Shane Freak
patreon
Chapter 1089: Father and Son (Eighteen)
🕑 Added 2024-03-21 11:48:46 +0000 UTCIn DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
The sound of footsteps echoed in an excessively simple office. Magneto, who had just returned to his room and was hanging his coat on the hanger, furrowed his brows.
Then he heard Schiller's voice coming from outside the door:
"Hello, Mr. Lehnsherr. Professor X has brought a gift for you and asked me to deliver it. Can I come in now?"
Magneto's brows slightly relaxed, and he didn't stop what he was doing. He replied in a deep voice, "Please come in."
Schiller pushed open the door and walked in, carrying two boxes in his hands. After walking to the side of the door, he glanced at Magneto, who was hanging his clothes, and sat down on the sofa in the reception area next to the office. However, he didn't place the boxes on the coffee table, but instead put them directly on the floor next to his feet.
Then, he stood up and took off his coat, handing it to Magneto. He said, "Could you help me hang this, please? Thank you."
Schiller's actions seemed so natural that they didn't leave any room for Magneto to refuse. Magneto himself was in the middle of hanging his clothes, and helping a guest who had just arrived to hang his coat was a common courtesy. It would be impolite to refuse.
Magneto gestured lightly, and Schiller's clothes flew into the air. However, Magneto didn't immediately catch them. Instead, he put on a glove before taking the clothes and hanging them on the hanger.
Once the clothes were hung on the hanger, the lapels turned themselves over, and the collar was neatly arranged. In an instant, all the dust on the clothes disappeared, as did the dust on all the other clothes on the hanger.
Schiller silently observed these actions until Magneto, wearing a black tight-fitting undershirt, turned around. He was still towering, even taller than Schiller by a centimeter, with a height close to 1.9 meters. Although he couldn't be considered burly, he was undoubtedly strong. Judging from his physique alone, one couldn't tell that he was an old man.
Magneto showed no intention of going to the sofa area. Instead, he walked back to his desk, bent down, and opened the cabinet on his left. His voice came from behind the desk, "What did Charles bring this time?"
"It's some tea leaves," Schiller stood up and brought the two gift boxes over, but he still didn't place them on Magneto's desk. He held them in his hands and examined the packaging, saying, "They should be specialty products from China, but I don't recognize this brand."
"By the way, besides these, your son and daughter also brought you a gift. Judging from the packaging, it seems to be a Christmas gift. Would you like to open and see them?"
"Both gifts are from Charles," Magneto's voice remained calm. Schiller saw the two boxes in his hands fly into the air and directly enter the open cabinet.
"Also, I brought a gift for you as well. After all, I'll be bothering you here for a while. Please take care of me."
After Schiller finished speaking, Magneto straightened up. However, by this time, Schiller's hands were already empty. Magneto revealed a cold smile, about to speak, but Schiller took out a very small item from his pants pocket.
This time, he placed the small object on the table and pushed it in front of Magneto.
At first, Magneto only glanced at it indifferently, thinking it was some kind of gemstone necklace or decorative item. But in the instant he saw the object, his pupils slightly contracted.
This time, instead of using magnetic force, he leaned forward and touched its surface with his finger, then slowly uttered, "The Red Flag Medal..."
"I have learned from Professor X that you were once a warrior who resisted the Nazis and made remarkable contributions. Although the country that awarded this medal no longer exists, I believe you deserve this honor."
The muscles on Magneto's cheek twitched slightly, as if he wanted to make a certain expression, but it froze halfway. Then he heard Schiller say, "I apologize. I didn't go to the front lines in that war, so I couldn't receive a higher-ranking military medal. Otherwise, you could have collected a Venus Medal, perhaps?"
Magneto's fingers touched the cold surface of the medal, but as soon as he felt its warmth, he withdrew his finger and shook his head, saying, "No, I cannot accept it."
Schiller did not insist on him taking it, but rather shook his head helplessly, took the medal back, and put it back in his pocket, saying:
"I originally intended to give it to Captain America, but who knew he already has one. Later, I thought of giving it to Natasha, but this female agent said she prefers military medals. So, I gave it to Nick Fury, and after admiring it for a few days, Nick returned it to me."
"It seems that I can't give this thing away. Maybe I should find a special safe to store it. Fortunately, the quality of the medals in this country is excellent, so it shouldn't rust."
Magneto's fingertips, still resting on the desktop, trembled slightly. His finger moved slightly forward, but then he retracted it. Afterwards, he pulled his entire arm back and held it, looking at Schiller and saying, "If you have no other business, please leave."
After saying that, he turned his head away and controlled the chair to face the side, no longer looking at Schiller, as if he wanted to conceal his eye contact and expression.
"This is my first day here. Don't you plan on introducing me to the basic situation here? Can I call you Erik?"
"No, you can't." Magneto took a book from the nearby bookshelf and started reading, as if Schiller didn't exist.
At that moment, Schiller reached out his hand and used his finger to gently push a book on the edge of Magneto's desk, moving it a centimeter to the side.
Instantly, Magneto turned his head to look at the book. Schiller immediately used his hand to push it back to its original position and said, "I accidentally touched it, I apologize."
Then, while restoring the book to its original position, he accidentally tilted the other books stacked on top of it.
"Erik, I think... I can call you that." Schiller nodded in front of the desk and said, "After all, we should be peers, or perhaps I'm even older than you and Professor X."
Magneto's eyebrows furrowed deeply, and at that moment, Schiller reached out his hand to straighten the books that had been knocked askew. The tension between Magneto's brows relaxed, and he didn't say anything, turning his head back to continue reading.
"Well, it seems like you must be tired. But of course, you caused quite a stir in the nearby sun, so you must have expended a lot of energy. Thank you for the splendid welcoming ceremony. Next, I will go see the children I am supposed to teach..."
After saying that, Schiller turned around to leave, but at that moment, Magneto frowned, coughed twice, and took the initiative to speak, "Did Charles say anything?"
Schiller halted his steps, and then he stood in place, looking left and right as if searching for something. Magneto couldn't understand his actions, so he asked, "What are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for a chair. It seems like you don't really like sitting on the sofa, and to be honest, I don't either. It's too soft. But I'm a little tired and would like to sit down and chat." Schiller started peering outside the door and said, "How about I go to the office next door and bring a chair?"
Magneto closed his eyes slightly and rubbed the side of his nose with his finger.
With a loud bang, a chair crashed through the office door and flew to the front of the desk.
Schiller sat down on the chair, placed one hand on the desk, relaxed his fingers, and opened his palm upward. Then he began speaking, "Professor did indeed give me some instructions, but I feel that some of them are too trivial. I wasn't planning on telling you."
"What did he say? Tell me," Magneto said.
"He said to pacify Lorna, stop arguing with her, and to give Wanda and Pietro a call. They haven't been back to Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters recently and we don't know where they're living or if they're in danger..."
"Also, he hopes you can take care of the children here who are studying and working. After all, they are young and far from home, they may feel homesick..."
"Furthermore, he hopes you can drink less coffee and replace it with a small amount of tea. It's a good choice. And also, you're not at an age where you can work until 2am every day, even if the construction project on the floating island is important, it's not worth it..."
"Stop. Don't say anymore." With a snap, Magneto closed his book and turned his chair back to face Schiller. "You don't have to tell me these trivial matters..."
But to his surprise, Schiller didn't say "you asked me to tell you", instead he gave a helpless smile and shook his head. "If you ask me, your mentality is much younger than his. When people age, they tend to worry more. You should understand him..."
Instantly, the muscles on Magneto's face became more dynamic. He had already relaxed halfway, but then something seemed to make him uncomfortable again, causing him to furrow his brow.
"Are you older than us?" Magneto asked in a questioning tone, but with a tone of certainty. Every question he asked was like this, as if he didn't even need an answer.
"Age doesn't matter, mentality is what's important." Schiller shook his head. "It's strange, even though you have the most children, your mentality is actually the best among us..."
Magneto tapped lightly on the armrest with his fingertips. Instantly, two glasses of water appeared on the desktop, with clear water pouring into them. Schiller picked up a glass and looked at it. "Now is not the time to drink water. Do you have coffee or tea?"
Just as Magneto was about to refuse, Schiller suddenly seemed to realize something and said, "Oh, didn't Charles give you a can of tea? Let's try it."
"I've always had faith in Charles' taste. If it's good, I'll have to ask him where he got such great tea from."
The muscles on Magneto's face started a series of complex movements. At first, he furrowed his brow deeply, as if he was dissatisfied, but then when he heard the second half of Schiller's sentence, his brow relaxed. But in the next moment, he became conflicted again.
When Magneto leaned down to get the tea leaves, he suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion. It wasn't physical exhaustion, but rather the mental fatigue caused by constantly fluctuating emotions in a short period of time.
He realized that in just a few minutes, his emotions had been stronger than they had been in the past few decades.
And often, just as Schiller said something that made him very dissatisfied or did something that annoyed him, the next second, Schiller's words would make him feel subtly satisfied or propose something he couldn't refuse, making it impossible for him to express his dissatisfaction.
Looking at Schiller's smile and Magneto holding the tea leaves, his finger hesitated, feeling the hesitation in his heart.
Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, had experienced world wars, been to concentration camps, pursued Nazis, fought against the government, and faced many challenges in his life. He had never been afraid of anyone.
But as the tea leaves spun and fell into the water, Magneto suddenly felt resistance towards the upcoming conversation.
It's your turn now.
[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
Next Chapter>>Chapter 1090: Father and Son (19)
