「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(232) Cell Phones

Lynn's POV

Orlando was certain to welcome us with a markedly different climate than the one that would the moment we exited the doors of the mansion. Hence, Charles and I opted to keep our outfits simple and practical to combat the comparatively heated atmospheres of Florida.

I sieved out a plain V-neck cotton top as my base, pairing it with classic denim trousers to go along with my white chucks, and loosely tied my outerwear, a long-sleeved navy gingham shirt dress, around my waist. Charles elected for a similarly light assemble, yet maintaining his conventional smart style with a heather grey tee, slightly darker shaded fitting jeans and his standard leisure choice of suede oxfords in taupe, topped with none other than his favourite navy cardigan left unbuttoned for the time being.

The lack of children running about the house was an odd sight accompanying the matching serenity resonating within the weaving passageways as Charles and I casually strolled down to the dining hall hand in hand.

Although I did not quite fancy the idea of holding Charles in my crippled hand, for the fact that I thoroughly feared to ever accidentally lose my grip on him, its miserable weaknesses and the permanent damage done seemed to have been completely obliterated, banished to the back of mind, every time it unites flawlessly with his palm. Effortlessly, he provided the security I yearned through a firm grasp sufficient to eradicate my doubts into the distant obscurity as we roamed the mostly vacant corridors.

It was probably too cruel to be up at this time of the weekend, with most of them indulging in their fill of sleep while they could this holidays, but several clever ones knew to seize the day, already energising themselves with the delectable spread courteously prepared by Storm when Charles and I stepped into the extravagant arena.

Glancing up from their plates in a natural reaction to our ecstatic voices coupled with contradictory relaxed treads, the cheery kids politely greeted our entrance but paid our abnormal stances attention for no more than fleeting moments before their gaze returned to the hearty meal presented before them and their unexpectedly nonchalant responses surely triggered me to stare weirdly at Charles as he fetched us some French toasts and cereal before we took our usual seats away from the youthful bunch.

"What?" Charles muttered innocently, feigning ignorance as I continuously had my eyes on him even before he began to address our food.

"You tell me what," I insisted, smirking at him provocatively.

"Well, we did cover it briefly during the History of the X-Men," Charles disclosed indifferently but there was something about his gaze that was mysterious, additionally piquing my interest, and I raised an eyebrow at him in a hinting manner.

"I might have also introduced it into the senior synthetic laboratories," Charles revealed, his tone growing increasingly sheepish with his sentence, and my jaw dropped in astonishment.

"Shush, love," Charles pleaded, both of us giggling uncontrollably, as he wrapped an arm around me and hurriedly shrouded my mouth in his palm.

"You had the students make the serum?" I challenged in a hushed tone but definitely with a dramatic expression of disbelief still plastered to my face as I pried off his hand.

"It's a rare example of a simple process that needs to be handled with delicate care. I think it makes an excellent candidate to examine their skills," Charles defended persuasively and I willingly nodded in agreement to his convincing argument.

"But don't worry. The ones for us, I made them myself," he reassured cheekily, causing me to chuckle.

Eventually, the filling breakfast concluded itself and we regrouped with the youngsters in the garage where they gathered around Charles' Jaguar XK-E with our suitcases, already properly packed, had been arranged neatly into the trunk of the vintage silver sports car.