round 3 overflow post

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Round 3 Overflow Post

This post is for Round 3 fills only. We ask that when a round hits 8500 comments, fillers begin moving their fills to this post.

Format:
SUBJECT LINE -- Round #, short description of fic (ex: "Alex/Hank, lab partners")
--- Link to the prompt
--- Text of the prompt

--- Link to the fill
OR
--- Entire text of the fill

EXAMPLE:
Prompt: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=1038472#t2038174

Charles/Erik -- Charles is a bakery owner whose most frequent customer is Erik.

Fill: http://xmen-firstkink.livejournal.com/6437.html?thread=0139482#t4502942

Charles started off the morning the same way he always did...

Comments

Heat - Part 16a

[(Anonymous)]

Charles was just settling down to read the day’s newspaper when the telephone rang. He started with surprise, wondering just who could be calling at such an early hour. Frowning slightly, he folded the paper and put it away before walking over to the telephone and picking up the receiver.

‘Hello?’ he answered politely.

‘Hello?’ Charles’s spine stiffened. ‘Hello? Charles, it’s me …’

‘Erik?’ Charles immediately clutched the phone closer to him. ‘Erik, is that you? I missed you this morning, where did you go?’

‘I had an errand that needed taking care of,’ was Erik’s vague reply. Charles found himself frowning yet again at the strained tone of voice.

‘Erik, are you okay?’ he asked uncertainly. ‘Only … you sound a little off.’

‘I’m fine,’ Erik replied quickly, his voice almost back to normal. ‘Just a sore throat, nothing to worry about.’

‘Oh,’ Charles felt himself relax. ‘Oh okay then. Will I – will I see you again tonight?’

There was a pause of the other end of the phone.

Charles instinctively felt himself tense up once more.

‘Charles …’ Erik breathed into the phone. ‘Charles, something has come up.’

Charles’s fingers gripped the phone tightly.

‘Oh.’ He didn’t ask what that something was. Of course Erik had other commitments. Charles was far from stupid, far from naïve. Last night had been a one-off, a bit of fun between the two of them. That was all.

Just because Charles had felt that it was something more didn’t mean that Erik felt the same way. No matter what had been said the night before.

After all, Charles thought self-deprecatingly, it wasn’t like Erik was the only person to have ever spouted romantic declarations and made post-coital promises to one-night-stands that he never intended to see again.

‘I have to leave town, Charles.’

Charles bit back a sigh.

‘Of course you do,’ he said, his tone full of false-jollity. ‘I’m sure that magnet salesmen have very little downtime, after all.’

There was a pause, as if Erik was confused by what Charles was saying. Then Erik let out a breath.

‘Charles – Charles, no,’ he said, his voice losing its stiff edge and becoming impossibly warm and soothing. ‘Charles, what I wanted to say was – I need to leave town. But I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to do so alone.’

Silence. Then:

‘Oh,’ Charles said weakly, putting a hand to the wall and leaning against it. ‘Oh. I think I might have to sit down.’

‘Charles?’ Erik’s voice sounded anxious and not a little apprehensive. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yes – yes, my friend,’ Charles pulled himself together. ‘Are – perhaps I misunderstood you, so forgive me if I sound particularly unintelligent at the moment, but – Erik, are you saying that you would like me to come away with you when you leave town?’

‘…Yes,’ Erik answered, his tone halfway between being soothing and defensive.

‘I-’ Charles ran his free hand through his hair and looked about him wildly. ‘Well – when are you planning to leave town?’

There was another pause.

‘Tonight?’ Erik’s tone appeared to be more of a question than a statement.

‘Tonight?’ Charles gaped. ‘I – what – Erik, I can’t possibly leave tonight! There’s no way that I-’

‘Charles, please.’ Erik’s tone was such that Charles was forced to pause. ‘Charles, I – I want you by my side.’

Charles deflated.

‘Yes, yes I know,’ he murmured, cradling the phone receiver closer. ‘But – Erik it’s not that simple. All my things are here, and my home and-’

‘We’ll buy another home,’ Erik said rashly. ‘One that isn’t so gloomy and lonely. We’ll even have a library in there, just for you.’

Charles couldn’t help but let his heart soften at the words.

‘Erik,’ he murmured, reproachfully. ‘That’s all very well, but still – all my things – my research-’

‘Send for them,’ Erik said immediately. ‘We’ll arrange for them to be sent to you. Or we can come back at some point. Take what you need with you now and get the rest later.’

Heat - Part 16b

[(Anonymous)]

Charles wiped a hand against his forehead.

‘It’s not that simple,’ he said again, his voice going slightly rough. ‘I have commitments, I have-’

‘You have me.’ Erik’s voice was firm and solid. ‘You have me. And I know that we have only known each other for little more than one night, but – I – I … Charles, we belong together, you and I. And you know it. You have nothing holding you back, Charles, just you fears.’

‘I have Raven!’ Charles almost shouted, feeling almost angry that Erik could have forgotten that, even though Charles knew that he couldn’t have expected Erik to remember off the top of his head. ‘I have my sister, Erik, don’t you dare think that she counts for nothing!’

Erik was silent for a moment.

‘I thought you said that she had her own life,’ he said gently, his voice soft. ‘That she didn’t like coming back to the house – that she avoided it as much as possible.’

Charles’s voice almost stuck in his throat.

‘I – yes, yes that’s right.’

‘Then come with me Charles,’ Erik’s voice was low and so very persuasive. ‘You know the only reason that she comes back to the house is for you. If you leave it then you can both be free of it.’

‘I-’ Charles’s voice cracked. He was so, so tempted …

‘You told me last night that you felt that you were holding Raven back,’ Erik’s voice was strong, deep. ‘I don’t think you quite realise how much she has been holding you back as well. Come with me, Charles. For once in your life, do something for yourself. Be happy.’

Charles couldn’t bring himself to speak.

‘Charles …’ Erik breathed. ‘Charles, please.’

That was all that Charles could take.

‘Yes,’ he answered. He quickly cleared his throat and repeated his answer, louder and more clearly. ‘Yes.’

There was a quick intake of breath at the other end of the phone.

‘You – you mean it?’ Erik sounded as if he couldn’t quite believe his ears.

‘I – I think so,’ Charles said, looking around him dazedly. He couldn’t quite believe it himself. ‘I – yes. Yes, I mean it. I – you are right, Erik. I’ve been trapped inside of this house for far too long. I want to go with you. I want to see the world, my friend. I want to see it with you.’

Erik’s gasps of relief were perfectly audible through the telephone receiver.

‘Charles,’ he murmured. ‘Charles, I love you, I know that it must be hard to believe but I cannot help myself, I-’

‘I know,’ Charles said softly, tenderly. Then, because his good sense could not be kept down for long, he asked, ‘Are you sure that we have to leave today? Can’t we – is there no possible way that we can put this off for a bit? Only there is so much that I have to do and it’s hardly feasible to do it all in one single day …’

Erik was quiet on the line and for a moment Charles thought that there was a chance that Erik was relenting. But then:

‘No,’ Erik’s voice was strong and resolute, firm in a way that Charles had not quite heard before. ‘No, I’m sorry Charles but we have to leave tonight. Everything has already been arranged.’

‘Oh,’ Charles frowned. ‘But won’t having me come along spoil everything? I mean, I don’t know where we are going, but wherever it is, I haven’t got a ticket. If your plans have already been booked, then-’

‘I told you Charles, everything has already been arranged,’ Erik said firmly, cutting Charles off. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just pack your things and be ready to leave by nightfall. I will be back in a few hours, there are just some things that I need to do first. Our flight is at midnight, in case you were wondering.’

‘Oh,’ Charles couldn’t help but feel slightly startled and wrong-footed. ‘Oh. Where are we going?’

There was yet another pause at the end of the line.

‘I’ll tell you when I see you,’ Erik said, and Charles could tell that his tone brooked no argument. Erik seemed to realise the same, for he then added, softly, ‘It’s a surprise.’

Heat - Part 16c

[(Anonymous)]

‘Yes. Right,’ Charles hesitated for a moment, but all his instincts were clawing at him and however much he might feel for Erik, he was, first and foremost, a sensible, rational man. ‘Erik,’ he said hesitantly. ‘Erik – you would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?’

Silence.

‘Of course,’ Erik said after a moment. ‘Why would you even ask that, Charles?

Charles grimaced and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

‘I don’t know,’ he said quietly. ‘You tell me.’

There was silence once again.

‘Charles,’ Erik’s voice was soft now. ‘I swear to you, there’s nothing wrong. It was always going to happen this way. The – the only thing that I hadn’t counted on was you. I never – I never expected to feel this way at all, let alone for someone I just met. I promise you Charles, and you can rely on this – I would never do anything to hurt you. I would much rather leave you behind and never see you again than let anything happen to you.’

Charles, for some reason he couldn’t quite tell, felt strangely reassured by this, even though he knew that there was something that Erik wasn’t quite telling him. Never mind, he thought. He was going to see Erik later that evening anyway. He would ask him then. Or maybe even sometime after that. They had the rest of their lives, after all.

‘Okay,’ he said, making his mind up. ‘Okay. I will be ready. I will see you tonight, Erik.’

‘Yes,’ Charles could tell that Erik was smiling now, his happiness clear even through the telephone. ‘Yes, tonight then. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to it.’

‘Me too,’ Charles said, unable to keep from smiling. ‘Come home soon, Erik.’

‘I will.’

‘And-’ Charles hesitated but something made him say it all the same. ‘And Erik?’

‘Yes, Charles?’

‘Be safe.’

There was a pause.

‘Always,’ Erik responded, his voice tight. ‘Always, Charles. Goodbye.’

Click.

Charles held onto the phone for a few seconds after Erik had ended the call.

‘Goodbye,’ he said softly, before he too hung up.









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