[We're hitting up Osaka because we have a friend who lives there, actually! Your trip sounds absolutely amazing... ug I wish I had all the time in the world to see the entire country! Also, if I haven't said it enough, I love this thread. ^_^]
Sometimes, to his own discredit, Charles underestimated Hank. In so many ways, Hank had been his rock after the Cuba incident and it could be quite literally that Hank was the reason he was alive. The school had been shut down upon his return mostly thanks to Hank, who in turn basically became his caretaker. He wouldn't have bothered going out to get groceries or eaten or cared, in any way, if it wasn't for his friend. His sorrow and loss and pity had been too much to bear at the time, and he had sunk beneath those dark waves. Hank had kept them both going, still working on the serum that had eventually given each of them their own measure of sanity (though in reality, perhaps not the best for Charles), still being a lifeline into the world.
With that behind them, with the knowledge of the future, he knew he had to be the backbone to this school if he truly wanted it to exist. The students needed someone strong, reliable, calm. How could he be anything less?
Charles' expression went from that smoldering sadness within to a rapid confusion, studying Aurus' face and trying to divine from what he saw alone what Aurus could have meant by that. "Peace and comfort... are far from a guarantee from anything in life," he pointed out, a part of him wanting nothing more than to with draw his words from before. This was a subject he wanted away from, both for his own selfish reasons as much as not wanting to burden it upon Aurus.
Beneath Aurus' fingertips was his opposite - the boney but wide wrist, the warmth of vein and artery and blood - but it didn't pull away any further. Not out of politeness, but more out of confusion and a lack of fear even as Aurus leaned forward. "What are you suggesting?" he asked quietly, not sure what Aurus could be thinking. After all, so very many of the things Aurus had spoken of thus far had been quite alien (including drugs, less alien) and he had little idea of what moved behind those strange eyes. It took a great deal of effort not to reach out in that moment, to find out for himself like he might have with Hank or Raven, but something kept him within.
no subject
Sometimes, to his own discredit, Charles underestimated Hank. In so many ways, Hank had been his rock after the Cuba incident and it could be quite literally that Hank was the reason he was alive. The school had been shut down upon his return mostly thanks to Hank, who in turn basically became his caretaker. He wouldn't have bothered going out to get groceries or eaten or cared, in any way, if it wasn't for his friend. His sorrow and loss and pity had been too much to bear at the time, and he had sunk beneath those dark waves. Hank had kept them both going, still working on the serum that had eventually given each of them their own measure of sanity (though in reality, perhaps not the best for Charles), still being a lifeline into the world.
With that behind them, with the knowledge of the future, he knew he had to be the backbone to this school if he truly wanted it to exist. The students needed someone strong, reliable, calm. How could he be anything less?
Charles' expression went from that smoldering sadness within to a rapid confusion, studying Aurus' face and trying to divine from what he saw alone what Aurus could have meant by that. "Peace and comfort... are far from a guarantee from anything in life," he pointed out, a part of him wanting nothing more than to with draw his words from before. This was a subject he wanted away from, both for his own selfish reasons as much as not wanting to burden it upon Aurus.
Beneath Aurus' fingertips was his opposite - the boney but wide wrist, the warmth of vein and artery and blood - but it didn't pull away any further. Not out of politeness, but more out of confusion and a lack of fear even as Aurus leaned forward. "What are you suggesting?" he asked quietly, not sure what Aurus could be thinking. After all, so very many of the things Aurus had spoken of thus far had been quite alien (including drugs, less alien) and he had little idea of what moved behind those strange eyes. It took a great deal of effort not to reach out in that moment, to find out for himself like he might have with Hank or Raven, but something kept him within.