X-Men kitten fic!
Title: Sit right down and make me smile
Rating: It has kittens and cuddling, so I feel safe to say it doesn't even constitute as PG.
Word count: 1333
A/N: This is a self-fill for a prompt I posted on the kink meme about Charles and kittens. That's pretty much all this ficlet consists of; not much substance here.
Warnings: English is still not my native. This was written and posted on my phone, so there will be typos and weird formatting. Also, I've never actually owned a cat and know next to nothing about them. Hurrrr durrrr.
Also, it's a post-Cuba fix-it fic because I'm a fluff-addict.
Charles never would've thought a bunch of baby kittens could be so much work, with their tiny, uncordinated legs and pitiful mewls trying to garner his attention.
The kittens are finally settled into a sleepy pile of fur after a whole morning and noon spent running around and playing. Charles drove himself halfway to madness keeping track of all five of them, making sure they wouldn't get trampled on or caught under the wheels of his chair or otherwise injured. The kittens are gaining more strength and courage day by day, already climbing and jumping on furniture.
For now though, they're well-fed and run to exhaustion and Charles allows himself a moment of rest. He pulls himself onto the sofa and lifts his legs up so he can lay down with a relieved groan. The kitten-heap is almost within an arm's reach on the floor and Charles releases a long sigh, feeling his whole body deflate with the lack of worry and tension as he shuts his eyes and listens to the blissful silence in the library. He never would've thought a bunch of baby kittens could be so much work, with their tiny, uncordinated legs and pitiful mewls trying to garner Charles's attention.
And it's always Charles. He's tried to rouse an interest in them towards Erik, but to Erik's smug approval the kittens barely notice him, always congregating around Charles when they want sympathy and displays of effection. Everyone else in the house shows decent amounts of interest towards their newly adopted pets, but mostly everyone has collectively accepted that they're definitely Charles's cats. Raven has attempted to get the kittens to seek her out as well, but to her consternation the little balls of fluff seem fixated on treating Charles as their one and only cat-mother. Father. Surrogate.
This troubles Charles - he's well aware of imprinting and what happens when baby animals are separated from their mother too early, but he still wishes he could occasionally get a break from the kitten armada dominating all of his free time.
Still, his moment of reprieve is here, and he drifts at the borders of sleep for a while, the summer sun shining in through the windows to cast warm dapples of light on Charles's face and torso.
He's jolted out of his slumber when there's a light sense of movement by his side, followed by a tender mewling sound. He opens his eyes to see one of the kittens - a grey tabby with white front paws that Sean decided to name Peanut - clinging to the upholstery and trying to climb up to the sofa. With a soft chuckle Charles cradles the kitten gently in his hand and lifts it up, laying it down carefully next to his side. Peanut looks up at him with big bleary eyes before setting off on an uncertain journey of sofa discovery. The soft upholstery makes the kitten's steps falter as it staggers along Charles's body and ends up at his feet, giving his left loafer a tentative lick with her pink tongue.
Charles feels certain the kitten can manage a half an our on a sofa without detailed surveillance, but he's had his eyes closed for less than a minute when something is fiddling at his side. He cracks his eyes open to watch as Peanut scrabbles up towards his stomach, her tiny claws getting tangled in Charles's wool cardigan as she valiantly climbs up Charles's side. Once she's there, her kitten weight is barely noticeable on Charles's tummy and she wanders about for a second, befuddled by the steady rise-and-fall of Charles's breathing.
Eventually she finds the courage to approach Charles's face, and Charles smiles gently as the kitten streches her neck to nose at his chin, sniffing around his throat until she seems satisfied that he really is their safe and familiar cat-daddy. Then she seems to find the warmest spot on Charles's chest, somewhere around his steadily beating heart, and curls up in a tight furry grey heap, closing her eyes as though her lids are made of lead. Charles brings his hand up to pet her downy fur gently with two fingers, her coat like spun silk against his skin, before cupping his hand lightly and protectively around the kitten's curled form.
The kitten's breathing and the drum of her heart-beat against the palm of Charles's hand is enough to finally lull him into sleep.
**
Charles is awakened by the feeling of someone brushing a stray lock of hair from his forehead. He opens his eyes and looks at Erik crouched by the sofa, the helmet in his lap and a soft, amused smile playing on his lips. He leands down to brush his lips against Charles's temple, his hand resting lightly in Charles's hair, fingers toying with the strands there.
"You're covered in kittens," Erik says quietly, sea-green eyes smiling at Charles.
"Hmmh?" Charles mumbles and looks down to see Peanut still on his chest, curled against his palm and fast asleep...
And all of her siblings up on the sofa as well, their tiny kitten bodies dotting Charles's prostrate form. One rests on his hip - the black and white male, snuggled in the valley where his hip and thigh meet, in deep sleep like his sister. Two black twin kittens are sprawled over Charles's left leg, with one of them lounging over sideways and the other trying to climb up to join its brother.
The fifth one, another grey tabby with a white face, is draped over Charles's foot, in deep sleep and looking utterly at peace.
"Finally I have found my purpose in life," Charles snorts and reaches to lift the one at his hip - named Button, thanks to Raven - to his chest next to its sister. Button lets out a startled screech but settles down happily enough, snuffling into Charles's cardigan when Erik starts petting it carefully, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Charles watches Erik and reaches out to touch his cheek with his fingertips. Erik's a different man these days, softer in many ways, most importantly to himself. Charles tries to imagine Erik on his life-long hunt for Shaw and can't see him petting too many cats on his way. Everyone should pet a cat every now and then. It's good they now have five for Erik to pet and cuddle.
Speaking of which...
"Judging by the lack of truly vulgar swearing on your part, I assume the mission went well," Charles murmurs, not wanting to wake the kittens. At Erik's grunt of confirmation, he continues, "Would you care to join me and the little hellions?"
Erik straightens his back with a crackle and looks at the crowded looking sofa. "Why not," he shrugs and stands up to remove his cape. Together they gather up the kittens, their frantic mewled protests at being moved around making them both laugh. Erik helps Charles shift to his side so that Erik can slip next to him, Charles lowering himself to drape himself over Erik's side, head pillowed on Erik's firm chest, his heart beating a soothing rhythm into Charles's ear.
The kittens end up in a pile on Erik's chest, right up against Charles in the safe cradle where Charles's arm drapes across the width of Erik's ribcage. The kittens snuffle against one another and Charles, and Erik buries his face into the top of Charles's head, pressing a kiss there as his arm squeezes Charles closer.
Charles closes his eyes and listens to the steady sounds of Erik's breaths and relaxes into the warmth of Erik's body, and feels something tender bloom in his chest.