(Untitled)

[markedformore]

The instant it happens, he knows.

There is a certain scent that Erik will never forget in his life and though he's made great strides in repressing it, it still flares up in his memories and his thoughts and his nightmares. The acrid taste of ash and death in his mouth will never leave him and now it permeates his being as strongly as the

Comments

[thebettermen]

Charles has been in this office before - only he hasn't, has he? In truth, he's simply sifted through Erik's memories of the events that transpired here, the torture and the murder, felt it as surely as though he'd lived it himself, but there is a difference, Charles is quickly finding, in memory versus reality.

Provided, of course, this is reality, for in that, there's no guarantee.

A thousand thoughts race through his mind, and only a fraction of them are his own. There's no time to consider how it is he's arrived here, no time to wonder why it is he's not but a boy, in full possession of his powers, no time to make sense of what's happening. The situation has presented itself so suddenly as to take his breath away, but it's on instinct to hide, to trick the minds of those around him so that he's not there at all, to buy a moment to get his bearings

[halfscarlet]

Billy isn't thinking when he clutches the smaller hand at his wrist, still trying to get his bearings. If not for the reassurance -- both mental and physical -- he may have thought he'd lost his mind a the sudden change in scenery, from the calm of his own home to the dark, dangerous atmosphere they've found themselves in.

None of it makes sense; not the scene playing out before them, a conversation he doesn't understand, the clothes he's in, the boy beside him, who is, when he gives it more than a second of thought, probably Professor Xavier.

Which begs the question, which he thinks very clearly and loudly at Xavier, what the hell was going on?

[markedformore]

Erik begins to secure himself a rhythm to keep himself steady. He drags his toe up the insole of his cheap shoe, tensing his jaw in time with the movement while ignoring the baser impulses that rock through him. Soon, Schmidt will ask him to move the coin and Erik will lie in wait and be patient. He can sense that his powers are not as weak as they should be in this situation and would dare to smile if he felt like he could without giving Schmidt an indication that the tables had turned.

He keeps his head bowed low, repeating his habitual movement as he bows his head lower and thinks that soon this will be over and he will have won this day and his family by slaying the monster.

[thebettermen]

I know this place, Charles thinks, watching the exchange between Shaw (Schmidt, still, given the time, though Charles has only ever known the man as Sebastian Shaw) and Erik, raptly. From a memory. I'm not certain if this is real, but we must treat it as such. Do you understand?

Not waiting for an answer, Charles lets go of Billy's wrist to instead lift his fingers to his temple; he's had good control of his powers since he was a child, but now he possesses the additional knowledge of his older self, and what he's about to do will require some measure of concentration. Shaw is no telepath, but he possesses a powerful mind, making him hard to keep still for very long. (The memory of the last time Charles had done so is far from pleasant, marking, as it does, a betrayal of his trust that he's worked hard to forgive over the past few months, but he can't allow himself to get distracted.) His attention focused on Erik's so-called creator and the vile thoughts running through his head, Charles' brows knit together as he makes Shaw freeze