(Untitled)

[regeneracy]

Characters: Claire Bennet, Dante, & Erik Lensherr
Location: Somewhere & Somewhere
Planet: Coruscant
When: Week 33
What: Lessons. Two different ones, with two different threads. Yes, I am that lazy. Also, either of you feel free to switch to prose if you'd like!
Rating: G/PG? Perfectly innocent, family friendly good times.

Comments

[oxidantshappen]

[ Teacher would be putting it interestingly, he mused as he watched Claire arriving. He had never been one for that title, leaving the educational part up to Charles back home. A hands on approach was more his style. ]

I'm surprised your father let you out.

[regeneracy]

What he doesn't know won't hurt him. [She gives him a look that says she knows she's very very lucky, and then shrugs.] Besides, he had work to go do.

[She doesn't need to say how much trouble she can get into by being here, she figures that goes unspoken. To lighten the tense mood she had just set, she offers him a smile.]

Thanks again for doing this.

[oxidantshappen]

Huh. [ Family relationships were still a sore spot for him, though Erik can tell hers aren't exactly the kind he'd encourage, reminiscence on, even. He doesn't press matters further though, not now when it was evident Erik was a distraction, though he does raise an eyebrow at her words.

When he speaks up, it's dry. ] In the event your father goes looking for someone to blame, he can certainly point fingers at me. [ It's not like they got along well either their first meeting. He returned the smile briefly, suggesting things would be fine for now. ]

Before we begin, you should know I'm not much of a talk and explain kind of man.

[regeneracy]

[She shrugs.] I learn better hands on anyway. There may be some things you have to explain, but I'll try to keep the questions to a minimum.

[Which is a difficult thing to do, given that she's a very curious person. She looks around, and starts to ask how he wants to do things, but realizes it's a question. So she clamps her mouth shut and glances up at him, eyebrows arched in a silent question.]

[oxidantshappen]

[ He runs a hand through his hair, hesitant. Moments like these were in fact better off with Charles in his place, encouraging students to flourish. But that's Charles. ]

A friend of mine back home would tell me that true focus lies between rage and serenity. For a while I had the hardest time, attention being what it was, anger and frustration kept me going. [ There's a slight pause before Erik continues. ] You'd consider it similar to the Sith here, I suppose.

[ He stopped there, glancing around for a better target to really indicate what he was capable of until he caught sight of the speeder parked in the corner. As far as Erik was concerned, it was abandoned and therefore fair game.

Erik stretched his hand out, focused on it. While it wasn't nearly as large as the dishes he had worked with in the past, the concept of the Force and utilizing it wasn't something he was entirely familiar with. He struggled for a moment, considering the vehicle until it slowly inched closer to them. ]

[regeneracy]

[Color her impressed. She's grinning and her hands clasp together, and she glances up at him with admiration. She's seen a lot of powers, but never someone who can move around metal. it's unique.]

I usually only am able to use the Force when I give in to the rage part. That doesn't necessarily make me a Sith. [Even though that's something she's afraid of becoming.]

You have the power to potentially move entire ships. So much here is made with things you can manipulate. Droids, blasters, even lightsabers. Pretty impressive, if you ask me. Are you going to join the Jedi or the Sith, or just keep to yourself? [It's a question, oops. But one that sort of has an opening.]

[oxidantshappen]

Looks like I've been told otherwise, then. [ Erik shook his head, grinning ruefully. ] When I first arrived, I was told it was clear cut; anyone who harbors any hatred, anger, frustration isn't made out to be one of those Jedi. [ Erik has no particular qualms about either direction, while his preference lies towards the Jedi, the harsher rules that would define him are an obstacle. This is a man who killed Nazis for fun in his quest for another killer, after all. ]

Now if I said I'd join the Sith, you wouldn't be pleased would you?

[regeneracy]

[She shrugs.] I'm told the same thing over and over again, every time I give in to my anger. There's a reason I haven't been invited to join up with the Jedi, I guess. [That gets a bitter laugh out of her, and she looks back at the speeder he just moved instead of up at him.]

I think I'm starting to learn that it's less about the title and more about your intentions and what you do with the power you have. I had someone I cared about go be a Sith, and the only reason I went to get him back was because I was angry he left me. Not because I didn't want him to be "bad" anymore. There's too many shades of gray here for anything to be black and white, but the Jedi try to make everything out to seem that way.

[oxidantshappen]

[ Erik doesn't respond for a while, though he listened to her carefully. Intentions were a critical part of his ideology, in that he believed if people weren't with him, they were against him. He ran a hand across the surface of the speeder, the interior of the vehicle evident to a man that could sense metal like a sixth sense. ] That's still far too many shades.

[ Especially for him, really. He had trouble adjusting to the realization that people functioned differently, especially here when the concept of brotherhood wasn't defined by who they were, but by their morals. His brows furrowed as he paused, examining the rear of the vehicle, testing his ability to remove a cap. ] It seems less like they're trying to make things black and white, and more imposing their morals on everyone. I suppose the type of person you are, what you can do, is irrelevant here. [ There's a bit of sadness to that, though Erik doesn't let it on. Brooding is a waste of time, not when anyone who allied himself with Revan, with the Sith, was an enemy of his

[regeneracy]

[That's a complicated story, one involving too many feelings. She tries to make it as cut and dry as possible. Adults never really care for the details in teenage romances anyway.]

He's my boyfriend, actually. He wasn't at the time, but he thought the Sith would be able to send him home. He thought they would make him stronger. And maybe they did, but they didn't do anything but use him. Definitely didn't send him home. I went to go get him because at the time my family wasn't here, and I wasn't going to be alone and let him just run away.

[She almost hisses out the last words, and has to bite at her bottom lip to prevent herself from continuing.]

It's complicated.

[oxidantshappen]

[ She was right about one thing -- adults never did, least of all Erik. He turned around and leaned against the speeder, arms folded across his chest. Erik tilted his head, trying to see where she came from. The things people would do for love, while not a foreign concept to him, just seemed irrational, confusing almost. ]

Clearly. The things people will do for love, hmm? I suppose this boy means a great deal to you for you to go that distance.

[regeneracy]

He does, but at the time, it was more about not being alone. I was afraid and angry that he had just run away from me. A lot of that anger was probably because he faked his own death to go be there, but I guess the moral of the story is that giving in to your anger doesn't always end that poorly. [She gives him a meek smile, and reaches up to scratch at her hairline, feeling awkward.]

It doesn't matter now, he's here, I'm here, my family's here. I'm not alone anymore.

[oxidantshappen]

Shame it took you that much to realize that. There's never been anything wrong with anger, you know? [ It's certainly kept him going, for one. ] As long as you have a reason to keep yourself going, why does it matter if you're angry or happy?

[ Although way to hit a sore spot. When he speaks up, it's almost quiet. ] Is your family that important to you that you'd prefer not being useless?

[regeneracy]

[She goes quiet, trying to figure out an answer to that. She rubs her thumb against her lips, biting down on the tip of it as she thinks it over.]

Peter is the most important, I'd do anything for him. But really, I just don't want to be alone. I've been told a few times now that my ability will make me stop aging at some point, and I'll essentially live forever. I guess my biggest fear is being alone. I want to be useful so I can keep people with me for as long as possible.

[She looks up at him.]

Does that make any sense?

[oxidantshappen]

[ He nodded, though it only partially registered. Erik never had any qualms about being alone, not like this. It only just dawned on him how significantly different their lives were.

Not even that vaguely close thing they could have had. She needed people. He didn't. ]

In a manner of speaking. You'll never be truly happy with someone then if you're worrying over being solitary.

[regeneracy]

Yeah, I've been told that. It's...not big enough a deal to focus on. [She shrugs, feeling as if they've talked about this enough.]

I also need to become stronger to kill a serial killer? [Yes, that is just as absurd as it sounds. But she's grasping at straws to not sound like an entitled brat.]