Chapter 3: If You Give A Charles A Duckling

Charles watched Erik walk away for far longer than he should have, lost in thought. After a while, he walked over to the other students, who were sitting on the grass under a tree.

"The Professor got a new boyfriend?" asked Angel with a smile.

"Don't any of you watch my blog?" asked Charles with a sigh. He collapsed on the ground at the feet of the other students. He rolled onto his back and put an arm beneath his head.

"No," the other students promptly chorused.

"Don't change the subject," said Alex.

Charles waved a hand dismissively. "Erik Lehnsherr is certainly not my boyfriend."

"That was Lehnsherr?" exclaimed Sean. "But you talk about him all the time! He's, like, famous!"

"And apparently a dick," added Raven.

"Be nice." Charles closed his eyes. It was true that had he not seen into Lehnsherr's mind, he would have thought his personality was a bit . . . lacking. As it was, though, Charles felt that the man was allowed to be less than perfectly polite. Charles had kept out of his mind for the most part during their little chat (out of politeness and maybe partially out of guilt), but he had still peeked inside enough to get a better feel for who this man really was.

Whereas Cerebro had given Charles a view of the man's mind as a whole, with his own powers Charles could only see it in layers. The nice thing about it was that he could see details he had missed the first time. Lehnsherr already had some shields, though they were brittle and uneven. He probably wasn't even aware they were there. People usually only put up shields on accident when they felt somehow threatened by the world around them and when they had secrets to protect, and it was clear that they were somehow related to the constant current of loss and anger that Charles could feel flowing below the surface of his mind. He hadn't pried enough to find out what had caused those emotions, but it certainly hadn't been something minor.

It had been so strange to see the mind of the man Charles had only known before from interviews printed in magazines and the occasional clip on the telly. Everyone felt different to him, of course, but Erik was really something else. Even without the power of Cerebro, Charles had felt almost a magnetic attraction to the intense emotions and intelligence that he had found there.

Erik. Yes, well, he supposed that after being in someone's head that much, they deserved to be on a first-name basis.

"Even from this distance I could tell that he turned you down, and not very nicely," Raven was saying.

"As he should have, if that was what he wanted," Charles replied. "That was the whole point of asking, after all."

"What were you trying to do?" asked Darwin. "Ask him out on a date?"

Charles very carefully did not open his eyes. "Just to coffee."

"What," said Alex.

"No way," said Angel with a grin at the same time.

"Wait," said Hank slowly. "Is he the one you found the other night?"

Raven chuckled, which was all the answer they needed. The other students erupted into a chorus of, "Jeez, Prof! You could have told us!" and "Nice!" Charles winced.

"See?" said Raven. "I didn't tell them."

"Thanks," said Charles dryly.

"So what are you going to do now, if he turned you down?" asked Darwin. "You've got a plan, right?"

Charles felt something tickle his chin and he opened his eyes. He found that one of the chicks had jumped up onto his chest and was trying to curl up on his neck. He picked it up gently and sat up. "A plan?" he said absently. "Not so much." The other students went very quiet and he looked up. They were all watching him. "What is it?"

"The way Raven explained it, this guy is basically your soul mate," said Sean.

Charles considered being annoyed at Raven for mentioning it, but he supposed it was fair since Sean and Angel hadn't been there. He raised his eyebrows. "Well, she explained wrong. It would be better to say . . ." He hesitated. "I'm very attracted to his mind," he ended lamely.

"So? He's still special, right? You should go charm him with your mutation stuff."

Charles smiled slightly. "I don't think that would work on him."

"Professor."

Charles stood up and brushed himself off, careful not to harm any of the ducklings. "Well, as lovely as it has been to talk with you all, I need to grind up some crickets to feed to the ducklings before I go back to the lab."

Everyone groaned. "That's gross," said Sean.

"And you're totally bailing," said Angel.

Charles grinned. "And you can't stop me. Have a nice day." He set off, the ducklings trailing behind him.


Charles was patient. He could wait for years if necessary to get what he wanted, and he had. That did not mean Charles was idle.

He had never bothered to research Erik Lehnsherr before because it hadn't seemed relevant. It was testament to how strongly Charles felt about politics that he had never wondered why Erik had the opinions he did. Erik's birthday, a list of his published works, and a short but uninformative biography were easy to find. More detailed information was harder to uncover, and Charles found himself looking at old newspaper clippings. Erik's parents were hardly ever mentioned, and it took a while for Charles to find out why.

Father, deceased. Mother, deceased. And both around the time of the riots in Poland.

"Oh," said Charles, and he felt such a strong wave of sympathy for Erik he hardly knew what to think.


Three days later, Charles was walking towards the library when he noticed Erik Lehnsherr walking towards him. Charles stopped and stared. "Erik?" Charles said in shock before he could remember that they weren't on a first-name basis. "What are you doing here?"

Erik smiled. "You may have invited me to Oxford under false pretenses, but when I tried to leave, I was accosted by several of your faculty. It turns out they are actually very interested in having me speak."

Charles looked at him blankly. "Today? But I haven't heard anything about it."

"Just the way I like it. It's very short notice, I know, but I have a tight schedule because of the conference." He raised an eyebrow at Charles, and Charles felt a wave of satisfaction come off him. "It starts in twenty minutes. Are you free?"

Charles's mouth worked emptily for a moment. He was, in fact, free. His last class had just ended several minutes ago. He was tempted to look in Erik's head to see if he had known that, but decided against it. "Only if you agree to get coffee with me afterwards," he finally said.

Erik smiled. "Very well. I'll see you then." He strode off, leaving Charles feeling both elated and quite out of his depth.


Charles made sure to get to the lecture hall very soon before Erik was to start speaking, because he did not want to be alone with Erik, who was clearly trying to prove some kind of point. He suspected that this point was that Charles was wrong. Unfortunately, by the time he got there the lecture hall was almost full.

Charles pushed open the door and was met with the sight of Erik leaning casually against the wall, his notes already organized on the podium. He gave Charles what looked very close to a smirk. Charles frowned slightly at him and made his way up the stairs to the back rows. There were titters and whispers as the other students noticed the ducklings trailing along at his feet.

"Mr. Xavier," drawled Erik, and Charles froze. "You've lost one."

Charles looked at him, and then at the stairs behind him. A stray duckling, one of the smallest, had gotten trapped on one of the steps. Despite its best attempts, it couldn't jump high enough to clamber over the step, and it was cheeping frantically. With a sigh, Charles went back and scooped it up in his hand. Most of the students nearby awwed at that, and Charles held the duckling firmly to his chest as he made his way slowly back up the stairs. The rest of the ducklings made it safely up the steps with him, and Charles picked a seat on the end so that they wouldn't disturb anyone else with their antics.

Charles scanned the room, looking for anyone he knew. He didn't see anyone he recognized immediately, but he did notice Sean, Alex, and Raven sneaking in through the door at the last second. He frowned at them, and though they were clearly looking for him, they didn't see him. Charles didn't have any more time to dwell on it, because Erik moved to the podium and the lecture began.

Erik didn't speak immediately. He simply put both hands on either side of the lectern and waited for the room to quiet. It quieted amazingly fast. When he spoke, his voice was calm, as though he did this every day. "I am here today to talk to you about the history of mutant rights, specifically in the decade of the 1970s."

It was the first time Charles had had an opportunity to study Erik like this, and he didn't waste it. He wasn't close to him, exactly, but he had a clear view, and it was amazing how different it was to see Erik speak in person. Even all the close-up shots in the studio interviews didn't quite compare. Charles kept close tabs on what he was saying, even though he already knew most of it. When Erik said "protests that claimed many lives," Charles's attention shot from Erik's stubble (was it because of laziness, or was it supposed to look that scruffy?) to his words.

"Unfortunately, there have been few major breakthroughs since that time," Erik continued, and Charles was surprised to notice that his jaw was much tenser than it had been when he started. "Though violence is now the realm of extremist groups, dialogue between human politicians and the mutant populations around the world remains strained at best."

Charles bit his lip and forced himself to keep his hand down. Of course it's still strained, he protested angrily in his head. Any group like ours with this much history is going to cause tensions. It's a controversial issue, but that doesn't mean it's not progressing.

"The first law passed regarding mutants was discriminatory. Six of the ten most recent laws passed are also, and a larger number could be debated." Erik went on in this vein for several more minutes, detailing the legislative process and the terms of the laws. Charles ground his teeth and resisted the urge to argue it out with Erik right then and there. Of course not all the laws were beneficial. That was how the legal system worked.

When Erik finally made it clear he was getting to end of this section of the lecture, Charles couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand, and from the way the students around him looked at him, he knew there was a very good chance he would regret this.

It took him a moment, but Erik noticed. There was a pause, and he looked up at Charles with a decidedly guarded expression. "Mr. Xavier?" he said finally, and Charles brought his hand down.

"What was the first beneficial law passed in regard to mutants?"

Erik blinked. Charles was breathing too fast, as though he had just run up the stairs instead of sitting for the past half hour. He stared at Erik, wishing Please, take the bait, just this once, and Erik did.

"The first law not discriminatory against mutants was passed in 1978 in the United States of America, and it decreed that freedom of speech applied to mutants as well as to humans. The first such law in the United Kingdom was approved a year later, and it said fundamentally the same thing." Erik said it to the room, not to Charles, and entirely without looking at his notes. Charles smiled, and it wasn't just because Erik had answered his question. Erik cared enough about his field of study to know all the details, even the ones that weakened his argument. Erik would not lie to protect his own point of view. It wasn't him agreeing that Charles was right, but it was a start.

Erik Lehnsherr liked to emphasize the negative aspects of mutant-human relations, but that didn't mean he entirely disregarded the good.


The lecture ended, and everyone got up to leave. Charles hung back with the ducklings, out of everyone's way and where he could see Erik packing up. Erik only had one notepad of notes which he tucked in his leather jacket, but when he was done he waited for Charles without managing to look like he was waiting. Charles finally came down the steps after the last few people had vacated their seats. There were several students already talking to Erik. Erik answered their questions patiently and in a voice too low for Charles to hear him. The students thanked him and went out the door, leaving Charles and Erik alone.

"Did you have anywhere in mind?" Erik asked. Charles could feel that Erik desperately wanted to know what Charles had to say about his lecture, but he was purposefully avoiding the subject as though he didn't care.

"There's a place just across the street," Charles replied just as casually. "It's frequented by university students who want something cheap, but the coffee is good quality." Erik made his way towards the door and Charles fell into step beside him. He almost forgot about the ducklings, but Erik didn't. He held the door open for them (and, subsequently, also kind of Charles) and seemed a little concerned about stepping on them. Charles smirked inwardly and decided that he wouldn't be the one to bring them up. It was a well-known rule that no one, not even mysterious men with scruff who wore leather jackets, was immune to the charms of small fluffy animals. If Erik was distracted by them, he would be that much less on his guard, and right where Charles wanted him.

"You said you run a blog."

"Yes." Charles mentally winced; he really shouldn't have brought that up right away. "I go through the news reports on mutant rights around the world, and then I give updates and commentary via video. I also moderate a forum on the topic, and I usually take a few minutes to answer questions from there and the comments on my videos."

"Do you mention me?" Erik sounded only mildly curious.

"A bit, yeah." Massive understatement.

"Are you hoping to influence the debates? Garner some sort of support for your own ends?"

"It's mostly to spread information to potential voters," Charles admitted. "I don't think I will ever go into politics. I don't have the cutthroat attitude required."

What might have been a smile tugged at the corner of Erik's mouth. "I haven't seen any evidence of that so far."

"Oh. I apologize if I was too forward during your lecture."

Erik made a non-committal noise. "At least you listened."

"Yes, I did."

"And?" Erik cocked his head to one side and smiled, clearly inviting Charles to express how much he disagreed with him.

Charles smiled charmingly in return. Charles was used to putting people at ease almost immediately, but the tenseness had only just gone out of Erik's shoulders and it was the first time he had seen Erik show a real smile. He got the impression that Erik didn't smile often. "Why don't you give more lectures?" Charles asked, sidestepping the question. "I can only ever find interviews with you. I just learned more about your point of view than from all the questions asked by those talk show hosts."

"I find that people are more likely to watch something that they are familiar with than listen to me talk for an hour."

"I didn't mind listening to you talk for an hour." Charles smiled, Erik met his eyes, and okay, maybe Charles was definitely flirting with him now. When Erik said nothing, Charles finally answered his previous question. "I found your lecture very interesting. It was a good decade to discuss, and one that most people would have skimmed over. You are quite a good speaker."

"Hmm. Compliments don't work on me."

Charles laughed. "I'm afraid it's a natural part of my personality. You'll have to get used to it."

They had reached the coffee house. Erik pushed open the door, but Charles hesitated. "I hate to ask, but would you mind ordering for me? I don't want to . . ." He gestured at the ducklings at his feet.

Erik glanced at them. "Of course. What would you like?"

Charles hurriedly fished out some cash and handed it over. "A caramel macchiato, please."

Erik nodded and disappeared inside. With a sigh, Charles found a table outside and sat down. The poor ducklings looked exhausted after the long walk, and most of them immediately went to sleep at his feet. Charles looked in through the window and found that he could see Erik waiting in line. He put his chin in his hand and studied him. Erik was very handsome, really. Charles had always known that, but he had dismissed it as movie-star good looks: good for getting his way, but not to be admired lest Charles should let it influence his opinion of Erik's work. Really, though, it was difficult to not appreciate that kind of beauty.

Erik sat down across from him and handed him his coffee. Charles took it and let it warm his hands; it was cool in the shade. Erik set down his change and pushed it across the wrought iron table. As Charles picked it up with a, "Thank you so much," he eyed Erik's own coffee with a critical eye. Whatever it was, it smelled black.

Some of the ducklings woke up at the disturbance, and Erik carefully maneuvered his feet so he wasn't in danger of stepping on any of them. He frowned slightly. "May I ask about the ducklings?"

To be honest, Charles was impressed that Erik had held out for that long. Charles smirked slightly. Excellent. "Oh, yes. Their mother abandoned them, for whatever reason." Charles looked fondly at them. "I couldn't really resist. I have a soft spot for Anatidae." Erik looked at him blankly. "Ducks and geese and things," Charles explained apologetically. "Mallards especially. We had some in the pond at home."

"Ah." Erik didn't pursue the topic, though Charles could feel curiosity leaking out of him. Charles felt extremely pleased with himself. Curiosity was good. "So," Erik said, getting straight back to the point, "What do you disagree with most about my work?"

Charles smiled. "I think you misunderstand me. I don't disagree with history. I disagree with your selective analysis of it."

Erik's eyebrows rose. "Selective? You think talking about the things people would rather forget is selective?"

"It is if you leave out all the good parts that give people something to hope for." Erik snorted. "I'm not an idealist," Charles continued, heading off the comment he knew Erik was going to make. "It's important to look at both sides, but you can't ignore facts for your own ends."

Erik tilted his head slightly. "And you don't?"

"Since we've finally gotten to our points of view, I suppose I might as well state mine." Charles gave Erik a look that was carefully calculated to be somewhere between flirtatious and unapologetic. "I believe that the mutant movement and conflicts were all significant mistakes, and if we don't do something soon we're going to end up repeating them, albeit on a somewhat small scale."

"The elections."

"Yes."

"Then I don't see what the problem is. I agree with you completely."

Charles's eyebrows rose. "What?"

"Widespread violence and upheavals are certainly not the answer. However, I'm not sure complete integration is either."

Charles's mouth immediately tightened. He very carefully put himself in check. This was not an appropriate time to show his anger. "What is, then? Partial integration? Reverse segregation? Put the humans in camps?"

Charles realized too late that he hadn't been careful enough. Erik looked down at his coffee and Charles was hit with a wall of fear, hatred, and anger so strong Charles had to close his eyes to remember how to breath. When he finally opened his eyes, Erik was still looking at his coffee. A muscle jumped in his jaw. "No," he said shortly. Charles carefully filed that information away.

"I'm sorry," Charles said honestly. "I overreacted." He looked down at his own coffee. "I believe nothing like this is ever easy," he said quietly. "The humans have a lot of reasons not to trust us, and we have a lot of reasons to not trust them. But if we want equality, trust is essential. It requires work on both sides and it will take time. There's nothing wrong with admitting that we're different, but . . ." Charles sighed. "In history, segregation has never gone well. Integration may require scarifies, but there are some we have to be willing to make."

"We've made enough sacrifices."

Charles looked up. Erik was looking into the distance, and his emotions were a cloud of anger and sorrow. "Agree to disagree?" Charles said softly.

Erik looked at him. Charles offered him a hand, and with a slight smile, Erik shook it. "Agreed."


Author's note: Btw, I'm completely BSing the details of the history of mutant rights. Let me know if some of it seems completely out of place.