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teddy

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With Charles' current rate of progress on the house, Erik begins to realize that he will be living in a new home within a matter of weeks. It will be a strange return to the status quo -- sharing rooms amidst those that he trusts the most, but without the addition of their abilities or the need to train. When all is stripped away, Erik finds that all he wishes for is to be surrounded by those he loves and cherishes.

This, of course, brings him to a difficult situation. He knows that Billy and Teddy know little of him -- perhaps they know of Magneto, but not of Erik Lehnsherr -- but he will not forgive himself if he does not at least offer a new living scenario. He's going to build up to it, however, and has made sure to linger where Teddy will be. Perhaps this will soften the disappointment of a rejection, if it does not come directly from Billy.

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Erik nods towards Teddy, grateful that his instincts were correct and that he's found Billy's paramour and not his grandson himself. At this point, he'd like to start small. "Teddy," he greets, offering a pinched smile. "Are you free at the moment? There's something I wish to discuss with you."

"Yeah," Teddy replies, brain kicking in a mere second later with a kind of low grade panic that he's about to get some kind of 'what are your intentions'/sex talk from Magneto.

"Of course."

Erik gestures with a hand, intending to continue on in the direction that Teddy had been wandering. "It's come to my attention that Charles is progressing faster than I expected on his project -- his so-called mansion. I'd be remiss if I didn't speak to you and to Billy and, at least, formally request your presence there."

Teddy's a bright kid, but the question doesn't register correctly at first.

"Oh," he says, "are you guys throwing a house warming kind of thing?"

"Well, possibly. I don't keep track of such things," Erik says dismissively, given that party-planning is something that he feels belongs with lesser people who have given up on their dreams. "I'm here to ask whether you or Billy have ever thought about moving."

It still doesn't click right away, but when it does, Teddy's sure he pales slightly. He definitely straightens up, which is preferable to taking a full step back, which would look really bad.

"Oh," he says, "no. We've never talked about it, Billy's really proud of his house in the GAE."

He also doesn't want to follow up with 'and there is no way we're moving into the Xavier Mansion because the chances of you catching us making out like all the time are way way way too high', but he definitely thinks it.

He's aware that he had come here for something that would only earn him rejection, but Erik finds himself still disappointed. He tries to cope with it as best as he can, but he's sure that his face still falls. "I had to ask," he admits. "I've come to understand that family matters more than anything else. You and Billy. You're my family."

"It's not just my decision," Teddy says, reeling a little from the implication that they're family.

"You should ask Billy, and- I mean it's nice of you, to invite us. I'm sure that'll mean a lot to him."

"I intend to ask him as well, be assured of that," Erik promises with a confident smile. After all, there simply isn't a version of this request that doesn't accompany asking Billy. "I thought that you and I might talk, though, since you were so good to speak to me at the party."

"Oh," Teddy says, blinking, "sure. I didn't mean to corner you, there, it just... Seemed like the moment, I guess." He absently rubbed the back of his neck, looking abashed.

Erik had been surprised that evening, not only by the fight, but by the fact that he had people who cared about him. It's something he's still growing used to, but he almost might venture to say that he appreciates it. "Does Billy know about your history?" he asks curiously.

"Billy knows everything about me," Teddy replies, a smile flickering over his mouth, but not finding purchase enough to last.

"He was there, when my mom was killed. He tried to save her."

For a moment, Erik encounters a brief and sharp pang of jealousy that Teddy had someone there with him, but that doesn't dull the trauma of the encounter. Perhaps it even makes it worse. "Does it help?" he asks, unable to look up. In order to ask this question, he must avoid all eye contact. "Does having someone who loves you unconditionally help abate the grief?"

It's a hell of a question, and he hesitates.

"I don't know. Yes, in some ways. He's always there, and I know he'll always be there, so it... There's still a, a hole, I guess, where my mom used to be, and nothing can."

He has to stop for a moment, unprepared for how hard it is to put into words, for the way his throat closes up. He clears it, and casually swipes at the tip of his nose, the shoved his hair off his forehead a little.

"Having Billy makes everything better," he says, "and that includes dealing with that kind of... grief."

"Then I'm glad that you have Billy in your life to help you," is Erik's reply, the jealousy flaring up again -- louder, this time, perhaps because he knows he will never have that given the fact that he is certain he would never deserve it. "I take it this means you two will be remaining in your own home, then?"

"Well, we don't... talk about it," Teddy says, "I don't talk about it. It's just... knowing that we're there, I guess."

He shoved his hands in his pockets, pressing his lips into a firm line for a moment.

"I can't say a hundred percent because it's not just my decision, but. We had kind of... a few rough months, and we're settling into living together without anyone else around- his parents and his brothers, and- Probably. We'll... probably stay."

"I understand." He does, too. If he had found some kind of stability on that level, he would put down roots and urge them as deep as they could possibly go. "You'll revisit the idea if anything changes, though?" He leaves unspoken the fact that Erik's door will always be available to them -- to family.

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