Prompt Post: ROUND THREE
ROUND THREE IS CLOSED
<< ROUND TWO | ALL ROUNDS | ROUND FOUR >>
Rules post.
Flat view.
Updates Post (WIPs only)
Fills Post (completed Fills only)
damalur's firstclasskink on Delicious.
Volunteers always welcome.
There may be some delay on posts appearing when there is a URL in the message body as they are automatically marked as suspicious and I ( Read more... )
<< ROUND TWO | ALL ROUNDS | ROUND FOUR >>
Rules post.
Flat view.
Updates Post (WIPs only)
Fills Post (completed Fills only)
damalur's firstclasskink on Delicious.
Volunteers always welcome.
There may be some delay on posts appearing when there is a URL in the message body as they are automatically marked as suspicious and I ( Read more... )
“- swear, I’m not joking about this!”
“Please, sir. You can leave your shoes on.” Puet said, voice worried. “May I take your…cape, sir?”
A second later, the two entered the living room, coming to a stop at the entrance to look at the group waiting for them.
“Well Charles, teachers must get paid a lot more than I was aware.” Erik said, taking in the large room and extravagant furnishings. Puet was holding his helmet like he had no idea what to do with it until Charles sent him a telepathic message to put it in the room closes to him own.
Suddenly Sean squeaked, one hand covering his mouth while the other pointed at Azazel. Azazel, raised an eyebrow in return but mostly ignored the rude behavior.
“It’s him-” Sean started hitting Alex’s arm. Alex tried to shake him off but Sean clung on. “General Azazel of the Red army!”
“What?” Alex hissed at him.
“Generals, I’m sorry. Some of my students wanted to make sure I was okay after my fall.” Charles said, gesturing to the two fumbling boys.
“It’s fine.” Erik replied. He was watching Charles with a crooked smile on his face.
Charles blushed, he turned to the two boys. “Alex, Sean, this is General Azazel and General…Magneto. They will be guests here for the week.” Though really, Charles wasn’t sure how long Erik intended to stay. He had already mentioned that they would have the service tomorrow, a Judge to officiate the ceremony along with Azazel and Raven as witness, and after that. Well after that, was something Charles really was trying hard not to think about.
Alex and Sean’s eyes got huge, staring at both men with something like awe and horror. It was a face Raven had gotten use to seeing today.
“How far up exactly are you marrying Professor,” Alex asked.
Erik lips twitched into a smirk, the amusement coming off him was almost palpable. “I’m not too sure he would be the one marrying up. Charles, I must disappoint you, my house is practically a shed compared to this.” He gestured with his arms to the room around them.
His two students whirled around to boggle at him. Both their minds sending a wave of questions at their Professor. Distantly he heard Raven say, “You haven’t seen our Shed yet.”
“Boys,” Charles massaged his temples. Erik frowned at him. “I will answer questions later. But right now I must see to my guests.”
Raven kicked at the back of Alex’s shoe. “That means leave in polite Charles-speak.”
Sean looked like he would have to be dragged away until Erik glared at the two boys. Alex grabbed his friend and fellow student and headed towards the front door, giving the two Generals a wide berth. It seemed that as star struck as he was he was still somewhat unsettled by the situation.
Charles waited until he heard Puet shut the door before looking at Erik again. The man was so tall and lean, like tempered steel, he looked almost a stranger to Charles. The man he remembered from that bright summer weekend at the McCoy’s was not nearly as intimidating. But the eyes- the eyes were still the same.
Azazel was looking at the crown molding on the walls, his tail curling and uncurling behind him. Raven was watching him, suspicious of his behavior. It looked like she wouldn’t mind fighting the man again, if it would help relieve some of her frustration.
“I will have Puet show you to your rooms. I’m afraid it’s been a long day for me so I’m going to retire. Raven, of course, will be there for dinner.”
Erik motioned to Azazel, as if in silent communication the red man started towards Charles. Raven stepped in front of him. “What do you think you’re doing.”
Azazel sighed in exasperation, “I am taking him upstairs to his room. He is injured, no?”
Charles spoke before his sister could growl, “It’s fine and we have an elevator.”
Erik and Azazel blinked at him. Grabbing the handle bars to his wheelchair, Raven started him down the hall. Charles had never been teleported anywhere before and truthfully he didn’t want his first experience to be one where he was just going upstairs to his room.
Puet popped out of nowhere behind Erik, they started discussing arrangements for their rooms.
Reply
“Where else would you expect my fiancé to stay?”
“I don’t know, some fancy hotel. You know the community is going to know about this by dinner time, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had half the students stopping by tomorrow just to get a glimpse of them.”
Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I know. I was hoping they would have come by later, but with that helmet and that teleporters ability I can’t get a lock on them to gauge where they are.” Charles turned to look at her, “I must confess that I will have to beg of you to chase the students away if they come by tomorrow.”
“I think the armed guards might help ward off the crowd.”
“You forget Angel can fly and she’s easy to bribe.”
Raven laughed, opening Charles door so he could wheel himself in the rest of the way. She silently dug through his drawers and pulled out a set of pajamas, blue pin-striped, and set them on the bed.
“I can’t imagine what’s going through your mind right now.”
“No, you can’t.” Charles said, not unkindly.
Raven watched Charles shuffle things around on his bedside table, moving some paperwork and a couple of books onto the floor. He looked like he was just nervously fluttering around, finding things to occupy his hands and keep his mind blank. Things very rarely frustrated or surprised Charles, but when these rare occurrences happen they always seemed to break him down.
“Do you want me to-”
“Please, Raven. I would really like some sleep. In the morning we can talk but I just want to be alone right now.”
Raven silently left, closing the door softly behind her. Charles could feel her pity and anger coming off her as she walked to her own room. He felt bad for abandoning her to their two guest alone tonight but he really didn’t want to deal with all the petty things when he could barely concentrated because of the larger problems.
Reply
This had to be what Kings and Queens of old thought about before their wedding nights. Being married to virtual strangers, forced into bed for the hope of their people. Truthfully, it wasn’t a hard choice; the lives of his people for a few days of awkward sex. But he was making light of the situation. It wouldn’t really be over after the sex. Because he was going to carry a child, the legend of his people, for he guessed 9 months and after that...
A child, oh god, he was going to have a baby. Someone who was partly his and would belong more to the Empire than any mutant born before. Erik had not been heartless explaining the subject of their child.
He had promised, because Charles had asked in panic, that he would keep the Emperor out of his families private life as best as he could but Charles was expected to bring the child when it was of age before the Emperor and concede to whatever was asked of him. Because Charles was a traitor and he had graciously taken into consideration that the Emperor and his court would make his new husband uncomfortable. Charles would have to learn, or at least compromise to certain views of his new husband. But should Charles get any funny ideas, he forfeits his ability to be a parent and Erik would take the child away to be raised in the Capital without him.
They hadn’t even conceived the child and it was already being used against him.
But at least he wasn’t being used as a breeder. He would be a husband and ‘mother’ and would be able to raise his child as any normal parents would. They didn’t plan to take the child from him as soon as it left his womb, which was a relief.
He hadn’t been surprised by Erik’s frank speech. Their talk in the hospital had been stark and to the point, clinical like the setting. In a strange way, Charles had appreciated it. It hadn’t allowed him to get very emotional about it and therefore freak out in front of everybody. It was sort of like strategizing- about marriage, sex, and child rearing.
It also looked like Erik had been at the edge also. His thin smiles and calm expression barely hid the wild look in his eyes. It reminded Charles that Erik was just as much a victim of this as he was, but Erik had a military background to fall back to. He was use to taking orders and carrying them out without asking questions. Charles had the opposite problem; he just wanted to ask more questions.
The one question he had been able to get out was ‘why?’
Erik had answered honestly: if not, the lives of their species were doomed to be destroyed by humans and could Charles live with himself if he refused his people a future.
There were over 3 million mutants on the Earth today. They were eclipsed by their human relatives 3 to every 600. They were vastly outnumbered but even Charles didn’t believe that didn’t make things fair in a fight. Given a chance, one powerful mutant could raze cities and kill thousands in a day- and they have before. Because that’s what Shaw did when he took over and created the Empire almost 200 years ago.
So Charles would do his duty. But not for the Empire, never for them, but for his people.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment