Prompt Post: ROUND TWO
ROUND TWO IS CLOSED
<< ROUND ONE | ALL ROUNDS | ROUND THREE >>
Rules post.
Flat view.
ROUND TWO: Updates Post (WIPs only)
ROUND TWO: Fills Post (completed Fills only)
damalur's firstclasskink on Delicious.
Volunteers always welcome.
Please use the Discussion Post if you want to talk about community alterations or get my modly attention. Do not ( Read more... )
<< ROUND ONE | ALL ROUNDS | ROUND THREE >>
Rules post.
Flat view.
ROUND TWO: Updates Post (WIPs only)
ROUND TWO: Fills Post (completed Fills only)
damalur's firstclasskink on Delicious.
Volunteers always welcome.
Please use the Discussion Post if you want to talk about community alterations or get my modly attention. Do not ( Read more... )
His power had always been his one comfort, an indomitable force against those who would do him harm. Until only recently, when metal itself proved to be a tool he couldn’t always control, did he again feel betrayed by his power after he’d failed to find it from the first.
Never again, he’d thought the moment it came within reach. Never again would it fail him - would he fail himself. But he’d been wrong.
There was a sound to his right, and he turned, surprised. Theo looked at him wide-eyed before quickly drawing a pillow up before his face as if to shield himself from any reciprocal stare.
Erik looked at those small fingers clutching at the pillowcase, then he reached for the helmet. Wearing it was more out of habit than any true need these days.
Where once he feared having company in his mind, now he questioned its strange silence.
Theo pulled the pillow down slowly. His hair stood at all angles.
Erik entertained the idea that the boy’s power was actually to defy gravity. He allowed a small grin.
Theo frowned suspiciously.
“Good morning, Theo,” Erik said with a sigh. He swung his legs off the bed.
The haze of a cloudy day's light drifted through the pastel green curtains, and the crisp air smelled like smoked wood. They’d reached the countryside late last evening and would be here for another day until the next train to the city.
Erik reached out to the bedside, tugging lightly with his mind until the coin and bullet fell into his hand. He curled them into a tight fist until they warmed from his blood, then stood.
“Get dressed,” Erik said.
Theo remained where he sat, maintaining his custom of doing everything but what was asked of him. His shoulders fell forward in a rather defiant gesture, making him seem a bit plumper than he was, a bit younger as well.
Erik rolled his eyes, flicked his fingers lightly in the direction of the other bed.
“Ow! What -” Theo rubbed a reddening mark on his forehead where his metal cuff had smacked him.
“That was a love tap,” Erik said as he passed toward the washroom in response to the baleful expression sent his way.
He thought he perhaps oughtn't be so amused at his own displays, nor at how flustered the boy became when picked on in such a manner, but he really couldn't help himself. Amusement wherever possible, these days.
Theo threw his pillow in retaliation, which Erik easily deflected.
“You're such - such a liar,” Theo muttered as he slipped off his bed, one fist rubbing across his eyes. “Big stupid liar.”
“Dress,” Erik said. “Now.”
Theo huffed a few heavy breaths before hunching further and walking to the small knapsack Erik had procured for him. He unzipped it slowly, drawing out first one sock and walking over to place it carefully on the bed before walking back to pull out the other. He carefully kept his eyes downcast, but his languid movements said all they needed to.
Erik stepped closer, as if in threat, but then he caught sight where one sleeve slipped down a thin wrist and over a thin metal cuff - the edges of thin red lines stood slightly raised, stark against otherwise smooth skin.
Erik stepped back once more and retreated into the washroom.
Reply
“Your helmet is ugly.”
Erik looked up down below the hotel counter where Theo was crouched over his knapsack. Erik eyed the glare aimed his way, an expression he was beginning to regard as a default expression. Though, the boy’s mouth was messy with chicken gravy from the in-room meal they’d shared, detracting from the malevolence in his face.
“I do believe you’re wrong on that account, Theo,” Erik said easily. “Such headwear is becoming all the rage.”
Theo continued to eye him balefully for a moment longer before muttering, “Liar,” under his breath.
Erik ignored him in favor of searching for the maître d’, who was still occupied with the telephone. When Erik finally caught his eye, tipping his finger in request, the responsive quick glance away made his skin crawl.
Looking surreptitiously around, Erik noted the emptiness of the lobby. Strange for a Friday evening such as this, even for a remote location. It was a muted sort of quiet here, empty and unnatural.
He felt the metal of weapons before he saw the flashing lights outside.
It had, of course, occurred to him that they might be found. No, the helmet remained on for the time being, mere habit or no, and he’d done his best to remain out of the public eye whilst it was on.
But it appeared as though the authorities knew the boy if not his captor. Erik hadn’t thought public lawmen would be alerted to Theo’s disappearance, not when there’d been such care to keep him hidden below the hospital, hooked up to machines and continuously experimented on in such a way.
“What - ” asked Theo as Erik reached down for him.
“Come on,” he hissed, tugging the boy up.
Reply
Erik gripped him tighter by the arm. “Leave it.” He flung one hand at the maître d’, crushing the phone back into its cradle to the sound of a surprised shout, jammed the front doors shut, and began down the hallway.
He hadn’t expected Theo to resist. But there the boy was, digging heels into the carpet and attempting to pull his arm free.
“Theo,” Erik said, trying to control his tone. It came out more strangled than calm.
“No! Let me go!” Theo turned toward the door, to where the maître d’ apparently had ducked beneath the counter.
“Theo,” Erik said again.
“Help! I’m kidnapped!”
Erik saw a flash of light, a searing pain in his hand like electric shards climbing up his arm. He let go on instinct, stumbling backwards and using the pull of the metal around him to keep his balance.
That power -
The policemen began to shout outside, and they began attempting to bring down the blockade door. The maître d’ found his courage and was futilely attempting to tear the barricade down from the inside to allow them in.
“Help!” Theo cried at him. “I’m - ”
Erik crushed his fist together in one impulsive moment, tightening the cuffs against ankles, wrists, the choker he’d transformed into a necklace drawn harshly around that frail throat.
Theo’s legs kicked out despite Erik’s control. He choked, light refracting red and blue from his tearing eyes. Erik stepped forward.
“If you go with them, they will put you back in that hospital, Theo,” he said quietly. “They will tie you down and drug you. If you go with them, they will take your power against your will. Just as they did before.”
He released his hold, removing the metal cuffs completely from Theo’s body, rounding them into a single orb of silver. The boy shrank back, one hand at his throat, the other outstretched as if to ward off another attack, but within his palm, there light gathered.
Erik raised his hands slowly, his first gesture of peace. “Come with me, Theo. Do me one favor, just the one, and I will set you free. You need never be held captive again.”
The banging against the door suddenly ceased. His ears rang at the absence of sound. The air turned hazy around them, smoke spilling from beneath the front door. They were being smoking out.
“You’re a liar,” Theo gasped out, shoulders beginning to heave. “A liar! All you do is lie to me! Lie, lie, lie, lie - ”
“When did I ever lie to you?” Erik cut in. “In the hospital, I told you I needed your help. I told you I would make it so you were never a captive again.” He held out one hand, palm up. “Do me this favor, Theo. One favor, and I will keep to that promise.”
Then, an explosion. Shrapnel flew from the door. Fire spread, climbed to the ceiling. Uniformed men poured into the lobby, weapons raised.
Everything froze but for the orange, yellow licking flames. Erik held them, by the smallest scraps of metal to the weapons and fastenings on the men, held petrified in place, his free hand raised against the world around just them two.
Theo’s hand was warm in his.
__
Reply
Theo’s hand was warm in his.
Oh my, oh my!
Erik is well defined in this, which is probably the one thing most X-men first class fics lack for me (as well as for Charles, actually). You can feel the conflict, how far he is ready to go and yet he is nothing like Shaw.
I wish you would de-anon! Or if you could direct me to some other fills you've written? If I had your talent, I would claim it :)
Reply
Erik is well defined in this
This made me the happiest! I want my writing to make the characters more full and rounded, rather than merely having them act as empty puppets that look and mimic like the characters in a movie or book, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm glad he doesn't seem flat to you.
Soon as I'm done, I'll de-anon! I'd like to finish it first before claiming it. Thanks again for your wonderful encouragement!
Reply
Leave a comment