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Erik wakes up slowly, unsure at first why he's not expecting to be alone. Then he opens his eyes and recognizes Charles's room. His chair is gone, but the sound of running water from the bathroom is encouraging. He stretches and rolls out of bed, catching himself on his feet and standing up. He goes and knocks on the bathroom door.
"Charles?"
"One minute!" He sounds panicked and harassed.
"…Are you all right?"
"Yes! …Oh, hell and damnation." The last is muttered as if Erik won't hear it, and there's a tiny, tiny clatter.
"Let me help you if you're having trouble, Charles."
There is a long silence and then a miserable, defeated sigh. "Come in. It'll unlock with a bent paperclip."
Erik gets one out of the desk and joins Charles in a moment. He's sitting on the toilet and looking miserable, a disposable catheter out of reach on the floor. His dejection is a little comical, but Erik doesn't even smile, knowing it would humiliate him. "Well," he says, "that's definitely not sterile anymore, is it?"
One corner of Charles's mouth turns up in an unhappy smile. "No, it isn't. Wrapped ones are in the medicine cabinet."
Erik takes one out, and turns to Charles. "You know you don't need to be embarrassed about this, right?"
Charles rolls his eyes. "Yes, of course. Cripples need to urinate too because we're all one big, happy family."
Erik rolls his eyes in return, crouching so Charles won't have to keep craning his neck. "Aside from that, I've done this for fun and for large amounts of cash. Shall I assist you free of charge, or leave you to your own devices?"
Charles gives him a long, sharp look. Erik meets his eyes, level and calm. "…You honestly wouldn't mind?"
"If your spine was in mint condition I'd have brought it up as a possible game pretty early on, Charles. I just assumed, correctly, that you were sensitive about it."
"I am, but I can't seem to do it right today. And Raven yells at me when I fuck up and make myself piss blood."
"As well she should! Is that what that mystery cancellation in November was about?"
Charles coughs, looking to the side. "Yes."
"I'll have you know I ended up filling that time with a very boring businessman, and missing you terribly," Erik says, washing his hands at the low sink. "Ever thought about going suprapubic? I hear it's better for sex."
"So far I'm just too vain. I know it's silly."
"It's something I can understand." He turns to Charles again, and with skill and just a tiny dab of medical lubricant, slides the catheter into place, holding it there as Charles's bladder drains. He glances up, and Charles is blushing, watching him with those big blue eyes. Erik grins at him.
"Bloody pervert," Charles mutters, as if he has any room to talk. Erik just laughs and cleans him up when the last drops have run their course, pressed out by his free hand low on Charles's belly. Charles is still blushing, but is clearly in a much better mood for all his embarrassment.
"And what are our plans today?"
"I actually do have a lecture to give, but that'll be this evening. Before then, I'll be indulging in my usual degenerate splendor."
"Ah. I was going to visit a friend in the hospital, but that'll be afternoon."
Charles's curiosity is piqued, and once they've both bathed and shaved and reconvened over breakfast, he asks about Erik's friend. It's encouraging that he doesn't get weird when Erik reveals that Eli is a former client, and stunning when he asks to come along.
"You really want to?"
"Sure. He sounds like an interesting person, and one who has treated you well. I'm curious to meet him."
"Well, don't blame me when he verbally molests you."
Charles just laughs, and is quick to set his notes aside when Erik announces his departure. Eli is proving tough as ever, and clinging to life in Memorial Hospital. He's even off the ventilator and might actually make it out again, Erik is pleased to hear, and a nurse leads them to the room Eli is sharing with two other old men. He's skin and bones, but his eyes are bright on either side of that giant nose of his. Right now he's so skinny it looks like something out of a Nazi propaganda cartoon, but he looked worse before, and perks right up at the sight of them.
"Hey, kiddo! Good of you to come." He raises the bed until he's sitting up as far as he comfortably can. There's an IV in his arm and a bag of nutrients hanging from the stand.
"Hey, Eli." Erik settles down beside him. "This is Charles, for some unfathomable reason he decided to tag along."
Eli squints down at him. "Well, adjust the height so I can ogle him! Honestly, boy. It's like you don't know me."
Erik laughs, and cranks him down. "I know you all too well, you old horror. Charles, Eli."
"Pleased to meet you, sir." Charles holds out his hand and Eli takes it in his liver-spotted claw.
"Ooh, pretty and good manners." He grins, and Charles suddenly recognizes him.
"I've seen you at Hellfire, haven't I?"
"Oh, we're talking about it? Good, because I recognize you, too. I think I was leaving and you were on your way in, right? We sort of brushed past each other in the hallway."
"You remember, Charles. The time I was putting away soft toys when you came in."
Eli just grins from ear to ear, shameless.