Erik raises his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest and looking perfectly at ease with nothing real to lean on. "You've survived."
That's enough, to him. He doesn't know the places Ned's mutation has taken him, and unless he sees specific conversational directions for them won't ask. It's the same kind of strength he sees in River, or Raven, or any of the small family he'd had a chance with in the world he and Charles left behind. Mutants are people whose mere existence means they bear up under a weight the humans who surround them can never understand. Ned has, he can see, been marked by that weight; it's nearly visible sometimes, in the hunch of his shoulders and his easy retreat into reticence. Where Erik wears his height and breadth in a way that eats space, Ned pulls in on himself, compacts what he has left to keep it holding him up. The kind of toll it takes is terrible, but sometimes that's the cost of continuing to move in a world which delights in othering what it can't understand, where the semiotic dichotomy of 'us' and 'them' is the simple fix. Acceptance is harder. Charles believes humans to be capable of it, but Erik--he didn't even believe that when he thought he was human. Ned is right in his perception; it's not mutants who should have to change, it's the world.
"At great price, I think." That's quiet, made with Erik's usual intense eye contact, but he doesn't hold Ned's gaze or demand confirmation. Mercy and pity are in short supply with Erik, but he can be gentle when he wants to be.
After that there's a moment where Ned might feel obligated to fill the silence, since that's often what he does - Erik has noticed - but then he looks back, considering. "I can't change the way you see yourself. That's your power to take, if you want it. But I have picked up a trick or two over the years."
Let him gently understate. "Knowing you can defend yourself as needed--it helps." He shrugs, a faint trace of bitter smile on his mouth. "It's either that or hope the world becomes an easier place to live in, and if you're looking for that you'd be better off asking Charles."
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That's enough, to him. He doesn't know the places Ned's mutation has taken him, and unless he sees specific conversational directions for them won't ask. It's the same kind of strength he sees in River, or Raven, or any of the small family he'd had a chance with in the world he and Charles left behind. Mutants are people whose mere existence means they bear up under a weight the humans who surround them can never understand. Ned has, he can see, been marked by that weight; it's nearly visible sometimes, in the hunch of his shoulders and his easy retreat into reticence. Where Erik wears his height and breadth in a way that eats space, Ned pulls in on himself, compacts what he has left to keep it holding him up. The kind of toll it takes is terrible, but sometimes that's the cost of continuing to move in a world which delights in othering what it can't understand, where the semiotic dichotomy of 'us' and 'them' is the simple fix. Acceptance is harder. Charles believes humans to be capable of it, but Erik--he didn't even believe that when he thought he was human. Ned is right in his perception; it's not mutants who should have to change, it's the world.
"At great price, I think." That's quiet, made with Erik's usual intense eye contact, but he doesn't hold Ned's gaze or demand confirmation. Mercy and pity are in short supply with Erik, but he can be gentle when he wants to be.
After that there's a moment where Ned might feel obligated to fill the silence, since that's often what he does - Erik has noticed - but then he looks back, considering. "I can't change the way you see yourself. That's your power to take, if you want it. But I have picked up a trick or two over the years."
Let him gently understate. "Knowing you can defend yourself as needed--it helps." He shrugs, a faint trace of bitter smile on his mouth. "It's either that or hope the world becomes an easier place to live in, and if you're looking for that you'd be better off asking Charles."