(no subject)
It's still a bit early in the afternoon, the time that Leonardo has been spending in his private gym when he's not on the street. His disguise is completely removed, he's in his normal clothing except for the fact that he's completely topless and more muscled than one would guess when he has something on. The gym itself is about the size of a studio apartment, one floor in one of the many bad areas of Hell's Kitchen, when people hear banging they don't ask questions. "Focus, concentrate, relax..." he repeats to himself in the room where all the objects except for the punching bags and training equipment are made of metal, he's tossing around heavily distorted spheres, morphing them, slamming them into each other, and sometimes trying to concentrate on returning them to their perfect shape, but he never quite manages.
Magneto is not topless. He is warmly dressed in a black overcoat over a lighter grey suit, with sunglasses to screen out the afternoon sun and no hat to mask the ruffled silver of his hair. Neither coat or glasses are removed upon his entry, though a shiver of magnetism does assert itself through the entirety of the collection of metal present. Apparently he does not intend to stay for long.
It really has been a long time since we did this scene! As such I don’t really remember the exact details of what was going on. What I do remember is that Leo had been making inquiries about Magneto to virtually everyone he met for a little while. Emma and (I think) Mystique among them. He wanted to become like an acolyte, I think, in support of the Brotherhood’s cause and in support of Magneto. As his next pose will illustrate!
Erik heard about it, of course, and deduced from various reports that Leonardo was probably insane and not very intelligent, either. Although he initially sounds like ideal minion material, he doesn’t have much patience for people he believes are dangerously stupid (highly inclined towards getting themselves captured/brainwashed/arrested/misunderstanding/whatever) and never really had any intention of using Leo. He isn’t really terrible or anything. He was just being a nuisance at the time, blathering around New York and the internet about Emma and Erik and other things that neither of them really wanted to see being connected in any kind of public record.
Having also heard that Leo’s perception of him might be somewhat SKEWED towards the more fantastical end of the spectrum, Erik opts for a practical approach, here. Deflate the balloon, make it clear that he has no intention of being Leo’s messiah or daddy or general, and hopefully leave him with enough of a bad taste in his mouth that he finds someone else to hero worship. Hoo boy.
The spheres drop, Leonardo turns around, then his eyes go wide. "Master!" he exclaims, immediately dropping to one knee with both fists planted firmly on the ground and his head lowered. "I am your loyal follower, and yours to command completely. Everything that is mine is also yours." he says as if he'd played the moment in his head over and over. "It is an honor."
There is a notable pause, there, while Erik's scruffy lower jaw slides slightly aside on its hinges. He remains near the door, and does not seem inclined to enter any further into the gym, though his eyes cast idly around its interior from behind the blank shield of his glasses. "Stand up," is his first command, though it is slow in coming.
Erik knows and has known many crazy people. He does not particularly enjoy being cruel to them. All the same, being confronted with the reality of Leo is…a bit much. He is a very enthusiastic character. Very. Enthusiastic. Ellen aside, most of the people he deals with tend to be a little more subduuuued when it comes to reflecting upon his greatness. Which is a nice way of saying that nobody really thinks he is all that great. So on a level - on SOME, distant level - it is kind of flattering. There may be some minor temptation there to cultivate that blind loyalty, but it isn’t realistic. Sooner or later it will become apparent to even Leo that Erik is an asshole and not actually that much fun to be around. Erik has had to deal with a lot of disillusionment in his ranks. It is not his favorite. Better to recruit the pragmatically efficient than the fanboyishly devoted.
Leonardo stands up straight, with the posture of a soldier. "My name, it is Leonardo Maxwell." he finally decides to introduce, heart pounding and struggling to contain the urge to randomly bend something in half. "I will not question why you have come, but know that I have many assets and whatever you want will be yours."
"Yes," says Erik slowly, as if addressing a child, "I know." Again there is a pause, and he finally takes a step deeper into the gym. "You needn't question why I am here. I fully intend to tell you."
Given Leonardo’s exuberance, some patronization is deemed necessary. Mags does not tend to care whether or not people get upset about him treating them like they are completely stupid. If they act like idiots, then they deserve it. Or won’t notice anyway. Clearly. Also, he is about to crush poor Leo’s HOPES and DREAMS and the extra distance condescension gives him is nice for that.
Leonardo averts his eyes to the ground, having to strain to even look Erik in the eye. "I have made many mistakes in my search for you, but I am inexperienced, I am -learning-. Please do not take these as excuses, I simply wish to tell you that I will improve myself to better serve your needs..." he explains himself, hands beginning to shake from his nerves, and gym equipment starting to groan (if Erik isn't fully holding anything in place).
Leonardo's reflection skews in Erik's glasses when they turn slightly aside after the groaning protestations of the workout equipment around him. "You are an idiot," he decides, finally. "You have not merely made mistakes. You have flailed unceremoniously across every available path to my potential attention in such a way that it would be in my interest to kill you to stave off any further damage to my image."
Not kidding about the complete lack of patience for this sort of thing. He is annoyed that things have gone so far that he literally has had to come and sort it out himself when it would have been much easier to have just had one of the pawns crack him over the head with a brick and leave him in a dumpster somewhere. But Leo is a mutant, and it is kind of difficult to plot the murder of one whose main fault is tied into the fact that he thinks you are awesome. So far as Erik is concerned, this is the nicest way to handle it.
"Please forgive me!" Leonardo pleads, arms held out in a begging position, and his face filled with the confusion of not knowing how to fix things. "I did not know what was going on! I went over the possible scenario that Emma Frost was blackmailing you, which may have been why you have not been trying to dominate the humans!" He walks closer, and in his horribly excited and unfocused state causes the spheres to begin molding and flattening, like some sort of mental stress reliever. "I did what I had to, I did what I thought were the right things to do. I swear, I will not do anything any longer without your consent! You are my master, I was acting without your guidence!" he yells with the tone of a vassal begging for redemption.
"I left the Brotherhood months ago. Not because I was being blackmailed, but because I could not find an acceptable means to the end I desire. I am not your master. So far as you are concerned, I am no one's master. I am on an extended vacation from world domination. A hiatus, if you will." When Leonardo moves forward, so does Erik, with his jaw hardened and hollowed against irritation that has thus far gone poorly suppressed. "This is not a command, but a warning. Stop what you are doing, or, at the very least, end your touted association with myself, and with the Brotherhood. You are welcome to carry on as crudely as you please, but not in my name."
It’s kind of a dick move to tell someone proclaiming their undying devotion to you that you are on vacation from terrorism while you explore alternate solutions. But the more effectively he shatters Leo’s opinion of him, the better.
It was hard for Erik to not lose his temper during this. He has a short fuse anyway, but there is a lot of personal anger buried in the whole issue of him not knowing what to do with himself after leaving the Brotherhood. He was not happy in the Brotherhood. He was not happy about leaving it. He was never happy in the Inner Circle, and now he is entirely free of commitment and he’s not happy about that either. Anytime anyone makes direct reference to the fact that (outside of saving the world) he has been largely useless of late, he gets angry. Not so much as them, though they may catch the brunt of it. He’s furious at himself. I won’t go into it much here because it will turn into a rant if I do, but XMM isn’t really ideal stalking grounds for a terrorist who seeks to hold the higher ground. There isn’t really much to fight without being a genocidal maniac because our IC government really isn’t that oppressive or terrible to mutants, blah blah blah. There are basically not many good things to blow up, so Erik feels like he is making no progress at the expense of mutant freedom and superiority, and failure pisses him off. SO. When anyone brings that failure to light, it tends to get to him more quickly than…most things. Which means that Leo is unwittingly treading on thin ice, here.
"How can you simply -stop-? The humans get stronger and possibly build weapons against us every day. We have to be building an army, uniting ourselves and getting ready for war against them. Do you -not- want to exterminate their underevolved and filthy race so we can be the dominant species?" Leonardo asks sincerely, obviously shaken by everything he's being told. "Take me with you, no matter what, you do not have to worry about me breaking your command," obviously ignoring the part about it being a warning. "But I want to go with you, I want to be useful to you, I cannot do this alone, they do not respect me like they respect you! Please be my master..." he asks in a strained voice, fists tightly balled, and his intense gaze now fixed on Erik's glasses.
Jaw still locked at an awkward angle, mouth slightly open, Erik watches and listens in stark silence. There is a rustle about his coat when his shoulders roll back and stiffen all the further, and his fingers twitch towards fists at his sides before they relax again. Abruptly, every piece of metal in the gym is moving -- iron and steel little more than a silvery grey streak as it rushes to force itself against every interior wall, in every direction. The combined impact is loud, and echoed by a resonant hum that does not fade. "Extermination was never on the table. You are thinking of someone else. An 'Adolf Hitler'. I am sorry to say that he is dead. I do not want you. Leave me alone, and stop harassing those who you suspect may be connected to me, or I /will/ kill you."
Part flounce, part warning shot, part SILENCE, IMBECILE. As mentioned above, Erik is pretty privately furious now that the conversation has gone where it has gone. Given the source, he is not in a mood to be patient. He wants to do what he came to do and leave as quickly as possible, preferably without blowing his top and murdering Leo in the process.
Meanwhile I am kind of embarrassed about having Godwinned Leonardo. OOPS. Something else that made Erik really mad was Leo’s assumption that he wanted to straight up kill everyone. Now, that is pretty much true. Then? He still wasn’t exceedingly comfortable with the idea. It isn’t that he isn’t aware of the same irony now, just that he cares less, and honestly thinks that they don’t deserve better. What a charming change in worldviews over the course of a year!
The death threat is given in seriousness. Now that Leo has poked him in sensitive places, he is less averse to the idea of smashing him. Amazing how that works.
Leonardo quickly holds his ears and winces with the impact, looking up to Erik's glasses again. "Fine, if that is how you feel." he says with the lowering of his arms, taking a deep breath and looking at the equipment that slammed into the walls. "But tell me first, if you do not intend on exterminating their species, how will we survive when they try to exterminate -us-? These ideals are not to be compared with Hitler, this is self preservation!" he exclaims with a pound of his fist to his chest. "Did you conform to the ideals of Professor Xavier? We will live in perfect harmony with them and not expect to be destroyed as soon as we let our guard down?"
"It has been seven years since talk of a registration act originated, and as of yet I have seen no evidence that concentration camps are the next step. If I have conformed to anything, it is reason." One last glance cast over Leonardo, and then the gym, Erik turns to move back for the door. "Have a good afternoon, Mr. Maxwell. I hope for your sake that we do not meet again."
Ha. See above. There is no push to exterminate mutantkind. They aren’t even forced to register anymore. At worst a few people might get fired or beaten up if they’re outed. Despicable and brutish, maybe, but not exactly deserving of a death sentence. Erik has a few more screws loose, now. His dislike and disdain has festered into hatred. Depending upon the circumstances whenever he finally snaps and makes heads roll, a lot of people may die. It will be interesting!
Leonardo, meanwhile, has had a bad time of it. After all of his hard work, finally, here is his hero, coming in to tell him that he is wrong and stupid and he will kill him if he doesn’t shut up and bugger off. His passion is admirable, at least!
Leonardo's breath is heavy, shaking increased, and when Erik leaves there's a systematic pounding of equipment against the wall surrounding the door, then a nosebleed, and finally, he falls unconscious.
Magneto does not turn back at the noise, or at the sensation involved. He keeps walking, and quickly enough, begins the process involved in tapping out and lighting a cigarette for himself. "God."
Leo gets a sad face from me. SAD LEO. He is breaking his equipment. :c Meanwhile Erik is glad to be out of there, and in dire need of a smoke. He was chain smoking at the time. Healthy.
He lives a difficult life.