You Know How I Feel

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Lana said that she could feel them, and that came as no surprise to Magneto. He now knew her abilities and so knowing she could sense their emotions, even more aware that she could not turn it off, made perfect sense. "Most likely four at the moment." The four who had been allied to Shaw were rather close. Mystique was more allied to Erik. She was the one that Magneto would fight to keep at his side, though without forcing her to stay. He could not do that, yet knowing it was what she truly wanted made it easier to remind her why she was here, and all the good she could do for other mutants. As they rounded the corner into the main living room, the other mutants rose to their feet, looking at the latest addition curiously. "This is Lana Kane," he began to introduce. Going in order, Magneto listed off their names, motioning to each one. "Riptide. Azazel. Angel, and Emma Frost." They are looked at her, and Erik knew that they were curious as to what her abilities were. "We do have one more who goes by the name Mystique, but she is not here at the moment." Lana could meet her at a later time.

He then spent the next little while allowing them to get acquainted, providing them the opportunity to discuss their abilities with one another and better familiarize themselves with each other. Erik watched them all as they conversed, gaining a sense of comradery. They seemed to all be getting along for now, and that certainly made it easier in the long run. While her position here was not solidified, as it was of her own free choosing, it was good to know that there would not be any immediate issues with her and the others. Magneto eventually interrupted the conversations to escort Lana to her room. Walking down the hall, he opened the door to one of the guest bedrooms. "This is yours," he told her, allowing her to step in as he stood in the threshold of the door. "The kitchen is downstairs," he added, letting her know where the important rooms where. "I trust it is to your liking?" The others were used to it, even Mystique for she had come from Charles' massive estate. Lana was the first one who was literally coming off the streets and perhaps was the least used to these kind of accommodations.

[Lana Kane]

Stare at the white woman. Don't stare at the red man with a pointy tail. Don't look! Stay in the safe zone. Don't stare at the tail! Oh shite! She was staring!

That was the conversation happening in her head the whole time she was meet and greeting with the others. Lana had never seen someone who was a none-skin toned person--with a tail! He looked like the devil--and his name matched. Lana wondered if these were normal names for mutants or if they were shaking off their other names to embrace the other.

Erik lead her up to a room and opened the door. Lana walked in but froze after a few steps. Her room? "Yeah, it's alright." She said with a shell shocked tone. Then she took off running toward the bed, and climbed up on it to stand and jump a few times. REALLY? Bouncing down to her but, she rebounded to the floor and looked around. When her gaze found Erik's again, her expression was troubled. "Hey, I'm not gonna wake up in the back of some car and find this a dream am I?" Or worse, finding out they were planning her as their next meal. She didn't get that vibe from them but still, this was too good.

"Things like this, don't happen to girls like me."

[Erik Lehnsherr]

He watched her leap on the bed, seeming rather enthusiastic about her current living situation. He remained in place at the doorway, watching her with a slight smile as she then questioned whether this was all a dream. And finished her words by saying that things like this, don't happen to girls like her. "You are far more than just a girl, Lana." She was a mutant. A powerful one at that. "People like you deserve things like this." And it was a shame that they did not get it. Which was where Magneto's views came in; where his purpose of The Brotherhood came in. To give mutants those things that they were deprived of. "Get some rest. Dinner is downstairs for when you are hungry. I will see you tomorrow at noon for our first training lesson," he told her. With that he gave her a smile and turned to leave.

He did not dine with the others that evening, he had work to do. Starting with their current president. Erik was doing research on the man, having heard some rumors and looking into it to see if they were true. He had spent the evening doing so, running out for a few errands and returning late at night when most everyone would be asleep. He sat in the living area for a little while, looking at the unplayed chess board, his mind going to his friend. But he eventually retired to his room, and awoke the next morning. Once again, he did the required work for the early hour and before he knew it, noon was nearly upon them. He told Emma to let Lana know to meet him in the backyard. Whether Emma used the traditional method of delivering the message, or her powers to do, Erik left up to her and her own creativity. Either way, he knew the message would be delivered to her, so he went to the background to await her for their first session.

[Lana Kane]

Lana had managed to muddle through supper and enjoy what she could of her night. Though when everyone went to bed she stayed on the couch and waited. Not even sure what she waited for but apart of her just assumed that if she did then she couldn't wake up somewhere else. Eventually she did go to her room, and sit on her bed.

Which is where she woke up with a startle of some woman talking in her head. "Ah!" Being she didn't have any other clothes, she just pulled off her over sized sweater and wore the jeans and tank top for now, though she did bring her sweater for when she got cold. Which was almost instantly. "Outside?" She muttered in a half awake voice while walking up to Erik, and repulling on the sweater to stay warm even though she had slept in it. "You're like one of them annoying morning bloke aren't ya?" Lana didn't even know it was not morning any longer.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

He watched her approach, clearly noticing that she had literally just gotten out of bed. He waited a moment, as she spoke of how he was supposedly a morning person. He looked at her state, realizing that she was still in the process of waking up. "I would be more like an annoying afternoon person for it is now noon." But clearly, she liked to sleep in. "Go get some breakfast." Or lunch. "Freshen up. There are clean clothes in the living room for you." Thanks to the help of Angel, since Erik wasn't exactly going to go around shopping for ladies attire.

"Then return when you are fully awake. You need to be fully focused and alert." Not having just rolled out of bed. Which was fine. But Erik took training seriously. He needed her to be fully conscious. "I will wait here for you," he added, granting her that freedom to get herself together. After all, it was her first day. He could be a little lenient as she familiarized herself with routine. Besides, she wasn't here as a member of the Brotherhood necessarily; merely someone who had accepted his offer to help her. Not accepted his invitation into the Brotherhood.

[Lana Kane]

It was noon? Her gaze shot up to the sky, and then down to him (which was still up to her). "I don't sleep in." She said surprised, "I never sleep that long." But the bed, and in a locked room by herself, and feeling safe for once had put her into a deeper sleep then she'd had since she'd left home.

"Nah, I got this. I will eat and change afterwards. Take a long bath in that pool you guys are telling me is a tub." A joke but it was a very large tub. "Not had had one of them in nine years." She'd had showers but never a good soak. Lana rolled her shoulders, and shook her head to clear it. "I'm ready."

[Erik Lehnsherr]

She assured him that she was fine to get started, and while Erik preferred that she be fully awake and alert, he would have to take her word for it. She seemed to enjoy the luxury of a bed, or perhaps it was the assurance that she would wake up in a safe environment, rather than one where she would have to look over her shoulder all the time. She was saying that she was ready, and less than a second after she said this, Erik abruptly raised his hand and shot a dagger toward her at a rapid speed, the point of it right between her eyes.

He had obviously stopped it before it pierced her, the tip of it was just touching her skin. Not enough to pierce it, but just brushing against her the space between both her eyes. "Fear." That was the emotion that often made her lose focus. As he spoke he began to circle around her, leaving the dagger hanging in the air, still between her eyes. "What rushes through your mind, races through your heart, when in the state of fear?" She was an expert on emotions, she obviously must be able to pin down thoughts and feelings that she experienced during these milliseconds of time. He wanted to know what those were, so that he could help her channel it.

[Lana Kane]

It took her a second to see what he was sending toward her head. At first it was a flash of light, reflected in the sun. She felt herb body tense and flinch back before her mind could even form the word knife. Everything froze and hung before her powers reacted to the fear of her life.

As she exhaled so did the fear, spreading out from her in an burst of panic and fear for her life--making everyone for a quarter mile feel the same. "You said you'd not hurt me!" Had he lied? She fought to make her powers stop sending out the fear but she wasn't quite able to pull it in. "Please! I trusted you!" Her eyes never left them knife to see how her power effected him.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Erik could feel that fear and panic from her, for he was not wearing his helmet today. And he had not done so intentionally. His reaction to fear and panic however was not to lash out and become overly evident of it. It often resorted to a deeper anger within him. He knew what she was doing, and she needed to control herself. "I am not going to hurt you!" He snapped, his tone sharper than usually because of the emotions she was filling him with, for they reflected her own. "If you can not control your abilities, then you will get hurt." The responsibility was on her right now.

"I have a dagger pointed at you, and you are causing me to fill with dangerous emotions that can easily make me lose control of my own abilities." He was stopping the dagger for now, but if she continued to fill him with such feelings because she lacked control, then he could not guarantee that he would not react by letting the dagger slip more forward. He let the dagger fall to the ground, just to be on the safe side because she was making him feel far too many unsafe emotions right now. "Your powers are dangerous to yourself when you have no control over them. For you can not predict how another will react. When you lose your composure, your opposer will too." And that would only add to the danger she was already in to have caused her to react that way.

[Lana Kane]

It was a few seconds after he let the knife fall that Lana could pull in her self enough to stop making others feel her own fear. Turning to send him a wide and frightened glare, she let him finish talking. "This is how your gonna school me? Scare living shite out of me until I get it right?"

How was that going to help her grow? How was that going to show her anything but how useless her skills were when she lost control. Hugging her arms toward herself, she stared at him. Trying to see how this would help. "I can't stop the fear. The fear is what breaks my control." She wanted to please him--as any student who valued a teacher would--but he was asking more then she knew how to give.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Erik felt her calm down which in turn, allowed him to keep his own emotions in check. "It is not about stopping the fear, but rather, controlling it," he explained to her. People got scared. Mutants got scared. It was natural. It was what they did when in that state of fear that mattered. Magneto had found that place within his mind to control his powers; it was no longer anger that caused him to unleash his uncontrolled abilities.

He had full capability of using his powers, regardless of his emotional and mental state. The only time when it grew slightly more difficult, was when he was physically drained. "What runs through your mind and heart when you experience fear?" He asked. "What emotions? What thoughts?" To understand what to have her channel, he needed to know how she felt and what thoughts or memories fled through her brain. He knew for him, it was that feeling between rage and serenity, but that was just him. Everyone was different.

[Lana Kane]

What emotions ran through her? "Too many." She admitted, "Too many to control. Were you might feel many things but it all forms one emotion; I am aware of them emotions that are there. Fear, the rise in heart beat, the sharpening of my hands, my thoughts becoming harder and less clear to read. Panic, the one that causes me to freeze and reach out to something to help me--which makes everyone feel it too."

There was no controlling this! How could one control something that made you feel out of control?! "Do you ever lose control?" She asked, wondering if this was her weakness, or if he had mastered the skill he wished to teach her.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Erik listened carefully as she explained the answer to his question. She said there were many, but he did not believe that there were too many to control. It was just a matter of knowing how to control them. He was going to find a way to get her to focus on controlling that panic, and thus the people around her. For as he had said, and demonstrated, her panic could have severe consequences by placing herself in danger. She had told him that she controlled people's emotions, not how they reacted to those emotions. That was something else that would need to be taught but it would come later. Right now, it was about getting her to keep her emotions in check, regardless of what fear and panic she may be experiencing.

She asked him if he ever loses control. He made it a point to never lie, especially to his fellow mutants, and he was not going to start now. "Yes," he answered, without making it sound like a weakness. "I used to," he added. That is, before Charles told him how to control his abilities. While Magneto was able to do small things, Charles had unlocked the key Erik needed to take his powers to the next level. "But I learned how to maintain control despite my surroundings." He paused, looking at her with a slight smile that was meant to reveal reassurance. "All mutants abilities tend to become more difficult to control when they are unable to stabilize their emotions." It was not uncommon for a mutant to have trouble keeping hold of their powers when exhibiting a strong emotional state. He wanted her to know that, and that he had been no exception to this but rather, had learned to control it.

[Lana Kane]

"Ya think, old man?" She shot back in a more witty-sarcastic manner then defensive. Unstable was her life! She was sued to feeling the panic around her and such. And if someone was feelin' good (ya know?) then she tended to try leave quickly.

"Look, here" She held out her hand, and reached for the nearest patch of exposed skin she found on him. "Don't panic, I aint gonna use them to make you do things, but I wanna show you how control aint gonna be a strong suit with them." She paused before touching him, and then let her fingers slowly land on his skin one at time--if he wanted to pull away he could. Then she closed her eyes and let him feel what she felt, in this moment.

There was emotions, but they were all separate, like oil and water, they were there in the same body but didn't quite touch. She was happy in a way, yet fearful, and there was a feeling of nervousness, and excitement, and so much else that all boiled down to her glad to be here, and thrilled to be working with him but waiting for it to be taken away just like she'd lost everything else. Lana let her hand fall away, and then she shrugged. "Control. Easier said then done."

[Erik Lehnsherr]

She reached out to touch him and allowed her own emotions to be felt by him through the physical contact she created between them. He felt a variety of them, and he paid close attention to each one, for it would help better understand her own emotional state as well as her state of mind. Unlike her, he could not read emotions. And unlike Charles, he could not read minds. But he relied on his own ability to just read a person on whatever tells they could give. Right now, based on what she was exposing, it was safe to say that she wanted to be here. That she was open minded enough to remain here. For how long, it was difficult to say. But as he always did, Magneto would ensure he did what he could to convince the stay to be one that was long term.

"I never said controlling it was easy," he told her. Controlling ones powers was the key to having ultimate control, but it was by no means an easy thing to achieve. It took time. Patience. Practice. Training. A great deal of training. Which is exactly what they were doing right now. "It may take time, and it will take work. But I assure you, once you have full control of your abilities in any emotional state, you will realize the full potential of your powers." If she did not already. "Shall we stop there. As this is your first training session, I do not want to exhaust you too severely," he said, a slight teasing tone in his voice.

[Lana Kane]

Control wasn't easy. Right. That was an understatement. "I never said I was tired," She told him, "This is what I live every day. This little training thing aint nothing on me." Much. She'd get a bit emotional later, feel drained but Lana knew when to withdrawal and when to find something steady.

"So how I learn control?" Where did one even start? Besides with him putting knives to her head, or whatever else he had in store for her. "I dunno even were ta start. I mean, I can hold back some, but the how point of panic is because you can't control things."

[Erik Lehnsherr]

She assured him that she was not tired, and then asked a loaded question: how can she learn control. That was the very question that they would work toward answering. For that was the key to her power. The final turn that would give her that ultimate and unconditional control. "That is a question that we will answer by the time our training sessions are complete." Not this particular session, but all of them. That was the objective after all. The rest of the session went on fairly decently. They conversed more, spoke about her abilities and the different aspects of it. He did a few more activities with her, and then brought the session to a conclusion. Dinner was the next step, and this time, Magneto did join them for the meal. Everyone spoke about their day and things felt almost, normal. The unity of the Brotherhood was truly showing. Even Azazel had contributed to the conversation.

It also gave an opportunity for Lana to speak to the others, learn a little about them and their gifts. When dinner drew to a close, the others did as they wished while Magneto took care of some business. He was gathering information on the President for a very specific reason, so continued on with his research well into the night. Sleep did not come as easily as it sometimes otherwise did, and he found that when the rest of the house as sleeping, he was in one of the living rooms, sitting on the couch and looking at an untouched chess board that was placed on a table in front of him. This was a game that he had frequently played with Charles, and the man was not far from his mind. For Magneto owed him a great deal. And would always feel apologetic for what had happened to him. Magneto's mind was deep in thought as he clutched a glass of scotch and just stared at the chess board. Not really looking at it; it was simply his mind preoccupied with other thoughts that had caused his gaze to fixated on it.

[Lana Kane]

Lana was still having trouble adjusting from the life on the street to the spender that was this place. Whoever this Shaw guy was, he had great tastes--or a great decorator. The mad a a statue in his over grown yard! Or what had they called it? A garden? Only nothing grew there you could eat. The life of the wealthy.

Hoping down the steps rather the walking down them, Lana didn't hide where she was going. Since coming here she had jumped on her bed like a 100 times, and not one person yelled at her. She'd even walked outside of the bedroom without everything she owned on her in case she wouldn't go back! Her guard was dropping and she wasn't even scared by that.

Seeing the back of Magento's head as she walked into the room, Lana grinned and ran forward, jumping on the couch beside him--unmindful of his drink--before looking at what was before him. "Hey old man, this is a winked checkers board!" She said moving around to the other side and picking up one of the bigger pieces. "Why they look all different?"

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Erik had been so lost in thought that he had not heard Lana approach. Only when she jumped on the couch that his reflex took in to slightly lift his drink to avoid any spillage. She then made a comment about the game in front of him, mixing it up with another. And asked a question as a reflection of that confusion. He looked at her, wondering how sheltered she truly was for never having seen a chess board before. Only checkers. "It is chess actually," he informed her. If he did not know any better, he would have said that she was joking. But he knew she was not. He could see the genuine curiosity in her expression.

"A rather different game with a different objective." Still involving a king but in checkers, all the pieces moved the same way and you could capture your opponent's simply from moving over them. Chess was more complex. Required more strategy. "That piece you have in your hand is called a rook," he further explained, unsure if she had any actual interest in the game but offered the information none the less.

[Lana Kane]

"It's chess actually." Lana repeated, copying his way of speaking, while making her back go straight and her shoulders square to appear more proper. "Is the objective to win?" She asked but knew the answer (mostly) so she kept going, "So not so different after all." And who didn't play to win?

Lana looked at the one in her hand, taking note of it. "Is castle another word for rook?" She asked, still mimicking his form of speech, while trying to understand why a castle wasn't a castle. Then she looked at the board and took note of all the different types of pieces. "This is going to be a game of many rules, is it not?" Which limited her interest of the game. No longer pretending to talk like him, she asked another question. "Why were you lookin' at it like it was a big question?" Or was he just the type to stop and stare?