"Who was that?" Raven could hardly contain her curiosity long enough for Erik to even move out of earshot.

Charles knew well the tone that she was using. It often preceded a line of questioning - grilling would be a more accurate word for it - related to a male figure who had entered his life. The last time that he had been subjected to it was several months ago, since he made a point of keeping Raven as far away from his own personal affairs as was possible. She had very little patience for using tact when it came to emotional or social situations, as evidenced by the way that she was already starting in about Lehnsherr when the man had only barely reached the parking lot.

"I told you their names. Pietro is one of the students that I've been trying to help, and Erik is his father."

"I see."

"Don't." Charles had hoped that the shorthand answer to her question and the deadpan way that he had delivered it might dissuade his sister's curiosity, but he could practically feel the followup questions that were coming and the judgement that would accompany them. Just as she could no doubt feel when her brother was on the trail of an attractive man that he very much wanted to tear the clothes from each and every time that he had seen him so far. Charles happened to think that he was doing a good job of suppressing those urges, even if he was rubbish at hiding them completely.

Raven gaped, the picture of innocence. "What?! I said nothing."

"It's the way you look. You're looking very...smug. I can tell-"

"I never look smug!" Raven batted her thick eyelashes for an added effect to the flamboyant way that she spoke those four extremely false words.

Charles couldn't help but to laugh despite his failed attempt at remaining serious. They both knew perfectly well that the metamorphic mutant known as Raven Xavier was competitive, arrogant and prone to fits of complacence that were so unflinching that they might have bordered on being dangerous to her health. Having Kurt had cooled her heels, but only a little bit. She now tried to pretend that she was not up to something, and it was so exaggerated and fake that it had them both chuckling as they began to clean up the small mess left behind by the soccer game. "I can tell what you're getting at."

"You promised never to read my mind," she shot back, finally lowering her voice lest they were overheard.

"I don't have to! I know you."

"Is he single?" Since she had been found out so early on in the game, Raven opted for the completely direct approach rather than continuing to dance around what she wanted to know. This was a rare treat for her; Charles jealously guarded his personal life and she had almost never lain eyes on a man that her brother was looking to score with. In her opinion, Charles was too gentle-hearted for this cruel shit-storm of a world that they were living in. Any other kind of man with his telepathic abilities would have used them to conquer everything and everyone around him by now. He would have had people like Erik Lehnsherr kneeling at his feet day and night. But her kind and thoughtful sibling was not like other men at all. He was content to scratch a meager living as a school teacher of all things, and to suffer alone in his messy apartment rather than actively search for happiness. It drove her a little crazy.

"I have no idea," said Charles flippantly.

Raven gave him a look. They both knew good and damn well that that was a bald-faced lie. Whether Charles pretended to have perfect self-control or not, certain bits and pieces of information were allowed to slip 'accidentally' through his mental shields and it was extremely likely that Erik Lehnsherr's marital status was one of those things. She smiled brilliantly when she noticed that the German man's coat was still lying on the field in the same spot where it had been rolled up as a designated marker for the soccer goal. "Oh, look! He left his jacket. He'll be needing that back very soon. Wouldn't want him to get cold..."

"Mama, we gonna get ice cream?" Kurt had finally grown tired of whacking the soccer ball all over the immediate area. He brought it up to his mother and proceeded to share the chunks of grass and mud that it had accumulated by inadvertently smearing the mess all over her cream-colored pants. The bit of filth was unnoticed, Kurt soon scooped up and hugged fiercely as he was carried back to where his mother and uncle had parked their cars. It was decided that yes, they would go and have their lunch of pizza and ice cream. Whether or not Uncoo Chuck would be joining them was another matter.

Charles was torn about the issue of the clothing that Erik had forgotten. The Lehnsherrs were long gone and he had no phone numbers on hand for them. He carried the coat dutifully toward his Gremlin, not at all surprised to find that Raven had parked right next to it. This would not be the last that he would hear from her about his 'new friend,' he suspected, and thinking of the future lines of questioning was making his head hurt. Suddenly he no longer had any taste for lunch at all and certainly not with a woman who would turn every moment of it into a by-proxy interview. Part of Charles was half suspicious that she herself was interested in Erik, after only a few words passed between them. This inkling feeling was further solidified when she called over the roof of his car, extremely noisily: "Is he gay?"

"For god's sake, Raven!" Charles didn't know whether to laugh or to become genuinely angry. "You have no shame!"

"No, I haven't. And you have no balls."

"I have more balls than you, darling."

"Maybe...but if I knew a guy like that, I'd ask him which team he plays for."

Charles smiled sweetly. "Well, with you it doesn't matter, does it?"

Raven's eyes narrowed a fraction, a nerve struck. She was not known to change her gender very often during the instances where her physicality was altered, and even more rarely did she then seek to romantically involve herself with another person while shifted. But it had happened. And it had ended almost as badly for her as the relationships that Charles had suffered through. Talking about it was not high on her list of things that she ever wanted to do again, so she took the jab from her brother to mean that he too was becoming fed up with the flow of conversation. It wasn't often that Charles threw off the scent by giving insults. What resulted was a tense stalemate between them.

The young guidance counselor deflated somewhat. He tossed his belongings (and now Erik's) into his car. "I'm sorry. Look... I need to try and find this...Scarlet Woman. For Pietro. I think it will help me connect with him during our sessions."

"Scarlet Witch," Raven corrected. "It's a good series."

"You...read comics?" Charles was surprised.

Now that it was made obvious that no further questions would be allowed, the blonde-looking woman that Raven's form had taken for the day was visibly a bit bored and put off. She sighed. Kurt was already waiting for her in his booster in the back seat of her sedan. "Yes. I read comics, Charles. I also like to eat. Are you coming with us to lunch, or not?"

"Not today, I'm afraid. Do you think you could get your hands on a copy for me?"

"A copy of what? The new issue of Scarlet Witch? It doesn't come out for like...a month."

"But you would know whom to contact for getting a copy early? For your dear brother, who loves you very much..." Charles hoped that by putting on his most winning smile he might coax his annoyed sibling into coming around and letting herself be wooed into helping him. It did surprise him that she read comics, but he supposed that it shouldn't have; that sort of thing suited her, as she was the type of person to seek out forms of entertainment which promised quick gratification. It was not that she was not intelligent. More, it was that she chose to ignore that intellectual part of herself in favor of exciting physical and visual types of stimulation.

That smile of Charles' was too infectious even for the likes of Raven, who had seen it so many countless times before when it was inflicted upon both herself and others that it was a wonder it still had any effect on her whatsoever. Her smile in response was sardonic, but it too was recognizable as an expression often given right before she was about to agree to whatever harebrained idea her sibling was pulling her into. "Maybe."

"Wonderful! Call me with the details. Money won't be a problem... And thank you, Raven."

The weather was becoming more chilly as the day waned into late afternoon. It made Charles shiver where he was standing next to the Gremlin. It also caused him to wonder whether Mister Lehnsherr was aware that he had left his coat behind, whether he was cold without it and whether he expected to have it back. Maybe he would assume that Charles would leave it at the park. Really, that was not necessarily a bad idea. As long as he was in possession of the German man's clothing, it would necessitate his finding a way to give it back, and it would fill his head with a wide variety of ideas as to how he could do so, what measures he was willing to take. Giving it to Pietro the next time he saw the boy in school was the most innocent and likely option. But did Charles want to vie for the 'safe' route? Or did he have a taste for something more direct?

"Yeah, yeah," said Raven, waving off his gratitude. "You keep me posted on your new squeeze, and I'll see what I can do about the comic." Since Kurt was hollering at his mother from where he was perched in the back seat, she decided it was time to go and she climbed in and started up her engine. Before leaving the parking lot, she was sure to flutter her fingers at Charles and smile at him with the same insufferable smugness that she had been accused of only moments ago.