001 - Video
[It's a two-for-one special when the feed begins. The face in front belongs to a young man with dirty blond hair, aquiline nose and perfect jawline. And he seems to be shirtless.]
[The face peeking over his shoulder looks to be around the same age with dark hair and pale skin. Mostly ears and cheekbones beyond that. He's still stuck in one of ( Read more... )
[The face peeking over his shoulder looks to be around the same age with dark hair and pale skin. Mostly ears and cheekbones beyond that. He's still stuck in one of ( Read more... )
[ But Charles referencing his internal comparison to Camelot's court historian, librarian and geniologist pales, pales compared to what comes next. Arthur reels like he's being struck a dozen blows. ]
[ ... twelve years of peace ... ]
[ Camelot has barely seen twelve years of peace, even after Uther's purges, even having treated with the surrounding kingdoms. And what there had been seemed hopeless to recover, slipping through his fingers with Morgana's machinations, the movements of the Druids, and the strife across the border at Cendred's fall. ]
[ ... defeat the Roman emporer ... ]
[ Arthur learned strategy at the knee of the greats, poring over books by Greeks and Romans - he wasn't much for light reading, but he'd studied well, tactics and geography and political machinations, a literary education to match his physical one. He'd dreamed of Athens, as a boy, and the Holy Roman Empire, but there are not many reasons for a prince to travel. ]
[ ... your wife Guinevere ... ]
[ This one burns through him and he almost doesn't hear the rest. Gwen. Gwen. He'd dreamed that they- that if his father passed- Camelot needs an heir, and he loves her so, a first love, bright and romantic and optimistic, filled with a belief in its own immortality. ]
[ And the Druid boy, Mordred, that he and Morgana had rescued. The first time he'd conceded that his father was wrong, that not all magic users had to die. He remembers well those eerie blue eyes, the hooded figures leading him away into the forest. Arthur has never, since then, wondered what became of the child. He allows himself to wonder now. ]
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Yes, well ... as I said, that's just one of many different versions, though Guinevere is almost universally your queen in all of them and regardless of how you come to it, you are regarded as one of the greatest kings of your realm.
Round table, quite the progressive thinking, more inclusive of the men who stand with you.
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[ whoops you broke him. he's still just going over the same things in his head &mash; there's pride, and disbelief, and a deep, ugly insecurity that this is a mistake, he will never amount to the man that legend has these people expecting. ]
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I've ... run into a similar situation myself, Arthur. It is, unnerving.
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How did you know what-
[ -mind. Sorcery? Christ, don't think about anything. ]
I was thinking!?
[ How dare he. And the anger is borne of a hatred of vulnerability and the confusion of a pleasant young man being bloody magical and everything is overwhelming today, he hates this place, hates it. ]
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Sorry, Arthur but you were projecting loudly. Lets not let this get us off on the wrong foot eh, now there's a good chap.
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Too bad Charles is horrible about taking a hint.]
You do realize the device was more for your comfort than my own, yes?
I can see, where your trepidation for this situation is coming from, Arthur but ignoring it, isn't going to bring you any answers and right now, you need all the answers you can get.
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I don't want answers. I want you out of my head.
[ He squeezes the bridge of his nose, feeling incredibly naked. There's too much he keeps from others, or from himself, to be entirely comfortable with this. Arthur demands honesty of himself but he also lives between the lines, hiding all his deep passions and doubts and anything that belongs to the man instead of the prince, as though the two aren't the same. ]
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Not if he truly wanted to keep those private areas of his mind, private.]
I ... do sincerely apologize, Arthur. It is not my intention to be intrusive, though I feel it important to advise you that you are projecting more personal thoughts that you mean to. I am deliberately shielding away from them.
But you must, must understand that this place you have come, abilities like mine are common place and in fact I have learned that some of the people kidnapped here are finding themselves with powers of the mind they've never known at home.
[Planting the idea, that people are being 'changed' here maybe a little deeper than just the words, in an effort to deflect attention from Merlin's natural gifts. At a surface level only comes a explanation of the Force and how it works across the whole of this Republic, how it is considered a natural thing.
Then continuing, gently but firmly.]
Turning away from the situation will not change the reality of it. You are better served, learning how to shield your thoughts. I can help you, Arthur but only if you stop hiding.
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I'm not hiding.
[ But the idea of anyone being able to do this is abhorrent. He has no weapons against it, no defences, couldn't even tell that it is occurring but for Charles' voice in his head. So the idea of a shield, however means he must come by it, is appealing. ]
[ He stops thinking that Charles should get out, and starts thinking. He's not a stupid man, and if there are irrational prejudices carved into his very firmament, there are other things too, honor and honesty, determination to master anything he tries, the sense that Charles is not a threat even while his skin is still crawling from the feeling of it. ]
[ After a moment he flicks the datapad back on. Still false calm layered over anger. ]
All right.
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Hello. [He greeted him back with a warm smile but then sobered.]
Thank you, Arthur.
As I was saying, there is a power here, in this place, that can be harnessed by those who are sensitive to it and used in much the same manner as how I was just speaking with you.
There are ways to deflect others from being able to casually delve into your mind. I can teach you to harness that control.
[Probably best not to mention that regardless of how much shielding he taught Arthur, the strength of Charles's natural abilities could render the point moot. But he genuinely did not want to make a habit of bouncing into the minds of those who reacted so vehemently against it, as this young man.
At least, not unless he absolutely had too.]
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You'll find I'm a fast learner.
[ A lifetime of training in physical discipline combined with a strong desire to never let that happen again can work wonders, after all. ]
Were you planning on giving me your name? Or d'you expect me to pluck it out of your head.
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[His lips twitch but the expression is somewhat sheepish as he ducks his head.]
My apologies, of course. Charles Xavier, please, call me Charles.
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[ooc: Do we want to log the awkward? :)]
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