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[ Hermione's there, thanks to a little bit of risky apparition, and she blinks when she sees Erik literally... Rising up. She moves away from the balcony and the people, crossing her arms behind her back and smiling, a small thing. If she was sure about their relationship she might follow it with a show off, but instead she lifts her hand and waves. ]

Hi.

[He gives no indication that any part of levitating up onto the balcony is abnormal. Instead, he nods at her greeting.]

Hello. Thank you for coming.

It's fine - is everything okay? Are you alright?

[ No matter how tense things had been before her first instinct is worry. ]

[He has to stare at her for a moment, for asking that question. He was the one who had made her run off in tears. Even though his anger was justifiable, it had left a bad taste in his mouth.]

I'm fine. It's you I'm concerned about.

Me?

[ Two years of being a leader meant that you forgot about yourself sometimes. Lifting her hand, she waves it absently. ]

I'm okay. I'm just a bit tired from organising the ship.

Hermione, I'm here to talk about what happened when we last spoke. [Argued. Yelled. Fought. All of the above.]

... I did guess.

[ Lifting her head, she looks st him properly. ]

I'm sorry, Erik, for how I acted. It wasn't fair.

[He watches her for a moment, the unhappy posture she's in, and feels himself slightly chastened. Not enough to admit fault beyond his attitude, but enough to know he had made the right decision in calling Hermione.

Erik settles back against the balcony fence, effectively shaving some inches off his height. He drums his fingers against the railing for a few seconds.]

The tone I took with you wasn't fair either. So, I apologise for that.

[ Hermione doesn't mean to make him feel bad, really, she doesn't, and she shifts, leaning up, earnest. ]

I think maybe... Maybe we were both a little out of line. Home and our worlds are... Important to both of us. I shouldn't have pushed so hard about things I don't completely understand.

It's not easy for me, to hear about what other versions of myself have done. I don't have the words to explain what that's like.

[And it crops up again and again, with all the different realities he's part of. This, he thinks belatedly, might have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Too many tales of his other selves, and only a few details of which made sense to him. Eventually, he'd pushed back, and Hermione had been in the crossfire.]

No... I know. I've heard about myself, in other worlds. All I wanted to do was tell you that you and Charles were together, there, too.

[ Her head bows, and she breathes out. ]

It got out of hand.

It did. [That he can agree to.]

And... that doesn't wholly surprise me, though I have to wonder what work they did to manage it.

[ Hermione breathes out a soft noise, shaking her head. ]

We all got to go home for a little while - we had the option. We could do or say things, leave messages. That's how a friend of mine from my world went home, and he told everyone where I was. Maybe Charles and Erik did the same thing.

[After a long pause, where he ratchets back his first unpleasant response, he sighs.]

Maybe that's the case. But I think for now, I'd rather not speculate on their decisions to remain there. It's not something I'm going to change my stance on.

Edited 2016-08-10 11:13 (UTC)

[ She nods her head. ]

Then we'll just agree not to talk about it.

I think that would be best.

[The rest of it he can manage. This one issue, he refuses to budge. And yet he's reluctant to drag Hermione down further, feeling he's already proven what a rotten idea it is to try and befriend him. He sighs.] I'd rather not argue like that again.

I don't like arguing with you.

[ She shifts, a little awkward, peeking her eyes up at him even as she tries to smile. ]

It doesn't feel right.

[He huffs, close to laughing. The fact that she thinks that only serves to illustrate how cordial they've been so far.]

Others would say you've had an abnormally good experience with me, to say something like that.

[With a bit more seriousness:]

I don't agree with a lot of things. I try not to let that get the better of me, these days.

[ Hermione just smiles, tilting her head up. ]

Maybe I want to keep it that way. You're my friend, that means I don't want to fight with you if I can help it.

[ Her smile doesn't relent, and she just nods her head. ]

If you agree with everyone you make friends with then you'll never grow up and learn anything. Having people that have different thoughts and opinions around you is often a good thing, not a bad one.

[He wouldn't go that far, at least out loud. There's little reason for him to clash with Hermione, though.]

I doubt I'll have that problem.

No. Maybe not.

[ Hermione turns her head to look at him, pausing for a moment. ]

... Thank you for - talking to me first. It would have taken me much longer, I'm sure of that.

[He shrugs slightly, looking over the balcony.]

I could have done the same. Not so long ago, I would have.

But not now.

[ Hermione steps up to stand beside him. ]

I'm very stubborn. You're definitely not getting rid of me now.

[He watches her for a moment with an unreadable expression, assessing her. What she says is true, he knows. She had made her determination clear the first week he met her. "I didn't want to make connections here, originally" he had said to Charles only days ago. That had fallen by the wayside within a month.

He's out of practice at going his own way. It doesn't bother him. He quirks his lips a bit.]

How ominous.

I've heard that before. [ She perks her head up, offering a smile. ] You'd be surprised how many people I've been this stubborn with.

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