more werewolf fic--chapters 3 & 4
Here are the next two chapters! There may be a short break, since I'm leaving for England on Monday...but we're about half done, I think. Have some hurt/comfort, and cuddling.
Title: More Than All The World (The Werewolf’s Tale) (chapters 3 & 4 of probably 8) (chapters 1 & 2 here)
Rating: probably R by the end, but PG for now
Word Count: 4,177
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Charles, seemingly unperturbed, hadn’t moved; but Erik could feel the tension in the back of that thought, coiling, Charles ready to stop him if he sprang.
I really like this moment. It shows Charles's bravery - because it does take a lot of guts to not flinch in the face of an angry wolf, telepathy or no - but also his practicality and intelligence - he's giving Erik a chance to calm himself down, but he's not foolish, he has a contingency plan. And I love the way that Charles uses jokes and gentle snark to ease Erik back into calm.
His Charles, given a tiny cup of liquid drinking chocolate, made noises that were positively sinful. Erik stared, wide-eyed, at that tongue sliding over pink lips, and hated being a wolf.Omg… I really really want good hot chocolate now. Like, the Italian kind that reverses the normal American ratios of chocolate to water. Also, I know that Erik hates being a wolf because Charles looks so edible (I had to), but my first thought upon reading that sentence ( ... )
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...I suspect it WOULD be a surprise, on your second day working somewhere, to walk in and find your employer playing chess with a wolf on the carpet! At least Charles is good at calming people down...
It shows Charles's bravery - because it does take a lot of guts to not flinch in the face of an angry wolf, telepathy or no - but also his practicality and intelligenceOh, yay! :-) I liked that moment too; Charles IS a courageous person, and he's been turning his castle into a refuge for the extraordinary people for years, and he's not afraid of much (other than the emotional scars). He's a good match for Erik, in that way: neither of them is ever intimidated by the other, really ( ... )
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neither of them is ever intimidated by the other, really.Definitely. And that's important to them both because it's unusual for them both. Everyone is intimidated by Erik, and everyone WOULD be intimidated by Charles if they comprehended his full power (which Charles of course realizes ( ... )
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And that's important to them both because it's unusual for them both
It's a relief, and a delight, really, to have someone who's an equal. And I suspect people are intimidated by Charles even more because they don't know what he's capable of, and there're no real outward 'tells' for his power...
Erik: no, I would not like a...NO, I said, it's impossible to look intimidating with one's paws in the air...all right maybe a little...but you're not allowed to tell anyone about this!
but a deliberate restraint on himself, so he doesn't unconsciously use his powers. Oh, interesting! And kind of sad, that he'd need to install those sorts of mental checks and reins. I can totally see him doing that to himself, believing it's for everyone else's best, too. And this And they never seem to think about the fact that Charles clearly COULD just erase that fear and they'd never realize it. The fact that they bar Charles from their heads is already proof of ( ... )
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Mwaahahahhaa TOO LATE Erik, next sketch is of you asking for a belly rub!! (I posted the finished unicorn one btw. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I never am with my art, so I figured I should post it.)
In AUs I think Erik realizes that. I think in canon (at least film canon) he convinces himself that Charles truly is naive and foolish and makes himself forget how damn hard heroism and optimism can be, since the core of the Brotherhood's philosophy comes to be that there can be no middle ground between mutant extermination and human extermination, that war is inevitable and so terrorism is justified. Because if Charles is not a naive fool then his long game has validity and Erik is no longer the righteous protector of mutantkind but rather the instigator of avoidable conflict and a murderer of civilians.
AkFKFJJAKFGJK that is teasing!! Ending with Charles disrobing in front of Erik? How cruel to every party! :D
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THIS IS HAPPENING, RIGHT? Wolf!Erik's adorableness should be celebrated! And I like the idea of this becoming an illustrated story...
I think that's true at least in film canon (comics canon is...all kinds of weird anyway); but there's also a kind of desperate sadness to it: he has to believe this, for his followers, for his cause, for his identity...even as he suspects that compromise may've been possible after all. (The Chris Claremont Magneto understood this perfectly. Too bad they've never captured that properly on screen.) And we've talked about how much Charles needs the interludes when he and Erik can run off and just be themselves; Erik needs those moments too, for pretty much those exact reasons...
Well, yes...but, also, there's a reason Charles hasn't been shirtless in front of Erik before...
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there's also a kind of desperate sadness to it: he has to believe this, for his followers, for his cause, for his identity...even as he suspects that compromise may've been possible after all.
Oh yes, definitely. I always feel as though Erik is very aware of the, well, humanity he and his followers sacrifice in their quest for mutant safety and supremacy. And while I feel that some Brotherhood members, such as Mystique, do so without remorse, I think Erik sees it as a wartime necessity, a price that he's paying for a greater good -- he'll be a weapon and abandon compassion and mercy because that's what he believes mutantkind needs. But I think part of him still recognizes that those "weak" qualities have their own kind of value. And that's one of the reasons he needs Charles -- to remind him that, even if he doesn't see himself as "human," he's still a man, and he can be more than a weapon, and he's allowed to feel hope, and he's capable of loving someone ( ... )
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All of this I think Erik sees it as a wartime necessity, a price that he's paying for a greater good -- he'll be a weapon and abandon compassion and mercy because that's what he believes mutantkind needs. But I think part of him still recognizes that those "weak" qualities have their own kind of value. And that's one of the reasons he needs Charles -- to remind him that, even if he doesn't see himself as "human," he's still a man, and he can be more than a weapon, and he's allowed to feel hope, and he's capable of loving someone.
...that's just lovely. And I do agree. Erik knows full well that Charles's way is *better*, in the sense of more desirable; he wants to be loved and to be able to love and to know compassion and peace. He just can't believe that Charles's dream is practical or achievable--in fact, the dream is only hiding the harshness of reality--and so, with all the sadness in the universe, he'll fight against Charles. And love him, at the same time. (Charles, of course, ( ... )
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