Re: In person: Erik/Charles
[Erik studied his friend thoughtfully after he mentioned the nightmares.] You didn't talk about that often. The downfalls of your abilities. [Charles usually tried to be more positive with him and the others, since they were developing their gifts and he was the driving force behind that. Erik started looking at his powers in a different way, thanks to that tutelage. But it reminded him of his conversation with Alison, how little it was a two-way street. Charles saw everything, and Erik had to rely on his friend's occasional confessions to know the same.] I wondered.
[He sighed and shook his head.] I tried. I know it wasn't enough, but I did try. I wanted .... [Erik didn't want many things, especially not for himself. It was all about the mutant community in his head now. He wanted revenge, and he took that, or it was accomplished through other means.] It doesn't matter. [The past could not be changed, and his attempts at being someone different were failures. It was easier to talk about that with a stranger, not with Charles.]
Can you change? [Erik was made of sharp edges and hard surfaces, but his rare glimpses of vulnerability were genuine. If resented. He stepped closer, slightly in Charles' personal space, but not enough to crowd him. Once upon a time they breathed in the same space, they seemed attached by invisible wires at the hip.] Can you forgive me? I don't want you to keep talking to me because you fear I'll fly off the handle if you're not nice enough. I want .... [He shook his head.] You know what I want. Tell me to leave you alone if that's the truth.