bakerstreet | thursday pic prompt

[I have a thing for a certain kind of character, and I know it well. As soon as I started reading about Remus I knew that he was going to be a favorite of mine. I just... sort of ignore the parts of the series I don't hugely like ~~epilogue~~ and keep close the parts I do. I still always hope she'll write a Marauders' Era series, though. Though have you seen that fan film someone did of it? SO damn good.]

Andrew was gone, looking around for the young man, but as Aurus himself had just thought, the school wasn't terribly big. Likely they would bump into each other again later. Aurus' words and what he had said was already spreading around at a speed only children could manage, which left him with quite the crowd gathered around him.

Some tried to explain, but it seemed like as far as they could tell it was just something dragons did. They hoarded. They were evil things that kidnapped princesses and burned down villages. Some things didn't seem completely different from Aurus' world but skewed as if viewing it through a lens.

Eventually though it would start to get later, children drifting away to hang out with their friends, do school work, or get a meal. The campus felt very cut off from the rest of the world, like a little piece of paradise tucked into a world Aurus had seen on the television was a much more populated and varied place.

[OK SO I have to admit that I laughed really hard when Kylo Ren did indeed show up in my inbox. But anyway, Remus. And Marauders era. These are things that were both very dear to my heart. At all our Potter gatherings, Remus was the character that I cosplayed and I still have his old wizarding robes and tatty waistcoat in a suitcase somewhere. I have not seen the Marauders Era fan film (anything that's been released in HP since like 2009 I'm probably completely clueless on). But all of this is making me wonder and think and giving me...bad ideas. Like the idea that makes me want to ask if you do cross-canon stuff with your Marauders era Remus at all or if you have any interest on that front.]

The whole experience of this was, for Aurus, quite fascinating--a real crash course in understanding children (and in particular, children in groups). When he'd met human children in the past, it had generally been one at a time and, save for the three years or so he'd had Hakkyuu with him as a teen, always for short amounts of time.

Now he was discovering that interesting things could potentially happen when you put open questions to children. Questions, for example, like whether the dragons in their stories ever kidnapped princes, and then the question of why they did not. The tactic of posing rhetorical questions was not a new one to him by any means, but the effect of it here was...novel.

At any rate, for his part he had plenty of stories (histories, really) he could tell about the Elder Dragons, and he did selectively share those, letting the children learn the lore of different races in his world through those tales. So he told them about the dwarves, and therefore about King Jalis and the battle against the Great Destroyer. But he also told them about the famous norn hero Asgeir Dragonrender who had marshaled the Spirits of the Wild to fight against the rise of Jormag, buying his people time to escape to the south.

And into these stories, he wove a consistent thread of reference that always lead subtly back to the teachings of Ventari, the beacon of the tablet pulsing with its soft light and breaths of ghostly flowers over the grass.

He noticed, of course, that neither Hank or Charles had yet made an appearance as the afternoon drew on, and he couldn't help but muse on the reasons for that, wondering whether the two men were speaking, whether Hank had indeed gone to warn Charles away from him and what had transpired between them if he had.

It would have been very easy to get distracted by that train of thought and anxiously excuse himself to go find Charles within the school. But Aurus did not. It took a certain force of will to keep himself from thinking (or worrying) about the topic too much, but he did it because he knew he had to trust both men.

And at any rate, given how much time Aurus had spent alone in the past months, even the relative seclusion of the school grounds still felt positively bustling to him. In the past twelve hours he'd already talked more than he'd done in the past twelve months combined. So even when the number of children began to ebb, he still resolved to wait patiently were he was for a time. For someone so used to being his own company, that was not any trouble.

[*rubs hand over face* I couldn't even believe when I did that. This is that fan film. Totally worth the watch. The special effects and actors are incredible. Also I do all sorts of cross-canon things! They're always fun. :3]

Aurus, willingly or not, had given both men a great deal to think about. Hank had to make a choice of morality as well as trust and friendship. Did he believe that Charles was capable of protecting himself should something go wrong with whatever this was that was happening that night as much as was Charles able to protect his own broken heart if Aurus tried to worm into it? Could he step in to another man's life who was fully capable of making his own decisions? Had he not done enough or had he already done too much?

Charles had to decide if he was going to go through with this. It wasn't hard to realize that if he went to Aurus' room tonight or visa versa, it would end in things that he had not done in a long time. There was too much tension between them, sexual and vibrant, to keep it to merely seeing the Dream as Aurus was so intrigued in showing him. Even that short time to view Glint's lair had shown him the innevitability of it. What would it be for him to be a part of this, something parts of him dearly wanted as it was something approaching normal, but then to have Aurus leave when the man chose to return to the Mists and his home? Was it better or worse?

If Aurus didn't come back in on his own, eventually Charles come out to find him. The wheelchair glided smoothly over the grass, but he stopped a short distance away, not wanting to disturb the other if he was deep into meditation. It seemed quite natural to find Aurus out here on his own, tucked up in the grass, looking considerably more comfortable than he would have been after so long. He did take the time to appreciate the tablet up close, watching it as it pulsed and hummed, wondering about the centaur that had carved it.

[Right, well I just went and watched the fan film over lunch and it's so well done! Really impressive. And hahaha lordy what a total prat James Potter is. The characterization is really spot on and gosh yeah, the production quality is all around amazing. It is also doing absolutely nothing to reduce my Bad Idea Bunnies (which are close relatives to my Bad Time Management Bunnies--shame on me). Anyway I'm sure to get all tl;dr so I'll just send you a PM with thoughts after this tag!]

Aurus, to his credit, tried very hard to keep any telling looks out of his eyes when he turned towards the sound of Charles' approach. He already knew who it was before he saw him, the sound of the chair distinctly different than that of approaching footsteps.

But though he was now quite aware and careful (at least trying to be careful) lest his expression tip off any students still lingering nearby to more than they ought to know, there was no denying that his eyes lit up a bit when he saw Charles again. He tried very hard to assure that he gave away no further tell, but for him there was no mistaking how his pulse quickened, how present his own desire was--he wondered if Charles felt that too, or if he felt it from him. And of course he still wondered what had come to pass in the past hours, whether or not Hank had spoken to Charles in the end, and what conclusions Charles had reached. (Be patient, he told himself, and silenced any questions before he grew too tempted to voice them.)

The sun's angle had changed by now, but the glow of the tablet still felt like sunlight on the skin, and from his place in the grass, half reclined on his elbows, Aurus indeed looked perfectly at ease.

"You missed the excitement," he smiled up at Charles, watching him examine the tablet. "I think I must have met most every student in the school. I do hope I'll be forgiven if I don't immediately remember all of their names."

[Glad you liked it! they did one with Grindwald and Dumbledore too that's really good as well.]

"I didn't miss it entirely," Charles said a bit mysteriously, a little smile on his face as he watched Aurus. His own feelings he kept tightly under wraps for now, with the children about, who were excited to see their teacher out here. It was obvious that Charles was a favorite of theirs as the children who remained all greeted him, but also seemed to assume he was there to collect Aurus. "I'm glad to hear you met everyone and look forward to hearing from both sides how the meeting went." Complete with an amused cast around to the children who all grinned and nodded. Of course they'd tell!

"I think it's about time though that I stole Aurus so the man can get some dinner and the rest of you should be getting it as well." Charles made a shooing motion to the children, some of which laughed but they all got up, stretching, gathering their things. As they did, Charles looked back to Aurus and raised an eyebrow. "I hope they behaved themselves with you?"

[I saw that one linked as next to play! I'll watch it as soon as I get a chance since their first was so good (plus I've forgotten a lot of stuff with Grindewald so I could use a refresher).]

It was fascinating to Aurus to see how the children were with Charles and to compare that to how they'd been around him. (Slightly more casual with him, he thought, at least after a time, since his relationship to them wasn't formally that of a teacher. Their affection for Charles was clear, but there was also a distinct sense of respect, and with it a certain propriety. If Aurus had his guess, he would say that it seemed just the sort of relationship he thought Charles was likely to cultivate quite deliberately.)

"They behaved themselves perfectly," Aurus confirmed, not yet moving to get up himself but instead waiting until the students had withdrawn before speaking with more candor.

He waved goodbye to the last few to depart before shifting his weight and sitting up straighter. "There are some very talented young people here, as well as a few, I think, whose anger and bitterness at the world lingers, despite everything you offer them."

It wasn't meant as criticism, just as honesty. In truth, meeting with these students had made Aurus aware of how valuable and special a place Charles had managed to create in making this school. The man deserved a tremendous amount of credit for that.

[It's a super good one. Can't wait to see what you think of it!]

Aurus' guess would be fairly accurate - he did want to keep that level of boundary with most of his students. He was their teacher, they were his students, but it also went a little bit into the fatherly territory at times. There was just a knack with taking in children with him.

Charles' expression changed to not quite sadness, maybe a small bit of bitterness himself but tempered by experience. He gave a quiet sigh, looking over his shoulder towards the children making their way into the school, and nodded. "Unfortunately, that might be true for a while to come. We bring them in sometimes from... horrific situations. Neglect all the way to outright torture in one case. The best of the worst still means they're being treated differently by their own family and friends. We do get lucky and find the families who just honestly want a good place for their children and find it here, or who at least honestly want help even if they're beyond their limits. Sometimes... they just want to wash their hands clean of this monster who took over their child." Those last few words were spoken with a hint of spite, as if someone had actually said that to him at some point (they had).

"But it takes time to help the ones who come from bad situations. One of my staff is a trained-" he hesitated, thinking Aurus wouldn't know the word possibly, "-specialist who deals with helping children through difficult times and that's all she does. We try to teach them to handle their powers comfortably but safely even as we teach their minds, but it isn't a perfect program."

[Ok so maybe it's just me but...does Albus remind you a little bit of Charles in that?]

"Yes," Aurus acknowledged on the darker topics of neglect and abuse, "there were points in my discussions with them where I began to gather as much. I'd gotten some advice from Hank on what subjects were likely to be sensitive, but I might still have occasionally misgauged. Not badly, I think, but," here he gestured towards the tablet, "there are some of Ventari's teachings that inspire questions of ethics--questions which some of your students seem more adept at handling than others."

He didn't say which teachings specifically, trusting that Charles would be able to judge for himself, looking at what was written on the tablet before him.

"I don't fault anyone for struggling with those answers, of course. I have to admit that I didn't necessarily do well with them in my youth. When a split formed among my brothers and sisters, the way I dealt with it was simply to leave."

[Actually now that you say something, I can see it.]

"Leaving something behind isn't dealing with something. It's running away. Eventually, it'll catch up to you." That... that was spoken in the tone that suggested Charles had lived this exact scenario at some point in his life. He had run away from the idea of the X-Men, from his own pain, but in the end, it was there, waiting for him, when Logan came and dragged him out of the depths of his pity.

"I don't want these kids to have to live that, but they need to deal with the problems that come from the lives they were born into. Struggling with these ideas now means they learn, but this is a safer way for them to do it. If we can teach them the right things now, they'll hopefully do it when they're older." He gave a small smile, but his eyes remained on the tablet.

"...maybe tonight I will have to ask Ventari myself about his decisions." It came out easily, freely, but it spoke volumes. It meant Charles was still in for everything they had discussed tonight, but there was still tension in his body despite the ease in his voice.

[I think the whole beach setting contributes, maybe.]

"That's true," Aurus agreed, watching Charles' expressions, his body language. "Though I think there can be a value in distance too. What one learns by stepping away can be invaluable.

"Do you worry about the angriest ones though--that all these sorts of teachings become a yoke for them that they resent rather than feel comforted by?" It was a careful question, but an honest one, and the sort which, frankly, Aurus felt Ventari did not quite have the right answer to.

And thus while Charles' remark about talking to the centaur tonight did indeed speak volumes and it pleased Aurus tremendously to hear him say it, he felt that acting in good faith he could not merely filter out the less idyllic components of the afternoon.

"He will be very pleased to discuss the matter with you, I am certain. But there are things that I need to confess to you before we get that far. I hope you won't be too cross with me for them, but I won't keep anything from you regardless: Hank is...aware that there is something developing between us, and I think it's safe to say that he does not approve.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to break your confidence by disclosing something private that you might not want known. I had to deceive him or tell him the truth. I hope the choice I made was sound."

[Good point.]

"Unfortunately, that's still something we're learning to deal with, step by step. It's never the same for each child. There's no formula we can follow to try and help their anger. All we can try and do is work with each of them." And, one day, perhaps bring them into another fold if their anger can be redirected, tamed into something that would be safe to have on the X-Men, but that was still very... uncertain. The deaths still hung over Charles' head too much to attempt it again, but one day it would come.

Then Aurus decided to drop a bombshell.

Charles' expression fell in such an immediate way as to suggest that no, Hank hadn't come to talk to him about anything or hadn't mentioned certain parts of this. For him, all he could think was that it suddenly made sense that he hadn't see Hank for the rest of the day, but it wasn't so uncommon as to be hugely noteworthy. Still, what had happened between these two that Hank would have even guessed at such a thing!?

A hand came up, gesturing in the classic 'one moment' before he said flatly, "...what. happened?" What had Aurus told? Why was this even being discussed between those two at all!?

For now, Aurus left aside the topic of the students and the methods for dealing with their problems. They could return to that later, and he hoped that they would--when it felt right.

Right now, there was something far more important: that expression on Charles' face gave him...a very deep cause for concern. But he would stay his course regardless. This had to be said. An omission on a topic like this would be as good as a lie, and for all he had used the word 'seduction' when talking to Hank, he would not try and trick Charles into anything.

"I was trying to learn about the conventions of human relationships in this world--your customs, and whether mutants have their own traditions for such things. I was not asking about romantic or sexual relationships exclusively, but I admit, it was something I wanted to know. I thought I could disguise that curiosity within more general queries. I was wrong. Perhaps I underestimated him.

"At any rate, once his suspicion was kindled my only option would have been to lie to him outright. I had to make a choice, and it was only after I'd done so that I learned relationships between two men are frowned upon here. That's not the case in my world--not, for the most part, between humans and certainly not at all for sylvari.

"He is worried for you, Charles. I don't know all the reasons why--I did not wish to hear about your past from him. But there is something about me--about this--that he fears will bring you harm. If his fears are founded, then it's not something we should ignore."

"Hank is a brilliant man. I'm... not surprised he managed to figure things out." Still, Charles rubbed a hand over his face, feeling a certain level of embarassment over the whole thing. Given his senses (though he wasn't certain how much the drug repressed those in Hank), his friend might have even smelled it out. "That wasn't... exactly the most subtle of questions, either." He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, realizing there wasn't much more he could do on that notion for now.

"He doesn't have any right to get involved in my choices." That was, perhaps, just a touch more firm than he would have liked it to come out. It was obvious exactly what this was over and damn it he didn't think it was fair. Aurus was not like Erik, end of story. There was a certain anger that bubbled up in him that Hank thinking he had any right to say something to Aurus when it was none of his business. A certain anger at feeling like he was being treated like a child. A certain guilt because his feelings for Erik had gotten people hurt and he knew Hank believed he could have done more to stop Erik long ago. Anger at himself because it was true.

Charles looked away, glaring slightly at nothing, before he let out a breath. "It won't bring me harm. You don't have to worry about that."

Aurus would absolutely accept that bit of blame, and he did so with a slow deep nod of his head. "My people are not known for our subtle speech, I'm afraid. Compared to my kin I am downright diplomatic. Compared to most humans however?" He shook his head slowly, acknowledging that he'd never really gotten passed that shortcoming.

"I believe it may be in this area where we feel our cultural differences most keenly. Of course he doesn't have the right, and he may be wholly misguided, but his concern is born of genuine affection for you, I do not doubt that for a moment. To me that seems no different than a friend expressing concern over any course of action, intimate or otherwise. But I sense that your sense of privacy is quite unlike my own."

He watched Charles quietly for a moment, wanting to understand better what the man was feeling. He could easily accept Charles' assurance that their intimacy presented no danger to him since he'd always believed that himself anyway. But there were other things he could not quite read, and thus demonstrating (without even fully realizing he was doing so) what he meant about sylvari bluntness, he simply asked him directly:

"Is it terribly embarrassing for you that your friend knows you could entertain the idea of intimacy with another male? Or would you still feel the same embarrassment if I was a woman?"

You know what conversation Charles didn't want to be having? This one. He had grown up with a proper English family, which was why he ended up going to Oxford, and despite his openness towards women as a younger man, this was a topic that was not discussed. People didn't take well to finding out someone had affiliations to someone of the same gender and though he was open minded about it, it still felt like society was staring at him from a distance to even be having this conversation.

"I don't particularly want Hank to be aware of what I may or may not be doing in bed, regardless of who it's with." That was flat, almost sarcastic but managing to tame it back in the face that Aurus truly didn't (seem) to know any better. "I know it's because he cares and he's worried but he's officially crossed the line into none of his business." His voice slightly over ennunciating those words. He most certainly said nothing to Hank about the possible... something going on between Hank and his sister and frankly, he didn't want to know.

Though if either of them hurt the other he would have WORDS with the offending party.

It was going to take Aurus a little while to get used to this sort of custom and the more private attitude about sex. Even when it came to dealing with humans in his own world, people just sort of knew that sylvari were very casual about the topic. It was hardly unusual to hear young members of the race spontaneously discussing their new discoveries with each other. ("Well, I suggested that we try it," Aurus could distinctly remember one sylvari sapling declaring loudly about her friend on one of his trips back to the Grove, "So she kissed me! And then she turned to the next person and she kissed her, and then him, and then her--!")

It wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to say that many sylvari tended to treat sex about the same as they treated food: you wouldn't need to keep it a secret what you'd had for dinner last night or who you'd dined with. Aurus, personally, had always been one of the least reserved.

For Charles' sake though, he would genuinely try. "I'm sorry," he said, reading between the lines, "I'm making you uncomfortable."

[Sorry I went quiet briefly. Yesterday ended up a CRAZY day somehow. My dealership found my perfect car and we were dealing with that WHILE I'm at work trying to get stuff done AND while I was trying to write the multi-page document outlining all the info characters need to know for my LARP event I'm running in a month AND getting lab results back for a blood test that were not good THEN running home, getting food, and trying to book plane tickets on Expedia between four people going to Japan which had two lay overs in each direction. @_@]

Yes, yes he was making Charles uncomfortable. The telepath rubbed his nose once before clearing his throat. "...let's go back inside. I want to get dinner before we begin tonight and hear about how the experiment went with Hank." And not more about what happened afterward for now. He... would go talk to his old friend about that at some point but it was going to be interesting. In fact, they had a great deal to talk about at some point and it was going to be awkward at best.

"After, we can... I don't know when is best to begin." It was hard to knock Charles off his normal certainty and calm but Aurus had managed to do that more than once today, leaving him to try and find his footing when it felt like he had none to get traction on.

[Oh good lord! Not to worry of course (actually, my notifs were completely fucked for like a day and a half with everything coming in 8-10 hrs late, so I thought maybe the same was happening for you), but that all sounds totally nuts. Are congratulations on a new car in order? Because that would be grand. Also, if you've got those plane tickets booked then definite congrats on that! Very excite! Where are your layovers and what airport are you flying into? (We flew into Narita, which I think many international flights arrive at, so I can share info about it if you'd like.) I hope the lab tests weren't anything too bad or serious and can all be easily managed. ... Also, poor Charles, lol.]

Not pushing the point any further, Aurus got to his feet and, with a wave of his hand, dispelled the tablet, which vanished silently, as though it had never been there at all. He placed a hand on Charles' shoulder as he turned back towards the house, but in this case it was a gesture carefully left free of any erotic charge or weighty implication, merely a friendly touch of the sort that any man might give a comrade.

He also took the opportunity to change the topic as they set off, returning to (relatively) lighter, or at least more comfortable, matters which quite purposefully had nothing at all to do with Hank. They could talk about model volcanoes later.

"Petra made me a model of it," he smiled, giving an indicative nod towards the spot that the tablet had just been and then patting the leaf-woven pouch where her gift was stowed. "Formed of stone and transformed into crystal," clearly the little girl had made quite an impression on him.

"It's vexing to think that anyone would find threat in a talent such as that. To see harm in such a thing--in the spirit of a young artist's endeavors--" he shook his head. "I can see why it could make someone angry to think of that attitude. It makes me rather angry to think of that attitude." But Aurus, of course, could acknowledge anger without being ruled by it.

[It's been crazy. I'm super excited to go get my car on Saturday! My current car is over a decade old and it feels like I'm buying a god damn space ship. The current one doesn't even have power locks and windows and the new one lets me get in and start the car with my keys in my pocket. TECHNOLOGY! My little sister will get my old car since she's just turning 16. The plane tickets were officially booked! It'll be... insanity because both legs of the trip have two layovers. @_@ Philly to Toronto to Vancouver to Narita (or switch those middle two). But... it was better than the 37 hour trips or the $1600 non-stops. One way or the other we'll get there. XD As far as the lab tests... no idea. It's not a good one, but it's not a surprising one. Just waiting to get a doc appointment to discuss it.]

Charles looked up, an eyebrow raised, before he gave a true smile. "Petra did? I'm surprised, honestly. She tends not to open up very much to new people; you've must have struck a chord with her." He looked back in the direction they were going, the smile remaining as he moved along side of Aurus towards the house.

"She has an incredible power, and while she does tend to use it very creatively, it also has the potential for great destruction. That's the danger with all of our abilities. As much as they can be used for good or fun, the danger is still there. When we found Petra, she was able to make her entire home shake whenever she had a temper tantrum. During a nightmare many months ago, the mansion shook as she trashed in her bed. I'm not blind to the reasons why people find a threat in us, but no more than we could find a threat in their guns, their choice to legislate us. Humanity, and I imagine even sylvari, want to understand and protect themselves from danger... but humanity unfortunately does tend to have the 'attack first, discover later' nature to their fear."

He let out a sigh, looking up slightly towards the sky. This was something he had done a great deal of research on, spent quite a deal of time on trying to handle when it came not just to the school and his students but for mutantkind in general.

[Gratz on the new car! That's very fun. (I shan't tell you what I drive--it's sort of laughable. Suffice to say that it's a hand-me-down from my partner's nan who couldn't drive anymore.) Hopefully your layovers won't be too much of a pain but Toronto isn't a bad airport to fly through at least. Narita is big and bright and lovely. Sparkling clean and not crowded at all when we were there. Our cell phones wouldn't work in Japan (most international ones don't as I understand it) so we had to rent a mobile phone which we collected at a little kiosk just upstairs in the airport, really well organized. We'd reserved it in advance so we just picked it up. It wasn't cheap but it was worth it. Then the train into central Tokyo was just back through another door--very easy, though we did have to change trains at least once. The Tokyo metro map looks really confusing at first glance, but basically, the Yamanote line runs in a circle around the city, so once you get on that you can get to just about any destination. Not sure if you've got all your hotels planned already, but we stayed at two places in Tokyo this one at the start of our trip and this one at the end. I loved the first one in particular. It's quite close to the station and on the doorstep of Ueno park (we could hear a community tai chi instructor outside each morning). There's also a really great street market area just around the corner with all sorts of yummy street food and a local Mister Donut where we went so often that they started giving us free stuff lol. Second hotel was fine (bit more modern in its furnishings) but it was a longer walk to the train. Small bathrooms in both, but that's par for the course in Japan. (Also, re: bathrooms--public toilets don't generally have hand driers/paper towels. People carry pocket hankies for hand drying + also packets of tissues bc there's often no loo roll.) /tl;dr forever Also, fingers crossed that you'll get to see your Dr soon. I'll be thinking of you. <3]

"It might be Ventari who struck a chord more than I did," Aurus gave a playfully self-deprecating smile. He did like the idea that he'd managed a unique rapport with the girl though.

"But temper tantrums--here we reach one of the limits of my experience--they are a behavior that all children display at some point, yes? And I gather that they are uniformly unpleasant for anyone unlucky enough to be in the vicinity, whether powers are involved or not. I've seen them, but I've honestly never been able to understand their cause.

"Seems rather more difficult than the question of how to put anger to good use. And I do think it can be used. It is as valid and valuable a motivation as defense or safety, and, I would venture, more valuable a motivation than fear." There was a purposeful, if subtle, suggestion here: that anger could be a positive force. Aurus wanted to know what Charles would make of that idea, since it seemed like it might be relatively outside his current thinking. He did, however, sigh with an admission: "Though I suppose all of this illustrates a unique difficulty with children in particular. Fear of the young is hardly rational, but it's often based on an awareness that the young themselves are not necessarily rational.

"Some humans seem to dream that children are idyllic and innocent, but the reality seems always to be a fear of something within children that is not idyllic and innocent at all. I presume this is not only an issue for mutants since I've seen it in my world too, but yes, I suppose that put that way I can imagine how quickly mutant children might be feared as a source of unrestrained and untempered power."

[All of us have are going to use texting while we're in Japan - I can pay $30 to have international unlimited texting and additional data for the month while I'm there, so that's how we're going to handle that issue. And lots of WiFi. I haven't traveled international so I'm kind of really nervous and super excited! The info packets we're getting from the company we're going thru are supposed to tell us how to get around, or so I hope, but we're smart people. We'll manage one way or the other. We've got our hotels all booked out. Agora Place Hotel Asakusa for the week in Tokyo, Takaragawa Osenkaku for the weekend, Nanba Dotonbori Hotel for Osaka, then Eko-in for a night in a temple, and the last night is the Book and Bed in Tokyo.]

"It's not anger that is motivation if it's guided by fear. At that point, it's a danger. That's the main point I'm trying to teach these children. They can be angry. I know I am about our situation at times. It's when they are afraid that anger, instead of a controlled flame, can become an inferno that destroys everything in its path including those we care about." Oh how very much Erik was in his mind right now.

"I have to teach them to intelligently wield their anger if they feel it. To wield it not only appropriately in manner but what is worthy of being angry about. These are still children, in the end. They have to learn from us and grow into their own existence." Clearly, this was something Charles had thought about, despite his words of peace. The X-Men... it had meant to be a weapon to be wielded so that others wouldn't have to, but when it had shattered on the rocks of reality, it had broken a part of him as well.

"And in particular these children... they have power to be used. Petra could potentially destroy cities if she concentrated enough. We have a student capable of fire so hot he could melt anything on this property. Without guidance and learning, this could turn ugly, which is why we train their mind and their powers."

[That's very good luck re: phones. We had to rent because Japan has no GSM network, so international plans wouldn't have worked on my phone regardless. I'm sure you will have an absolute blast! It's not actually a hard country to get around once you get acclimated, especially if you can read some hiragana and katakana. You've got fab places to stay and Book and Bed sounds like it will be a real experience--what a very Japanese concept that is!]

Aurus nodded thoughtfully as he listened to Charles talk. His own experiences were different in many ways, but there were some elements where the two dovetailed.

"Yes, I agree--it seems to me that anger and fear are two quite different matters the experience of which may be very hard to differentiate. Or rather, one can be angry about the same thing that one is afraid of, and teasing one feeling from the next can be...difficult.

"In a way, I suppose my conversations with your students today touched on the matter: 'Act with wisdom, but act.' It's one of Ventari's teachings, one which I consider to be among the most important, but it comes with a challenge. Finding the wisest course of action is rarely straightforward. I'll admit that some of them seemed to resent that complexity."

He was quiet for a moment before speaking again: "The children told me about a war--something that happened here in years past. I don't think they felt able to explain it well, so I don't know if I really understood them. Something about certain types of people being identified? I gathered that it is disturbingly easy for them to see parallels with their own situation in the world now."

Edited 2016-12-16 15:21 (UTC)

[One of my goals is to make sure that all four of us will be okay with phones when we get there. If we're truly stuck, we do have a pair of friends living in Osaka who can help us out re: getting cheap phones, so I'm holding onto that. I can speak a very little bit of Japanese (Nihongo wakimasen, Eigo desu?) and can read/write a little bit of romanji but unfortunately nothing in the katakana/hiragana. We're four smart people - I think we'll be able to manage. Matt (our friend over there) joked and said if we ever get stuck, go find a high schooler because they're learning English or a businessman XD) The onsen is gorgeous and good with foreigners so I'm really excited and the Eko-in is a working temple... guh I am stoked.]

From the expression change on Charles' face, it was fairly obvious he immediately knew what Aurus was speaking of. His lips briefly thinned as he tried to think of how to explain something so very, very complicated. "...there was a man... one very charasmatic man who brought together his people under the belief that they were superior and anyone who didn't look like them were lesser people. He took a particular hatred to some specific groups of people - the one the children most likely remember from their lessons are the Jewish. These are a people who come from a particular place in the world or follow a religion of the same name. They were-"

In his head, he saw the numbers branded into Erik's skin, and he felt a pang as if he was doing a disgrace to this explanation. "Millions of people were killed because they were considered 'lesser' people. Shot, starved, illness, gassed by chemicals, and so many more terrible deaths. Some were marked by tattoos or symbols they had to wear. It became a war that involved most of the world in some way or another - some on the side of those who wished to kill, the Nazis, some on the side of trying to stop them. It was an ugly, terrible war that we could speak weeks going over explaining all of the awful details but... sometimes, it's all too easy to see that we're being targeted specifically for who we are and it sounds all too familiar to those who know the relatively recently history of the world."

[Haha, it's totally true about Japanese high schoolers. I was 'accosted' on the street in Iwami by a group of high school boys leaving school who were SO EAGER to talk to me. I'm fairly sure I was the only native English speaker they'd ever had a chance to talk to and they all wanted to practice their English skills. Japanese are very happy to help western tourists overall though (we had two old ladies pull over and spontaneously offer us a ride when we got caught in the rain). You absolutely can manage without reading any Japanese, but personal opinion, I think hiragana was so helpful (more so than katakana). Not reading kanji is nbd (we picked up some while we were there), but hiragana helps for like figuring out what filling is inside an onigiri. If you have time it might be worth familiarizing yourself w/ it.]

The understanding Aurus was garnering of this history was necessarily piecemeal. There was simply too much he didn't yet know about this world. He had no concept of industrialization as such, so he of course could have no concept of the shock which accompanied industrialized methods being turned towards the extermination of people on a mass scale. The mechanisms of war in Tyria, despite the engineering innovations of the charr, did not contain the imagination or spirit of modern warfare. He also, frankly, would not have understood the conspiracy theories and persecution complex that held sway in Germany to enable the Nazi rise to power. All of these things had no analog in his own world as he now knew it, and the best he could do at the moment was admit to that.

"I'm not sure I understand. This was a war between the free people's of your world and one faction, these Nazis--a kind of cult with a brutal charismatic leader? And the Jewish faced him and lost before the rest of the world took up arms against him and his allies and eventually won?"

He was trying, as he had done earlier, to make sense of all this through the framework of the White Mantle and the Chosen who they had slaughtered. And when that didn't work he tried to think of it in terms of the first Guild War. And then in terms of the charr siege on Ebonhawke. None of them honestly seemed to help him very much.

[I feel like I need a cheat sheet of hiragana. This trip to Japan is going to be a lot of experimenting and learning on the fly... but I should probably learn a little more.]

"It isn't that simple. The Jewish didn't fight against him, they wanted no part of this war until they were forced to be in it. This man hated them and the others he chose to hate and chose to kill them through use of homeland pride, lies, fearmongering, and weaponry. He swept across countries with his superior forces and took them down, putting his rule in place. It's... very complicated, and very difficult to sum up for someone without a great deal of study." Charles looked over and gave a sympathetic look.

"I wish it was easier to explain, but for now, the basics should be something anyone can understand. The children, at least some of them, and older mutants know what it could possibly be like if we are singled out as a group of people. It could end very poorly for us, and they're afraid. This... is a trying time for all of us."

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Actual ambient dialog from the game in here

(ROFL)

:D

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