“You should be down there, with the others,” Charles said in lieu of a greeting as he heard the door to the roof open behind him and felt Darwin join him on the roof.
“They’ll be alright without me for a little bit,” Darwin replied easily, “I was hoping to talk to you, so if you really don’t want me here you’ll have to say that directly and I’ll go. Don’t send me away with a pretense, just tell me. Otherwise, I’m going to join you for a bit.” Charles turned to face Darwin, and stood up from where he had been sitting with his legs dangling off the roof, watching the other mutants laugh and joke in the yard.
“Is everything okay?” Charles asked, suddenly concerned about what could be troubling Darwin so much that it dragged him away from the festivities below them.
“I could ask you that,” Darwin replied with a small smile, “Can I sit with you a minute?” Charles nodded, a little confused by Darwin’s answer, but ready to listen to him all the same.
“Of course,” Charles replied, gesturing to the ledge where he had been sitting, “I’m always here for you. All of you.” Darwin smiled and sat on the ledge, swinging his legs against the side of the building. Charles sat beside him, trying to project approachability in his posture. Darwin sat watching the others for a long moment before he spoke.
“You scare them,” Darwin finally said quietly, “Everyone. You tell them you can read minds, and they all… are wary. Even Mystique. You scare Eric, just… differently.” Charles pursed his lips, knowing and hating the truth in Darwin’s statement. “It’s not fair,” Darwin said firmly, “We know what it’s like to be feared and hated and scared of ourselves, yet we can’t seem to muster up the ability to make sure the person who helped us stop feeling that gets that from us in return. I’m sorry.” Charles was caught speechless by the nervous, but firm confidence coming off of Darwin as he spoke. He could see how hard it was for the boy to meet his eyes, yet Darwin did so with a resolute look on his face.
“I’m promising you now that I’ll do better,” Darwin said firmly, “You’re a good person, it doesn’t take a power to see that. I want… If you’re willing, I’d like to learn more about your powers. If we can’t understand and accept our fellow mutants, how can we ever ask the rest of the world to accept us? There can’t be this divide among us.” Charles looked into the determined face of Darwin and felt the sincerity rolling off of him and found his throat getting tight as tears built in his eyes.
“Darwin, can I give you a hug?” Charles managed in a thick voice. Darwin nodded.
“Of course,” he replied. Charles pulled the teen into a tight embrace, burying his face in Darwin’s shoulder.
Oh no, did I mess up? Is this a good thing? A bad thing? He looked like he was going to cry. Oh, god, I made him cry, he’s crying, Darwin’s inner monologue was loud to Charles, it would have taken more energy than he had to block it out.
Thank you, Charles projected his feelings towards Darwin, trying to share how relieved and accepted and hopeful he felt, Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s not bad to cry. I promise, you’ve just given me the best gift I could have asked for. After a few moments, Charles managed to reign in his tears and took a few deep breaths.
“This means… so much to me,” Charles said, “No one has ever… well, you said it. Raven and Eric are scared of my ability. It’s hard to tell people to be proud of what they are when they can’t ever turn around and say the same to you.” Darwin nodded.
“I’m sorry,” Darwin said quietly. Charles gave him a watery but heartfelt smile.
“Don’t be,” Charles replied, “You’ve just done so much more than anyone else has for me. Thank you.” Darwin smiled, and Charles chose to ignore the sad undercurrent to the expression. Instead, he stood and offered Darwin a hand. “Come on, let’s join the others.” Darwin took the offered hand and together they rejoined the rest of the group.