driftfleet | (no subject)

Can't be done, Pryde.

[ he grins and wraps an arm around her, kissing the side of her forehead. ]

So what've you been up to?

I'll never stop trying.

[Nuzzling engaged.]

Yelling at a man in a wheel chair.

[ he's gonna pull away, so he can frown at her in mild confusion and concern. ]

What happened?

[But...but nuzzles...]

I called him to check in because we hadn't talked since he woke up and it was going fine? At least I thought it was. And then I asked how Erik was. [Which is hard to admit she's worried at all and maybe she expected a telepath of all people to realize that's where she was coming from.]

He didn't want to tell me anything and brought up Kurt hitting Erik when he was hurting and it just got...messy.

[ his hold tightens at the first mention of erik. he's so proud of her for asking, for not giving up and --

wow, fuck you, charles. he could forgive the time he barged into his head uninvited, forgive the way he made him feel like the villain of that story, forgive the fact that he's trying so hard to establish some sort of trust between them because he's important to so many people who are important to him and feel like he's just getting - nothing - in return, no effort from the other side. he could forgive all that without even sparing it a thought. but this? hurting kitty, dividing the x-men to freaking factions? his protectiveness rears its head to epic music with a deafening roar. ]

Okay yeah - yelling is the least he deserves. [ he's so disappointed in him. if anyone should know better than to judge one person according to the actions of another. ] I'm sorry, Kitty. [ it's not the same, but the last thing she needs after feeling betrayed by erik is to be disappointed by another x-men. ]

[She shakes her head.] I think I overreacted to it too and he did apologize. [She curls in closer. It felt draining to argue with Charles. She wants more unity with the X-Men—the mutants—who are here, not less. Their group feels so separate right now.]

Good.

[ because she deserves an apology and he's glad he realized that much at least. he kisses the top of her head, and rests his chin against it so she can snuggle in as closely as possible. ]

Maybe with some time... [ he hates how badly this sucks for her, but he also knows what it's like to need time and he's torn. he wants to make this better somehow, but he knows he can't. ]

Yeah, I don't think I'm up for trying that again anytime soon. [She doesn't want to make it worse and time can be helpful, but she's also bad at allowing for it. Time lost is opportunity lost. You never know what's going to happen next or how much time you have. She doesn't like the distance. But there are a lot of things she doesn't like and sometimes you just have to deal with them.]

But this I could do for days. [Kissing his cheek. Whatever that fight was this is soft, warm, and safe.]

I think that can be arranged.

[ he smiles, stroking back her hair. ]

And there are other things we can do too. Like - [ is he ready to say this? probably not. but he has to do it eventually and at this point, is he really gaining anything from putting it off? probably not. and he knows it'll mean a lot to her; right now, he'd give anything to cheer her up. ] we could go see Sascha. Together. [ and by together he means please don't leave me alone with him. ]

Wow! [She did not see that coming.] I really thought that was going to end with something dirty. [She totally did. She kisses his cheek.] Really? You want to?

Just because your mind is permanently in the gutter -

[ he smiles and pinches her cheek lightly. ]

Yeah, yeah I do. [ he also doesn't, but that part of him doesn't get a say, it had its way long enough. he feels dread, and some of that nervousness does show, but he needs to do this. for kitty, for sascha, and for himself, too. ]

Well, I am in bed with a hot guy. It wasn't much of a jump.

[She's sure this is hard for him and that he's probably fearing it too, but she's glad he's willing to try and she's going to do everything in her power to make it go better than her asking Charles about Erik.] How do you want this to go?

True.

[ with pretend smugness.

her next question gets more consideration. ]

I dunno. [ he really doesn't. ] I guess - we call him, and ask if we can come over and then we -- go? [ it'd be nice if he could not pounce on him but he's not sure asking for it would even help, sascha has such a short memory. ] And I'll..I don't know. Try.

[She considers asking if he wouldn't feel better in a place he's more familiar with like the Windrose or Tourist, but if it does go badly she doesn't want those memories for him aboard one of their ships either, so she nods along.]

That sounds good. [She's not so worried about pouncing. Sascha was so careful and worried when she encountered him for the first time. She doesn't think he'll be doing anything like that.]

Do you want a signal? In case it gets overwhelming? Or you want to be phased for a little while?

[ he shakes his head ]

No, I - I wanna trust phasing wouldn't be necessary.

[ he wants to be brave, he wants to believe in his friends. he knows sascha wouldn't hurt him unless he's malfunctioning again, and if that happens, well - that's why he's going with kitty. but as long as he's sascha, he doesn't want to show him fear, doesn't want to make him feel worse about it. ]

But, it'd be good to go in for a - predetermined period of time? [ so if it does get overwhelming he'll know how much longer of this he'll have to endure. ]

[It would be unnerving to realize even this Sascha can still smell the fear, right? She won't bring that up for sure. The important part is that it doesn't read as food to him. At least, she's pretty sure it doesn't. She's glad she's going along.]

Okay. How long would you like it to be?

You're just full of hard questions today.

[ it's the obvious question and he knows it. but it is difficult - how long is long enough but not too long? ]

How long do you think would be good?

Twenty minutes? [Watching to see if he flinches or anything at that. She figures there needs to be a little time for adjustment, but they can always make it longer next time.]

[ twenty minutes - he can deal with twenty minutes. that's not even an episode of most anything. he nods. ]

Twenty minutes, sounds good. [ it doesn't sound good but it sounds manageable. if he feels good about it they can always extend it, but he feels like the first visit should be short, so he can figure out how he feels afterwards and act accordingly. ]

[She hugs him tightly.] This is good. Almost as good as dirty stuff. [Smiling.] Have I mentioned how much I love you yet?

I don't think you did, no - I was really starting to wonder how much longer I was gonna have to wait before you dropped the 'L' word -

I say lemons all the time. Isn't that close enough for you? [Gentle kiss full of the L word.]

Your evil plan worked.

Not even a little. And you never say lemons.

[ he returns the kiss with a grin. ]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[ he's a perfectly innocent little angel! ]

Lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons, this doesn't sound like a word anymore, lemons.

Your plan to cheer me up by saying you were ready to visit Sascha. I'm on to you. You always give things your best Schott. [Look at this nerd in bed with you.]

[ he laughs ]

I'm a terrible influence on you.