Home, sweet home…..!
At the mansion, a week before Christmas
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Charles was sitting in his study, with a nice cup of tea. The logs in the fireplace crackled blissfully, giving off a warm glow in the room, as he sat in his favourite sofa, with a book. He took a sip from the mug, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of both the tea, the fireplace and the several fluffy blankets he had decided to nest in.
His eyes fluttered open, returning his attention to the book in his lap. It was called “Under the mistletoe”.
Although Charles was the kind of guy to read excruciatingly long research studies and heavy debates on almost everything, (the former which Raven found extremely boring),fluffy romances were his guilty pleasure. Or you could call it his Achilles heel. (Because of course Charles had read The Iliad…..You cannot stop the man from getting his hands on any lengthy book).
The book was about 2 men meeting at a cafe, then slowly falling in love. The sappy novel gave him that kind of romance’y feeling, he also got whenever he and Erik were together. Lately Erik had been on a business trip, and Charles had found himself reading a rather obscene amount of romance books.
It just scratched that itch that he missed, whenever Erik’s touch was far away. A touch, that he missed. Not only that, but also Erik’s hair, usually gelled all the way back, but messy in the mornings, for Charles’ eyes only. His eyes, greyish with a touch of blue, filled with love for Charles. His smile, shark-like but still beautiful, because it was Erik’s smile. Everything about Erik was beautiful.
Well, back to the book, he thought. Thinking about Erik really didn’t help. It only made him long for the annoyingly beautiful man more, which he really didn’t need right now. Charles’ eyes drifted back towards the book once more.
As he had just turned the page to a rather spicy scene, Raven burst through the doors to the study.
“Charles, get up, we’re going shopping!!!” she exclaimed, standing in the doorway.
“E-excuse me raven, i didn’t quite seem to catch that” Charles mumbled, quickly hiding the book under the blanket, knowing that Raven would never let the fact that he read fluffy romance go.
And Holiday romance too, how cliché were his current read not? But never mind, as Raven quickly strode across the floor, pulling Charles up from his sofa, not seeming to notice his embarrassment, or the book tumbling down on the ground, alongside a variety of blankets.
“Raven, i must ask you again, what exactly are we doing? I heard you say ‘shopping’?” Charles laughed, as he was dragged through the mansion.
Raven only smiled knowingly, and Charles had the feeling that the other kids were behind this too. At last Raven suddenly rounded a corner, pulling him through the doorway to the main kitchen.
The main kitchen was a rather sizeable room, and this was where they all ate. There was a dining room, but it was one of those old-timey halls with a chandelier and the rest. Most of the kids preferred eating their cup-noodles in the kitchen, opposed to the fancy mahogany table. So they ate at the kitchen, where a table had been set up. It had even become a sort of meeting point for them, and this was where they had assembled today. With some popcorn of course, no meeting endured without snacks.
Alex was lounging in one of the chairs, sneakily throwing tiny pieces of popcorn at Hank sitting opposite of him. Hank was not seeming to notice, or maybe he was just too engulfed in the paper he was sketching at, filled with ideas and formulas for updates to Cerebro.
Sean was dozing of in the chair beside Alex, and likewise had his hand in the popcorn bowl, although he was munching on the salty kernels and not attacking Hank with snacks.
Charles gaze at last drifted towards the kitchen’s counter, where a familiar figure was leaning against the countertop. Charles’ eyes shone up, as Erik returned the now-ever-growing-smile on Charles face. Raven snickered beside them, as he quickly strode across the room, engulfing into Erik’s warm embrace, ignoring his little sister with a smile.
……..