[OPEN]

[cerebral]

Who: Charles Xavier & you.
What: Open post. Feel free to throw your characters at him.
Where: Mog Hill & Mafaton or somewhere in the central area of the city that your character is likely to bump into him.
When: Veerdi afternoon and evening.
Notes: None.
Warnings:  None.

With no afternoon appointments and no one needing his immediate help at the Glory Shada (he is a counselor, after all, and they tend to keep more regular hours), Charles decides to slip away from work early in order to window shop around the city. It's mostly to look at furniture and other essential household items, although bookshops and strange trinkets inevitably end up catching his eye. Every so often he can be seen in shops, snapping pictures on his CiD, enquiring after prices and how long someone will be able to keep a reservation. Occasionally he'll wander into a cafe for coffee or tea on the go, more to warm up on a chilly Ruundary than anything else.

While walking, he lets his mind idle around, picking up and sifting through passing thoughts as he goes. Despite some friendly warnings to be cautious and his own recent encounters with the unforeseen forces of Baedal, he really can't help himself at times.

Comments

[cerebral]

Fortunately, Erik's presence doesn't illicit the usual response from Charles as it does with other people. Although there is something unnervingly familiar in those mannerisms that he responds to with a customary coolness of his own.

"Hm? Oh, I recalled something from earlier on in the day." And not unlike the smart little quips he usually delivers when being addressed thusly, "Why, what do you do when you're bored waiting in line?" Except he knows perfectly well.

[supersonic]

Uh-huh. But, not having any actual reason to suspect otherwise, he decides to accept that response. "The same thing I do anywhere else," implying that the location is the variable, yes, not whether or not he's bored (he's always bored); "Endeavor to alleviate it."

Which he could do by engaging in conversation with another person, admittedly. He gives an almost imperceptibly brief glance ahead to the rest of the line, then back to Charles, as if weighing his options.

[cerebral]

"Boredom is the root of all evil, the despairing refusal to be oneself," Charles recites as the other man makes up his mind. "Something Søren Kierkegaard once said."

Then, as if reciting the categories of a quiz, "Science, literature, history, psychology, philosophy. Or, alternatively, the fair city that we are currently forced to inhabit. I'm afraid that's all I can offer right now." He's not about to use his powers to skip the queue, sadly.

[supersonic]

He tilts his head to the side in a noncomittal gesture, though not unkindly. A useless bunch, existentialists, in his opinion, but the quote resonates – more than he'd like to think about – and the act of tossing around quotes reminds him fondly of someone, just slightly. (...The person he's speaking to, in fact, though the image in his head is quite different.)

"Our gilded cage, then." Not one to mince words, apparently, nor worry about being deemed a 'Stranger,' or whatever it is they call it here. "I have only just arrived in it. Is everyone here so insufferably complacent?" with a nod to the city at large.

[cerebral]

Interestingly enough, 'gilded cage' is a phrase Charles has heard thrown about a lot in the past month, from one particular friend (no prizes for guessing who). That's the second small, unsettlingly familiar glitch in this conversation.

"Not everyone, no." There's a pause while he scans out the vicinity once again, but his voice drops slightly as he speaks anyway. "I'm assuming you're a member of the CeidaryBlue523 network?"

[supersonic]

One downside of believing himself to be better than everyone is, Pietro does tend to underestimate the reach of his enemies (or potential enemies, as the case may be), but he follows Charles's lead at least in terms of adopting a less conspicuous posture.

"I am." A raised eyebrow, for you. "You as well?"

[cerebral]

"Yes. And if you socialise amongst the cohort, I think you'll find there are quite a few who share a similar mindset. We all had lives to lead before we were brought here." Somewhere, hopefully, five out of six of the most important people in his life are frozen in time, waiting for him and Erik to take their places once more. Or at least, that's how he tries to imagine it. "And we all have things to do upon our return."

Wars to avoid, schools to open, mutant causes to advocate, etc.

[supersonic]

There's a funny drop in his mood at that, which for all but the most perceptive goes unexpressed. Most of what's left of his life is already in the city. He has a daughter to return to, of course, but Luna is off in another galaxy and not speaking to him besides (with good reason), and Crystal– well, he can't help but wonder if it isn't better for everyone, that he isn't there.

But being trapped grates on his nerves on principle.

"A few left clinging to sanity, then." He nods, approving despite the disparaging tone. (Maybe that's just how he talks.) Then, a cunning redirection: "And what were you before this place snatched you up?"

[cerebral]

Ha ha. Oh, that is a question. And for a moment, Charles' mind flips back through the events of the past few months. How do you explain that to a stranger, even if it is a fellow mutant? 'Stopping World War III'? 'Strategising an emerging minority group'?

Then again, this could be a good room for an indicator as to what he is, so his words may seem carefully chosen when he says, "Teaching an exceptional group of young people who have been gifted with extraordinary abilities."

[supersonic]

He pauses. It's safe to say that catches his interest. The care with which Charles speaks doesn't escape him, either.

"'Extraordinary,'" he repeats, considering the diction. A benign enough word on its own, but Pietro is quite familiar with its more complicated implications. "As in more than human? What is it they say here – 'xenian'?"

The air-quotes are audible; he sounds less than satisfied with the terminology, as if humans are the only applicable yard stick and everyone else is some kind of homogenous group. It's a useful distinction to start with, however.

[cerebral]

"That is what they say here," Charles concedes with a little nod. "Although in my world we use the term 'mutant,' which is how I refer to myself."

He watches Pietro with calm interest, curious to see if that's terminology the strange man recognises.

[supersonic]

His brows knit at that, on the verge of suspicious. He doesn't recognize Charles, but he's hardly familiar with the entire mutant community, and there aren't many reasons to lie about such a thing, especially here. "It's as if this place is collecting us," shaking his head.

"That is two things we have in common, then." Being mutants and being teachers, that is. (...Yes, really.) "The field of mutant secondary education being understandably small, however, I suspect we do not share a universe. Which school are you with?"

Implying there are multiple where he comes from, yes.