Notes:
This is based of true events during one of my days in Stockholm.
Yes, the part with the zipper did happen to me and I still don't know how...

Edited by: Kuma

...

Chapter 1:

'Charles...' Erik sighed with a pained face. 'I really don't want to do this.'

Charles and Erik where walking alongside each other down a street. The sun was high in the sky and it was a warm summer's day. The gentle breeze played with Erik's usually tidy, slick back hair, making him reach up from time to time trying to smooth it back down again, even though at some point he had to admit to himself that the battle was lost the moment he stepped outside.

Charles was walking next to the taller man, smiling and putting a hand on Erik's shoulder, patting it roughly.

'I know, my friend' He said trying to contain a small laughter. 'But you know as well as I do that this will be good practice for you.'

Charles hand had lingered a little on Erik's shoulder but now he put it in his pocket and Erik could feel the cold breeze catch the spot that had felt so warm a few seconds ago.
Yes, it was reassuring and nice of Charles to come with him, though he feared that the only reason Charles came along was to see that Erik didn't run away.

Erik gave a sigh.
'I still can't believe that you managed to convince me...'

'Well, that's simple' Charles answered with a soft smile. 'It's because I was the one to convince you.'

That answer even made Erik give a rare smile.
'Yes, probably.'

'Believe me, my friend. This won't be as horrible as you make it up to be.' Charles said as he looked up and squinted as the sun hit his eyes when he tried to look into Erik's eyes.
'We all have our various trainings to make us better and ready. You have yet to challenge yourself regarding your control of your powers.'

The scrutinized features of the back and shoulders of the taller man was all Charles needed to see for an answer, and he cut him off before Erik could even open his mouth with a retort.

'Don't argue with me, my friend. You know I'm right.' Charles had seen something interesting in a tree nearby and stopped for a few seconds to see what it was whilst Erik continued walking, not realizing his friend had stopped. Turns out it was a squirrel jumping from branch to branch with a bundle of nuts.

'Then why am I the only one having to do this? What are the kids doing for training?' Erik asked as they came to a cross road.
Erik wasn't sure which way to go and Charles was a few steps behind him so he waited and looked at the different roads when he felt a light touch of a hand on his lower back motioning him to the left. Erik followed the flow of the hand and looked down to see Charles pointing to the left road.

'It's this way.' Charles said. 'And the others do have their training, don't worry, I'm not going easy on them. I have put Moira in charge of them for the morning.'

Charles once again lingered with his hand on Erik's back even though they had now walked a fair few meters on the correct road that could only lead straight ahead. Erik thought about the hand on his back and could feel the light touch of all his fingers, but he didn't really mind it. And neither, it seemed, did Charles as he casually kept on walking, probably not realizing his hand was still on the taller mans back.

Erik had forgotten that he had planned on giving Charles a retort due to the calm that had befallen him by simply walking in the morning sun with Charles by his side.
But he quickly snapped out of it as a truck drove by them on the road, making Charles move his hand back into his own pocket.

'And what about you?' Erik asked after he cleared his throat. 'I'm not seeing you train.'

'I train all the time, my friend' Erik heard Charles voice inside his head.

'Fair enough, but why are you not back at the house with the kids and helping them out?' Erik said looking straight ahead with a stern face. It was something with having Charles inside his head that made him uncomfortable. He did not want him looking around freely in there.

Charles looked on ahead as well, but with a soft smile on his lips.
'I'm with you to make sure that-'

'That I don't run away.' Erik cut him off.

Charles looked up at his friends face as his smile faltered, and Erik only let his eyes flicker for a second upon Charles' to see that he was looking confused and a bit hurt before he turned back to look at the buildings surrounding them.

'It's alright, Charles. I wouldn't trust me either.' Erik said squinting his eyes and saw a car drive past them.

Charles tried to figure him out. He did not enjoy using his powers on Erik. He really did not want to unless he had to speak to him in that way. And now was not an exception. He wanted to know what Erik was thinking, but he refrained for going into his mind. This was something they had to talk about without the usage of their powers.

'I do trust you, my friend.' Charles said.

Erik gave a little scuff, but said nothing.

'I was only going to say that I am with you to make sure that you are alright. That nothing happens to you... It is your first day there after all. I wanted to be supportive.' Charles moved his head from looking at Erik to looking ahead and slightly down. Charles really did want to be close to Erik, but getting through to the taller man was a difficult job if he did not trust anyone.

Erik's stern face fell as he knew he had insulted Charles. If there was anyone out there that Erik could trust, it was Charles. Oh, he had been stupid and he now blamed himself for making the smaller man upset. It wasn't what he had intended to do.

They walked in silence again, but this time it was not a comfortable one.
Around them they could hear people doing their morning chores and going to work. There were more cars on the roads now and people on bikes passed them every so often. But then they turned a corner and walked through a small park. Not many people where there at this time, and it was rather secluded from the bustling roads and buildings. Trees stood big and green along a path in the middle which they now walked down. There was only one other person on it, a business man from the looks of it, and he had already passed them in the opposite direction. They were now completely alone, the sounds of the town muffled by the trees and bushes.

One thing that Erik hated more than an annoying conversation was an utterly awkward silence. They still had a little way left to go, and Erik was not in a mood to keep the silence for long, but how could he break it? There was nothing he could think of that would not come out making it even more awkward and pathetic than the atmosphere already was. That's when he decided on something more drastic.
It might be extremely childish but to be honest, it was better than nothing, and it would probably put a smile on Charles' face. It sure made Erik smile just thinking of it.

Charles was walking along next to the taller man, contemplating on what he should do to break the silence; after all, it was a lovely morning and he did enjoy the company Erik brought through their discussions.
He was just about to say something when he felt that his pants, for every step he took, began to feel loose and soon enough he felt how they began to slowly slide down. He managed to grab a hold of them before his underwear began to show, and he discovered the reason for their looseness.
His zipper had been unzipped.

'What the...' He said to himself as he stopped to zip it back up. And that's when he heard a small mumbling laughter to his right.

Erik was trying not to laugh out loud, but was failing rather hardly. His whole face was turned into complete amusement and a huge smile was spreading on his face as he tried to keep his lips together.
He finally snapped and began to laugh out loud when he looked over and saw the face Charles was giving him.

'What was that good for!' Charles asked him, stunned with a frown on his eyebrows after zipping his pants back up. He knew it was Erik's fault. He was certain of it. Because he knew he had zipped his pants before leaving the house, and there was no other rational explanation to it.

Erik was still laughing so much that a tear came from one of his eyes.
Charles couldn't help but give a smile and a laugh. It was impossible to keep a serious face when his friend that hardly ever laughed was bent double in hysteric giggles.

'Have you had your fun now, my friend? At my expense nonetheless...' Charles said trying to be harsh but failing miserably and the last word disappeared in his own laughter.

'You couldn't take the silence anymore...' Erik said whilst trying to compose himself from his laughter.
'Had to break it somehow.'

'And a simple word of some sort was clearly out of the question, I see.' Charles said smoothing his shirt.

They were at the outskirts of the park now, people had walked past them in their fits of laughter and looked at them with one eyebrow up before ignoring them and continuing on their merry way.

'You have to admit, Charles, this was a lot more fun.' Erik said and put his hand on the smaller mans shoulder with a firm grip.

Charles felt the big hand land on his shoulder and give a squeeze. He knew then that everything was forgotten. There was a sort of comfort that came over him every time Erik put a reassuring hand on him.

'I am not admitting to anything, my friend' Charles said rolling his eyes and catching a glance to the hand still on his shoulder. Erik was smiling towards the sun and Charles couldn't help but smile himself at the sight.

'Where to now, Charles?' Erik suddenly asked, making Charles blink a few times before taking his eyes off of Erik and looking on ahead.
Charles didn't know, but Erik did catch the look he had been given before Charles had turned to look at the road.

'Um...' Charles looked from side to side, trying to remember the directions he had been given. 'Ah, it is to the right.' He then said and moved.

When they had turned the corner, Erik's smile suddenly faded and the hand on Charles shoulder gripped only slightly tighter.
What he saw was his new training grounds, and he was not enthusiastic about it in the least. When Charles had first told him he had taken it as a joke. But after Charles had explained it more closely and in all the details he had realized that it was no joke. And he had protested. But, as it usually was with Charles, he had been persuaded. Though frankly, right now he was deeply regretting going along with it. All the kids had been overly excited and said that they envied him and said that what Erik was going to do was not training, but fun.
Erik did not see the fun in it.

Charles put a hand on Erik's hand and gave back a squeeze.
'It will go well, my friend. I am here with you now.' He said. 'If you do not see it as training, then see it as work, because that is what it is. Work.'

Erik looked down at Charles. Those big blue eyes beaming at him reassuringly and a nice warm smile playing on his lips...He sighed. It really did mean a lot to Charles, whom had arranged everything and really thought it would be a healthy way for Erik to train the control on his powers.

'Don't you dare leave me.' Erik said with a sigh as he faced the entrance once again.

'Wouldn't dream of it, my friend' Charles answered, hiding a laugh.

They then went through the entrance together, into the Green Grove Amusement park.