(no subject)

[balancingminds]

The compartment isn't as elegant as the ones in Europe but it will do and Charles has found them a comfortable one to get north.

There's space enough for them both to stretch out and since its not a heavy time, they have a measure of privacy, and the club car's not far away.

Comments

[markedformore]

Erik has travelled on trains before and has never been able to truly shake his wariness of their compartments from his mind. He is shaky, vibrating with tension, but he tries to place that behind a wall so Charles won't sense it, draping his jacket over the back of the seats. "Shall we sit? Or would you like to get something to drink?"

[balancingminds]

Erik's tension worries him and he considers how close the club car is,

"I think drinks first. Then we can sit, it shouldn't take too long, this is an express."

[markedformore]

Erik nods, smoothing his hands over his shirt to keep it from wrinkling before he proceeds towards the club car, ordering beer for the both of them. Something light might do well to calm his nerves without setting him on edge. "Beer is fine, I hope?"

[balancingminds]

"Yes, works just fine,"

Charles goes behind him, noting who's traveling, there's a familiarity to their thoughts which is restful after the CIA.

[markedformore]

Erik hands the bottle over, taking the time to make sure he has the awareness of the surroundings, heading for their compartment once more, grateful for the privacy. He assumes Charles will simply follow him, not considering any other option.

[balancingminds]

He takes the beer and heads back, sitting down in his seat and lifting his bottle to Erik,

"To whatever we may find."

[markedformore]

Erik salutes him, crossing his legs as he adjusts himself, curious about what they're walking into. "What did you say that this was?" he wonders. "Some sort of club?"

[balancingminds]

"Yes, the polite phrase is a gentlemen's club where women dance and act as companions,"

As he leans against the seat, he shares an image of what this club looks like to Erik from what he saw on Cerebro.

[markedformore]

Erik raises his brows when he sees precisely what Charles had seen. "Now I see why you elected to drag us here instead of down to Virginia," he deadpans dryly, giving Charles a knowing look.

[balancingminds]

"Virgina's easy to get to when we're ready. And the club reminded me a little of places that Raven and I used to sneak off to in New York. Not exactly the same, night clubs but something along those lines,"

Also he wants more time with Erik without everyone else around.

[markedformore]

Erik raises his brow at the confession that Charles used to sneak into New York for similar clubs. "If you're good," he remarks, "then I might just buy you a lapdance with some of our new money from the CIA's stipend. I would dearly love to claim such a thing on my expenses."

[balancingminds]

He raises his eyebrows at that,

"You want me to be good? Define your terms."

[markedformore]

Erik works Shaw's coin around his fingers, an absent-minded movement that takes little thought. "I think, perhaps, if you are able to convince our mutant to come with us, that would qualify as being good," he says, seeing as he can hardly reward a restraint of physical touching of the girls they're about to see with the very same.

[balancingminds]

"That shouldn't be too great a challenge,"

He watches the coin dance across Erik's fingers, its a soothing motion, a form of almost meditation.

[markedformore]

"Confident in your abilities?" Erik assesses with a nod of his head, happy to see Charles so sure of himself. "Well, we'll see. Perhaps she won't find anything to her liking."

[balancingminds]

"I can be very convincing, ask Raven. I'm certain we can figure something to draw her out,"

Charles smirks at the thought of how between the two of them, they cover most ideas of male attractiveness and they're fellow mutants.

[markedformore]

Erik knows firsthand how convincing Charles can be, but elects to say nothing more upon the subject, sitting back and sipping at the neck of his beer slowly. "Are we to take her back on the train tonight? Or have you booked us a motel?"

[balancingminds]

"I found us a place to stay as we don't want her to feel too rushed. And there's no need for us to hurry more than we have to,"

They're not that far away and he's not expecting a great deal of trouble.

[markedformore]

Erik's smile turns languid and pleased at that, happy to hear that they've arrangements to aid them. "Well, then, here's to our little trip," he says, raising the glass in the air for Charles to toast. "And whatever trouble we might find."

[balancingminds]

Charles grins and raises his beer,

"Yes, to enjoyable trouble."

[markedformore]

Sometimes, Erik thinks that Charles could never know true trouble, but the man has done things here and there that have Erik doubting such a belief. "Tell me," he says. "Have you ever been to such a club before?"

[balancingminds]

"Yes, at Oxford, I found it an educational trip because considering how often people daydream and think about sex. When confronted with opportunities, many of them end up rather boring,"

It was a fun night, but one he mainly watched and drank at with some flirting.

[markedformore]

Erik raises his brow, refusing to let a comment like that merely pass his notice by. "Charles, you can hardly begin with that and not follow through," he chides. "What do people think about?"

[balancingminds]

"Everything, fantasies about the people around them, all sorts of ideas. When I was younger, I thought them odd until I understood then I blushed a good deal,"

He laughs and stretches out on the seat, sometimes the thoughts get tiring but he knows how to filter them out.

[markedformore]

"So that means that people take those in their immediate surroundings into mind for their fantasies," Erik says, clipped and cool. He leans out into the hall slightly. "Tell me, then. What are those women in the opposite car thinking about you?"