Prompt: Charles starts to go bald and Erik buys him a wig as a present. X-D

Charles rolled over, blinking sleep from his eyes. The other half of the bed was empty, the covers tucked in tightly as though no one had slept there. Charles smiled in his half-asleep bleariness. Erik was completely still when he slept, and Charles loved that it left him almost the entire bed to sprawl in. He buried his face in the other pillow, breathing in Erik's scent. Then he rolled over and sat up, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself out of the warm comfort of the bed.

Charles ambled over to the mirror above the dresser and stared at his reflection, taking in the purple circles under his eyes and the messy stubble with a matter-of-fact grimace. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, flinching when he felt the patch at the back of his head where his hair had become so thin that it was nearly gone.

Erik's voice drifted over his shoulder. "You know, at the rate you're going, you'll be completely bald soon. It wasn't like that even a week ago."

Charles spun around and stared at Erik, who was leaning casually against the doorframe in his bathrobe. "You're wrong. I'm not going bald."

Erik's lips twitched as he tried to restrain his grin. "Denial won't help with anything."

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Charles crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Actually, I do." Erik disappeared for a moment before returning with a box in his hands. It was topped with a silver bow that had been cleverly tied to look like an X. Erik watched Charles chuckle and added, "That bow took me forever, by the way."

Charles slipped his fingers through the ribbon and undid the seal on the box, lifting the lid and peeking through the tissue paper. "Oh my god."

Erik cleared his throat. "Um, what do you think?"

Charles pulled the wig from the paper. It was a completely different color than his own hair and resembled something like a hairball their cat might have coughed up. "You want me to wear this? When – I mean, if – I go bald?"

"I mean, I don't particularly want you to…I don't care one way or the other…I just thought you might want…?" Erik swallowed nervously. "I had a bit of trouble picking it out. I'm not great with colors or anything – you usually do that."

Charles rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot," he grumbled, throwing the box down. Then, seeing Erik's crestfallen face, he sighed. "Thank you. It was very kind of you. I think…I think I might just let myself go bald, though. You know, it wouldn't hurt to be bald when I use Cerebro, as you once told me."

Erik's smile returned, and he kicked the box away. "Whatever you want, Charles." He slid his hand onto Charles' cheek and leaned down, kissing him softly. "I'll love you no matter what state your hair is in."

"Good thing," Charles mumbled against Erik's lips. "You never know, you might go bald too."

"I highly doubt that," Erik laughed before silencing Charles' complaints with a deeper kiss.