"Merry Christmas, Charles" - a Cherik Christmas Special Fic by allonsy-doctor

FULL SUMMARY: Erik is snooping around in Charles' stuff when he comes across a folder full of Charles' letters to Santa through the years. This year, however, Charles only asks Santa for one thing... Cherik fluff. Christmasyness, sort of AU 'cause this is before fighting Shaw but not during that week of training. None of which smut, I don't do smut. Apologies.

DISCLAIMER: [as follows]

Me: I own-

Charles: *is throwing colored confetti everywhere, dressed in a black turtleneck and tan slacks* HAPPY HALLOWEEN~

Me: Uh, Charles, it's Christmas...

Charles: Oh, THAT'S why everyone was giving me dirty looks when I paraded down the street, dressed as... um...

Erik: *randomly appears out of nowhere, dressed in a tweed jacket and black slacks* What were you dressed as, Charles?

Charles: Well, I was, uh, dressed as you, Erik.

Erik: *uncharacteristically gasps, clasping hands together* And I as you, Charley!

*They skip off into the sunset together, even though it's impossible 'cause Charles is in a wheelchair*

Me: *sighs* I own nothing. Marvel owns everything. *sulks off 'cause she has no one to skip off into the sunset with*

It began, as simply, as curiousity. Charles has been cooped up in his room most of the morning, and wonder got the most of Erik when he inquired exactly what Charles had been doing in there. He only answered that he'd been running an errand for Moira, and left it at that. Feeling most unlike himself, Erik went to Moira to see what she'd asked Charles to do.

"To make his Christmas list!" she exclaimed, a grin lighting her features. She gestured around her, at the decorations she and Raven had set up around the Xavier Mansion, making it look like a Department Store advertising it's Christmasyness. "I don't know what's taking him so long. I mean, how long does it take someone to make a Christmas list?" she paused. "Speaking of, you should make yo-"

"Don't. Even," Erik snarled through clenched teeth. After the Jewish Holocaust, he hadn't really supported any religion, but he tolerated Christmas only because his closest friend did. "I don't need anything." And with this, he stalked away, satisfied with what he'd set out to do.

Eventually, however, curiousity got the better of him. Charles had only emerged from his room a few minutes ago, after being in there for hours on end, and gone out with Sean and Raven. Imagining he wouldn't be back for a while, Erik decided to make the chance that he'd be gone long enough to see what exactly Charles had been doing in there.

The room was dark and decorated. Shutting the door behind him, Erik flipped on the light to reveal an in-the-spirit room. He chuckled at how in the mood Charles was, and then got down to work.

There was only one thing out on the desk, and that was a light blue folder with a child's drawing on it. Figuring this was a good place to start, Erik, well, stalked over to the desk and flipped open the folder. Within, he was surprised to find a large, thick stack of papers that were confined by the pocket of the folder. The first paper read clearly at the top, "CHARLES XAVIER'S CHRISTMAS LIST".

It was a stack of his Christmas Lists.

Erik allowed himself to smirk as he read through them nosily. It started from when he was very young, no more than six or seven, all the way to last year. Even as a child he'd been simple, asking for none more than a few toys to amuse himself with. As he got older, however, he asked for more scientific and complex things. Oh, that was Charles, all right.

Last year's was only a few things. It was after his parents' time, he supposed, and it was probably Raven that had ordered him to draw it up. It consisted of a few notebooks, a night on the town, and studying time.

Erik had to chuckle. "Studying Time". Who else would put that on their Christmas list?

Finally, he had come to this year's. Curious on what he was going to ask for, Erik flipped the page and read the entry. What he read rather shocked him.

The only thing Charles had asked for:

"Erik."

Confused, Erik sat back and scratched his head. What had he meant by asking for Erik for Christmas? For him to leave? For him to be more cheerful and less brooding all the time?

...For them to be together?

Erik shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. No, that was impossible. Charles was a straight man, a very straight man, and there would be no way in the firey pits of hell that's what he would want. Much less what he would write on his Christmas list, too. The Christmas list he'd soon be giving to Moira.

But what if he wanted him to find it? That would would clever Charles; he probably knew Erik would go snooping around in his room while he was gone. Who's to say he didn't leave deliberately because he wanted Erik to find the note? Only if he had Charles' "power" - if that was what one would call it - to find that out. It seemed like him, however, and in the end, Erik decided this was exactly the case.

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Erik tossed the paper aside, thought for a moment, then picked it back up and put it back into the folder. He left it on the desk, nice and neat, as if no one had been there.

Rising from the chair, Erik scratched his head again and looked in the mirror. But what if Charles hadn't known that his friend had been watching him all of the morning? What if he hadn't left the folder out on the desk on purpose, and he hadn't wanted Erik to find it? In that case, why exactly would he have wanted Erik for Christmas? What about him did Charles want?

A shiver ran down his spine when he thought of his friend. Downy soft brown hair that hung just over his eyes. Erik's eyes shut just for a moment when he thought of Charles Xavier, a man nonetheless.

He was straight, damn it. Both of them were straight.

Did that really matter?

Damn it! Erik cursed himself. He sat back down in the chair, facing the mirror. Did he really feel attracted to Charles in that sort of way? Once again, he closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. He pictured the young professor-to-be, his eyelid twitching slightly. The soft brown hair. The piercing look that ran him through and left him completely defenceless. The only man that had ever been able to match him, truly meet him in the playing field fairly, and he was but a graduate from college.

What did that make Erik?

A moment or two of decision, of imagining, brought Erik to a conclusion. An ultimatium, if you will.

Erik Lensherr was in love with Charles Xavier.

Interrupting his thoughts, the door creaked open slightly. Erik leapt in his seat, turning to the door and swearing internally, expecting to see Charles. Instead, he saw a very surprised Sean and a very cocky looking Alex. "Erik?" Sean gulped. "What are you-"

"Don't waste your breath," Erik bite angrily, turning and then leaving the room. Stupid children. They'd probably come to do the same he had - to see exactly what Charles had been doing all morning. Children. Pathetic. They had no right.

Night came faster than expected. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and everyone was running around trying to find presents for the other. Charles had come home shortly after Erik had left, and caught Sean and Alex in his room. He didn't tell them what they were looking for, however, nor did he enlighten them about the Christmas List he was making.

The Christmas List that didn't make any sense.

Erik Lensherr sat where he liked to, on the roof of the Xavier Mansion, watching the snow fall around him. The pitch black turtle neck was keeping him warm for the time being, along with thick black sweat pants. Scratching his head again - by now, Erik was considering the fact the he might indeed have lice - the metal bender looked up at the sky. Maybe there would be some answers there, amongst the patterns in the stars. The snow fell on his eyelashes, and he batted them off with a flick of his eyelids. Strangely, he welcomed their chilly disposition. They were like him; cold and beautiful on the outside, but when melted by warmth, a puddle of water.

This was why he was so afraid of his feelings for Charles. If it had been anyone else, he could have shoved them away. Shoved them into the darkness, and never accessed them again. But with Charles, he knew it wasn't just a crush.

It bobbed at his throat, ready to strike.

"Erik?" came a painstakingly familiar voice behind him. Erik craned his head slightly backwards to see a only half balancing Charles Xavier on the roof just behind him. The young professor to be had his arms stretched out like a crane, trying to keep his balance and not fall tumbling down the roof. "S-sorry, trying to keep still here. Do-do you mind?"

"Not at all," his mind instinctually went blank, vacant of any of his previous thoughts so Charles could not dig through his head and find what Erik really thought about him. He moved to the side a bit, extending his hand. Charles took it, grateful, and the touch of skin on skin sent a chill down his spine. Damn it, get a grip, man! "Come sit."

Nodding and inclining his thanks, Charles sat down beside his friend and rubbed his arms insistantly. "My, it's quite frigid outsite tonight, don't you agree?"

"Yes," Erik looked back up at the sky. Welcoming, black. Starry. "But I like it this way. The crisp weather is what gets me outside in the first place; I've always perferred the cold."

Smirking, Charles rubbed his arms up and down even faster. "Personally, I don't know how you survive. It's freezing. I would go inside and get a coat, but I'm afraid I might slip and break my head open."

Before Erik could react, Charles slid a bit closer on the slippery roof and snuggled - that had to be the best word for it - into the crook of Erik's arm. The older man practically jumped out of his skin, not used to this touchy feely behavior. "Charles-" he started, unsure of what he was doing. The younger man seemed to be comfortable, so Erik only lifted his arm slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, don't mind me," Charles sighed contentedly, smiling with his eyes gently closed shut. "I'm just going to rest here for a moment."

A moment of silence past. The snow covered them like a blanket, and Erik began to feel a chill, but he was sure it wasn't from the cold.

"Charles?" He said at last.

"Yes, Erik?"

"I was in your room today-"

"You were what?"

Okay. So that sounded truthful. Maybe it was his fault, not a trap. "Uh," he cleared his throat. "You were in your room all morning, and I was, um," he cleared his throat again. "curious as to what you were doing."

"And...?"

"And I found your lists."

Charles sighed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. "I suppose you would. I left it out in plain view, now didn't I?"

"Yes. Only you would ask for Studying Time for Christmas."

Charles chuckled, and it rattled the ribcage that Erik was currently resting his arm on. "Yes, that's me. Did you-"

"Yes."

Another moment of silence passed between them. Erik suddenly felt a ball of ice form in his stomach. He felt guilty for bringing it up now. "I, um," Charles finally said. "What did you think of it?"

"Confused," Erik began. "What did you mean by-"

Naturally, as impatient as he was, Charles leapt up from within Erik's arms and kissed him on the mouth. Erik was so surprised he fought the inital reaction to leap back.

He was kissing Charles. He was kissing Charles.

And it was wonderful.

Finally, after a long while, Charles pulled away, and the two stared into one another's eyes. Neither said a word, a moment of silence passed again, and softly, Charles reached up and gently stroked Erik's cheek with two of his fingers. "There's so much more to you than you know," he told the slightly older man with a low, comforting tone. "You're so much stronger than you think you are."

"I don't understand-"

"I'm not sure I do either," Charles admitted honestly, halfheartedly shrugging. "But I don't think we're meant to understand. I think we're supposed to act on what we feel, and I'm positive I feel something for you, Erik. After all," he glanced around at the falling snow. "It's Christmas. And the only thing I want for Christmas is you."

Erik said nothing, he just leaned in and caressed Charles' lips in a kiss again. Softly, so softly, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Charles."

Around them, the snow fell.

Nothing like a bit of Cherik fluff at Christmas! :D Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year! :)

-Doc xx