wedonot | TWENTY EIGHT ✖ VOICE/SPAM

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TWENTY EIGHT ✖ VOICE/SPAM

[Public]

Mr. Stark has been taken down to Level Zero, and he'll remain down there for three days. Just so everyone's aware.

[Private to the Admiral]

I need all the alcohol removed from Mr. Stark's room, as well as anywhere else he's stashed it on the Barge. I'd also like an unmodified, non-Stark Industries wheelchair, please.

[Warden Filtered, minus Jean, Clint and Steve]

I lost the use of my legs in an accident approximately two months before I came to the Barge. Adjusting to life without them has been- [Awful, and honestly, he really hates giving all of you even this much information about it. He doesn't like talking about himself or how he feels about things, least of all the stuff that actively bothers him.] Difficult. When I first came to the Barge, it was with the promise that if I graduated an inmate, I would have full use of them restored, which, admittedly, [And there's some self depreciating humor in his voice at this.] must seem a bit selfish to most of you.

The point is, I don't know that I can wait until an inmate of mine graduates to be able to walk again, especially in light of [His voice sticks in his throat a little and he clears it awkwardly.] what happened, last port. And the fact that such events are just another factor of living here has made me start considering other alternatives, because I certainly don't have plans to leave. I have a few more things I'd like to ask the Admiral about that are a little less time sensitive and potentially dangerous before their resolution.

So, if anyone has information about technology or procedures or anything that would be able to help repair the damage, I'd appreciate being able to discuss it with you.

[Private to Ariadne]

I'd like to sincerely apologize for Mr. Stark's actions and assure you that it won't happen again.

[Private to Sara]

Mr. Barton's post apparently inspired Mr. Stark to get it in his head that drunkenly attacking your inmate with a weapon he was planning on making from cannibalized parts of my wheelchair was an excellent way to spent a Sunday evening. I'm working on coming up with incentive for him to avoid this sort of plot in the future, but I thought you should be informed.

[Private to Clint]

Mr. Barton? I'm Mr. Stark's warden. We should speak.

[Private to Natasha]

I don't know how much of what happened last night you've been made aware of, but I think I need to speak with you, regardless.

[Private to Steve]

I think we need to have a serious discussion about Mr. Stark.

[Private to Tony]

I'm going to be escorting you to Mr. Pinkman's support group from here on out. I've confiscated all the alcohol in your room, and once you've sobered up, we're going to have a serious talk about how to proceed moving forward.

[Private to Erik]

I need a fucking drink.

[ooc: So after Clint's post, this happened and then this happened, and then this happened, which led to further warden/inmate discussions in the previously linked post. Basically, Charles is furious with Tony, and he and Erik dragged him down to Zero.]

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[On a different day, Charles might have tried to argue on at least Steve's behalf, but his opinion of him had taken a bit of a beating today as well.

He does chuckle a little at the aliens comment though, because seriously, it's like something out of a damn comic book. :| And yes, superpowers and all that were sort of difficult to wrap your mind around from certain perspectives as well, but. Aliens?]

That makes two of us. As much faith as I have in the both of us and the kids, and I suppose even your new friends, I'm certainly not in any hurry to go up against something like that.

My new friends, [ he repeats, arching his eyebrows in a question as he glances up at Charles. Would that be Ivy, or Shaw's followers? ]

[The answer seemed pretty obvious to Charles, because - as far as he knew - Ivy wasn't planning on coming home with the two of them any time soon.]

You know. Azazel and - I believe he goes by Riptide?

You know, [ he says slowly, moving a pawn into a position for Charles to take so he can make way for his rook.]

I'm not entirely certain.

[Charles just laughs quietly, staring at the chessboard.]

You may want to look into that.

[He considered the board for a long moment, even though honestly, he wasn't paying all that much attention to the game, debating what he wanted to say next, if he wanted to say anything at all. Finally, he finished off the glass, made a bit of a face against the burn and put it back down on the table before kneading his forehead for a moment, still not looking at Erik.]

My mother was an alcoholic. [And without further elaborating, he decided fuck it, he's taking the pawn with one of his own.] You're always too quick to sacrifice your pawns, my friend.

[Well that's a small bomb to slide in mid chess. Erik's eyes flick up to settle on Charles, even if he won't look. For all that Charles knows everything - everything - about him, Erik knows surprisingly little about his friend's life.

So he shrugs, taking his cues from Charles and treading carefully.]

They're next to useless. Even a rook is more dangerous.

[He's careful with said rook, maneuvering it out so it's in no danger.]

Tell me about her.

[Charles was quiet for a long moment, and it was probably that fact - that he knew everything about Erik and he knew next to nothing about him - that eventually tipped the scales in favor of actually talking about this instead of just changing the subject or refusing to say anything.]

Alright. [He still takes the time to consider his next move, and figure out what the hell he actually wants to say, because honestly, he hasn't really ever talked about this with anyone. Not even Raven. They'd both known about it, but they'd never really talked about it, he'd never really just said it out loud like that, because it was easier to just ignore it and pretend it wasn't happening, and get the hell out of the house.]

My father passed away when I was young, and she wasn't ever quite the same afterward. She started drinking when we moved to New York, but she didn't start doing it heavily until after she married my stepfather.

[He hesitated another moment before moving his knight, trying to box Erik in to take his bishop, and he still wouldn't look up at his friend, his voice conversational. It was awkward talking about it, or complaining at all about his life when he knew, comparatively, he didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to terrible childhoods.] I used to try to hide it from Raven. And she was never violent or anything, just... sad.

[Charles may not look at him, but Erik watches Charles. He listens while Charles talks, and lets his eyes drop back to the Barge only after Charles has made his move.

He had a stepfather. Why didn't Erik know that?

Silently, he moves another pawn out to protect his bishop for the moment.]

What was he like? Your stepfather.

He was- [He laughed softly, trying to think of the best way to explain it while trying to figure out how to avoid falling into a trap.] A bit eccentric. He used to work with my father, and built the bunker under the mansion because he was convinced the Soviets were going to start a nuclear war, which I suppose I can't begrudge him for now. Anyway. Very odd fellow.

[Instead of moving to take the pawn or the bishop, he moved one of his own pawns further down the board.]

He left Raven and I alone, for the most part. I don't think he was very interested in kids.

Not much of a father figure. [And he knows about fucked up father figures, doesn't he. Not. That he'd think of Shaw as one. Not actively, anyway. Usually.

He eyes the pawn, but sends his bishop out, working on a ploy to trap Charles' queen.]

I'm starting to think you raised yourself. [He...wouldn't be surprised.]

For the most part, I did. [And for some reason, it was easier to admit to that, to talk about this part of it in general more than he'd thought it would be. Which was nice. It wasn't really that he'd avoided telling Erik any of it sometimes so much as he never asked and he never brought it up, but he really just didn't know how or think to talk about this sort of thing. Which is what happens when you've only had like, two real friends in your entire life.]

Well, and Raven, I suppose. As best I could, anyway.

[And we all saw how well that ended, didn't we. :| ]

It's a wonder she didn't turn out like you. [It's teasing, but he realizes belatedly that it's...probably not a good thing to tease about. Raven is, after all, an uncharted subject between them. So he moves on.]

I imagine dealing with Stark's little problem hasn't been pleasant.

[Charles doesn't really mind, honestly. He's not an idiot, he knows why Raven left, and he feels badly for making her feel like she was in a position where that was her better option. They'd just stopped understanding each other at some point, and maybe his needing to function as a parent with her from time to time didn't help.

It was complicated, but he does understand, sort of. It's not a topic that's totally off limits for discussion.]

No, it hasn't. [He carefully navigates his queen away from the trap Erik had been laying and instead moves in on one of his knights.] I understand some of what he's gone through, but apparently our ways of dealing with it are quite different.

That much is obvious.

[Very little was off limits between them; but Raven is dangerous. Erik knows how protective Charles is of her, and he knows that he will never approve of how Charles handled her. Not off limits, just tricky. And he doesn't want trickier, right now.]

You could always give him an example. [He taps his temple with two fingers, in imitation of Charles' telepathy.] Of how you handled yourself.

I could. [He didn't really know how much it would help. The only things he'd really done was get the hell out of the house and away from it as soon as he could and keep an eye on himself to make sure he wasn't falling into the same bad habits. He liked drinking, and there were definitely times where he was drinking to get drunk, but he still kept an eye on himself, because he didn't want that life, and he wasn't really sure how much of an impression that would make on Tony.

And there were other factors fueling his reluctance to get into it with him. Such as...]

I've never really spoken to anyone about it before. [And let's just say there's a reason he's telling you first and not just heading down to Zero and spilling it to Tony.]

[It really doesn't surprise him to hear, and Erik nods slightly as he looks down at the chess board again, inching another trap for Charles' queen out, this time with his knight.]

I understand. [And of course he does, because he's never told anyone about what he went through. He never had a reason to. His life is no one's business - except, apparently, that of nosy telepaths. But he couldn't be bitter about that, even if he wanted to be.]

Maybe you ought to ask for a different inmate.

[Charles smiles genuinely for the first time since he brought up his mother, either not noticing the new trap or ignoring it as he makes his next move.]

It takes quite a bit to get me to give up on a person. You may have noticed. [And he does appreciate that understanding, more than he could ever hope to put into words, and he might have let some of that appreciation filter across if Erik wasn't wearing the helmet, because it was easier to communicate it that way than by putting it into words. But he was, and he didn't.]

Edited 2012-10-08 17:43 (UTC)

[His smile turned a little wry at that; it was true, he couldn't imagine Charles giving up on him. And though he may want his friend to give up on Stark, he doesn't see that happening, either. The trap will take a couple more moves; Erik is careful not to draw too much attention to it, moving other pieces as well.]

You're wasted on him.

[Charles snorted, smiling at the comment, because while that was genuinely nice to hear, he didn't really agree with it, for a number of reasons.] Flattering, but I don't know if I'd go that far.

I worry another warden would have him running circles around them. [He was smart enough to keep up with him and had his telepathy to help worm the truth out of him when he was being difficult, it made things a bit more difficult to get away with than they would have been otherwise. He considered his next move for a few seconds before continuing.] More than he's already been doing with me, anyway.

Oh, it wasn't a compliment. [Yes it was, says the tiny smile, but he'll deny it.] Anyone would be wasted on him.

You could always punch him, when he's being difficult. [And he springs his trap, putting the final knight in place so that no matter where he moves his queen, Erik's in a position to take her.]

[... You tricky bastard. B( Charles just chuckles again as he considers the board, trying to figure out if there's any possible way to salvage this.] I'm not sure how far this place would get if wardens were sanctioned to use physical force against their inmates whenever they wanted, Erik.

[And alright, his queen's doomed, so he's going to start moving in on your pieces and not even bothering to try rescuing it or removing it from danger.]

Besides, after knowing me all this time, do I really seem like the punching sort?

[He could point out that he seems to remember Charles socking him fairly well in Cuba, but instead he smiles wryly and lifts his shoulders innocently.]

No, but I will continue to hope that one day you'll develop the urge.

[Erik shut up, you kicked his ass pretty thoroughly in like, twenty seconds in Cuba.]

How shockingly out of character for you.

[Well yes but Charles through a punch, it counts. B(]

I do try to surprise.

[Barely.]

Of course. [And he's quiet again as he considers his next move, glancing up at his friend after a moment and giving him a small smile.] Thank you, Erik.

[For you know. Being here and listening and generally being a good friend. B(]

TWENTY EIGHT ✖ VOICE/SPAM

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[Spam] lol and then Erik predicted the future :c

[Spam] this is why you should listen to him B(

[Spam] and he will never tell you it happened B(

[Spam] BUT :C

[Spam] HE WILL NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT

[Spam] NOPE C:

[Spam] exactly :c

[Spam] ...damn it :C

[Spam] someday you'll get a truth flood, hang in there erik

[Spam] fine B(

[Spam] :3

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