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The Gate Bell

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The doorbell-- or gate bell, or whatever they called it-- rang distantly sometime in the golden stretch of late afternoon before dinner. Erik nudged Charles. "Let's go down and see who's here."

Charles made a sullen noise and moved to touch his temple, stopping when Erik thought to him, {{I said see who's here. Your mom might want you to meet whoever it is. Anyway, I don't think I'm supposed to let you play video games this long. You're turning into a lump on the carpet.}}

{{Am not,}} Charles argued automatically, going back to poking buttons. On screen, Tiny Kong bounced along, stopping to talk to a crying banana fairy.

{{Are too. If you're going to sit around inside, your dad would probably rather you were reading.}} Charles happily plowed through whatever nonfiction he was given, but his father kept trying to interest him in storybooks too. Charles pored over the bright artwork but the stories always bored him, at best. Dr. Xavier tried giving him more difficult novels, but Charles just speed-read a chapter or two and left them. Erik ended up reading more of the novels than Charles did.

{{I like games better.}} Charles jumped Tiny Kong into a barrel. {{If we go down and I'm good will you let me play your game?}}

{{My game is way too scary for you.}} It was maybe too scary for Erik, for that matter. Silent Hill was the first video game Erik bought with his own money, because he heard other kids at school talking about how spooky it was, and he liked scary movies. But a game was different, somehow.

{{You're in it more,}} Charles responded to his thoughts. {{It's not like watching things happen to people. You're moving your guy around, he's you.}}

Erik raised an eyebrow at him, and Charles saved his game and put the controller down, looking solemn, his blue eyes huge. {{I'm not meant to read thoughts unless you project them. I'm sorry.}}

{{That's not my rule,}} Erik answered. But he didn't like to think bad stuff about Charles's parents around him, so he hurried on, {{Maybe sometime I'll let you watch while I'm playing, and if that doesn't scare you, maybe you can play it yourself.}}

{{It won't!}}

{{We'll see. You saved your game, let's go down and see who's here.}}

The bell rang when someone wanted to be let in the front gate, which meant they had to be let in and drive their car all the way up the driveway and around the fountain before coming in. (Erik still couldn't believe he was staying at a house that had a fountain.) So even with talking Charles into going down, and combing his hair and briefly arguing with him over changing into something besides his favorite hoodie with the cartoon rabbit on the front-- Erik lost that one-- Mrs. Xavier was still greeting the guest when they came down the front stairs into the foyer.

"I just thought I'd look in on you while Brian was away," the guy was saying to her. He had a kind of weirdly shaved beard. "He's always made a point of making sure everyone's families are taken care of."

"It's thoughtful of you, Dr. Marko." Mrs. Xavier spotted them at the foot of the stairs and waved them over. "Here's Charles now. And this is the son of one of Charles's tutors. Erik Lehnsherr."

Erik wondered if Charles put the name into Mrs. Xavier's head. She'd never called him by it before.

"Hello," Dr. Marko said to Charles. "Are you keeping an eye on things while your father's away?"

"Yes," Charles said. He hesitated, stepped forward and offered his hand.

Dr. Marko chuckled and shook it with exaggerated decorum, like Charles was a dog who'd been trained to offer his paw. "Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too," Charles mumbled, stepping back to lean against Erik.

"I have a son at home myself," Dr. Marko said. "He's a little older than you. He's nine. But maybe you could play together sometime."

"I'm sure they'd get on famously," Mrs. Xavier put in. "Brian's always saying that Charles is advanced for his age."

Erik frowned down at Charles, who was holding onto his pantleg now and all but hiding behind him. {{What's wrong?}}

Charles shook his head, not even answering telepathically, but he put out such a need for reassurance that Erik suppressed a sigh and bent to pick him up. Charles was small for his age, but even so Erik probably wouldn't be able to hold him for long if Charles didn't cling like a monkey.

{{Noisy head?}} Erik guessed. That was usually Charles's complaint when he was around people who had a lot on their minds.

Another head-shake and no answer. Erik looked at the adults with a frown. They weren't paying attention.

"You'll stay for a drink, won't you?" Mrs. Xavier said, smoothing her blonde hair back. "I wish I could persuade you to join us for dinner."

"Maybe next time. But I'd love a drink," said Dr. Marko. "Nice to see you, Charles."

Charles waved at him instead of answering, weirdly childish when he was usually so precocious. Then he wrapped himself around Erik even more tightly and buried his face against Erik's shoulder.

"You've intimidated him," Mrs. Xavier laughed. "Normally he won't pipe down for anything in front of company. Brian loves to show him off."

"Brian's very proud," Dr. Marko said. "With every reason."

Erik didn't need to be able to read minds to see that the words they were saying didn't match up with whatever they were thinking. They were flirting, he realized with rising indignation. Right here in front of a little kid they both knew was telepathic.

{{Don't be angry,}} Charles pleaded directly to his mind.

{{I can't just not be angry, it doesn't work that way,}} Erik said. "I'm taking Charles back upstairs," he announced out loud, and he was furiously unsurprised when neither Mrs. Xavier or her guest took any notice.