Chapter 2
He still couldn’t believe that he was about to divide himself between his studies and this new unforseen activity; but he made a promise and he accepted the responsability that came from its consequences. After all, it couldn’t be so bad and it seemed like he would have had lots of fun with Raven’s friends and he already knew some of them.
The chance to get to know better the rest of them presented itself very quickly. That evening, after his study session, he saw a reply to a message he sent some hours before. He had written to Hank to know if he was in the mood to hang out and the answer apparently was yes. Let’s meet at the Cross Keys, replied Charles.
You bet. See you in a hour, was the answer. Chales had the time to refresh himself with a shower and to wear a simple white shirt and a pair of brown pants, befout putting his coat on and going outside. The Cross Keys was an Engish Pub just around the corner from the campus’ entrance. He realized immediatly that his choice of dressing wasn’t fit for the occasion: it was a frigid December evening. The month had just started but it felt like the weather had gotten frosty suddently. It felt appropriate though for a December wind to be so biting, trying to cover every inch of naked skin felt fitting too and had a familiar kind of feeling. He arrived at the pub without being displeased at all. It was well past nine, and the light in the alley was provided by old-fashioned green-tinted street lights. Half hidden by the obscurity of the night, a figure standed out thanks to the brightness coming out of the bar. He catched a point of light that burned in the dark and an instant later he distinguished a sharp jawline and two fierce and clear blue eyes. He was standing in front of the pub door, alone. He had to inevitably pass in front of him.
« Hey », he said to the man, smiling more than he would have wanted. The other though answered with a smile in reflection, lifting his eyes up to Charles. « Hey .»
« I wanted to thank you for the audition thing », continued Charles, sincerly grateful. He wasn’t the type that would get embarassed by a thing like that: saying thanks to Erik for wanting to support him felt natural and talking to him too. Even if it was the first time.
« I didn’t do anything. You were just a good singer », affirmed the other, before putting out the cigarette by throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. « Having a night out? », he asked.
« Actually yes, I’m meeting Hank. You should know him, he’s in the ensemble for the play. » Erik smiled ─ charmingly so, thought Charles. He was surely a heart-breaker, he added to himself jokingly.
« He’s inside with the others », said the other man. « Why don’t we go in? »
Charles left up a brown in confusion but didn’t loose his smile, while following Erik inside. A glowing face and a hug greeted them both when they got inside.
« My two stars! », screamed the girl that had casted him and that he had learned to call ‘Kitty’ two seconds after meeting her. Her name was Catherine Pryde and was one or two years younger than him; she was the director and Charles understood immediately that the reason why nobody doubted calling her Kitty was because she was well-beloved by everyone and, in fact, adorable.
Charles laughed, looking at Kitty’s reddened face: « I think you had too many drinks Mrs. Director », he said pleasantly.
« It must be like that, or I wouldn’t know why she didn’t mention me in the list of her stars », joked the slim cat-eyed woman that he saw singing on the day of the audition. She then smiled to Charles, that was being freed from Kitty’s bear-hug, while she tried to pull the same thing on Erik – that kept her away by putting a hand on her shoulder.
« Charles, right? It’s a pleasure, I’m Moira », she said, reaching out a hand to him. He shook it, « Enchanté », he added, a brow lifted. It dawned to him that Hank had invited him to a cast party of some sort. The man himself came closer to Charles.
« There’s more people that I would’ve thought », said he to McCoy, but with a smile that made obvious the fact that he didn’t mind at all. « Well, since you wanted to go out anyways I figured this would have been just fine », answered Hank with one of his faint shy smiles.
It was indeed a fun night. Charles got to know a little more about the project and the staff.
« So », had started to explain Raven – that unsurprinsigly was there too even if she hadn’t mentioned it to him, maybe hoping to surprise him – « the actual company started many years ago, before any of us attended the colege. But when Erik and Moira joined, it had just started being a relevant activity again. Among all of us they are the ones that have done it longer. » She took a sip from her beer. « But, in my humble opinion, this club would be nothing without Kitty. Maybe you’re not seeing her at her best, but she puts a passion on her work… that is amazing », she commented, underlying the first part of her sentence jokingly.
There was though a curiosity that felt more urgent than everything else: he felt drawned to Erik’s eyes everytime that he left his glare free to wander in the room: it always found its way towards the other man. Charles had to admit to himself that after the performance he saw him pull off without much effort he felt like he wanted to know more about him. And so he asked about him: to Raven, to Hank and then, to him.
« Having a beer all alone? », had asked to him. The man was sitting at the counter and barely turned towards him, even if Charles comment had caused a smirk to blossom on his face. « It looks like it. But you will be so kind to keep me company? »
« What would I gain from doing it? »
« My company », had answered Erik’s low voice, accompanied with a smile. Charles felt as if something inside him had melted, but he wasn’t sure if it had been Erik’s glare or voice to produce that effect.
« I guess I could try having a little bit of that », was his response, that he delivered while sitting on the stool next to him.
« I could ask what do you study but that woud be boring, wouldn’t it? », he continued.
The other chuckled. « It’s the standard college question. I’m prepared to answer that », he paused to drink some of his beer. « History. What about you? »
« I’m not into old stuff. I’m all about new discoveries », had mocked Charles, receiving a raised brow from Erik though he was still smiling. « Biology, hoping to get a PhD in genetics. »
« Oh, we have an ambitious one here », commented the other.
« Something wrong about it? »
« Not really. We all should be. »
There was something about talking with Erik that he couldn’t rationally grasp. He had always been an extrovert, outgoing guy so he never had problems making new friends or starting conversations at pub’ counters. But the one conversation he was holding in that moment felt so natural, and Charles wished
inadvertentlyto have known Erik for much longer, feeling that he had missed out all the time he had passed not talking to him.
The night quickly slipped through his fingers; he realized, catching a glimpse of the clock on the wall, that it was already 2.30 a.m. He passed all night talking to Erik. Suddently, he started hearing noises again, exiting from a world of muffled words he didn’t realize he had been him till that moment. Among the others – halcyon voices, glasses being taken from the tables and letting out a crystalline sound when touching eachother – he heard the hushed sound of the murmuring rain. His eyes darted to the nearest window and behing the colorful pane he saw droplets drawing figures on it.
« Shit », he said abruptly. Erik looked at him, puzzled. « It’s raining. And a lot. »
The other turned himself to the window. « And I’m guessing none of us has an umbrella », he commented, looking outside.
« That’s right », sighed Charles, not really thrilled at the idea of getting soaked wet.
« Well, good thing is that you have a god friend with a big jacket », smiled Erik at him, starting to get up from the stool and leaving money on the counter to pay for their drinks.
« What? », asked him, with a doubtful but amused epression on his face. Erik was wearing a leather jacket.
« Well there’s really no other option but to make a run for it. I’ll cover us with my jacket. »
« That doesn’t look water-proof. » In contrast with his snarky comment he was following the other man outside.
« If you don’t trust my plan you can always go alone. »
« Absolutely not. If we’re getting wet, we’re getting wet together », he replied, feigning bravery and comradeship.
Erik took off his jacket and raised it over their heads. « Keep close », he said, before darting on the cobblestone street. He ran to keep up. They were getting wet anyways, but Charles didn’t feel cold, even if he acknowledged the wind blowing aggresively in his face. He felt warm instead, trying to get glimpses of the other’s face, that every now and then was hit by the light – from cars, lamps, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. It looked like his eyes glowed in the dark, while he laughed with him, his smile large and infectious. Again, the second time that night, it felt that nothing else existed aside from them and that moment. Was he really crushing after this guy like an highschool girl? Even if the thought passed htrough his mind, he didn’t bother to pay much attention to it, while accidentaly stepping into puddles and probably ruining all the clothes he was wearing in a five minutes walk.
They got to Charles’ dormitory door and while he entered, Erik stopped right outside of it, still smiling and a bit out of breath, while putting on again his jacket.
« Well, your masterplan failed », commented Xavier.
« Did it? », was his comeback. Charles didn’t have the time to say something back, since Erik had turned his shoulders on him and had started raining again.
He gazed at him, disappearing around a corner, unable to let go of that last sentence.