Charles woke up to a rather grumpy man standing outside his bedroom door.
"Hello." The man didn't respond.
Charles shrugged and made his way to the library- until he realized the man was following him. "Why exactly are you following me?" Charles raised an eyebrow in question, irritated.
The answer flashed across the man's mind. "I've been assigned to guard you, bub."
"What?" Charles ground out, furious, but he did not need the statement repeated. In the heat of his rage, he changed course, directing himself to Erik's office. The man followed dutifully behind, mercifully silent.
Charles reached Erik's office door- his mind reached, finding it empty save for Erik- and he burst through the door, scowling. "Erik!"
"Ah, I see you've met your new guard," Erik intoned evenly, not even glancing up from his paperwork.
Charles nearly snarled. "I do not need a personal guard, Erik, now call off your hound," Charles spit out.
"Yes, my love, you do. I've wanted to assign you a guard for a while, but the discontent your people stirred up has given me a perfect excuse." Erik finally placed his pen down, lifting his gaze to meet Charles's fiery one.
"I do not need some random man hovering over me all day and night!" Charles seethed, gesturing wildly at the man, furious with Erik.
"That random man is Logan Howlett, one of my most trusted generals, and he doesn't guard you at night, I guard you at night," Erik snapped. Charles wished he could scream in rage. Instead, Charles turned on his heel and stormed out, Logan quietly following despite Charles's outburst against this very behavior. Charles supposed Logan must be rather loyal to Erik, much to the telepath's chargrin. If he wasn't, Erik would never let him near Charles.
Charles went to the library, his sanctuary, and buried himself in his books. He elected to ignore his guard for now, too frustrated with his mere presence to even bother with pleasantries. Logan's presence spelled bad tidings, as now Charles would never have a moment alone, no time to orchestrate his friends' escape.
Hours later, Charles was pulled out of his concentration on his books by hunger. Charles glanced toward his companion, finding the man leafing through a book of his own with little to no interest. "Care for some lunch?" Charles asked, voice strained to remain somewhat polite. Logan looked up and nodded, standing to his feet. Charles stood, stretching his aching limbs as he went. Remaining seated for hours frequently left Charles with pained muscles, so much so he often joked that he was a very old man at only thirty-six.
Charles led the way to the kitchen, Logan following behind. Logan remained calm, so much so that Charles would've thought he was rather flippant with his duties as Charles's guard or had no role in protecting Charles. However, Charles could see in Logan's mind how paranoid he was, analyzing everything around them but managing to appear as if he wasn't even paying any attention.
Charles sighed, finding a cook in the kitchen, just waiting for someone to request food. Charles supposed it must be rather boring at times, considering how little Erik ate. It wasn't that hunger didn't strike Erik, or that he did not have a very large appetite. With Erik, his lack of eating all boiled down to being too focused on his work. Charles had noted that when Erik was stuck on something, he would rarely eat or drink, too focused to even remember to nourish his body. At those times, Charles would typically have some food sent into the King's study. Then, Erik would mindlessly eat and drink whatever was brought before him. Erik also took to not sleeping when a problem was especially tricky, which Charles would sometimes be quite grateful for.
