Old Friend

Chapter 7

“Erik, what did you do?” Charles asked anxiously when Erik unlocked the door and entered his bedroom. Erik inhaled deeply and sat down on Charles’ bed edge before he answered.

“I sent him away,” he explained.

Charles looked sceptical when he heard this. “Really…? He just left, without any fight at all?”

“I hope so. I confronted him in the gym. He said he’d leave, and that he was glad to do it. You don’t have to worry, Charles. Even if he’d still be in the house, that door will keep him from you.”

Charles smiled. “You have been very good to me, Erik. I don’t know how to thank you.”

Erik felt himself blushing. It was ridiculous, of course, but having Charles’ gratitude meant a lot to him.

“I think I’ll come up with something,” he said with a wink.

Charles was blushing too. The look in Erik’s eyes was mischievous, almost suggestive. He could interpret it well even without telepathy. Erik was flirting with him. There was no doubt about that.

“Eh… Let me know when you have figured something out,” said Charles, not really sure how Erik would interpret his words.

“Count on it,” Erik replied, taking Charles’ hand in his own. “But don’t think about it now. Now you have to focus on getting well. That is all that matters. Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

Charles smiled in reply. “Yes, some food would be nice,” he agreed and actually started sensing how hungry he was. It was already 6:10 PM, and he hadn’t eaten since this morning.

“Then I’ll get you that,” said Erik. “I actually think I’ll eat here with you. I haven’t eaten since breakfast either. What would you like, Charles?”

“I think you know what I like. Take what you can find? I have never been selective.”

“I believe I’ll find something that suits your tastes,” Erik assured.

“I’ll wait here!” Charles laughed.

Erik left the bedroom to go fix their food. He didn’t know if Sabretooth was still around, but he wasn’t going to take any chances, so he locked the door. Knowing that Charles was safe could make him relax.

The kitchen was empty except for Pyro when he arrived there. It seemed like Sabretooth had left, despite of all, and Mystique was nowhere around either.

“Hello,” Erik said when he saw the young man sitting by the table and chewing on a pizza slice.

“Hello, Erik,” John replied. “You want some?” he then asked and gestured at his pizza. “There’s more in the fridge if you’d like.”

Erik smiled, shaking his head. “No thank you. Junk food is really not my field. Why are you sitting here all alone, John?”

John shrugged. “Yeah, where’s everybody? Maybe you can tell me that?”

“Have you seen Sabretooth lately?”

John failed to suppress a snort. “No…” he murmured. //And I can’t say I’m sorry for it.// “Why?” he then added innocently.

“What about Raven?”

“She was here earlier,” John told him. “I asked her if she wanted food, but she said she had a headache and wanted some time alone.”

Mystique? A headache? Erik thought. That was something new… I hope she wasn’t offended when I said I didn’t want to have sex with her.

“How’s the professor?” Pyro asked.

“He is much better,” Erik replied. “His powers are yet to return, but he is recovering. Probably it is just a matter of time before he can read minds again.”

John had trouble picturing professor Xavier as a non-telepath. When he heard the word “telepathy” he thought of the professor, and vice versa. Those two words were linked.

“Can I see him?”

Erik hesitated. “No, I’m sorry, St. John. Not today. Something… happened, and I believe resting will do him good this evening. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll have to ask him.”

“Okay,” John said. “I’d just like to see him before… How long will he stay, by the way?”

“I don’t know that. But he’s staying for another while. At least till he regains his telepathy.”

John smiled wryly. “He must be pretty helpless without it, isn’t he?”

Erik nodded seriously. “He is. But I feel sorry for him… I know what it’s like to lose something you’ve relied on all your life. I felt like that while I was incarcerated.”

“Stryker drugged you. It’s not that same,” John claimed.

Erik wasn’t sure whether or not he should tell John what Sabretooth had done to Charles, or that he had sent the blond giant away. Of course John would find out – sooner or later – that Sabretooth was gone, but Erik didn’t feel like discussing it now. What was he here for, again? Right, he was to cook for himself and Charles.

“You’ll see the professor tomorrow,” Erik promised Pyro. “I see why you’re worried for him. You *were* once his student.”

“But now I’m yours,” John said with a shrug.

“Yes. Don’t forget that.”

*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*

Charles’ stomach practically growled after sometime, and when Erik returned with the food he had to try hard not to drivel.

Erik had brought two trays; one for Charles and one for himself, and since he couldn’t physically carry them both, the other metal tray was hovering in the air before him. Charles couldn’t help arching his brows when he saw it, which drew a smile from Erik. The tray sailed toward Charles and slowly and neatly placed itself on his lap in the bed.

“Wow…” Charles murmured. “Like breakfast in bed…”

“Dinner in bed, please,” Erik said. “I hope you’ll enjoy it.”

“I am sure I will.”

Erik had made lamb steaks and French fried potatoes with a bowl of salad. It was easy and good, and something that both he and Charles liked. He had also brought a bottle of red wine.

“For the food,” he explained. “I thought it would suit us well, but if you’d rather like a soft drink I’ll get you that.”

“No, I’d really like a glass of wine,” said Charles.

“Splendid.”

“Neither Charles nor Erik was used to eating in bed, but it went surprisingly well. One single drop of red wine trickled down Charles’ chin and landed on the covers, but besides that there were no misadventures. The meal was good and when they were done eating they were feeling full as well as tired.

Erik put the trays away and Charles suggested they’d take another glass of wine, just because this was such a special moment.

Neither of the two men could have imagined they would be eating and drinking together again after what happened at Alkali Lake, so this *was* actually a special moment. And special moments never lasted forever, so they had to make sure they enjoyed it now.

“It’s not even eight,” Erik said while they were sitting next to each other in bed, sipping their half-full drinks. “It’s a little early to go to bed, isn’t it?”

Charles nodded. “Maybe.”

“I have a TV in here, as you may have noticed. Would you like to watch a movie, perhaps?”

“Yes, that would be great.”

Erik reached for the remote control which he kept in one of his bedside drawers. Before he turned the TV on he crawled down under the covers and curled beside Charles. The telepath welcomed his presence and encouraged him to put his arm around his shoulders. Erik did, holding Charles close, but realized he had to be gentle and not bump his bruises or cigarette burn marks.

And then there was another thing. Erik was indeed fully dressed, but Charles was stark naked. Lying in bed with a naked ex lover could also be a bit distracting – which is very much was. Erik didn’t know if Charles felt the same now, but he had yesterday, when Erik helped him bathe.

Erik knew he wanted to make love to Charles. He couldn’t do it now, of course – Charles’ injuries would prevent him from enjoying sexual activities for some time ahead, and besides Erik didn’t believe Charles wanted sex now after what Sabretooth did to him. The beast almost raped him, after all.

“If he had raped you, I would have killed him,” Erik said suddenly.

Charles turned his head to look at his friend. He knew at once who Erik was referring to. It had actually been very close that Sabretooth had forced himself upon him.

“You would?” Charles asked faintly, and couldn’t think of anything more to say.

“Yes. Absolutely,” Erik replied gravely and pressed a kiss to Charles’ forehead. “But don’t think about that anymore. He is gone.”

Charles curled up against Erik and rested his head on his shoulder. It felt good to be heldse. se. Charles wasn’t given comfort very often. At the mansion he was everybody’s mentor and father figure, and certainly had to give comfort quite often, but rarely received any back. Everyone certainly expected he didn’t need anything like that, but they were wrong.

After Jean’s death they had all come to him for comfort and cried against his shoulder, but no one had ever wondered how he dealt with his own grief. Charles had lost a daughter and a beloved student. Had anyone even thought about that? Maybe it was because he had no real equal at the mansion, and no one expected a child to comfort a parent, after all. But Erik *was* his equal, and therefore also someone who understood him better.

Erik turned the TV on and tried to search for something to watch. It wasn’t easy, since most TV channels only showed crap like talk shows and stupid TV-programs such as “Temptation Island” which he couldn’t stand watching for five minutes, and he doubted Charles could either.

After a while of zapping between the channels Erik finally managed to find a movie that seemed interesting. The movie was called “Heart in Atlantis”, starring Anthony Hopkins.

Erik asked Charles if he wanted to watch the movie, and felt the telepath’s nod against his shoulder.

“Heart is Atlantis” was in fact much better than either of them had expected. When half the movie was over, Erik reached for the wine bottle and poured himself another drink. Not because he wanted to get tipsy, but because he liked the taste of it, and it had a soothing effect on him.

After a while Charles’ breaths started getting deeper, which meant he was becoming tired. Erik almost had to shake him gently when the movie had ended, making Charles jerk and blink sleepily.

Erik simply smiled at him. “Hey, sleepyhead… Did you miss the ending?”

“No, I followed…” Charles objected, though that wasn’t entirely true. “It was an… amusing film. What did you think, Erik?”

“Alright,” Erik agreed. “But I couldn’t quite get used to hearing the voice of Hannibal Lecter in a movie like that.”

“Anthony Hopkins is an excellent actor,” Charles claimed. “It’s just that most people do remember him as Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” because that is his most famous part.”

“Yes, too bad that is…”

“I’m getting tired, Erik…” Charles murmured, yawning loudly as a demonstration. “It must have been the wine…”

Erik laughed. “Yes, maybe. But I know you have always had a low alcohol tolerance. Anyway, I’ll let you sleep, old friend. In fact I’m kind of tired myself. It has been a difficult day for all of us. Just let me get undressed…”

Erik moved away from Charles and swung his legs over the bed edge in order to get his clothes off. He couldn’t see Charles, but he could almost *feel* the other’s eyes on him. Charles was surely looking forward to seeing him naked. Hopefully. And Erik had nothing against granting his old friend’s wish.

When he had disrobed, he folded his clothes and put them away. He was always very particular about keeping order in his environment, unlike some others. Pyro, formplemple, simply threw his clothes in a heap on the floor and let them lie there for weeks. Erik’s eyes hurt from seeing the mess whenever he looked inside the young man’s room, but luckily he didn’t need to do it very often.

Charles’ attentive eyes quickly moved over Erik’s naked body before he crawled in under the covers. Erik still had a very nice body. He was slim and pale, and although his skin was saggy in places he was still very smooth.

“Will you let me hold you again?” Erik asked.

“Hmmm…” Charles murmured sleepily when Erik slid down behind him, pressing his body lightly against Charles’. Skin-to-skin contact with Erik was also a nice feeling, and he was almost about to ask Erik to touch him intimately again, like he did last night when he believed Charles was asleep.

But Charles was too weary to become aroused for real, and he dropped off in no time. Erik did not. He lay behind his friend, with his arm around his waist while his arousal grew. Simply holding Charles wouldn’t be enough, he realized. He would have to touch him as well.

Carefully, not to wake Charles who needed sleep, Erik passed his hand along Charles’ side. His ribs, his hip bone and his thigh… Charles had very smooth and soft skin, except for the occasional burn marks. Gently Erik took Charles’ penis in his hand. He was soft, of course, and probably couldn’t feel this in a conscious level. Erik felt the scratch caused by Sabretooth under his thumb. The wound was no longer fresh, and a crust had already formed. Probably it didn’t hurt very much.

Charles had a very shapely penis, and Erik had always loved touching it. He did now too. So smooth… Erik’s own arousal grew too hard to ignore, and his member rose, erect against Charles’ buttocks.

Oh, how much he wanted to flip Charles onto his back, spread his legs, and simply thrust into him! It had so long ago… Too long.

Erik started pressing light butterfly kisses to Charles’ neck and rubbed their bodies together to create more stimulation. The throbbing in his erection was almost painful now, and he had to make sure he wasn’t too rough.

Suddenly Charles stirred and it seemed like he was waking up. His body finally responded to Erik’s touch and his member started to engorge and rise in Erik’s hand.

At last, Erik thought happily when he’d managed to get Charles excited. It was about time.

Charles moaned faintly, twisting in Erik’s arms as he tried to buck his hips further into Erik’s grip. But he didn’t wake up properly, but was still too tired for that. His erection flagged eventually, and shrunk in Erik’s hand.

Erik didn’t want to wake his friend only for a few minutes of selfish pleasure, but decided to let Charles sleep for a while before he seduced him again. He sighed disappointed, but gave up his attempts at caresses, leaving his hand still. Right now intimate touching would only disturb Charles.

But when you wake up, my friend, I will take you by storm! he thought.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

John was already sitting in bed in his pyjama, when he heard a knock on his door. He looked up from his book when he heard the sound, and supposed it could be no one but Erik. But it was late; past midnight, actually. What could Erik want at this time?

“Come in…” he called, slightly hesitant.

The door opened, and John was more than just a little surprised when he saw his late night visitor. It was not Erik, but Mystique!

“Can I come in?” she asked him. “Or are you already asleep?”

“No…no, come in…Raven,” John said. “I’m not asleep.”

Mystique slid inside the room and closed the door. In the beginning John had disliked her way of moving, but now he had kind of gotten used to it, like her appearance. She was actually beautiful, once you could look past her blue skin colour, scales and yellow eyes.

Mystique sat down on the armrest of John’s armchair, regarding him. Her eyes then wandered to the book in his lap. It was a textbook on cell biology.

“What are you reading?” she asked.

John sighed and showed her the book. “It’s my homework,” he explained. “Erik insists I read this shit. It’s tedious, but…”

“But he thinks you should learn it,” Mystique concluded his sentence. “I know. He tutored me too, twenty years ago. Education matters.”

“It *is* boring, but… I did stuff like this at the professor’s, so it doesn’t really matter, I suppose. How’s your head, by the way? Any better?”

“Yes, it’s better,” Mystique admitted. “I guess it was a touch of stress,” she sighed. “So much has happened lately… Xavier, the trouble with Sabretooth…everything. But at least it seems like the monster left voluntarily.”

John didn’t quite understand what Mystique was referring to. Had Sabretooth left? When? He could even remember Erik asking for him this afternoon. How was this connected?

“What do you mean “left”? he asked sceptically.

Mystique frowned. “So you haven’t heard?”

John shook his head puzzled. “What?”

“Erik has sent Sabretooth away for attacking Xavier,” she explained. “He realized we could no longer keep him hesincsince he was becoming a security risk. And maybe he was right…”

John didn’t know what to say. Had that animal attacked the professor? That came as a total shock, since Erik hadn’t told him anything.

“Oh God…” was all he got out. “Is he alright? Is the professor alright?”

Mystique shrugged. “Erik said he wasn’t seriously hurt, but deeply shocked. Although I can understand that. Sabretooth hurt me too.”

John recalled the scene in the kitchen yesterday, when the giant held Mystique pressed up against the pantry. He had scratched her, and the look in his black eyes had been murderous. It often was, though. John couldn’t say he actually missed the feral lunatic.

“I know he hurt you,” he said seriously. “How are your arms?”

Mystique showed him her scratched forearms.

“I’ll survive…” she muttered.

Aha, John thought. That’s the reason Erik didn’t let me see the professor tonight. Because he was attacked. That explains a lot…

“But Erik asked me if I’d seen Sabretooth around when I wavingving dinner,” he said thoughtfully.

“He probably just wanted to make sure he’d left,” replied Mystique. “And you hadn’t seen him around, had you?”

John shook his head.

He saw the ghost of a smile on her lips. “I don’t believe Erik had been h if if you’d said yes.”

John smiled as well. “Apparently not.”

“I’ll go now,” Mystique said and rose to her feet. “So you can go back to your book. When Erik questions you on that, you had better know it.”

“I suppose…” sighed John and regarded the book in his lap with contempt.

“Goght,ght, then,” said Mystique and stopped by John’s bed long enough to pull her handoughough his hair. “See you.”

She then sauntered to the door, opened it, and slipped out. John sat still for a long time after she had gone. Mystique visiting him – especially in the evening – was something extremely unusual. It had in fact never happened before.

John wasn’t sure why she came now, but he suspected it had something to do with Erik and Xavier’s close relation. Perhaps Myse wae was feeling lonely?