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[minded]

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@frankensteinian

[minded]

[ moved from here. ]

We've been kissing in the backseat of my car while traveling across the country, Erik, it's been very unethical and unproductive.

[ ha. ]

We've been working. Women's heels are just not very receptive to marble tile, that's all. Guess what the floors are made of in Langley.

[frankensteinian]

And you were terribly impressed by her skill at falling down stairs?

[minded]

Like I said. It was a very graceful fall. You would've been impressed too, I would think, if you'd agreed to come along.

[frankensteinian]

I'm sure. But if I'd come along, then who would have kept an eye on things here?

[minded]

Hank. Raven, even if she might hate it. She's quite clever, you know.

[ charles asked twice, in person, if erik would come along. he wasn't going to ask a third time, not when they're several states over by now, but still. would it have been so terrible to travel with moira, she's very nice.

maybe he was too subtle in asking? ]

How are you enjoying babysitting?

@laserguy

[minded]

[ moved from here. ]

Quite, yes. I'm simply perplexed that you're this fascinated, Scott, I'm a much older man compared to your peers. Surely my personal life isn't that interesting. You don't even listen as well as you pretend to be during our remedials.

[ he knows jean has been helping scott with many things, bless her generous heart, but charles does not have the same sweetness to him. not anymore. there are only two people on this whole planet that charles promised to never telepathically read, and scott is not among them. ]

Besides, he's not staying. I'd like not to disappoint where faculty gossip is concerned.

[laserguy]

[That knocks some of the wind out of his sails. He really has been trying harder in class and stuff, because everything matters way more now compared to his old public school. It's just sometimes dull still! But... Professor Xavier hasn't given up on him, right?

Shoving that aside though, Scott finds himself prodding about this, just in a little less of a shitlord way.]

Are you disappointed he's not staying?

[minded]

Would it truly matter if I was?

[ in hindsight, that sounds truly dismissive to say, so charles amends: ]

I'm not disappointed, Scott. Not in you or him. I have placed [ an unbearably high standard for everyone to meet, simply because they are standards i hold myself against ] a lot of pressure on many people in my life, and Erik is as steadfast in his beliefs as I am with mine.

Respecting one another as equals often means knowing where our boundaries are. He honours mine, and I his.

[ which means erik doesn't stay, and charles doesn't go to him. adulthood is very complicated. ]

[laserguy]

[In his opinion, there's like maybe two things worse than having Professor Xavier disappointed in you. It's like your soul shrivels up and you just want to lie on the ground and stare at the sky or ceiling for two hours. Way more effective than his old teachers.

Alex being disappointed would be worse but--]

And those boundaries involve living apart from each other.

[Not that he really has strong opinions of having Mr. Lehnsherr live here. He also thinks the professor is still disappointed, he just said it in a roundabout way.] And... that's just how it is?

[minded]

The long and short of it, yes, Scott. Top marks, and I mean that sincerely.

[ adult relationships are so complex, aren't they? he hopes it won't be the same for scott and jean. time will tell if theirs is just a teenage flirtation or something more, but for both their sakes he hopes—

he wishes they would have an easier go of it. ]

We both have things to do that are counter to what we want to achieve. Perhaps one day I can explain it to you.

@l1

[minded]

[ moved from here. ]

[ this is quite the read. ]

Are you feeling all right, my friend?

[ because surely something outwards is the matter, and charles isn't also projecting. ]

Sometimes the high road isn't an option for certain people. Avoidance can get you so far before it transforms itself into defensive measures, and even then, if one must, offence can become necessary. We don't always have the choice when it comes to others, or we will have forced our will upon them, and where does that leave us?

We'd be no better than those we claim to be superior to, no matter how we define 'better' to be.

[ it's one of the points he and erik can never meet on, can never compromise on. charles will always believe in a peaceful coexistence, and erik will always hold fast to mutantkind's unapologetic existence among humans, no matter the cost. to want the same thing but fight for it so differently — it's why they have so few friends. ]

Was that how you were viewed before, Thale?

[l1]

Oh, don't jerk me about like I'm the nutcase. You asked, I answered. You can give me the runaround, but you know what I'm talking about.

[ Everybody wants to yap about feelings, no one wants the revenge fantasies. Ugh, fine. ]

Before? Now? It's all the same. But I'm not strapped down with a million IVs anymore.

[minded]

If you're a nutcase then I'd have my own suite at the local facility. That's not a good way to look at yourself or your gift.

[ thale should understand, with the powers they have, how utterly isolating it can be to hear everyone in your head all of the time. how pointless it makes everything, from conversations to relationships to fighting for ideals worth a damn. everyday charles witnesses the worst of humanity from both victim and perpetrator. it never stops, not even in sleep.

it would be so easy to be just as horrific as the rest of the world. so charles fights the urge at every turn. the right thing is always worth fighting for. ]

But I am sorry for what's been done to you. There is no reason for it to happen, even if you'd volunteered for it. I imagine you haven't.

[l1]

[ He bloody well bought out the building, that's why. ]

I mean, you did basically admit to making yourself a punching bag to stand on ceremony, and chances aren't zero you're sending this on the bathroom floor next to the shitter, so...

[ Probably, yeah. It's okay to whisper-think he's a shithead. ]

You're the only person to say there's a good way. [ And because he does know: ] What a coincidence, and the only person whose head I can't get into as easily.

[ What would he find there, if Charles let him in? Where does the truth begin and lip service end? Maybe he does see some perks for himself, but it's also no great stretch or secret to gather Charles is different. Better. More capable. More.

A response to the freely extended apology takes a beat. It feels just as pointless in the moment to expound further, to wonder how one of them becomes a Charles Xavier on the outside and one of them becomes him on the inside. ]

I didn't.

Sorry you won't be pretty for a bit.

[minded]

[ the unfortunate truth is that charles wouldn't know either. he's seen the depths of others' minds, certainly, but his own? there are only ghosts there now. more than charles wants to admit. ]

I think my ego can survive a few days of being unpleasant to look at. Thank you, Thale.

You know, our powers don't always have to be so loud all the time. I could show you how, if you'll let me.

@allbedestroyed

[minded]

[ moved from here. ]

[ and the puns, of course. folders and puns, like proper old men. ]

We're doing splendid, thank you for asking. I've started the younger classes on gardening! It seems like it's the first time for many to, er, touch soil and dirt and grass.

Urban jungles. Not very good for a child's holistic psychological development.

[ it's all very new age, but there is merit to disconnecting from the familiar. not to mention, concrete and cement are all so very drab. ]

[allbedestroyed]

[It's definitely better than the danger Muldoon was starting to get concerned about.]

It's not good for a person's relationship with nature. But not everyone gets a chance to grow up with a garden. Just don't neglect getting them familiar with bugs. Too many people are scared of them as it is.

You're really going above and beyond for them, you know that?

[minded]

Many of the children under my care do not have people who do it for them. I have the means, I have the time. I would hope most would extend the same care if they had the opportunity.

[ the fact that so many do not is disheartening, certainly, but it's all the more reason to do better. ]

If you like, you could come down to the academy. We do need some instruction on wild animal behaviours for some of the students.

[allbedestroyed]

I think most people wouldn't be so closely involved if they were you. They'd happily hire others to do the grunt work.

Do you? [Or is he just appealing to Muldoon's interests? It doesn't really matter.] Would it be helpful to bring along some animals for them to see? If I can get kids to stop being afraid of snakes and spiders I know a few friends who would like their animals looked after for a day.

@magnetisch

[minded]

[ moved from here. ]

No one deserves to have their mind destroyed.

[ not even his worse enemy. no matter what erik says. some lines cannot be uncrossed, and charles will always regret the ones he has. but erik is right as well. his is a good heart, even if it's been terribly scarred by men who think themselves better than the rest. what good is being good, if you're surrounded by evil men? ]

I can be done now, if you'd like me to help. What are we making?

Does the pizza have vegetarian options?

[ at least pretend to feed them healthy, please. ]

[magnetisch]

( no one? really? he can think of a few who'd more than deserve it, but he'll drop the subject because he knows charles will never agree and he's not in the mood for an argument. )

Basil leaves, tomatoes, black olives and bell peppers. ( does charles approve? he should. he paid for it. raven used his card and insisted on ordering from the most expensive restaurant. )

I'm making us a one-pan dish. Chicken and asparagus. You can help by pouring us a glass of wine.

[minded]

[ in hindsight, he should have expected this answer. if he knew they were getting pizza, he would've recommended a lovely little place that makes them fresh. the chef even adds little slices of raspberry for added flavour, it's all rather delightful. ]

Ah, relegated to the sidelines in my own kitchen. The horror.

[ he's very thankful. he doesn't even know how the stovetop works. that said, he cuts off the messaging and very noisily clatters his way into the kitchen, slightly breathless and brandishing a bottle of wine like a weapon. ]

I have the wine. Where are the glasses?

[allbedestroyed]

There's something quite refreshing about this trip. It's nice to step away from the intense expeditions and complicated planning that now rules his life, and return to the simpler aspects of his work. Truthfully he hasn't done a school talk in a long time, and it's always a good idea to get back to basics. No one keeps you on your toes like an inquisitive child.

Plus there's the matter of Xavier's strange comments about his charges. Muldoon is still sort of convinced that the professor is taking their games of dress-up and make-believe a little too far, but that's nothing to do with him. He's just bringing the animals.

Speaking of keeping his opinions under wraps, he starts to think he's made a wrong turn when he sees his destination. The mantra of reminding himself to treat it like an old English boarding school keeps him focused as he drives the van as close to the front as he can. He's wearing his usual khaki uniform today, partly out of habit, but it does leave him half-hoping not to spend too long indoors. In a mansion like this he'll feel incredibly underdressed. Which is why he takes a step back after knocking on the front door.

[minded]

For what it's worth, the whole estate had been very English, on account of Charles's family buying up the whole thing to be a summer home. Certainly he has the ancestral house back in England, and he maintains it well enough, but the estate-turned-campus in Westchester is as much his home as it is for his students.

It is a little overbearingly large, Charles supposes, even for a privately funded school for troubled youths. The converted mansion is just one part of it; there's the freshly installed basketball court, the running track a little further out, the archery target fields and the obstacle course, to say nothing of the expansive garden. It has a proper greenhouse and groundskeeper.

Yes, it's all quite a lot.

A teenager greets Muldoon when he knocks, too—ordinary-looking by most standards, except this child has iridiscent blue hair and reptilian eyes, with fully-developed nictitating membranes when she blinks - true third eyelids. You're the beastmaster guy? She remarks almost impolitely, before pointing down the hall. I'll sort the animals while you guys talk things.

Down the hall, and it's more of the same strangeness. There's a girl with antler horns coming out of her forehead, peeking through the banisters with a boy whose hair is moving on its own. A pair of teenagers duck into a classroom; one of them has bird wings on his back. A young woman with red hair is staring intently at a cardboard panel with a slightly older young man, himself with a shock of white hair, and both look up to Muldoon with mild curiosity.

To your left, welcome to the academy, the redhead politely indicates, before returning to the panel in her hands—but she hadn't actually spoken, has she?

By the time Muldoon's entered, Charles is just finishing up a phone conversation. "—And we'll continue tomorrow, yes? Thank you. My guest is here, I'll have to let you go now."

Charles sets the phone down, then wheels himself around the desk and towards Muldoon. "Welcome to the acadamy, my friend. I hope the drive wasn't too awful?"

[allbedestroyed]

The closest comparison he has is the big houses in his homeplace, though they are nothing like this. Or perhaps the great homes he's visited briefly which used to belong to Indian Rajas. None had the suffocating decorum of an English manor. He'd never felt as at ease in his mother's homeland. Perhaps thankfully, there are bigger things to focus on.

The warden is almost mesmerized by his greeter's eyes, until she mentions his own words. "Don't touch the animals," he instructs a little belatedly. "I'll sort them out in a minute."

Pondering what he'd just seen, and questioning his own eyes a bit, the rest of his walk to the professor is just as battling. It's not disgust or horror with which he stares, but confused curiosity. Perhaps Charles has spoiled these kids, and given them expensive prosthetic toys, he tries to reason. It's a meagre attempt to rationalise what he's seeing, and it helps him stop staring quite so much, quite so directly, but it falls short of actually explaining what his eyes are telling him.

The helpful directions aren't any better.

"Thanks," he says reflexively, and starts down the hall before what had happened catches up with him.

By the time he approaches Charles, he's rubbing his temple, feeling like he's just walked through a dream and is in a horribly disorientating half-awake state. It takes all of his focus to pull his mind back to the present. In this case it's a good thing his mother instilled traditional British over-politeness in him. He'd never been as good at it as she'd liked, picking up the roughness from his father, but it does make it easier to pretend he hadn't seen... everything he'd just seen, and continue as per normal. He can ponder what it all means later. Right now he's on the job, and he'll be damned if he lets himself be unprofessional.

"No." He pauses to clear his throat and focus better. "No the drive was alright."

Followed by the obligatory (and fair), "This is a lovely place." More truthfully he adds, "It isn't what I was expecting."