Chapter Text
Charles generally takes Kurt's punishments more as suggestions than anything to be taken seriously, which is why he's sitting on the window seat in the small first floor study with the curtains drawn instead of in his room where he'd been banished to the previous night. It's raining softly outside, there's a thick, rolling fog covering the grounds all over, and despite the fact that it's August, Charles shivers against the glass and pulls a blanket over his legs and waist. Somewhere in the mansion, his mother and stepfather are arguing about Harvard and the best way to make him see that it's really the best school for him and - Charles tunes them out.
The curtain is suddenly ripped to one side. Charles jumps in surprise at the noise.
"You're the worst at hide and seek," Emma says as she and Tony join him on the bench and close the curtain behind them.
"And yet you could be the best, knowing how your mutation works," says Tony.
Inexplicably irritated by their presence, Charles scowls at the two of them. "Not in the mood for you," he grumbles. "Go away."
Tony grins wickedly and pokes at his face. Charles bats his hand away, but he keeps at it, and eventually Emma joins in by pinching and prodding at Charles' sides until he gives up and pokes back at them. The result is a minor wrestling match the ends with Emma wrapping her arms around Charles from behind and Tony using his front as a pillow.
Charles struggles for a moment before sighing and making himself as comfortable as possible between them. "We're going to regret sitting like this later," he warns. Possibly sooner than that if Kurt or Mum come down and find us this way.
"Shut up and cuddle with us," Tony says, and they stay that way for the rest of the afternoon.