Chapter Text
When Erik woke up, the first thing he realized, before his eyes were even open, was that his Omega was gone.
He jerked to a sitting position on the couch, instantly alert, his senses collecting information for his brain to process too quickly for his conscious mind to articulate. The blankets, discarded on the floor like the shattered remains of a cocoon; Omega scent fading, dispersed by air currents throughout the house; a sock on the stairs, one that Erik had put on Charles that morning; the second at the top of the stairs, and Charles’s sweatshirt on the bedroom floor, like he was shedding outdated skin. Erik heard the water running in the bathroom and burst in, yanking the shower door open on the figure inside.
Charles was startled by his sudden appearance, but quickly divined Erik’s mindset, and gave the other man a very unimpressed look that made Erik realize how incredibly foolish he was being. “Sorry,” Erik sighed, starting to back away.
“I don’t mind you watching me shower, Erik,” Charles told him teasingly. “Only could you watch from inside the stall? You’re letting in a draft.” He went back to rinsing his hair, water and suds sluicing down his pale skin—which was marred by a few too many bruises and scratches for Erik’s taste.
“Could I—“ he began. He knew Charles was going to mock him for this. Well, better to own it, then. “I’d like to look you over and check for injuries,” he stated, trying to be straightforward.
Charles turned to him, brushing water from his eyes. “I said—“ Unexpectedly he reached out and grabbed Erik, yanking him into the stall under the spray. “—come inside, you’re making a draft!” Erik yelped in surprise, rather like a drenched cat he feared, and swiftly found himself pushed up against the wall, Charles half-climbing on him to reach his lips.
This, Erik had no fundamental objection to, and flipped them so he could lift Charles to the correct height, braced against the wall. They tasted each other slowly, without the frenzied escalation that tended to lurk on the edges of every heat encounter—but also without the frustration, the constant vigilance, that had marked their pre-heat explorations. Now, they knew they could go as far as they wanted—or stop, if they preferred.
Erik pulled back to let Charles breathe, watching his swollen red lips curve into a smile. “I could get used to that,” he decided.
Charles toyed with his damp hair, mussing it. “Erik, you’re wearing clothing in the shower,” he pointed out. “That’s a bit silly.”
“You’re right,” Erik admitted, letting his hands wander in a delicate examination. “Should I take them off? Or get out of the shower?”
Charles gave this considerable thought, which required an additional application of Erik’s tongue to complete. “Well, you’d have to take them off anyway,” he reasoned. “You can’t walk around the house in wet clothes, Erik, it’s winter.”
“You know, I think you’re really an adult now,” Erik claimed, “because you’re so sensible.”
Charles let out a little cackle and went to kiss Erik again, attempting to help him remove his now-sodden clothes. Erik just tried to make sure they didn’t end up blocking the drain. “I should just let you do it,” Erik told him, “as you’re an expert at flinging clothes around.” Charles honestly had no idea what he meant. “I followed your trail up here,” Erik explained. “Socks on the stairs.”
Charles rolled his eyes. “Erik, perhaps you haven’t noticed, due to your advanced age, I suppose”—Erik laughed against him—“but we are currently in a compromising position. Do you want to talk about my socks, or would you rather compromise me?”
Erik laughed again, which Charles was not expecting. “I’m still wearing my socks,” he pointed out. “I don’t think I could get them off without moving you.”
Charles leaned over to look, and laughed himself. “Well, I don’t want you to move me very far,” he agreed, “so you’ll just have to have wet socks.”
“I was going to do more laundry anyway,” Erik claimed with a wicked grin, and he leaned in to kiss Charles’s moan.
**
The bags were in the trunk, the trash was in the bins, the major messes had been cleaned up, and Erik had texted the estate manager to let him know he could close the house down for a while. He would have it professionally cleaned, the perishables removed, the nonperishables restocked—all the usual services. Hopefully it wouldn’t be six months before they got back here; maybe they could come up for a few weekends, if Erik could make himself not-busy enough. Just him and Charles, he decided as he made one last sweep of the interior. No one else.
Erik’s phone rang, ‘SLS’ displayed on the screen. “Yes?”
“I’m getting carbon monoxide poisoning, Erik!” Charles asserted. Erik had placed him in the car with a sandwich so he couldn’t mess up the house further.
“No, you’re not,” Erik assured him, heading towards the stairs. “That’s why I left the garage door open.”
“Then I’m getting cold!” Charles complained.
“That’s why I left the car on.” Charles made a frustrated squawk and hung up before Erik could add that he was almost there.
Just as Erik reached the door to the garage it was yanked open and Charles stomped back in. “I’m going to the bathroom!” he announced, and headed for the powder room.
“Okay, good idea,” Erik responded, wishing not for the first time that seatbelts really locked into place. He knew better than to express any impatience, however; he’d long ago been subjected to graphic diagrams detailing how an Omega’s bladder was smaller than an Alpha’s, due to their internal reproductive parts, so making any comments about frequent bathroom trips was sexist and oppressive.
Instead Erik simply swept through the first floor again, just in case he’d missed anything, and met Charles back by the door. Should he go to the powder room himself, in case Charles had managed to splatter water over every surface again? (“Just be glad I wash my hands, Erik!”) No, that would merely leave Charles unsupervised for longer. Time to cut his losses.
“After you,” he told Charles, who went back to the car while Erik locked up. Then Erik got into the driver’s seat and promptly decided to take off his leather jacket, the car being rather toasty in deference to his Omega’s lingering chill. Charles helped with the coat at least, which gave Erik the opportunity to notice all the bread crumbs he’d scattered everywhere. Oh well, he was going to have the car cleaned anyway.
They got out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the road. Naturally Charles’s first heat would coincide with a massive late-winter snowfall, though in fairness the snow was a couple days old and somewhat tamed by the time they had to travel—Erik would’ve just kept them in his apartment if the roads had been bad. Now it looked like things had warmed up slightly over the last week and turned everything to a nasty grey slush.
“When we get back to the city we have to swing by Azazel’s office,” Erik warned. “There’s some things we have to sign.” Marriage involved a lot of paperwork.
Charles sighed, feeling that end-of-vacation letdown. “Are you going back to work tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Erik replied with finality. He was the sort who was eager to get back to work—Charles supposed that was good, it meant he enjoyed it. “When do you want to start at school?” he asked Charles. “You want to wait until Monday?”
Charles stared at the passing scenery. “Oh, I don’t know,” he replied, with a vagueness he knew Erik found maddening. Engineers were always so precise.
“Are you nervous?” Erik checked. Charles made a little noise that could go either way. “You will be king of that school within a week,” he predicted, not even trying to be nice. “You’ll come home the first day with five new best friends.”
“I miss my old friends, though,” Charles pointed out. “And—all Omegas,” he added of the new school with some distaste. “Omegas can be kind of—dull, don’t you think? I liked having Betas and Alphas as friends, too.” He knew Erik would not agree.
“The Beta girls were okay,” Erik allowed, unsurprisingly. Was he traditional? He’d been thinking about that way too much since not-Charles accused him of it. He didn’t care who the people in his company socialized with. Just Charles.
“These Omegas will be different,” Erik suggested, trying to be upbeat. “They’re bonded young, but their Alphas want them to finish school—that’s interesting right there.” Charles felt that was pushing it a bit. “And, they won’t all be snotty rich kids,” he added cheekily. It was a private school, yes, but about half the students were on scholarships.
“Yes, I suppose that will be different,” Charles agreed, with cautious optimism. He liked meeting new people, new types of people.
“You will dazzle them, Schatzi,” Erik promised, smiling already as he pictured it. Everyone loved Charles right away, it was like some kind of superpower. “And if it doesn’t work out,” he added lightly, “you can always come work for me. I could use an intern to make me coffee, deliver the mail…”
This made Charles roll his eyes. “Please. I’d be on the Board within a month,” he claimed disdainfully.
Erik laughed. “Yes, you would!” He could think of a few people he’d be happy for Charles to replace.
Charles yawned suddenly and scootched down in his seat. “I think I’ll take a nap,” he decided. Then he forced his eyes back open and sat up. “Is that okay?”
Erik did a double-take. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Charles couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d somehow been remiss in caring for Erik this last week. “Will you get bored with no one to talk to?” Charles wondered. He got bored with no one to talk to. “I need to nurture you somehow, Erik! Do you want a massage?” It was his duty now to try and understand this ‘nurturing’ business, he felt—perhaps the Internet would have some ideas.
“Not while I’m driving,” Erik declined. Charles had a sweet nature and periodically seemed to feel guilty for random things Erik was shocked to learn he even thought about. “Do you want to do something nice for me?” he ventured.
“Yes, Erik!”
“Let’s listen to my radio station for a while, then.” Erik liked classical music—the way the melodies intertwined in complex yet beautiful ways, like an elegant building with a sound underpinning. Charles claimed it put him to sleep, but if he was going to sleep anyway, that was a low-cost way for him to make Erik happy.
“Okay,” Charles agreed. He got comfortable in his seat again. “Erik, I think you’re the best Alpha ever,” he said suddenly, with sincerity.
Erik chuckled, not quite believing the compliment but pleased to hear it anyway. “Go to sleep, Schatzi,” he advised, turning on the radio.