Charles is standing behind him, trembling in the dark and Erik seethes. He manages to say nothing, barely containing a growl as he stretches his hands out toward where the entrance to the cave had been just moments before. He can’t feel anything metallic in the debris blocking them in, but he can’t stop searching. There’s no other way out and it is cold and dark and Charles is still shaking behind him and they have to get out.
“Erik,” Charles says quietly and places on a hand on Erik’s shoulder. “Erik, please.”
Charles’ hand feels like a hot brand through his jacket and Erik can feel the force of his trembling through it, but he shrugs it off and concentrates harder. He has to get them out.
-
It’s been twenty minutes and Erik is sweating from exertion. He hasn’t managed to move anything yet with his powers and he has half a mind to drop to his knees and start digging. But that would probably be just as ineffective.
There’s the rough sound of earth scraping and sliding behind him and Erik knows that Charles is sitting down, even if he can’t see it. He can feel the pins and fastenings on Charles’ shoes as they stretch to an odd angle from his watch and the pen in his shirt pocket and the metal fillings in his teeth. It’s oddly comforting, in the dark, to feel Charles behind him like that, but Erik tries not to focus on it, afraid he’ll start pulling Charles towards him instead of anything that might be hidden before him.
“Please, Erik, you need to save your energy,” Charles says, quieter than before, with a strain in his voice that Erik can’t ignore.
-
Charles is fever hot and still shaking when Erik finally finds him in the dark. For a moment, Erik doesn’t know what to do, kneeling beside Charles with one hand on his shoulder and the other feeling his temperature. Charles’ breath is hot on his wrist and coming out short and Erik is suddenly very aware of how close and stale the air in the cave is.
“What happened?” Erik asks, the anger rising in him much safer than the fear biting at the back of his mind.
“He-” Charles licks his lips, “He pushed me while he was trying to escape, stung my leg with his tail,” he pauses again, out of breath already, “I think it was poisoned.”
Erik curses loudly and moves to stand up again, but Charles grabs onto him, fingers twisting weakly in the fabric of his shirt. “Please,” Charles repeats, but says nothing more.
With another growl, Erik sits down next to Charles and wraps his arms around him.
-
“His children will be magnificent,” Charles mumbles, lips hot on Erik’s neck.
Erik shivers and, when Charles’ words sink in, asks, “What?”
“Matthew-that mutant. He was beautiful,” Charles says, words slurred slightly. “Imagine what his children will be able to do! What do you think the phenotypic variations of the tail could be? And if the mother has a tail, too, what then?”
Charles keeps on murmuring into Erik’s shoulder, and Erik can’t find it in him to stop him, finding comfort in the fevered words and confused train of thought. That is, until Charles lets out a moan and says, “I think I’m going to be sick, Erik. Oh, what if his children have different types of poison? What if-”
“Charles,” Erik says, tightening his hold, “you need to calm down. You’re not helping yourself.”
Nodding slightly, Charles says, “Yes, right,” and closes his mouth, pressing his nose into Erik’s shoulder.
These symptoms aren’t too bad, the shaking and the fever and the nausea, and they should eventually pass, but Erik knows that without medical attention it could be weeks. Erik silently curses his lack of foresight. A mission in the middle of an unknown forest and he had left his flashlight and his first aid supplies back at the hotel with the kids.
There’s a short rush of warm breath on his neck as Charles makes a sound somewhat akin to a laugh and says, “Don’t, Erik. It’s not your fault. I should’ve known we’d frighten him.” His voice is faint but steadier than it had been and Erik frowns.
“Charles,” he says, pulling away as far as Charles’ hand in his shirt would allow, “show me where he got you.”
It’s an odd request in the pitch blackness of the cave, but Charles understands. He takes one hand and wraps it around the back of Erik’s neck, tipping his head down so that their foreheads touch, Charles’ still hot and wet with fever and sweat. With his other hand, Charles grabs Erik’s wrist and slowly moves it to his upper thigh.
Erik is caught between the double sensation; he can feel the tear in Charles’ pants, the heat of the swelling the wound has caused, and the sticky feeling of blood mixed with some sort of oozing, liquid pus and at the same time, he can feel his fingers the way Charles does, sliding over his leg until they reach the raised wound, when-
“Numb,” they whisper together, and Charles almost violently pulls his head away from Erik’s, letting it fall to his collarbone instead. Erik’s hand tightens on Charles’ shoulder and he hates himself for his uselessness.
-
Twenty minutes later, Erik can tell by the tiny metal hands in Charles’ watch, Charles lets out a tiny, worried moan and pushes away from Erik.
Before Erik can even asks what’s wrong, Charles groans and says, voice panicked, “I can’t feel it.”
“Yes,” Erik says, fingers finding Charles’ hair in the dark, “it’s numb. It’ll be alright. It’s better that way.” For now.
Erik can feel Charles shaking his head. “No, Erik,” he says, words catching in his throat, “I can’t feel my leg. I can’t bend my knee or-or my toes-Erik, I can’t feel my leg!”
Panic grips Erik’s insides again and he pushes himself to his feet. Charles makes a distressed noise at this, but Erik can’t think about that now. He has to get Charles out of here. “Don’t worry,” he says over his shoulder as he gropes along the wall towards the entrance, “I’ll get us out.”
Erik is having absolutely no success with the caved in entrance. Every spot he tries to dig out of fills up again almost instantly, leaving him covered in dirt and more trapped than before. It’s no use, he knows it, and he returns to Charles side, defeated. They’ve only been in here for a few hours, and Erik is in no immediate danger, but Charles needs a doctor or-Erik can’t even think it.
But Charles is curled up on the floor when Erik returns, or as curled up as he can be with his paralyzed leg, and his breath is coming in short, shallow gasps.
“Charles?” Erik says, voice catching in his throat. He places the back of his hand on Charles cheek to check his temperature again but pulls it back almost instantly at the flash of pain he gets from Charles, the feeling of spasming cramps in his stomach and a shuddering ache in his chest echoing through Erik’s body.
Erik repeats Charles’ name hoarsely, the weight of his helplessness settling more heavily on his shoulders as he wishes for even one moment of light in the dark, one drop of water, or one gust of fresh air.
-
Quite suddenly, there is bright light and harsh noise pouring in to the cave. Erik has lost track of time, having wrapped himself around Charles again in an effort to lighten the burden of pain. But now someone’s hand is on his shoulder, pulling him away from Charles, asking him questions Erik can’t seem to process. And then Charles is gone from his arms and Erik is screaming and is quite certain his fist has connected with someone’s nose until his eyes finally adjust to the light and he finds himself staring at Raven, whose hands are tight on his arms.
“Erik,” she says, looking slightly panicked, “what happened here? Charles has been calling us for hours. We couldn’t find-what happened?”
After a few moments, Erik’s mind catches up with the questions and he says, “Poisoned. Charles was poisoned. Charles-where’s Charles?!”
He’s struggling again, but Raven’s grip is firm. “Shh,” she murmurs, “Hank and Darwin have him. He’s going to be fine. Erik, calm down, please. Hank will work it out. Charles will be fine. He’ll be fine.”
-
Charles has awoken a few times already, Erik knows, but he hasn’t been able to face him conscious until now. Pushing open the door to Charles’ room, Erik finds him propped up in bed with his eyes closed and his breathing mercifully even. He almost ducks out again to leave Charles to his rest, but Charles opens an eye and gives him a small smile.
“Erik,” he says, voice still soft, but free from pain, and Erik goes to sit by him without further hesitation.
Before Erik can get out any of the thousands of apologies on his tongue, Charles says, “Thank you, Erik, I don’t know how I would have made it without you.”
“But I didn’t-” Erik protests, but Charles shushes him with a look and pulls him in for a kiss.
-End-
Uh… I did a little research on symptoms of poison bites/stings, but the progression I used was entirely made up.
“Erik,” Charles says quietly and places on a hand on Erik’s shoulder. “Erik, please.”
Charles’ hand feels like a hot brand through his jacket and Erik can feel the force of his trembling through it, but he shrugs it off and concentrates harder. He has to get them out.
-
It’s been twenty minutes and Erik is sweating from exertion. He hasn’t managed to move anything yet with his powers and he has half a mind to drop to his knees and start digging. But that would probably be just as ineffective.
There’s the rough sound of earth scraping and sliding behind him and Erik knows that Charles is sitting down, even if he can’t see it. He can feel the pins and fastenings on Charles’ shoes as they stretch to an odd angle from his watch and the pen in his shirt pocket and the metal fillings in his teeth. It’s oddly comforting, in the dark, to feel Charles behind him like that, but Erik tries not to focus on it, afraid he’ll start pulling Charles towards him instead of anything that might be hidden before him.
“Please, Erik, you need to save your energy,” Charles says, quieter than before, with a strain in his voice that Erik can’t ignore.
-
Charles is fever hot and still shaking when Erik finally finds him in the dark. For a moment, Erik doesn’t know what to do, kneeling beside Charles with one hand on his shoulder and the other feeling his temperature. Charles’ breath is hot on his wrist and coming out short and Erik is suddenly very aware of how close and stale the air in the cave is.
“What happened?” Erik asks, the anger rising in him much safer than the fear biting at the back of his mind.
“He-” Charles licks his lips, “He pushed me while he was trying to escape, stung my leg with his tail,” he pauses again, out of breath already, “I think it was poisoned.”
Erik curses loudly and moves to stand up again, but Charles grabs onto him, fingers twisting weakly in the fabric of his shirt. “Please,” Charles repeats, but says nothing more.
With another growl, Erik sits down next to Charles and wraps his arms around him.
-
“His children will be magnificent,” Charles mumbles, lips hot on Erik’s neck.
Erik shivers and, when Charles’ words sink in, asks, “What?”
“Matthew-that mutant. He was beautiful,” Charles says, words slurred slightly. “Imagine what his children will be able to do! What do you think the phenotypic variations of the tail could be? And if the mother has a tail, too, what then?”
Charles keeps on murmuring into Erik’s shoulder, and Erik can’t find it in him to stop him, finding comfort in the fevered words and confused train of thought. That is, until Charles lets out a moan and says, “I think I’m going to be sick, Erik. Oh, what if his children have different types of poison? What if-”
“Charles,” Erik says, tightening his hold, “you need to calm down. You’re not helping yourself.”
Nodding slightly, Charles says, “Yes, right,” and closes his mouth, pressing his nose into Erik’s shoulder.
Reply
These symptoms aren’t too bad, the shaking and the fever and the nausea, and they should eventually pass, but Erik knows that without medical attention it could be weeks. Erik silently curses his lack of foresight. A mission in the middle of an unknown forest and he had left his flashlight and his first aid supplies back at the hotel with the kids.
There’s a short rush of warm breath on his neck as Charles makes a sound somewhat akin to a laugh and says, “Don’t, Erik. It’s not your fault. I should’ve known we’d frighten him.” His voice is faint but steadier than it had been and Erik frowns.
“Charles,” he says, pulling away as far as Charles’ hand in his shirt would allow, “show me where he got you.”
It’s an odd request in the pitch blackness of the cave, but Charles understands. He takes one hand and wraps it around the back of Erik’s neck, tipping his head down so that their foreheads touch, Charles’ still hot and wet with fever and sweat. With his other hand, Charles grabs Erik’s wrist and slowly moves it to his upper thigh.
Erik is caught between the double sensation; he can feel the tear in Charles’ pants, the heat of the swelling the wound has caused, and the sticky feeling of blood mixed with some sort of oozing, liquid pus and at the same time, he can feel his fingers the way Charles does, sliding over his leg until they reach the raised wound, when-
“Numb,” they whisper together, and Charles almost violently pulls his head away from Erik’s, letting it fall to his collarbone instead. Erik’s hand tightens on Charles’ shoulder and he hates himself for his uselessness.
-
Twenty minutes later, Erik can tell by the tiny metal hands in Charles’ watch, Charles lets out a tiny, worried moan and pushes away from Erik.
Before Erik can even asks what’s wrong, Charles groans and says, voice panicked, “I can’t feel it.”
“Yes,” Erik says, fingers finding Charles’ hair in the dark, “it’s numb. It’ll be alright. It’s better that way.” For now.
Erik can feel Charles shaking his head. “No, Erik,” he says, words catching in his throat, “I can’t feel my leg. I can’t bend my knee or-or my toes-Erik, I can’t feel my leg!”
Panic grips Erik’s insides again and he pushes himself to his feet. Charles makes a distressed noise at this, but Erik can’t think about that now. He has to get Charles out of here. “Don’t worry,” he says over his shoulder as he gropes along the wall towards the entrance, “I’ll get us out.”
Reply
Erik is having absolutely no success with the caved in entrance. Every spot he tries to dig out of fills up again almost instantly, leaving him covered in dirt and more trapped than before. It’s no use, he knows it, and he returns to Charles side, defeated. They’ve only been in here for a few hours, and Erik is in no immediate danger, but Charles needs a doctor or-Erik can’t even think it.
But Charles is curled up on the floor when Erik returns, or as curled up as he can be with his paralyzed leg, and his breath is coming in short, shallow gasps.
“Charles?” Erik says, voice catching in his throat. He places the back of his hand on Charles cheek to check his temperature again but pulls it back almost instantly at the flash of pain he gets from Charles, the feeling of spasming cramps in his stomach and a shuddering ache in his chest echoing through Erik’s body.
Erik repeats Charles’ name hoarsely, the weight of his helplessness settling more heavily on his shoulders as he wishes for even one moment of light in the dark, one drop of water, or one gust of fresh air.
-
Quite suddenly, there is bright light and harsh noise pouring in to the cave. Erik has lost track of time, having wrapped himself around Charles again in an effort to lighten the burden of pain. But now someone’s hand is on his shoulder, pulling him away from Charles, asking him questions Erik can’t seem to process. And then Charles is gone from his arms and Erik is screaming and is quite certain his fist has connected with someone’s nose until his eyes finally adjust to the light and he finds himself staring at Raven, whose hands are tight on his arms.
“Erik,” she says, looking slightly panicked, “what happened here? Charles has been calling us for hours. We couldn’t find-what happened?”
After a few moments, Erik’s mind catches up with the questions and he says, “Poisoned. Charles was poisoned. Charles-where’s Charles?!”
He’s struggling again, but Raven’s grip is firm. “Shh,” she murmurs, “Hank and Darwin have him. He’s going to be fine. Erik, calm down, please. Hank will work it out. Charles will be fine. He’ll be fine.”
-
Charles has awoken a few times already, Erik knows, but he hasn’t been able to face him conscious until now. Pushing open the door to Charles’ room, Erik finds him propped up in bed with his eyes closed and his breathing mercifully even. He almost ducks out again to leave Charles to his rest, but Charles opens an eye and gives him a small smile.
“Erik,” he says, voice still soft, but free from pain, and Erik goes to sit by him without further hesitation.
Before Erik can get out any of the thousands of apologies on his tongue, Charles says, “Thank you, Erik, I don’t know how I would have made it without you.”
“But I didn’t-” Erik protests, but Charles shushes him with a look and pulls him in for a kiss.
-End-
Uh… I did a little research on symptoms of poison bites/stings, but the progression I used was entirely made up.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment