My Family Tree's Losing All Its Leaves

[magneticfields]

Who: Charles and Erik
What: Maybe they should talk about how easily Erik smashed Charles' doppelgänger? Or the fact that Jean and Raven died like a month ago? Or maybe they'll continue to ignore all that and bicker about the chore chart. Who knows.
Where: Their room
When: Evening, during the pool party
Warnings: Talk of grief, murder, dead children. Probably no smut in this one, though.



[ Erik comes home late, a he usually does. He works as many hours as he can, banking whatever money, secrets, and favors he can get his hands on. The rest of his time is spent exploring as much of the city as he can access without rousing suspicion, or in the basement of the bar tinkering on things. The truth is, he's been remarkably scarce since they moved in together. Or it's his normal amount of scarce, there just usually isn't anybody around to notice it.

He takes off his jacket and his shoes. ]

Miss me?

[ He smiles and bends to kiss the top of Charles' head. ]

Or were you having too much fun in the lazy river?

Comments

[magneticfields]

[ Erik burrows his face against Charles' shoulder and laughs softly. He breathes him in, feeling the weight of him in his arms, the warmth of his body against his. All of his unhappiness about their situation feeling farther away, more manageable, with the scent of Charles in his nose and the feeling of his fond amusement in his thoughts. It still doesn't seem real after so many decades. ]

Try not to get too many callouses. [ He folds his fingers around Charles' and lifts them to his lips. ] I like your soft hands.

[axiomed]

[ charles shakes his head fondly, smothering a quick laugh. his fingers find erik's neck, stroking down to the center of his spine, rinse, repeat. ]

I think there was a compliment somewhere in there. But not to worry, I don't think I'm in any danger of that.

[magneticfields]

[ Erik's lids flutter closed as tension slowly seeps from him. ]

I could try for a more straightforward compliment, but I don't want to over-inflate your ego.

[ He murmurs, smirking. As if he's the humble one. ]

[axiomed]

[ charles hums, a rumble in his chest. ]

Yes, that could be rather dangerous.

[magneticfields]

[ Erik hums in agreement as he slowly wraps around Charles. ]

It may not even be possible, to be perfectly honest.

[axiomed]

[ charles leans closer, resting his head on erik's shoulder. ]

I wonder.

[ the topic of his ego feels like a loaded one, one charles hasn't fulled touched since jean perished. ]

[magneticfields]

[ Erik doesn't miss that shift toward melancholy. As much as he's been living in his own pink bubble of happiness, he knows that Charles is still struggling with his grief. Erik himself is still struggling with his grief over Nina. He's had more time to process it, come to terms with it, wrestle it into a shape and form that is no longer debilitating. He presses his lips to Charles' temple. ]

She's been on your mind.

[ He murmurs, his tone soft and gentle as his kiss. ]

[axiomed]

[ there's a wisp of a laugh, barely a chuckle and a cross between a sigh. his arms wrap themselves around erik. ]

All of it has been on my mind. I've never been good with my own feelings.

[ tackling his own on top of everyone else's was too much long ago. and though he's long accepted this is the way it must be, that this is an intrinsic part of him, another part misses being numb all over. ]

[magneticfields]

For what it's worth, you're handling it much better than I did.

[ Pitch black humor is the sort of thing that has kept him sane. If he is sane. Maybe it's evidence of the contrary. He caresses Charles' head, feeling a powerful rush of conflicting emotions at the memory. Grief for his family, shame for his actions, rage at Apocalypse for taking advantage of him in his weakened state, pride at how they managed to defeat him after all, and overwhelming love for Charles. The lifeline that dragged Erik out of the black pit he had jumped into at the start of all that. ]

You took responsibility for your errors in judgment. You were able to apologize to her. She knew how much you loved her. That's not nothing.