who is the man I see where I'm supposed to be?

[atthemercyof]

[ Locked to oldcardigans ]

[ Power is still coursing through his veins when they turn, when he follows Charles across the little gravel path, Mansion looming in front of them. The day is still and he can hear the echo of his laugh buzzing around his ear. Running a hand over the back of his neck, he lets out a breath, caught between too much energy and the weary nature of long forgotten feeling.

He's almost loathe to leave the proverbial shadow of the satellite, to remove himself from proof of his domain, but he can keep the knowledge very safe in his chest. He's one step closer, stronger for it. Exhilaration is a strange thing, making him feel keyed up and emotionally wrought and so very capable. Falling into step beside Charles, throwing the thing one last glance, he concentrates on the man beside him. ]

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[atthemercyof]

[ The minute there is silence, Erik does the one thing he's been waiting to do since Charles took control of him. He lets go of the gun and it hovers enough that when Erik closes his fist, the whole thing crumples with a loud sound. The wreckage holds still in the air for a moment, Erik certain that if he could, he would obliterate the entire thing from existence, before he lets it drop. He steps back, can't bear to look at the other man, radiating something terrifying and wounded, some part of him furious and ready to rail against everything in sight.

Breathing harshly through his mouth, mind a jumble of impressions, of a countdown that just never stops, and he needs away. Away from the one person he's come to care about while promising himself that he never would. Because Charles had tried to show him what he could do, and Erik only knows what he could lose.

Without saying anything, his feet propel him away, fighting the wave of nausea, of the very loose grip he has on himself. Erik could shatter to pieces and he can't risk that, drawing himself away from the house without conscious thought to where he could go, to whom he's leaving behind. ]

[oldcardigans]

[There isn't anything more Charles can do just now. He's destroyed something crucial; a promise he made to himself to never use his powers to lash out at Erik, yes, but moreover he's overstepped himself again to strike at the vulnerable parts he was entrusted with. The fragile hope he'd cultivated about confronting him is crushed and laying invisibly next to the twisted metal, Charles watching him go with the oddly distant feeling of being left behind, too.

His message is received, it seems, leaving his mind open and inflicting Erik's pain onto himself for no other reason than he deserves to feel hurt compounded on hurt if he's caused it, no matter whose it is.

Staggering to the nearest shade, a mad grab for whatever small sanctuary he could, he bows inward and lets his face crumple into a mask of sorrow, hands pulling at his hair.]