Don't Count the Miles

March 2 - 5:45AM

Tokyo, Japan

Despite the weariness that dwelled in Erik's muscles, he'd never woken up more refreshed. The room was still pitch black, save for the soft light emanating from the clock radio next to the bed. The red numbers displayed a time fifteen minutes from the moment his alarm would go off, and Erik dreaded the fact that soon he would have to move from his position, thus waking his slumbering husband. Currently, he lay with his chest pressed firmly against Charles back, arms wound securely around his slender waist; if he listened closely, he was sure he could hear Charles release a contented sigh every now and again. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to the nape of Charles neck, one hand pushing his shirt up ever so slightly to splay a hand over his lean abdomen.

Charles first night in Tokyo had been spent in a hotel room doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, but it had been the best night he'd had in months. Though he'd been exhausted from the flight and still grappling with the change in time zones, Charles had made a valiant effort to stay up as late as he could, listening to Erik talk about his time in Tokyo until he'd dozed off leaning against Erik's chest. He'd slept more soundly than he had in weeks, pressed as close to his husband as he could possibly be.

He felt lips press against his neck and a hand come to rest on his stomach; stirring slightly, Charles mumbled something under his breath before opening his eyes. He knew, even before his lids parted, that the other man was awake - years of sharing a bed had allowed him to become hyper-aware to those sorts of things, and as his gaze settled on the alarm clock on the bedside table, he realized that this must be the time that Erik usually woke for work.

"It should be a crime to be awake so early." Charles grumbled sleepily, burying his face in the pillow.

"It is," Erik whispered in the darkness, fingertips ghosting over a smooth patch of skin just below Charles navel. "But you know how I like to live life on the edge." There was the soft crack of Erik's smile, followed by an amused chuckle. The man had grown accustomed to waking at this ungodly hour, which he supposed was a fortunate thing, since he had never been much of a morning person before. Even back home in New York, he didn't have to get up until at least eight. At first, it had been a rather unpleasant change.

Charles couldn't help but laugh at Erik's rather corny joke, and he twisted around so that he was now facing the other man, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "I suppose it's safe to say that sleep deprivation hasn't exactly improved your sense of humor." he teased, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Erik's lips. "But please tell me that you're only awake out of habit and that you don't actually plan on getting out of bed for quite some time."

For a moment, Erik actually forgot that he would have to be up and ready within the next half hour. His face fell, though Charles could not see, but the slow rubbing on the small of his back ceased. "It is habit because I have to get out of bed." A soft sigh slipped from his lips as he unconsciously pulled Charles closer. "But you know if I had the choice," There was a slight hint of irritation in Erik's tone as he thought of Shaw - who could rise out of bed whenever he chose. There were some days that he didn't bother showing up until noon, and acting as if he was right on time. Very rarely did Shaw actually arrive at the job site at the allotted hour. "I would stay here. With you."

He should have known that the weekend would not be an excuse to stop work on the project; if that had been the case, there wouldn't have been any reason as to why Erik couldn't come home for a weekend or two during his stay here. Shaw was a demanding boss while still in New York, Charles could only imagine just what sort of unrealistically high expectations Erik's superior would have overseas and when placed in such a high demand situation.

Emma may have invited him to come along, but even then, she couldn't have known that Erik would still be called away to work. He couldn't help the disappointed frown that replaced the warm smile he'd worn only a moment ago, but he did his best to hide it from Erik - he was, after all, extremely lucky to have the opportunity to see his husband at all - instead choosing to tuck his head underneath Erik's chin when he was pulled closer.

"I know." Charles said quietly, wishing he could turn back the clock a few minutes at the very least. "But duty calls."

As if on cue, the phone on the nightstand began to ring, the loud blaring of the infernal device echoed through the large suite. Erik sighed heavily and blindly reached back, not wanting to move from his current position. He hastily picked it up and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" Erik shifted slightly and cleared his throat, keeping his unoccupied arm around Charles.

"Erik," Shaw's voice drawled in his usual, egotistical tone. "It appears that I have a couple other important issues that require my immediate attention, so don't bother going to the job site, unless you feel inclined to do so. Is that understood?"

Erik had never before been more ecstatic to hear those words in his entire life. For a moment, he thought he faintly heard Emma's voice in the background, coaxing Shaw back to bed. Right then, he knew she had something to do with it. "Yes, sir."

Shaw didn't respond, but instead just hung up the phone. Erik followed suite, placing the phone back on the receiver with a bit of difficulty.

"That was Shaw, wasn't it?"

Erik smiled and pulled Charles in for a kiss. "Yes, it was." He whispered against his husbands lips. "And as it appears, I have the weekend free."

Now, Erik did not plan on getting out of bed any time soon.

March 4 - 7:35AM
Tokyo, Japan

The weekend had passed far too quickly.

He'd woken up Monday morning with an immense feeling of dread; Emma had called Sunday night, informing him of their flight information and that a car would be waiting for them in front of the hotel by eight o' clock. He hadn't seen her at all throughout the weekend - he and Erik had, of course, ventured out into the city and spent hours simply walking through the crowded streets, and for a little while, Charles was able to pretend that they were back in New York, where they spent their weekends frequenting the nook-and-cranny shops that they both seemed to favor.

Her voice on the other end of the line hadn't been welcome by any means, but he'd known Monday morning would arrive whether he wanted it to or not.

While Erik showered and dressed for work - Shaw had, gratefully, delayed his arrival time at the job site for the day - Charles packed and repacked his suitcase, folding his things over again just to give his hands something to do. He remembered doing the exact same thing the night before Erik was supposed to leave; the other man had insisted that he could pack his own things, but Charles had been adamant, because folding Erik's shirts and pants and various other things had given him something to focus on other than what he was really packing for.

This, however, was different; he knew wholeheartedly that he was leaving and that while seeing Erik had been far more than he could have wished for, there were still seven long months ahead of them.

He was zipping up his suitcase for the final time when Erik emerged from the bathroom, now fully dressed. Charles slid his bag off of the bed and left it by the door before turning back to face Erik, plastering on a smile that he was sure looked completely wrong on his face.

"Do you have time to walk me downstairs?" he asked rather lamely, because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Erik was in the process of slipping on his shoes when Charles asked the question. He looked up, almost sadly; as much as he didn't want to have to walk Charles down to the car that was inevitably going to be waiting for him, he had to. The whole weekend Erik had been dreading this very moment - the moment when he would have to say goodbye to Charles until Shaw's project was complete. "Of course." Erik straightened and glanced at the clock before he joined Charles over by the door. He didn't quite know what to say. He didn't know what was appropriate, if anything. This was hard - incredibly hard.

Charles nodded and looked away, focusing on a spot on the carpet instead of looking at Erik. He wasn't entirely sure what to say to the other man; their first goodbye had been difficult enough, with Charles fighting back tears and shakily making sure that Erik had everything in order for his flight and subsequent arrival. Now, he wasn't so sure that he could do it again.

"Emma said she'd be waiting downstairs at eight, but it's a little early..." he said, realizing he was probably veering toward rambling territory and falling silent with an awkward cough.

Erik swore that he could feel his heart slowly splitting in two. He hated seeing Charles reduced to a depressed, nervous mess. Though the tears did not fall quite yet, he heard the cracking in his voice and the beginnings of a sob rise up in his throat.

Erik brought his hands up to cup the sides of Charles face, and with gentle, silent coaxing, urged him to meet his gaze.

Charles sucked in a shaky breath when he felt Erik's hands on his face. He knew he needed to keep his composure, for the other man's sake; Erik still had a full day's work ahead of him, and he didn't want this goodbye to weigh so heavily on his mind. He tried to tell himself, over and over again, that they would be seeing one another soon, but that soon was seven months, and it didn't seem very close at all. He finally looked up at Erik, chewing nervously on his lower lip.

"I'm pretty terrible at goodbyes, aren't I?"

Erik managed a soft chuckle and leaned in close to Charles face. "No more terrible than I am." He replied solemnly, swallowing thickly around the sadness that was undeniably building in his throat. His sea-storm gray eyes briefly met with his husband's blue before he leaned in and closed the short distance between their mouths.

Charles wrapped his arms around Erik's neck and pulled himself closer, lessening the already sparse distance between them. He wished, not for the first time, that he could call Emma and Moira and whoever else and simply tell them that he wasn't coming home just yet, but there were people who needed him - he couldn't inconvenience the school any more than he already had with his sudden day of absence, and Raven, though she adamantly denied it, was just as reliant on him in the middle of her pregnancy as he was on her during his husband's absence. He wanted to stay, but they both had jobs to do, and it wouldn't be right to simply throw those to the wayside.

After a few moments, Charles pulled away and buried his face instead in the crook of Erik's neck, holding onto him tightly. It was only a matter of minutes before Emma would inevitably call and tell him that she was waiting downstairs, but he wanted to prolong the goodbye that would, somehow, be even harder than the first.

Erik exhaled shakily, brought a hand up and rested it on the back of Charles head, then tipped his own head down a bit to press a kiss to Charles temple. How he was going to be able to concentrate on work after saying goodbye to his husband was completely beyond him. It was almost unfair that Charles was there and he was happy - only for him to be snatched away a couple days later.

"Don't leave." Erik whispered and kissed the spot just below Charles ear. "I want you to stay."

Charles tightened his hold around Erik's neck and exhaled a sigh that was muffled by the material of his husband's shirt. The next words out of Erik's mouth nearly broke his heart; he felt his eyes burn in response as he pulled away, swiping quickly at his face with the backs of his hands.

"I know, I know." he said quietly, his voice choked. "But I can't. I would stay if I could, Erik, you know that."

Erik's eyes closed briefly as the words sank in. Despite how much Erik wanted him to stay, he knew very much that Charles had his duties of his own back in New York. "I know, but more than anything I just want-,"

Charles cell phone rang, cutting him off midsentence. Erik looked down at the floor, swallowing thickly around the lump in his throat - he knew what that god-awful noise meant.

Charles was wringing his hands and looking everywhere but Erik when his cell phone rang loudly, interrupting the other man's sentence. Emma's face flashed across the screen as soon as he pulled the phone out of his pocket, and he glanced up at Erik as he answered.

"It's time to go, sugar." He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but even Emma's voice sounded a little thick on the other end of the line. She sniffled delicately before continuing. "I'm downstairs, and I'm armed with plenty of tissue. See you in a few minutes."

She hung up before he had a chance to say anything and he slid his phone back into the pocket of his trousers, managing a shaky smile for Erik's sake. "It would seem as though we've run out of time." he said quietly, taking the handle of his suitcase in one hand while he reached the other out toward Erik.

Erik accepted the hand that Charles held out to him. He opened the door and allowed Charles to step out first, and then followed close behind. It was by far the most unpleasant walk Erik ever had to endure; his grip on Charles hand never relinquished until they got downstairs.

As Erik watched the cab disappear down the street, his heart sank knowing that they would both have to suffer seven more long, lonely months.

-End-