Nemo est casu bonus
Nobody is good by chance (Seneka)
Charles' lips are as red as wine. It is funny to see him so relaxed, sprawled naked on silken covers. The room is dark, a solitary lamp giving only so much light as not to fall over any pieces of furniture. A blush creeps its way up the milky skin of his throat as fine outlines of a collarbone and cheekbones are underlined with a shadow or two.
There is nervousness and some kind of sadness hidden behind Charles' inviting smile but what shines out the most is acceptance. Raw acceptance of Erik as a person, as a mutant, as a...
Man. Man who just fell in love with another man.
It is hard to believe at first, to be honest. He remembers the cryptic meaning of pink triangles pressed here and there on the clothing of people he had to dispose of, had to forget the disfigured faces of, had to remember to breathe after touching with his hands ready to spit out his own protruding bones. The shame when he saw men cry in each other's shoulders when the walls of barbed wire fell, the jostling all around him. The silence.
"I haven't dared to hope for as much." Erik props himself at the doorframe, his voice strained.
"Really, my friend." Charles blinks lazily back at him, combing an elegant hand through his tousled hair. His lips quiver, their redness only seeming to grow. "You ought to have more faith from now on."
"Why?" Is all Erik utters back, closing the door carefully. His gaze softens and his arms uncross as he comes closer, deciding to sit in the feet of the bed. "I thought, I..."
Charles is looking at him with an unwavering gaze, his eyes seeming to mist over in thought for a moment. "You were never a stranger to me, Erik. You ought to have known that already." He starts to laugh then, the sound eerily resonating within the suddenly cold room. "Look at what you have done to me!" Charles whizzes then, his whole body convulsing in a sob. "Look at me!" His voice breaks as he throws the covers away, the movement causing a nearby vase to fall and shatter into million pieces on the floor.
His legs… There are no legs, nothing that could actually resemble them. There are naked bones there, twisted and pale, with shreds of muscles attached here and there, greenish swollen veins hanging onto them like matted poison ivy. His hips are swollen, their joints as if broken, rendering the lower half of his body completely useless.
Erik looks on shocked, frozen in place, unable either to move, or tear his eyes away. "I didn't do it." He whispers, feeling bile rise high in his throat. "I did- I did not do it." World falls into smudges as Erik tries to move away, tries to grasp at the frame of the bed. It almost feels as if he was drowning. He can't breathe deep enough to think clearly. "No, no-, Charles, NO, I did not-"
Charles' face is blank. "Wer würde dich eingeintlich lieben?" His words sound hysterical but his eyes are closed as he lies down on the bed. His face contorts, an ugly grimace twisting his features, his next words spat viciously, "RAUS, du dumme jüdisches Kind, raus, sage ich!"
"Charles." Erik rasps, clutching his own fingers till they feel ready to snap him out of the sudden stupor. "Char-"
"MAMA!"
"Du bist ein Jude, was machst du hier?"
"Cicho, nie płacz, nie płacz, ciiii-"
"Komme raus. Komme raus diese Sekunde, Jude."
"MAMA!"
"Ihr habt dafür gearbeitet gehabt- "
"TATO!"
"Nur ohne euch hätte Deutschland eine Zukunft!"
"Nie, nie-, Nie, proszę nie..."
"Schmutzige Schweine wollen Alles nur für sich selbst haben."
"TATO!MAMO!"
"RAUS!"
"No,we do not, my friend."
His head is pounding when he wakes up.