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[balancingminds]

Charles is tired and everyone at the Facility is feeling a bit too close. Cerebro is at the point where they can start finding and meeting other mutants which he should be celebrating but he's not ready yet.

Dealing with Javert in Milliways and wondering if everything will come together has left him tired of selling what he believes. He goes up to the roof to watch the sun go down, there's some space up here.

Comments

[balancingminds]

"Of sorts is the right way to put it. I bought it after a horrible month in Milliways, October when a god thought I was rather tasty,"

He stands with a smile that twists, Slenderman brought him down low in a way he hated.

[markedformore]

Erik's expression goes icy cold at the news. He knows that Charles has come into contact with less-than-savoury characters before, but he never likes to hear about it. "You do know that telling me this is a prelude to me finding this god," he says, spitefully, "and doing something about it?"

[balancingminds]

"He's defeated and gone from Milliways by others and not worth your anger. His skill was to find weakness and probe within it through fears and almost haunts. He took my shields apart with great skill and I have rebuilt them. Now drink, I'm grateful that you would fight for me but in this there's no need. I just thought you should know of it because even my shields are imperfect,"

As they talked, they've reached his room and Charles has pulled out two glasses from his bedside and poured the scotch.

[markedformore]

"If you thought you were ever at all perfect, then you were deceiving yourself," Erik warns, taking a seat in the room and gratefully accepting the drink when poured. "Not flawed, but never perfect. There is always something we can improve upon, within ourselves. Especially when it comes to our powers. I believe it's you who's been teaching me that thought."

[balancingminds]

Charles nods as he raises his glass,

"Conceded and I'm constantly improving my shields, Slenderman simply gave me a shock."

[markedformore]

"One you're recovering from," Erik says, echoing Charles' own words. "Well, then, if that's the case, then will you be ready to continue our work at a near point in the future?"

[balancingminds]

"Mainly recovered from and I am always ready to continue our work."

[markedformore]

"Perhaps not immediately after tonight," Erik concedes, glancing at the bottle and how full it was. "Perhaps the morning off? Or better yet, a filling breakfast?"

[balancingminds]

He laughs and gets comfortable in his seat, "I think both would be ideal."

[markedformore]

In thanks for that compromise, Erik lifts his glass in salute, affording a smile to Charles that's as pleased as it is relaxed. "So, something terrible gave Charles a fright. I'm afraid that's only confirming my reticence in keeping away, you know."

[balancingminds]

"Yes, but you're not terrible, Erik. Powerful, dangerous, arrogant and fascinating but not terrible,"

He smirks and leans forward to clink Erik's glass.

[markedformore]

"All those words save arrogant aren't exactly insults, Charles," Erik mildly remarks, arching his brow as he takes a sip of his alcohol now that it's been baptized, so to speak. "And even arrogance has its uses. I'm glad to hear you find me fascinating, however," he muses.

[balancingminds]

"It does, yes, people don't question you when you know even when you perhaps shouldn't know. Oh I do, I'd also add intriguing, because I've seen parts of your mind but you are unlike anyone I've ever met,"

Erik has a way of making some of his words feel rather small and he's good with words.

[markedformore]

Erik raises a brow at the compliment, finding it pleasing without being insulting given that some compliments that he was inclined to receive were over things he would rather not be discussed, fully. "Well, then, if you're only going to say pleasant things about my mind, please continue."

[balancingminds]

"So the trick to gaining your company is flattery. I'll remember that."

[markedformore]

"Perhaps I'm a vain man and I enjoy to hear compliments." It's partially true, but Erik's self-confidence has been built upon his knowing belief in who he is and his strength. He knows he can survive anything. He knows that he is better. "And your company, Charles, is easy to procure. One need only ask."

[balancingminds]

That surety is something Charles understands, he knows how important it is know yourself and Erik knows much of himself, "I think you can be vain as can I. I'm glad that I can simply ask."

That level of intimacy is a rare gift.

[markedformore]

Erik takes a long sip of his drink, regarding Charles curiously as he relaxes into his chair. "Are you going to tell me more about your encounter with this strange man who took apart your shields, then? Or am I left to guess?"

[balancingminds]

"No, I'll tell you. His name was Slenderman, apparently he's a tree god of some sort and a scary story in certain worlds. What keeps me sane and together is that I always know where I begin and others end. No matter how deep I go into another person's mind, I can always find my way back to what makes me. Somehow he took those shields and that certainty and poked holes in them until I felt I was coming apart at the seams,"

His eyes stay on Erik as he wants him to understand how he works, this isn't something he shares.

[markedformore]

Erik narrows his eyes as he tries to fathom precisely how that would work. It truly is terrifying, but the question on his mind is how. It makes him shiver and fear, given that it sounds all too like what the enemies of his youth wanted of his people. "And what does he do to people who aren't like you?"

[balancingminds]

"He manipulated people, our fear was his power. Some of us like me were going to be sacrificed to him somehow. He brought nightmares and other troubles but I wasn't aware of most of them,"

Charles takes a shaky breath as he remembers that house.

"I thought that I'd been put in an asylum."

[markedformore]

Erik imagines that an asylum might be a genuinely petrifying fear for Charles -- one that couldn't be shaken easily -- and he tips his head to the side to regard him. "You're not, though," he points out. "You're here. Safe. You were stronger than him."

[balancingminds]

"Not as much as I could have been. I lost my grip for a time and that's not something I can ever let happen again."

[markedformore]

"I'm rather shamed to think I wasn't there to help stop it," Erik remarks, feeling not as though he ought to be Charles' protector, but rather that he should do it because of their friendship and whatever more that Erik did feel. "That I didn't sense something was awry."

[balancingminds]

"I didn't have a door while it happened and was in Milliways. You didn't see me at my worst and you would have known. I've wanted to tell you about this but it was a strange time,"

He would have liked Erik's help at the time, but he knows that Erik cares which means rather more.