The Casual Observer : RP for tm_magneto

[semihero_pietro]

Takes place a few days after Pietro got to have dinner with Wanda, Overhearing some interesting things in a supermarket, and probably a day after Pyro roasted the bunny.

Pietro read the newspaper and sighed, tossing it onto the table. He sat outside a small London cafe, sipping his coffee while watching the people walk by. Of course, he wasn't really watching the people. Dressed as he was, he blended in with the other people. Just another European skinny white boy dressed in jeans and a hoodie, sipping coffe. Almost commonplace.

Of course, there was a skicap on in place of the hood, hiding the silver hair from the people passing by. It was the one thing that would make him stand out, especially in a time where Magneto was once again finding himself on the front page of every newspaper across the country.

If only the people of London knew that he was living in the little place across the street from where Pietro sat, watching the doorway.

He was pretty certain that someone in the Brotherhood had seen him, but no one had approached him. And obviously no one had told his father, otherwise he was sure Magneto would have cornered him down by now.

But after what happened in Missouri, Pietro figured that it might be nice to give a little visit to his father. And find out what the hell he was thinking.

Comments

OOC

[john-ispyro.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

How come everyone is so focused on that bunny? *grin* It amuses me so.

Re: OOC

[erikscordelia.livejournal.com]

You should be proud :)

Re: OOC

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

*grin* because it was right there at the end, and it's a bunny! bunnies are helpless little balls of fluff and you cooked it like a BBQ!

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

It was Mastermind, who told him about Pietro. That he'd been outside the house, tailing Magneto. Watching. Mastermind had offered to detain him, but Magneto had declined.

He wasn't sure what his son wanted. But a few days after Rogue left to return to X-Corp, he decided to find out.

He went over to the small cafe, and stood by his son. He was dressed simply, in a long wool jacket and a hat, distinctive features also obscured. People walked by, oblivious.

"Hello, son."

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

Pietro didn't shift, except the sip from his coffee. He had been expecting it anytime now, after all.

"I was wondering when someone would notice me. But then again, you've been busy..." he motioned at the paper on the table nearby.

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"You were noticed, I assure you." His eyes flickered to the paper.

Mutant terrorist John "Pyro" Allerdyce incites animal shelter believed to be so-called headquarters for a supposed anti-mutant group.

His mouth twisted. "Nice use of qualifying adjectives for everything save Pyro," he muttered, rolling his eyes. The press was ridiculously biased. "Am I to assume you came all this way to show me a newspaper?"

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"More like I'm wondering just how many more places you plan on blowing up before you realize it doesn't work on getting any kind of attention but garbage like this."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"Pietro. Did you truly come all this way to argue ideology with me?" Erik sighed. "May I sit down? Or shall we have this conversation in the most uncomfortable fashion possible?"

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"I figured i would get it out of the way, since our conversations always tend to lead there." He motioned that his father could sit across from him. There was a spare chair after all.

"Plus, you have to remember that most of what you do comes back to affect me to a certain point. So it's for my own benefit that I know."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

Erik took the seat across from his son. He studied Pietro carefully. Without the hair--obviously inherited from him--and the pale eyes which were a mirror of Erik's own, Pietro's features reminded Erik strongly of Magda's.

"It is nice to start off with the ideological differences, rather than end with them." Erik's mouth turned up. "Pietro. It is good to see you, even if I am a bit disturbed at your trend towards stalkerdom. It has been...a long time." There are shadows beneath his son's eyes. From him, probably. Magneto knew he was not a good father and never had been, and he regretted what his chosen path had cost his children.

"I emailed your sister. Lorna." He ordered coffee from the waiter, then looked back at his son. "I have heard she is back at Xavier's. Wanda is...not terribly inclined to speak to me. How is your wife, and your daughter?" He wondered if Pietro brought a picture. He would like to see his granddaughter's face, even if only on a photograph.

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"I'm not stalking..." He thought for a moment, then chuckled to himself. "Ok, technically I am. But it's because I feel that being your son, I need to keep an eye on you. You always claim you're doing this for your children... well, then that in turn makes your actions a reflection of my responsibility."

He also did it as a way to make sure that no one hurt his father. While yes, he knew that alot of what his father did deserved a harsh punishment for, he didn't want to see his father killed. Not for the wrong reasons. Pietro wasn't that heartless towards the man. He did care for his father, even if he hated what the man did.

The discussion turned to family, which Pietro knew was a sign that his father didn't want to talk about the recent actions just yet. Because they would end up arguing. They always ended up arguing. But seeing that it was too early in the morning to really fight, he would indulge him.

"Yes, I heard from Lorna recently too. Once she lets herself settle down somewhere, I plan on going to visit her. It's been just as long since the last time I have seen her. And I've seen Wanda too. She's... she's surviving, but she's nothing like she was before."

The pain at the mindset Wanda was living in now was visable on Pietro's face. His twin sister was the only thing he had counted on for so long as being there, and not having her "there" anymore was taking it's toll on him. That was more of the cause of those circles under his eyes than anything else right now.

"Crystal and Luna are doing well, from what I have heard. I don't get to speak with them much anymore. I was actually getting to see Luna when you attacked Brussels, which cause Crystal to take her back immediatly, cutting my time short."

He reached for his wallet and looked at the tiny picture (http://www.livejournal.com/userpic/40967000/9002168) in there. It was a few years old, but it was him, Crystal and Luna. He smiled at it a moment, then sighed and held it out to his father.

"She looks just like her mother."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

The news about Wanda was distressing. He would have to see if Lorna had seen Pietro's twin. He knew his son and Wanda were close. It must be difficult for him.

There was, beneath all of this, the vague hints that it was his fault. That none of these problems would exist, if he had been a better father.

"I was actually getting to see Luna when you attacked Brussels, which cause Crystal to take her back immediatly, cutting my time short."

He felt the impact of those words, deep down, but his face did not change. What type of man would he be, if he would so easily abandon his principles? Pietro would not respect him. He had to remain firm.

He looked at the picture and smiled. "She does. Just like you look like yours, despite our strikingly similar features. She is very beautiful, Pietro. They both are." He handed the picture back to his son.

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"I wish I had been able to know her. Everytime I look in the mirror, all I see is you staring back at me."

He put the picture away carefully, running a thumb over his daughter's face before putting his wallet back.

"Father, you might not know it, but with Luna, it gives me a bit more understanding of why you do what you do for us. That's why I probably am more critical of you then Lorna or Wanda will ever be. And it's probably also why I wish you'd listen to me, because I want to help you. But I won't help you when you do things like this. I won't help you murder innocent people, because that is not something I want my child to see me as. I will not be a murderer in her eyes."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

So that is what I am, in your eyes, then? A murderer? He didn't allow himself to ask the question.

"I know that you will fight by my side, son," Erik said quietly. "I have always known that" He thought for a moment. "I have some things. Of your mother's. They are in a safe location--a box. In a bank. If you want, I will give these things to you. I had meant to give them to Wanda, one day, but I don't know..." he trailed off, staring moodily at the passers-by for a moment before shaking his head. "They are pictures, and some letters. Because of the violence of my life, I have never wanted them with me. But I think you would like to have them, maybe."

Erik felt rather self-conscious. He was many things, but a father--no. Maybe once, long ago, but that man was gone now along with the name he never used.* He did not know what Pietro wanted from him.

*I think that, canonically, Erik Lehnsherr is an alias but we don't know what his real name is. I'm pretending that Erik won't ever tell :)

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"Wanda will get better. And when she is, then I'll ask for them." There was determination in his eyes. Wanda WOULD get better.

"Father, if Wanda, Lorna and I were human and not mutant, would you have lived your life differently?"

He was curious.

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "I believe she will, too. We are nothing, the lot of us, if not stubborn."

He thought about his son's question. "I didn't know you existed, Pietro, until you were grown. When your mother left me, I thought myself childless. When I found out I had children, and they were mutants, it re-doubled my efforts to keep what happened to me as a child from every happening to you."

The waiter brought his coffee. Erik sipped it, looking at his son. "And now, we are back to ideology. Somehow, it always comes back to that."

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"What can I say, I'm an idealist." He gave his father a cocky grin.

He crossed his hands on front of him, resting his chin on his fingertips. "I know I can never pretend to understand what you went through as a child, nor will I say I can. But have you ever looked at how sometimes the actions you do resemble the same person who persecuted your people then?"

Comparing Magneto to Hitler. To his face. And doing it with an openly honest face, and speaking in a way that wasn't blaming, but more of a philisophical discussion. That's Pietro for you. Blunt, honest, and not afraid of consequences when it comes to Magneto.

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

He groaned a bit, but smiled and shook his head at the pun.
His face settled back into serious lines as he heard his son's next question.

"You are not the first to throw this argument at me, son, nor will you be the last. I know how it looks, on occasion. But what would you have me do, when I see the same things happening now that happened then? When I see policies of separation and registration, born of hatred of fear, just like before? When I hear chants of keeping humanity pure?" His voice was derisive. "What am I supposed to do, Pietro? Let them lock us again to prove I am better than they? I am not willing to do that, I am afraid."

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

Pietro leaned in, lowering his voice so that their conversation wouldn't be overheard easily. "It's human nature for people to fear what they don't understand. There is as much prejudice now in mutant against humans as there is in the humans against mutants. And things like this..." his hand laid on the paper.

"The humans who are willing to learn, willing to stop being afraid and come to accept us as brethern... what do they think when they see this? It only increases their fear in mutants, pushing them back from overcoming their fears. Fears that they shouldn't have to begin with, but grow not just from anti-human groups, but from our own actions as well."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"When the humans who wish to learn and accept us are the ones in positions of power, then perhaps I will be inclined to listen to what you are saying." Erik sighed. "Too many of them do nothing, and then we suffer because of it. Pietro, I am not a monster. I feel remorse for what I am doing. I would be as happy as you if I were to wake up in the morning and have all of this over and done with." He stirred his coffee, watching the black liquid swirl.

"What would you have me do? When our kind is hated and hunted and killed like animals. Shall I do nothing, and instead ask for a peace between us that will never be?"

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"And yet, by the time they reach those point of power, they might be just as afraid to acknowledge it."

Pietro shrugged. "It's a double edged sword you walk, as well as Xavier. You both want piece, and in his vision, you hope that the best of human nature will come forth and accept. All groups that have gone through similar hate crimes have eventually gotten their respect earned, though it might take decades, and not happen until my child's generation. Or you do so by force, and force the worst of human nature to the forefront of most people."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"I'm afraid I don't see this respect of which you speak. If I have any doubts, it is only that humanity rarely learns, even though violence. But when they do, it is not peaceful protests that win the day." He leaned back in his chair.

"What do you want from me? I will not abandon my cause, you know that. Have you come here to kill me, or deliver me into the hands of the authorities?"

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"And Martin Luther King Junior was killed long before african americans finally got their rights. And yet, he is the most respected civil rights leader to this day because he lead peaceful protests and got the people to support him, not fear him."

Pietro leaned back as well. There were times he had thought about turning his father in. An annonymous phone call to S.H.I.E.L.D. would handle it. But he wouldn't be able to live with himself because there were parts of him that knew his father's message, if not his actions, were right.

"Of course not. But that doesn't mean I'm leaving anytime soon. I'm not going to fight for you or support your actions, but I'm also not keen on seeing anti-mutant groups come after you because your flunkies are stupid enough to lead any observant person right to your doorstep. Or fights in supermarkets that anyone can hear."

He crossed his arms. "Plus... you've spoken about wanting to meet Luna. And I think maybe you should. Because you say you do this for my children, who coincidently is a human herself, not a mutant. But I won't bring her down here when you are going around bringing hatred and danger down on your head."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"Do you think racism is a thing of the past? Pietro. You cannot be so naive as to think that." Erik didn't want to talk about this anymore. His son would never understand, and that was to be expected. He had been teaching at Xavier's, after all.

"Of course I should like to meet Luna. Mutant or no, she is still my granddaughter."

He winced. "As for that unfortunate incident in the supermarket--well. Rachel Summers-Grey is a loose canon. I cannot be responsible for her inability to keep a civil tongue, though I admit I was quite awful to her. Perhaps I should have Anna convey my regrets in speaking so harshly."

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

"Of course I'm not that naive," Pietro glared at him. "I live with it every day. But everyone is just a bit racist. Even you and me. Being so doesn't make you a bad person. It's what you do in the face of that racism that dictates that."

"If you want to meet Luna, then I need you to stop. You need to keep things calm and quiet. There has to be a time period in which you don't stir the world up again. Let it settle a bit, and then I can bring her down and not worry as much about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, or X-Corp, or the Avengers... anyone who wants you brought to justice ready to burst in after you, putting her life in danger."

Pietro leaned forward. "You want to prove to me that you really want to see your grandchild, you'll do this for me. Because if anything happens to her because of you, the ones that hurt her wouldn't be the only ones to pay..."

It was a father's threat against the life of his child. And a very promising one, because many might not acknowledge it, but Pietro knew his father that well, and if anyone had the chance to kill Magneto, it would be him.

And in that one way, it could be seen that Pietro was just as dangerous a man as his father was - given the right circumstances.

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

Erik met his son's gaze. "You have my word, that I will never do anything to harm the life of your daughter." He did not look away. "I cannot promise you that I am entirely safe to be around, but I can promise you that things will be...quieter."

He wanted to see his granddaughter. He wanted to meet his son's wife. But he would not lie to Pietro to make this happen. Better the little one be safe, and far away from him. He had made sacrifices before. "But a few months are all that I can give you. After that, I just don't know."

Erik regarded him thoughtfully. "You are a good father. A better one than I was. That could not have been easy to learn, when you had no frame of reference for how it was done." Erik stood up, his hands in his pockets. "For what it is worth, I am proud of you for that. I am glad, despite what you might think, that the violence of my life has escaped you."

He needed to leave. For one, they needed a new safehouse. For another, it was time to give his Brotherhood some furlough. He had to go and meet Lorna in Dover, and no doubt the rest of them would appreciate the time for their own personal business. Two weeks. That should be enough time.

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

Pietro stood up as well, needing to stretch. He hated sitting still for so long. "I know you would never intentionally hurt her." Of course that didn't mean zealots, on either side, would. Look at Fabian Cortez. "You show me what you promise, and you know I will follow through on mine."

"I'll be around. I'm staying in Europe to watch over Wanda as well. I have a feeling with her making her presence known, it won't be long before others find her, and I won't let anyone hurt her, not now, not ever."

Especially not when her past actions against mutants had been his own sin as well.

He smiled a bit at Magneto's praise. It wasn't much, but it was something deep down that Pietro needed... to be told he was doing something right. "Thank you. That means alot to me."

He looked off towards the east. He should check in and see how Wanda was today. Not visit her per say, just give a nice perimeter check, make sure there wasn't any trouble in the area.

"Of course, I won't make it easy for Mastermind to see me again. But if you do need me, you have my e-mail."

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

"What on earth would we have done without email?" Erik almost reached out his hand, to put it on Pietro's shoulder. Such gestures were easy for him with Pyro. But not with Pietro. Nothing with his son was ever that easy.

"I am glad that you are going to see Wanda. I will, of course, offer my protection should that ever be necessary. And you know how to find me as well." He looked at Pietro for a long time. He could have set a lot of things. All he said was, "Be safe, son."

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

Which is too bad, because it was actions like that which might help heal the rift between them. Especially since the last time Pietro felt any form of a touch from his father, it was in the form of being pummled to death in the aftermath of the House of Magnus.

Such is the life of Pietro Maximoff.

There was alot more unsaid in Pietro's eyes, but the one thing he did inherit from his father was his stubbornness. "You too, father."

And with that, he let himself be the first to turn and walk away from the cafe and disappear in the crowd.

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

Erik watched him go, with the vague feeling that his son was disappointed in him. Again.

It was a feeling he should be used to, by now.

It never got any easier. There were days when he did wonder, what his life might have been like. It he had chosen to be a father, rather than a general.

Erik turned and walked away, towards the safehouse. It was time to start planning for the future. There was no point in dwelling in the past. There was no time for regrets.

OOC

[erikscordelia.livejournal.com]

Hi - I just want to *fangirl* you two because I've been watching this thread for the past hour or so and am truly enjoying it :)

Re: OOC

[semihero-pietro.livejournal.com]

Aw! Thank you! *hugs* Pietro is my thinker, and loves these kind of threads more than any other form of RP.

Unless it's visiting his sister :) Wanda is his world.

Re: OOC

[tm-magneto.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! That was great fun!!