004 ♚ video | a brand new day in a life that you hate

[oxidantshappen]

[ Have a fantastic shot of Erik's back. Not like, anywhere lower, but a fantastic shot of his back and you realize the datapad is floating while Erik is plotting dramatics brooding by his window - Thanks Stefan! - hands clasped behind his back. Erik had come back late last night, much to the approval of Charles and has conveniently been filled in

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video;

[doomhoops]

[ SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. You weren't supposed to be here. But whatever, he'll answer, arms crossed with the datapad propped up on something. ]

What?

video | private

[oxidantshappen]

[ Sup bb shark. Erik has words. ]

I'd be polite, but seeing as you've jumped the gun with Charles, I'm skipping the formalities.

Where are you staying, Alex?

video | private

[doomhoops]

[ BB Shark has no words for you right now. Maybe later, though. There's just a snort at the 'I'd be polite' bit, but otherwise he's keeping his tongue held, seeing as he hasn't brought up the things he said on the network yet. ]

B-3.

video | private > action

[oxidantshappen]

I'll be there in a few hours.

[ He's not even going to acknowledge you except with a shut of the feed and a frown, because he's really not sure what to do with you right now.

Also blah blah time skip. Several hours later have a knock on your door. ]

action; all my typos

[doomhoops]

It's open.

[ Meaning wave your hand at the sensor thing and watch it zip open. It's shouted from the couch he's chilling on, scrolling through network posts, trying to look uncaring. Whatever, Erik, he don't even curr. Not like he's been sitting here for the past couple hours maybe possibly a little bit worrying about this conversation. ]

perm action

[oxidantshappen]

[ Of course Alex would. Erik slid the door open and let it shut with a bang, because it's clear Alex isn't in the mood. ]

You're looking well, Alex.

[ He moves to sit on the couch in front of him, elbows on his knees, fingers laced together. ]

Out of all the children, I never expected you to be the one to disagree with me.

[doomhoops]

[ He glances up from the datapad to skim over him. Seeing Erik here seems so bizarre after trying to settle with him being gone the past couple days. It's a kind of confusing that just leads to frustration in Alex, so he looks back down to the datapad, not actually reading anything on it, just toggling with settings. ]

Not children.

[ He chews at the inside of his cheek a little, rolling that last part around in his head. 8( Dad you were his favorite, whhyyyy ]

Never expected you to go psycho. Guess we're even.

[oxidantshappen]

No, you're certainly not that. [ Erik allows himself a slight smile; he had told Charles that explicitly too - No, they were children.. ]

Would you rather I have let you die on that beach? Alex -- [ Shaking his head, Erik pauses. He had anticipated going into this conversation to be angry, frustrated at the insinuation that Erik of all people was responsible for hurting Charles, but it changed. ]

I did what I had to because I cared. [ Folding his hands, Erik brought them up to the bridge of his nose as he looked down at the table in between them. ] Charles didn't go through all that effort of helping you to only have your life taken away by men who didn't understand us.

[doomhoops]

[ A glance up and here's the anger that was missing from before. Protecting? Really? ]

The missiles never reached the ships. And look, no one dead. [ There's a difference between deflecting an attack and mass murder. He won't even mention what happened with Moira yet. But even that? Not what bothers him the most.

There's a bite to his tone now and Alex is saying things he probably doesn't mean about stuff he doesn't fully understand. ] And Charles didn't take you onto that beach just so you could pick up where Shaw left off.

[ Maybe that wasn't it, but it's what it looked like. Took his helmet, his merry band of nutcases and went off to fight the humans. Limited Perspective Alex is okay with pinning it like that. ]

[oxidantshappen]

[ Oh you went there, did you? Comparing him to Shaw? If only you knew exactly what Erik's last conversation was with him... well shit. You're severely testing Erik's patience here. ]

Don't compare me to Shaw, Alex. [ His voice is tense, because you seriously did not just go there. ] The man and I have nothing in common, Shaw's in favor of causing a war to achieve his rule. What I want, what Charles wants, [ Because that's what it comes down to, their ideals, their beliefs. ] is for our kind to live undisturbed.

The Americans saw what you could do, do you honestly believe they wouldn't have killed you because you can damage their Navy?

[doomhoops]

[ Yeah he did. His attention isn't on the datapad anymore, but he's slumped into the couch, putting feet up on the coffee table and giving Erik as defiant glare. ]

Wouldn't compare if you didn't make it so damn easy. [ His voice is even, but with the underlying hostility Alex's comments usually hold, perhaps with an extra edge added to it. ] How's Raven and Azazel?

I know what they'd do, Erik. I was there. [ The last part gets an actual twitch of his lip, like he's wanting to make a sneer. He knows, and if it was just that and if Charles hadn't have gotten hurt, he might have gone with him. But it wasn't just going to hide out somewhere and be alone. Erik's never been anything but offensive. This isn't his argument, though - it's for Charles and Erik, so he snaps his mouth shut, glancing psuedo-distractedly back at the door, the kitchen, elsewhere. He gives a quiet snort. ] You really think that? You and Charles wanting the same thing?

[ He shakes his head. It's almost laughable. ] You're crazier than I thought.

[oxidantshappen]

[ He held back his tongue at the quip about Raven and Azazel, knowing it would only provoke Alex further, incite him to take a more defensive stance than open up to Erik for once. Charles had told him enough about Alex, and from the conversation back the prison Erik had had enough insight about him to know his temper was just as fleeting as Erik's own. ]

You tell me, Alex. Charles wanted mutants living alongside of humanity, did you think I didn't? Did you have any idea what it felt like, finding out that Charles' -- and my vision had been torn apart because of those navies?

[ Erik leaned forward, looking straight at Alex. ] Don't call me crazy when Charles isn't.

[doomhoops]

[ Alex is starting to be more certain that Erik isn't from a time after the argument with Charles - being told their vision was not the same. For a moment there's a ping in him, remembering Erik's face from the time. But it's quickly overruled by the frustration with the situation, with Erik, with him being the only one who's seen the big picture. With Erik trying to rationalize, turn it around to make it look good when Alex was there. He knew. ]

It was you sending the missiles back at them, Erik. Not Charles. The only one torn apart by it [ that practically spat out ] was you.

You're not Charles. [ With a sneer, the feet propped up on the edge of the table in between them give a quick shove, trying to collide the edge of it with Erik's kneecaps. ] I'll call you whatever I want.

[oxidantshappen]

[ Erik would fight back with words, but he's never been the type to use more than necessary, not when Alex is stubborn enough to keep rejecting him. At the shove of metal, Erik throws his hand out immediately, not to brace for impact, but to stop the table where it is. ]

I'm aware, Alex. [ As he says those words, Erik moves to stand up, what anger he looked to contain in front of the other man now at the forefront of his thoughts. The table comes up with him, and for a minute, what expression Alex remembered that day at the beach is back, green-grey eyes narrowed in frustration. Alex was the one he wanted to rely on, the one who had been through the same pain and suffering Erik did, the only one that had the potential to see things for where they were going, and here he was, not only from a point where Erik had paralyzed Charles, but from a point where he hadn't been privy to what Charles knew, months of constant debates over the security of their kind, and Erik had made that decision in a split second - would have stopped them only

[doomhoops]

You call that saving? [ His voice is incredulous, not even talking about the missiles any more. Alex knows well enough you didn't have to send them back to the fleet to keep the people on the beach alive, it's the whole concept of it. Him drawing a line in the sand, going off on his crusade. Splitting them up. They were barely six people and Erik was making divisions. The table is flying towards him and Alex is past the point of keeping his temper held down when there's already glowing red energy swirling around him before he can think to stop it. ]

You left, Erik. [ An instant later, he's having to yell over the sound of the table in front of him being scorched clean in half, while the other stray rings go flying off in every other direction - one blasting the couch Erik had been sitting into the far wall, another taking out the window with the lovely view down to the streets of Coruscant, another still putting a crater into the wall separating Alex's room and the living room. He can plainly see his bed from where he stands. Even

[oxidantshappen]

[ For all of Charles' constant patience with Alex, teaching him to control his power and aim it at his target, Erik had one advantage over the other man - at least his anger was fine tuned to his ability. Alex, on the other hand, in his attempt to defend himself, had failed significantly, the fragments of the table hurtling past Erik as he took his own steps forward.

He had no qualms about picking a fight with Charles, Alex would be next to nothing this time. ] Should have sided with me. [ Not that Erik knew much of those events, but after his argument with Alex, it was clear; whatever division came about after Charles knocked him down was a result of their differences in beliefs, the words that he spoke that set Erik on edge.

The punch itself hit Erik's jaw cleanly, hard enough to nurse a bruise in a few hours, and he retaliated, throwing his own punch at Alex; a left hook intent for his face. ]