he laughs and asks Billy, "Dudes getting married? Who's the wife?" So much a product of 'modern' thinking, the poor guy. He shakes his head. "I hope I live long enough to see this future you're talking about."
"There is no wife." Billy says firmly, "That's a… I'll kindly put it that, broken thought. Between Teddy and I, neither of us is the girlfriend in our relationship. Relationships don't need a man and woman part. You just need caring." On this, Billy is certain. "Also, ladies getting married. But. My life is my life: and Teddy is my heart." There's a moment of consideration, "In Greenwich Village, Stonewall Inn, the penthouse. That's where the base is. Come see us and I'll take you to meet my Dad." And then… Billy just vanishes. He did mention he could teleport.
"Yeah, I can feel it when they go away. It's kind of like.. when your hand goes numb and then the feeling comes back? I mean.. I feel an emptiness where all those sensations were for a moment, and then things feel normal again," Kellan explains to Vic. He then turns his attention toward Billy and opens his mouth to say something, but then the address is being given and Billy is just gone, leaving Kellan standing there, looking at Vic. "Well…"
Vic blinks a few times as Billy disappears. He's quiet for a moment, then looks to Kellan and says, "Who does the work and who takes care of the house?" Boyfriending, that's one thing, but marriage? He grins. "Can you imagine, though? You can just be walking down the street with your guy and no one cares?" He might be tied down by the standard of the time, but a ball of energy can dream. "So are you going to go to their place? I'm going to. Not right now, but I mean later."
"The maid takes care of the house, and they both have their portfolios managed by skilled financial managers so that they don't have to work," Kellan says. Because that's how his parents do it. What? It makes sense to him. When Vic asks if he can imagine a world where one could walk down the street with their guy without people caring, he shakes his head a little bit and says, "I think it's a really nice thought. I hope that happens someday." He takes his drink once more and continues to sip it, finally putting the pool cue away, the game long having ended. "Yeah, of course. We're going to go do some spider exterminating, right? Or maybe we'll figure out some more peaceful way of dealing with them.. I wonder if I can talk to him," he ponders. "So.. do you want to stick around here or head out?"
Vic squints at Kellan. "I think I had a very different family. I hope it doesn't have to be like this. There's so much you can do with a life! And people spend them just… so unhappy when they don't have to be." He frowns, and his shoulders slump a little. Fortunately, the topic shifts before he can get himself into any kind of state about why people gotta be so… "Let's get something to eat," he says, "I'm starving. I swear, I will pay you back once I get a job."