Cardigans and Turtlenecks - First part
« You should take a break. »
Charles startled. He had not heard Erik coming. He slowly removed the Cerebro helmet and shook his head to free his hair. "Erik! I'm sorry my friend, I didn't know you were here. I can't hear anything with this thing on." He smiled lightly. "And my mind was far away from here."
The other man stepped into the room : "You look exhausted. Maybe you should leave this machine alone for a while. You're becoming a real lab-rat."
Charles chuckled : "I appreciate your concern… but we're rather in a hurry. Shaw already reached Russia. We could do with some extra mutants on our side. Look –", Charles moved towards the control panels while Erik drew closer "we found thousands of names already. There are thousands, maybe even millions of mutants across the world… People like us. I can feel them, Erik. Their fear. Their hopes. I can feel them like- ", Charles paused and looked into Erik's deep, dark blue eyes. "Like I felt you."
He looked serious and almost grave now. It amazed Erik how much the telepath has changed over the last few weeks. When he met him he was still a light hearted, carefree young man who had just finished his thesis. Now he stood as their leader, spending hours challenging his own mind, trying to stop a war that had nothing to do with him, with them — mutants. Noticing his friend was staring at him, Charles raised an eyebrow. He resisted the urge to use his power to know what the metalbender was thinking. "What's the matter, Erik?". The mutant dismissed the question with a shudder : "Nothing. Nothing at all. So, who are we visiting next?"
"I spotted a mutant in Florida. … Let's see… Logan. Strangely enough, I can't access his memories. Everything is blurred… And he appears rather angry with everything."
"I can relate to that", uttered Erik with a smirk. Charles cast the picture of the mutant in his friend's mind. "He looks pretty bad ass… Are you sure he's the kind of guys the government would want to hire?"
"Can't be more dangerous than a guy who can move a 250 tonnes dish", answered the young professor. "Though I have to admit turtlenecks aren't half as badass as leather jackets", he added playfully.
"Says the man wearing cardigans."
"There's nothing wrong with cardigans!", Charles cried out, faking indignation.
Erik went on : "No wonder why you're roasting in this damn plastic bubble.". Though they were in october, the sun was shining, making the temperature inside Cerebro almost unbearable. Erik noticed with pleasure that solemnity had deserted Charles' face. All work and no play made Charles a dull boy. The telepath could use some distraction.
Once again, his friend raised an eyebrow, casting a mischievous glance. Erik recognized his friend's challenging expression. He was expecting another sarcastic remark, but the telepath merely smiled : "I hear you.", he uttered quietly. His light blue eyes stared directly into Erik's. Moving slowly, Charles undid the first two buttons of his infamous cardigan, revealing a patch of white, bare skin. "Better now?"
He had expected the metalbender to snort and turn away. Instead he had managed to take him aback.
Erik swallowed his saliva with difficulty. He was not expecting this. Well, not now. He couldn't take his eyes off Charles' fingers, teasingly resting on the third button, as if asking for the permission to untuck it. "May I?"
Charles was hesitating : what was at first an attempt to sound foolish was slowly turning into something awkward, and, he had to admit, thrilling. None of them could tell if this was a joke or something different.
Erik nodded. He found it difficult to breathe now. The heavy, hot atmosphere of the room was suffocating. Charles' little game wasn't helping.
The telepath drew closer to his friend. He had made his choice. "Looks like you also need some fresh air." He laughed tauntingly "Seriously, a turtleneck, what were you thin-"
Erik shut the damned lab-rat mouth by biting Charles' lower lips. There was no going back now. And he was not going to allow Charles to take control of everything.
"I've been dying to argue with you about the content my wardrobe."
Charles smirked : "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."