(no subject)
Magneto is looking well considering that he lost a fair amount of his blood hardly four days ago. That would be, of course, one of the more positive aspects of having Sabella around and in working order. Dressed casually enough in a grey ribbed sweater and slacks, he is - of course - working, notes etched out across scrap paper taken directly from the files contributed by a certain Warren Worthington III. None of them, as of yet, involve any mention at all of ceramic weaponry.
Toxin leans against the doorjamb to Magneto's office, simply observing him for several moments before reaching up and rapping on the metal. "Knock knock." she murmurs, confident that he can hear her. She's looking fit, dressed in a leopard-spotted corset type top and a knee length leather skirt. Her concussion was taken care of by Sabella, and that was the worst of her injuries. Moving forward with the grace of a cat, she places her hands on the back of a chair, rather than sitting in it.
Glancing up at that, Erik doesn't look particularly surprised to see her there - just peering back down at his desk again once he's gotten a decent look at her. "Good afternoon, Veronica." The scratch of his pen across the paper resuming until he's finished the paragraph he's currently on, he finally clicks the butt of the pen against the desk, slides the paper and the files aside, and sits back to take her in more completely. And for a moment, really, that's all he does - his brows tilted to suggest that he hasn't really put much thought into precisely where he'd like to start.
"Hello, Erik." Toxin returns, maintaining her position behind the chair for a moment, then working her way around it and seating herself. She knows that she's unlikely to get an invitation and so she'll help herself. Leaning back in the chair, Magneto's second meets his gaze steadily, finally moving to tuck her hair behind her ears. Rarely does she leave it down, and when she does, she has a tendency to play with it. There's a deep breath, then Toxin tilts her head to one side and decides to break the ice. "You're looking well, after our little mission."
"Mmm...As do you, my dear." The pen, still in hand, gets tapped lightly against the polished desk surface twice more before Erik catches himself and sets it aside as well, leaving his hands free to twine together before him. "Largely thanks to the same individual, I'm sure. Tell me - how is morale? Things always do seem to slip a bit after a difficult victory." Nevermind failure.
Toxin nods at the compliment, then folds her hands into her lap and considers her answer, her gold-green eyes flicking to the Isaac's cradle and back. "Morale hasn't taken as heavy a hit as I thought it would. Our losses are...unsettling, especially to the juniors who hadn't yet realized that this could get them killed. However, most of them seem to be recovering from the shock well, and a few are even upset that they didn't get to partake in the main battle." she says, her voice even and calm. Her eyes narrow slightly, and she adds, "Though if Sabella hadn't been available to do what she did, we would have bigger problems with morale. Among other things."
Magneto nods slowly, the thoughtful shift in his expression as a result of her assessment fading fairly quickly at her mention of Sabella in turn. All she gets for that is a sigh - at first, anyway - as he opts to focus on what he perceives to be the more important of the two matters (certainly the least volatile, at least) first. The Isaac's cradle gives nothing away, simply clicking along at its usual even, unfaltering pace. "If all goes well, it should be a while before such a large number of individuals are at risk of losing their lives. We need time to recover. Obviously. But I am glad to hear that such is the case. It may be beneficial to some to realize early on that our line of work can have serious consequences." Then, of course, there is Sabella. "And I am aware of that." Painfully, drawing from the fact that his voice drops an octave. "Thank you."
"I think that the juniors are ready and eager to really have their skills tested, for the most part. Almost all of them still need extensive work in offensively using their powers." Toxin definitely notices that Magneto isn't eager to talk about Sabella, which might partially stem from the fact that the woman sitting before him is closest to her, in a way other than he is. "I have the feeling that you didn't simply call me here to ask about morale. You could have stopped me in the hall and asked about that." She pauses and leans back in her chair, waiting. Her eyes watch him almost like a cat searching for weaknesses in its master.
"Mm...The influx of new members came at an unfortunate time. My attention has been focused elsewhere, but I suppose now would be the time to put more effort into individual training. Particularly with Derek." If Magneto is expecting any reaction to that name in particular, he keeps it from showing. He could be talking about any of the new recruits, really. Derek simply has abilities that require a little more attention to detail than some. His icey glare hard as it meets that particular look in her eyes, Erik's oncoming concession promps the man's mouth to work against the beginnings of a scowl. "I need to know what I can expect from Sabella."
Toxin hides a small smirk at the mention of Derek's name, nodding slowly. "Fatin needs some work as well. I will assume that she has no one here she can work on with regularity." But with the mention of Sabella, there is a different reaction. Her eyes grow just a little colder, and her folded hands come up to steeple in front of her mouth, her elbows resting on the armrests. Regarding him in silence for several moments, Toxin finally moves her hands underneath her chin. "In what way? I know that she's not gone." Spell. It. Out. Erik.
"Even members a group as tolerant as ours towards mutation are going to display hesitation when it comes to having their minds tampered with." Again, Erik chooses to address the non-Sabella issue first, although it's rather blatant this time. His eyes just as cold, there's little feeling in his expression to hint at what he's feeling one way or another - aside from some irritation at being pressed to explain himself in more detail. "No, she isn't gone. She has chosen to remain here on the island. And in whatever way you can imagine." Specifics are, again, avoided, although he does tack on, "But mainly concerning her emotional stability." an uneasy moment later.
Toxin waves her hand dismissively. "I will arrange something for her." she says, ending that part of the conversation. Her eyes do sweep Erik from top to bottom, searching for the body language she's looking for. Finding none, she shrugs her shoulders and continues. "You want her to be emotionally stable? Erik, what I'm about to say will not please you. But if you wanted her stable in the way that I think you mean, you should never have begun a personal relationship with her." Toxin pauses and raises a finger to forestall any response he might make. "I'm not stating a criticism, but a fact. The fact is that she loves you, in a way different from any other man I've ever seen her with. And you use her. That is what tears her apart." There's a mild thought of 'Sabella will kill me if she finds out that I told Erik this'. "If you want her stable...." she trails off, breaking Magneto's gaze while she looks down, then back up. "You really don't want to hear what I think." In her tone is an implicit warning that he's not going to like her suggestion.
Magneto makes an indistinct sound in the back of his throat that indicates fairly firmly that she was correct in assuming that he's not pleased by what she has to say - his shoulders thumping back into his chair and his hands sliding neatly into his lap as he leans further away from the desk. And Toxin. "I use all of you, just as you use me. As a figurehead. A looming threat. So goes life...everything is not fair. If it was, this organization would not have to exist." Faint irritation still etching along his words, Erik can't quite hide the inching slump of his shoulders as Toxin goes on. "I do want her to be stable, and thus, I want to know what you think. I did not promote you to give you an incentive to keep things from me."
"True enough. But the fact that you use -her- is different in her mind. Because of your personal relationship. You may be able to seperate it, but she cannot." Toxin stops, and a slow, cold smile creeps across her lips. "Of course, there is the problem of you using that relationship to get what you want professionally from her." There is little that Sabella, when upset or not, doesn't tell Toxin eventually. Even promoting the poisonous woman didn't rock their relationship for more than a week. "You want her stable? Then either keep her as your woman or the Brotherhood's best assassin. One or the other, Erik, if you want her." she states, waiting for his reaction. And she knows that he's not going to appreciate what she said.
Magneto's chin tilts up slightly - his jaw working stiffly against her smile. "I did try to end it. She left, and had no intention of remaining here on the island until I reinstated a vestige of our /relationship/ to convince her, as you seem to have deduced on your own. The two roles may, in theory, function better separately, but in reality it would seem that I cannot have her as one without also having her as the other. Given an option, I would have no problem at all dealing with her on a purely professional basis. The Brotherhood needs her. I can find female company elsewhere."
"If you lose her as your companion, Erik, you will lose her altogether. You know that." Toxin replies calmly, mentally ticking off points as she makes them. Eventually, these two always come to her for something that has to do with the other. "I have watched you two spar and try to balance this relationship for almost as long as I've known the two of you. You both have changed. Significantly. Every time you leave, Erik, you come back colder and more remote. I see less of Erik Lensherr and more of Magneto in you." A deep sigh, and she finally gets to the point that she know she has to make. "If you want her to be stable, you must sit her down and speak to her. Put Magneto aside, be Erik, and tell her what she wants to hear."
Magneto is the first to break eye contact this time, but not nearly quickly enough to disguise the dulled edge of his glare. It's slate rather than ice that settles on the Isaac's cradle, and the cradle that fills the ensuing silence with its methodical tapping in turn. "With things going as they are in the world today, I find myself quickly coming to the realization that mutantkind requires Magneto more than Sabella requires, as you say, Erik. This is a war, Toxin. Sacrifices have to be made." Nothing is said directly regarding him sitting Sabella down and speaking to her, but from the distracted nature of his gaze, there's a chance that he is thinking about it.
Toxin notes the difference in her leader's gaze. For the moment though, she'll let it slide. There's time enough to kick him while he's down. Later. "And what sacrifices should those be? You live your life for a cause greater than yourself, true. Will you sacrifice the part of you that can feel for Sabella's predicament? We are warriors, my leader. Once this war is over, we will have no place unless we have skills other than waging war." Toxin's gaze softens then, and she falls silent. She's unsure of how to convince him that in some ways, Erik is needed just as much as Magneto. Not just for Sabella.
Magneto lifts a hand to rest his chin in it as he shifts his cool glare back onto Toxin, his index finger already tracing blandly over the hard line of his mouth. It's a long time before he says anything, and once he finally does, it's with slightly lifted brows. "Despite whatever she may think, I don't love her. Not in the way that she wishes I would. I cannot afford to."
Toxin leans on one of her hands, thinking about what Magneto is saying. After almost a minute of silence, she finally speaks. "Then you have to tell her, Erik. Tell her that you don't love her." Yep, Sabella is NOT going to be happy with her for saying this. "You might lose her altogether, but that might be a sacrifice you'll have to make. You are leading her on. No matter what she means to you, or you to her, she deserves better than that."
"It isn't as easy as that, Veronica. Simply allowing her to leave over a...over /this/ would be a tactical disaster. I cannot say what the future holds...but if we suffer casualties like we did at Alkali Lake again, the Brotherhood will need her. As a healer, and as a source of strength. And that goes without mentioning that I do enjoy her presence here." Not having moved, Erik sighs and rolls his eyes slightly before continuing. "This is ridiculously complicated. And what of you, if I should decide to tell her the truth?"
Toxin offers Erik a very small smile. "I know it's not easy. She will not hold the entire Brotherhood responsible for the fact that your relationship has dissolved. The truth, though harsh, is better than allowing her to believe a lie. It will hurt her far less in the end if you tell her now, rather than let her find out by her own means." Stopping and dropping her gaze, Toxin seems almost reluctant to continue. "What of me? I will not hold you responsible when she is hurt by this. Had she found out on her own, or something else had happened, then perhaps I would hold you responsible. I remain loyal to you, though Sabella is my best, and only true friend. She will come to me, and I will not tell her that we had this conversation. I suggest that you don't either. Even pillars of strength need to be held from time to time. And she will need me."
"I would prefer not to hurt her at all." Erik murmers, more to himself than anything, although his eyes remain on Toxin for good minute or so, measuring the truth in her words and in her eyes. Apparently satisfied, he finally shifts up onto his feet - one hand resting briefly on the desk as he moves around it, and around Toxin, already pacing for the door. "I appreciate your advice, and your honesty, and will take it all into consideration. I need her here at least until I've rid myself of Stryker, but a decision will be made."
Toxin closes her eyes for a moment, so Erik cannot read them. She would prefer that Sabella never be hurt, either. Rising from her chair, she follows him to the door and heads through it, stopping to look up at him. "Just....don't string her along, Erik. Please. There are so many things I can take from the man I've placed my loyalty in, but I left once to avoid hurting the two of you, and I will do it again, if I have to." she says quietly, then disappears down the corridor.