Fic: All I Want (is all you need) (1/?)
Title: All I Want (is all you need)
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: X-men
Pairing: Erik/Charles
Rating: +17
Summary: Erik is the heir to the mutant world, and he has just been gifted with a new present.
Warnings: BDSM, Kink
Notes: I got inspiration for this from a mixture of this prompt and this prompt from the meme. Those prompts should give you a better idea of what this fic will be about.
Also this? This is me. Yeah.............. Anyway.
Erik hadn’t wanted a big celebration for his birthday. He had tried to drop hints left and right, before finally going straight to no Emma, I really don’t want 200 guests can we please cut this damned guest list to nothing? His wants were ignored though, because this wasn’t about him. This was about Sebastian showing how he was great, wonderful, kind, and benevolent, like always.
“The people want to see us happy. And the people want to see me taking care of you. That way they know that I can take care of them. Do you understand?” Sebastian had said.
It had practically been his motto since Erik had first been taken under his wing when he was thirteen and freshly pinged as a mutant from a human camp. His parents had handed him over to be groomed, no questions asked, because it was an honor to be chosen to be a mutant, to be part of Sebastian Shaw’s court, and even more so when Sebastian had decided a few years later that Erik was the perfect person to succeed him.
He had no plans to die, but he did want to retire one day, and not have to worry about the fate of his world once he had. Erik privately thought he was too much of a control freak to ever truly turn over power. The point was, he had chosen Erik as his successor and it was supposed to be a great honor, guiding the world, protecting it from threats, humans and the few mutants who had joined them in a fledgling resistance. They wanted to destroy Sebastian's hard work and Erik wasn’t opposed to stopping them. He remembered growing up in the camp with his parents, and how even when they were the minority humans still had the audacity to hate, and taunt the few mutants who walked among them.
Humanity was stupid, Erik had learned. It was their job to make sure that they didn’t hurt anyone with their stupidity. He accepted this; he was prepared for this. He was not prepared for parties, and parades, and the diplomatic aspect that Sebastian seemed to find necessary.
“You’re turning twenty-eight, my boy,” he had said, clapping Erik on the shoulder. He was sweaty from training and all he had wanted to do was go inside and shower, but Sebastian had seen him, and obviously had heard from Emma the fight he was putting up about the party. “In a few years I’ll be turning over the world to you. The world needs to know who you are if they’re going to respect you.”
“I know,” he had said, because what else could he do except agree. “I’ll be there.”
“There’s a good boy,” Sebastian had said, patting his cheek with a smile. “And you won’t be giving our dear Emma anymore trouble over arrangements right?”
Erik hadn’t responded verbally, just nodded. That was enough for Sebastian though, and he had walked off, leaving Erik to go and clean up. The party had been a week away but he needed that time to mentally prepare himself for the fiasco it was going to be.
“This isn’t so bad, is it?” Raven asked, glancing at him as she took a sip of her glass of wine.
She was wearing her normal skin, blue and scaled and much prettier than most women could hope to achieve if Erik had anything to say about it. Raven had once worked for the resistance but had defected three years ago. At the time Erik had thought Sebastian insane for taking someone who once worked against them into the fold, because it was such an obvious attempt at infiltration. Sebastian had just tsked at him, and reminded him they were never to turn away other mutants, least they become like humans. It was a double-edged sword because Erik had seen Sebastian kill mutants who had turned traitorous. It sounded good on paper though.
Raven had shown her loyalty, working her way up to become part of the security detail that Sebastian kept around him at all times. She ended up taking a poisoned dart meant for Erik. She’d recovered thanks to a medicine Sebastian had had made from the blood of a mutant with healing properties he had captured however many years ago, and since then Erik had kept her close as a thanks.
“Erik?” She nudged him with a smile and he snapped back to the present, eyes focusing again. “The party? It’s not so bad.”
He grunted, leaning further back in his seat. He hadn’t ventured down into the crowd yet, preferring to watch the throngs of people mill around beneath him. He could see Sebastian in the middle of everything, Emma on his right and Janos playing bodyguard on his left. The various men and women Sebastian normally kept chained up were out entertaining guests, feeding them good food, and listening like they cared. Erik could identify them by the thick collars each slave wore around their neck. Azazel was somewhere out there, probably creeping in the shadows.
“I guess not.”
She put her hand on his arm, squeezing in reassurance. “Well, just think. In a couple more hours you can run off and not have to deal with something like this for a whole year.”
He couldn’t stop himself from smiling and he tried to hide it behind a long sip of his beer, but Raven caught it. She was kind enough not to point and declare success though, merely smiled in triumph and went back to watching the people dance and chatter below.
Just a few more hours, he thought. He closed his eyes, taking a fresh beer from the slave who had been sent to take care of him, a pretty female mutant with insect wings, and thought about how nice it would be to practice his aim with the new knives he had bought.
“May I have everybody’s attention?” Sebastian called, climbing the steps so he could be seen by everyone on the floor.
Erik watched from where he had been seated all night, a knot forming in his stomach. He shot a look to Raven, but she just shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.
Sebastian had gotten a hold of a microphone and called for everyone’s attention once again, this time the demand registering through the whole room. People fell silent and Erik hoped that this speech was nothing, just normal diplomacy, and nothing about him.
“As you all know, tonight we are celebrating something very special.” Sebastian’s voice had turned to that honey softness he used whenever he was trying to win over the people. Erik hated it, even more so when it was being used to talk about him. “Tonight is my heir, Erik’s, birthday.” He turned and Erik knew that was his cue to stand up, be polite and smile. He hated it, but did as he was expected.
There was a smattering of applause as he rose, walking the eight steps down until he was level with Sebastian, looking out at the crowd. He didn’t recognize a single person, save for the people who worked for them. Sebastian smiled at him, but the darkness in his eyes showed how disappointed he was that Erik had hidden away for most of the party. He squeezed his shoulder, turning back to the crowd.
“I’ve had Erik under my wing for fifteen years now, and I’ve watched him grow all this time. There was a time when he couldn’t even move a coin without the proper motivation, when his powers first came about, and now look at him. He’s the reason even the most remote settlements have water containers that don’t break, don’t rust. And I can say that when I retire, I have the upmost faith that he will be able to keep our dream alive, and keep us all going.” Sebastian smiled at everyone, and the pinch he gave Erik forced him to paste on his own fake smile. Angsty, aloof only worked for the first twenty-seven years of your life apparently. “As such, this year I wanted to give him something special.” He broke off as a few laughs rose from the crowd and he smiled indulgently. “Yes, I know, presents even now. But that’s because he deserves it. Azazel?”
Sebastian turned to the side, looking for Azazel, who was coming from the back, leading someone on leash. Erik’s breath caught in his throat, terrified at what Sebastian had gotten him. He only made grand gestures like this when it benefited him, so the person attached to the leash had to be someone important. Otherwise Sebastian would have just handed Erik a key to the room where all the slaves were kept and told him to have fun.
He’d turned him down once, and he’d do it again.
The room was completely silent as everyone turned to watch Azazel bring the man, it was indeed a man, forward. Once they reached Sebastian and Erik Azazel forced him to kneel. The man never once lifted his head.
The first thing Erik noticed was that he was dressed in a suit, which he supposed was a nicety on Sebastian’s part. Slaves weren’t required to be dressed, since if they were out in the open they were more than likely there to be looked at, a pissing contest of “mine is better than yours.” There was a reason Sebastian kept Emma dressed up like he did.
The second thing was that one side of his head was shaved, a metal plate grafted over the skin, where on the other side there was floppy brown hair. An accident that had resulted in a head injury, or was he a mutant? The question flicked through Erik’s head quickly before he settled on the answer. Mutant. Probably a telepath. Humans weren't fit to be mutants' slaves.
The third was something he felt, and that was the metal someone had thought to wrap around the slave’s wrists and ankles. They were hidden by the sleeves of the coat the slave was wearing, but Erik could feel them all the same.
“Do you like?” Sebastian asked, holding the microphone away from them as he leaned over to whisper in Erik’s ear. “And don’t forget to smile.”
“You know I don’t need one of these,” Erik whispered fiercely. “Or else I would have picked one out myself.”
Sebastian tutted in his ear. “This is a very special slave.” And with that he pulled away and was talking to the audience once again, everybody’s attention on him. “I present to you all, my gift for my heir, one Charles Xavier.”
The slave, Charles Xavier, stayed perfectly still, head still tilted down as the crowd gasped and then began to clap wildly. Erik’s stomach knotted. Now he knew what this was about.
Charles Xavier was a member of the resistance, quite possibly the leader, and here he was demoted to the position of a slave, all that telepathy that he was rumored to possess bolted away by a sheet of metal. Sebastian had done that, tamed him, and he was being given to Erik. It ran through his mind that if he were a simpler creature this should thrill him, but instead all it did was make his stomach twist with the knowledge that a fellow mutant was being cut off from their powers simply because they thought differently.
Sebastian clapped him on the shoulder, turning to face him now that his speech was done and the crowd was cheering. “Take the leash Erik. Smile for the people. Do not cause a scene.”
The leather of the leash felt weird in his hand and Erik made a fist around it, tugging once to make the slave - man - Charles stand. A few people were watching him, gauging his strength and resolve as he walked his present up the stairs and back to his seat.
Raven had disappeared by the time he returned and Erik let out a sigh, falling back into the seat and taking a long drink of a his beer. It was warm and flat and he looked around to see if there was another slave up there with a new glass full, but it was just him alone. He snorted against his glass, putting it down and rubbing his temples as he tried to think.
He lasted five minutes before he stood, almost forgetting the leash in his haste to leave. He was halfway down the stairs when he remembered and he turned around quickly, grabbing hold of the leash once again and tugging Charles up to his feet. He avoided the crowds of people, leaving through the backdoor. He nodded to Emma on his way out, knowing she would tell Sebastian he had left. He hadn’t made a scene so Sebastian would be fine with him retreating silently.
He almost let go of the leash as he started to walk but his hand seemed to be stuck to the leather. His stomach was churning as he passed by people on his way to his rooms and he finally reached them, opening the door with his powers and shutting them as soon as they were inside. His hand dropped the leash and he kept walking until he was in the en suite.
Erik promptly threw up.
It was a mixture of the warm beer and his own personal disgust towards Sebastian’s actions. He hated being put on display, and he hated watching Sebastian act out like this. He agreed with him on most principles but it wasn’t those that had won Erik’s loyalty. It was fear that kept him here. He retched some more, fingers clinging to the edge of the toilet until his knuckles were white. His stomach was empty quickly, and he just kept throwing up bile until there wasn’t anything left.
He was sweaty and his throat hurt but he couldn’t stop. His mind kept going back to the damn party and Sebastian’s grin of triumph over his latest conquest. He hated it, no matter how much he kept trying to go along with everything Sebastian wanted.
There were hands on his back, someone pulling him away from the toilet with a wet cloth put against his forehead. He let them do what they wanted with him, because there was steel wrapped around each wrist and if the hands tried to hurt him it would be child’s play to stop them and pin the person.
His eyes snapped open and he met the eyes of the slave - man - Charles. His stomach clenched and he felt like he was going to be sick all over again. Charles helped him sit up, obviously recognizing the look on his face, and rubbed his back as he dry retched.
Erik wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then Charles had the wet cloth pressed there instead, getting whatever he missed.
“Thanks,” Erik said, wincing at how talking hurt his throat. He coughed and Charles rubbed his back. After the coughing fit he looked at Charles, trying to read his expression but his eyes were glassy. Sebastian had probably drugged him to make him compliant.
“Oh no he tried but it didn’t work.”
Erik blinked, and then just stared at Charles. His eyes were still glassy, and Erik was pretty sure he hadn’t spoken that thought out loud. So that meant Charles could hear him. The metal on his head wasn’t blocking his powers.
“Well they’re blocking some of them,” and as he said that Charles was moving back so he was no longer touching Erik. “I can only read your mind if I’m touching you, and I can’t project anything. Before I was able to talk inside people’s minds, place ideas and suggestions in there, and make people do what I want. This metal plate has limited it a great deal.”
Erik wondered if Sebastian knew about this. He stared at Charles, waiting for him to respond, but Charles was just looking at him expectantly. It took him a moment to realize they weren’t touching and if what Charles said was true, and he had no reason to believe him, then he couldn’t read his mind. He flashed a few images in his head, ranging from mudane thoughts of food to more obscene acts of murder and the thought of Charles' blood running through his fingers, trying to get a reaction from him, but he just kept sitting there, waiting patiently.
Finally Erik spoke. “Does Sebastian know?”
Charles nodded. “He had thought about wrapping my whole head in metal to block my telepathy but changed his mind. I don’t know why.”
Erik could guess. Charles could only read minds of people he was touching. Charles had been given to him. It would stand to reason that they would touch at some point. Sebastian didn’t trust him. Erik sighed and wondered if he had done anything to deserve this type of spying, or if it was just Sebastian’s normal paranoia.
It was probably a bit of both.
“Are you feeling better?” Charles’ voice was low and for a moment Erik thought he was going to reach for him, maybe to get a glimpse inside his mind.
It flashed through Erik’s mind what it must be like to be cut off from your powers. He tried to imagine not feeling the hum of every metal object he came across and it sent a shiver down his spine imaging the loss. It almost made him want to grab hold of Charles’ hand and let him use his powers just out of pity. He stopped himself though, because Charles was still a member of the resistance, even shackled. He stood up instead, knees shaky as he did.
Charles watched him, still sitting on the floor, leash and collar wrapped around his neck and Erik stopped at the door.
“You can take those off,” he said, gesturing.
A smile lit up Charles’ face and Erik thought that it would have made him handsome if the smile hadn’t been so sad. “I can’t.” At Erik’s look Charles twisted the collar so he could see how it welded together with metal, the leash attached in a similar fashion. Made just for Erik no doubt.
He sighed, motioning for Charles to follow him out of the bathroom. He sat down in a sitting chair and after a moment Charles joined him, kneeling beside him. His stomach clenched again but he pushed it back. He didn’t need to touch the collar to take apart the metal, but knowing that with each touch of skin Charles was getting a flash of power was enough to make him use his hands. He took off the leash first, tossing it away, and then he went to work on the collar. It was gaudy, purely for show and not at all to Erik’s taste. If he were ever to collar someone it would be with something sleek, more than likely metal just because he could, and it definitely wouldn’t have spikes.
He growled as he molded the spikes down as he pulled the collar off, not giving it a second look as he tossed it beside the leash. Charles’ hand came up to touch his neck, running over the bruised skin. Erik pushed his hand away, taking a look for himself to see how bad it was.
“This should heal up soon.” He drew his hand away and Charles flushed as he nodded, putting his own hands back to his throat.
“Thank you.”
Erik shrugged instead of saying anything, because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do with Charles. He was a slave, sure, but Erik had no need for slaves. At least not personal ones, and definitely not ones who were gifted by Sebastian. He tried to think who in the house would need one, and came up blank. He supposed he could always just give him to the kitchens. They always had room for one more.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Charles said softly and Erik blinked, looking down.
Charles was resting his head on his thigh, a few of his fingers tracing the vein on Erik’s wrist. He wondered how he had missed the feeling of Charles lying his head down and then decided he didn’t care. A ghost of a smile showed up on his face and Erik knew he had heard that thought.
“Why?” He asked, turning his arm over so Charles could run his fingers up and down more skin.
“Because you seem like a safer option?” Charles asked with a sad laugh. Erik didn’t respond, just thought about it. “Slaves don’t have it easy.” Erik stayed quiet, because Charles was inside his mind at the moment and that was probably easier to read than try to decipher his verbal questions. “You’d be surprised,” Charles muttered and Erik snorted, nudging him to keep talking. “Slaves don’t have it easy, regardless of where they are owned.”
Erik nodded, because that was probably true. He had heard and seen the caste system implemented in all reaches of the globe. It was just one of those natural occurrences; some people liked serving and some people didn’t. It was a logical conclusion that they would eventually pair up.
“And while it’s probably hard for someone who is naturally dominant to be made a slave against their will, it’s even harder for someone who has submissive tendencies to be put in this position.” He said it casually, but Erik caught what he meant anyway.
Charles broke skin contact before Erik had even let out a breath, mind swirling with what that meant, what that implied. If Charles was naturally submissive then he could be in danger if given to the wrong person. Hell he could be in danger given to the right person. Erik was sure the only thing that had kept Charles uncollared all this time was his power. Most submissive couldn't bend their doms to their will. Then again most submissives didn't need to.
Erik stood up, mind reeling with what to do. Sebastian probably hadn't known this, or else he would have already taken advantage of it. He should turn Charles over, tell Sebastian what he knew, or make Charles tell him everything about the resistance he could. When he looked back at Charles and saw that smile that seemed to say he knew what Erik was thinking. Of course he did. Erik had just let him wander around in his mind. He hated it when Emma did it, and yet he'd let Charles do it without a second thought.
"You're going to report to the kitchens tomorrow," Erik said with a wave of his hand, locking Charles' wrists to the footboard of his bed. "It's nothing personal." He wasn't sure what he was referring to, tossing him away or not trusting him enough to not tie him up.
Charles sighed, giving a tug at his wrists. They stayed attached to the metal of the footboard, and Erik twisted one of the metal bars so it wrapped around Charles' wrist as he climbed into bed. "No. It's fine."
Chapter 2
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: X-men
Pairing: Erik/Charles
Rating: +17
Summary: Erik is the heir to the mutant world, and he has just been gifted with a new present.
Warnings: BDSM, Kink
Notes: I got inspiration for this from a mixture of this prompt and this prompt from the meme. Those prompts should give you a better idea of what this fic will be about.
Also this? This is me. Yeah.............. Anyway.
Erik hadn’t wanted a big celebration for his birthday. He had tried to drop hints left and right, before finally going straight to no Emma, I really don’t want 200 guests can we please cut this damned guest list to nothing? His wants were ignored though, because this wasn’t about him. This was about Sebastian showing how he was great, wonderful, kind, and benevolent, like always.
“The people want to see us happy. And the people want to see me taking care of you. That way they know that I can take care of them. Do you understand?” Sebastian had said.
It had practically been his motto since Erik had first been taken under his wing when he was thirteen and freshly pinged as a mutant from a human camp. His parents had handed him over to be groomed, no questions asked, because it was an honor to be chosen to be a mutant, to be part of Sebastian Shaw’s court, and even more so when Sebastian had decided a few years later that Erik was the perfect person to succeed him.
He had no plans to die, but he did want to retire one day, and not have to worry about the fate of his world once he had. Erik privately thought he was too much of a control freak to ever truly turn over power. The point was, he had chosen Erik as his successor and it was supposed to be a great honor, guiding the world, protecting it from threats, humans and the few mutants who had joined them in a fledgling resistance. They wanted to destroy Sebastian's hard work and Erik wasn’t opposed to stopping them. He remembered growing up in the camp with his parents, and how even when they were the minority humans still had the audacity to hate, and taunt the few mutants who walked among them.
Humanity was stupid, Erik had learned. It was their job to make sure that they didn’t hurt anyone with their stupidity. He accepted this; he was prepared for this. He was not prepared for parties, and parades, and the diplomatic aspect that Sebastian seemed to find necessary.
“You’re turning twenty-eight, my boy,” he had said, clapping Erik on the shoulder. He was sweaty from training and all he had wanted to do was go inside and shower, but Sebastian had seen him, and obviously had heard from Emma the fight he was putting up about the party. “In a few years I’ll be turning over the world to you. The world needs to know who you are if they’re going to respect you.”
“I know,” he had said, because what else could he do except agree. “I’ll be there.”
“There’s a good boy,” Sebastian had said, patting his cheek with a smile. “And you won’t be giving our dear Emma anymore trouble over arrangements right?”
Erik hadn’t responded verbally, just nodded. That was enough for Sebastian though, and he had walked off, leaving Erik to go and clean up. The party had been a week away but he needed that time to mentally prepare himself for the fiasco it was going to be.
“This isn’t so bad, is it?” Raven asked, glancing at him as she took a sip of her glass of wine.
She was wearing her normal skin, blue and scaled and much prettier than most women could hope to achieve if Erik had anything to say about it. Raven had once worked for the resistance but had defected three years ago. At the time Erik had thought Sebastian insane for taking someone who once worked against them into the fold, because it was such an obvious attempt at infiltration. Sebastian had just tsked at him, and reminded him they were never to turn away other mutants, least they become like humans. It was a double-edged sword because Erik had seen Sebastian kill mutants who had turned traitorous. It sounded good on paper though.
Raven had shown her loyalty, working her way up to become part of the security detail that Sebastian kept around him at all times. She ended up taking a poisoned dart meant for Erik. She’d recovered thanks to a medicine Sebastian had had made from the blood of a mutant with healing properties he had captured however many years ago, and since then Erik had kept her close as a thanks.
“Erik?” She nudged him with a smile and he snapped back to the present, eyes focusing again. “The party? It’s not so bad.”
He grunted, leaning further back in his seat. He hadn’t ventured down into the crowd yet, preferring to watch the throngs of people mill around beneath him. He could see Sebastian in the middle of everything, Emma on his right and Janos playing bodyguard on his left. The various men and women Sebastian normally kept chained up were out entertaining guests, feeding them good food, and listening like they cared. Erik could identify them by the thick collars each slave wore around their neck. Azazel was somewhere out there, probably creeping in the shadows.
“I guess not.”
She put her hand on his arm, squeezing in reassurance. “Well, just think. In a couple more hours you can run off and not have to deal with something like this for a whole year.”
He couldn’t stop himself from smiling and he tried to hide it behind a long sip of his beer, but Raven caught it. She was kind enough not to point and declare success though, merely smiled in triumph and went back to watching the people dance and chatter below.
Just a few more hours, he thought. He closed his eyes, taking a fresh beer from the slave who had been sent to take care of him, a pretty female mutant with insect wings, and thought about how nice it would be to practice his aim with the new knives he had bought.
“May I have everybody’s attention?” Sebastian called, climbing the steps so he could be seen by everyone on the floor.
Erik watched from where he had been seated all night, a knot forming in his stomach. He shot a look to Raven, but she just shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.
Sebastian had gotten a hold of a microphone and called for everyone’s attention once again, this time the demand registering through the whole room. People fell silent and Erik hoped that this speech was nothing, just normal diplomacy, and nothing about him.
“As you all know, tonight we are celebrating something very special.” Sebastian’s voice had turned to that honey softness he used whenever he was trying to win over the people. Erik hated it, even more so when it was being used to talk about him. “Tonight is my heir, Erik’s, birthday.” He turned and Erik knew that was his cue to stand up, be polite and smile. He hated it, but did as he was expected.
There was a smattering of applause as he rose, walking the eight steps down until he was level with Sebastian, looking out at the crowd. He didn’t recognize a single person, save for the people who worked for them. Sebastian smiled at him, but the darkness in his eyes showed how disappointed he was that Erik had hidden away for most of the party. He squeezed his shoulder, turning back to the crowd.
“I’ve had Erik under my wing for fifteen years now, and I’ve watched him grow all this time. There was a time when he couldn’t even move a coin without the proper motivation, when his powers first came about, and now look at him. He’s the reason even the most remote settlements have water containers that don’t break, don’t rust. And I can say that when I retire, I have the upmost faith that he will be able to keep our dream alive, and keep us all going.” Sebastian smiled at everyone, and the pinch he gave Erik forced him to paste on his own fake smile. Angsty, aloof only worked for the first twenty-seven years of your life apparently. “As such, this year I wanted to give him something special.” He broke off as a few laughs rose from the crowd and he smiled indulgently. “Yes, I know, presents even now. But that’s because he deserves it. Azazel?”
Sebastian turned to the side, looking for Azazel, who was coming from the back, leading someone on leash. Erik’s breath caught in his throat, terrified at what Sebastian had gotten him. He only made grand gestures like this when it benefited him, so the person attached to the leash had to be someone important. Otherwise Sebastian would have just handed Erik a key to the room where all the slaves were kept and told him to have fun.
He’d turned him down once, and he’d do it again.
The room was completely silent as everyone turned to watch Azazel bring the man, it was indeed a man, forward. Once they reached Sebastian and Erik Azazel forced him to kneel. The man never once lifted his head.
The first thing Erik noticed was that he was dressed in a suit, which he supposed was a nicety on Sebastian’s part. Slaves weren’t required to be dressed, since if they were out in the open they were more than likely there to be looked at, a pissing contest of “mine is better than yours.” There was a reason Sebastian kept Emma dressed up like he did.
The second thing was that one side of his head was shaved, a metal plate grafted over the skin, where on the other side there was floppy brown hair. An accident that had resulted in a head injury, or was he a mutant? The question flicked through Erik’s head quickly before he settled on the answer. Mutant. Probably a telepath. Humans weren't fit to be mutants' slaves.
The third was something he felt, and that was the metal someone had thought to wrap around the slave’s wrists and ankles. They were hidden by the sleeves of the coat the slave was wearing, but Erik could feel them all the same.
“Do you like?” Sebastian asked, holding the microphone away from them as he leaned over to whisper in Erik’s ear. “And don’t forget to smile.”
“You know I don’t need one of these,” Erik whispered fiercely. “Or else I would have picked one out myself.”
Sebastian tutted in his ear. “This is a very special slave.” And with that he pulled away and was talking to the audience once again, everybody’s attention on him. “I present to you all, my gift for my heir, one Charles Xavier.”
The slave, Charles Xavier, stayed perfectly still, head still tilted down as the crowd gasped and then began to clap wildly. Erik’s stomach knotted. Now he knew what this was about.
Charles Xavier was a member of the resistance, quite possibly the leader, and here he was demoted to the position of a slave, all that telepathy that he was rumored to possess bolted away by a sheet of metal. Sebastian had done that, tamed him, and he was being given to Erik. It ran through his mind that if he were a simpler creature this should thrill him, but instead all it did was make his stomach twist with the knowledge that a fellow mutant was being cut off from their powers simply because they thought differently.
Sebastian clapped him on the shoulder, turning to face him now that his speech was done and the crowd was cheering. “Take the leash Erik. Smile for the people. Do not cause a scene.”
The leather of the leash felt weird in his hand and Erik made a fist around it, tugging once to make the slave - man - Charles stand. A few people were watching him, gauging his strength and resolve as he walked his present up the stairs and back to his seat.
Raven had disappeared by the time he returned and Erik let out a sigh, falling back into the seat and taking a long drink of a his beer. It was warm and flat and he looked around to see if there was another slave up there with a new glass full, but it was just him alone. He snorted against his glass, putting it down and rubbing his temples as he tried to think.
He lasted five minutes before he stood, almost forgetting the leash in his haste to leave. He was halfway down the stairs when he remembered and he turned around quickly, grabbing hold of the leash once again and tugging Charles up to his feet. He avoided the crowds of people, leaving through the backdoor. He nodded to Emma on his way out, knowing she would tell Sebastian he had left. He hadn’t made a scene so Sebastian would be fine with him retreating silently.
He almost let go of the leash as he started to walk but his hand seemed to be stuck to the leather. His stomach was churning as he passed by people on his way to his rooms and he finally reached them, opening the door with his powers and shutting them as soon as they were inside. His hand dropped the leash and he kept walking until he was in the en suite.
Erik promptly threw up.
It was a mixture of the warm beer and his own personal disgust towards Sebastian’s actions. He hated being put on display, and he hated watching Sebastian act out like this. He agreed with him on most principles but it wasn’t those that had won Erik’s loyalty. It was fear that kept him here. He retched some more, fingers clinging to the edge of the toilet until his knuckles were white. His stomach was empty quickly, and he just kept throwing up bile until there wasn’t anything left.
He was sweaty and his throat hurt but he couldn’t stop. His mind kept going back to the damn party and Sebastian’s grin of triumph over his latest conquest. He hated it, no matter how much he kept trying to go along with everything Sebastian wanted.
There were hands on his back, someone pulling him away from the toilet with a wet cloth put against his forehead. He let them do what they wanted with him, because there was steel wrapped around each wrist and if the hands tried to hurt him it would be child’s play to stop them and pin the person.
His eyes snapped open and he met the eyes of the slave - man - Charles. His stomach clenched and he felt like he was going to be sick all over again. Charles helped him sit up, obviously recognizing the look on his face, and rubbed his back as he dry retched.
Erik wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then Charles had the wet cloth pressed there instead, getting whatever he missed.
“Thanks,” Erik said, wincing at how talking hurt his throat. He coughed and Charles rubbed his back. After the coughing fit he looked at Charles, trying to read his expression but his eyes were glassy. Sebastian had probably drugged him to make him compliant.
“Oh no he tried but it didn’t work.”
Erik blinked, and then just stared at Charles. His eyes were still glassy, and Erik was pretty sure he hadn’t spoken that thought out loud. So that meant Charles could hear him. The metal on his head wasn’t blocking his powers.
“Well they’re blocking some of them,” and as he said that Charles was moving back so he was no longer touching Erik. “I can only read your mind if I’m touching you, and I can’t project anything. Before I was able to talk inside people’s minds, place ideas and suggestions in there, and make people do what I want. This metal plate has limited it a great deal.”
Erik wondered if Sebastian knew about this. He stared at Charles, waiting for him to respond, but Charles was just looking at him expectantly. It took him a moment to realize they weren’t touching and if what Charles said was true, and he had no reason to believe him, then he couldn’t read his mind. He flashed a few images in his head, ranging from mudane thoughts of food to more obscene acts of murder and the thought of Charles' blood running through his fingers, trying to get a reaction from him, but he just kept sitting there, waiting patiently.
Finally Erik spoke. “Does Sebastian know?”
Charles nodded. “He had thought about wrapping my whole head in metal to block my telepathy but changed his mind. I don’t know why.”
Erik could guess. Charles could only read minds of people he was touching. Charles had been given to him. It would stand to reason that they would touch at some point. Sebastian didn’t trust him. Erik sighed and wondered if he had done anything to deserve this type of spying, or if it was just Sebastian’s normal paranoia.
It was probably a bit of both.
“Are you feeling better?” Charles’ voice was low and for a moment Erik thought he was going to reach for him, maybe to get a glimpse inside his mind.
It flashed through Erik’s mind what it must be like to be cut off from your powers. He tried to imagine not feeling the hum of every metal object he came across and it sent a shiver down his spine imaging the loss. It almost made him want to grab hold of Charles’ hand and let him use his powers just out of pity. He stopped himself though, because Charles was still a member of the resistance, even shackled. He stood up instead, knees shaky as he did.
Charles watched him, still sitting on the floor, leash and collar wrapped around his neck and Erik stopped at the door.
“You can take those off,” he said, gesturing.
A smile lit up Charles’ face and Erik thought that it would have made him handsome if the smile hadn’t been so sad. “I can’t.” At Erik’s look Charles twisted the collar so he could see how it welded together with metal, the leash attached in a similar fashion. Made just for Erik no doubt.
He sighed, motioning for Charles to follow him out of the bathroom. He sat down in a sitting chair and after a moment Charles joined him, kneeling beside him. His stomach clenched again but he pushed it back. He didn’t need to touch the collar to take apart the metal, but knowing that with each touch of skin Charles was getting a flash of power was enough to make him use his hands. He took off the leash first, tossing it away, and then he went to work on the collar. It was gaudy, purely for show and not at all to Erik’s taste. If he were ever to collar someone it would be with something sleek, more than likely metal just because he could, and it definitely wouldn’t have spikes.
He growled as he molded the spikes down as he pulled the collar off, not giving it a second look as he tossed it beside the leash. Charles’ hand came up to touch his neck, running over the bruised skin. Erik pushed his hand away, taking a look for himself to see how bad it was.
“This should heal up soon.” He drew his hand away and Charles flushed as he nodded, putting his own hands back to his throat.
“Thank you.”
Erik shrugged instead of saying anything, because he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do with Charles. He was a slave, sure, but Erik had no need for slaves. At least not personal ones, and definitely not ones who were gifted by Sebastian. He tried to think who in the house would need one, and came up blank. He supposed he could always just give him to the kitchens. They always had room for one more.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Charles said softly and Erik blinked, looking down.
Charles was resting his head on his thigh, a few of his fingers tracing the vein on Erik’s wrist. He wondered how he had missed the feeling of Charles lying his head down and then decided he didn’t care. A ghost of a smile showed up on his face and Erik knew he had heard that thought.
“Why?” He asked, turning his arm over so Charles could run his fingers up and down more skin.
“Because you seem like a safer option?” Charles asked with a sad laugh. Erik didn’t respond, just thought about it. “Slaves don’t have it easy.” Erik stayed quiet, because Charles was inside his mind at the moment and that was probably easier to read than try to decipher his verbal questions. “You’d be surprised,” Charles muttered and Erik snorted, nudging him to keep talking. “Slaves don’t have it easy, regardless of where they are owned.”
Erik nodded, because that was probably true. He had heard and seen the caste system implemented in all reaches of the globe. It was just one of those natural occurrences; some people liked serving and some people didn’t. It was a logical conclusion that they would eventually pair up.
“And while it’s probably hard for someone who is naturally dominant to be made a slave against their will, it’s even harder for someone who has submissive tendencies to be put in this position.” He said it casually, but Erik caught what he meant anyway.
Charles broke skin contact before Erik had even let out a breath, mind swirling with what that meant, what that implied. If Charles was naturally submissive then he could be in danger if given to the wrong person. Hell he could be in danger given to the right person. Erik was sure the only thing that had kept Charles uncollared all this time was his power. Most submissive couldn't bend their doms to their will. Then again most submissives didn't need to.
Erik stood up, mind reeling with what to do. Sebastian probably hadn't known this, or else he would have already taken advantage of it. He should turn Charles over, tell Sebastian what he knew, or make Charles tell him everything about the resistance he could. When he looked back at Charles and saw that smile that seemed to say he knew what Erik was thinking. Of course he did. Erik had just let him wander around in his mind. He hated it when Emma did it, and yet he'd let Charles do it without a second thought.
"You're going to report to the kitchens tomorrow," Erik said with a wave of his hand, locking Charles' wrists to the footboard of his bed. "It's nothing personal." He wasn't sure what he was referring to, tossing him away or not trusting him enough to not tie him up.
Charles sighed, giving a tug at his wrists. They stayed attached to the metal of the footboard, and Erik twisted one of the metal bars so it wrapped around Charles' wrist as he climbed into bed. "No. It's fine."
Chapter 2