Disclaimer: The X-Men characters in this fiction were not my creation. This is merely a fan fiction.

A/N: Sorry for taking such a long time to reply. Have been doing my internship - working. So I don't have much time to write. It took me days to write these much (which ain't that much to be honest), mainly because I only have time at night and I go to bed early. Enjoy, anyways! Cheers!

- Chapter Three -

The Silent Touch

The Homo Neanderthalensis (also known as Neanderthal), the Homo Sapien's cousin, was known for his viciousness and brutality. The Neanderthals, though with more sophisticated mental cognizance and not to mention intelligent, they were unpleasant with the evolved Homo Sapiens, whose cells were advanced technologically. Due to jealousy and fear, the Neanderthals used their knowledge to build technology to slash off the increasing number of Homo Sapiens Superior, in hopes of securing their dominance.

In Charles's perspective, most of the scientists he met might have been Neanderthals, especially those who built weaponries and armies. The only way for confirmation was research. When he looked at his own DNA, he was mesmerised. The blue spiralling strands were as though radiating light by themselves. Mutants' DNA may look similar to normal humans', but if you give it a good look with full concentration, you can see some of the bridges that connect the twisting strands are different from the others. Depending on the mutation, it may differ from 1 out of 1,000 to 1 out of 100,000. This also depends on whether you are using your supernatural abilities. Like the case of Raven's, her cells and DNA altered whenever she made a physical alteration. These strands of DNA define the limit of the abilities. There are levels for each preternatural abilities. If you have a stronger DNA, you can go beyond the abilities, else, you only can control the basics shallowly.

Charles were busy writing his thesis with the typewriter. There were papers surrounding him. A pen was hanging on his mouth, another on his right ear. Whenever he had new ideas, he would write on the draft he had.

"Damn!" He cursed. His brain was drained. Nothing would be generated with a void mind. So he decided to pay a visit to the Bodleian Libraries.

Charles wore a light brown coat like how investigators would wear on TV shows. The weather was cool since it was mid-autumn. The gingery leaves on the branches of the oak trees were dispensing themselves to the nature like pouring rain. Charles inhaled the scent of the nature while accepting the breeze to envelope him.

The architecture of the libraries were archaic. Under sunlight, the library looked gold in colour. He led himself to the Radcliffe Science Library. Books were arranged perfectly in order on the dark wooden bookshelves. He went to the biology division and started to ponder which books were useful. When he could not decide on which books, he just grabbed anything he saw. He carried piles of books which almost blocked his vision. He walked slowly with a handful of books to the nearest table and rested his arms on the table while arranging the books on the table.

He started reading the first book. His attention zoomed into each keyword he found in the book. Halfway through completion, he noticed a hateful glower nearby his table. He shot his head up to see a familiar face. She quickly turned her head back to her book. His eyes widened for a second and resumed to normal size. He took a glance on the title of the books scattered nearby her.

Ironic. He shot a peek on the mutation-related references.

When it was lunch time, both of them stood up together. Awkward ambiance surrounded the two of them. Charles could barely breathe for a second, but when she took the first step to leave the table, his breathing resumed. Both of them headed toward the nearby café in the library. She was always a few steps ahead of him. The only thing he wished was that she did not assume he was stalking her. He was not.

The moment he entered the café, all he could smell were the steaming caffeine and newly-baked muffins. There were also various types of breads, cakes and cookies, but he was more sensitive to the freshly baked. The number of customers gradually increased and the queue for payment elongated every second. Charles quickly picked 2 muffins and a few more slices of cookies, then ordered a cup of cappuccino. He grabbed the tray and started to look for a place to settle. Most of the seats were occupied. He continued to scan until he saw an empty seat. Without hesitation, he approached the vacancy. As he drew closer to the seat, he sensed yet again, that familiar odious aura. Their eyes met. Something in Charles wavered a second, before asking for permission, "may I?"

She nodded lightly while resuming to the cheese cake. She had a book lying on her thigh. She took a bite of the cake and read a few pages of the book.

"Excuse me, Miss Willocq," he pointed over the book. "It's not healthy to eat and read at the same time."

"Advice from a man who doesn't have proper meals and takes in caffeine habitually," she sipped in her cup of tea, never bother at all to see him in the eyes.

"How'd you know that's my routine?" he raised an eyebrow.

"People talk," she emphasised. "In the lab."

"Oh," and he thought, he had missed something mutant-ish from her. Nevertheless, she did not acknowledge the advice and continued to read and munch at the same time.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them, despite the boisterous surrounding. There were a few times Charles had to sip his cup while staring his left and right direction so that he could avoid staring at her instead.

"So," he finally spoke to break the stillness between the two beings, "what books are you reading?"

"Is that of your concern?" She raised an eyebrow, but the book never left her sight, as though her eyesight were glued to the book.

"Just curious," he shrugged while sipping his cappuccino.

"Mutation mostly," she replied mechanically. She knew he was just trying to make conversation. She did realise she was a bit harsh on him during the previous encounter, so to be fair, she tried to converse with him with a less repulsive approach. She knew he was a decent man (despite being a Casanova), like she said, people in the laboratory talk. She had heard a lot of virtuous things about Charles Xavier from her lab-mates. "I can't say much, but Dr. Claymon has been developing a machine relating to mutation, perhaps mutants."

"Hmm, interesting." Charles cupped his jaw while pondering the possibilities of projects Dr. Claymon was planning.

"I better go off now," she stared at her watch. She stood up instantly and had forgotten the book was still on her thigh. The book fell onto the floor, opening up to a random page. Charles, being a gentleman like always, paced forward and stretched his arm to help her. Her hand stretched together at the same time. For a second, her fingers rested on his skin. He realised she did not have her gloves on her. He could feel a slight static shock that sent to his nerves. She gasped deeply like she was rescued from drowning, her eyes went dreamy as long as her fingers were on his skin, then almost instantaneous, she retreated. She stared at the direction of his hand which was clutching onto her book. She gently brushed her hair to the back of her ears.

He handed the book to her. She quickly grasped it, but perceptibly avoiding any skin-ship. Her skin was pale.

"Thank you." She expressed casually. She held the book in front of her chest as though the book was something precious. She clinched the book tightly. Charles thought, if the book was alive, it would be screaming for help due to suffocation.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she quickly responded and removed herself from the café. With a few blinks, she merged with the crowd which was also leaving the café.