mentis: (- | and you were clearly)
cнarleѕ "ѕpecтacυlar ѕнιтѕнow" хavιer. ([personal profile] mentis) wrote in [community profile] kore_logs2013-05-01 08:28 pm

→ my my let these songs be an instrument to cut here darling,

Who: Charles Xavier & Erik Lehnsherr. ( C L O S E D )
What: Reunions
When: Day 66
Where: House 8
Warnings: Emoting everywhere; it'll probably be gross. Also now touching is happening. And dirty talk. DON'T JUDGE ME.

It's been barely a few days and he still hates the emptiness of the house, despises the hollow feeling that echos the space in his chest. Being so thoroughly alone is not a new feeling but the potency of it is, the sensation of poison slowly dripping through his veins and making him slow and sluggish pulls at him. He can barely enter the walls of his home before his skin crawls with how quiet it is. Erik and Raven are gone, he cannot do anything to fight against the fact. He's impotent with it and it makes him wish he were more prone to violence than he is - surely he could smash the place up, rage against the cruel nature of the cape and it's shadowed rulers. All he's been able to do is clear out the kitchen of the reminder of his hidden evil, all he could do is spend his nights huddled in the bedroom on the ground floor, imagining the imprint of Erik on the sheets like some ridiculous thing. He's not used to this level of heartbreak, because that's what it is, a heart breaking for absent loves and he feels sick from it too often.

So he sleeps and then he leaves and spends his days in the library because information is a weapon and he can use that if he can't use anything at all. He refuses to be in that position again; used and then left bereft. Those in charge think they can tame the people here but Charles thinks they are wrong. He knows they are. So he's quick when he gets changed, when he lets water ease off the fingerprints of the monster he had been. It would do no good for him to fixate, not when he can get even instead. Not when next time he can protect the rest of them with knowledge. He has to hope he'll find it.

He's dressed and heading for the door when it happens, when, his thoughts go white and fuzzed out at the edges.

Erik slams into his consciousness so hard that Charles' knees buckle with the intensity of it. Erik. He's like a burst of sunlight at the edges of Charles' darkness, a familiarity that blinds him to everything else. He's half leaning, half holding on to the railings of the stairs for dear life, his breath coming in shallow pants as the relief rips through him. It's the same physical shock of cold that he felt the first time, no less magnified by the absence of huge bodies of water to throw himself in. Charles feels the jolt to his core, the sudden yank of belonging that has pulled him off his feet and threatened his balance. His eyes water and he wants to laugh or cry, wants nothing more than to just let it consume him because Erik is here.

But until the man himself is in front of him Charles is taking nothing for granted. Pulling himself on to his knees is easy, pressing shaking fingertips to his temple even more so. He hasn't been using his power but that doesn't matter, not when he feels the tendrils of anger call out to him like a siren call.

'Erik.'

Beyond the single syllable is a plea that Charles can't quite keep contained. Please be real. Please be safe.
violenthearted: (so burn burn the flag)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-02 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"I scarce esteem location's name," Erik murmurs, grinning; as a rejoinder it would make no sense or at least be strangely stilted, except that he knows Charles' familiarity with Dickinson. Mostly, as ever when he says these things, he's just pleased for his own sake to be educated enough to make the reference, but lest we forget that particular piece also includes a lot of treacle Erik won't directly express about home as a person's simple presence. "Don't start picking out curtains. I promised I'd get you out of here."

There's some indefinable flicker at that, as he hasn't exactly succeeded so far, has he? If anything they've gotten further in, as the events of the last few days have proven. So instead he extends his own concentration to pushing back that balm, not sharp but meaning it; he can deal with a headache. Charles would perhaps be well within his rights to point out that he doesn't have to, and is therefore too stubborn to be alive, but if nothing else at least that probably proves beyond a shadow of mental doubt that Erik isn't a pod person.

He rests linked arms on Charles' knees a while, quiet, just--looking at him, just looking even if everything roiling underneath his skin craves something less wildly romantic and more straightforwardly... just pushing the telepath down for some probably ill-advised sex on the steps, but--they should talk, and Erik is, frankly speaking, a romantic. Often good at hiding it, although maybe not when he's quoting 19th century poetry at people. "How long has it been?"

Not 'how long have I been gone,' notably; he turns the question away from himself, makes it neutral.
violenthearted: (pic#5794428)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-03 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Erik's hackles are still mostly raised by the presence of a potential threat, the disquiet of the half-sketched memories he can't quite bring into relief sharp enough to examine, but he lets Charles' hand in his hair and at his temples wear the edge off of that, eyes lidding a fraction of a degree. They snap open when Charles elucidates the previous days' events, though, shoulders drawing tight, Erik's long fingers settling around the other man's delicate wrist and holding on as if he can make an anchor out of that. "I won't leave you. Not again."

That he thinks he can say that with any kind of surety speaks of some phenomenal arrogance, given the givens, but he wasn't prepared this time, that's all it was. The next time - and really, he has no reason to thin there won't be one - he'll know what the onset of that falling feeling means, and be able to fight it. "And if she's still here, I'll find her. If not--"

Well. He'll let that speak for itself, namely if Raven has really been taken from them, Erik will add it to a remarkably long list of grievances for which he intends, through time and patience, to exact horrifying vengeance for as soon as the opportunity arises.
violenthearted: (pic#5617296)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-03 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Erik makes some noncommittal noise at that; he could point out that Charles is better at hope that he is, or exactly how useful he finds the concept, but ...what would be the point, it won't stop him looking.

Of course, at that point he's summarily distracted from whatever toothy bit of brevity he was about to deliver on the subject of Charles swearing (a thing he will probably always enjoy), and finds himself tangling a hand in the hair at the back of his head with no more intrinsic finesse between the two of them than the pair of fumbling teenagers Erik will resist comparing them to forever. That doesn't really make it any less true, in the moment, especially not since he can't really fail to be aware of the awkwardness of sitting on the steps, for God's sake, it's--all right, at least right now he doesn't care that it's undignified.

When he pulls back it's entirely for the sake of oxygen, and he stays just as close, elbows that are too bony for comfort pressed into Charles' knees and close to his ribs. "We are--" he laughs, under his breath, because what else can he do? "sitting on the stairs. In case it's escaped your notice."

This is actually because it's where Charles was ensconced when Erik wrenched open the door; the fact that it took him this long to comment certainly says something, even if he angled himself at once so he could see the entranceway behind him. "There must be a better venue for conversation."

'Conversation.' Yes.
violenthearted: (rip away the skin burn my heart)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-03 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Erik would, of course, balk at the idea that anyone needs to protect him: given the choice between being coddled and what's apparently happened to him, he'd take the latter, as horrific as it is. That he can take in and use to fuel the engines of his anger, but having a banner over him, even Charles', would just make him soft. Useless. As such it's probably not a surprise that he shakes his head; even as he's turning his cheek into Charles' hand to close teeth gently around his thumb, he's also preparing to pull back and stand up at the base of the steps. "No. I'll take care of it."

The fact that he uses his hands to pick up the door from where it's hanging at a riotous angle, half off its hinges, speaks louder than words might that his mutation feels--off, as if he's used it to its absolute limits when he shouldn't have any, not anymore, and if Charles has any mercy in him at all, he won't mention that. Erik tugs the door back into place and welds the mangled scraps of metal back to their proper form, shoulders set, eyes shuttered. It takes more effort than it should; by the time he turns back to Charles he's noticeably pale, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead and upper lip. True to form he doesn't mention this at all, and the haunted look is gone before it can be so much as remarked on.

Erik's not going to discuss it, that's for certain. "Come on," he says without preamble, as abrupt as his movement back to Charles on the steps and the hand he keeps from shaking by sheer force of will when it closes around Charles' wrist.
violenthearted: (pic#5627825)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-03 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
If nothing else, Erik finds Charles' deep and abiding smoothness incredibly entertaining, so there is that. He's not without a sense of humor, he cracks his dark little jokes as a way of spitting in the face of everything that should have stripped out of him the capacity to laugh, but Charles--he still remembers laughing for sheer joy that late autumn afternoon, that feeling like his chest was going to split open and laughing because there was no other way to let out the huge vaulting light inside of him.

Charles can make him smile for reasons other than the fact that he's angry, a sloping open grin without teeth. His face still feels unfamiliar with the expression; it aches, but not terribly. So he's wry rather than brittle when Charles attempts to foist caretaking on him, sits on the edge of the bed in a deceptive parody of obedience, which ...of course turns out to be the precursor to more or less grabbing Charles by the shirt tails and reeling him in until their knees bump. "I'm fine," he--well, he wouldn't call it lying, just a carefully structured and practiced pattern of ignoring his own pains. "As flattered as I am by your desire to play nursemaid."

Charles would be totally adorable in one of those huge flying nun hats, for the record. "It's only a headache, I can assure you I've dealt with worse."
violenthearted: (Default)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-03 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"The same way you would if I made you talk about your fantasies," Erik retorts, because he knows what Charles is like, glib and brimming with pickup lines he must have practiced in front of a mirror, at least until someone (...Erik) demands he actually state his explicit wants. Because Erik has absolutely no finesse at all, nor interest in acquiring any, he tends to just baldly say what he means; they are a work in progress, as always.

He lets Charles outline him the way he wants to anyway, though; there's no harm in it, and although Erik would be loathe to say as much it makes him feel more real himself. "And I could say the same," and now his teeth do show in his smile, the kind that aren't very nice, "but I was preoccupied. The usual pokes and prods."

Charles may interpret for himself what that means, but it's not exactly a riddle, given Erik's history as a lab rat. "We're not talking about it," he warns, although not ungently. "There are better uses for your worry."

Which means forthrightly biting Charles' fingertips again is just cheating, but Erik has never claimed to be above shameless manipulation.
violenthearted: (pic#5616827)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-04 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"I've never claimed to be anything else," Erik sardonics under his breath, feeling somewhat idiotically fond and judging he must also look that way, considering what the corners of his mouth are doing. It's just as well he didn't catch the pulse of Charles' distress, although he's often thought it would do the telepath good to recognize the cruelty in the world for what it is.

He lets Charles direct the kiss for perhaps as long as thirty seconds, indulging himself in waiting and the pleasant sense of restraint it induces, but of course all good things must come to an end, and so does this, even if it's just Erik basically sweeping Charles' legs out from under him and tumbling them both down onto the bed.

From this distance, which is absolutely no distance at all, tangled in a totally undignified manner as they are: "Are you going to keep insulting my character? It seems a poor use of our time."
violenthearted: (pic#5617269)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-06 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
"Hello, Charles," Erik returns, grave and in total excess of formality; even when he's declaring Charles' every ideal to be at best naive he still holds him in an esteem he extends to almost no one else--sometimes that extends to this, this solemn and gentle treatment that really should be at odds with the roughness of his hands and razor-sharp momentum, but isn't. He tolerates Charles' interest in touching him, inasmuch as 'tolerance' involves splaying a hand at the small of Charles' back and dragging him closer until the hand on his stomach is more or less crushed between them. Worse things have happened.

The way Charles moves when he's intent on touch and affection have fascinated Erik from the start; this has not diminished with time--where Erik tends toward precision and impact, Charles is content to get his hands everywhere he can reach, like Erik is some finite quantity he must engage all of before it runs out. Erik ...broadly encourages this, closing his teeth around Charles' lower lip before sliding his mouth to the joint of his jaw, the thrumming column of his neck. "I couldn't be here without you, you know," he murmurs there, as if it's just--fact, something Charles should know already.

It's as close as he'll get to saying that he missed him, probably, if there had been space to miss. He'd like to think he thought of Charles in that quagmire of trapped anger, but all he remembers was the unquenchable burning desire to be out. This is enough, though; it's enough just to be here, ignoring his headache and the chills soothed by Charles' body heat, cradling his face between his hands and pushing him hip-first down into the mattress.
violenthearted: (pic#5574985)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-08 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"I know."

Erik impresses that more or less into Charles' mouth, since talking is no reason to stop exchanging momentum-sloppy kisses, the kind that hit more the side of the mouth or the cheek or the jaw without really caring; the point is to touch. He puts aside his usual precision for as long as it takes to do that, rolls over onto his back and takes Charles with him, looking up into that face, the ridiculous red mouth and tired blue eyes; he looks older than the last time Erik saw him, and he pushes back the fall of hair from over his forehead.

Charles' sensitivity about the burgeoning grey streak in his hair is one of those things Erik's never known what to do with, it was always a sign that that was all Charles had ever had to worry about, with his gentle academic life. Now it seems fragile, something startlingly vulnerable, as if the telepath were the one who'd disappeared. Erik hadn't known he could lose him.

It's too much sentimentality, he can't indulge as much for very long, can't imagine how stupidly soft his face must look contemplating Charles from this angle. So he rocks his hips upward instead, because he is the worst cheat of all time. "At the risk of sounding like I only want you for your body--" ...since that's ever a concern, "no more talking. Unless you do go utterly mad and decide to detail a fantasy or two. I've always liked librarians, I think a professor will do in a pinch."
violenthearted: (which is sweeter love or loss?)

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-11 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
Erik can cope with Charles' flights of whimsy better than he can talking over what's just happened right now--he doesn't know the violence Charles has thought of, can't imagine it from the man who sees the good in everyone.

But then maybe he'd understand, after all: Charles's unshakeable faith comes from the fact that he can put a face to every mind that he hears. Their captors are shapeless, voiceless; they could be anyone, or no one. He's still thinking about what he'll do when he has the means for retribution, of course, down underneath in the molten core where his anger smolders every second he's alive, but this, this he can let flood the forefront of his mind, the way Charles needs to touch like green plants need warmth.

Not that he's without his own desires; as remote as he can seem it doesn't take telepathy to know how present he is in the moment, a hiss breaking the air between his teeth as he grips Charles by the hips to hold him in place, arches upward like a wave; like everything else, he'll try to control this even through the vaguely feverish feeling that leeches the color from most of his skin but sets it high in others. "Do that again," he instructs, helpfully, of Charles' dragging nails; as light as they are he can feel them, cool white lines like ice on bruises. "I can't imagine. The hours we could have wiled away reading Victorian poetry."
violenthearted: (pic#5575028)

HAHAHasdgad you changed the warning i see

[personal profile] violenthearted 2013-05-13 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
Erik manages a good ...three solid seconds where he just lets Charles touch him, eyes drifting shut. He's more tired than he wants to be; he refuses to let his own limitations corral this when he's missed it so much, really, he could strip away any fanciful or even more carnal notions and say he's missed Charles being warm. That would cover it.

Fortunately he's not obliged to wrestle with his own urges for very long as Charles outlines his feelings on Romantic poetry; Erik's lashes sweep up and he grins back, eyes hot, all teeth. "Professor Xavier. I didn't know you had it in you."

He could have chosen different phrasing, but why? Blunt innuendo seems to be the best way to encourage this new turn in Charles (they are, he could muse if he were not abundantly busy, finally getting that comfortable with one another; it only took being whisked away to Cape Horror and the possibility of loss to make it happen), that and tugging idly at the tail of Charles' shirt, undoing the bottom few buttons with elaborate casualness. "Though I am afraid all the Byron I can remember would kill the mood."