( like most of this manor, in all of its golden lacquer and showmanship — a replica grand palace, for the rich and the inducted. which is to say: understandable. go off, king. )
Well, it is a bit more fearsome than Magneto. You would have all of the fences quivering in fright.
Much more of a mouthful as far as titles go, though I've heard the longer the title, the more important people think you are.
( understatement, indeed. she has a sixth sense for older men with a flair for the dramatic — all that's currently missing is the swooping cape to tie up the ensemble. )
It's certainly an ambitious plan. How do you plan to go about doing that? Terrorizing the candlesticks at breakfast?
Is that really wise? I don't want you to become their dancing bear.
( the balfours might not be a direct replica of the lantsovs, but — she doesn't have the good grace to give them the benefit of the doubt, to believe they wouldn't regard erik as some quaint magician peddling performances for their entertainment. )
( in some small part, it feels like coaxing a hand through the bristling fur of a beast, waiting for its hackles to drop. alina's throat flexes and bobs, around a dry swallow. )
But I know how people react when they see a glimpse of power. They feel they have the right to try to take it for themselves, and if that fails, they seek a way to destroy it.
Surely there's a solution in-between "lie down and take it" and "destroy them all."
( surely. she hadn't shed a tear over vasily death, over tatiana or king petyr's exile, but — it still turns her stomach squeamish, no matter the lack of mourning she might spare the balfours, if they're merely another group of tyrants in the making. )
Even if you did, we might still find ourselves trapped here with no answers. Be smart about it. Please.
It would certainly stop anyone from bothering you when you're feeling like a curmudgeon.
( a small, heartbeat of a pause. she isn't convinced she wants to know, considering the colorful baggage she carries with her, every creative insult ever handed to her packed away in the attic of her memories, but — )
I'll let you return the favor. If you were going to give me a title, what would it be?
Well, of course not. That's your title. I wouldn't ask you to share it. I've been called worse things, besides.
(though there's a certain undercurrent to not knowing if schön should rank among the worst contenders, unfamiliar as it is to her tongue. she tests the heft of it, lets it roll around in her mouth like an unwieldy marble, until she learns the shape of its syllables.
then, inevitably victim to her curiosity: ) What does it mean?
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( like most of this manor, in all of its golden lacquer and showmanship — a replica grand palace, for the rich and the inducted. which is to say: understandable. go off, king. )
Well, it is a bit more fearsome than Magneto. You would have all of the fences quivering in fright.
Much more of a mouthful as far as titles go, though I've heard the longer the title, the more important people think you are.
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[ He's been making gates fear him since he was fourteen, but this one was much easier to deal with. ]
Then Erik Lehnsherr, titled Magneto, 'Master of Magnetism', might be more suitable.
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Well, you can't just award the title to yourself. Other people have to do it for you.
Those are the rules of being important. So I hear, anyway.
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[ Understatement. ]
I'll have to earn a reputation here, then, won't I?
[ Like daddy - ]
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( understatement, indeed. she has a sixth sense for older men with a flair for the dramatic — all that's currently missing is the swooping cape to tie up the ensemble. )
It's certainly an ambitious plan.
How do you plan to go about doing that? Terrorizing the candlesticks at breakfast?
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Candlesticks, cutlery, belts, anything necessary.
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( then, with a little more weighted solemnity: )
Is that really wise? I don't want you to become their dancing bear.
( the balfours might not be a direct replica of the lantsovs, but — she doesn't have the good grace to give them the benefit of the doubt, to believe they wouldn't regard erik as some quaint magician peddling performances for their entertainment. )
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[ The kind of lab rat that he was might be different here, but... ]
I'll play along, until we find a way out. That's my limit.
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( in some small part, it feels like coaxing a hand through the bristling fur of a beast, waiting for its hackles to drop. alina's throat flexes and bobs, around a dry swallow. )
But I know how people react when they see a glimpse of power.
They feel they have the right to try to take it for themselves, and if that fails, they seek a way to destroy it.
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[ Where is Charles Xavier when you need him - ]
No matter how many headaches they give me.
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Surely there's a solution in-between "lie down and take it" and "destroy them all."
( surely. she hadn't shed a tear over vasily death, over tatiana or king petyr's exile, but — it still turns her stomach squeamish, no matter the lack of mourning she might spare the balfours, if they're merely another group of tyrants in the making. )
Even if you did, we might still find ourselves trapped here with no answers.
Be smart about it. Please.
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[ Sorry, Alina. The sexiest men have to have a matching crazy-scale. ]
I don't intend to be anything close to stupid.
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( she's tired, bro 😔 )
Why do I have the feeling you wouldn't listen to me, anyway?
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[ And file it under "nah". ]
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( affectionate but also derogatory. )
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[ He's been reliably informed. ]
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Shall I add that to your growing list of titles?
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( a small, heartbeat of a pause. she isn't convinced she wants to know, considering the colorful baggage she carries with her, every creative insult ever handed to her packed away in the attic of her memories, but — )
I'll let you return the favor.
If you were going to give me a title, what would it be?
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[ Erik knows he's an asshole: he just doesn't care. ]
A title?
I certainly wouldn't call you an ass.
Schön.
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I've been called worse things, besides.
(though there's a certain undercurrent to not knowing if schön should rank among the worst contenders, unfamiliar as it is to her tongue. she tests the heft of it, lets it roll around in her mouth like an unwieldy marble, until she learns the shape of its syllables.
then, inevitably victim to her curiosity: ) What does it mean?
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[ Erik doesn't want to dwell on the nastiness of the words used against him in the past. ]
Beautiful.
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