Happy New Year! Finally, the moment I know you've been waiting for: Charles and Erik's first kiss :)
I know it's kind of short compared to the last one, sorry.
Erik took hold of Charles' right wrist and twisted it behind his back, angling upwards just enough to cause a slight discomfort. Charles winced and Erik quickly asked, "Too much?"
Charles shook his head. "I'm good. Keep going."
Erik hesitated but said, "Okay. So…you're trapped. Your assailant can yank your arm up and break it at any point. What do you do?"
For a couple minutes, Charles didn't movie, clearly thinking it through. This was one of many scenarios Erik had been coaching him through ever since he'd agreed to training, and he'd upped the frequency after the attempted shooting a week and a half ago. Charles tugged a bit experimentally at his arm, testing Erik's grip. Erik held tight, not giving an inch, and Charles huffed. Erik grinned widely, knowing Charles couldn't see it.
"I know you're giving me your shark grin right now," Charles muttered.
Amused, Erik just retorted, "Break free."
"I'm thinking!"
"Think faster. I could've slit your throat by now."
"You know, contrary to popular belief, more death threats do not actually help the thinking process."
"I'm pretty sure they do." They were just teasing, not really annoyed or frustrated with each other. Most of their conversations went like this and Erik had been startled at how quickly they'd become comfortable together. At how much he enjoyed the back and forth banter.
Charles' foot brushed his—they worked barefoot, for a better grip on the mats—and then Charles was grinning happily at him as they stood face to face, a foot of space between them. Erik felt his mouth drop open. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" Charles' grin widened, mischief sparkling in his bright blue eyes.
Erik narrowed his eyes in response. If that's the way he wants to play, fine. Feeling mischief spark in himself, Erik abruptly grabbed Charles' arm, yanked him to the side and pressed Charles' back to the wall. He gripped both of Charles' arms just above the elbows so he couldn't move them upwards to break the hold and moved in close, inches between them. His voice was low. "You've just been ambushed. Pinned with your back to the wall. Can't move your arms, your attacker's too close to use your legs or knee him in the balls. What do you do?"
He could feel his heart racing, but put it down to the sudden movement. Charles tilted his head, his mouth twisted in thought. Erik loved how his brow crinkled when he focused hard on something. It made him want to rub it, to smooth it out. Charles tugged, twisted, shifted, but couldn't break free and Erik could tell it was starting to frustrate him. Then, suddenly, Charles' expression cleared.
Before Erik could wonder what his plan was, Charles had lifted himself onto his tiptoes and pressed his lips to Erik's. Stunned, Erik froze, his grip loosening…
…and Charles took advantage of that fact to hook his fingers through Erik's belt loops and tug him those last few inches until their bodies were touching. Fire raced through him at the touch and his barriers fell. Erik responded to the kiss, leaning in, and slid a hand up Charles' arm to tangle in the slightly sweaty hair at the nape of his neck, felt more than heard Charles moan into the kiss. Yes. Erik deepened the kiss, moving his other arm around Charles' waist. Charles pressed his hands against Erik's back.
Then his brain caught up and he jerked away. Charles looked surprised and hurt but mein gott. Was hat…was gerade passiert ist? (translation: my god. What did…what just happened?)
"Erik…?" Charles asked, uncertain.
Erik shook his head, ran his hands through his hair several times and tried to form words. Charles stepped towards him, but he stepped back. "Nein (translation: no). No…this." He took a shaky breath, gestured between them. "This can't happen again. Shouldn't have. Lieber Gott, was habe ich nur tun…? (translation: dear god, what did I just do…?)"
"But…"
"No. You are the client. I am a federal agent. I am here to protect your life and that is all." He tried to make it sound rational but was afraid his voice was just shy of panic. Was zum Teufel? (translation: what the hell?) How did this man break through all of his walls like they were nothing? Erik turned away, unable to face him without wanting to kiss him again. He'd never met anyone like Charles, no one who'd been able to do that to him…"I'm sorry, Charles, but we can't do this. Not again."
The only sound in the room was Alex and Scott as they lifted weights on the other side of the gym. Finally, in a small voice, Charles said, "I thought we…I thought you wanted…"
"You thought wrong." He winced. That sounded too harsh.
"I like you, Erik."
Erik sighed, scrubbed his hands over his face. He liked Charles, too. That was exactly why it had to stop, right now. "The most we can ever be is friends. Once the election ends, we won't see each other again." Verdammt, (translation: Damn it) why was he shaking? His heart was racing twice as fast and all he could think about was touching, kissing, Charles, again. "We're done training for tonight. Alex and Scott can take you back to the apartment." And Erik left, trying not to feel like he was fleeing but knew he was. He pulled his shoes and hoodie on and stepped out into the cool night air. A run was just the thing the doctor ordered, to put his head back on straight.
And yet…as his feet pounded against the sidewalk, the only thing he could see was the mix of want and hurt on Charles Xavier's face.
And the only thing Erik wanted right then was to kiss him again. Verdammt… (translation: damn it)
The door to Charles' office banged open, startling those within as Raven strode in and announced, "If you are not related to me or Charles, out." After a glance at Erik, seated by one of the bookcases, everyone but Charles, Erik and Raven exited. Raven turned to Erik and said, "That includes you."
"Nope." Erik didn't even bother to look up from the book he was flipping through. Charles thought it was one of his old psychology texts from his undergrad years.
"I want to talk to my brother," she continued.
"Go right ahead. I'm not stopping you."
Charles shouldn't enjoy this but he did, leaning back in his chair to watch the scene unfolding in front of him. Watching Erik and Raven face off was entertaining, to say the least, what with them both having such dominant personalities.
"Alone," Raven stressed, hands on her hips.
Erik did look up at that, one eyebrow raised. "I am not leaving the two of you in a room together without any protection. In case you'd forgotten, both of you recently had brushes with death. So, by all means, talk to your brother. But I am not leaving."
Raven huffed but turned to Charles. "So?"
He looked at her blankly. "What?"
"So who is he?"
"I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Ugh. You are so frustrating sometimes, Charles." She came around to sit on the edge of his desk on his right. "The last time you were like this, you had a new boyfriend you didn't want me to meet. And we both know I should vet your boyfriends. So…who is he?"
Erik coughed briefly from his position and Charles tried very hard not to look at him. He couldn't tell her…but he couldn't lie to her either. He was a horrible liar, or so he'd been told. So he settled for hedging. "I do not have a new boyfriend, Raven."
Raven narrowed her eyes at him, swinging her legs back and forth. "Fine. Not a boyfriend, but there is someone." When he refused to answer, she turned to Erik and demanded to know, "Do you know who he likes?"
Erik met her gaze and calmly said, "I don't."
Liar, Charles thought, looking over at him. You pushed me away and I have no idea why.
Raven said, "Something is going on. Do you know?"
Erik looked at Charles and god help him, but Charles felt a burst of desire go through him when he met those wonderful grey eyes.
"Oh, I see now," Raven said knowingly and he turned to her with a start.
How long had he been staring at Erik? "See what?" he asked, a little worried.
Raven leaned in and said with a grin, "Details. Now."
"There are no details," he tried.
"You are a horrible liar, Charles."
Yes, he was aware. Charles still insisted, "There are no details, Raven." But as he talked, he subtly grabbed a piece of scrap paper and wrote something on it, then turned the paper so she could see it.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, no doubt to hold back the glee he could clearly see in her eyes. He'd written Erik and I kissed. Raven grabbed a pencil and quickly scribbled a response, What? How? When? Who kissed who?
With a sigh, and a quick glance to make sure Erik was still reading—Erik was slowly going through all of the books that Charles kept in the bookcases in his office, which was rather endearing, all things considered—Charles wrote back, During our training session last week. We'd been flirting the whole time, and I just kind of…kissed him.
OH MY GOD! How could you not tell me this? Her expression was incredulous and a little betrayed that he'd kept this from her.
It all just happened so quickly and then, well. He shrugged.
She yanked the pencil out of his hand and scribbled, What happened? Do I need to kill him?
Charles smiled faintly. He wrote It shouldn't have happened and most likely won't happen again. We haven't talked about it since.
Raven's expression softened. "Oh, Charles," she murmured quietly.
He just shrugged. "Things happen," he replied in a like tone.
She wrote on the paper, How was it?
He could feel his face turning red and was grateful that Erik seemed to be ignoring them in favor of his book. Amazing.
But seriously, him? Really? He's an ass.
Yes, him. And he's not like that around me. Charles sighed. I wish you could see the side of him that I do. He's really rather wonderful, Raven.
Raven grinned and replied, Sounds like you're in love, Charles. Wonder why he pulled away, though. Is he too scared to commit?
I don't know but I'd sure like to find out, considering the election is in three weeks. Anything could happen then.
"If you're both done passing notes like teenagers," Erik interrupted them quietly, sounding more amused than anything, "I believe both of you have classes to get to."
Charles and Raven both turned a little red at that. "He's right, love. I have to teach soon and you shouldn't even be on this campus."
"I know, but this couldn't wait." Raven hopped off the table, kissed him on the cheek and headed for the door. Pulling it open, she paused and turned around. "Hey, Erik?"
He looked up, one eyebrow raised. "Yes, Raven?"
"Take care of my brother."
Erik glanced at Charles, who was sure that his face was bright red. Please shut up, Raven. Now. "Always do," Erik responded finally and Charles' heart skipped a beat.
Raven grinned, winked at Charles, and left. Charles managed to pull his gaze away from Erik's to gather materials together for his next class, their kiss replaying in his head. He would find a way to change Erik's mind. Maybe Raven would have some ideas…
They were back at the soup kitchen the following week and Erik found that he'd actually missed the atmosphere of the place. What with all of the threats he'd refused to allow Charles to come for a few weeks. This was an exception, a trial run of sorts. He wanted to know if someone was following them and had the Summers' out front while he trailed after Charles.
Charles was in the kitchen today with…oh, what's his name…some scientist…Darwin. Apparently the annoying and loud redhead had been banned from the kitchen and so Charles took his place. Erik wasn't sure that was a good idea or not, considering Charles couldn't cook to save his life. Maybe he just followed Darwin's orders. Finding a spot out of the way was impossible. Every place he chose, he was forced to evacuate as it was utilized.
"Hey, Charles, could you grab some potatoes from the back room?" Darwin asked.
Charles looked up from where he was stirring something and nodded. "Sure, Darwin. How many did you want?"
Darwin shrugged. "Dozen or so?"
Charles turned from his pot and walked past Erik, tossing him a smile and a wink as he slid past, purposely closer than strictly necessary so that their bodies brushed slightly. Erik's heart skipped a beat and his stomach lurched a bit but he refused to let anything show. The past week and a half had been interminable, especially since Raven showed up to demand answers about her brother's romantic life. Awkward did not even begin to cover how he felt then…and how guilty he felt about lying to Charles about having feelings for him.
But he could not get involved. No matter how much he'd like to. Clearly Charles didn't get that because he'd been waging a slow and steady war of seduction on the agent and damn it if it wasn't starting to work.
Hearing a faint thump from the back room, Erik sighed and pushed off from the counter he was leaning against to check on his charge. He was almost to the door, about to call out, when Charles appeared with a bowl of potatoes in his hands. Charles smiled at him and tripped. The bowl dropped with a clank, the potatoes spilled out onto the tiles and Charles all but slammed into Erik's chest face first. Erik's arms instinctively went around him, steadying him.
Charles looked up at him, his eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Erik."
They hadn't been this close since the kiss. Erik still trained him; he just kept a bit of distance between them. Erik cleared his throat and said gruffly, "You okay?"
Charles beamed at him, pressed his hands against Erik's chest, and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Fine. Thank you for catching me." Then he was off and picking up potatoes, leaving Erik to gather his thoughts. You're gonna be the death of me, he thought, not for the first time but this time with fondness in his thoughts.
"Hey, man, what's going on in there?" Alex's voice filtered through the comms, a light teasing tone to it.
"Focus on your job," Erik growled back but there was no bite to it. He was mellowing, he realized, and blamed it on Charles.
Charles took up his place at the soup pot again, but not without flashing Erik a knowing look. Erik shook his head. Thank god this assignment ended in a couple weeks. Although he was starting to wonder if he could give in a bit and still keep Charles safe. Then it occurred to him: did Charles trip on purpose, just so Erik would catch him? Damn, he was good.