Comfort (X-Men: First Class, M, Charles/Erik, Cold)

[Dusty15]

“Charles? Are you in there, mate?”

Charles Xavier looked up at the locked door of his study and focused his mind on the mutant standing on the opposite side. One quick mental picture informed him that it was Erik.

“Not now, Erik,” he said. “I’m kind of busy.”

By busy, he meant that he was busy feeling like crud. He’d woken up with the beginnings of a cold and now, at one in the afternoon, it was full-blown. His head, nose, and chest were all congested, he ached all over, and he couldn’t focus for longer than a few seconds without sniffling, sneezing, coughing, or dozing off. All in all, he was useless when it came to the work that needed to be done, but he didn’t want anyone else to know that. Weakness from a leader wasn’t particularly inspiring, and they had a lot to accomplish. He didn’t want a little cold to become a distraction.

A ‘click’ and ‘pop’ came from the door, and the knob turned slowly. Ah, yes, Erik and his metal. He’d picked the lock. Great.

“You aren’t wanking off in here or something, are you?” Erik asked, opening the door to reveal himself standing with eyes squeezed shut.

“No,” Charles replied. “Just getting some work done.”

Erik opened his eyes, took one look at Charles, and frowned.

“Work? Mate, you look awful. Christ, you should be in bed.”

“I’m fine,” Charles said, but it sounded more like ‘I’b fide’.

“You don’t sound fine either.”

“It’s a head cold, not pneumonia. No big matter. But I could use your help. I was going to go back to do some more work with Cerebro. Could you power it up for me?”

Erik raised an eyebrow.

“That’s probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because, if you’re sick, hooking you up to a machine that already exhausts a healthy you doesn’t seem like a smart move.”

“I know my limits, Erik.”

“If I think you’re in danger, I’m stopping it,” Erik replied. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Charles replied, rising from his seat and heading for the lab. Why he’d decided this was a good work suggestion he couldn’t say. Even the short walk to the lab left him drowsy and feeling short of breath. He sat down in the chair under the Cerebro helmet, trying to hide the fact that he was panting. A few coughs escaped and he rubbed at his chest in irritation.

“You okay?” Erik called from the control board.

“Something caught in my throat,” Charles croaked as he pulled the helmet down and strapped it under his chin. “Turn it on.”

He closed his eyes, focusing his energy, as the helmet powered up. A rush of images and sounds poured into his head and he tried to center his thoughts on one, narrowing their search for fellow mutants down piece by piece. An image of a young girl formed, a girl with a tail and…

His nose twitched and the image flitted away from view. The rush of sounds and pictures intensified as his mouth dropped open and his breathing quickened.

Hehh’tscttt!

He sneezed wetly, body snapping forward, the helmet’s cords tugging at their connectors.

Hehhh..ehh’tschtt!

Again, he sneezed, the sound more congested and irritated. His eyes squeezed shut as the roar in his head peaked to a painful level and he was unable to sort through the pictures.

There was a humming sound in the distance and the lights flickered. His hands grasped the arms of his chair and he cried out, the ache in his head exploding. His own voice sounded hoarse and far away, interrupted by coughs. A loud snap echoed as Erik hit the emergency shutdown and Cerebro powered off.

“What did I say?” Erik shouted, rushing to his friend’s side and un-clipping the helmet’s strap, lifting it away as Charles bent forward in another sneeze.

Ehh’tshhhcctttt!

“Bless you. Here.”

Erik extended a handkerchief to a grateful Charles, who took it and blew his nose, honking congestedly, unable to clear his head very much. He relapsed into coughs, bent at the waist. Erik put a hand on his shaking back and rubbed soothingly.

“Christ, Charles, you should be in bed. Really.”

The coughs died down and Charles looked up, nose blossoming red and eyes watery.

“Maybe,” he croaked. “I feel bloody awful.”

“I can see that.”

“I’ve got some more to do though. Maybe I’ll have some tea and take something, and we can come back to this.”

“Seriously, Charles?” Erik asked incredulously. “You nearly hurt yourself and almost broke Cerebro. You’re not coming back to this today. You’re going to lie down and get better. If it isn’t in bed, at least in the study. Please.”

“But…”

“No. We need you too badly to let you wear yourself down and just get sicker. Now c’mon. I’ll fix you a cup of tea and fetch some blankets. Go change into some pajamas or something and get comfortable.”

Charles relented, looking rather put-out, and slouched off in the direction of his room. Secretly, he was grateful for the discrete attention from his friend and looking forward to a nap. His head was now pounding, from both the after-effects of Cerebro and his congestion. He went into his room and changed into his pajamas before climbing into bed and pulling the sheets up to his chin.

Erik entered a few moments later with a mug of steaming hot tea and an extra quilt. He deposited the mug on the nightstand and spread the quilt across Charles, tucking it in.

Propping himself with some pillows, Charles sat up and sipped at the tea, feeling the congestion loosen a little with the steam.

“Do you have a fever?” Erik asked, reaching out his palm and pressing it to Charles’ brow.

Charles shivered a little at the touch, surprised by it.

“No,” Erik assessed. “Good. Now finish that tea and go to sleep.”

“I think maybe sleep,” Charles said, setting the mug aside half-emptied. He slid down into the pillows, trying to get comfortable. His thick brown hair fell across his face and Erik reached over to smooth it back. Charles smiled. Erik was being incredibly sweet about all this. It surprised him a little, how good of a care-taker he could be.

With Erik settled in the armchair across the bedroom, Charles tried to sleep, but he kept drifting off only to wake himself sputtering and coughing. A worried Erik came back to the bedside to fluff the pillows and try to settle his friend into a more upright position to help with the congestion.

Hehh’txcht!

Charles sneezed into his arm and sniffled wetly.

“Ugh,” he groaned, wiping his scarlet nose with his pajama sleeve. “There’s some handkerchiefs in the top drawer of my dresser. Could you fetch me one?”

Erik retrieved two of the several fine linen hankies Charles had folded in his chest of drawers. Monogrammed with the Xavier crest, they were really quite lovely.

Charles wiped his nose gratefully and blew, thick and gurgling. Erik frowned in concern.

“Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“It’s a cold,” Charles said with a small laugh. “You’re being very sweet, though.”

“I’m concerned.”

“It’s nice.”

“Well, I care about you.”

Charles smiled and pressed a hand over Erik’s.

“Thanks. It means a lot.”

Charles closed his eyes, trying to read Erik’s thoughts, but his head was too clouded over to manage more than a swell of feelings of concern and love and…lust?

He felt a creak in the mattress and opened his eyes to find Erik inches from his face. Erik leaned in and kissed Charles, hand wrapping around the back of his head and tangling in his hair. Charles kissed back until he couldn’t help but pull away and cough.

“I’m going to get you sick,” he sputtered.

“I don’t care,” Erik replied. “Let me stay.”

He kicked back the covers and curled up alongside Charles, tucking an arm protectively around his waist, his other hand rubbing Charles’ chest soothingly.

Charles let his head drop against Erik’s, resting his cheek against Erik’s soft hair.

Finally comfortable, he dropped off to sleep.

Edited July 5, 2011 by Dusty15

[Spoo]

Awwwwwww! I've become a HUGE fangirl of this pairing. They're just so perfect together. I wanted to coo over and coddle Charles. I'm glad Erik could do that.

[lattelover09]

This was just too great. Too great!

[queenie]

A...svtaulusto? I... I think you took my words from me. I'm pretty sure I once had agency over the English language. Oh my. This. This was perfect. My. Oh my.

[*Dark_Side*]

Definitely interesting

[Strong_and_Wild]

This is just absouluty amazing, I've read it over and over. Your writing is not only superb, but your ability to make everything seem so dang realistic, its breath taking. James McAvoy made an amazing Charles, didnt he?

[shingetsu]

I'm a huge, HUGE Charles/Erik fan so yeah, this was PERFECT!!!

[Anonymouse]

Of course I had to dig this up and read it.

“You aren’t wanking off in here or something, are you?” Erik asked, opening the door to reveal himself standing with eyes squeezed shut.

LOL I love how he closed his eyes, just in case.

I LOOOOOVE those sneeze spellings for him! So wet and squelchy-sounding.

I also love the monogrammed Xavier handkerchiefs, nice little detail.

“It’s a cold,” Charles said with a small laugh. “You’re being very sweet, though.”

“I’m concerned.”

“It’s nice.”

“Well, I care about you.”

D'awwwwwww.