You can check out anytime you'd like.. [Hotel Corona Mingle]

[thespaceopera]

Who: The Fleet!
Broadcast: If you want
Action: Hotel Corona or Planet Ikke
When: December 7th onward



[After the mystery and isolation of their last destination, the Marsiva seems determined to head to brighter, busier territory. After a long journey through remote, nebula-painted space, speeding along at a brisk pace for the Host ship, the Marsiva brings her Fleet to a sudden and prominent point of traffic.

It seems that the Fleet has happened upon some sort of vacation destination! Maybe Atroma thinks that the passengers deserve some rest and relaxation... or just wants to distract them with something huge and shiny.

Welcome to Hotel Corona! Feel free to enjoy yourselves and enjoy the sites! If a hotel resort isn't your thing, you can head on over to the nearby planet and explore it's icy wonders.

In order words: it's a mingle!! Everyone get in! ]

[>> Plot Post]

Comments

[exothermia]

[He nods, quiet. There isn't anyone else. He's the only remaining link in the chain. Letting out a breath, Erik looks over the balcony, collecting himself.]

I'll think about it.

[axiomed]

[ He nods. Charles imagines there is a lot about Erik's family that he's still trying to figure out, trying to deal with. This is a small part in that. ]

You'll find a way.

[exothermia]

[He can't quite bring himself to agree. Not yet. There are days like this where he feels like someday he might reach that point, but there are others where it's too impossible, too painful. Hermione and Tempest had told him it was all right to be a wreck, for as long as it took. Erik just wonders if he'll ever be at peace with it. He's not good at laying demons to rest.

Looking back to Charles, Erik picks up his coffee again.]

I'll still try to retrieve my things, when I go back. So I can bring them with me.

[axiomed]

Of course.

[ He sips his tea. It's . . . comforting, in a way, to hear Erik's plans out loud. It doesn't give Charles security, but it feels he's in the loop, so to speak. ]

[exothermia]

[It reminds him, faintly, of when he returned from Kyriakos and had been sent back to where he was beforehand. When he had told Charles before they left that it might take him a few days to return to the mansion. He'll make no promises this time, even if he means them with all his being. All he has is his intentions.

Setting his mug down, Erik leans over to retrieve his bag.]

I also have something for you.

[axiomed]

[ He blinks, surprised. ]

For me? What for?

[exothermia]

It's a thank you.

[He pulls out a thin, rectangular item from his bag, wrapped in plain paper. When he hands it over to Charles, it feels heavy.]

Originally... I was going to give it to you with that letter. [His lips twitch a bit.] But things didn't quite work out that way.

[axiomed]

[ Charles frowns, confused. Glancing at Erik from the corner of his eyes, he tentatively opens it up. ]

[exothermia]

[Erik merely waits, no longer feeling much worry about the result. The act of giving it was enough for him.

Inside the paper is a piece of metal, about the same size and shape as a sheet of paper. Both sides are engraved with etching work, covering the whole face of the metal. The side Charles opens first is the facade of the Xavier Institute, a stretch of driveway leading up to the doors. The lines are precise and strong, similar to any of the architectural plans they used to rebuild the school after its destruction, just softened with the surrounding hedges and ivy.

The reverse is a different image; the tree from the Hand-Holding Planet which gave gifts to those who visited. Here the etching is less assured, lines a bit thinner and more likely to overlap in places. It still bears a clear resemblance to the tree, as distinctive as it was.]

[axiomed]

[ His fingers trace over the lines and Charles feels a great pang in his chest for his school, his students, the one who kept him afloat. Looking over the tree evoked similar feelings. ]

It's - It's lovely.

[exothermia]

[Erik smiles slightly, watching Charles's face.]

The school I could do from memory, but I had to get Wrath's help for the tree. I'm not really an artist.

[axiomed]

It's impressive all the same.

[ He lays his hand against the metal, lost in his thoughts. ]

You didn't have to.

[exothermia]

I know. I wanted to.

[axiomed]

Erik, I — [ He cuts himself off. ]

. . . Thank you.

[exothermia]

[Erik just nods, taking up his coffee again. He doesn't know how differently this might have gone, if it had been given to Charles with his original letter. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is the act.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles isn't sure how he feels about the act. He's not sure about anything when it comes to Erik sometimes. It's a constant push and pull between his own feelings.

So he changes the subject. ]

I miss the school.

[exothermia]

[He glances at Charles.]

It's been a long time.

[axiomed]

No. But I imagine it will be.

[exothermia]

[Erik knows Charles, and he also knows that any number of months away from the school is a long time. Because Charles rarely leaves it for more than a few days. He doesn't retort, however.]

Yes. It could be.

[axiomed]

[ He drums his fingers against the metal. ]

Was this present all this is? Just a thank you?

[exothermia]

[Erik blinks, looking briefly at Charles's fingers tapping against the plate.]

It's... I made it as a thank you, for my birthday. And in general. [He glances back to Charles, meeting his eyes.] I thought of it as a starting point.

[axiomed]

A starting point to what?

[exothermia]

[Erik lets out a breath, fingers tensing around his mug before he relaxes them. He's worked on this for a long time, but time and circumstances have changed around him. Now he has to remember what his purpose was, when even he wasn't entirely sure of it at the time.]

Moving forward. Because I hadn't been... for a long time. We hadn't been either. [At least it had felt that way to Erik, and he became all the more aware that he wasn't contributing. To whatever they were.] Everything felt stuck. So I decided to take a step.

[axiomed]

[ That's a feeling Charles certainly has. It's why he wrestles with himself to have these conversations, to ask the questions he's afraid to have answers for. ]

You needed time. We all did.

[ He sighs. ] Not that either of us know where we're going.

[exothermia]

[He merely nods. He hadn't been in any condition to do these kinds of things before last month. And he wouldn't pretend otherwise. He still feels incapable a lot of the time.]

Maybe not. But it's somewhere. [And it's not backwards.]