notrosecolored | Duplicity Contact Post

He has to think about that, but- "Yeah, I think so? At the Scratch."
Which is barely a place on Chris' radar, honestly, it just wasn't much his thing, but that sounded right.

"I've no idea if Nick counts as one of those types for him, but considering the messes Nicky gets himself in, it wouldn't surprise me any if he was."

Nick had a way of attracting either trouble or people who wanted to keep him out of it. Chris shrugs. "Once you're here a while, you end up dug in, I guess. Find your network of people and community projects to get hands in or go mad. Even you're starting to."

"Maybe. I'm sure it's useful to dig in, but right now I'm still swinging between trying to make connections and be available and make no connections so I'm left the hell alone by everyone who isn't some level of asshole and doesn't come from my world."

Which is direct as hell for him, but followed by him pushing off the dresser. "Come on. I've got a couple of bottles. Let's go play a drinking game at the kitchen table like the normal people we aren't."

Edited 2022-05-10 17:13 (UTC)

It is direct and draws a laugh from Chris. "You know, typically, trying to do the opposite things at the same time will result in nothing happening. Just a thought."

But he'll happily follow Scott back to his kitchen and not at all argue that assessment.

Chris flops himself down into one of the kitchen chairs, long legs stretched out before him. "Also, if I'm honest, you seem the type to just attract assholes, from your world or not, so I wouldn't bank on that one."

"It's a brain thing. Too alone, I'll self-destruct. Too much pressure on me -- same end result."

Scott gets two shot glasses and a bottle of midrange vodka out of a cabinet. Honestly, it's as likely Wade's as his own, but he's not overly fussed about it.

He puts a glass in front of Chris, the other glass with him and the bottle in the middle.

"Reasons poly is working for me, especially here."

Chris hums a bit and reaches for the bottle to pour them both a shot. "You just said 'connections' poly's got nothing to do with with your friends, Scott, unless you're more free-loving than I thought."

He's mostly joking, he doesn't think Scott's setting up relationships with every other person he slept with. That was more Nick's style.

He tosses his shot back. "You've made mention of throwing your loved ones a each other when it's too much for you, that is indeed a plus. Certainly a main appeal for me as well. How's it working with you actually getting what you need, though?"

He tosses his own shot back and then immediately refills both glasses. Are they playing a drinking game or just drinking to see who gets insentient first? It's a fine line, sometimes.

"Darling, according to you what I need is tied up and fucked and what you need is punched in the face on occasion. I? Don't know what I need and the last time I did what I needed was a new box of crayons." Because he was six.

He doesn't throw this one back, at least. They hadn't yet agree to the parameters of their game, but there was nothing wrong with a warm up...or just drinking while under the guise of attempting to be productive.

'Darling' certainly throws him for a loop, however and green eyes widen in his clear surprise. "I'm sorry, hold on, I'm still reeling on 'darling.' But, yes I do think you need that thing and what I need's a proper method of getting myself out of my own much: history says getting punched manages it." And largely it does, but he's trying to find other options.

This petplay with Jon might help. Rough sex that leaves him sore and aching might help. Getting punched while sparring would likely help. It was a learning process.

"You ever consider that might be your real problem? Can't get help from your partners if you're not even sure what that help looks like. Oh...but you're used to a telepath just knowing. Right." He arches a brow. "You ever ask her what you need?"

"All right," he says, after a pause to process the way that just flipped around on him into some real direct and generally real shit - and draining his shot glass a second time.

He's a big guy, it's fine.

"No. Because the person here is my dead ex-wife. We're not telepathically communicating right now. She's been dead for a while and whatever it is I need is not something she's got experience with. That was with my more current, not here, ex girlfriend."

Just throwing it out there.

"I might bother Logan about it, at some point."

Chris isn't about to question him, it's his own house: he can drink as much as he likes.

"You realizer 'more current ex-girlfriend sounds nuts, but I get your meaning."

He sits back a bit more in his chair, brow raising. "You probably ought to cause your other option is to have a really weird and awkward mind-conversation with your ex-wife over what you've done to move on and that's no fun for anyone, but I'd be willing to bet she'd still do it."

Now he needs his drink as his thoughts head for a certain man with bright amber eyes and a smile quick as a bolt in the sky. "That's the problem when they 'die' and you move on: they're still feeling the things left feeling when they left you, but you've had to figure something else out. No shame in that, but that doesn't mean you ought ignore it either just cause it's hard."

Lots and lots he could say there if he talked about Emma and Jean and himself, but suddenly he's not really on his own mind and neither are they.

Especially not with Chris finally drinking.

"That sounds like experience more than supposition. Who died?"

Chris' gaze cuts up to Scott and away again as he reaches for the bottle to refill their glasses.

"He didn't die." He contemplates leaving it at that, but that was hardly fair in their little give and take. Besides, Scott couldn't be the only one with weird stories. He clears his throat and continues.

"Mallik Kallian didn't die, but when he left the city's docks with a kiss and a promise and never came back, I sure thought he had. Turns out his ship got sunk, yes, but by a kraken that collected things. It collected him down to the depths and kept him in magical stasis and quite alive, if asleep. He was thirty-four when he was lost, eight years later, he's still thirty-four and needing to find his place again in a world that's moved on without him. Myself included, even if I never once forgot or stopped loving him."

"People were pretty convinced I was dead, once."

Wait, no. They're supposed to be talking about Jean, or Chris, or someone not him. This is why he shouldn't drink and yet he immediately goes back to his refilled glass, albeit with more respect.

"Wasn't 34 way too young for you eight years ago? How old were you, 13?"

He shoots Scott a look...which only turns into a disbelieving scoff as he continues talking. "Alright put a pin in that one, I'm sure it's crazy." Because most of Scott's bullshit was, even if Chris was curious, it rarely meant he fully understood.

"How old do you think I am, Scott? I was seventeen. He was twice my age, yes, but that hardly meant anything much at the time. Besides....now he's not twice my age and it still doesn't matter."

He shrugs. "No more crazy than the rest of the story about your previous lover." Then he sips from his glass and admits: "I thought you were twenty one. Seventeen's fine." Almost. Close enough. He can only get so judgey. For lots of reasons. Experiences. Whatever.

Chris shakes his head. "No. Never been here at that age. Didn't even know my team then, didn't meet them till I was twenty-two. Not sure if I appreciate the thought on my youthfulness or resent the idea you seem to think there's something particularly young about me when I'm nearer to twenty-seven at this point than not."

Easier to gripe about that than ask 'fine for what' he could maybe guess.

"Why'd people think you were dead? What'd you do?"

"Nearer 27 is still a decade younger than me; deal with it." The perception of usefulness, he means.

He's a fan of griping rather than hard questions - asking or answering. Definitely more than answering.

"I really like the phrasing there. Disappeared for a while is what I did." Which is short and tense and not really an answer. He wants to leave it alone. It sounds terrible and makes him sound terrible and he kind of likes that. It's just that... it's going to lead to more digging and he's going to have to answer more questions, and - "Got hijacked, and lost my memory for a while."

'Disappeared for a while' is most certainly unkind and causes Chris' brows to raise. Scott didn't seem like the 'abandoning my family' type...the full answer doesn't do much to make him feel better.

"Something else got into your head. Was this the phoenix thing you mentioned, or something else?"

"Something else." He's actually... good with this conversation, which is a little bit of a surprise. Possibly because Scott can't... guess at anything Chris might expect or want from him, yet, and to try to match that or feel bad that he's not. "Phoenix is fundamentally power without moral alignment. The thing that cost me some time and autonomy was just a really old mutant with an unhealthy obsession with survival of the fittest, far too much power. He called himself Apocalypse. It fit."

"Sounds like some evil god bullshit." Except Scott's world didn't opperate on gods and the like, from what he could tell, just a bunch of interesting abilities.

"Or just an evil jackass, I suppose. I'm sorry you went through that." And because he couldn't just leave the question well enough alone: "You remember being possessed? You mentioned lost time, did you not recall what had happened during?"

He takes his hand off his glass to see-saw it back and forth in a 'so-so' motion. Conversation's getting a little more personal and somehow he is still not outright panicking at it.

That, he knows, has to be because it's this specific person.

And alcohol consumption.

"Patchy memories. I was back and forth on level of awareness. The biggest gap then I remember now - meaning when I referenced losing time I mean I forgot who I was or any context for why I kept blacking out."

He makes an 'ah' face like that explained everything. It didn't, not at all, but enough to satisfy a chunk of Chris' curiosity.

"Not remembering who you are's a good reason not to be that person a while, a lot like being dead, if not physically." Which is...a thought. One that has him sipping off his glass, even if not tossing it back just yet. "I'm glad you got found again and...well, seems to me there might be things you don't remember that might be better? Doubt there's a bright side to be had, but that might be the closest kindness."

The one time Chris had gotten possessed, he'd been aware the entire time and it wasn't a pleasant memory, even if it had only lasted a few minutes at most.

Ah, there's that wall. He doesn't get distressed or panicky, just emotionally closes up shop on the subject. Chris provided a nice exit, that he's going to take.

As well as a concerning reaction.

"You've died? Or is this still about your lover?"

He doesn't chase the change in subject. It seemed only fair, Scott had bared...quite a bit, If he was as similar to Chris as they both had commented on, then he had every right to retreat and smooth that over again.

"Ah...sharp of you. Yes, I've died before. Electrocuted to death by a massive iron golem that had me strapped down to it. Weren't more than a few minutes, but it was...enough." Enough for him to know resurrection was exactly as unpleasant and worth questioning as he'd initially thought.

"My best friend and bodyguard, Amnos, had a ring I specifically gave him that held a single resurrection spell in it. It was meant for the others in case he could get to them before me or something similar, but...not so bad a thing to have when the man who can bring others back to life can't do it for himself."

And that's why, along with snark and banter and pushing, Scott talks to Chris. He doesn't already know things, he doesn't have expectations, he won't demand 'emotional output', and he'll let Scott back away.

He's coming to really like the guy, and that's a strange kind of relief.

He'll probably blow things up at some point, but for now- it's nice.

"So which was the harder part - being dead, coming back, or dealing with everyone else's reaction to it?" He doesn't 'soften' a lot in a typical way, but there's no edge there, and it's not a demand. It's just a question, with an undercurrent of concern, running along side the curiosity about Chris.

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