( open ) I like to call myself wound but I will answer to knife

[scarcastically]

CHARACTERS: Erik Stevens / Killmonger You
LOCATION: The Station
DATE: Post-Mission Conclusion
CONTENT: Aftermath / Settling back in the station
WARNINGS: scarification, body modification in the first prompt



( i. infirmary - new wounds ) cw: body modification, scarification

[ a success.

not that erik would say so in public, but he accomplished his personal goal and the mission. he has solidified his use as player, even if his integration into the team was haphazard. he let too much slip to people, they know too much. but that can be a problem for another day. no one knows the extent of it after all, just patches of erik. and erik isn't real anyway. it's not his name.

erik sits on one of the medical beds, his shirt tossed to the side. his skin is littered with crocodile scars. he has a scalpel in his hand, as he assesses the free space to his side. ]

Hmm, think I got a little room there.

( ii. lab - spellwork and metalwork )

[ he hadn't gotten to use much charterwork in the field, preferring to lean on the abilities he did have and the panther suit. he wasn't fully comfortable with spells just yet, but erik is a scientist in his own right, not simply a war strategist. and what he needed was more comfortable exploration in his own time and space.

so erik has a bunch of different metals laid out on a table with a notebook littered with various charter configurations as he tries to find the best combination to strengthen the durability of each one. this would be best with vibranium, but erik wasn't going to risk his suit on an experiment.

he taps his forehead, drawing upon the marks for strength and shielding and weaving them into iron. satisfied, he plucks it from the table, idly tapping the side to listen to the vibrations and noise. he makes a little sound of disgruntlement before he bends over his notebook, scribbling his theory. ]

Sounds denser. Can charter affect molecular structure? Gotta give it an acid test later.

( iii. simulation room - oakland apartment )

[ he's not sure why he comes back.

lack of self-preservation? a reckless need to let all his secrets out? to see if his father will appear just like it had once with the heart-shaped herb? but erik no longer had the herb's effects pumping in his veins. at least he thinks so. he has no way of knowing for sure. he doubts t'challa would have left it in him. he doubts . . .

erik leans against the window. the wakandan sunset beats down on his face. it seems he's at his rawest here, caught between two worlds. two homes that never wanted him. and erik . . . wants something. wants more. he thought he had bled it all out, but talking about it again had given him the twist of yearning in his heart. where was he supposed to go? where was he supposed to be? was he meant to give up the dream and just settle in another reality?

out loud, he says. ]

You should have taken us back.

[ it is the first kernel of resentment for his father. who believed in the dream, who bled for it. who wanted a better life for others. but erik can't help thinking that the minute his mother died, alone and unwanted in a prison, they should have gone home.

but he thinks of his father's tears and he ducks his head, guilt churning. ]

( iv. wildcard )

[ got a prompt in mind? you can reach erik here / pm this account / hit me up @ timmtams ]

Comments

[scarcastically]

[ erik rolls his shoulders idly. ]

The place this sunset's from doesn't allow outsiders to visit. No one knows much 'bout it.

[petsthedog]

[There's a pause, just long enough for a perplexed expression, brows furrowed.]

That's...weird. Why?

[scarcastically]

[ erik chuckles. ]

Japan's got a history of isolationism too, ages back. It has to do with security and makin' sure stronger powers don't walk all over 'em.

[petsthedog]

Never was great in history class.

[Or like...any class. He didn't exactly apply himself in school before his life fell apart. He shrugs.]

So this place where you're from?

[scarcastically]

[ erik shakes his head. understanding governments and cultural backgrounds is a must for him. not simply because he is cia black ops but it helped inform him on what is needed for change. the reasoning mattered. ]

It's the place my dad's from. I'm only half and they weren't too keen on that.

[ among . . . other things. ]

[petsthedog]

Well, that's stupid.

[Ah, the bluntness of Youth rite.]

Sounds like you made it back anyway, at least?

[scarcastically]

Long 'nuff to catch that view.

[ and it'll have to be enough. ]

[petsthedog]

Just before you came here, you mean?

[Or were you interrupted by. Something else? Shinji remembers the man said he had been hurt before the station picked him up.]

[scarcastically]

[ hm. better listening skills than erik had expected. he should play it carefully. ]

Yeah. My cousin was nice enough to let me see it before kicking me out.

[petsthedog]

[Huh. So the relatives he knows go beyond his mom and dad, in this place where outsiders aren't welcome, even if they're family. It sounds complicated; sometimes, Shinji thinks it's for the best that he has no family at all.

He's not sure what to say now, though. This feels dangerously close to prying already. Just because he and Erik traded wounds over a graveyard that night doesn't mean he has a place inserting himself into Erik's business. It's for the best if he just keeps thinking of himself as a dead man walking--one last task to complete or literally die trying.

...Still, he finds he can't quite leave it like this. Instead, he redirects:]

Say, you ever been to Japan?

[scarcastically]

[ his lips twitch upward slightly. he knows a delicate subject change when he hears one. ]

Yeah, man. I hit up Akihabara and did a brief stint in Kyoto.

Nice place.

[petsthedog]

...I ain't been to the big cities much.

[Much too expensive for some scruffy orphan brat to travel to on their own, after all.]

But uh. I could show you Iwatodai. If you like.

[Or maybe Erik would prefer to brood in his sunset some more?? He's not sure and he looks a little flustered having even offered. But he is not! Taking it back! He'll die of embarrassment with dignity thank you. No matter how much of an oxymoron that is.]

[scarcastically]

[ it takes him a moment because erik's always been by himself. he's never had much in the way of anyone. they either die or erik cuts them loose. sometimes, in terrible cases, both.

still, he's not that dense and he chuckles. ]

Sure. I'd like that. Nothin' beats a home town anyway.

[petsthedog]

[Shinji has done a lot of the latter. Unfortunately, for the moment, there's nowhere to run to. And he maybe has gotten used to this guy being around to talk to and might even mumblemumble enjoyitalittleshutup.

He fights down the lingering embarrassment when Erik agrees to mess with the simulator settings. Dealing with advanced technology when you're only from 2009 always sucks, but at least they've gone out of their way to make shit user-friendly. (Perhaps a little too user-friendly, in the case of the earpieces, but that's besides the point.)

He just...needs to think of a place that Erik might actually like to see, rather than the shady places he tended to hang around with thugs of various stripes. After a minute, he's got it. The simulation around him slowly transforms from the sunset out the window to a shrine. It's one of the nicest places he knows, though he only came around every now and again to see Koromaru.]

...We're here.

[scarcastically]

[ erik gives a low whistle. ]

Nice. Cosy lil' corner.