Skeiron's Room - Future Tense

[Skeiron]

Skeiron sat on his bed, quietly thumbing through an old photo album.

[Rick Ferguson]

There were a few knocks on the door.

[Skeiron]

"What do you want?," he asked, sounding very much like a grumpy bear.

[Rick Ferguson]

"You know who it is. And you know what I want."

[Skeiron]

Skeiron smirked. "Guess I do. C'mon in, make yourself at home. It's your room, after all."

[Rick Ferguson]

Rick opened the door and came in.

Back home, in a different London from a different time, Rick kept the dorm room he shared with Marcus fairly neat. Simply furnished, sure; nothing 'fabulous' for a certainty. But it was tidy and organized.

This place didn't match that desription at all. There were clothes, personal belongings and empty bottles strewn about the floor. There was PC that looked ahead of the curve for his own time on a beat-up wooden desk, but it was probably old by now; one corner of the monitor didn't even really work. The walls were a cold metal, which couldn't be helped, but there weren't even any photographs on the wall, which was very, well, unRicklike. The place was a dump.

"...you sure it is?"

[Skeiron]

"You're Richard Graeme Ferguson, born November 15, 2001, to Emily and David Ferguson--the bastard. You've got a sister named Bridget and an uncle named Noah who're both also mutants. You were born in Cochrane, Alberta. Your favorite-"

[Rick Ferguson]

"I get it, I get it. I'm you, you're me. Eventually. God, what happened?"

[Skeiron]

"We were right! That's what happened!"

[Rick Ferguson]

"Will told me that you might say that."

[Skeiron]

"Tch. He was one of those damned fools wanting all of us to just get along with the flatscans. When we were younger, I mean. He's changed his tune a bit now. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna stop rubbin' it in his face." He smirked.

[Rick Ferguson]

"I..." He breathed deeply. "I heard Marcus isn't doing so well."

[Skeiron]

"You heard right. He's been in a coma for years. Not even Reaper can get him out." He tosses the album aside, picking up a bottle containing a green fluid; very likely absinthe.

[Rick Ferguson]

"Reaper? Is that what Rachel goes by now?"

[Skeiron]

"Yup. More than a few of us have changed codenames over the years. Will's Taliesin, Simon's Ronin...hell, I'm not Tornado any more. You're talkin' to Skeiron."

[Rick Ferguson]

"Skeiron? What does that even mean?"

[Skeiron]

"Ya ever heard of the Anemoi? At least, I think that's what they're called. The gods of the winds in Greek mythology. Skeiron was the god of the northwest wind."

[Rick Ferguson]

"Kind of a grandiose name if you ask me. But what happened to Marcus?"

[Skeiron]

He sighed, seemingly not wanting to discuss that subject.

"He overdid it one day. It happened in the hills outside of Leeds. We were surrounded by Sentinels, tanks were closin' in...there was even infantry on one of the hillsides, rainin' bullets down on us. It looked bad, but he gave all of us an incredible power boost. We were laying waste to all of 'em. But...Marcus spread himself too thin for too long. Exhausted himself. He barely even lived..."

[Rick Ferguson]

"Oh. Went down helping everyone else, then. I can see him doing that." He looked down, letting it sink in, imagining how it happened. Then he moved to sit next to Skeiron on his bed, since he had a feeling this was gonna be a long talk anyway. "And he's been like that ever since..."

[Skeiron]

Skeiron didn't say anything to that, or even nod. There was no need.

"We got away with a bunch of mutants that day. A lot of 'em just kids, teenagers. He wouldn't have it any other way."

[Rick Ferguson]

There was a long pause before Rick spoke up again.

"What about our daughter?"

[Skeiron]

Skeiron actually smiled a little. Not a smirk, but a smile.

"Mariella Ferguson-Kingston. We used to just call her Mary, but she decided that she hated her human name and just wanted us to call her by her codename. Naida."

[Rick Ferguson]

"What's she like? What can she do?"

[Skeiron]

"She's a lot like her ol' dad. A bit more...extreme about her views than I was at her age, but seein' what all she's been though, it's not hard to see why. I taught her well," Skeiron noted with a dry smile.

"Naida's a water elemental. She can become water in all of its forms, as well as control water that's close by. Quite a warrior."

[Rick Ferguson]

"Considering the times she's living in, I guess that's a good thing. Where did you find her?"

[Skeiron]

That really seemed to turn Skeiron's mood icy.

"...Venice. A mission in Venice. 2027. Rescued her."

He had been drinking all day, like usual, but other than his speech always being a bit slurred, he didn't seem to drunk. At that, he picked up an open bottle of gin from the floor next to him and took a long swig.

[Rick Ferguson]

"What happened?" Rick looked at Skeiron expectantly.

[Skeiron]

"Not talkin' about it," he managed between swigs.

[Rick Ferguson]

"Come on, you're talking to me. You can-"

[Skeiron]

"No, I fuckin' can't!," he roared. "Just because you were right back then, it didn't mean that you were ready. You're never ready for things like that!"

[Rick Ferguson]

"So you just...drink to try to forget everything? Is that it?"

[Skeiron]

"Don't you judge me. This is what happened to you," he replied, pointing at Rick and coming very close to falling off of the bed from that one simple gesture.

[Rick Ferguson]

"I can think of better ways to face my problems than drinking them away."

[Skeiron]

"YOU DON'T GET IT!" He dropped the bottle. Though it was mostly empty, some of it still spilled on the floor. "Don't act like you're all better 'n' me. You're not. I'm you. You jus' haven't seen what I've seen. Yet."

[Rick Ferguson]

Not appreciating getting yelled at by himself, Rick got up off the bed.

"We can pick this up again later when you're not hammered." He walked to the door, not looking very happy with his future self as he shut the door.

[Skeiron]

"Good luck with that!," Skeiron called out, laughing. That much did send him falling, off of the bed, still laughing. A few minutes later, whether it was still laughing or weeping that came from his room was anyone's guess.