(Retitling/organizing these blurbles of mine to be easier to locate =D)

Title: No More Bets. EVER.

Fandom:Young Avengers

Characters:Billy Kaplan/Wiccan and Teddy Kaplan/Hulkling-centric, along with the rest of the crew.

Notes: Because the people on Kaciart’s stream are fantastic and helped me along with this, have a little Billy/Teddy crossdressing. And bets. And troll!Tommy.

——————-

The bet seemed simple enough at first- a single week without making nerdy remarks? How hard could that be? He’d gone days without making geeky remarks to anyone (well, Teddy didn’t count ‘cause he lived with him, right?), so this couldn’t be too hard. Right?

It was easy for Billy to think that on the first day after Teddy’s challenge, especially once the terms were laid out. If he won, Teddy would take care of the chores for a few days, and Billy would have first choice in movies. And if he lost … If they both lost …

He didn’t want to lose. He would not lose.

Of course, with the others in the picture, it wasn’t as simple as he’d expected. And really, it was his own fault for not expecting the hangout to suddenly turn into geek central. It was sometimes easy to forget that Eli was just as much of a closet geek as he was, but the sudden reappearance of every superhero, fantasy, and sci-fi movie ever (or so it seemed like) on the TV stand was a great reminder.

As was his Legend of Zelda shirt, the one with the misprinted lettering that made Billy launch into a speech about different parts of the game for a good hour every time he saw it.

Goddammit, Eli.

And of course he wasn’t the only one. Oh, no. It wasn’t going to be that easy. Cassie somehow cajoled Jonas into wearing a disguise that looked like Data every time Billy or Teddy came into the room. She herself took to wearing something that looked suspiciously like Captain Jack Harkness’s jacket. And a Cyberman’s bluetooth-looking-thing in her ear. How did she even FIND these things?!

But that wasn’t the worst. Oh, no. Even Kate showing up every day in various anime cosplays wasn’t as bad as … Tommy.

Goddamn Tommy. He was the master of everything to do with screwing up bets. It wasn’t enough that he would zip in and out, yelling various quotes from different series or shows at odd times (even during battle). Oh no. He had to take it a step further. Tommy, being the delinquent that he was, would use this powers to his advantage- and in this case, his advantage was to zip in and out of places without being detected. With anything.

The first time he showed up with a prop from the studies, the mithril suit from Lord of the Rings, Billy came very close to just spazzing out completely. He met Teddy’s eyes at that moment and immediately sealed his mouth shut, because there was that teeny bit of humor and watchfulness in there amid the similar awe. The second time, when it was a genuine Ewok suit that they found propped up behind the couch, it was Billy who watched keenly as Teddy waved his arms around and babbled a little. But again, it was a no go.

So things continued for a few days, their battles a little more quiet and less full of banter than usual as the two fought hard not to make any snarky comments or comparisons, even to living superheroes. And to be honest, the rest of the team missed it more than they would admit (especially Eli, whose geekiness was subtle most of the time and who really enjoyed the occasional dorky dialogue). But the boys remained vigilant, determined to win.

But almost five days after the bet began, their vigilance had begun to waiver. The attention they paid to each other’s behavior as well as their own had lessened little by little as time went on. And so, when Tommy began playing the original records of the Sound of Music in the back room of the hideout, neither of them noticed that they were humming (and then singing) until it was too late. Billy realized it first, freezing with his mouth open mid-note, meeting Teddy’s eyes across the room. Teddy’s mouth, open in a similar action, dropped open. Tommy zipped between them with a triumphant yell. “Hell yeah! Told you guys I could do it!” He ducked Teddy’s swing at his head and resumed his victory lap around the living room, bringing the entire group to in with his gleeful, mocking laughter.

“Th-this doesn’t count!” Billy protested. “I didn’t say a phrase, it was a song!”

“Close enough,” said Kate, with a smirk that he really didn’t like the looks of. Cassie’s giggling over to the side did not help, and for a guy who didn’t laugh much Eli really had a loud laugh when he wanted to. “You both lost,” Kate continued, opening a closet Billy had only vaguely known was there and taking out two long, opaque bags, “and you know what that means.”

From the corner of his eye, Billy saw Teddy make an expression somewhere between triumph and horror. He was staring at Kate with the same expression … minus the triumph. The fact that they’d both lost the bet meant that the agreement they’d made with the rest of the team fell into place. “No,” he said flatly, backing up a little bit.

“Yes,” said Kate firmly, holding out the bags by their hangers. Something SWAYED beneath the crinkling plastic of one of them, but there was no arguing with her. What Kate wanted, she got. That was it, that was all.

Defeated, Billy stepped forward and took the hanger gingerly, meaning to head quickly to the bathroom and get this over with. But Cassie and Kate were immediately on either side of him, dragging out toward one of the back rooms. The one with the mirrors. And no matter of notwanting would get him out of this one, especially when Cassie grew large enough to drag him along easily with one arm. “Don’t think you’re getting off that easily,” she laughed, and Billy caught a little glimpse of the guys dragging Teddy in the opposite direction. It was the only comfort he got before the door closed, and he saw those EXPRESSIONS on their faces. He shrank back against the door, clutching the bag to his chest.

——————————-

Panties. Despite the wealth of fabric enveloping his legs, that was all he could think about. Well, that and the fact that there was nothing to keep his thighs from rubbing together, which was an utterly bizarre feeling. The double-sided tape on his chest didn’t help that feeling any- despite the fact that Kate had apparently had the dress tailored exactly to his measurements, the fact remained that he didn’t have a chest to keep the dress up. Well, technically he COULD have a chest, if he magicked himself one, but … no. Just, no. Panties were enough. He was NOT going that far.

And oh yeah, the heels. Despite the fact that his feet weren’t even visible under the expanse of cloth everywhere, they had insisted that he wear heels. Otherwise, it wasn’t “authentic.” Likewise with the lipstick and other makeup.

“If I fall in these, it isn’t my fault,” he muttered over his (bare) shoulder at the girls.

Cassie shrugged, but Kate gave him that look she usually reserved for Eli and Tommy- her patented “you really think I believe that crap?” look- and raised an eyebrow. “You can fly, teleport, and generate electricity, but you can’t walk in heels?”

“Different skill sets,” he grumbled, rubbing at the top of his upper arm-length gloves. That was just not a sensation he was going to get used to any time soon. “I might as well expect you to I-want something into existence. It’s not much different.”

“Touche.” And without warning, she’d put a gentle hand on his (bare) back and pushed him out the door. “Go on, tiger,” she said with a grin, and stood back to watch the show.

And of course, Billy stumbled. He was bound to stumble, because the heels Kate had chosen for him were neither functional not realistic. But an arm broke his fall, and a hand reached to his waist to steady him. And sure, that had happened a hundred times before in battle, but the sensation of that touch through this type of fabric made a little shiver go down his spine.

Caught by the way Teddy’s shoulders filled out the suit, the way the collar accentuated the strength of his jaw, and long lines of his legs in those pants, Billy hardly noticed that Teddy was looking him up and down with an expression that was a little hard to read. There was surprise there, mixed in with a little bit of awe and a good helping of attraction, and Billy blushed all the way down to his shoulders. “Thanks for the catch,” he said with a shrug, looking away sheepishly. “I guess I’m never going to get used to walking in these things.”

Teddy laughed, that little chuckling laugh he saved for when he thought Billy was being silly or adorable, and a gentle hand guided his head up. “We’ve seen each other naked, Billy,” he said in a murmur that was only for them, and smiled in that way that made Billy’s breath catch in his throat a little. “You really think I’m going to judge you for wearing a dress?”

Billy let go of the weight he hadn’t realized he was holding on his shoulders, and smiled. “I guess not,” he said, and placed a hand on Teddy’s shoulder and the other in his hand. As the girls turned on a waltz and they steadfastly ignored Tommy’s snorting laughter in the background as they took the first few steps, Billy looked up at his dance partner. “Oh, and Teddy?”

“Yeah?”

“No more bets. Ever.”

He just laughed. And so, in the middle of the hideout, they danced. And if Billy didn’t hate wearing the ballgown as much as he thought he would, it wasn’t brought up ever again.