Boychick:
Alex first noticed when he pretended to be asleep one night in Xavier's mansion - nightmares made it near-impossible for him to drift off. He heard light footsteps outside his door that he'd been careful to close. His door opened a crack and the blonde sensed someone staring at him for several seconds.
"Sleep well boychick," the German's gravelly voice eventually washed over the teen. The door closed as quietly as it was opened. And Alex had no further nightmares that night.
The second time it occurred was when Alex burnt his hand on the stove. Erik had quickly dropped his wooden spoon and hurried over to the child running his hand under the cold tap.
Erik had said, "Let me see, boychick," and Alex, too caught up in the pain, barely registered the words spoken by his mentor.
It was on the third time, Alex remembered to ask the German native what it meant. The 18-year-old's head was in the man's lap while calloused fingers gently raked through his locks. Alex was nibbling on a biscuit when he started violently choking. Erik discarded his book and propped his young mutant up while patting his back.
"Easy," he warned as Alex gulped down a glass of water. When he recovered over the coughing outburst, Erik scolded lightly, "You need to be more careful boychick."
"What does that mean?" Alex's voice was croaky and scratched. At his elder's quirked eyebrow, he elaborated, "Boychick. I've heard you call me that before."
Erik eased the youth back down so his head was in his lap and picked up the previously discarded book. He continued carding his fingers through the soft hair.
"It is Yiddish. It means young boy as a term of endearment. Do you wish for me to stop?"
Alex immediately shook his head, already his eyelids drooping shut. "No, I kinda like it."
A rare, soft smile graced Erik's face. "Go to sleep my boychick."
Du bist mir so wichtig wie mein eigenes Blut - I hold you like my own blood:
"Why do you even care?" Alex screamed at Erik. It was after Cuba and Erik was (admittedly) fussing over Alex's neck quite a bit, where Azazel's tail had wrapped around it. The young mutant was annoyed, having suffered through Charles' questioning and Hank's extensive examinations and now Erik's probing. "You have no reason to care, so why do you!"
The German native could sense this was about more than Alex's sore neck. He approached the plasma-wielding mutant slowly but firmly, and carefully grasped his upper arms.
"Du bist mir so wichtig wie mein eigenes Blut, boychick." He said, and his gravelly voice made Alex relax noticeably. "I hold you like my own blood."
Alex stared at Erik vulnerably and saw care and concern in the metal manipulator's eyes. He crumpled against the man's chest and started sobbing, the stress of the past few weeks catching up to him. Erik only held him, cradled his head and rocked him slightly.
"Hush now my boychick, you're safe. I have you." Alex slowly calmed and felt warmth and security envelope him.