asongwithin | Duplicity Inbox

[ He has his own problems with Essex and the rest of the crew they've assembled around the Council tables. There are plenty of mutants welcomed to Krakoa's verdant shores that he'd rather see in the darkest pits of Hell, but change has come, and with it the realisation that maybe it's worth more than just one man's grudges.

Jeannie, though -- he doesn't like that look in her eyes, nor the way Scott had veered close to a panic attack when he'd mentioned it. It's easier for him to understand their pain than to weigh his own, especially when he knows there are plenty around who think he'd be better off locked away too. There's a reason he withheld so much of X-Force from Jean and why he's keeping a high wall around it now. ]

Nothing's ever easy. Not for us. [ He picks up on some of the thoughts floating between them. He had been Apocalypse's henchman for a while, his Death. It's not something he likes to remember for very long.

He pulls his hand out from underneath hers and gently brushes his fingers over her cheek, touches her brow with his thumb, the small fond touches he hasn't been able to indulge in for months. ]

But it's worth it. Havin' you in my arms is one of the reasons why.

[ She believes so fiercely, so desperately, in redemption; how could she not? Phoenix, she'd said once, is not about vengeance, and neither are the X-Men.

But there have always been exceptions, hate too vast and too ugly to allow that sort of grace. When she and Nathan killed Apocalypse, she'd felt nothing but vicious satisfaction. It's hard to conceive of circumstances where she'd do anything else; not after what he'd done to people she loved, not after living through a world remade in his image.

That isn't the sort of person she feels comfortable being. She wants moments like this, tranquil and tender, to matter more. She wants -

She wants the balance to come down on the side of love. ]

I don't trust it. But I do trust you.

[ She hasn't noticed her clothing flickering again, from black and bronze to white and gold. ]

[ He knows that outfit. It hurts to see it here, but it's comforting, too. What it says about her state of mind.

Leaning in, he follows the path of his thumb with the brush of his lips, then nudges his not-really-there forehead against hers. Takes a breath there, remembering. ]

No matter what happens, Jeannie. You and me in a blaze of glory.

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