[ He'd come out of nowhere, just as their team and the Runaways had finally found a break from the adult mess they left behind through magic. Nico's chill out pronunciation still left cold trails on their backs, and the dinosaur was still slumped out in a knocked-out heap somewhere on the grass.
And then Xavin was being dropped to the ground, Karolina was starting to glow, and then— the Cube. ]
Your people hurt Teddy. [ The Warden made me watch. ]
[ Like it's that simple. But the great thing about a teenager is how easy it is to be hurtful to other people; human adolescents just have a deep capacity for it, and you can trace a lot of adult hang-ups back to this habit of casual cruelty.
They wouldn't make so many movies about high school otherwise. ]
[ The words hit something deep and nameless in him, or maybe it's the assailant, the unexpected nature of the accusation. His mouth becomes dry. He straightens. His expression shifts to something more guarded. He tries very hard to tame his rising fury, or anxiety--this is not the same Billy he knew, and all his training would suggest letting the matter lie. But this is personal, and it raises a question Noh-Varr finds difficult to suppress: had Billy always thought of him this way? Even when they had travelled together?
He betrays nothing. Instead, he raises his hands in a gesture of goodwill, or perhaps surrender. ]
You'll find none from me.
[ But his desire to continue this conversation is gone, and so he half-turns, motioning down the hall with his chin. ]
[ The difference here is that Billy doesn't have the two or three years of distance that the Billy Noh-Varr comes to actually know has. This is Billy, right at the crossroads of his power — with Cassie dead, his powers very much the cause of it (Billy could never stop believing this), and that heavy burden of learning that the adults of the world are no better at being alive than a kid like him is.
Especially the heroes that he's looked up to all his life.
It's not everyday that your personal heroes call you a future villain to your face. It's silly, but it sinks deep into the most resilient walls an otherwise normal teenager might have, and the trauma that follows from that point on just drives a knife through the cracks and pierces down to bone with ease.
Given the time to grow up, even just a little, changes people. Billy hasn't had the time. ]
Okay, [ he agrees, reluctantly. Billy would rather not, truth be told, but Noh-Varr is the first familiar face that he's seen (that he fairly knows, anyway), and a non-friendly that one knows is better than the dangers one doesn't, right?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ He'd come out of nowhere, just as their team and the Runaways had finally found a break from the adult mess they left behind through magic. Nico's chill out pronunciation still left cold trails on their backs, and the dinosaur was still slumped out in a knocked-out heap somewhere on the grass.
And then Xavin was being dropped to the ground, Karolina was starting to glow, and then— the Cube. ]
Your people hurt Teddy. [ The Warden made me watch. ]
no subject
'My people'? The Warden was controlling my mind, Billy. I would've done anything to trade places with you, if I could have.
[ But he couldn't have. He was as much a prisoner in that place as they were. ]
no subject
[ Like it's that simple. But the great thing about a teenager is how easy it is to be hurtful to other people; human adolescents just have a deep capacity for it, and you can trace a lot of adult hang-ups back to this habit of casual cruelty.
They wouldn't make so many movies about high school otherwise. ]
Look, I don't want trouble.
no subject
He betrays nothing. Instead, he raises his hands in a gesture of goodwill, or perhaps surrender. ]
You'll find none from me.
[ But his desire to continue this conversation is gone, and so he half-turns, motioning down the hall with his chin. ]
I could give you a tour.
no subject
Especially the heroes that he's looked up to all his life.
It's not everyday that your personal heroes call you a future villain to your face. It's silly, but it sinks deep into the most resilient walls an otherwise normal teenager might have, and the trauma that follows from that point on just drives a knife through the cracks and pierces down to bone with ease.
Given the time to grow up, even just a little, changes people. Billy hasn't had the time. ]
Okay, [ he agrees, reluctantly. Billy would rather not, truth be told, but Noh-Varr is the first familiar face that he's seen (that he fairly knows, anyway), and a non-friendly that one knows is better than the dangers one doesn't, right?
What's the worst that can happen? ] Lead the way.