| "I
know what you're thinking." Erik stopped in his tracks, half-way across the kitchen, feeling suddenly guilty, as though he was doing something he shouldn't, when in actual fact all he wanted was a refill of coffee. Last night, when he'd been busy stealing the CIA's files on Shaw and sneaking out of the building, then he had been doing something he shouldn't have been, and Charles had caught him doing it. "What am I thinking?" Charles was standing in front of the sink, a white china mug held between his hands, dying wisps of steam rising from the surface of what Erik presumed was tea, given the colour. "That if I open my mouth a little wider, I could fit both feet inside." Off the hook for whatever he didn't do, Erik grinned and took a step toward him. "Now let me get it straight, Charles. Are you talking about what you said to the lovely Agent McTaggert this morning that had her leaving in such a hurry? Or are you perhaps referring to outing poor Hank just after we arrived?" Charles looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Erik took pity on him. "Don't worry, you've said all the right things to me." It made him smile, which was worth Erik's moment of weakness. "It's is unusual, believe me. Too often I can only find the wrong things to say. It's a curse, and an embarrassing one given my abilities. I should be in tune with everyone, should think before I speak, should use my empathy...." It sounded like a familiar litany and Erik cut it off by lifting a spoon from the draining tray next to the sink and dropping it with a small splosh into Charles� tea. It stole the man�s' attention for a moment and a moment was all he needed. "There isn't always time to think," he countered, "sometimes you have to go with your instincts and they're not always going to be right." Charles picked the teaspoon out of his tea and dropped it back into the sink behind him, looking at Erik with a mix of mild annoyance and startlingly deep affection. We�ve known one another less than 24 hours, Erik thought, supposing that he was doing it on purpose because he added, how can this have developed so quickly? This? The word was placed directly into his mind, a moment of pressure that was gone the next. He had no idea how to respond in kind, so he thought his reply as hard as he could. You and I. The smile that broke onto Charles� face was heart warming, and as very little of Erik�s life experience could be described that way the yearning to bask in it surprised him. �Do you really want an answer to that?� Charles asked and he considered it before nodding. �Yes, I do.� "Well, we met under highly stressful circumstances. You were drowning but you were so close to attaining everything you've strived for. I saved your life but I destroyed the chance you had of achieving your goal. I'm sorry, but I would do it again. I couldn't let you die." He was softening his voice as if he didn't want a single word to hurt. Erik said nothing, simply stared at him and wondered what he'd done to deserve this man who had quite literally dropped into his life. "Relationships forged in such a way are usually stronger from the start. You are I share a common bond, we want the same things more or less. It makes sense we'd be drawn to one another. Either that or you'd hate me for the rest of your life." He was only half-joking at the end there, Erik realised, and said, "I suppose it could have gone that way." "Tell me it didn't." Charles looked and sounded suddenly worried, as if he had to know what Erik was feeling. Erik felt like something had detonated inside him and the pressure was slowly building. It was the best thing he'd felt in a long, long time. "You know it didn't." He said it steadily, with only a hint of accusation, and Charles dipped his chin to blow across the surface of his tea. "I'm not reading your mind, but I can feel you. Some of your louder thoughts are a little... distracting." "Which particular ones?" Erik tilted his head in interest, wondering without any fear the type of thoughts that leaked from his mind. A smile touched Charles' lips. "You know which ones I mean." He could guess, but he was finding that playing with Charles could be fun. "Do I?" Turning slow, deliberately putting the mug down on the sideboard, Charles stepped forward and closed the gap between them. Suddenly they weren't playing. Erik regarded him steadily for a time before deciding on his next line. "I'm damaged goods, Charles." He pursed his lips then shook his mind. "That may be your opinion, it's certainly not mine." "You don't know me." "I know everything about you." Shaking his head, he argued, "It's not the same." "It's enough." Erik wasn't sure if they were talking generally, about the basis of a friendship or something more, until Charles added, "For now." Then he knew. |