driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Erik, Charles, Hank and Raven
Broadcast: nah
Action: the Blameless. warning for injury treatment, probably.
When: June 7th, shortly after this

[This is the second time in the span of seven days that Erik has had to pilot a shuttle while his vision isn't a hundred percent. It's almost a pattern, he thinks blearily to himself. Different causes, though. As the shuttle docks with the Blameless, he can't help but blow out a breath.

First step done. Now to get out.]

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[He relaxes fractionally, shifting his hand so his face isn't as obscured. The sudden movement had sent sparks of pain up his left arm, making him grimace.]

Hank told you?

Did you think he wouldn't?

[ Walking over, she hovers for a moment before she leans over and puts a hand on his arm, the one she thinks might be alright. ]

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say.

Honestly... [He shifts his weight on the cot, aching all over.] I thought you'd ask about the fact that Hank handed you an otter.

Do you think this is the strangest thing that's ever happened to me? [ She raises her eyebrows, shaking her head. ] I think it's reasonable enough for me to make a guess at who I'm taking care of right now.

No... likely not. He'll change back soon, I'm certain.

[His brow creases as his vision goes fuzzy again. Concussion, most likely. If only his head would stop pounding. And his arm.]

Someone was-- out of control, on the Iskaulit. We both ended up in his path.

[ At least she knows what happened, now, and she nods his head. ]

With no time to try and get help.

[ And it's not a criticism; it's just simply because of what she knows already, especially with the distances between the ships, the use of shuttles and all the other things that could come with it. It's an impossible situation and Charles and Erik had felt the worst of it. ]

I'm not going anywhere, so I'll be here when he does. I'll be here for you, too.

[No time. Charles had managed to send Erik a quick warning, but not who it was. And Erik, lulled by inactivity as he had been, hadn't expected to see his own captain on a soulless warpath.]

He could still be on the move in there. [Hopefully, someone better prepared will take him out. Erik hadn't been ready or willing to go for a fatal strike against Winter. He wouldn't make that mistake again. Next time, it's the ceiling he's dropping onto him.]

I need to go back for his wheelchair at some point...

Then I'll make sure people know. I can spread the word as easily as anyone else.

[ It's not as though she's completely isolated - but she does know that she could reach out more. At least she can work to make sure that the other ship is warned, even if she has no idea who to talk to. She can figure it out - it can't be that hard. Maybe Kitty, she could pass it all along...

Shaking her head, Raven leans forward so she can talk to Erik gently, careful of both her boys; she doesn't want to make any head pain they have worse. ]

I can get the chair, Erik. You need to get better.

Wait an hour. [He'd seen Winter's state during the skirmish. If he continued to accrue injuries, he would have to drop eventually.] Just to be certain.

I'm not going right now, Erik. My hands are a little full. [ Literally. Her eyes dart over Erik's face and she huffs a noise; she knows Hank is not going to like this plan. ] Anyway, I'm good at getting in and out of places fast, remember?

And being unseen. [He does remember. How often had he laid out a plan for her, indicated the entry and exit points, where the target was? Ten, eleven years had passed since the last time he'd done that with her. He sighs, shutting his eyes briefly. He's weary.]

The last I saw it, it was in the hallway where the gym is. You'll know you're close when you see the large hole in the floor. [Erik's handiwork.]

How do you think I got in and out of Trask's office? It's my job. [ It was always something she and Erik did together, all those years before. He would plot it out and she would go in and get whatever it was they needed. It worked, and she had learned - it's how she managed to survive alone. ]

I'll find it, don't worry. You need to focus on not dying.

I'm hardly going to die from some blows to the head and a fractured arm. [He'd be honestly ashamed of himself if that's what sent him to his grave.]

You could die from me kicking your ass for running around with blows to the head and a fractured arm.

[ Take that, Lehnsherr. ]

I wouldn't be running.

[Haha, semantics. In reality he's just muttering for the sake of it. He won't be going anywhere for a few hours at the very least.]

You're funny.

[ But Raven does lean over, careful of the just as broken otter in her arms, and rests her head on top of Erik's gently. She rests there, and she breathes in and she closes her eyes, squeezing them shut. ]

Just... Be okay, Erik. Please.

[The gesture surprises him vaguely. He lets out a breath, shutting his eyes. This week is turning out to be a low point on this journey.]

It will take more than this to stop me.

[ It's hard, she thinks, for all of them. They're still trying to stitch themselves together and then they're forced into panic mode by something that shouldn't happen here - and it's awful. It doesn't stop her from feeling, but it makes them all sharp and intense and dangerous. ]

I know that. Still, for me.

[And yet they both know all too well that just because something shouldn't happen doesn't mean it won't. On the contrary, it makes it more likely.]

No promises. I haven't had the best week to start with. [He lets out a sharp huff.] I was careless.

We all got too comfortable. It won't be like that in the future.

[ Raven herself is already preparing to make sure that this never happens again. She doesn't have much concern for the rest of the people that were hurt, but Erik and Charles - she would keep them safe. ]

[He wouldn't agree to being comfortable. Only days ago he'd been hallucinating, locked in a cell of the mind, because his own fears and tics were creeping up on him again. He's been here longer than any of them. Their arrival had eased some of his concerns, but never all of them. He had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. He just hadn't thought it would be the boot of his ship's captain.]

In the future, I doubt it will be the same occurrence. Repetition breeds familiarity, and then we'd be able to learn enough to prevent it happening. If they truly want to test us, they'll do something different next time.

Then we'll be ready for it, Erik.

[ Lifting her head, Raven looks at him, her eyes steeling a little. ]

If you taught me anything it's that while we can't be prepared for everything we can prepare for most things. Whatever comes at us we'll be able to take it down. No one's seen the four of us together, not since Cuba, and things were different then. Now we'll be able to handle it and no one will be able to stop us.

[ She glances down at the otter in her arms and breathes out. ]

I won't let them.

["She still believes" is the thought that crosses his mind. Even standing here wrapped in her false skin, she's prepared to face down whatever threat comes her way, confident in her ability to handle it. It's a bolstering thought.]

Neither will I.

[ Raven is still strong, and there's no denying that. There's something dangerous and wild about her when her blood starts to flow, when she finds something to be passionate about - and, for once, it's violent defence of the people she loves rather than violence for vengeance. It's not entirely unfamiliar to her, but it burns all the same, her head tilting before she forces herself to soften, hesitating for a moment before she leans down and kisses Erik's forehead. ]

No one can take the both of us.

[There's a moment's pause. Deep inside, Erik thinks about insurmountable odds. Times when things can't change, no matter how much solidarity you show. Gods. Monsters. Crawling over to Charles after they'd both been killed.

That was another lifetime. It shouldn't rule this one.]

They would certainly regret it.