outer_divide | text; backdated to tuesday night (27th)

[he's lost track of time since his arrival. bar the few, brief conversations he's had on the network during his breaks from standing watch over charles' pod, he hasn't spoken to many people yet. he hasn't seen a need to. not while he's still trying to work out what to do next. he knows that charles would be disappointed in him if he knew how little he'd done so far. that he'd spent all this time mourning the loss of someone that hadn't actually belonged to him for years. or was that just months now? he doesn't know anymore.

but regardless, he's forced himself to leave again. this time, for good. until he knows just how to get charles out of the pod, he knows he can't go back. not to mention that already, there's already another problem he needs to deal with.

more than one, really.]

If there are any others here who know a man named Erik Lehnsherr (or Magneto) in their home worlds, now is the time to mention it.

[yes, it's text only right now. no, that isn't changing for any of you yet. sorry?

okay, hold on. you're getting that other question too. the sooner he gets the answers he needs, the better.]

Are there any people here familiar with the technology used to contain those trapped aboard the ship? I need a way to open one of the pods without harming the person inside.

[and then on to those...other issues.]

[locked to xaviers]

I apologise for my absence since my arrival. There was something that needed to be take care of first. Charles, if your offer of somewhere to stay still stands, I think I'd welcome it right now.

[and then reluctantly tagged on-]

[locked to shepard]

Thank you.

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[Quick, but not surprising. She appreciates the elaboration.]

Is that where you've been?

[She switches to voice, soft and concerned.]

You're his Erik, then?

He helped me greatly, when I arrived here. We both...

[She trails off. For once, she doesn't have the words.]

[he's reluctant to follow suit, but after another few minutes, he does switch the feed over to audio too.]

...he's a good man. We- He may see things differently to me, but he still wants to protect our kind from harm.

You both are.

...Speaking of which - I spoke to young Quicksilver about Magneto.

I'm not that man.

[whether he's referring to being a good one or magneto, he doesn't explain. really, it's both.]

I trust you had more luck talking to him than I did.

I know. Please try to keep it that way.

[A rueful smirk quirks her lips.]

Only slightly. He's a stubborn one.

I had better luck with Todd.

He does seem more approachable. [though given their apparent feelings toward magneto, he doesn't know if it's simply out of fear.]

They aren't going to trust me because of him though. You may do better.

[Her voice lowers, slightly, grim and sad.] I have the feeling he's not accustomed to kindness.

I can put in a good word for you, at least.

The X-Men have apparently refuted any attempts at friendship.

[which doesn't make sense to him, given just what charles had attempted to build with his own x-men in bete noire.]

I don't need you to try and sway his opinion for me. It sounds like they need a mentor more than anything. [and he knows he'll already have his hands full with havok and the newest charles.]

As long as they know to ask for help if they need it, I won't interfere without their permission.

[Her voice hardens, then.] I wiped his mind, Erik. So he wouldn't remember the school.

[the pause this time is so he can weigh up his words first.]

I've met five versions of you so far, and no two of you have been the same. You aren't responsible for his actions.

But I may be, one day. Perhaps not this specific incident, but...

[She sighs, soft and weary.]

I realise it's quite a lot to ask, but - please, Erik. Don't let me become that person. [She doesn't want to be someone who will violate a child's mind for their own convenience.]

[it's a similar promise to the one he and charles had made to one another when they were younger. that they'd keep each other stable, no matter what they were facing at the time. but it'd largely been charles who'd been stuck with most of the work as they grew up. returning the favour had only come in the more recent years.]

While I'm here- [no. that's not quite how he wanted to start this.]

Charles taught me how to keep intruders from my mind, so there's only so far you can go before reflexes kick in.

But that space until then. [a breath. he's trying to help, but it isn't the most comfortable offer he could make.] If you ever feel your control slipping, or you ever have a reason to question your actions, find me. That space will always be open to you.

[For a moment she can't speak.

When she does, her voice is heavy with emotion, with shock and gratitude and trust and affection.]

Thank you, Erik.

There's no need.

[not unless she's forced to take up the offer.]

All the same, is there anything I can offer you?

[instead of the usual dismissal, there's instead a long moment of consideration, for once taking the offer seriously.]

Charles has already offered me somewhere to stay. For now, that's enough.

[give him a few more days and he may change his mind though.]

The offer remains open.

[Then she grins, sudden and bright.]

And it will be a pleasure to have you.

I'll do my best not to annoy you both too much.

[it's meant as a joke, but there's a note of truth there. he knows joining her and charles isn't going to be a particularly comfortable change of pace, for any of them.]

I very much doubt you could.

[It's said lightly, but despite every complication, she means it quite readily.]

We'll have to see.

[there's a memory attached to the words this time; one he actually means to share. it's happy enough that he doesn't have any issue with her seeing it, despite it being a part of his past.

it's of himself and charles, far younger than they are now. still teenagers, in the time following the end of the war but still long before israel, and where the two of them were still at their closest. it's a memory of a night spent in their room, charles sitting on his bed and surrounded by books, all too easily engrossed by them. erik sat on his own bed, doing his best to distract the other boy by attempting to project his thoughts as loudly as he can.

it's of the pillow he ultimately took to the face as charles grew annoyed enough by the distraction and tried to get him to stop.]

[Her eyes widen, before closing against the present to immerse herself in the past. Her lips curve into a warm, amused smile.

When she speaks again, her voice is achingly soft.]

That was...thank you, Erik.

[there's only the illusion of a shrug, at first. remembering the past is all too easy to do, but ignoring the pain associated with it, less so. too much has changed since then, and for the relationship between himself and charles, very little of it has been for the better. so trying to set that aside, to detach those memories from those emotions that have developed since, takes a level of control that he could only ever hope to have. he isn't the telepath here.]

I should be there within the hour. [far easier to move on and ignore just what's happened.]

text; backdated to tuesday night (27th)

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