XMFC/A turn for the worse

[guideshapelead]

Slowly, but surely, Darwin has become as much a part of everyday life at the school as the rest of Charles and Erik's little family. Whilst Charles still has the occasional grumble about the appropriateness of their old friend sharing a bedroom with Alex, he and the others have welcomed Darwin home as though he'd never been away. The others, too - those that had chosen Shaw's side -have been made welcome and offered a home and a job if they want them. Charles does not want fighting within mutant ranks, not when the real threat is from those not so highly evolved.

It's a Saturday morning, the school children fed and left to their homework and recreation in the grounds. With no pressing work to be done, Charles suggests a trip down to the swimming pool to Erik, which Scott of course then wants to do as well. Before they've made it as far as the pool, half the faculty seem to have decided that a morning's swim sounds like a good idea, and it's not long before the pool is full, laughter echoing around the tiles.

Charles has grown very fond of this pool, and swimming in general. Once he had conquered his initial anxieties about drowning, he's learnt that he doesn't need his legs to be a competent swimmer. The sense of independence that brings, along with the usual good effects of exercise, have led to him coming down to the pool with just Erik, or even sometimes alone, at least twice a week. Still, sometimes it's nice to have more company, and he enjoys the laughter and the splashing as much as he enjoys simply doing lengths.

Right now, Darwin is showing off his own ability to his friends, diving under the water and letting gills form along his throat, delighting his audience by swimming around beneath the surface for minutes at a time.

"Can I do that, too?" Scott asks.

"No, Scott," Charles is quick to respond. He doesn't want anybody drowning this morning.

Comments

[diecastking]

Erik swims over to his son, grabbing hold of him and enveloping in a hug.

"We'll see what your power is one day soon, mausi."

[guideshapelead]

"I hope it's a cool one," Scott muses, watching Banshee turn the deep end of the pool into a jacuzzi with his sonic screams.

"Like Aunty Raven's. She's got the coolest."

[diecastking]

"Oh, I see how it is," Erik teases. "No respect for Papa and Daddy's powers, hmm?"

[guideshapelead]

Scott shrugs. "So long as I don't go blue and hairy like Hank. He can't go swimming."

[diecastking]

Erik glances over at Hank, who sits beside the pool and tries to read.

"He can swim in the sea," he tells Scott. "Just not in our pool without breaking the filter."

[guideshapelead]

"We don't live near the sea, though," Scott protests.

"I wanna be like Aunty Raven. Or Alex." With that, he swims off to join in the games being played in deeper waters, a confident swimmer in his inflatable armbands now.

"I suppose we shouldn't be too offended," Charles laughs, latching himself onto Erik and resting his head against his lover's wet shoulder for a moment, trying to stifle a yawn.

[diecastking]

Erik switches his embrace to Charles, kissing his lover's neck as he watches their family play together.

"He'll learn the error of his thinking. Though I suppose he will be something like Havok?"

[guideshapelead]

"Maybe..." Charles anchors himself against Erik, trusting his lover's grip and letting his body float.

"I have not met, or read about, enough siblings with mutations to truly know the patterns. We cannot assume anything about Scott, yet."

[diecastking]

"Can't you sense him?" Erik asks curiously. "Like you do with Cerebro?"

[guideshapelead]

"I can sense his mutated genes," Charles agrees, moving a hand slowly through the water and playfully flicking a few drops up over Erik's chest.

"I can't sense how they will express themselves, though. Not before they reveal themselves."

[diecastking]

"As long as he's happy," Erik says, nipping at Charles' ear. "And doesn't bring the house down on us."

[guideshapelead]

"It's a big house," Charles smiles, resting his head on Erik's shoulder. Despite a good night's sleep, for some reason he cannot shake the just-woken-up feeling this morning.

"We can afford to lose a wing."

[diecastking]

"Do you ever think, Charles, where we would be if we hadn't met?" Erik is not usually a man for philosophy, but he feels whimsical today. "Would you be here, with your house and the children?"

[guideshapelead]

"I doubt it," Charles thinks. "I was happy in Oxford, before we met. I would have seen no reason to leave, if I had not been with you. I'd be there still, I think. A stuffy, old University professor." A part of him still dreams of that life, but the greater part of him knows he has found more here in Westchester than he has lost by leaving England. He has a lover, a son, and an extended family that he loves with all his heart. That is worth a chair in Oxford.

[diecastking]

"Would you like to go back? To visit?" Considering how much he appreciates Charles in his study, he imagines the effect will be amplified.

[guideshapelead]

"Maybe. One day. If you were with me." Charles sees no point in looking backwards, unless he can let Erik see as well.

Closing his eyes, he yawns again. "Would you mind," he asks, quietly, "helping me out of the water? I'm afraid I'm not feeling at my best."

[diecastking]

Erik frowns. "What's wrong, liebe?"

He swam back towards the side, keeping a tight grip on his lover.

[guideshapelead]

"I think I..." but he doesn't manage to finish his warning, the horrible tell-tale feel of pins and needles coursing through his body. His last thought, as he remembers to throw up his walls to keep Erik safe, is panic that he is still very much in the water, before the seizure hits him.

[diecastking]

"HELP! NOW!"

At his command, Alex and Sean swim to his side, helping him lift Charles up and out of the water.

Erik holds him as he convulses on the tiled floor, protecting his head and keeping an eye on Scott as he clings to his Auntie Raven in mute horror.

[guideshapelead]

Hank keeps a close eye, not too concerned, sure that Erik had managed to get Charles out of the water before any harm had been done. He's surprised a seizure has taken the Professor now, with none of his usual triggers present, but then he doesn't know the ins and outs of Charles' sleeping pattern. Maybe he had had a bad night.

But time ticks on, and Charles' body doesn't still, and suddenly Hank is a lot more concerned. Trying not to alarm Erik just yet, he quietly asks Sean to run for his things, kneeling down at Erik's side as he keeps a close eye on the clock. And still Charles remains locked in his fit.

[diecastking]

Erik tries to remain calm, as Raven silently removes Baby Scott from the room.

"Hank..." he says under his breath. "It's been too long."

[guideshapelead]

"I know," Hank says, likewise trying to keep his worry from his voice. He sends up a silent prayer that Sean runs like the wind to get his medical kit.

"Did he sleep well, last night?"

[diecastking]

"Fine," Erik says tersely. "He was fine last night and this morning. His mind was clear."

But that wasn't entirely true, some strange mist over Charles' thoughts today.

[guideshapelead]

"And his medication? Did he take it?" Hank questions as Sean reappears with Hank's bag. He immediately sets to making up a remedy for the Professor's seizures.

"I don't want to give him too much."

[diecastking]

"I don't know - I didn't see."

Erik suddenly realises he's not been paying as much attention to Charles' health as he should've been.