Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

[notzubats]

Who: Everybody! It's a planet mingle!
Broadcast: If You want!
Action: On the Holding Hands plant!
When: From June 23 until whenever we need a new mingle.

[At long last, the fleet has arrived to a new planet. This means it's time for a mingle guys! Get in! ]

Comments

hot springs

[grandstanding]

[Erik made his way to the volcano with one purpose - scope it out. This planet is far larger and more hospitable than the moon, and so he's more inclined to venture out and see what's around. He's taken the trail up to the peak already, and he feels suitably worn out from the hike. However, the comment from the tour guide he'd passed on the way back down about hot springs was enough to spark his interest. Hot springs were something he had indulged in before, back in Kyriakos. If he was already here, he was duty-bound to see them.

He's mildly surprised to spot Raven already enjoying the spring as he approaches - surprised, but definitely not displeased. He hasn't seen her in her real form since she arrived, and was growing concerned at the fact. This puts him at ease. He's certain she can hear him approach, as they both paid keen attention to their surroundings.]

How's the water?

[athru]

[ There's something incredibly freeing about not hiding, and it's something she wishes she could share more - the fact that she's starting to get used to the fleet and the people means that she feels as though she can be herself more. Wandering around the Blameless as herself is easier, but she's waiting to judge the rest... Or it'll come in an explosion of confidence, one or the other.

She's just not used to being blue around strangers unless there was a purpose for it, no matter how confident she was.

Like he imagines, she's not too surprised when he speaks, turning her head a little and offering a small smile and a shrug of her shoulders. ]

It's amazing. You should try it.

[grandstanding]

It's tempting. Hiking up and down this mountain is hot work. [It would be nice to soak for a bit, given there's no running water in the villages. A break before the trip back wouldn't go astray.]

[athru]

Can't you fly?

[ Or is that being lazy? She shrugs a shoulder, moving along the edge of the springs to give him space and privacy in case he wants to get changed without being gawked at. ]

[grandstanding]

[He raises an eyebrow at her, sliding his pack off his shoulders.]

Of course I can, but have you ever known me to fly around like a bird? [His flight isn't like Angel's or Banshee's, full of quick turns and natural agility. Erik's method of flying is propulsion and repulsion, forces that don't lend themselves well to natural grace. But more than that, he likes to trace the ground of a place before seeing it from above.]

[athru]

No, I see you hover, like a dragonfly.

[ It would be quite funny, though, to see Erik fluttering around and flapping his arms like wings to get from A to B. The idea of it makes her grin and she has to fight back her laugh, turning her head away and breathing out a soft huff of noise. ]

It must be fun, at least.

[grandstanding]

It can be. [He's not going to recount the stories of his particularly bad landings when relearning how to fly after amnesia. That is a secret that goes to his grave. Setting the pack down, he glances around before pulling off his sweater.]

For a tourist trap, you've done well to find an unoccupied pool.

[athru]

I don't think I'd enjoy it. Planes are enough for me.

[ Raven huffs a noise, letting herself peek before she forces her eyes elsewhere - because she has a boyfriend, thank you, no matter how close she and Erik might have been once. ]

Maybe they're scared of me.

[grandstanding]

[He continues undressing, without much concern for propriety. When he gets to his shirt, he does turn sideways, a pointless effort to delay the inevitable. It's not his nudity that's going to be of concern. It's the scars that will raise questions.]

I don't think that's it. Not on this planet. They're all too keen to be friendly, here. [Weirdo aliens. With their... affection.]

[athru]

[ It's not as though they haven't seen each other in various states of undress before, considering the close quarters they lived in and the fact that her natural form is pure nakedness, despite her scales and her skin, means that propriety isn't the biggest issue between the two of them. All she can do is huff a noise, shaking her head. ]

None of them have touched me yet. I keep glaring.

[grandstanding]

You're doing better than me. I already hit someone on my first day. [Charles had taken him to task for it, but Erik was unrepentant. If they didn't want an elbow to the gut, they could refrain from hugging him from behind.

He slips off his boots, then his pants.]

At least we don't need masks just to breathe, here.

[athru]

They probably deserved it. They should realise that we're not as cuddly as they are. [ Most of them were fairly understanding, but then there were others that went and pushed and pushed until Raven wanted to bite their throats out metaphorically.

She huffs a noise, sinking lower into the water. ]

It's like a vacation after that nightmare.

[grandstanding]

[He snorts lightly, looking out over the mountainside for a moment.]

Before any of you got here, we were at a space station. It was almost normal, comparatively.

[Time to get in. Without further thought about it, Erik turns back around and steps down into the spring, sliding in smoothly up to his neck. It does nothing to hide the scarring on his chest; nothing could, now that it's bare. The burns are one thing, but the huge line cutting straight down the middle that opens up into bisected ends are the most notable. If only because they closely mirror a circumstance both know about.

He sighs, tipping his head back. The warmth is lovely; he's missed hot springs.]

[athru]

Has anything to do with us ever been normal?

[ She would say more, be particularly ridiculous and as close to cheerful as she can get, but then Erik is sinking into the water. The scarring would normally be something she ignores completely, considering it's none of her business and, though he had told her to ask questions, there are some things you don't pry into. What catches her attention is the obvious, and her breathing is caught in her throat as the familiarity washes over her and leaves her afraid, her hands clenching and her eyes widening before she has to look away.

She can't look. The fear and the panic that slams into her makes her feel ridiculous, like a child, and she has to make it stop.

Again, she has to be strong, and she forces herself to speak. ]

Have you had fun with acorns yet?

[ Act normal. It's fine. She's fine, and Erik is fine. ]

[grandstanding]

[Erik lowers his chin and watches her closely. Maybe another kind of person would have warned her before displaying something so harrowing; not him. He doesn't much deal in warnings and lowering expectations. Even with her attention deliberately turned away, he knows where her thoughts are really running. One of his hands fists under the water, then relaxes. He doesn't need to say anything if she doesn't ask. (Maybe that would be better. Better than having to explain, dredge up those memories.)]

I've been paid, if that's what you mean. Unless there are counterfeit acorns around. [It's nearly ludicrous enough to be distracting. Nearly.]

[athru]

You could just get them from trees.

[ Both of them aren't speaking about the issue rising between them, and eventually Raven knows they're going to snap. She's uncomfortable with it, and she's not happy, but avoiding her issues has only lead to more problems - between her and Hank, her and Charles, her and everyone else that knows too much about her. She can't just pretend this hasn't happened. ]

I don't want to know, but if I ever find the person that did it to you I'll kill them.

[ No hesitation. ]

[grandstanding]

They can tell the difference. [Different varieties of acorns, you see.] The ones they use for currency are made, I think.

[Raven's comment draws him up short on anything else he might say on the subject of acorn finance. It chills his blood, despite the heat of the water around him. How often had he felt the same way? ...hard to remember now, with this particular foe. He knows he tried to kill Systems once, before he'd been ripped apart by him, and it's hard to recall that time when he was proud and vicious enough to try it. Because even with eleven years of distance between him and the act, many attempts to lay his demons to rest... if he were to see Systems again, Erik thinks he would flinch. The Portrait throws a shadow over his past comparable to Shaw's.

He looks away, one hand drifting under the water to briefly touch the scarring over his navel.]

It was a robot, but I appreciate the thought.

[athru]

That doesn't make 'acorns as money' much better.

[ There's nothing that can undo that sort of damage and she knows it; it doesn't just scar you physically, it does it mentally as well. You can't undo the horrors that you see, you can't undo the disfigurement, and all you can do is live with it. People think it's easier for her because her body reshapes and fixes itself, that she doesn't scar and doesn't suffer, but, really, it's just as bad. She has the memories and the knowledge that she might be able to move on where others can't. She suffers more in her mind, and that's her punishment.

Raven wears her scars in her actions, and she wonders how often people notice.

She doesn't move closer, but she does reach out and kick his shin gently, as close as she's going to get to companionship. ]

I could kill a robot.

[grandstanding]

[It's a trifling tap underwater, but he still plays along with a look of irritation.]

You could. But now we're going to get into a dilemma as to whether you can kill something that isn't truly alive.

[Whether Systems was "alive" or not had never factored into the maelstrom of feelings Erik had about him. He had still tried to strangle him, against all reasonable judgement.]

[athru]

[ And all Raven does is turn her head and look innocent. ]

Then I'll destroy it, it'll be gone, semantics don't matter, Erik.

[grandstanding]

[He heaves a sigh, though he's touched deep inside.]

It has been. That whole world no longer exists. [And oh, wasn't that a joy to hear, when Belt had let him know that the library was no more. The only lingering sense of disappointment he feels is that he hadn't been able to kill Systems himself. Tear him limb from robotic limb.

Some dreams are unattainable.]

[athru]

Oh.

[ Well then. That solves that problem, though Raven still thinks she would've been able to take down a robot without too much trouble, somehow. Tilting her head, she watches him, a little guarded and uncertain before she huffs. ]

Let's hope there isn't a next time, for their sakes.

[grandstanding]

[There's a telling silence, and his gaze drifts away. The library was hardly the only world to employ the tactics he'd seen. Kyriakos was built along the same lines. And then there were those other places he'd been told about, at least two others that dragged people across worlds without their memories and had them compete to win them back.]

I'd rather focus on what needs to be eliminated at home, really. [It's a constant irritation that he's been taken out of the world again, before he'd had the time to recuperate and turn his attention to the real work of his life. How was he expected to decide his next course when he's never on the playing field?]

[athru]

[ Raven can't help her desperate overprotectiveness - she feels it burn through her, and it's not just because Erik is a mutant and it's not just because he's someone she looks up to; it's because he's still family to her, burning inside of her, and she can't ignore that. She can't just shrug his pain off, because she genuinely cares too much about him for it to be possible.

Shifting, she waves a little closer to him, suddenly not comfortable with the distance. She's afraid that if she doesn't touch him then he might disappear, and that if impossible to her. ]

I'm working on that.

[grandstanding]

[He looks back to her at the sudden movement, a question in his eyes.]

I know you are. You've never ceased to pursue our goal. [And it is their goal, for all the grief that's come between them. Erik is thankful that Charles understands, finally, that there are some things he simply can't budge on. Can't concede. He isn't wrong to seek out a more direct approach, make a different now instead of hoping vainly that humanity will change if they keep holding out their palms to them to show they mean no harm. Humans mean them harm; that much won't change.]