008. mirror.

[sorrycharles]

I’ve captured two of them.

[ Erik is still short of breath, teeth and eyes cut bright against the mud smeared swarthy around the cinderblock of his head. ]

Juveniles. They’re penned in the clearing outside of camp.

[ He blinks hard, blind eye rolling white in its socket. ]

I’m not sure what to feed them.

OOC: Backdated to just after the stampede. OOC post with details here.

Comments

[fullmoon]

If you put a bit of everything in front of them, they'll probably let you know.

[sorrycharles]

A bit of everything. [ This makes sense, enough for Erik to echo while he reins higher thought processes around. He nods to himself after giving the suggestion a moment to settle, and looks off screen.

Off mirror. ]

Thank you.

[fullmoon]

Of course.

[ He hesitates. He doesn't know anything about Erik that everyone who had a comms device before the crash doesn't also know, but, you know. That's plenty. The fact that Charles somehow gets along with him (or something) anyway is the only reason he keeps talking. ]

Can I help?

[sorrycharles]

Yes.

[ Please.

He’s still tracking off to the side. He should probably sit down. ]

[metempsychotic]

What?

[ At first there's no clear view of the speaker, who has nearly fumbled their shard in haste to respond. ]

How? Where?

[ The crisp image of a sweaty-faced Ieza finally swings into place, her eyes wide if not quite wild, her hair a tangled halo of hood-head. ]

Are they injured? Are they sexed?

[sorrycharles]

[ Erik’s brow furrows, battened down against questions rushing in from an unfamiliar source, working overtime to focus through mud and sweat and exhaustion. ]

Who is this?

[ asking the important questions. ]

[metempsychotic]

Unimportant!

[ They've been introduced, albeit in distracted circumstances, and Ieza is not swift to own to it. ]

If either have been hurt, I might be able to mend them. We must keep them alive!

[ And, not one to be sidetracked: ]

Are they sexed? Can you tell?

[sorrycharles]

[ More silence.

He looks at her, equal parts weary and wary. ]

I don’t know.

[ This is a lot of scientific pressure to deal with right now. ]

They seem healthy.

[benumbing]

I have a solution. Two, in fact. Kill them or set them free, then you won't have to worry about what to feed them.

[sorrycharles]

[ Erik is silent, for a beat, brows canted with the effort involved in filtering down his immediate response for a live audience. ]

I've been saying the same about you for years.

[benumbing]

You haven't known me for years. [Yeah, he's taking him literally.] Those things stampeded through here. They could've destroyed the camp, they could've trampled people to death. And your first thought was to make them pets?

[klutziness]

How'd you catch them?

[sorrycharles]

I snared a pair of stragglers by the horns.

[ That's the short version. He doesn't look too keen to elaborate. ]

How adept are you with radio technology?

[klutziness]

[but she's burning with questions
and the image of erik wrangling these things to the ground]

Pretty handy. Why do you ask?

[alsohawkeye]

Nice job.

[ Believe it or not, Kate actually sounds sincere. Because for once she is. ]

How are they taking it? Are they violent at all other than the whole frantic stampede part?

[sorrycharles]

[ Erik is too worn down to muster suspicion for Kate’s congeniality.

He’s blank for a beat instead. Processing, ahead of an earnest answer. ]

They’re afraid.

[axeyou]

I'd never have taken you for a guy who keeps pets.

[sorrycharles]

I'm full of surprises.

[ Et tu, Brute? ]

[axeyou]

You sure are.

[Tiny bit of et tu. No pause for consideration before she asks:]

Can I have one?

[kutte]

What're you naming them?

[ jax with the hard-hitting questions. ]

[sorrycharles]

[ No immediate response. Erik stares out at Jax at a bleak remove. ]

Why don’t you take a survey.

[kutte]

Survey's aren't my thing. I'm not the one who caught them anyway.

[anybodies]

[A slice of fair skin and blonde hair flickers into the mirror shard. She isn't showing her peg leg, but the rest of her appearance is telling enough of Mystique's current state of mind and person.]

Are you close to them right now? Can you show us?

[sorrycharles]

[ He’s still for an off beat, processing blonde hair and blue eyes like a snake swallowing a pine cone.

Once he’s registered her request, it’s a simple matter of him turning the mirror outward to frame the pair of spindly-legged aliens stampeding around the borders of their enclosure. One is slightly larger than the other, bony skull and bulky shoulders rocking with the force of a full gallop.

The glare from the sun is terrible. ]

[anybodies]

[Her expression and voice were flat enough to start with. There's no change when her voice rings out of the averted glass.]

How long have they been running around like that?