markedformore: (remain steady: by ?)
Erik Lehnsherr ([personal profile] markedformore) wrote2011-07-28 10:10 pm
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His fingers flex out towards chess pieces scattered across a board, but nothing moves. They're not steel or platinum, but the base is heavy enough that Erik would have sensed the metallic properties, were he still more than the mere being he is, now. He curls his fingers in towards his palm, that utter feeling of powerlessness overwhelms him and makes him feel weak.

The coin rests heavy in his pocket and it brandishes accusation against him.

He couldn't move it, then, not to save his mother's life. It's as though he's being punished now in being incapable of moving the smallest of objects. He's been turned into a monster and to what end? He's useless. He's worse than useless. He's been turned into this monster and there is no point to the pain he's suffered. It's as though his mother has died for nothing and he cannot avenge her, not with Shaw absent, not with the perpetrators of his pain so far away.

Instead, he sits at a chess board and is human.

It's frightening. Erik's not sure he ever might have anticipated that.

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-07-31 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"He taught me that, too," she said quietly.

"Somethin' my momma never bothered to. Showed me that anger's powerful but it ain't enough, and if it ends up bein' th'only thing that drives you, then that means you've let it consume you, and then you aint' really you at all. You're just the rage."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-01 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Rogue sniffed and her posture shifted drastically as she leaned back and crossed her legs at the knee.

"Yeah, that's one word for it. Heard others lean more toward 'cunnin' like a fox'. She may be a lotta things, and there's plenty she ain't, but no one on this Earth or any other can call Raven Darkholme stupid."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-01 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Rogue lifted an eyebrow.

"So you know her," Rogue drawled.

"Though Ah'd assume as Mystique more'n Raven. She took me in as a kid, raised me until my powers were too much for her t'control, 'n then I went to Charles Xavier for help."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-01 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Rogue frowned a little, more curious than anything.

"Th'only one ever called her Raven that I saw was Destiny. Irene Adler." The fondness and melancholy in Rogue's voice as she said the name was clear as day. In all the ways Mystique had failed her, Destiny never had.

"And no, she most certainly did not. Did her damnedest to bring me back 'home', shoulda been my first clue that she never really cared about me. He was th'only person in the world could help me. And he did, as much as he could. Much as anyone could. But all she saw was him stealin' away her best weapon." She twined her fingers together and snuck her clasped hands almost self-consciously under chin, gaze averting to the table top where the pieces were strewn across their board.

"Ah hate this game."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-02 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
"The way people who're best at it," she said, green eyes flicking up to meet his with her particular brand of unflinching directness that came to her in rarer moments, now, than it used to, "use the pawns."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-02 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah love him," Rogue said, "Ah do, but... yeah." She casually propped her elbow against her knee and covered her mouth with her knuckles, looking thoughtfully back over the board.

It wasn't enough to hide the look of sadness that crossed her features.

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-02 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Rogue started slightly, gaze snapping back to his face.

"What is what?"

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-03 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
She regarded him quietly for a moment. It felt a little mutinous, to speak ill of anything Charles Xavier had done in front of Magneto, of all people. Even if he wasn't quite the man she'd known. At least, not yet.

"Carin' for someone doesn't guarantee they won't let you down. That's all."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-03 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Baseball," she said without hesitation or a trace of self-consciousness.

"Ah coach the... well, basically the mutant team," she said, a quick grin pulling slightly at the corners of her mouth.

"Mostly folks I know from home, mostly heroes, lotta mutants. We dominate the field most o'the time," she said, then instantly regretted her phrasing.

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Red blooded'n everythin'," she agreed, tucking her hands behind her head and leaning back against the wall of the booth.

"Sugar, you find a better way t'pass the time after three years, 'n you let me know."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-04 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Because you can only bang your head against a brick wall for so long 'fore you realize y'ain't doin' anythin' but hurtin' yourself. Sorry M- Erik. I've been here, what, four years now? That's half as long as I had powers back home. I went to doctors, I talked to people used t'practice magic, Ah've looked into it, b'lieve you me. Not sayin' it's impossible, just sayin' I haven't had much luck," she sighed.

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-05 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
Rogue was still for a long moment, realizing again how much she was playing with some very real fire. She didn't react immediately, then, feeling a bit stupid, reached across the table to touch her fingertips to the back of his wrist.

"I understand that," she said quietly.

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-07 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
"I used to be able to fly," Rogue told him, "and I was nigh unbreakable, could punch a train off its tracks, I... I miss who I was." And the walls Xavier had built for her that she didn't have there.

"What I could do, the people I could help. 'n the things I did that needed redeemin', the wrong I can't undo but was tryin' to atone for... It's hard, but I can't believe it all doesn't count for anythin' just because I'm stuck here."

[identity profile] un-gloved.livejournal.com 2011-08-09 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"You talkin' 'bout revenge?" Rogue said.

"Yeah, sugar, I've done that, too. Didn't turn out so good."