Warning: Just a tiny bit of swearing.
Author's Note: Thanks for such a warm response for my first chapter! This one was inspired by my friends and my parents - and perhaps you'll understand why later on! Generation gap is such a tragic thing, tsk. Hope you enjoy this one!
Chapter 2: Generation Gap
"So, let me get this straight," Alex Summers mumbled as he took a bite out of his cookie, "You guys-"
"Got lost in time," Charles finished his sentence in between sips of his Earl Grey.
"…Because of this bozo?" Alex glanced over at Hank, who sat a couple of seats away from him. The latter rolled his eyes in disgust. Charles grinned. It seemed like they weren't in the future at all, for nothing had changed.
"Yes Alex, do we have to repeat it again?" An irritated Erik Lehnsherr spat back. The man preferred to stare at the ground, avoiding eye contact as he said it. He felt uncomfortable chiding an elderly Alex, albeit he still acted just like the arrogant youngster he was 47 years ago.
When an older lady approached them at the computer shop (you know the one with the half-eaten apple on it), the last thing Erik and Charles expected was to see was a familiar face. What was more disturbing to the boys was that, Raven appeared very much older than the both of them. She no longer looked like the pretty and vivacious teenager before, but rather a very elegant and dignified individual, who was much more matured in both her looks and mannerisms. Charles had to blink several times before he convinced himself that she was real.
"I'm just glad you're alright. When I first saw you at the mall, I thought it couldn't be," Raven hugged Charles tightly. He felt a shiver down his spine as her wrinkled skin brushed against his.
Hank heaved a sigh of relief, "We thought we would never find you again,"
Erik shot him a glare. If looks could kill, Hank would have withered there and then.
"Is there any way to get back then?" Charles questioned as he placed his cup of tea down on the table.
"Well," Hank adjusted his spectacles, "The only way I know of is to try to replicate the cerebro again,"
"I will NOT get into that machine again," Lehnsherr growled. There were times when he wished the guy wasn't such a genius. It probably would have saved him the trouble of time transportation.
"You know, it feels weird having to help the both of them fix their problems," Sean shrugged, "it's always the other way round in the past."
"Well, we are older than them now," Alex smirked.
Erik scanned the both of them with an eyebrow raised. With their eye bags and their snow white hair, they might look older than him, but they sure do act decades younger.
"If that's the only solution, we're prepared to wait," Charles's lips curled in a smile as he glanced across the dining table, "In the meantime, care to show me how to work the machine?"
Alex rolled his eyes.
"It's called a laptop, grandpa!"
"Fascinating!"
"Charles, if you gasp in amazement at that thing one more time, I will-"
"So you see, all you need to do is to click to accept friend requests, and…you got a friend! It's easy," Hank chuckled as Charles excitedly punched the keyboard. Erik peered over the latter's shoulder, unimpressed by the apparent 'social networking website', as they named it.
"It's called Facebook?"
"Oh Erik, stop being so critical of everything," Charles's eyes lit up as he hovered the cursor over various pictures, before quipping, "Alex looks drunk in this one,"
"For God's sake, did you show that man my Facebook?" A familiar voice shouted across the hall.
"Don't think I don't know you've been snooping around mine, you asshole!" Banshee could be heard from the kitchen.
"Now, c'mon, you know I don't do that anymore!"
"You guys, get over yourselves, Facebooking is lame," Raven said as she passed the lot another round of tea.
"My God, you're using it as a verb," Erik buried his face in his hands in despair and exasperation, "And by the way, did you know 'lame' means walking with a limp?What does 'c'mon' mean anyway?" Lehnsherr muttered under his breath. He doesn't remember the last time they used a proper sentence structure.
"Look! You can even zoom in and out of the page, Erik!"
"Ah! You can even record videos from this tiny little camera here!"
Hank laughed, "There's even such a thing called photo shop, where you can digitally enhance photos."
"You've got to be kidding."
Alex shook his head as he nudged Erik, "You're really from the stone age, aren't you?"
Erik sighed.
This was going to be a long day.
End of Chapter 2.
SilentInceptor.