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Erik rolled his eyes as he watched Charles skip to the nearest aquarium. Erik could see how the shorter man's eyes sparked brightly as if he had found a hidden jewel. Come on, he just spotted a seahorse among the reef. It is not like this aquarium had rare or possibly fish from the dinosaur era.
"Look, Erik. The seahorse is one of the most fascinating fish. You know that seahorses swim upright. Do you know that they swim upright propelling themselves by using the dorsal fin? The pectoral fins located on either side of the head are used for manoeuvring. Can you see that? Look! But well they lack caudal fin typical of fishes. Their prehensile tail can only be unlocked in the most extreme conditions. They are adept at camouflage with the ability to grow and reabsorb spiny appendages depending on their habitat."
There he went again with his lecture. Erik didn't need that. He just needed to open Wikipedia to know everything about seahorses, alright? No need to give him a lecture in the middle of their "important quest", according to Charles. But really, all they did was the stalk. It began last night, approximately around 01.00 am; the time when Charles interrupted his beauty sleep and completely manipulated him to agree on this.
-Flashback, last night, 01.00 am-
Erik almost jumped from his bed when he felt his mobile phone vibrate. He looked around sleepily before finally finding it close to his pillow. He groaned when he saw the name of his boyfriend on the screen. What did he want in the middle of the night?
"Hello?" Erik asked, a little annoyed.
"Erik." Charles' voice was bright, meaning he was up to something. Erik sighed as he sat up on his bed, rubbing his face. He was in big trouble. He knew it. Every time Charles was this bright and sunny, he must come up with some stupid trivial ideas which suddenly popped into his abnormal brain.
"What do you want, Charles? It's 01.00 am. I need my sleep."
"Oh Erik, you won't believe me. I just heard Raven talk to someone on the phone. She even said "I love you" to him. My God, Raven has a boyfriend. Again. Erik, my baby sister has a boyfriend." Charles said a little hysterically. Erik pinched his bridge nose.
"Charles, it is normal for Raven to have a boyfriend. She's a 17-year-old High School student. Come on, Charles. What do you expect from a teenager?"
"I know but I am worried about her. I mean, I don't want to hear she is crying because someone breaks her heart. I cannot let that happen." Erik could see Charles pouting. Erik rolled his eyes. He stood up and went to the kitchen. He needed a glass of water to clear his mind right now.
"Charles, she can take care of herself. Do you remember what happened to her last boyfriend?"
"Um, the one who cheated on her, the football team captain?"
"Yes. What happened to him?"
"She punched him in the face."
"See. You don't need to worry about her. She is not like other girls who will cry over a boy. Let her be, Charles." Erik could hear Charles sigh.
"Buuuuut Erik, I am still worried. They have a date tomorrow." Charles whined. Erik groaned. No, Charles shouldn't whine. He shouldn't because it meant Erik would be dragged to-
"Let stalk them tomorrow." To a very stupid quest.
"Charles, no."
"Please, Erik. Don't you love me? Don't you love your soon-to-be sister-in-law?" Erik rolled his eyes. That was what Charles would say every time he needed his help. To his horror, he actually agreed every time Charles used that excused and that tone. Dear all God's people were worshipping today, he needed an autopilot for this.
"Charles-"
"Do you remember the hot yaoi blog you showed me a few days ago?" Charles went into seductive mode. Erik swallowed. Of course, he remembered. He wasn't only showing it to his boyfriend but also trying to persuade him to re-act some, um, hot positions. Too bad Charles was too busy with his thesis to even care for that time.
"Yes."
"You know. If You agree to stalk Raven with me tomorrow and I managed to find out who Raven was dating at the moment, we can, ahem, do all the things we've seen in that blog." Charles said sweetly. Erik cursed inwardly.
"All of them?"
"All of them. And Erik?"
"Yes?"
"I have finished my thesis and am free for almost two weeks before my presentation. So..." Charles trailed. Erik, after feeling all defends flew out of his body, agreed.
-End Flashback-
And that was the reason he was standing here with his boyfriend who kept fawning over fish in every section of the aquarium. Erik looked at where Raven was standing with an unfamiliar tall boy. Good thing they hadn't moved yet. Erik and Charles had lost them three times. Thanks for his easily distracted boyfriend.
"Erik, look. Those are piranha. Aww, they are kinda cute, right? Too bad they have teeth as sharp as knives. That's a black piranha, you see. The black piranha produces one of the most forceful bites measured in vertebrates. This extremely powerful bite is generated by large jaw muscles that are attached closely to the tip of the jaw, conferring the piranha with a mechanical advantage-"
"Charles, we lost them." Erik cut him. In instant, Charles' eyes widen and looked around. He pouted.
"WHAT? Erik, why didn't you tell me? Why did you let them go unnoticed?" He said before walking away. Erik rolled his eyes and went to him. Didn't Charles know he had called him five times? Urgh, Erik couldn't wait to bite him.
Erik followed Charles who was ducking behind a fake tree near the monkey cage. His baby blue eyes were looking intensively at Raven and her boyfriend. Erik narrowed his eyes. He felt something familiar about that boy despite not recognizing his face. He was nowhere near Raven's previous boyfriends. He was like the younger version of Charles complete with dark hair and blue eyes but taller, geekier, had a man face instead of a baby one and was very awkward.
"Erik, look. They are holding hands." Charles whispered harshly. Erik glanced at Charles who was fuming adorably. Oh, Erik wanted to kiss him.
"Hank, come on. I want to visit the butterfly park." Raven said, tugging the tall boy. The boy nodded and went to wherever Raven dragged him.
"His name is Hank." Erik heard Charles say. He could hear the sound of a pencil hitting the paper. Hank, Hank, he had heard that name before. Erik frowned.
"Oh." He remembered. Hank McCoy was the name of a boy Raven complained to her about a month ago. She didn't tell Charles because she worried Charles would hack her school's data to find him. So she came to her other brother which was Erik. Erik didn't hate Raven, mind you but God that girl could talk. Good thing Erik had experiences with her brother. Hank was a member of the science club in their school. Since Raven broke up with the football captain, Hank had the courage to come to her. First, she was just being friendly to him. Then few gifts came by then. Chocolate, a few bouquets of flowers (that Raven managed to hide from his brother), and even a beautiful blue scarf.
"Erik, come on. They are moving." Erik felt his blood circulation screaming for help because Charles gripped his wrist very tightly. They moved for a few minutes before arriving in a very large cage consisting of thousands or maybe hundreds of butterflies. Erik winced when his head hit the nearby trunk as Charles pulled him too fast for him to handle.
"Come on, Erik. We cannot lose them." They jogged and turned to their right, following the path. Then to the left and stopped.
"Aww, they've gone." Charles pouted. Erik sighed and put his arm around his shoulders.
"Let's just.... search then." He said. They walked for a few minutes before something caught Charles' eyes.
"Ohh look, Erik." The taller man sighed. Goodness...
"This is a rare flower. Ohh this place is full of rare flowers." Charles said in a very awe tone that almost made Erik groan out loud. Charles was jumping around like a kid.
"You know this beautiful blue flower? This is called Jade Vine. It is from the Philippines. It can grow up to 3 meters in size. Ohh, look Corpse flower." Charles jumped to a very big and tall flower with a horrible smell.
"I know it smells like rotten meat. That's why it is called the Corpse flower. It's the biggest flower in the world. You know, it can only be found in the low-lying rainforests of Indonesia. Corpse flowers only bloom once every 30 or 40 years. We're so lucky we can see it in his glory." Charles said, smiling wide. Erik couldn't help but smile back. Dear God, he was so shipped. Just as Erik caught sight of blond hair, Charles dragged him to another flower.
"This is called Kadupul flower from Sri Lanka. Ohh it's so beautiful. It blooms only at midnight and perishes before dawn, so we cannot see how beautiful it is. But once you see it blooms, it is so beautiful. I'd like to have a bouquet of it. And that one-"
"Charles?"
"That's Middlemist Red. So amazing. It's-"
"Charles, that's Raven," Erik said loudly. Charles quickly diverted his attention to wherever Erik was looking right now. Charles gasped and ran in the direction with Erik following behind. They passed a mass of butterflies and one of which landed itself on Charles' nose.
"Oh, butterfly, beauti-" Charles' words were cut as Erik seized his arm and dragged him. So much for their quest if Charles was distracted every single time. The weird pair jogged to where they believed Raven and her boyfriend had gone.
"Where are they? Erik, where are they?" Charles whined. Erik snapped.
"How could I possibly know? You were the one who made us lose them every single time, Charles. If you want this quest of yours to succeed, then stop. I repeat STOP paying attention to anything else other than Raven and Hank, okay? You went this and that. It's..... adorable really, but it needs to stop." Erik said, putting his hands on his hip. Charles pouted at him, eyes were slowly filled with tears. However, it seemed that something clicked in his pretty head.
"Hank? You know his name?" He asked, blinking owlishly. Shit
"Erik. You know who Raven's boyfriend is?" Now it was Charles' turn to put his hands on his hip. Erik groaned loudly right now. He looked at his boyfriend and gave him a look.
"Yes, I-"
"Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Erik, I am so disappointed in you. You're supposed to be on my side, not Raven's. You should tell me once you knew about that young man."
"Charles."
"You know, we could save our time, cuddling while stalking the Facebook, Twitter or whatever account he has. From home."
"CHARLES!"
"Eri- Erik, why did you sound like a girl?" Charles asked, confused before his eyes widened. He gasped as he saw Erik was looking behind him. Slowly, he turned around. He was faced with the pretty face of his fuming baby sister immediately.
"What are you doing here?" Raven asked, fuming. Charles took a look at the awkward young man behind her who was looking back and forth to him, floor, Erik and back to the floor.
"Charles!"
"I was on a date." Charles blurted out the only possible excuse, "With Erik."
Raven's gaze went from her brother to the taller man, who was pinching his nose bridge. In instant, she knew he was lying. She watched as his brother grabbed Erik's arm and looked up at him with his powerful puppy eyes. Raven internally groaned. Erik would back Charles up. No one was safe from that big blue eyes, especially Erik. Erik sighed and freed his arm from his boyfriend's tight embrace only to wrap it around Charles' shoulders.
"Yes, Raven. We're on a date. It is a coincidence really that we meet you two here. Who's your boyfriend?"
"Yes, Raven. Who is your boyfriend?" Charles repeated the question, a little too eagerly. Raven rolled her eyes and turned to Hank who was cowering behind her.
"Hank." She called. Hank immediately by her side and offered his hand to Charles. His blue eyes glanced from Charles to Erik many times. Erik grinned his shark grin when he realized that this boy was terrified of him. Good. At least of them could be "the scary brother" for Raven in case something unexpected happened. Come on, Charles would never fit the description of "scary brother" between them.
"I-I am Hank McCoy. It's nice to see you, Sir." Hank said nervously. Charles looked at the hand carefully before he reached out. Erik and Raven hid a smile when the smallest man among them was trying to tighten his grip but failing miserably.
"Hello, Hank. Are you Raven's classmate?"
"He is. He is a member of the science club in my school. He won the science project at National Science Exhibition a few months ago. He was the one who create the jet you love so much." Raven explained, completely proud.
"Is that true? Goodness, you are the one behind that incredible Blackbird?" Charles' eyes were sparkling.
"Yes, sir. I also read your Master's Degree thesis and now I am waiting for your dissertation. It is so incredible, sir." Hank said, definitely trying to get on Charles' side. Of course, it worked. Every human being in this world only needed to charm the adorable young man with science. A move that many people seemed to find difficult. Because really? Who would beat Charles in science? Only Erik (he thought arrogantly) was able to charm him with his groovy mutation. Mind you, Erik was a law doctorate student, not a genetics one like Charles. But then, he was Erik Lehnsherr, no one could beat him when it came to an intelligent mind.
"Don't call me, Sir. I'm twenty-four years old. I can't believe you actually understand that. You see Hank, the mutation is one of the groovy things-"
"That's enough, Charles. Let's go and let these two young kids enjoy their date." Erik cut him before both he and Raven received a full lecture about genetics. Charles smiled at him.
"Oh sure. Bye-bye, Raven. Just make sure you come back home before your curfew."
"But I am seventeen. I don't need a curfew." Raven pouted. Charles pouted back. Seriously??
"You ARE seventeen. Tell me you don't need curfew until you get married." Erik said. Raven narrowed her eyes to him.
"And who are you telling me that?"
"I am your brother-in-law."
"You haven't married my brother yet."
"Don't care. I AM your brother-in-law. Marriage is only a piece of paper and a couple of rings. I do my vow with you brother every morning." Erik said, eye to eye with Raven now.
"Really?" she mocked.
"Really. Especially after we ma-"
"Okay, that's enough." Charles cut, blushing brightly. Erik smirked while Raven had a disgusted look on her face. Hank was blushing and trying to pay attention to anything besides them. All of them knew exactly what Erik would say next.
"Let's go, Erik. Have fun, Raven." Charles said, dragging a smug Erik away. Erik opened the car door for Charles as the smaller man threw some questions to him.
"Erik, we should stop by at the grocery store. I need my chocolate because tonight we will cuddle in the bed with my laptop in front of us."
"Why?"
"Why? We will hack Raven's school database to find out more about Hank. Don't get me wrong, he is a lovely man. However, it is my responsibility to ensure that everything will be fine for Raven." Charles smiled his sunny smile as Erik started the car.
"You can't do that, darling." Eris said, "First, Headmaster Moira will definitely call the police. You know she will not take any shit from anyone. She gave you a warning the last time you hacked the school data last year, remember? Then Logan will come to us and give a lecture about how bad it is to do illegal things. That old man was such a hypocrite. Come one, he asked you to hack Mrs Ororo's Facebook months ago."
"Yeah, that's because she didn't confirm the relationship status Logan asked her." Charles shrugged.
"That's because she rejected him. That old man didn't give up. Anyway, forget about them. You do remember your promise to me, right? Now, imagine...."