KumadaPuma:
So sorry it took me so long to update. I hate waiting for updates myself, so... sorry, I hope this chapter will make up for the wait. ;-) And thanks for wishing luck. I´ve got no results for the paper yet.
2wingo:
Thanks for showing so much patience, my friend. :-) I used one of your ideas in this chapter. I credited it after the chapter...below there... (points) and really hope you´ll like it a little.
XChocolateChipX:
No, I haven´t abandoned it and I won´t ;-)
J.Tyler:
Hey, welcome :) and thanks for adding me to your alert list. Hope you´ll like this chapter.
Meow:
Yep, I still do exist. Sorry (hides in shame)
AngelofSnow:
Thanks, Angel :-) So, I just told you might write more of this chapter tomorrow, didn´t I? hah, surprise, surprise. :-p
EternalE:
Thanks for wishing luck. :-)
Chapter 25
Tricks and horses
The next two days were strange in a way although they were a perfect example of what the lair had been like for most of its existence. A mutant hideout. Finally the floors were no longer empty most of the time and although the group was far from the size of the partisan army Erik had once counted amid his followers, it was a beginning. It was no longer just him and Mystique and their uncomfortable way of trying to avoid or tease each other in a way so different from what their relationship had once been. With the other mutants around, the lair had become more like an operation base again, although they were few only and although Erik had had the feeling of the place changing in atmosphere even when Shade had arrived and asked for help.
Jamie and Ryan Webster, or Castor and Pollux as Magneto preferred to call them, seemed to take an easy stand as new members of the Brotherhood. Castor, the black-haired one of the brothers was indeed the more straight forward of the twins whereas Pollux seemed to have a quieter and more thoughtful character – a kind of personality which seemed to make him a perfect victim for Mystique who took some pleasure in teasing the new one and scaring him by abruptly showing up or changing her outer appearance from her own blue shape into those of several members of the Brotherhood in turn or vice versa. Pollux was obviously irritated by this but too polite to give in to her pranks. He seemed to have a calm mind, a little too calm and generous maybe and Erik sometimes wondered if he would be of much help when things really got tight and they would have to fight. He had seen stout fighters in his life, he had seen mutants who had been desperate for revenge, but he had also seen faint hearted ones. He hoped, Pollux would not prove to be one of the latter group – a chain was just as strong as its weakest link.
However, whereas Castor took a more obvious interest in the plans of the brotherhood, Pollux had soon become friends with Shade. The two had met and seemed to be like-minded enough to bond at once in a way that made Erik think of a bigger brother – smaller sister kind of relationship and which also made clear to him that Shade was feeling a little lost within the Brotherhood. She was the youngest after all and up to now, if at all, Erik had been the one she had most often turned to. Now, that he was busy planning and especially because of the tension between himself and Mystique which – as he was sure- affected her and confused her – she had gladly taken up Pollux´s company. Erik didn´t like to admit it, but he felt a little left out. He had always been able to count on Mystique. They had been bonded in so many ways and he had not always been sure of her loyalty, but also of her company. He had been a hardly approachable authority ruling the Brotherhood, but this rule had never been lonesome with her by his side. Not for the first time and certainly not for the last he wished those days would return and yet whenever his mind strayed towards what had happened in that prisoners´ convoy, he felt his heart harden. Victory could not be achieved without losses.
It was afternoon already when he walked into the kitchen. His stomach was growling and he had not realised how hungry he had been until he had put his work aside. In the morning he had found a pile of prints on his desk showing the exact location the Children of the Sun were now inhabiting in the capital. It had been all information they would need and a big step forwards, but still a little sting near his heart as Mystique had done her job, but not more. She had not even handed these papers to him, she had just left them on his desk for him to study and make something of them.
When he entered the room, he heard damped voices from the living room and, not giving away he was there, he slowly walked over to the door to have a look. Shade was sitting on one of the sofas, her legs crossed, watching the auburn-haired mutant who was sitting on the carpet, busy with something Erik couldn´t see. The girl seemed fascinated whereas Pollux, a simple smile on his lips, seemed just as content and calm as ever.
"I still don´t understand your mutation" Erik heard the girl say. "Bringing stone to life. You mean you can make it do what you want it to do? Like making it fly?"
Pollux looked up to her. "Something like that, but still a little different."
"Show me" the girl commanded.
"Okay then" Pollux got to his feet and turned towards one of the book shelves. "Let´s see what we´ve got here." He stood still for a second or two, then grabbed one of the stone made bookends. Half a dozen books fell over and Erik had to hold back in order not to rush in and keep them tumbling to the floor. Instead he just scowled inwardly, crossing his arms in front on his chest, interested to see what the young mutant would to.
Pollux carefully placed the bookend on the table and Erik could now see he had chosen the one that was shaped like a bolting horse. Some rather trashy Christmas present he had gotten years ago he remembered. The young man looked at the teenage girl, then he closed his eyes briefly and touched the stone made horse. All of a sudden, the figurine shook its stone made mane and descended on all four hoofs. The stone made a silent clatter when it landed on the table. Then the small bookend horse shook all over and started to walk towards Shade like a miniature horse in all the little detail its maker had given to it when carving it from the stone, but no longer appearing as immovable as stone, but almost animated with some sort of life of its own.
Erik had watched the young mutant with a fascination which equalled the fascination Shade was showing for this little demonstration only he did not squeal in girlish delight as the girl did in that moment. Interesting, he thought, interesting indeed. He curved a little smile, making up a possible scenario in his head with the Brotherhood´s next mission. Master of Metal, masters of stone. He smiled.
In this moment, Shade lifted her gaze and saw him standing in the doorframe. Immediately her cheeks reddened with embarassment and she clamped her hands around the little horse that had by now reached the rim of the expensive table and was testing the depths down to the carpet with one of its hoofs. When the girl closed her hands around its stone body it attempted to shake its mane in protest. Pollux, scowling slightly followed the eyes of the girl and turned around. He didn´t blush, but seemed to be uncomfortable, too. In the moment he did no longer concentrate on the figurine, the horse became what it had been – immovable stone – looking slightly grotesque with its head bent back in a weird angle to snap for Shade´s finger in order to be set free.
Pollux looked like a small boy who had been caught with his hand in a box of cookies. "I´m sorry, if I... I just wanted to..."
Erik raised his hands. "Oh, no, no, don´t appologize" He did a few paces into the room. "In fact, this little demonstration was rather fascinating." He couldn´t help it. He walked over to the book shelf and put the half a dozen books which had fallen into a tumble, back into their places. His gaze rested on a leather bound issue of Shakespeare´s ´Richard III´ for a short moment, then he placed it back with the others.
"A creator indeed" he murmured in a low voice when he left the room, a smile still playing on his lips.
Evenings in the lair seemed to have become rather dull. Although there were now some more mutants around than had been for quite a time, this was simply not the group Magneto had once had. Back then, the Brotherhood had been a small group of like minded mutants which also meant that they had known each other well and often seeked each other´s company. They had always kept a respectful distance to Erik, but he had liked the atmosphere in the evenings when he would find two or three of them together in the kitchen, busy with their dinners or the younger ones like Callisto and Archlight fighting over TV proprammes. The new Brotherhood was a small pile of mutants who had not been recruited in the same fashion. Shade had come seeking for aid and Erik guessed that Castor had more followed his brother than decided by himself to play an active part in the fight for mutant rights. Multiple Man had always been a loner... as far as one could call someone like him that, who preferred his own company to that of others. Mystique would not spend too much time with the others these days and Pollux seemed to seek Magneto´s company more than the company of his brother and the teenage girl, like a minor wolf seeking the friendship of the leader of the pack. He was granted no more attention than any of them though.
This constellation of characters mostly left the kitchen and living room empty in the evenings with a few occasions of Shade and Castor watching a movie or talking together which made the lair a rather dull places this time of the day. Like tonight. Although Erik had been clear on the fact that he held no grudges against any of the two because of them using his appliances to use their powers on, his appearing in the doorframe seemed to have daunted their spirit for further exploration a little. The lair seemed deserted with everybody having found something to do in solitude. Empty and silent... or nearly so.
With an annoyed sigh, Erik looked up from the documents he had been studying. There was no doubt. Someone was playing loud music and if there was something he despised it was being bothered like this when he was trying to concentrate. He had left the door of his study open for reasons he didn´t know. Maybe it was the stubborn behaviour of a man who thought himself to be the "leader of the pack" – to pick the wolf symbolism once more – again and this part of him wanted to know what was going on in the lair... in his lair. He wanted to know if anyone was up to something... and in particular he wanted to know if someone particular, someone blue and scaled was approaching, although he knew perfectly well that Mystique´s footfall was too light for him to hear.
Therefore, had the metal door been closed, the music would not have bothered him – like this, it very well did. With a controlled movement of his hand he pushed the documents aside and with a flick of his mind, he pushed back the metal chair he was sitting on. With a growing annoyance he walked over to the door and entered the corridor. The music was louder here. Music, or what this noise was supposed to be called. Erik scowled in discontent thinking that this was not worth to be called music the same manner as the music he preferred. This was a loud and shrill staccato of basses and single notes mixed together in a disruptive clatter and noise. As he walked on however, his expression softened as he knew now where the music was coming from.
Shade´s room was another few paces down the corridor and with a smile on his face his mind felt for the CD Player in the room he was approaching, his power quickly blocking the relay it used. The noise stopped abruptly, causing a small call of dismay from behind the door. He knocked.
Some steps of feet on socks and some seconds later the teenage girl opened the door. She gave Erik a questioning look. "Hello" she said. "Can you repair my player? I think it´s broken or something." She stepped aside to point at the cause of noise which she had placed on the table. He gave her a look which slightly resembled the look a teacher would give a disobediant pupil who he could still never be too angry with. "It will be back to work in no time. I took the liberty to lessen the volume a little. You might not have heard me knocking with all the noise."
"Noise?" She gave him a look which clearly told him she thought he had just said something totally stupid. Erik noted with satisfaction the self-confidence of the girl had grown. She would never have talked back to him like that a few days ago. He raised an eyebrow while the girl was still looking at him. "That´s no noise, it´s the coolest stuff ever. Everybody listens to it."
"Well, when I last looked, music was something having to do with culture, with dancing" he replied in slight mockery which just brought him another look of confusion.
"Of course one can dance to this." she insisted.
Erik chuckled. "I do not know whether the art of dancing can be compared to the hopping of some teenagers in a random disco."
She gave him another disapproving look. "You can dance?" she asked.
"A little." he replied. "Not what you young folk would call dancing maybe, but yes."
She didn´t say anything, just looked at him scowling, a gaze which clearly told: ´Dance? You?´
"A little is not enough" she noted with a smart expression on her face. "Maybe I should teach you a little about who people dance nowadays."
"Oh, no, no" Erik gave another chuckle. "One should better leave this kind of activity to you and your age, Shade. "
She laughed and shook her head. "But why?" She turned towards the player. "Women like it when guys can dance."
He sighed and let the relay flip back into place. "Lower that volume" he said half threateningly and she obeyed rolling her eyes a little while he attempted to turn around and head back to his desk. "Come on, what´s to it?" she insisted again and while Erik seriously began to ask himself what had gotten into the girl – had she eaten something that hadn´t become her? – Shade started to do what she herself had called dancing and he had referred to as "hopping"
"It´s easy" she said. "Just give it a try."
He laughed. "Why don´t you ask Pollux? Where is he by the way?"
"You´re just trying to get away now aren´t you?" the girl insisted and before he could add anything to that she stepped next to him, both turning their backs towards the still open door. "It´s easy and it´s fun" she said. "You just do it like this." And she started to perform some movements with her arms and legs which were definitely closer to hopping than dancing.
Somehow, Erik knew he wouldn´t get away that easy while a little part of him was actually enjoying the openness and friendliness this girl was showing to him. So, not completely being sure why he actually did this and giving himself the mental note that he would stop this nonsense after half a minute so Shade had her will and he could have his peace again, he started to immitate her dancing which caused the girl to laugh. "Good." She said between her chuckling. "Not that hard isn´t it?"
"No." He said stopping the whole nonsense. "And now, no more of this. I need to work, so please put down that volume or next time I will be more creative about the relays of this CD player." He turned around, determined to get back to more serious matter... and almost ran into someone who was casually standing in the door frame, arms crossed before her chest. A broad grin spread across the face of the blue shape shifter. "I didn´t know you were such a party boy" Mystique said teasingly while his face turned to an expression which made it look like it was carved from stone. For a moment, their eyes were locked and the tension between them was nearly unbearable. Then he heard Shade walk past and leave the room. "I´ll be right back" she said and her voice sounded very content with herself.
"I didn´t know you were up for some dancing, Erik." Mystique added in a low voice and walked a little closer. What he saw in her eyes was something that was hard to place. An expression somewhere between mockery and... affection. She walked closer. He didn´t move. She streched out her hands. "How long haven´t we danced together now, Erik." She said and her voice was bereft of her former mockery. It just sounded sad and while she came even closer, while he pulled her towards him and while she closer her eyes and rested her head and her fire red hair against his chest, clutching his pullover with both her hands like someone does who has finally found someone she has desperately been looking for for a long time, Erik faintly realized that the music had changed and there was no more of the techno staccato running, but now soft, romantic tunes were filling the room. He took his arms around Mystique, closing his eyes, slowly starting to move his feet in a manner of slow, calming dancing. Shade was gone.
Deceitful girl!
Note:
Special thanks for this chapter go to 2wingo. The idea of Shade teaching Erik how to dance comes from him, so: thanks so much! I very much hope I did do it justice! What did you think? Did you like it?