(no subject)
ICly set about 2 days after the phone call.
All is quiet in the house, hidden in the snowy mountains of Russia. Derek and Amara are already out on their training op, and Toxin is upstairs, presumably doing something productive. The only person downstairs is Aramina, curled up on the couch. The sounds of a video game are coming from the television, and she seems perfectly content to sit there and play all day long.
Magneto is very capable of making a dramatic entrance, but he's been standing just outside the door for a good five minutes, now, and so far, none has come. His thick black overcoat is pulled and fastened tightly closed - a matching knit cap tugged down snug over his ears as his breath fogs gently out into the air around him - always fading just before the next rolls out on its heels. His eyes study the door carefully, as they have been for a little while now. Considering what he could do to them as he lifts a gloved hand. And knocks.
And guess who jumps up to answer it? Aramina. Cautioned by her mother not to answer the door, that's precisely what she does. From outside, there's the sound of locks being thrown back, and the wooden door creaks open to reveal a golden-haired eight year old, who looks almost like a miniature Toxin. She studies Magneto from top to bottom, blue eyes narrowed. "You're too skinny to be Santa." she states bluntly. "Who are you?"
Magneto is way too tired to be Santa, too - the circles under his eyes and pallor to his skin miles away from the cheery countenance of St. Nick. Simply looking down at the girl as evenly as he can for a moment, Erik forces a half-smile that vaguely borders on the sort that should suggest that he's confident that he's supposed to be here. His voice, however, is dry. "Uncle Erik. May I come in?"
Hmm, Erik. We have heard this name before. Mina considers this, then drags the door open farther. "Yes." After Erik steps inside, she throws her shoulder against the door and pushes it shut, not bothering to lock it as she's been taught. "Mommy, there's a MAN here!!" she shouts up the stairs, then heads into the living room without a word, leaving Magneto standing in the foyer. Toxin, having been alerted by the sound of the shutting door, soon appears on the stairs. "Erik."
"Thank you." Suspecting, perhaps, that such might be the case, Erik locks it behind him without actually moving to do so. She had to unlock it to let him in, after all. Allowing his gaze to trail after the girl until she's hurried back out of sight, he tugs the cap off his head with a mild mutter for the probably state of himself - his free hand running back to smooth his hair back down, only to fall to his side at Toxin's appearance and greeting - both of which are met with a wary look as the cap is tucked into a hip pocket.
Toxin only gives Aramina a short glance, making sure the girl is heading elsewhere. Then she works her way down the stairs, her eyes never leaving Erik while she waits for him to say something. "What is this? No hellos, no threats for me to return your lost little lambs?" She stops at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the bannister. Crossing her arms over her chest, she says, "Perhaps you've lost your touch. Or are you here for some other reason?"
Magneto continues to watch her as she works her way towards him, the chill in his glare not particularly focused or dangerous. Not warning or angry. It's just there, until he shifts his attention down onto himself - a folded piece of paper withdrawn from a chest pocket, halfway unfolded to make sure it's the correct one, and then held out for her to take. "Do you mind if I have a seat? I've had a long week."
Toxin reaches out and takes the paper, unfolding it and skimming over the writing on it. It doesn't take long for her to recognize both the writing and the words on it. The note is crumpled in her fist, and with her other hand she motions to a door, her face expressionless. "Let's go into the dining room, I don't want to disturb Mina." she says in a mild tone, leading the way. Once inside, she closes the door behind them. "Sit." Matching words to action, she plops herself down in the chair at the end of the table.
Magneto nods at that, falling into step behind her silently until she moves around to close the door, and he pulls a chair out for himself somewhere in the middle - turning it enough that it's facing her as he lowers himself into it. "You fear for my sanity?" It may, at first, be difficult to tell whether it's a statement or a question, and his expression gives nothing away - his eyes far too intent on watching her to exibit any emotion of their own in the process.
Toxin takes a deep breath, looking down at the crumpled note in her hand. So that's what this is about. Tossing the note up on the table, she refuses to look at him for a minute, gathering her thoughts. "I do." she finally responds, meeting his gaze. "You carry a heavy burden, Erik. And you carry it alone. You keep changing from the person you were...the one I agreed to follow. What I'm afraid of is that one day you will break from the weight you bear."
Magneto's head angles slightly downwards at that, as does the line of his glare, the brunt of which is brought to bear on the note itself before shifting onto the table surface just next to it. "I am what the need of the Cause requires me to be. Things are not going well, Veronica. We may be able to use Mutant Registration to our advantage, but we are not going to prevent it from happening."
"Of course it's not going well. It hasn't gone well in the ten years I've been a mutant...can you honestly say your years have been any different?" Toxin replies, shaking her head and brushing a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face. "When the Registration goes through, we do what we can and wait for the right opportunity to strike. You used to have that sort of patience in abundance."
"When the Registration act goes through, no strike will be capable of reversing the damage. Even if the act itself is killed, they will still have names on file for prejudiced business to bid and war over. Patience has lost us this battle. I have lost it." Lifting his glare to meet hers at that, Erik pulls in a deep, steadying breath before he moves on. "I'm sorry, Toxin, that I am no longer the man that you initially agreed to follow. And I am sorry that you felt that you had to leave the island."
Toxin lets out a soft sigh, and nods. "I know that the registration act will go through, Erik. There's nothing we can do about that at this point, unless we assassinate Lowe." She shakes her head, glancing at the closed door and idly wondering if Aramina is hiding behind it. "I know you're not. I wish that you were the same man that I agreed to follow. But...at the same time, I understand that things change."
Magneto nods slowly, the distance in his glare fading somewhat, as if he's just now making an effort to focus, though he makes no effort to speak again - his eyes eventually moving to follow the direction of her glance. "If I honestly thought that killing Lowe would do anything more than hold the act off for an administration or two, I would remove him myself." Shifting a little uncomfortably in his chair, he turns to face Toxin and the table more fully before he resettles. "But as far as I go, I do not want you to worry."
Toxin draws her legs up and wraps her arms around her knees, perching her chin on top of it. She doesn't answer, instead gazing to a point just beyond Magneto's shoulder. Her gold-green eyes dim a little, the normally slitted irises widening to the point of being circles. When she finally meets his gaze again, she offers Erik a tiny smile. "But who will worry about you, if not me?"
"I will, my dear. I am far too old and you too young for you to be concerning yourself to the degree that you apparently are." Returning the smile with a faint one of his own, Erik rests a hand on the table before him, fingers splaying out before curling into a loose, comfortable fist. "Regarding Sabella, the situation there has been resolved."
Toxin lets out a soft chuckle, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Somebody has to worry about you besides yourself, Erik. If it was just you, you'll work yourself to death." And he can remember all the times she or Sabella had dragged him out of his office and forced him to eat or just relax for a while. Eying the crumpled note on the table, she turns back to Magneto. "And that reminds me. What exactly were you doing in my bedroom?"
"I was hoping to borrow a pair of shoes." Erik drones, the side of his smile pulling into something that speaks more of dry amusement than anything. "And also determined to find why you had left in the first place. But try not to worry about that, either. I'm having it replaced." What 'it' is, exactly, he declines to mention about as smoothly as he declines a comment for the idea that he's going to be working himself to death any time soon.
"I'm afraid they would be a bit small for you. As would any of my clothes." Toxin responds, her tone just as dry as his. But the faint smile on her face shows the humor in that statement. Another deep breath, and the toxic woman holds it for several moments before letting it out slowly. "I'll make the assumption that you broke down my door and not anything else." A minute of silence. "Erik...if I wanted you to know why I had left, I would have told you."
"Mmm. Perhaps fortunately I thought to check the desk first. Anyway. You hung up on me before I could ask." The fact that he was very much in the mood to break something once she did has, of course, nothing to do with it at all. And after letting it settle that she probably knows as much in the silence glance that follows, he arches a brow and sits back, his hand sliding off the table and into his lap. "Regardless of why you are here or how long you intend to remain, I still want my recruits back safely by the end of the week - and I would really rather not have to arrange to be flown over here again this month."
Toxin arches an eyebrow at Magneto, but doesn't respond to the jibe. Instead, she merely says, "They will return as soon as they're back from the training mission I've sent them on. In fact, I was going to check on them tomorrow. When they come back to you entirely depends on how well they do for themselves out there." She waves a hand negligently at the window and the snow outside. Wrapping her hand back around her knees, she asks the question that's really on her mind. "And do you want me back?"
"Yes. Of course. So much doubt..." the last muttered to himself, Erik rolls his eyes mildly, also to himself, and sighs. "I care for you a great deal, just as I care for Sabella a great deal. As I care for the Brotherhood in its entirety. As I care for the Cause. Whether or not you return is up to you, but I would like some notice one way or the other. I would like to know if you feel up to filling the rank I have granted you, or if it is causing more stress for you than its worth. Or if I'm causing more stress than I am worth."
Toxin narrows her eyes, and there's more gold than green in them now. "There was a time when I would have doubted if you wanted me around. But as you read my note, you should know that my feelings for you have changed. But I believe in the Cause enough to put up with you for some time to come." While her voice is sharp, there's a twinkle in Toxin's eyes that might just mean that she's teasing him.
Magneto's brows knit at that - taking the bait until he's just brought the force of his glare around to bear on her, and catches whatever it is that he needs to in order to deduce that she's screwing with him. A gruff harrumph is the result, his chair pushed back silently as he moves to stand.
The mischevious smile on Toxin's face is all Magneto needs to confirm that she was in fact messing with him. Uncurling herself from her chair and standing up, she picks up the crumpled note, smooths it out, folds it, and stuffs it in her pocket. "It's rather late, Erik. Surely you shouldn't try getting back to civilization right now." Nodding towards the door, she adds, "There are plenty of guest rooms. And you really should take the time to get to know Aramina better." If one Toxin wasn't bad enough, Erik has a pair of them to deal with here.
Magneto immediately opens his mouth to argue otherwise, but before anything can actually come out, he lifts his brows and...concedes. A little grudgingly, and not without a dry look for her smile once he turns back to catch it. "I don't think she particularly cares for me. But...if you insist."
Toxin smirks and slips her arm through his, guiding him out the dining room door and towards the living area. "I do insist. And don't be silly, she acts like that around any man. I don't think she's ever quite gotten over the fact that her father and I didn't work out." That is an understatement, of course, as a few people are aware that Toxin killed him and made her daughter think that he simply left her.
Magneto doesn't comment on it, simply allowing himself to be guided along even as he shifts his arm out of practiced reflex, making it look a great deal more as if he's in charge. "I'm not being silly. I was being silly earlier, when we were talking about your shoes. It seems the only male she does accept is the one that shows up once a year and gives her things."
"Yes well, Santa is rather generous with his gifts. If you give her gifts she'll probably stop calling you Santa." So Toxin did hear the exchange that happened while she was upstairs. She leads him the rest of the way into the living room, where Mina is playing some kind of shoot 'em up game. She stops at the sight of Erik and looks up at him. "How are you my uncle?" she asks, her blue eyes wide.
Magneto chuckles quietly, falling quiet only once the girl is in sight once more, and Erik is forced to address a question that he didn't really take much time to consider originally. Not that a lack of consideration alone is enough to prompt more than a second's hesitation. "It's more a nickname...really, my dear." And on the conversation goes, the game hopefully paused in the meanwhile for the sake of Erik's patience.
All is quiet in the house, hidden in the snowy mountains of Russia. Derek and Amara are already out on their training op, and Toxin is upstairs, presumably doing something productive. The only person downstairs is Aramina, curled up on the couch. The sounds of a video game are coming from the television, and she seems perfectly content to sit there and play all day long.
Magneto is very capable of making a dramatic entrance, but he's been standing just outside the door for a good five minutes, now, and so far, none has come. His thick black overcoat is pulled and fastened tightly closed - a matching knit cap tugged down snug over his ears as his breath fogs gently out into the air around him - always fading just before the next rolls out on its heels. His eyes study the door carefully, as they have been for a little while now. Considering what he could do to them as he lifts a gloved hand. And knocks.
And guess who jumps up to answer it? Aramina. Cautioned by her mother not to answer the door, that's precisely what she does. From outside, there's the sound of locks being thrown back, and the wooden door creaks open to reveal a golden-haired eight year old, who looks almost like a miniature Toxin. She studies Magneto from top to bottom, blue eyes narrowed. "You're too skinny to be Santa." she states bluntly. "Who are you?"
Magneto is way too tired to be Santa, too - the circles under his eyes and pallor to his skin miles away from the cheery countenance of St. Nick. Simply looking down at the girl as evenly as he can for a moment, Erik forces a half-smile that vaguely borders on the sort that should suggest that he's confident that he's supposed to be here. His voice, however, is dry. "Uncle Erik. May I come in?"
Hmm, Erik. We have heard this name before. Mina considers this, then drags the door open farther. "Yes." After Erik steps inside, she throws her shoulder against the door and pushes it shut, not bothering to lock it as she's been taught. "Mommy, there's a MAN here!!" she shouts up the stairs, then heads into the living room without a word, leaving Magneto standing in the foyer. Toxin, having been alerted by the sound of the shutting door, soon appears on the stairs. "Erik."
"Thank you." Suspecting, perhaps, that such might be the case, Erik locks it behind him without actually moving to do so. She had to unlock it to let him in, after all. Allowing his gaze to trail after the girl until she's hurried back out of sight, he tugs the cap off his head with a mild mutter for the probably state of himself - his free hand running back to smooth his hair back down, only to fall to his side at Toxin's appearance and greeting - both of which are met with a wary look as the cap is tucked into a hip pocket.
Toxin only gives Aramina a short glance, making sure the girl is heading elsewhere. Then she works her way down the stairs, her eyes never leaving Erik while she waits for him to say something. "What is this? No hellos, no threats for me to return your lost little lambs?" She stops at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the bannister. Crossing her arms over her chest, she says, "Perhaps you've lost your touch. Or are you here for some other reason?"
Magneto continues to watch her as she works her way towards him, the chill in his glare not particularly focused or dangerous. Not warning or angry. It's just there, until he shifts his attention down onto himself - a folded piece of paper withdrawn from a chest pocket, halfway unfolded to make sure it's the correct one, and then held out for her to take. "Do you mind if I have a seat? I've had a long week."
Toxin reaches out and takes the paper, unfolding it and skimming over the writing on it. It doesn't take long for her to recognize both the writing and the words on it. The note is crumpled in her fist, and with her other hand she motions to a door, her face expressionless. "Let's go into the dining room, I don't want to disturb Mina." she says in a mild tone, leading the way. Once inside, she closes the door behind them. "Sit." Matching words to action, she plops herself down in the chair at the end of the table.
Magneto nods at that, falling into step behind her silently until she moves around to close the door, and he pulls a chair out for himself somewhere in the middle - turning it enough that it's facing her as he lowers himself into it. "You fear for my sanity?" It may, at first, be difficult to tell whether it's a statement or a question, and his expression gives nothing away - his eyes far too intent on watching her to exibit any emotion of their own in the process.
Toxin takes a deep breath, looking down at the crumpled note in her hand. So that's what this is about. Tossing the note up on the table, she refuses to look at him for a minute, gathering her thoughts. "I do." she finally responds, meeting his gaze. "You carry a heavy burden, Erik. And you carry it alone. You keep changing from the person you were...the one I agreed to follow. What I'm afraid of is that one day you will break from the weight you bear."
Magneto's head angles slightly downwards at that, as does the line of his glare, the brunt of which is brought to bear on the note itself before shifting onto the table surface just next to it. "I am what the need of the Cause requires me to be. Things are not going well, Veronica. We may be able to use Mutant Registration to our advantage, but we are not going to prevent it from happening."
"Of course it's not going well. It hasn't gone well in the ten years I've been a mutant...can you honestly say your years have been any different?" Toxin replies, shaking her head and brushing a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face. "When the Registration goes through, we do what we can and wait for the right opportunity to strike. You used to have that sort of patience in abundance."
"When the Registration act goes through, no strike will be capable of reversing the damage. Even if the act itself is killed, they will still have names on file for prejudiced business to bid and war over. Patience has lost us this battle. I have lost it." Lifting his glare to meet hers at that, Erik pulls in a deep, steadying breath before he moves on. "I'm sorry, Toxin, that I am no longer the man that you initially agreed to follow. And I am sorry that you felt that you had to leave the island."
Toxin lets out a soft sigh, and nods. "I know that the registration act will go through, Erik. There's nothing we can do about that at this point, unless we assassinate Lowe." She shakes her head, glancing at the closed door and idly wondering if Aramina is hiding behind it. "I know you're not. I wish that you were the same man that I agreed to follow. But...at the same time, I understand that things change."
Magneto nods slowly, the distance in his glare fading somewhat, as if he's just now making an effort to focus, though he makes no effort to speak again - his eyes eventually moving to follow the direction of her glance. "If I honestly thought that killing Lowe would do anything more than hold the act off for an administration or two, I would remove him myself." Shifting a little uncomfortably in his chair, he turns to face Toxin and the table more fully before he resettles. "But as far as I go, I do not want you to worry."
Toxin draws her legs up and wraps her arms around her knees, perching her chin on top of it. She doesn't answer, instead gazing to a point just beyond Magneto's shoulder. Her gold-green eyes dim a little, the normally slitted irises widening to the point of being circles. When she finally meets his gaze again, she offers Erik a tiny smile. "But who will worry about you, if not me?"
"I will, my dear. I am far too old and you too young for you to be concerning yourself to the degree that you apparently are." Returning the smile with a faint one of his own, Erik rests a hand on the table before him, fingers splaying out before curling into a loose, comfortable fist. "Regarding Sabella, the situation there has been resolved."
Toxin lets out a soft chuckle, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Somebody has to worry about you besides yourself, Erik. If it was just you, you'll work yourself to death." And he can remember all the times she or Sabella had dragged him out of his office and forced him to eat or just relax for a while. Eying the crumpled note on the table, she turns back to Magneto. "And that reminds me. What exactly were you doing in my bedroom?"
"I was hoping to borrow a pair of shoes." Erik drones, the side of his smile pulling into something that speaks more of dry amusement than anything. "And also determined to find why you had left in the first place. But try not to worry about that, either. I'm having it replaced." What 'it' is, exactly, he declines to mention about as smoothly as he declines a comment for the idea that he's going to be working himself to death any time soon.
"I'm afraid they would be a bit small for you. As would any of my clothes." Toxin responds, her tone just as dry as his. But the faint smile on her face shows the humor in that statement. Another deep breath, and the toxic woman holds it for several moments before letting it out slowly. "I'll make the assumption that you broke down my door and not anything else." A minute of silence. "Erik...if I wanted you to know why I had left, I would have told you."
"Mmm. Perhaps fortunately I thought to check the desk first. Anyway. You hung up on me before I could ask." The fact that he was very much in the mood to break something once she did has, of course, nothing to do with it at all. And after letting it settle that she probably knows as much in the silence glance that follows, he arches a brow and sits back, his hand sliding off the table and into his lap. "Regardless of why you are here or how long you intend to remain, I still want my recruits back safely by the end of the week - and I would really rather not have to arrange to be flown over here again this month."
Toxin arches an eyebrow at Magneto, but doesn't respond to the jibe. Instead, she merely says, "They will return as soon as they're back from the training mission I've sent them on. In fact, I was going to check on them tomorrow. When they come back to you entirely depends on how well they do for themselves out there." She waves a hand negligently at the window and the snow outside. Wrapping her hand back around her knees, she asks the question that's really on her mind. "And do you want me back?"
"Yes. Of course. So much doubt..." the last muttered to himself, Erik rolls his eyes mildly, also to himself, and sighs. "I care for you a great deal, just as I care for Sabella a great deal. As I care for the Brotherhood in its entirety. As I care for the Cause. Whether or not you return is up to you, but I would like some notice one way or the other. I would like to know if you feel up to filling the rank I have granted you, or if it is causing more stress for you than its worth. Or if I'm causing more stress than I am worth."
Toxin narrows her eyes, and there's more gold than green in them now. "There was a time when I would have doubted if you wanted me around. But as you read my note, you should know that my feelings for you have changed. But I believe in the Cause enough to put up with you for some time to come." While her voice is sharp, there's a twinkle in Toxin's eyes that might just mean that she's teasing him.
Magneto's brows knit at that - taking the bait until he's just brought the force of his glare around to bear on her, and catches whatever it is that he needs to in order to deduce that she's screwing with him. A gruff harrumph is the result, his chair pushed back silently as he moves to stand.
The mischevious smile on Toxin's face is all Magneto needs to confirm that she was in fact messing with him. Uncurling herself from her chair and standing up, she picks up the crumpled note, smooths it out, folds it, and stuffs it in her pocket. "It's rather late, Erik. Surely you shouldn't try getting back to civilization right now." Nodding towards the door, she adds, "There are plenty of guest rooms. And you really should take the time to get to know Aramina better." If one Toxin wasn't bad enough, Erik has a pair of them to deal with here.
Magneto immediately opens his mouth to argue otherwise, but before anything can actually come out, he lifts his brows and...concedes. A little grudgingly, and not without a dry look for her smile once he turns back to catch it. "I don't think she particularly cares for me. But...if you insist."
Toxin smirks and slips her arm through his, guiding him out the dining room door and towards the living area. "I do insist. And don't be silly, she acts like that around any man. I don't think she's ever quite gotten over the fact that her father and I didn't work out." That is an understatement, of course, as a few people are aware that Toxin killed him and made her daughter think that he simply left her.
Magneto doesn't comment on it, simply allowing himself to be guided along even as he shifts his arm out of practiced reflex, making it look a great deal more as if he's in charge. "I'm not being silly. I was being silly earlier, when we were talking about your shoes. It seems the only male she does accept is the one that shows up once a year and gives her things."
"Yes well, Santa is rather generous with his gifts. If you give her gifts she'll probably stop calling you Santa." So Toxin did hear the exchange that happened while she was upstairs. She leads him the rest of the way into the living room, where Mina is playing some kind of shoot 'em up game. She stops at the sight of Erik and looks up at him. "How are you my uncle?" she asks, her blue eyes wide.
Magneto chuckles quietly, falling quiet only once the girl is in sight once more, and Erik is forced to address a question that he didn't really take much time to consider originally. Not that a lack of consideration alone is enough to prompt more than a second's hesitation. "It's more a nickname...really, my dear." And on the conversation goes, the game hopefully paused in the meanwhile for the sake of Erik's patience.