ficlet february 15: "behind closed doors"
Old dudes running the school together!
***
Ficlet February: "behind closed doors"
"And the last item for today," Hank reads from the agenda. "Participation in the New York State Education Initiative's new proposal promoting different magnet schools. Charles has the floor."
Charles rustles his notes to the appropriate place and takes the wireless pointer from Hank.
"Thank you, Hank," he says. He clicks to his first slide. "I've been contacted by the chairperson of the NYSEI with an offer to host--"
He can't even finish his sentence before Erik's hand is in the air. Dammit.
"Motion to table this topic until the committee has had time to read the fifty page briefing sent by the NYSEI and review supplementary materials," Erik says.
The rest of the staff shuffles through their papers.
"Seconded," Ororo says after a moment as she re-reads the memo Charles sent out about three hours ago after Fran from the NYSEI called him up with her thoughts. Ororo's always been a bit of a Daddy's Girl when it comes to Erik--he should have expected this.
"All in favor?" Hank asks. Charles can tell where most people will fall--Scott and Hank and Armando on his side, Raven and Piotr on Erik's. Kitty and Bobby for him, Marie and Alex for Erik. Betsy, Jean, and Logan will be the wildcards.
Betsy keeps her hand down. Jean concentrates on the memo for a moment, then raises hers. Charles looks to Logan. Erik does as well.
Logan shrugs and raises his hand.
Dammit. Charles knows he only did that to end the meeting more quickly.
"The yeas have it," Hank says. "The item will be tabled until next week. As there are no further agenda items, is there a motion to adjourn."
Charles stares at Erik as he raises his hand.
"Seconded," Erik adds, raising his own hand and staring right back.
"All in favor?" Hank says. Everyone's hands rise. "Any opposed? Okay. Meeting adjourned."
The rest of the group breaks out into chatter and side conversations. Chairs scrape against the floor and everyone leaves in twos and threes.
Charles says to Erik, sweetly, "My office?"
"Lead the way, dear," Erik replies.
Charles' office is only a few doors down from the board room. A few students in the halls stop to greet them, but in no time at all Erik is solicitously holding the door open and then closing it behind them.
Charles waits until he's behind his desk to glare at Erik.
"We talked about this," he says. He jabs his finger towards Erik.
"And I told you I needed more time to think about it," Erik says.
"And I told you that if Fran is to get this on the agenda, she needs to move quickly," Charles says.
Erik brushes off the edge of Charles' desk before leaning against it, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. "Her need for haste does not supersede my need to make sure I know what I'm getting my school into by agreeing to some harebrained--"
"Erik, really."
"What has the state done for us recently?" Erik asks. "What support or funding have they given us?"
"We make a choice to not receive--"
"Because we know if we did it would never be enough!" Erik says. "So why should we bend over for them now?"
Charles pinches the bridge of his nose. He knows he should be relieved. It could be worse. Five years ago, they'd be having this argument in the middle of the board room with all of the rest of the faculty alternately staring at them with morbid fascination or trying to awkwardly look away. Erik has been groomed, over the years, to embrace the idea of presenting a united front for the rest of them and arguing behind closed doors.
That doesn't make the closed door arguments any less frustrating.
"We can't do this alone forever," Charles says.
"We have been so far," Erik says. "I see no reason to change that."
"Things are changing!" Charles insists. "There's a mutant magnet school in the city! There are others popping up all over the country. In addition to us and Emma, there are now four other private, mutant-only schools in the US and three more internationally. We don't have to do it alone any longer!"
"Nor should we be running headlong into some half-hearted state-funded mess just to increase visibility!" Erik says.
They've both raised their voices now. Charles forces himself to keep quiet, to breathe, to get a handle on himself. Fifty years and Erik is the only person who can get his blood-pressure up like this. It drives him mad, but it also makes him sentimental. That's a long time to know someone well enough to get under their skin.
He sighs. Perhaps sensing that things have come to a head, Erik relaxes as well.
"I only ask for time to review the materials," he says. "Next week, we'll revisit."
Charles has a feeling that Erik will be spending all of the next week honing his arguments against why this is a bad idea in the first place.
"By next week, it might be too late," Charles says.
"If a week will make or break it, knowing our propensity to become distracted by the larger political landscape and ignore deadlines, perhaps it's for the best that we're not involved," Erik says dryly.
Charles rolls his eyes, but Erik leans over and kisses the top of his head, then lingers there, his hands resting on Charles' shoulders, his cheek pressed against the crown of Charles' head.
"Just a week," Erik murmurs. "Be patient with me. I'm an old man and I'm set in my ways."
"I know," Charles says. He breathes out slowly and wraps his arms loosely around Erik.
One week. He can do that. And Erik's right, if they can't be flexible, a partnership probably won't work very well. And he can use the same week Erik will be honing his arguments to prepare some of his own.
"A week," he says, and Erik kisses him again and straightens up.
"Thank you," Erik says. He's groomed Erik into gratitude over the years as well.
"You have a class to get ready for," Charles says, shoving him gently away. "Motion to adjourn?"
"Seconded," Erik says.
"Meeting adjourned," Charles says. "I'll see you for lunch."
"I'm looking forward to it," Erik says, and then opens the door and gets back to work.
*
ficlet february!
Get some sleep
Five minutes away
Faint recognition
Half an hour before sunrise
Useless, but beautiful
Something’s broken
Surprise celebration
There were signs and signals
Rituals
Write about a postcard
What are you looking for?
You remind me of someone
A meeting, a beginning
Lasting impression
Long drive
Behind closed doors
Ask questions later
Six impossible things
Day off
Lost in a city
A door key
A late night phone call
Someone else’s mortification
***
Ficlet February: "behind closed doors"
"And the last item for today," Hank reads from the agenda. "Participation in the New York State Education Initiative's new proposal promoting different magnet schools. Charles has the floor."
Charles rustles his notes to the appropriate place and takes the wireless pointer from Hank.
"Thank you, Hank," he says. He clicks to his first slide. "I've been contacted by the chairperson of the NYSEI with an offer to host--"
He can't even finish his sentence before Erik's hand is in the air. Dammit.
"Motion to table this topic until the committee has had time to read the fifty page briefing sent by the NYSEI and review supplementary materials," Erik says.
The rest of the staff shuffles through their papers.
"Seconded," Ororo says after a moment as she re-reads the memo Charles sent out about three hours ago after Fran from the NYSEI called him up with her thoughts. Ororo's always been a bit of a Daddy's Girl when it comes to Erik--he should have expected this.
"All in favor?" Hank asks. Charles can tell where most people will fall--Scott and Hank and Armando on his side, Raven and Piotr on Erik's. Kitty and Bobby for him, Marie and Alex for Erik. Betsy, Jean, and Logan will be the wildcards.
Betsy keeps her hand down. Jean concentrates on the memo for a moment, then raises hers. Charles looks to Logan. Erik does as well.
Logan shrugs and raises his hand.
Dammit. Charles knows he only did that to end the meeting more quickly.
"The yeas have it," Hank says. "The item will be tabled until next week. As there are no further agenda items, is there a motion to adjourn."
Charles stares at Erik as he raises his hand.
"Seconded," Erik adds, raising his own hand and staring right back.
"All in favor?" Hank says. Everyone's hands rise. "Any opposed? Okay. Meeting adjourned."
The rest of the group breaks out into chatter and side conversations. Chairs scrape against the floor and everyone leaves in twos and threes.
Charles says to Erik, sweetly, "My office?"
"Lead the way, dear," Erik replies.
Charles' office is only a few doors down from the board room. A few students in the halls stop to greet them, but in no time at all Erik is solicitously holding the door open and then closing it behind them.
Charles waits until he's behind his desk to glare at Erik.
"We talked about this," he says. He jabs his finger towards Erik.
"And I told you I needed more time to think about it," Erik says.
"And I told you that if Fran is to get this on the agenda, she needs to move quickly," Charles says.
Erik brushes off the edge of Charles' desk before leaning against it, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. "Her need for haste does not supersede my need to make sure I know what I'm getting my school into by agreeing to some harebrained--"
"Erik, really."
"What has the state done for us recently?" Erik asks. "What support or funding have they given us?"
"We make a choice to not receive--"
"Because we know if we did it would never be enough!" Erik says. "So why should we bend over for them now?"
Charles pinches the bridge of his nose. He knows he should be relieved. It could be worse. Five years ago, they'd be having this argument in the middle of the board room with all of the rest of the faculty alternately staring at them with morbid fascination or trying to awkwardly look away. Erik has been groomed, over the years, to embrace the idea of presenting a united front for the rest of them and arguing behind closed doors.
That doesn't make the closed door arguments any less frustrating.
"We can't do this alone forever," Charles says.
"We have been so far," Erik says. "I see no reason to change that."
"Things are changing!" Charles insists. "There's a mutant magnet school in the city! There are others popping up all over the country. In addition to us and Emma, there are now four other private, mutant-only schools in the US and three more internationally. We don't have to do it alone any longer!"
"Nor should we be running headlong into some half-hearted state-funded mess just to increase visibility!" Erik says.
They've both raised their voices now. Charles forces himself to keep quiet, to breathe, to get a handle on himself. Fifty years and Erik is the only person who can get his blood-pressure up like this. It drives him mad, but it also makes him sentimental. That's a long time to know someone well enough to get under their skin.
He sighs. Perhaps sensing that things have come to a head, Erik relaxes as well.
"I only ask for time to review the materials," he says. "Next week, we'll revisit."
Charles has a feeling that Erik will be spending all of the next week honing his arguments against why this is a bad idea in the first place.
"By next week, it might be too late," Charles says.
"If a week will make or break it, knowing our propensity to become distracted by the larger political landscape and ignore deadlines, perhaps it's for the best that we're not involved," Erik says dryly.
Charles rolls his eyes, but Erik leans over and kisses the top of his head, then lingers there, his hands resting on Charles' shoulders, his cheek pressed against the crown of Charles' head.
"Just a week," Erik murmurs. "Be patient with me. I'm an old man and I'm set in my ways."
"I know," Charles says. He breathes out slowly and wraps his arms loosely around Erik.
One week. He can do that. And Erik's right, if they can't be flexible, a partnership probably won't work very well. And he can use the same week Erik will be honing his arguments to prepare some of his own.
"A week," he says, and Erik kisses him again and straightens up.
"Thank you," Erik says. He's groomed Erik into gratitude over the years as well.
"You have a class to get ready for," Charles says, shoving him gently away. "Motion to adjourn?"
"Seconded," Erik says.
"Meeting adjourned," Charles says. "I'll see you for lunch."
"I'm looking forward to it," Erik says, and then opens the door and gets back to work.
*
ficlet february!
Get some sleep
Five minutes away
Faint recognition
Half an hour before sunrise
Useless, but beautiful
Something’s broken
Surprise celebration
There were signs and signals
Rituals
Write about a postcard
What are you looking for?
You remind me of someone
A meeting, a beginning
Lasting impression
Long drive
Behind closed doors
Ask questions later
Six impossible things
Day off
Lost in a city
A door key
A late night phone call
Someone else’s mortification