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The sun was warm against Charles' face as he laid out in the sun. The mansion's grounds had been unattended for enough years that the grass had grown out wildly and a whole field of wildflowers had bloomed through the fields. Charles wasn't interested in hiring a service to maintain the yard, not when he only intended for their stay at the estate to be something temporary. When Charles lied awake at night, kept up by the demons that walked the halls of a house that had never truly been a home, he told himself he was only here until Shaw was dealt with.
The longer they were all there the less Charles had to comfort himself with lies, as having the house so full of young, lively people was slowly starting to warm the icy memories Charles had of this place. Today had been a day spent training, specifically with Erik, as they tested the other man's reach now that he was able to access a much deeper reserve of his power no longer relying strictly on anger. They were now taking a break from the rigorous work, and Charles had decided a walk in the cool mid-day air would be nice, especially through the overgrown grass.
Erik had followed him, as even if Charles hadn't issued an invitation, he was more than welcomed. A smile had curled Charles' lips up as he walked out into the field, coming to a stop upon a patch of flowers and sitting in the grass, leaning back on his palms. Erik had picked a handful of flowers that Charles had foolishly thought would be for him, and felt incredibly silly when Erik sat down beside him and began fiddling with the stems.
Now, Charles was lying in the long grass with his arms crossed behind his back and his head pillowed in his hands. The sun felt good across his skin, warming his cheeks as the breeze floating by kept him cool. If there was one thing he’d missed during his time away from the manor: it was this. The endless sprawling fields, the emptiness if he went far enough out, the beautiful weather.
Here, Erik’s thoughts were a constant companion that Charles found himself glad for even if he wasn’t used to it. Ever since that first night when Charles had plunged himself into icy water with the same ferocity he’d plunged into Erik’s thoughts, their minds had been closely linked together in a way Charles wasn’t used to. Even Raven, who was truly family to him in all the wonderful ways that mattered, wasn’t as open to his telepathy as Erik, who allowed for Charles to have an awareness of his mind that he couldn’t imagine anyone else wanting.
Sometime after they had first sat, Erik’s mind nudged his own, and Charles rolled onto his side before pushing up on one elbow. He looked up at Erik from under his lashes, smiling softly when he found Erik already looking down at him. He was turned to face slightly away from Charles which meant that he couldn’t see whatever he was doing with both of his hands as they were resting in his lap. Charles raised an eyebrow and waited, letting his eyes flutter closed for another minute.
Erik’s voice was rough when he finally said, “Here.”
When he opened his eyes again, Erik was holding a circular chain of braided flowers. It was gorgeous, the way the stems of the flowers he’d picked had been braided together with the petals all facing outward to create a crown. Erik was holding it out towards him, and Charles found that his hand shook when he reached out for it.
“What is this?” Charles asked, gently taking the chain of flowers from Erik's hand and holding it gently.
“It's nothing,” Erik told him sullenly, but a moment later he was projecting a thought a memory at Charles' so strongly that he could do nothing but fall into it, his eyes widening even as the grass and flowers around the faded away until he was fully immersed in a memory of Erik's mother gently twisting together flower stems with long, slim fingers. She laid the crown of flowers over Erik's head and bent down to kiss his nose, and a wave of nostalgic longing washed over him so strongly a tear fell from his eye.
When he blinked, he was back to looking at Erik's face. His lips were smoothed out into a soft smile but his eyes were red and wet with tears. Charles couldn't stop himself from reaching out and brushing his thumb over Erik's forehead where his mother had kissed so many lifetimes ago as he cupped the man's cheek. He ran his thumb over the sharp cut of bone, before leaning forward and giving him a soft kiss.
“Thank you for sharing this with me, my love,” Charles whispered, letting the endearment slip out where he would have previously kept the words down in fear of it being too soon or of them not being ready for such a declaration. Charles had certainly never thought Erik would confess his feelings first, but as Charles bowed his head and Erik took the crown back to lay it carefully over his hair, Charles knew the action for what it was.
He kissed Erik again, and pressed forward just how deeply his feelings ran, and knew that no matter what happened, this was something he would never let go.