[Spam for Erik, slightly backdated]

[Charles is sitting in a comfortable chair in his room, flipping through a new biology book he'd recently discovered in the library, and while he should be focused on what he's reading, he's not, and he hasn't been for a long time, which is entirely the fault of the other occupant of the room.

Erik's been quiet, and for a while Charles had been attributing that to the fact that they were both focusing on the books they were flipping through, but there was definitely something... off about him that he can't quite put his finger on. There's almost always at least a slight telepathic connection between the two of them these days, and usually it was handy to point out different things in the texts without having to get up and show the other, but Erik's just. Quiet. And he's been fidgety, like he has a bad headache or didn't get enough sleep the night before, which is sort of strange too, considering the other mutant usually liked to keep a lid on when things like that were bothering him.

Finally, he can't take it anymore and puts the book aside entirely, staring at his friend and just coming out with the question.]

What's wrong?

[Notice that he's not giving you opportunity here to say that you're fine, because something is definitely wrong, and you are going to fess up about it. :|]

[Private to Spock, backdated to after Sulu's announced that he's back]

I hope this isn't a bad time- [Although from his tone, this is serious fucking business and he doesn't really care if he's interrupting anything right now because asldkjsdglj!!!!!] Have you spoken to Erik or Anya since you've arrived back on the Barge?

[Private to Anya]

We need to talk.

[Like. Right this second. Spoilers: you're grounded. :|]

[Charles sounds a little more hoarse and tired than usual, but he rallies enough to just sound serious and professional. This isn't a fun science lecture about genetics or ancient fish this time, but it's still kind of grounding to just lay everything out like this to an audience, asking for feedback.] I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier- [Anyone who was wandering the infirmary after port might have noticed that Charles pretty much camped out in a chair next to Erik's bed for the first four or so days after port, helped him escape back to his room, and since then has been pretty scarce in public areas of the ship.] But as there's been some discussion over what actually happened in port, I thought it might be for the best to provide my observations on what happened, if anyone was interested.

When we first arrived, I felt as if there was something very wrong with the building, but honestly, I couldn't quite explain what it was or why I felt so nervous about it. Obviously things fairly quickly deteriorated, and on the evening of the third day we were there, I was attacked by another warden who had succumbed to the hallucinations fairly thoroughly. [He won't name names, because that's not really the important part.] When he attacked me, I tried to use my telepathy to stop him, but instead of sensing his mind, some other telepathic force intervened and tried to stop me.

I've never encountered anything like it before, but it was certainly sentient, malicious, extremely powerful, and not an organic lifeform the way we - at least, from what I've studied in my time here of life in other universes, because it's certainly not like anything from my world - typically understand it. It almost knocked me unconscious, but I was able to overpower it and it let go of the other warden long enough for me to put him to sleep so he wouldn't harm anyone else if they woke up and whatever it was returned.

I don't know if it was somehow feeding off of our presence in the hotel or what it was hoping to achieve by convincing people to murder their inmates or friends, but if anyone has any further information on creatures or being that might be similar to it, or on what exactly it was trying to do, I would appreciate hearing about it. Thank you.

[Private to Ivy]

[He hesitates a bit before adding anything, because he's not really sure how she'll take to being checked up on. Their conversations usually range from civil to argumentative, so it's a little difficult to get a read on how chummy they actually are or aren't.

Still.]

Are you doing alright?

[Private to the Admiral]

I'm still waiting on an answer. [He'll send daily messages until he gets a response. :|]

[Spam for the Deck]

[It wasn't really unusual for Charles to feel some level of isolation from other people, humans and mutants alike, especially recently - had Cuba really already been nearly seven months ago? - and it had really only gotten worse since he'd arrived on the Barge.

And honestly, he didn't really mind. The isolation came more from a place of what people expected from him than because he was different or whatever else. He was supposed to be the mature one, the person with all the answers, who couldn't be vulnerable because everyone else needed a rock to lean on when their worlds were spiraling out of control. And he was happy to be that person for whoever needed it.

But it made days like today difficult, because he wanted someone to talk to about all of this, and while months ago he would have approached Erik without hesitation, he felt like he couldn't be honest with him anymore, even besides the fact that a large part of what was weighing on Charles had to do with him.

So he'd decided he couldn't take just sitting around in his room anymore and headed up to the deck. Months ago, he might have gone for a run, but that obviously wasn't an option anymore, and so he just stopped a few feet away from the deck railing, watching their progress through space. After a few minutes, he slowly started relaxing his telepathic control, not enough to be noticeable by most people, probably. Just enough to make sure no one could sneak up on him and take some of the tension off. Keeping himself fully pulled back was almost like keeping a muscle tensed indefinitely, and he needed the reprieve, however slight it actually was.]

[Right around the time when the scientists start attempting contact with people on the station again, Charles is jerking awake and trying to figure out who, exactly, is trying to communicate with him, because it's weird and unfamiliar and therefore vaguely invasive while at the same time piquing his curiosity - the station had seemed abandoned, and he hadn't been stupid enough to not check if the people were all just hiding somewhere, so either they were shielded from his telepathy or they just weren't there - so he's up and awake and trying to figure out what's going on, carefully scanning the area again.

But the only people he can really sense are the others from the Barge, which is still troubling, because the sensation of someone mentally nudging him isn't going away, so he fumbles for his communicator, switching it on to see if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.]

Is anyone else awake? Who else is sensing that? [There's a very, very faint sound of laughter from somewhere, a burst of static, and then a short pause while Charles stares suspiciously at the doorway for a few seconds before speaking again.]

I don't- [There's a long burst of static, which occasionally dies off enough to get a syllable or so of whatever Charles is trying to say, but it's unintelligible.] but they're not here. [And the feed shuts off.]