permutates | 01st transformation . video . locks for erik & charles

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01st transformation . video . locks for erik & charles

[ She greets the barge with a smile. Her appearance is 'normal' - normal for a human. No blue skin or yellow eyes in sight. ]

Hi. [ And a little wave. She regrets it immediately. That's kind of embarrassing, isn't it? And not something that she should be doing, because she's here for a purpose. ] I'm Raven.

I heard a few of my friends were here, so I thought I'd come… help. I'm a warden.

And I'm here because I really believe that even if you're trapped, you still should have a chance to figure out who you are. I think that's important.

[ locked to Erik ]

Well, you thought I was crazy for trying, but I found you.

[ locked to Charles ]

[ She considered her approach to this for a long time. There are a lot of things that they should probably say to each other, and she's supposed to be responsible here. She can't just avoid him, as much as she wants to, while she gets her head together. ]

You should know that I'm here.

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You better have. [ And it's muffled, into his shoulder, but true. True through the hate and the love, because one thing she always wants to know is that Charles needs her. Just loving her isn't enough.

She can indulge in this, now. Pretend that her leaving was the worst thing that ever happened to him. (Even though she knows there's probably something else. There always is.) ]

If it really has been two years.

[In this case, "something else" is probably all the trauma he's been through since getting here, and it's still strange, to realize he's got more than just the scars on his back now, marking him as a different person. He can't ever go back to being the person he was before the Vanquish, before the Overlook, before feeling his best friend die, before realizing to what lengths he'd go to protect the people he loved.

He misses the person he was before, sometimes. Most of the time, really, because everything had seemed easier before this had all happened. And there's really no question in his mind that going through all of it would have been easier if she'd been there to lean on and keep optimistic for. He's sort of not sure how honest he wants to be about what's happened, wondering if she'll notice and what she'll think when she does.

He chokes out a laugh.]

It's been a very long two years.

[ Only been two months for her. She can't imagine where she would have been, two years from now. Maybe she would've wanted to go back to Charles by then. Maybe -

But she can't wish herself that far along. She is who she is. She can't be anyone else.

She pulls back, to look him firmly in the eye. ] You'll tell me about it.

[He hesitates a little. It had been easy to tell Alex about it, because he'd wanted to warn him about how bad this place was, but considering how he'd reacted... he was scared of how she would. He didn't want to be broken, and he didn't want to advertise it, but he wants to start off on the right foot with her, and avoiding the truth won't be doing anyone any favors.

Still.

He nods briefly, not looking her in the eyes.] Alright.

[He wipes his wrist over his eyes briefly and draws a breath, feeling sort of embarrassed. When he's finished, he does finally meet her gaze again, feeling sort of unsure, because he wants to say it, wants to let her know he doesn't mind, that he approves, that he's sorry for stifling her, but he doesn't want her to take it the wrong way.]

You don't have to hide here, Raven. You can be yourself.

[ A little, awkward laugh - ] You don't have to right now.

[ How is it so easy to talk to him? She wonders if this is betraying herself.

Her face goes a little stony when he says that, though she can't say why, exactly. She can't even really say why she picked this face for the broadcast. For opening the door to Charles. ]

Ivy said that.

[He drops the subject for the time being, even though there's a part of him that's saying it might be better to get it out of the way now and not during a truth flood where he's spilling out every detail of what it had been like to feel the gunshot, to feel Erik one second and then gone the next, to find his friend's body and know there was nothing he could do, that Erik was gone and might never come back.

So he just tries to smile a little, maybe encouragingly, maybe just sort of shyly, because he doesn't know how she's changed, either. Not really.]

It's true. No one has to hide here. For all the things I wish I could change about this place, I'm glad we have that.

Well - [ She steps aside, a little. ] Come in?

[ The room is generic. A hotel room. Not her room from the mansion, not anyplace she's lived since then. She doesn't want something that just reminds her of somewhere else. ]

[He steps inside, and doesn't comment on the room. He knows she doesn't think of the mansion as home, and probably not the flat they'd lived in in Oxford anymore, either, and it hurts, but he doesn't say anything.

She still hasn't changed, and he doesn't know if he should repeat that it's okay, that he wants her to do what she's comfortable with, so he just keeps his mouth shut.]

I'm not really sure where to start. [He finally admits, feeling more than a little awkward. It's been a long time, and he's missed her desperately, but he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't want to do the wrong thing.]

[ She hasn't changed yet and she doesn't plan to. This is a defense. It's a second skin, less permeable than her own. ]

Why did you come here?

[ Seems as good of a place as any to start the story. ]

Edited 2013-07-20 03:19 (UTC)

[It's more like the worst possible place for Charles, and he tries not to look too uncomfortable or pained. He's still torn between being honest and glossing over the painful things, but again he's reminded that he'd rather have control over when she found out. He's still got the scars, he's still got the wheelchairs, and those could be hidden, but he couldn't stop himself from blurting it out during a flood.

He finally sighs and gestures to a chair.]

May I sit down?

Yeah.

[ There's a table with a couple of chairs. By the window, there are two armchairs. There's also a bed.

She doesn't indicate which he should pick. ]

[He picks one of the chairs at the table, although he pulls it out so that when he sits, he can balance his elbows on his thighs and clasp his hands in front of him. He doesn't really look up at her for a long moment, and stays focused on a patch of floor when he does take a deep breath and just. Attempt to start telling the truth.]

After I was shot, [And now there's no turning back, even though he wishes he could come up with something else to say.] I was taken back to an American hospital, where they told me the bullet had partially severed my spinal chord, and I'd never walk again. [And he can still remember the desperation that had come along with the announcement, even though he'd known how unlikely it was for him to ever regain feeling after he'd realized what happened.]

It took a long time to recover and learn how to live my life again, [Months, really, full of severe depression and bruises and scrapes from slipping and just forgetting that he couldn't really feel anything below his waist anymore.] But I didn't want it to be permanent. The Admiral offered me a chance to change it, and I took it.

Erik and I arrived on the same day. I didn't know that he'd be here, and I hadn't seen him since... since you both left. [He's not judging, he'd told her she should go, because he knew asking them to stay would have made things worse for everyone.] We've been here ever since. One of the other wardens was able to fix the damage to my spine after I'd been here for about nine months, and I changed my deal to something else.

[ She doesn't register it, for a long moment. He just says it, and it didn't even occur to her - she didn't think - why would he have told them to go if he was seriously injured? That means he wasn't seriously injured. It couldn't have been the bullet on the shore in Cuba.

Could it?

And it clicks, suddenly and horribly, and she sits down hard on the edge of the bed. ]

[He doesn't look up, but he hears it, and he wants to reach out to her, brush his mind against hers and reassure her that it was alright. But he doesn't, because he'd promised her he wouldn't.]

I'd rather you hear it from me than someone else. [He sounds tired and resigned, because he feels terrible, but. It's behind him. It's behind all of them.]

[ He told her the truth.

That's something, anyway. The truth, even though it hurt. ]

Why did you let us go?

[ They could have helped. ]

[That's something he's never been asked before, and he looks up finally, staring at her and remembering what it had been like on the beach. It was hard to believe he hadn't seen her since then.]

Neither one of you wanted to stay. I didn't want you to just because you felt guilty.

[You're not the only one who felt like they weren't needed or loved.]

We didn't have to leave right then! Azazel could have taken you anywhere. He would have.

[ Especially knowing Shaw's attitude towards mutants - all mutants, whether they fight him or not. ]

[Don't talk about Shaw. B(]

Raven, it's fine. I'm fine. I'm not angry with you about it.

But we could have helped you.

[He bites the inside of his cheek, refuses to let himself ask "then why didn't you come back?" because he'd needed their help after everything, and he'd missed them more than he felt like he should have. He didn't want to accuse her, didn't want to make it sound like he wanted her to stay with him even if she was unhappy, because he doesn't, and he never did, but it still hurt. It still hurts to think that Erik left him there, too, even after everything they'd gotten over and apologized for.]

Why did you decide to come? [Because changing the subject is just all around safer. B(]

Because - [ And she looks away. Because she doesn't trust him.

He told her the truth. Is it cruelty or fairness to tell him the truth back? ]

Because sometimes you swallow people up. And I didn't want that to happen to Erik.

[He looks like she just slapped him. He feels like she just slapped him, and there's some horrible, painful emotion bubbling up in his chest that he can't quite identify, but he feels like it's choking him.

When he does find his voice, it's measured, trying to hold all that emotion back even though it's threatening to explode out of him.]

I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be, and I'm sorry for what happened between us, Raven. Beyond sorry, and I wish there was something I could do to make it right. But you have no idea what we've been through, here, and I would never do anything to hurt him. The only reason we're both still sane is that we've had each other to rely on, and I can't- [His voice cracks with emotion before he cuts himself off, because he can believe it, though, but that doesn't stop the accusation from hurting, and he abruptly feels like he needs to get out of here. He desperately wants to fix things between them, but he can't do that if they get into a fight over this.]

All I want is for Erik to be safe, and happy, and off this godforsaken ship for good, but the only way that's going to happen is if he comes to his own decisions about what he wants to do. And if he never wants to change, I'm not going to try to force him into doing it, and I'm certainly not abandoning him here.

[ She watches him hurt, and she thinks good, and she thinks how can I do this to him and she thinks a lot of other things, and she's glad Charles isn't in her mind, because he probably couldn't make sense of this either. ]

I'm sorry. [ It's whispered, and her shoulders are a little hunched, and she feels small. Her eyes have slipped to yellow, she realizes, when she blinks.

She doesn't even know what she's apologizing for. Saying it? Feeling that way? Hating him for something he did because he loved her? ]

[He wants to walk over to the bed, sit down next to her and hug her tightly, reassure her that he was the one who was sorry, he was the one who had done everything wrong, that he wasn't angry. But he is, even though he can recognize that it's coming from a place of hurt more than anything else.

He wonders if he should just leave.]

I don't... [He takes a breath, runs a hand through his hair.] I understand why you're upset with me. I do. But I don't understand what I've done that makes you think I'm some sort of manipulative monster.

[ She shakes her head. ]

That's not what I think.

[ Her voice is halting, and she isn't looking at him. ]

I think you were always trying to protect me and to love me. And that's how - that's why I always told myself that it should be okay. That I should just trust you, and there was something wrong with me for hating it.

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