Erik
Getting everyone seated for lunch is a hassle to put it nicely. There aren’t enough chairs at the table, so they pull up two from around the house, and then the actual seating part is pure chaos.
Azazel wanted to sit at the head of the table, arguing that since this whole thing was his idea, he was the ring leader of the group (he wasn’t), but Raven insisted that she was at the very least at his side. Raven’s friends, Alex and Sean, fought over who got to sit next to Emma until the three of them filed into one side, Hank joining them awkwardly. Darwin sat to Alex’s right at the other end, Angel on his free side. Moira grabbed a seat next to her.
That left three empty chairs in a row for Erik, Logan, and Charles. Before the other two can make a choice, Erik moves to the one on the right, pulling Charles next to him.
The telepath had immediately caught his eye, with floppy brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and puffy red lips that Erik simply cannot believe are real. And then they talked, and Charles’ personality somehow made him even more attractive. Though seemingly nervous, he was funny, smart, adorable, and had a mutation that could, and likely would, fuel Erik’s nightly thoughts for months.
Looking over to shoot Charles a smile, he notices that Logan is also sitting next to his new crush and looking at him with a concerningly similar gleam in his eyes. Well that won’t do.
Formulating a plan is going to have to wait though, because right now everyone is passing around various bowls of pasta, cheese, and sauces that the three girls prepared. So instead he takes a sip from his pre-poured glass of cheap wine and digs in.
“So guys,” Raven starts once everyone’s got their food, the only person who knows everyone already. “What do we want to do for the rest of the day?”
Initially, no one answers, presumably hesitant to be the first to speak. Then Alex asks “Is there a boardwalk here?”
“Oooh yeah, that’d be great,” Angel pitches in. “Plus it's a pretty standard beach activity, so perfect for the first day.”
Raven looks at Az for confirmation before nodding. “There is one. It’s a little bit away but nothing crazy, maybe like a four minute drive. It’s pretty long too so there will be lots to do, something for everyone.”
“Okay,” says one of the new guys, Darwin he thinks. “But it’s only midday, and the boardwalk is best at night, so what are we going to do until then?”
There’s a brief moment of silence as everyone contemplates that before Charles suggests, “Get hammered and play volleyball on the beach?”
Chaos erupts again as everyone adds in their approval and that’s their afternoon planned.
xxxxxx
If Erik thought getting everyone ready for a meal was bad, getting everyone ready for the beach was even harder. He and Charles were fine, having only just come back from there for their meal, but everyone else was frantic. Emma and Angel couldn’t decide on bikinis, Az couldn’t fit all the alcohol he wanted into his backpack, Sean couldn’t find the ball for the game, Alex couldn’t find his speaker, and Hank was insisting everyone slather on sunscreen lest they die of skin cancer at the age of thirty.
The walk there after that is once again easy and brief, though much louder this time with the added company. Though they had all had a few drinks beforehand, they were starting to wear off, so upon their arrival the twelve young adults each chug a beer to get it started. Luckily there’s already a volleyball net set up in the sand, so now all that’s left is picking teams.
Sensing the already growing anticipation and trying to ensure this goes as smoothly as possible, Raven directs once again. “I think captains should be random so that it’s fair, and then they can pick members back and forth?”
Verdammt, she’s bossy.
After putting all their names in a random generator and picking two, Erik and Logan end up being team captains, and he gets an indescribable feeling in the pit of his stomach. Erik needs to get first pick so he can choose Charles before his fucker of friend.
Friend is an odd way to put it. Erik and Logan have shared a dorm, and then apartment, with Azazel since they all started college. While Az and him had become fast friends, Logan and Erik still hadn’t bonded. They never argued or got into a fight, but they never really spoke either, had nothing to speak about. So the building urge to crush the ‘Wolverine’ in a friendly game of beach volleyball really made no sense.
He eyes the newest object of his interest, noting freckles scattered across pale skin, and maybe it makes a little sense.
“Rock, paper, scissors, for who goes first,” Moira suggests.
When Erik loses and Logan states “Charles,” for his first teammate, he can’t help the wave of disappointment that washes over him.
Logan picks Sean, Raven, Darwin, and Angel, while Erik gets Azazel, Alex, Emma, Hank, and Moira. While not entirely who he would have hoped to select, he’s still motivated to win.
With the teams selected, they spread out across the two sides of the net, and a whistle is blown from an unknown source, the game beginning. Erik is at least bestowed with the honor of first serve, so with a certain brunette in mind, he slams the ball over the other side, past the opposing team, and straight to the ground landing just inside the box.
“Jesus Christ,” mutters Sean. At least he knows he impressed someone.
The next half an hour is a blur, full of ball smacking, shit talking, and a few too many bodily collisions. The two teams are tied and it’s final serve. Erik knows that if he had a Raven instead of Moira and Darwin instead of Hank his chances would be higher, but he doesn’t and despite his years of volleyball experience, the rest of his team doesn’t have much at all, if any.
Still, he’s determined, and Erik always succeeds when determined. So when the ball comes flying in his direction he hits it as hard as he can, angling it down to land right in front of the other side of the net.
Logan sees what he’s doing and takes the opportunity to dive, slapping it back over the netting and onto the ground directly in front of Erik. “That’s game,” Alex shouts.
“Thank god,” exclaims Emma. “I hate sports. I hate team sports even more.” She’s already moving away from the area. “I need to tan.”
Suppressing the urge to pick up the ball and chuck it at Logan’s smug face, Erik walks over to their things and snatches the lone bottle of whiskey. Plopping down on the sand, he closes his eyes, leaning back and allowing the sun to heat his already flushed body.
He doesn’t know how long he sits like that for, simply enjoying his environment, but suddenly he hears laughter. Craning his head to the right, Erik spots Charles, face lit up in response to something someone said. He looks like a painting, he thinks to himself. A masterpiece.
And then Erik sees the person holding the telepath's attention, and he frowns. Logan.
Das fotze. If he starts daydreaming about using the metal in Logan’s body to drown him at the bottom of the ocean, it’s not his fault.
Erik is so caught up in this thought that he doesn’t even notice Charles gesture to where the metal bender is sitting and walk over. Only noticing when the man is directly in front of him.
“Hey,” he greets, searching through the pile of drinks before his eyes catch on the whiskey in Erik’s hand. “Is that reserved or are we sharing?” Still a little butthurt, Erik opts to grunt in response, handing the bottle over.
“Thanks,” Charles says with an easy smile. Clearly he’s not being very subtle with his bad mood, because after a few minutes of less-than-comfortable silence the telepath shoots him a “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
Charles shoves Erik with his shoulder and tells him, “You played splendidly, you know. I think you were the best person on both teams.”
That shouldn’t make him feel as good as it does, a strange warmth bubbling in the pit of his stomach that has nothing to do with the liquor. “Thanks,” he says with a small smile. “Still lost though.”
“Well, sure, but you looked hot doing it. And that’s like ninety percent of the game anyways right?”
The laugh that shoots out of him is mostly involuntary. Charles was flirting with him. With him and not Logan. That was flirting right? He supposed a friend could say that to another friend, but he hoped it wasn’t that. Seizing the opportunity he counters, “Me? Half of the game I was struggling to concentrate because I kept being distracted by your absolute monster of an ass.”
Charles starts howling with laughter at that, clutching at his stomach, and Erik can’t help but join in. He finally calms enough to take another swig, but before he can swallow Charles decides to very randomly ask, “Did you know that male dolphins have a retractable penis?”
He chokes around the alcohol, spitting it out and exclaiming, “Why on Earth would I know that?” A pause, “Why do you know that?”
Around a chuckle he explains, “On the way here, I was reading a book of marine animal fun facts. A surprising amount of reproductive knowledge, most of which I felt better not knowing. The dolphin page was very… enlightening to say the least. And if I have to live with this knowledge, so do you.”
“That doesn’t seem nearly fair,” Erik argues. “I always get concerned when someone says dolphins are their favorite animal. I take it to mean they’re either a criminal or a liar.”
Erik can’t remember the last time he laughed so much, felt so comfortable around someone. It wasn’t even like this around Az, and they’d known each other for years. He’d just met Charles, and yet it feels like he’s always been around. His horrible mood from earlier has disappeared, transformed into something much more pleasant.
“What are you two chatting about?” Erik hears a gruff voice and looks up to see Logan, because of course.
“Hi Logan,” Charles greets, and Erik despises the soft smile that settles over his features. “You want a drink?”
The arschloch shakes his head and extends a hand in response. “Actually, I wanted to see if you were ready for that walk we talked about?”
Walk, what walk? Is he seriously trying to steal Charles away from me right now? Can’t he see we’re busy?
He can’t help the frustrated thoughts seeping into his consciousness, and when he notices the soft smile shift to a light smirk, Erik realizes Charles can hear everything he’s thinking right now. But he still takes Logan’s offered hand, stands up, and leaves Erik sitting alone. So, really he can’t care that much can he?
Erik’s shitty mood returns, stronger than ever.