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

[axiomed]

[ He nods slowly at that, keeping Erik's gaze. ]

I know it seems like we've put our hopes on you, our wishes. But you shouldn't tell yourself you need to pretend either.

[exothermia]

No. I know that now.

[It's a lesson neither of them tend to learn all that easily. The sense of it lingers, even if he doesn't 'say' it outright.]

Sometimes we ask it of ourselves, and that's all it takes to think it's true.

[axiomed]

Mmm. I can't say I'm not guilty of that.

[exothermia]

[Erik knows that too. From the past, and from only a few weeks prior. He bows his head slightly in acquiescence.]

We both have been.

[axiomed]

Small steps pay off.

[exothermia]

[He doesn't smile, but traces of it curl around his thoughts.]

[axiomed]

[ He smiles back before ducking his head slightly. ]

Talking - or expressing for your own sake is important. Even when it feels wrong.

[exothermia]

[Even when it hurts you? He shakes his head slightly, sending the thought away. What had happened months ago, when they talked like that... they were both still raw. He wouldn't make that mistake again.]

It's never been all that easy. [For him. For Charles.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles freezes at that thought and for a brief moment, the grief is palpable before he shakes it off. ]

Even then.

[exothermia]

[Erik's breath catches in his throat, and his own regret and guilt flare for a moment when he feels that grief. It's tempered though, by time and Charles's words now. He's shakier speaking out loud, having to put more thought into the sentence.]

What I said then... about wanting us to be able to talk to each other. It's still true. I don't think I was-- we were ready.

[axiomed]

I know. And you might be right there. We'll be ready someday.

[ Though Charles doesn't know if he'll be ready for that particular talk again. His own feelings were wound too tightly in the subject. Charles sighs, amused at himself. ]

I don't know why I reacted so badly. I know you so well it breaks my heart sometimes.

[exothermia]

[Erik doesn't know if it's something he'll ever raise again in his life. To speak about it again is to resurrect the feeling, to his mind, and he doesn't want or need to. He knows it was there, if only for a brief while. Time has dulled it enough not to stab him through like it did in that talk, desperate to be heard. The deeper sorrow and loss remains, with blunter edges.

He laces his fingers together on the table, speaking a little softer. He manages to still sound a bit wry.]

I think you answered your own question, really.

[Their familiarity is a double-edged sword at times. Knowing each other so well can cut to the core.]

[axiomed]

I suppose I did.

[exothermia]

But that was important too, Charles. Even if it felt bad.

[Charles's feelings are no less vital that Erik's own.]

[axiomed]

You think so?

[ Because he remembers it very differently. ]

[exothermia]

Yes. Because... I know, that it was me talking about myself. But it was still a conversation; you were still part of that. You and how you felt about it.

[axiomed]

. . . How do you think I felt about it? Out of curiosity.

[exothermia]

[Erik shifts back in his seat a little, not really expecting the question. He'd had a sense of wrongness about Charles's reaction then. That much had been clear immediately. But he had been drowning in his own feelings then.]

...I knew it hurt you. And shock. [He pauses, collecting his thoughts.] You said you know me so well, but I don't think you expected that. ["I was afraid that everything had changed."] It was another change.

[axiomed]

[ Another change. That was a neat way of saying it. For Charles, it had almost been the final change, the final blow. And it annoys him that he didn't see it coming, that he didn't think Erik was at that precipice, even though it was a familiar one.

(or he just held on to the stupid belief that Erik would come home someday.)

So he nods because Erik was right. ]

I like to think I can handle it better now at least.

[exothermia]

It wasn't something I should have put on your shoulders. But it's over with, now.

[axiomed]

[ Is it? But Charles lets it go regardless. ]

[exothermia]

[Erik hasn't felt that way since he snapped out of En Sabah Nur's control. It was closer, in those early weeks here, still twisting inside him. He knows that he's past the feeling. It may have only been a few days it lasted, but it has impacts far beyond that. For himself... for Charles. For everyone.

He moves his queen, taking Charles's knight in the process.]

[axiomed]

[ He rests his chin on his hands, looking at the board. ]

You're still rusty, I see.

[exothermia]

[He huffs, flicking the white piece off the board.]

I've been teaching Wanda how to play, but I haven't played otherwise. I spend more time reading. [Among other things, or nothing, depending on his mood.]

[axiomed]

Teaching Wanda?

How is that going?