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"Sharks in the water," the ship's captain warned as he looked at the boat's radar, looking at Charles with his eyebrows raised. Charles didn't need telepathy to know the man thought he was crazy for doing what he was about to do.
In response, Charles only gave him a bright smile as he fixed his equipment, already sitting down at the edge and ready to throw himself into the water, Raven standing by his side already fully prepared and with a camera in hand. It was very amusing to see how his sister wasn't at all worried about what they'd be doing, how her mind was just a bundle of concentration and a quiet check-list of her own equipment and of everything was where it should be.
"I'm ready when you are," she mumbled by his side as she sat down, pulling the mask over her face and taking an experimental breath out of the mouthpiece to test if the oxygen tank was properly connected.
"Right," Charles nodded, his eyes shining with excitement. "Let's go, then."
Charles pulled his own diving mask down, stretching his arms for a moment before using them to push himself into the water, seeing Raven follow him immediately. He used his arms to steady himself, smiling a bit around his mouthpiece as he felt weightless, staying upright in the water. He liked the feeling, his unfeeling legs suddenly not weighing much as he moved around.
Raven's free hand moved then, catching Charles' attention and making him look at her. She pointed down, guiding Charles' gaze there, and Charles was able to see the sharks swimming a few meters below them. It was a terrifying view for a moment, especially since they were all great whites and tiger sharks, but that quickly turned into a magnificent view as Charles scholar side took over.
«You're projecting, nerd,» Raven's voice said pointedly into his mind, Charles' face turning to her again as she shook her head. «Should we say hi to our new sharp-toothed friends?»
«Please,» Charles sent over, giving her a short nod with his head. «Is the camera on?»
Raven checked the device in her hand for a quick second, pressing a button before giving Charles a thumbs up. They started slowly diving after, staying close together as they went down, the sharks getting closer by the second.
When one of them passed close to Charles' feet, he couldn't help the quiet spark of excitement he felt. Raven had called him an adrenaline junkie once, and he would always disagree with her for the sake of not letting her have the win, but he couldn't lie that the feeling was addicting.
They just floated there for a moment, watching the sharks as they swam around, and Charles reached for the animals with his telepathy. Animal minds were different from a human's, his control on them wasn't exactly the best — mostly for lack of practice, but he always felt bad trying to control the poor things — but he could feel them if he reached for them.
The sharks down there seemed to be in sync when it came to their thoughts, if he could even call them that. Impulses, maybe, basic commands that kept them alive and alert. Some of the sharks seemed to have noticed Charles' and Raven's presence, but weren't too interested in them, not curious about them either. There were a few strings of impulses that Charles could catch, a quiet repetition of a questioning feeling that quickly turned into something akin to "swim away".
He made sure those thoughts stayed like that, alert in case one of them was hungry and ended up trying to come closer to guess if they were food.
«This is more boring than I anticipated,» Raven sent over, Charles' eyes going towards her as he saw her look back at him, yellow eyes shining behind the glass of her diving mask.
«What did you expect? Me to be mauled by a Great White while you held the camera?»
«Surely it would be more interesting than seeing them just swim.» She shrugged, a quiet amusement in her mind after those words. «It would also probably go viral.»
«That would be incredibly counterproductive to what we came here to do.»
«Still, this is very boring.»
As Charles was about to answer, he picked a different thought from one of the sharks, curiosity shining in the middle of all the others, and Charles quickly looked for the shark. It wasn't hard to find it when he noticed said shark swimming towards them calmly and silently.
The shark was smaller than the other ones, not fully grown yet maybe, and its mind had that questioning feeling in it, as if it was wondering what Charles and Raven were, and it wasn't long until it was circling them, trying to take a good look.
«Should I be worried?» Raven asked, her camera up as she filmed the shark swimming around them.
«No, it's just trying to get an idea of what we are,» Charles sent over, feeling the movement in the water as it moved right behind his head. «Just be careful not to touch it. It'll probably damage your suit if you do.»
«Ah, teeth skin, right?»
Charles chuckled a little. «In a way, yes.»
After circling a few times, the shark seemed to be just as curious as before, and Charles smiled at it with amusement as it swam away for a moment before coming back, still trying to get a good idea of what Charles and Raven were — Charles could see it ruling out options in it's mind, in a way, considering Charles and Raven weren't shaped like anything it had ever seen (they weren't shaped like food he was used to have either). Thankfully, to the both of them, the shark didn't seem to be interested in biting to find out.
Charles tentatively sent a quiet thought towards the shark, similar to the impulses the shark thought with, and to his excitement, he saw the shark's swimming break pattern for a moment as a kind of surprise took over its mind. He'd had to take notes of that later, make sure to record what was the impact of his telepathy on that apex predator.
The shark, now more curious than before, suddenly started circling again, but this time only around Charles, as if it wanted to take a good look at him. There was a pang of worry that hit him, coming from Raven, but he only reassured her that it would be okay. If the shark tried anything that could harm him, Charles could telepathically simulate the feeling of a punch at the shark's nose and give them enough time to leave the water. Hopefully he wouldn't need to.
As the shark circled him, Charles took his time to analyze the shark's mind and try to think of what he could do next, deciding in the end to test something. He sent another quiet impulse to the shark's mind, something that could be read as affection, even if sharks weren't supposed to truly feel it. There was another victorious feeling that took over Charles as he saw the swimming pattern break again, as well as that surprise again coming from the shark. In its way, the shark's mind seemed to have liked what Charles did.
It took about a minute for the circling to stop, the shark swimming away before turning around again, going straight towards Charles in a calm manner, still no intention to attack. With careful movements, the shark approached Charles' body and bumped its nose against Charles' chest, so gently that Charles wanted to laugh. It was still trying to figure out what Charles was.
There was a calm but excited thought in the shark's mind now, categorizing Charles into something he could translate as "friend". The shark apparently thought Charles was friendly. No one at the lab would believe him when he told them.
In response to the shark's feelings, Charles moved his hand to touch it on its underside, carefully running a hand through its belly when it swam in front of him. Thankfully, as Charles' hand ran through the rough skin, he had decided to use the thicker gloves that day.
The shark seemed to break its swimming pattern again at the pet, its mind now shining with a very loud satisfied feeling that made Charles laugh around his mouthpiece. It liked being pet.
«What's happening?» Raven asked.
«I think I made a friend.»
«Are you serious? Did you just work your charm on a fucking shark?»
«I think I did, it likes me.»
«I can't stand you sometimes,» Raven thought amusedly, shaking her head, pointing the camera at Charles as the shark once again slowly bumped its nose against Charles' chest. «You have a pet shark! You'll have to name it.»
Charles gently touched the shark's snout, seeing as it opened its mouth in an automatic response, its teeth showing. He would be scared if he wasn't able to hear the immediate way the shark's mind seemed to sing with appreciation — in words, Charles thought that maybe it would be translated into a chanting of "Yes, yes, friend, more, yes!" which was incredibly heartwarming.
«Erik.» Charles said after a while, seeing Raven raise her eyebrows behind her mask. «It is a Great White, and Erik means eternal ruler, or eternal king. Seems fit for this boy here.»
«It's a male?»
«Yeah. It's small- although it could be because it's young- but it also has the claspers.»
Charles could catch the quiet "Nerd," that crossed Raven's mind.
«Hey, can you do that trick where you make it do a handstand? Or, well, a snootstand...» She asked as the shark — now Erik — circled around Charles again.
«I don't know, but I don't want to upset it,» Charles shrugged. «But I think I can turn it on it's back? The tonic immobility thing? Hold on, I've only done this with the smaller ones in captivity.»
Charles sent a quiet thought to Erik, seeing it follow suit as it understood it should be swimming in front of Charles. Once he figured out Erik was calm enough to even attempt it, Charles touched the shark and started to roll it on the water. There was a very loud feeling of "???" coming from the shark, but Charles only made sure to keep it calm as it was rolled on its back.
The shark's mind as it was turned on its back made Charles laugh. It felt like the equivalent of a halt on a normal mind, as if all its thoughts were clouded by that relaxed state it was put on as it turned upside down. When Charles used this chance to rub the shark's belly, he felt Erik's mind light up with a quiet "!!!" feeling.
«Jesus, Charles,» Raven sent over, her mind showing how impressed and giddy she was. «This may be better than you getting mauled.»
«Can you imagine how much awareness this will bring?» Charles thought excitedly, running his hand through Erik's belly again before helping it to roll around again, making sure not to let the shark stay still for too long. The last thing he needed was it suffocating by accident. «This boy here is giving us all we need to show sharks are not bad animals- and of all sharks, it's a Great White!»
«Trust Charles Xavier to make a Great White Shark into an excited puppy.»
Charles smiled, seeing Erik bumping his snoot against his face now, just as gently as the other times. Charles ran his hand through the shark's snout once again, the "!!!" feeling back to its mind.
After a while, however, Charles saw Raven looking at her equipment before looking back at Charles.
«Time to get back to the surface, Sharkboy.»
«Do not call me that. If you start this David will pick up on it too.»
«Sounds like a good deal to me!»
Charles checked his equipment as well, seeing that Raven was right and giving her a nod of confirmation. He looked at Erik, who was still swimming around him with a quiet pleased feeling in its mind each time its eyes got a full picture of Charles with each circle it did, and sent the shark a quiet feeling of goodbye. The shark's movements halted for a moment, some of the pleasant feeling leaving as it seemed to swim a little faster, distressed. Thankfully, there was no sign it wanted to attack.
Charles sent another wave of affection towards the shark, who took it happily, right before they started to swim up slowly. They weren't too deep, so decompression wouldn't slow them down much, but Charles noticed Erik following them, circling the both of them as its mind seemed to now wonder about Raven. Uh oh.
«Raven,» Charles sent in a calm voice, the girl's attention going to him. «Erik will probably try to circle you, maybe bump into you like it did with me.»
Raven's mind turned unsure as the shark started circling her like Charles told her it would. Charles sent her a wave of reassurance as he sent Erik a quiet impulse to his mind, the same one he had felt when the shark decided Charles was a friend. It seemed still curious either way. When it bumped its nose against Raven's chest — and Raven suddenly stopped breathing at it — Charles felt the shark decide Raven wasn't a threat. Curiously, he noticed, it didn't file Raven as friendly either.
It swam away after that, going back to bump Charles' chest, and Charles felt once again the loud thought that could be translated as "Friend!" coming from the shark.
«You're alright?» Charles asked, just to be sure. Raven nodded.
«That was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, and I've done some shit!»
Charles laughed, swimming up again until suddenly he was breaking the surface of the water again, Raven doing the same just seconds after. On the boat, Charles could finally notice the captain's mind again, seeing the man standing next to the edge with wide eyes as Erik swam close to Charles' and Raven's legs. He seemed terrified and impressed at the same time.
They swam towards the boat then, and Charles saw more than felt as Erik bumped against his leg one last time, a quiet sense of what seemed like sadness coming from the shark as Charles was pulled out of the water, swimming next to the boat in circles as it felt distressed that its friend was gone.
Charles took the mask and the mouthpiece from his face, letting his hair free from the suit as well, and took a breath of fresh air before laying with his stomach against the floor, arm going inside the water. Erik noticed it, swimming close and bumping its nose against Charles' hand and making Charles smile.
"Sorry, bud," Charles mumbled, sending to the shark once again that affection and what he could guess was the telepathic equivalent of his words. "I have to go now. But I might come back soon."
The shark's mind seemed to process each telepathic signal Charles was sending it, right before another loud "!!!" came from the shark and a string of what Charles could guess meant "Yes, again, friend, more, yes," crossed its mind.
"Go home now," Charles chuckled, patting the shark's snout and sending the quiet equivalent of a soft "go away" towards Erik.
The shark seemed to hesitate, swimming in circles next to the surface before quietly sinking into the water and going away. Charles smiled the whole time, turning around only to find Raven with her camera pointed at him. When he raised his eyebrows at her, she put the camera down with a grin.
"Can't believe I just got footage of you petting a Great White in the middle of the ocean," she shook her head, swaying her body in excitement a little. Next to them, the ship's captain seemed to be having trouble processing what he had just seen, his face a little paler than what it probably should be. "Your colleagues will be foaming at the mouth for the simple fact you were able to do that."
With a smile on his face as he sat more comfortably on the floor, he looked up at Raven with his eyes shining before saying, "I can't wait to show it to David."