Fic: Beneath the Surface - (10/~14) - Charles/Erik
Title: Beneath the Surface (10/~14), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: PG-13, possibly up to NC-17 later.
Word Count: 5567
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Sorry for the belated update. I promised Monday, but I was feeling kinda meh after the wedding. Not much sleep and all that (I had a blast though and even caught the bouquet ^^).
Also, forgive me for mostly making up the inner layout of the Myrtle Beach Aquarium. They don't have a very specific floor plan on their website, so I sort of went with a version of what I could put together from the info and from what I saw at Sea Life, London. Oh, and, yes, Sand Tiger sharks really DO that ^^ (though here in the video is the final result... I should upload the others too)
The sun was shining as Charles steered the 1984 Mercedes onto the state route. The roadster had once belonged to his father, and Charles rarely used it for anything other than short trips around the area, but with his own car having fallen victim to the flames at the beach house and Alex' Ford being much too old and unsafe for such a long trip, he had taken it out of the garage last afternoon despite the fact that it used up as much gas as a truck.
They had departed the same day they had made their plans. Charles had made another call to Moira and asked her if he could come with all of them (and he'd also announced that he would have to explain something important to her which he didn't want to do over the phone), and she had agreed. Now Raven was driving her BMW X3 that at least offered enough room for four of them and most of their baggage, and Charles had taken the two-seater with Erik, having driven for several hours last evening and stopped at a small inn somewhere south of Richmond to continue their 700 miles route in the morning.
Erik didn't seem angry with him anymore, but same as yesterday there was a rather awkward silence between the two of them that made Charles wonder if it hadn't been better to simply let him ride with Raven and take Hank or Alex instead. But then again, Raven's driving style could get rather crazy sometimes - though she was always a safe and capable driver - and he didn't want to inflict that upon someone who only slowly adjusted to being in a moving vehicle at all.
Here and there, Charles had told Erik about the places and areas they passed, and at least that had led to some nice conversations, though they remained rather superficial. As if there was suddenly a kind of barrier between them that only allowed for small talk and pleasantries to be exchanged instead of the deeper connection he had thought they'd shared to surface.
Charles decided it was time to at least try to mend things. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I'm treating you like a child, Erik," he said and saw the other man look at him from the passenger seat, eyes drawn from the high trees around them. "That really wasn't my intention."
It took a few seconds until Erik replied, and he shrugged slightly when he did. "At least about the beer you weren't so wrong. It made me angrier than I would have been."
"Yes, that's what alcohol does for you," Charles replied, chuckling. "It amplifies whatever you're feeling at the moment and makes you lose control and inhibitions. That's why people say you shouldn't drink when you're feeling down." Charles bit his lower lip. "Though I assume you weren't until I joined you and Alex in the kitchen."
Erik did not reply and turned to look back out of the window. Charles wondered if he was making things even worse.
"I'm really sorry Erik. I should have suggested it as advice instead of patronizing you like I did."
"Yes, you should have," Erik replied dryly, but there was no sign of teasing mischief in either his tone or features.
"It is just, that… Let's assume you could take me into your world for a day. I'm sure we'd encounter many things I still don't know enough about. You'd warn me, too, if we, say, ran into some fish I'd never seen and thought it harmless while you knew it was poisonous to touch."
"Of course I would, but drinking a beer too many would hardly have killed me, would it?" Erik's voice was still calm and even, not snappy and outwardly annoyed but nonetheless there was a hint of something dark in it, angry or hurt - or both, Charles didn't know.
"Point taken," he simply admitted then, realizing it was futile to argue because, yes, he had exaggerated. He had to try a different approach, somehow finding his way back into those easy and open conversations they'd had before.
"Did your parents ever drink alcohol when you visited your grandmother?"
"Sometimes," Erik replied matter-of-factly. "My grandmother was very fond of peach liqueur."
"Ah. Yes, elderly ladies tend to like these kinds of spirits. They're a bit too sweet and heavy for me. I prefer wine or Scotch. Beer, too, especially on a hot summer's evening."
He probably could have talked about just anything and wouldn't have gotten more than just a nod from Erik. Charles was at the end of his wits, but he refused to accept that whatever they had shared had simply broken beyond repair.
"Do you want to listen to some music?" he asked, noticing with a stab of guilt the same second that this had been his distraction tactic that evening Erik had kissed him. After which all had gone downhill.
To his surprise, Erik did not seem to be put off by that suggestion and looked at Charles, nodding. "If you have something other than what was played at the party." And there was, still tiny and clouded by the rather somber mood, but there, a hint of amusement in his tone. Charles laughed softly in relief.
"I don't have any recordings of whale song, I'm afraid," he said, smirking as he turned on the car radio. His iPod was already connected, and he glanced alternatingly between the straight road ahead and the display of the device, trying to find a playlist that could be suitable. "Everybody always makes fun of me for my odd taste in music," he said, "but it might come in handy now. Hm, I think I have something here that might roughly be from your grandmother's time." Just a few seconds later, the first tunes of Billie Holliday's 'The Very Thought of You' resounded from the speakers, and Charles was quite glad that he had some evergreens and rock 'n roll songs in his collection as well, even though he did feel a little embarrassed for it at times.
"Do you know this?"
Erik's brow was twisted as he listened, but then he shook his head. "No. But it sounds similar to what she listened to."
"Hm, do you remember any artist names or songs?"
Again, Erik shook his head, but then his brows shot upwards for a second and he opened his mouth to speak, pondering for just a moment longer. "She really liked this one singer, I can't remember the name, but she said all the women were crazy about him in the 50s, and that there was something scandalous about the way he danced."
Charles had to laugh, knowing immediately whom Erik was talking about. "Ah, Elvis Presley. I'm afraid I don't have anything of his on here, though. How about the Beatles?"
"Never heard of them," Erik confessed.
"Oh, my friend, then we have to change that because the Beatles are one of the greatest and most famous bands I can think of. I'll play something of theirs next. Hm, how about… let's see, who else is there. Frank Sinatra?"
"That sounds familiar. In fact… yes. I think that's the singer my grandfather liked the most."
"Oh really? I think I only have 'Strangers in the Night' on here though. I must say, this type of music isn't my main preference. Actually, Pink Floyd is my all-time favorite band. Maybe you'll like them too. So…" Charles started again after a short pause. "Your grandfather. He was often on land then?"
Erik looked at Charles in mild confusion. "Of course. He and my grandmother lived together."
Charles felt rather stupid. "I was just wondering. Because you had never mentioned him."
"You never mentioned any of your family." Charles didn't quite know whether Erik was - finally - teasing him or merely stating a fact. "My grandfather died before I was born," Erik continued before Charles could reply. "He was older than my grandmother, quite a lot actually."
"Ah," Charles nodded. "I never met any of my grandparents. And to make up for what you just said: my parents and I weren't really close. They weren't bad parents, but they were really busy, jetting from one party or business banquet to the next. Agnes was more like a mother to me than my own. So that's why I don't really talk about them much," he explained, smiling at Erik to show him it was nothing that saddened him.
"And they are dead?" Erik asked.
"Yes. They died in a plane crash, almost ten years ago. On one of their trips to Europe. But that's a long time ago. I think I missed them more when they were still alive."
Erik's brow furrowed a little again, his gaze fixed somewhere on the left side of the road ahead. Although Erik hadn't spoken that much of his own parents it had been very clear that he had been much closer to them and probably found it hard to imagine why other children grew up so estranged from their own flesh and blood.
"So… these are the Beatles," Charles said then, changing the topic as the first tunes of 'Love me Do' started playing. "You like that?"
Erik shrugged again, his lips pursed for a second and his brows going up. "As far as I can tell after ten seconds."
Charles had to laugh, and his heart suddenly felt so much lighter at getting back at least some of that usual atmosphere between them. He just listened for a while then, focusing on the road and feeling a smile on his lips.
"So, are we good then?"
Quite differently than his own mood, Erik's seemed to dim again at the question, a low sigh exhaled through his nose.
"I mean… forgive me for being a total arse?"
Despite the apologetic grin on Charles' lips, Erik seemed to need some time to ponder a reply. His gaze drifted away again, and Charles almost thought he wouldn't hear the end of it at all, when Erik turned back toward him.
"I may not fully understand everything in your world, Charles, but that doesn't mean I can't make decisions for my own."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I won't do something like this again, I promise."
It still didn't seem to do the trick; Erik's features remained rather dark, the way his eyes narrowed and his lips went thin seeming even more angry than hurt, bitter. "Though I suppose sometimes it doesn't matter what I decide. We obviously don't want the same thing."
It was an odd thing that it took Charles several long moments to understand what Erik had just said, moments in which his words replayed in his head, the fine undertone of bitterness, the words spoken that evening. And his eyes widened in shock when he finally understood.
“Oh... oh!! You're not thinking I... Erik, what I meant when I said -“
“I think you made yourself perfectly clear,” Erik interrupted him, his voice slightly strained with the effort to suppress any resentment. “You want someone who is like you. Human.”
Charles' heart almost gave out, or at least it felt like it in that moment - brief yet stretching out ridiculously long - and he felt like wanting to bang his head against his steering wheel when he realized what a grave, horrible error he had committed. How that must have made Erik feel.
Only briefly checking for any traffic behind him, Charles stepped on the brake and steered the car onto the emergency lane, breathing hard against the thumping heartbeat in his chest.
“Erik, that is not what I meant, I swear it,” he said vehemently as he looked over at Erik, finding the other man's gaze still darkened and disbelieving.
Charles groaned and pressed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to calm his mind and come up with the right words to clear up this horrible, horrible misunderstanding. “Erik, when I said we shouldn't do this it had nothing to do with me not wanting you because of what you are. Who you are. You have to believe that.”
Still skeptic, distrusting, Erik's eyes studied Charles' features before he softly shook his head. “What did it have to do with, then?”
Charles realized why he must have expressed himself so poorly that night; he found it difficult to explain the inner train of thoughts that had prompted him to say those words in the first place. Not bearing to look at Erik for the moment, he let his own gaze drift down to somewhere around the gear-shift, and he took another deeper breath. “I didn't think it was meant to be. Not because I find you appalling or not good enough for me. God Erik I'm so, so sorry I even made you think that for a second! But... well, because of where you're supposed to be, what kind of life you should live. And that's not one where you'd have to throw everything you know over board and become like me. Give everything up for me. I could never ask that of you.”
Erik let out a soft snort and shook his head as if to himself rather than Charles. “You're not a very attentive listener, are you?”
“Pardon?”
Erik looked at him again, one corner of his mouth curling up, but the smirk was rather joyless. “Everything you learned about me - it seems like it doesn't matter at all. You create your own version of the world around you.”
Charles blinked, feeling his own brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of Erik's words. “I don't think I understand.”
“Of course not,” Erik almost chuckled. “Well, Charles, first of, what do I really have to give up? I was alone all these years, and as much as I hate to admit it being alone is both unpleasant and frightening.” Charles could see that it cost Erik some effort to get over his pride and made such an honest confession, and it touched something deep inside of Charles that Erik had done so. “And second, you've known that my father was the child of one of your kind and mine all along.”
“Well, true,” Charles said, feeling his voice break with the nervous knot in his throat. “But that's something else I'd deprive you of.”
Erik laughed out again, a little louder this time, the bitterness in the sound only faded a little. “Charles, I'm the last one of my kind. Didn't you get that? All these years I've found nobody like me. So the chance of me having what my parents had is pretty much non-existent.”
He had had an inkling about this, but hearing it spelled out now, knowing the hard fact that Erik, indeed, was the only one of his kind left made the knot in his throat tighten and his heart twist with regret and sympathy. “Yes, but...”
“What? I should rather go and find myself a woman that would take me so I can continue my race?” Erik shrugged. “It may be possible, but you can't guarantee that either. My grandmother was a rare case, an extraordinary woman who, despite all dangers and threats, agreed to watch her son grow up as child of both worlds. I doubt it would be easy to find someone like that, but that's not even the main point.”
Charles had to admit that what Erik was saying sounded reasonable, yet slightly pessimistic. Which was a rather ironic conclusion given the fact that his own outlook onto any possible relationship with Erik had been exactly that. “What is the main point then?” he asked carefully, and this time Erik just smiled and rolled his eyes.
“As I said, Charles, you're not a good listener. What did I just say about making decisions? You tell me you don't want to patronize me, yet that is exactly what you're doing, what you did when you made that decision for me, based on what you thought was best for me.”
Charles could not find anything to reply, though he still wasn't able to fully understand what this meant for them now. He had fought so hard to overcome his own need, what he had told himself to be nothing but a silly little crush, and now, as the construct of arguments and reasons seemed to crumble like a house of cards, he didn't know what to feel or think or want or do.
“Erik, I... But what if... what if it doesn't work out? I can't bear to --”
“Then it doesn't work out, Charles. Simple as that.”
“But... So what do you...”
“It should be obvious by now what I want,” Erik replied, guessing right what Charles had meant to ask. “It's up to you now. Again.” The addition was just mildly reproachful beneath a challenging, almost hopeful gaze in his eyes; and, barely there, contradicting the expectation in his eyes a slightly sad smile on his lips.
Lips that awakened memories in him of that one, brief kiss they'd shared. Lips that begged for him to forget all his reasoning and pondering and simply kiss them, and Charles saw himself do just that already, leaned in as Erik turned his head toward him and -
The horn of a car made him tear away and turn around, startled, as he saw another car drive up behind them. A silver BMW SUV that stopped beside him, passenger window sliding down.
“Oh not again,” Charles groaned faintly as he let his own window down.
“Everything okay?” Raven called over and past Irene on the passenger seat.
“Fine. Everything's fine!” Charles called back, finding the situation surprisingly hilarious, yet a little frustrating. “Just some issues with my iPod. Go on. We'll catch up.”
“Okay,” Raven called back. Charles didn't miss the slightly skeptic glance she threw them as she drove on.
He looked over at Erik, giving him an apologetic shrug, but then, coming as natural and instantly as he could not have anticipated it, both men laughed, loud and heartily, the irony of the situation too hilarious to miss.
“That's twice,” Charles said, still chuckling as he turned the engine back on. “Let's go on, alright? We'll have enough time once we're at Myrtle Beach. And then we find some place where nobody can disturb us.”
He could imagine that, underneath that now genuine smile on Erik's lips, he was as mildly disappointed as Charles, but he nodded nevertheless and directed his gaze back onto the road as Charles checked the mirrors and brought the car to speed.
As soon as he had fully accelerated he gingerly reached for Erik's hand and held it. At least for as long as he only needed one hand to drive.
~*~
Charles led Erik past the long queue of people, holding on to his wrist so he wouldn't lose him in the crowd. Erik did not complain, but Charles was quite certain the man had never seen so many people in one place (even though, to Charles, this was a small and rather quiet crowd), and he briefly pondered whether it would not have been better to let Erik wait in the car after all. But then again, a busy parking lot wasn't much quieter, and Charles felt more comfortable having Erik with him.
The Ripley Aquarium of Myrtle Beach was a highly popular attraction for young and old, residents as well as tourists, people that came here to observe exotic and native fish and other marine creatures. One of the biggest attractions, however - same as in most places of this kind except for Sea World with its dolphin shows - were the sharks. Charles had told Erik what to expect there, but he was still nervous as he walked up to the counter and toward the woman standing there, going through a bunch of brochures and tickets.
"Sir, the line is down there," she said as she noticed him, politely but still obviously stressed. Maybe Charles and Erik weren't the first visitors who tried to bypass the queue.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm here to see Ms. MacTaggert. She should be expecting me," Charles explained. He had let go of Erik's hand by now but kept an eye on him, the somewhat ridiculous fear of Erik running off or - God forbid - being seized by someone not completely vanishing from his mind.
"Oh. You must be Charles then," the woman replied and gave him an apologetic smile. "Moira told me you'd be coming by."
"Should we buy tickets anyway?"
"No, of course not. I'll get someone to take you up to her. She's with the sharks right now. Hang on." The woman turned and looked around the lobby area, standing on tip-toe to get a better overview until she seemed to spot someone. Putting two fingers in her mouth she whistled and then waved for someone to come over. As Charles followed her gaze he could see a lanky looking, freckled boy with curly red hair walking their way, his steps rather slow for the otherwise hectic atmosphere in the lobby.
"Hey, Sean, these guy are here to see Moira, can you take them up?"
The boy - or young man; he could be anything between eighteen and twenty-something - nodded at them briefly, seeming somewhat tired but grinning at his co-worker as he gave her a thumb up.
"Okay, this way," he said, and Charles followed, Erik in his tow. They went through a side-door that said 'staff only' and immediately left the noise of laughing children and chattering adults behind, and when Charles took a glance back he could see that Erik visibly relaxed, though his features remained unreadable.
"They're just feeding the sharks," Sean said, his tone slightly raspy and as slow as his steps. "Or they're just done. You missed it. Bummer."
"That's alright," Charles replied and smiled briefly as they followed Sean through the corridors and up a set of stairs.
"Nah, nuh-uh, seriously, you've got to see this," Sean went on. "It's really cool."
Charles suppressed a smirk as he looked over to Erik, to his relief seeing the other man look back at him with slight amusement as well. "I've seen sharks feed, before. But thank you."
"Quite frequently, actually," Erik added.
"Yeeeah, but these sharks…" Sean turned around and stopped in his steps, grinning at them, his eyes shining oddly before he reached for the handle of a large iron door. "Sand tigers. They're just so dumb and slow and stupid. They swim around and around and around, then they see a piece of fish and want to maybe eat it, but they don't really know. You know, kinda like when you want to raid the fridge at three a.m. but aren't really hungry. So they swim up and then…." He imitated the movement with his free hand. "Whoops. Missed it. So they have to swim the whole round again because they can't stop or turn. It's so fucking funny."
Despite calling them stupid, this Sean character seemed to speak of the sharks in quite the affectionate manner. Nevertheless Charles felt just a little bit uncomfortable given the fact that, well, Erik was sort of (mystically) related to sharks. The taller man barely raised an eyebrow, though.
"Alright, we'll come back for it another time," Charles gave in, hoping that would shut the kid up and prompt him to finally open the door and lead them to Moira.
"Awesome," Sean replied and opened the door. They walked through another narrow corridor with several doors leading off of it to both sides until, after stepping through the last one, they found themselves on the exhibition pathway, heading straight for one large window that gave view into the aquarium's largest tank. Beside Charles, Erik's steps slowed down.
Despite the size of the window, it was one of the smallest; the main one on the upper level must be somewhere further down the path, if Charles remembered it correctly from the one time he'd been here, but there were still a few people standing in front of it and looking at the fishes and sharks in the 'Dangerous Reef' tank. Moira was nowhere to be seen, though, and Charles felt slightly antsy about being here.
"Shouldn't Moira still be further up then if they just fed the sharks?" Charles asked Sean skeptically, but the boy shook his head.
"Nah, she always comes down here to answer questions."
"Ah. Alright," Charles replied. "So, we just -"
"Charles!" As a throng of people moved along and proceeded down the path, he heard the familiar female voice reach him from a small distance and, as he turned around, looked into Moira's smiling face as she came closer. Her chestnut brown hair that she used to always tie up in a ponytail now hung loosely around her face, a little shorter than when he last saw her.
"Good to see you again." She hugged him hello and smiled, though there was an unmistakable look of skepticism on her features as she eyed first him, then his companion, which Charles didn't find surprising given the fact that he had yet to explain the whole story to her.
"Hi, I'm Moira," she turned to Erik and extended her hand for him to shake it. Erik did not look very pleased when he finally took it, and Charles had the fleeting thought that he could be jealous of the rather hearty greeting they had exchanged. Or maybe he was reading too much into it.
They hadn't had time to talk properly, or do anything else for that matter after their conversation this morning, but Erik did know that Charles was not going to turn him down again, this time. Or at least Charles thought he must. In any way, the possibility of Erik, in fact, being jealous oddly pleased Charles, and he had to take a deep breath to keep the smile from spreading on his lips.
"Did you have to wait long?" she asked apologetically, looking over Charles shoulder to Sean who stood in front of the window, hands in his pockets and stared at the sharks. A sand tiger came swimming very closely in that moment.
"No, we just got here. Sean brought us straight up."
"Ah, good," she nodded. "Do you guys want me to give you a short tour or something? Or do you want to head straight to the house? Are the others waiting for you outside?"
"No, we don't need a tour, thank you," Charles replied and looked over to Erik who neither protested nor agreed. His own gaze flickered back and forth to the tank, and Charles felt himself get more impatient. "And the others should still be on their way. They took a longer lunch break and also wanted to do some grocery shopping. They'll come right to the beach house."
"Ah, perfect. I don't have that much food at home, to be honest," Moira chuckled. "At least not for six guests. We can go -"
But she never finished her sentence as in that moment Sean's low, now somewhat singsong-voice reached their ears. "I'm a shaaaark. I'm a shaaaark," he chanted at the shark through the window with luckily no other visitors currently around. "Suck my dick. I'm a shark."
Charles felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him. This was even worse than the dolphin joke, he thought, as he saw Erik look into Sean's direction with his brow furrowed upward.
"Sean!" Moira exclaimed and took a few steps toward him, hands on her hips as she stared at him sternly. The boy turned around and looked at her innocently.
"Are you high??"
"Um, no," Sean replied, his freckled face twisting in thought. "Maybe. A little."
"What the hell, Sean? Again?!"
One hand reaching up to scratch his head, Sean seemed to ponder before he grinned benignly and shrugged. "Guess I shouldn't have packed those brownies for lunch."
"Damnit, Sean. This'll get you fired one day. No, actually, I should fire you. This is the second time in a month that you show up at work completely stoned. What were you thinking?"
"Um…"
"That's right. Nothing. God." Moira let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head, one hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Just… go back down and fold the brochures. Not much damage that you can do there."
Sean nodded at her sheepishly and then, with surprising speed, hurried off the way they had come before Moira turned back around toward Charles and Erik. "Sorry about that. He's driving me nuts sometimes. Anyway, where were we?"
But this time it was Charles that didn't get a chance to reply because a group of children just came hurrying down the path, laughing and squealing in delight, chased by an elderly woman that seemed to be their kindergarten teacher. Moira chuckled and took Charles' arm, nodding at Erik toward another door. "Come on, this way, she said and let them through it, exiting on the opposite side of the staff corridor and heading for another tank labeled 'Ray Bay', filled with rays, and also some smaller sharks such as black nose and bonnet head sharks.
"Okay, so you need the keys, and -"
Beside them, Erik made a sudden movement, crossing the distance toward the window and staring at it with something that Charles could only identify as shock. It took him a second to realize why. There in the tank, among the exotic fish and rays and sharks was a person, a woman with long, red hair. And a fish tail.
"What is this?"
Charles hoped Moira didn't catch the panicked anger in Erik's more gasped than clearly articulated question, and he quickly laid a hand on Erik's upper arm, squeezing it in reassurance as he leaned in. "That's a costume Erik. It's a normal woman with a costume," he whispered, not really sure that Moira hadn't heard him after all. Calming Erik down, however, was more important now.
And thank God, it had worked, quite quickly and easily without any uproar and drama that Charles had already worried about. The thought that Erik could have suspected, if only for a second, that creatures similar to him and his family were being held as prisoners here made his gut twist painfully with sympathy and he squeezed Erik's arm lightly one more time, smiling at him. Erik, however, looked almost embarrassed now, his gaze averted for a moment as he shook his head and breathed out a small chuckle.
"You people do strange things," he whispered back, now seeming almost completely relaxed again as he turned his head and gazed back at the tank, watching the woman complete a circle of graceful swim movements before she dived back up to the surface, somewhere above them and out of sight.
Charles went back to Moira.
"What… was that all about?" She asked faintly, her brow furrowed as she looked at Erik over Charles' shoulder. He knew he had to explain this all to her at some point, but now definitely wasn't the right time.
"Will you accept it if I promise to tell you everything once you're at home?" he asked, not wanting to make up yet another silly story.
Moira seemed to consider his words for a moment, looking at Erik who still stood there, staring into the depth of the tank and the life within. Then she directed her gaze back at Charles and sighed, slightly exasperated. "Do I have another choice?"
"I'm afraid, not. I can't keep you from your work for as long as it would take to explain everything sufficiently."
"Well then," she sighed again and dug into the pocket of her jeans, taking out a bunch of keys and removing the house key from it. "He's not a criminal though, is he?" she asked, her tone almost pleading as she looked up at him.
Charles smiled reassuringly. "No. I swear he's not a criminal. And he's not crazy or a drug addict either, if that would've been your next guess."
She snorted faintly. "Yeah, one pot-head in my life is enough, thank you very much. Alright. Go on then. Freshen up and relax a bit. You guys must be exhausted after the long drive," she said kindly, and Charles couldn't help to feel a small wave of - purely friendly - affection and gratitude wash over him.
"Thank you, Moira. You have no idea how much your help means to me."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled as well before she looked back at Erik. Charles wasn't sure, but when she tilted her head ever so slightly, her eyes traveling back to him the next second, he thought to see a knowing glance in them that almost made him blush.
After all, she did know him quite well.
"Come on," he said softly to Erik after Moira had said goodbye. "Let's get you somewhere where you can do more than only look at the water." The already bright smile on Charles's lips became even wider when he saw Erik's face light up as he'd never seen it before. And he'd be there to see even more of it, right there with him when Erik went to swim in the ocean for the first time in over two weeks.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 11
A/N: Sooo... you probably can guess what's next ^^ I've been waiting to write the upcoming chapter ever since I started this fic. Also, the next one might maybe I think possibly be NC-17-rated ^^ Maybe. A little.
Sorry for making Sean a stoner kid. I solely blame Texts from Xavier Academy
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: PG-13, possibly up to NC-17 later.
Word Count: 5567
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Sorry for the belated update. I promised Monday, but I was feeling kinda meh after the wedding. Not much sleep and all that (I had a blast though and even caught the bouquet ^^).
Also, forgive me for mostly making up the inner layout of the Myrtle Beach Aquarium. They don't have a very specific floor plan on their website, so I sort of went with a version of what I could put together from the info and from what I saw at Sea Life, London. Oh, and, yes, Sand Tiger sharks really DO that ^^ (though here in the video is the final result... I should upload the others too)
The sun was shining as Charles steered the 1984 Mercedes onto the state route. The roadster had once belonged to his father, and Charles rarely used it for anything other than short trips around the area, but with his own car having fallen victim to the flames at the beach house and Alex' Ford being much too old and unsafe for such a long trip, he had taken it out of the garage last afternoon despite the fact that it used up as much gas as a truck.
They had departed the same day they had made their plans. Charles had made another call to Moira and asked her if he could come with all of them (and he'd also announced that he would have to explain something important to her which he didn't want to do over the phone), and she had agreed. Now Raven was driving her BMW X3 that at least offered enough room for four of them and most of their baggage, and Charles had taken the two-seater with Erik, having driven for several hours last evening and stopped at a small inn somewhere south of Richmond to continue their 700 miles route in the morning.
Erik didn't seem angry with him anymore, but same as yesterday there was a rather awkward silence between the two of them that made Charles wonder if it hadn't been better to simply let him ride with Raven and take Hank or Alex instead. But then again, Raven's driving style could get rather crazy sometimes - though she was always a safe and capable driver - and he didn't want to inflict that upon someone who only slowly adjusted to being in a moving vehicle at all.
Here and there, Charles had told Erik about the places and areas they passed, and at least that had led to some nice conversations, though they remained rather superficial. As if there was suddenly a kind of barrier between them that only allowed for small talk and pleasantries to be exchanged instead of the deeper connection he had thought they'd shared to surface.
Charles decided it was time to at least try to mend things. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I'm treating you like a child, Erik," he said and saw the other man look at him from the passenger seat, eyes drawn from the high trees around them. "That really wasn't my intention."
It took a few seconds until Erik replied, and he shrugged slightly when he did. "At least about the beer you weren't so wrong. It made me angrier than I would have been."
"Yes, that's what alcohol does for you," Charles replied, chuckling. "It amplifies whatever you're feeling at the moment and makes you lose control and inhibitions. That's why people say you shouldn't drink when you're feeling down." Charles bit his lower lip. "Though I assume you weren't until I joined you and Alex in the kitchen."
Erik did not reply and turned to look back out of the window. Charles wondered if he was making things even worse.
"I'm really sorry Erik. I should have suggested it as advice instead of patronizing you like I did."
"Yes, you should have," Erik replied dryly, but there was no sign of teasing mischief in either his tone or features.
"It is just, that… Let's assume you could take me into your world for a day. I'm sure we'd encounter many things I still don't know enough about. You'd warn me, too, if we, say, ran into some fish I'd never seen and thought it harmless while you knew it was poisonous to touch."
"Of course I would, but drinking a beer too many would hardly have killed me, would it?" Erik's voice was still calm and even, not snappy and outwardly annoyed but nonetheless there was a hint of something dark in it, angry or hurt - or both, Charles didn't know.
"Point taken," he simply admitted then, realizing it was futile to argue because, yes, he had exaggerated. He had to try a different approach, somehow finding his way back into those easy and open conversations they'd had before.
"Did your parents ever drink alcohol when you visited your grandmother?"
"Sometimes," Erik replied matter-of-factly. "My grandmother was very fond of peach liqueur."
"Ah. Yes, elderly ladies tend to like these kinds of spirits. They're a bit too sweet and heavy for me. I prefer wine or Scotch. Beer, too, especially on a hot summer's evening."
He probably could have talked about just anything and wouldn't have gotten more than just a nod from Erik. Charles was at the end of his wits, but he refused to accept that whatever they had shared had simply broken beyond repair.
"Do you want to listen to some music?" he asked, noticing with a stab of guilt the same second that this had been his distraction tactic that evening Erik had kissed him. After which all had gone downhill.
To his surprise, Erik did not seem to be put off by that suggestion and looked at Charles, nodding. "If you have something other than what was played at the party." And there was, still tiny and clouded by the rather somber mood, but there, a hint of amusement in his tone. Charles laughed softly in relief.
"I don't have any recordings of whale song, I'm afraid," he said, smirking as he turned on the car radio. His iPod was already connected, and he glanced alternatingly between the straight road ahead and the display of the device, trying to find a playlist that could be suitable. "Everybody always makes fun of me for my odd taste in music," he said, "but it might come in handy now. Hm, I think I have something here that might roughly be from your grandmother's time." Just a few seconds later, the first tunes of Billie Holliday's 'The Very Thought of You' resounded from the speakers, and Charles was quite glad that he had some evergreens and rock 'n roll songs in his collection as well, even though he did feel a little embarrassed for it at times.
"Do you know this?"
Erik's brow was twisted as he listened, but then he shook his head. "No. But it sounds similar to what she listened to."
"Hm, do you remember any artist names or songs?"
Again, Erik shook his head, but then his brows shot upwards for a second and he opened his mouth to speak, pondering for just a moment longer. "She really liked this one singer, I can't remember the name, but she said all the women were crazy about him in the 50s, and that there was something scandalous about the way he danced."
Charles had to laugh, knowing immediately whom Erik was talking about. "Ah, Elvis Presley. I'm afraid I don't have anything of his on here, though. How about the Beatles?"
"Never heard of them," Erik confessed.
"Oh, my friend, then we have to change that because the Beatles are one of the greatest and most famous bands I can think of. I'll play something of theirs next. Hm, how about… let's see, who else is there. Frank Sinatra?"
"That sounds familiar. In fact… yes. I think that's the singer my grandfather liked the most."
"Oh really? I think I only have 'Strangers in the Night' on here though. I must say, this type of music isn't my main preference. Actually, Pink Floyd is my all-time favorite band. Maybe you'll like them too. So…" Charles started again after a short pause. "Your grandfather. He was often on land then?"
Erik looked at Charles in mild confusion. "Of course. He and my grandmother lived together."
Charles felt rather stupid. "I was just wondering. Because you had never mentioned him."
"You never mentioned any of your family." Charles didn't quite know whether Erik was - finally - teasing him or merely stating a fact. "My grandfather died before I was born," Erik continued before Charles could reply. "He was older than my grandmother, quite a lot actually."
"Ah," Charles nodded. "I never met any of my grandparents. And to make up for what you just said: my parents and I weren't really close. They weren't bad parents, but they were really busy, jetting from one party or business banquet to the next. Agnes was more like a mother to me than my own. So that's why I don't really talk about them much," he explained, smiling at Erik to show him it was nothing that saddened him.
"And they are dead?" Erik asked.
"Yes. They died in a plane crash, almost ten years ago. On one of their trips to Europe. But that's a long time ago. I think I missed them more when they were still alive."
Erik's brow furrowed a little again, his gaze fixed somewhere on the left side of the road ahead. Although Erik hadn't spoken that much of his own parents it had been very clear that he had been much closer to them and probably found it hard to imagine why other children grew up so estranged from their own flesh and blood.
"So… these are the Beatles," Charles said then, changing the topic as the first tunes of 'Love me Do' started playing. "You like that?"
Erik shrugged again, his lips pursed for a second and his brows going up. "As far as I can tell after ten seconds."
Charles had to laugh, and his heart suddenly felt so much lighter at getting back at least some of that usual atmosphere between them. He just listened for a while then, focusing on the road and feeling a smile on his lips.
"So, are we good then?"
Quite differently than his own mood, Erik's seemed to dim again at the question, a low sigh exhaled through his nose.
"I mean… forgive me for being a total arse?"
Despite the apologetic grin on Charles' lips, Erik seemed to need some time to ponder a reply. His gaze drifted away again, and Charles almost thought he wouldn't hear the end of it at all, when Erik turned back toward him.
"I may not fully understand everything in your world, Charles, but that doesn't mean I can't make decisions for my own."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I won't do something like this again, I promise."
It still didn't seem to do the trick; Erik's features remained rather dark, the way his eyes narrowed and his lips went thin seeming even more angry than hurt, bitter. "Though I suppose sometimes it doesn't matter what I decide. We obviously don't want the same thing."
It was an odd thing that it took Charles several long moments to understand what Erik had just said, moments in which his words replayed in his head, the fine undertone of bitterness, the words spoken that evening. And his eyes widened in shock when he finally understood.
“Oh... oh!! You're not thinking I... Erik, what I meant when I said -“
“I think you made yourself perfectly clear,” Erik interrupted him, his voice slightly strained with the effort to suppress any resentment. “You want someone who is like you. Human.”
Charles' heart almost gave out, or at least it felt like it in that moment - brief yet stretching out ridiculously long - and he felt like wanting to bang his head against his steering wheel when he realized what a grave, horrible error he had committed. How that must have made Erik feel.
Only briefly checking for any traffic behind him, Charles stepped on the brake and steered the car onto the emergency lane, breathing hard against the thumping heartbeat in his chest.
“Erik, that is not what I meant, I swear it,” he said vehemently as he looked over at Erik, finding the other man's gaze still darkened and disbelieving.
Charles groaned and pressed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to calm his mind and come up with the right words to clear up this horrible, horrible misunderstanding. “Erik, when I said we shouldn't do this it had nothing to do with me not wanting you because of what you are. Who you are. You have to believe that.”
Still skeptic, distrusting, Erik's eyes studied Charles' features before he softly shook his head. “What did it have to do with, then?”
Charles realized why he must have expressed himself so poorly that night; he found it difficult to explain the inner train of thoughts that had prompted him to say those words in the first place. Not bearing to look at Erik for the moment, he let his own gaze drift down to somewhere around the gear-shift, and he took another deeper breath. “I didn't think it was meant to be. Not because I find you appalling or not good enough for me. God Erik I'm so, so sorry I even made you think that for a second! But... well, because of where you're supposed to be, what kind of life you should live. And that's not one where you'd have to throw everything you know over board and become like me. Give everything up for me. I could never ask that of you.”
Erik let out a soft snort and shook his head as if to himself rather than Charles. “You're not a very attentive listener, are you?”
“Pardon?”
Erik looked at him again, one corner of his mouth curling up, but the smirk was rather joyless. “Everything you learned about me - it seems like it doesn't matter at all. You create your own version of the world around you.”
Charles blinked, feeling his own brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of Erik's words. “I don't think I understand.”
“Of course not,” Erik almost chuckled. “Well, Charles, first of, what do I really have to give up? I was alone all these years, and as much as I hate to admit it being alone is both unpleasant and frightening.” Charles could see that it cost Erik some effort to get over his pride and made such an honest confession, and it touched something deep inside of Charles that Erik had done so. “And second, you've known that my father was the child of one of your kind and mine all along.”
“Well, true,” Charles said, feeling his voice break with the nervous knot in his throat. “But that's something else I'd deprive you of.”
Erik laughed out again, a little louder this time, the bitterness in the sound only faded a little. “Charles, I'm the last one of my kind. Didn't you get that? All these years I've found nobody like me. So the chance of me having what my parents had is pretty much non-existent.”
He had had an inkling about this, but hearing it spelled out now, knowing the hard fact that Erik, indeed, was the only one of his kind left made the knot in his throat tighten and his heart twist with regret and sympathy. “Yes, but...”
“What? I should rather go and find myself a woman that would take me so I can continue my race?” Erik shrugged. “It may be possible, but you can't guarantee that either. My grandmother was a rare case, an extraordinary woman who, despite all dangers and threats, agreed to watch her son grow up as child of both worlds. I doubt it would be easy to find someone like that, but that's not even the main point.”
Charles had to admit that what Erik was saying sounded reasonable, yet slightly pessimistic. Which was a rather ironic conclusion given the fact that his own outlook onto any possible relationship with Erik had been exactly that. “What is the main point then?” he asked carefully, and this time Erik just smiled and rolled his eyes.
“As I said, Charles, you're not a good listener. What did I just say about making decisions? You tell me you don't want to patronize me, yet that is exactly what you're doing, what you did when you made that decision for me, based on what you thought was best for me.”
Charles could not find anything to reply, though he still wasn't able to fully understand what this meant for them now. He had fought so hard to overcome his own need, what he had told himself to be nothing but a silly little crush, and now, as the construct of arguments and reasons seemed to crumble like a house of cards, he didn't know what to feel or think or want or do.
“Erik, I... But what if... what if it doesn't work out? I can't bear to --”
“Then it doesn't work out, Charles. Simple as that.”
“But... So what do you...”
“It should be obvious by now what I want,” Erik replied, guessing right what Charles had meant to ask. “It's up to you now. Again.” The addition was just mildly reproachful beneath a challenging, almost hopeful gaze in his eyes; and, barely there, contradicting the expectation in his eyes a slightly sad smile on his lips.
Lips that awakened memories in him of that one, brief kiss they'd shared. Lips that begged for him to forget all his reasoning and pondering and simply kiss them, and Charles saw himself do just that already, leaned in as Erik turned his head toward him and -
The horn of a car made him tear away and turn around, startled, as he saw another car drive up behind them. A silver BMW SUV that stopped beside him, passenger window sliding down.
“Oh not again,” Charles groaned faintly as he let his own window down.
“Everything okay?” Raven called over and past Irene on the passenger seat.
“Fine. Everything's fine!” Charles called back, finding the situation surprisingly hilarious, yet a little frustrating. “Just some issues with my iPod. Go on. We'll catch up.”
“Okay,” Raven called back. Charles didn't miss the slightly skeptic glance she threw them as she drove on.
He looked over at Erik, giving him an apologetic shrug, but then, coming as natural and instantly as he could not have anticipated it, both men laughed, loud and heartily, the irony of the situation too hilarious to miss.
“That's twice,” Charles said, still chuckling as he turned the engine back on. “Let's go on, alright? We'll have enough time once we're at Myrtle Beach. And then we find some place where nobody can disturb us.”
He could imagine that, underneath that now genuine smile on Erik's lips, he was as mildly disappointed as Charles, but he nodded nevertheless and directed his gaze back onto the road as Charles checked the mirrors and brought the car to speed.
As soon as he had fully accelerated he gingerly reached for Erik's hand and held it. At least for as long as he only needed one hand to drive.
~*~
Charles led Erik past the long queue of people, holding on to his wrist so he wouldn't lose him in the crowd. Erik did not complain, but Charles was quite certain the man had never seen so many people in one place (even though, to Charles, this was a small and rather quiet crowd), and he briefly pondered whether it would not have been better to let Erik wait in the car after all. But then again, a busy parking lot wasn't much quieter, and Charles felt more comfortable having Erik with him.
The Ripley Aquarium of Myrtle Beach was a highly popular attraction for young and old, residents as well as tourists, people that came here to observe exotic and native fish and other marine creatures. One of the biggest attractions, however - same as in most places of this kind except for Sea World with its dolphin shows - were the sharks. Charles had told Erik what to expect there, but he was still nervous as he walked up to the counter and toward the woman standing there, going through a bunch of brochures and tickets.
"Sir, the line is down there," she said as she noticed him, politely but still obviously stressed. Maybe Charles and Erik weren't the first visitors who tried to bypass the queue.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm here to see Ms. MacTaggert. She should be expecting me," Charles explained. He had let go of Erik's hand by now but kept an eye on him, the somewhat ridiculous fear of Erik running off or - God forbid - being seized by someone not completely vanishing from his mind.
"Oh. You must be Charles then," the woman replied and gave him an apologetic smile. "Moira told me you'd be coming by."
"Should we buy tickets anyway?"
"No, of course not. I'll get someone to take you up to her. She's with the sharks right now. Hang on." The woman turned and looked around the lobby area, standing on tip-toe to get a better overview until she seemed to spot someone. Putting two fingers in her mouth she whistled and then waved for someone to come over. As Charles followed her gaze he could see a lanky looking, freckled boy with curly red hair walking their way, his steps rather slow for the otherwise hectic atmosphere in the lobby.
"Hey, Sean, these guy are here to see Moira, can you take them up?"
The boy - or young man; he could be anything between eighteen and twenty-something - nodded at them briefly, seeming somewhat tired but grinning at his co-worker as he gave her a thumb up.
"Okay, this way," he said, and Charles followed, Erik in his tow. They went through a side-door that said 'staff only' and immediately left the noise of laughing children and chattering adults behind, and when Charles took a glance back he could see that Erik visibly relaxed, though his features remained unreadable.
"They're just feeding the sharks," Sean said, his tone slightly raspy and as slow as his steps. "Or they're just done. You missed it. Bummer."
"That's alright," Charles replied and smiled briefly as they followed Sean through the corridors and up a set of stairs.
"Nah, nuh-uh, seriously, you've got to see this," Sean went on. "It's really cool."
Charles suppressed a smirk as he looked over to Erik, to his relief seeing the other man look back at him with slight amusement as well. "I've seen sharks feed, before. But thank you."
"Quite frequently, actually," Erik added.
"Yeeeah, but these sharks…" Sean turned around and stopped in his steps, grinning at them, his eyes shining oddly before he reached for the handle of a large iron door. "Sand tigers. They're just so dumb and slow and stupid. They swim around and around and around, then they see a piece of fish and want to maybe eat it, but they don't really know. You know, kinda like when you want to raid the fridge at three a.m. but aren't really hungry. So they swim up and then…." He imitated the movement with his free hand. "Whoops. Missed it. So they have to swim the whole round again because they can't stop or turn. It's so fucking funny."
Despite calling them stupid, this Sean character seemed to speak of the sharks in quite the affectionate manner. Nevertheless Charles felt just a little bit uncomfortable given the fact that, well, Erik was sort of (mystically) related to sharks. The taller man barely raised an eyebrow, though.
"Alright, we'll come back for it another time," Charles gave in, hoping that would shut the kid up and prompt him to finally open the door and lead them to Moira.
"Awesome," Sean replied and opened the door. They walked through another narrow corridor with several doors leading off of it to both sides until, after stepping through the last one, they found themselves on the exhibition pathway, heading straight for one large window that gave view into the aquarium's largest tank. Beside Charles, Erik's steps slowed down.
Despite the size of the window, it was one of the smallest; the main one on the upper level must be somewhere further down the path, if Charles remembered it correctly from the one time he'd been here, but there were still a few people standing in front of it and looking at the fishes and sharks in the 'Dangerous Reef' tank. Moira was nowhere to be seen, though, and Charles felt slightly antsy about being here.
"Shouldn't Moira still be further up then if they just fed the sharks?" Charles asked Sean skeptically, but the boy shook his head.
"Nah, she always comes down here to answer questions."
"Ah. Alright," Charles replied. "So, we just -"
"Charles!" As a throng of people moved along and proceeded down the path, he heard the familiar female voice reach him from a small distance and, as he turned around, looked into Moira's smiling face as she came closer. Her chestnut brown hair that she used to always tie up in a ponytail now hung loosely around her face, a little shorter than when he last saw her.
"Good to see you again." She hugged him hello and smiled, though there was an unmistakable look of skepticism on her features as she eyed first him, then his companion, which Charles didn't find surprising given the fact that he had yet to explain the whole story to her.
"Hi, I'm Moira," she turned to Erik and extended her hand for him to shake it. Erik did not look very pleased when he finally took it, and Charles had the fleeting thought that he could be jealous of the rather hearty greeting they had exchanged. Or maybe he was reading too much into it.
They hadn't had time to talk properly, or do anything else for that matter after their conversation this morning, but Erik did know that Charles was not going to turn him down again, this time. Or at least Charles thought he must. In any way, the possibility of Erik, in fact, being jealous oddly pleased Charles, and he had to take a deep breath to keep the smile from spreading on his lips.
"Did you have to wait long?" she asked apologetically, looking over Charles shoulder to Sean who stood in front of the window, hands in his pockets and stared at the sharks. A sand tiger came swimming very closely in that moment.
"No, we just got here. Sean brought us straight up."
"Ah, good," she nodded. "Do you guys want me to give you a short tour or something? Or do you want to head straight to the house? Are the others waiting for you outside?"
"No, we don't need a tour, thank you," Charles replied and looked over to Erik who neither protested nor agreed. His own gaze flickered back and forth to the tank, and Charles felt himself get more impatient. "And the others should still be on their way. They took a longer lunch break and also wanted to do some grocery shopping. They'll come right to the beach house."
"Ah, perfect. I don't have that much food at home, to be honest," Moira chuckled. "At least not for six guests. We can go -"
But she never finished her sentence as in that moment Sean's low, now somewhat singsong-voice reached their ears. "I'm a shaaaark. I'm a shaaaark," he chanted at the shark through the window with luckily no other visitors currently around. "Suck my dick. I'm a shark."
Charles felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him. This was even worse than the dolphin joke, he thought, as he saw Erik look into Sean's direction with his brow furrowed upward.
"Sean!" Moira exclaimed and took a few steps toward him, hands on her hips as she stared at him sternly. The boy turned around and looked at her innocently.
"Are you high??"
"Um, no," Sean replied, his freckled face twisting in thought. "Maybe. A little."
"What the hell, Sean? Again?!"
One hand reaching up to scratch his head, Sean seemed to ponder before he grinned benignly and shrugged. "Guess I shouldn't have packed those brownies for lunch."
"Damnit, Sean. This'll get you fired one day. No, actually, I should fire you. This is the second time in a month that you show up at work completely stoned. What were you thinking?"
"Um…"
"That's right. Nothing. God." Moira let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head, one hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Just… go back down and fold the brochures. Not much damage that you can do there."
Sean nodded at her sheepishly and then, with surprising speed, hurried off the way they had come before Moira turned back around toward Charles and Erik. "Sorry about that. He's driving me nuts sometimes. Anyway, where were we?"
But this time it was Charles that didn't get a chance to reply because a group of children just came hurrying down the path, laughing and squealing in delight, chased by an elderly woman that seemed to be their kindergarten teacher. Moira chuckled and took Charles' arm, nodding at Erik toward another door. "Come on, this way, she said and let them through it, exiting on the opposite side of the staff corridor and heading for another tank labeled 'Ray Bay', filled with rays, and also some smaller sharks such as black nose and bonnet head sharks.
"Okay, so you need the keys, and -"
Beside them, Erik made a sudden movement, crossing the distance toward the window and staring at it with something that Charles could only identify as shock. It took him a second to realize why. There in the tank, among the exotic fish and rays and sharks was a person, a woman with long, red hair. And a fish tail.
"What is this?"
Charles hoped Moira didn't catch the panicked anger in Erik's more gasped than clearly articulated question, and he quickly laid a hand on Erik's upper arm, squeezing it in reassurance as he leaned in. "That's a costume Erik. It's a normal woman with a costume," he whispered, not really sure that Moira hadn't heard him after all. Calming Erik down, however, was more important now.
And thank God, it had worked, quite quickly and easily without any uproar and drama that Charles had already worried about. The thought that Erik could have suspected, if only for a second, that creatures similar to him and his family were being held as prisoners here made his gut twist painfully with sympathy and he squeezed Erik's arm lightly one more time, smiling at him. Erik, however, looked almost embarrassed now, his gaze averted for a moment as he shook his head and breathed out a small chuckle.
"You people do strange things," he whispered back, now seeming almost completely relaxed again as he turned his head and gazed back at the tank, watching the woman complete a circle of graceful swim movements before she dived back up to the surface, somewhere above them and out of sight.
Charles went back to Moira.
"What… was that all about?" She asked faintly, her brow furrowed as she looked at Erik over Charles' shoulder. He knew he had to explain this all to her at some point, but now definitely wasn't the right time.
"Will you accept it if I promise to tell you everything once you're at home?" he asked, not wanting to make up yet another silly story.
Moira seemed to consider his words for a moment, looking at Erik who still stood there, staring into the depth of the tank and the life within. Then she directed her gaze back at Charles and sighed, slightly exasperated. "Do I have another choice?"
"I'm afraid, not. I can't keep you from your work for as long as it would take to explain everything sufficiently."
"Well then," she sighed again and dug into the pocket of her jeans, taking out a bunch of keys and removing the house key from it. "He's not a criminal though, is he?" she asked, her tone almost pleading as she looked up at him.
Charles smiled reassuringly. "No. I swear he's not a criminal. And he's not crazy or a drug addict either, if that would've been your next guess."
She snorted faintly. "Yeah, one pot-head in my life is enough, thank you very much. Alright. Go on then. Freshen up and relax a bit. You guys must be exhausted after the long drive," she said kindly, and Charles couldn't help to feel a small wave of - purely friendly - affection and gratitude wash over him.
"Thank you, Moira. You have no idea how much your help means to me."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled as well before she looked back at Erik. Charles wasn't sure, but when she tilted her head ever so slightly, her eyes traveling back to him the next second, he thought to see a knowing glance in them that almost made him blush.
After all, she did know him quite well.
"Come on," he said softly to Erik after Moira had said goodbye. "Let's get you somewhere where you can do more than only look at the water." The already bright smile on Charles's lips became even wider when he saw Erik's face light up as he'd never seen it before. And he'd be there to see even more of it, right there with him when Erik went to swim in the ocean for the first time in over two weeks.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 11
A/N: Sooo... you probably can guess what's next ^^ I've been waiting to write the upcoming chapter ever since I started this fic. Also, the next one might maybe I think possibly be NC-17-rated ^^ Maybe. A little.
Sorry for making Sean a stoner kid. I solely blame Texts from Xavier Academy