In the library of Xavier Mansion, the chess board lay still, an abandoned, half-finished game still upon it. The room had been meticulously tidied and put to rights, no sign of the tense scene which it had seen only hours ago, and the scene on passion which eventually followed.
Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr had become something more than friends that evening. They had discovered new depths to themselves and had 'altered the parameters of their relationship'.
To put it simply, Charles and Erik were now in a relationship.
But only in private. In public, around anyone but themselves, they would remain the same. Because the thing they had found in each other was too confusing and complex and precious for the world to see.
"It'll be our secret" Charles had whispered to Erik as they lay together on the sofa, too scared to unlock the door and move on with life.
"The world has too many secrets" Erik had whispered back.
"Do you want them to know?" Charles had asked.
"Well, no"
"Not all secrets are bad, my friend" Charles whispered, leaning up on his elbows to look down at Erik "Some are beautiful". Then he leant down and gently kissed him.
"My friend? It's a little late for that, Charles"
"Is it? Can we not be both friends and lovers? Must we be one? I still need you as my friend Erik"
"If you want it that way, we'll be both" Erik whispered, kissing Charles. "We'll be lovers and we'll be friends"
"In that case, my friend, I'm going upstairs to bed" Charles said, carefully untangling himself from Erik and slipping up off the sofa.
"We never finished our chess" Erik called after him. Charles stopped, paused, turned. He studied the board.
"You've got me in 3 moves"
"And you've got 2 routes out"
"And either of those routes will have me defeated in less than 10 moves"
Erik could think of nothing to say in return and Charles smiled at the metal-user's obvious attempt to make him stay just a little longer.
"I'll see you in the morning, Erik" he said, moving to the door and unlocking it.
"Morning is a long time to wait"
"Then maybe I'll leave the door unlocked" Charles said with a sly smile before casually strolling from the room.
"Locks can't stop me anyway Charles" Erik called after him. Charles couldn't help but smile to himself. His hand brushed past his temple an inside Erik's head he heard the words 'You know very well that that was a disguised invitation'
Erik chuckled to the empty room.
The bell had recently chimed 3 in the morning. Most of the mansion's residents had retired to bed, only Hank was left up, in his lab hunched over sheets of paper and occasionally peering down a microscope as he was most nights.
Erik lay in the dark of his room, absentmindedly spinning coins around his bed. He couldn't sleep, but that wasn't rare. What was rare was the reason he couldn't sleep. It wasn't because he was angry and it wasn't because he was remembering, it was because he was excited, and it was because, for the first time in a very long time, he was happy.
A brief sensation flashed through his mind and the coins fell to the floor. It wasn't a sensation he could have described, it was like a whisper, like a smile and nothing more. But Erik knew what it meant.
His door was open before he'd even got up off the bed and he slipped through it. Somehow he knew the way through the corridors, despite still being a little unsure of the mansion's layout and it being dark. He could have put it down to his feelings for Charles, whatever they were, guiding him, but it was more likely that it was the actual Charles subtly guiding him until he reached his destination, Charles' door. It was already ajar.
Erik slipped in through the open door, closing it behind him.
Charles was stood, leaning against the footboard of is bed. There was one lamp dimly lighting the room.
"You summoned me" Erik said with a slight smile on his lips. Charles just smiled. Erik quietly walked across the room, closing the distance between them. No words passed between them until Erik had greeted Charles with a kiss, soft and caressing. Charles let him do so, but when the two pulled apart he looked at him with an expression Erik couldn't fathom. Eventually he found a voice, although it was little more than a whisper.
"What are we doing, Erik?" he asked. Erik could sense the deep internal dilemma in Charles.
"What do you mean Charles?" he asked. The telepath's face was creased with worry.
"I mean, what are we doing? This… this… whatever it is came out of nowhere"
"I wouldn't call it a whatever it is, I would call it a relationship" Erik said, moving in to place a comforting hand on Charles' cheek, but Charles flinched away.
"I'm sorry Erik, I'm just so confused" he turned away "I'm not like this Erik, I've never been… I've never had feelings like…"
"You've never been gay" Erik substituted and Charles turned to him, giving him a small nod. "Neither have I, Charles" he said softly "but that doesn't make it wrong. It doesn't make it a thing to be scared of. 24 hours ago I couldn't have predicted this, couldn't have ever imagined that I would ever feel this way. Couldn't have predicted that right now all I would want to do is kiss you"
And that was exactly what he did. Cupping Charles' face with his hands and kissing the scared and confused man. Charles had heard what Erik said, had taken it in, and all he really needed to convince him of what the man had said was Erik's lips on his.
The darkness was a refuge for Charles, it stole vision and enhanced sensation. He let Erik guide him through the night, let the older and more experienced man work out the confusion inside him. And when he finally fell asleep he did so peacefully, with no cares and no worries. And when Erik awoke early in the morning and slipped away to his own room he too felt lighter, as though some of his cares were gone, as though his burden was a little less. Maybe there was something waiting for him after Shaw. Maybe there was a life for him to live.