` LOVE THE FUTURE

[fairie lore]

The dinner goes splendidly, but they were at the best restaurant in town, after all. Shortly after dessert (a marvellous rendition of Île flottante) he gives her his present, a white Swiss Army knife that he picked up while in Geneva the month before for the conference, which has her name engraved on it. She absolutely loves the gift, since it's not anything cliche as she expected. After dinner they both take a cab to her place and she invites Hans in with a kind smile, and he naturally accept.

She has no less of a beautiful home than Hans does, although he doesn't use it very much. It's only when he invites someone prestigious over. It's modern and classy; what else could he expect from a cultured woman like her?

What follows is discussion over wine, about a variety of topics. Literature, films, politics, philosophy, anything under the sun. It's no wonder the hours pass without either of them noticing. In Hans' mind, Sophie is certainly a woman he would like to spend a lot of time, a woman that he would like to get to know better. No doubt she thinks the same thing since over the course of their many conversations she moves closer and closer to him and it's hard not to notice how beautiful she is. From what he's heard she's single, although the same is said about him and he's been monogamous for over half an century (which sounds like a pitiful thing). No one else has ever really come up on his radar, but she certainly does.

But no, they have to be but friends.

It's why he abruptly stops his point, looks at his watch, and says that he has to leave because he has an early day at work. It's evident in her eyes she looks a bit surprised and disappointed, but leads him to the door. She bids him goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and a twinkle in her eye.

By the time Hans returns it's about 2 am, and he feels like it was altogether a good night but also a missed opportunity. He hates missed opportunities. And it's all because of Dimitri, but then again, it's always Dimitri.

[balance and composure]

A myriad of movies and discussions about everything under the sun later, It's A Wonderful Life is still playing to sleeping eyes. Dimitri lies lengthwise on the couch with his head under one arm, stretched out under a thin blanket left by Cedar and snoozing silently. One look at him would make someone think he's dead, if not for the occasional sniff he makes in his sleep.

Cedar went home around midnight, when Dimitri had started dozing off, but left her movies behind out of pity for the man who hadn't actually seen a movie before their marathon. She hits the trail with a gaggle of secrets and deep thoughts Dimitri had confided in her; that creature who frets endlessly spilled his heart out and it was, understandably, a bit much for her to hear all at once (she knew about Dimitri's immortality, but not much past that), but she didn't think of it as overwhelming until she was out of the apartment. She listened attentively because the way the man talked about everything seemed like he hadn't ever uttered a word of it to anyone else, and that he was relieved to finally tell someone.

At 2 in the morning, Dimitri is dreaming obscurely and the sound of the door opening doesn't occur to him as something happening outside the dream until he's hit in the face with a doorknob inside the dream and jolts awake, swiping a hand out as if to smack the doorknob away before realizing he's awake and closes his eyes, sinking heavily back into the sofa with a curse.

Then he thinks about the door opening and opens his eyes again, sluggishly turning to look over his shoulder and seeing Landa. His first thought is that he's lucidly dreaming, and that his subconscious is either about to put him through something fantastic or something terrible, but then he sees a tuxedo and he remembers that, oh, he had been gone.

Dimitri turns and sits up, absently running a hand over his hair as he smiles tentatively and tiredly at Landa. "What is it you want, Mary? What do you want?" He's not sure what he should say, if he should say anything at all, and half-listens to the banter on-screen as he contemplates his choice of actions like they will have some irreversible impact on his future and he doesn't want to get the wrong one. "You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down." "...How was it?" He asks slowly. "Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."

[fairie lore]

Hans skulks into the room quietly, hoping not to awake Dimitri but it seems he does anyway. He feels especially bad when it seems like the man was dreaming of something, perhaps, and that he interrupted it. He can hear something the background and it isn't until he approaches the other man that he notices the television on, watching the screen for a few seconds before he turns his attention back to Dimitri as he asks him about his evening.

"It was wonderful. The dinner was delicious, the conversation riveting, and she was absolutely stunning. Any man would be lucky to have a chance at her." He replies effortlessly, taking a few steps more and taking a seat on the couch as he looks at the television and gives a chuckle, "When did you develop a taste in movies?" He asks, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. He looks back to the TV to watch a little more and then his gaze slowly falls upon the DVD cases and he leans away. "I see you had fun this evening?" Evidently he's looking for an explanation.

[balance and composure]

Much to his credit, Dimitri maintains a steady smile as Landa recounts the date to him. It might be because he's just woken up, or because he had the opportunity to vehemently vent his frustrations hours before and it lifted some of his worries off his shoulders, or because Landa came back at all. That last one might be it.

He can't help but smiling wider when he's kissed, only looking away from Landa when he leans back and indirectly asks him what he'd been up to since he left. Dimitri follows his gaze to the DVD cases and laughs, as if saying, Oh, these? "Cedar was over until a couple of hours ago. She was appalled that I had not seen any movies so she left...all of these." He waves lazily at the stacks of cases, leaning forward to grab It's A Wonderful Life's and sitting back up to study it. "I am too, quite frankly. They are fantastic. I do not know why I have not taken the time to watch any before." He does, actually. Years of unconscious wartime and then more years of obsessing over Landa's safety after that left little desire for him to do anything else. But he doesn't acknowledge that.

[fairie lore]

It's now Hans' turn to bear a smile as he listens to the fact that Dimitri in turn had someone over, and if this illuminating fact was surprising to him it was hard to tell. After a hundred years of life he's mastered the art of deception, although he was always pretty good at. "Because you rarely have fun?" He offers, and the conclusion does seem true to him - Dimitri has a lifetime to do whatever he wants, although he seems to primarily exercise and try and hone his fighting abilities. Following that he watches Dimitri for a few more moments as if deciding whether to kiss him again or not before finally decides to rise from his seat. "Good night. Enjoy your film." He bids, and then walks away.

[balance and composure]

Dimitri quirks a brow at Landa's observation and initially thinks he should make him recant it, but upon a little more thinking, he knows he's right. How old is he? Ninety-six? And he hasn't even seen a movie. He's spent the majority of his life worrying, sleeping, or working. The world is (or, was, he supposes--being in the secret service doesn't necessarily give him a whole lot of vacation time) at his hands and he can do whatever he wants in it...and he does nothing. He confines himself to a small corner of the planet and only leaves it when he's called out.

He's still thinking seriously about this affirmation when he sees Landa stand up, bringing out of the recesses of his mind. "Good night. Enjoy your film." Dimitri watches him begin to walk away with a hesitant expression. But, it only takes him a few seconds to turn the TV off, get up, and swiftly follow the other man. "I have already watched it seven times," He protests as he is near literally on Landa's heels now. "I think I was waiting for you to come back."

[fairie lore]

Hans intends that to be the end of their conversation for the night, although it seems not to be for Dimitri. He finds himself obliged to turn around when he starts talking, ever smiling. "I told you not to wait up. Don't you ever listen to me?" It's difficult to say whether it sounds like he's a parent scolding a child or a partner doing the same to a spouse. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I should have just gone home." He continues, obviously referencing his luxurious mansion. It's really a pity that he doesn't stay there more often, but he won't allow Dimitri to take up permanent residence there. All for their safety, of course.

[balance and composure]

A coquettish smile spreads wide on Dimitri's face as Landa turns around. He inclines his head while the smile reaches his eyes and furrows his brow, giving a shrug. He treats the question as a joke, because it might as well be. Both of them know that Dimitri listens very well to Landa and would jump off a cliff if he told him to, but if told not to wait up...well, he obviously ignored that.

"I am not," He replies apace when Landa says he's sorry, grinning now. "I should have just gone home." "But you did not go home," Dimitri reminds him, "You came back here," He raises a hand and points to the floor, referring to the apartment. "And I am awake now, there is nothing you can do about that. I will sleep better hours tomorrow. Did you really think I would not wait up for you?"

[fairie lore]

Dimitri has and always will be a bit of an oddball; there's times when he is completely serious and when he is a childish joker. Hans mostly blames that he's needed to adjust to some very strange and sometimes unfair circumstances. He never got to grow up like a normal person, but instead was shoved into a more or less continuous wartime. "What a clever observation. This was closer to come back to." He explains, as if Dimitri shouldn't read too much into. This is their relationship; this dancing around of their bond and everything they've gone through together.

"Well," He begins, his own smile widening,"Considering you had company over and then the fact that you were asleep until I woke you up, I would say that didn't wait up for me. Or does that term mean something different to you?" He asks, as if he needs to prove that he's right. That's all that matters.

[balance and composure]

Snort. "If you had walked here, then I would be inclined to believe that closeness is a legitimate factor." Dimitri throws a faux look of incredulity. "Did you?" Then, he looks concerned. "Be careful. You could have died of fatigue." And then he's smiling again. He takes more joy and relief from Landa's immortality than he probably should, but can he be blamed? The first half of his own ageless life was spent fretting over the other man's survival. Not having to obsess over it anymore takes a world of weight off his shoulders and his mind.

He squints as Landa begins to argue the exact definition of "waiting up for you" and finds himself severely tempted to roll his eyes, but he doesn't give into the urge. The way he thinks about Landa's constant goal to be right isn't anything like complete annoyance anymore, or compliance. He could play along with it, but he gets a certain satisfaction out of making it a battle; it might be the perpetual wonder that is Landa paying attention to him at all (not alluding to a claim that Landa pays no attention to Dimitri, but rather that the latter is always amazed that he gets the attention he does). That and he may or may not thoroughly enjoy listening to Landa talk.

"Would you rather I had spent the last seven hours doing nothing as I have always done?" The irony of his question is that, if Landa asked him to, he might have considered doing absolutely nothing. "If I was not waiting, the door would have been locked and I would have been sleeping more comfortably in my room. Or did you forget that I am unnecessarily paranoid of heathens breaking into my apartment while I sleep?" He laughs, but there aren't five deadbolts on the door and complicated locks on the windows for nothing.

[fairie lore]

Of course he didn't walk. Hans Landa is the Vice President of the United States and he'd damned if he needed to get everywhere like a commoner. But he only smiles at the usage of the words died and fatigue. Those are mortal terms that no longer apply to him and never will again. "Or gotten mugged. The streets are not safe at night." He adds, as if he needs Dimitri worrying about him more than he already does, which is still significantly less then it was a couple decades ago since he became immortal. Thank god for that or he'd still be holed up somewhere trying to learn every language known to man.

One might think that after over half a century of being together their relationship would have little wiggle room left and that everything would pretty much stay the same, but that isn't the case. There was a time that Dimitri would never dare think of talking back to him and most days he doesn't mind the fact that this fact has changed, although sometimes it seems like Dimitri is simply arguing for argument's sake. For now he'll entertain the man.

"No, of course not. Every normal person has friends, after all." He smiles, although the reality is that Dimitri is far from normal, as is Hans, but he has a natural way with people. "So, congratulations with your mediocre job of waiting up for me when I told you not to." He shrugs, because despite the fact he doesn't need sleep doesn't mean he doesn't like to. "And yes, you have just as much paranoia as a conspiracy theorist. If anyone is going to have their home broken into it's me." He reasons, and it's true. Dimitri for all intensive purposes is relatively a nobody."Regardless, I'm going to sleep and you can choose to continue to wait around on that couch or you can come with me."

[balance and composure]

There is always the option of continuing the banter that Dimitri has taken a few times in the past, but he would readily admit that he is quite tired and not all there in his consciousness. He could keep arguing with Landa about nothing in which he would contradict Landa's points and vice versa and they could stand and do that for hours if they tried, but he doesn't want to and he feels that preserving the fun of badinage bodes better than wearing it out would. As goes the same with everything else that ever existed.

His smile gradually loses its callow touch to appear tired (and maybe irritably enamored, much like the way someone would look at something annoying that they really can't help admiring no matter how much they tried). Dimitri reaches out and puts his hands on Landa's neck, pulling him close to kiss his head. "I am in love with your insufferable need to be right about everything." He murmurs into the man's hair, leaning back and turning him around to nudge him forward.

[fairie lore]

In the end, he wins.

But Hans Landa always wins; it's like a law of the universe. Any battle he stakes eventually leads to a victory for him, one way or the other. It's obvious by the man's expression that he concedes, just as things should be. It's no doubt one of the reasons their relationship functions as well as it does, as he imagines that he could never stand someone for so long if they didn't just naturally know he was right (or at least give in, regardless of what the truth was).

"Just that?" He laughs lightly as Dimitri kisses him, reflecting on the peculiarity of the evening. He had dinner with a beautiful woman and then deep conversations about a variety of topics before he came back here and bickered (it's as light a word as he can find) and they carry on like a married couple. On cue he slowly starts walking forward towards the bedroom, "I think you were right when you said you'd sleep better tomorrow." And that's probably all he needs to say.

[balance and composure]

One would be surprised at how elusive someone like Prosper Reed is, whether he means to be or not. What was expected to be only a week spent organizing a meeting turned out to be three, as wherever anyone was directed to find Prosper, they wouldn't catch him in time. But eventually, he was contacted and a meeting between him, the President and Vice President of the United States, and two prominent representatives of mutant kind (Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr) was arranged.

Prosper Reed is not a big man--rather, he's slightly above average in stature and height, so he looks more or less like a stick when walking in front of a bigger, younger blonde man from the White House's secret service. Leading, in turn, is a brunette woman he presumes to be just as young as the big man and neither of them are saying a word to him. Normally, he would account this to the policies of the secret service, but he can't help but notice a certain animosity in the silence hanging above their heads and it's directed solely at him. He's more humored by it than bothered.

Prosper waits as the big man opens the door and the woman leads him into the Oval Office, smiling kindly at the big man and getting no such reaction in turn. The woman walks out and the big man moves in, closing the door behind himself and rooting to the spot where he stands. Prosper approaches the small semi-circle of people in the room and beams, reaching out to shake the hands of all four men. "Hello, Mr. President--Mr. Collier--Mr. Xavier--Mr. Lensherr," He greets them in turn, his voice soft and sure and bearing an indistinguishable accent. "I'm really very, seriously sorry that I've been so hard to track down lately. I do a lot of moving around, things have been busy, so on and so forth."

"Well, you're here now, Mr. Reed, and that's all that matters." Charles replies, smiling graciously if not a bit tightly. Prosper nods in agreement and sits down, smoothing the front of his suit and clearing his throat. "I'm inclined to agree. So!" He sits back and looks at each of the men in turn, looking pleasantly expectant. "Let's get right down to business."

[fairie lore]

IProsper Reed surely wins some sort of award as a public figure to avoiding the call of the President of the United States (and his representatives), particularly in the brackets of disrespect and insensitivity. Matthew Fortman may be notorious for his absent mindedness but after two weeks of being s**t out of luck of trying to reach one man he even gets a little peeved. Perhaps its arrogance that makes one come to the conclusion that a great power of the United States shouldn't be kept in suspense, but even Hans isn't fond of the behavior. He doesn't like when his time is wasted.

But thank god - it seems some angels finally managed to reach Prosper and a collective meeting was put in order. One can only hope that it isn't quite as exciting as the international meeting of a couple months ago because soon the United States is only going to be known for apprehending people.

Based on first impressions of Prosper's entrance it seems to that he was a level headed and courteous man, but then again that could be said for many who turned out to be blundering idiots or lunatics. Perhaps there's more merit in reflecting on what he believed in, but Hans Landa doesn't entirely buy into that either because of his own personal history. So he just sits there with a quaint smile on his face as the leader of the X-Men sets the stage for their meeting.

Erik sits there looking serious indeed, which is the kindest demeanor that could be expected from him considering who he is in the presence of.

"I hope you haven't been too busy to turn on the television." Because apparently 'let's get down to business' was cue for a joke. "You no doubt know that the United States and many other nations have moved forward to a truce with the mutant population and put an end to this conflict." He paused, and his gaze which had been solely on Prosper drifted to the two other mutants before looking back at Prosper. "I want nothing more than to see world peace be realized in my lifetime."

And that was how he had managed to inspire a nation.