Submerged

Mist hangs above the surface of an almost still lake. Its misty body extending into the surrounding trees and obscuring the base of the trunks from view.

Charles places one foot in front of the other on the soft sand, as he enters the water. Feeling the soft lake bed shift under his bare feet. The water is freezing and distracting but that's exactly what he wants. A distraction from the thoughts of everyone around him, it's rare for Charles to experience silence and whilst it comforts and calms him; it can be disturbing at times.

Charles keeps going into the lake until he is almost at the centre of the lake. Even with Charles' height of 5'57, the water still only reached the base of his chin. He stands there looking around him, hands pushing the clear water as he lifts his feet of the lake bed; Charles takes a deep breath, taking in all the air his lungs can carry and submerges his entire body.

After the water completely surrounds his entirety, he opens his eyes and slowly swims around; feeling extremely calm in the water. Although the sun has yet to rise, Charles can see almost everything under the water.

He stays under until the need to breath becomes overwhelming and Charles is forced to resurface. His head breaks the surface of the water as he emerges from its cold green-blue embrace. He catches his breath and floats on his back, feeling calm for the first time in a long time, calm and refreshed, and only his thoughts in his mind.

Enjoying the feeling of weightlessness Charles continues to floats, watching the sky slowly change. From purple to pink to orange to finally yellow. By now the mist was almost completely gone and sound reached him once again, the sound of the water lapping against his bare skin, the sound of birds wings as they fly and a faint voice calling his name.

"Charles! Where are you?" Erik's deep voice becomes louder as he draws near. The blanket of mist now gone completely, along with it, its calm serenity, and as Erik draws near Charles decides that it is finally time to get out of the water.

Charles slowly swims to the shore where Erik is waiting and watching him move through the water. Charles finally steps out of the water in all his naked glory and Erik finds himself caught off guard.

"Charles! Give a man a warning next time, that is something I cannot unsee." Erik exclaims, covering his blushing cheeks and eyes, turning his back to Charles.

Charles however is unbothered that Erik had seen him naked but could tell that it would be best to apologise. "Sorry mate, I didn't think anyone would come around here."

With that said, neither of the males spoke as Charles dries himself off and pulls on his black jeans and white button up shirt. Although they are only hanging out for the rest of the day, Charles wore a plain button up and dress pants. Erik's mind races with inappropriate thoughts of Charles' body against his will, Charles on his knees looking up at Erik with a blush across his cheeks,Charles laying sprawled out on Erik's bed, Charles' body pinned against a wall by Erik, Charles slowly taking his clothes off and- Erik walks over to the water and washes his face in the ice cold water of the lake. Afterwards he began to walk over to the closest tree, where he felt the tug of a metal object, a welcome distraction to stop  his mind wandering again.

"You're making me blush Erik." Charles said, he couldn't fight off the red slowly colouring his cheeks, or the smirk that creeps onto his lips when Erik's posture stiffens, his back still facing Charles.

"Charles! You said you wouldn't read my mind without my permission and don't think that- that meant anything, Raven has been driving me mad about how cute we would look together, and my mind just wondered off on its own and-" Erik was interrupted by the sound of Charles laughing, Erik finally turned around to look at Charles who's head was thrown back, a huge smile on his face, his cheeks slightly red.

When Charles noticed that Erik had turned around and was looking at him, he finally managed to control his laughter, when he finally stopped laughing an idea came to mind.

"You know Erik," Charles said as he slowly walked over, his voice light and playful, moving closer and closer to Erik who slowly kept moving backwards. "Maybe we can make some of those thoughts into a reality, especially the one where you have me pinned against a wall, although there is one thing I would change." Charles' tone changed from playful to a quiet whisper, his voice becoming slightly deeper.

Erik took another step backwards and found himself backed up against a tree, he let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding and looked at Charles, whose body was way to close to his own. He studied Charles' face, his smile, the way his damp hair fell over his forehead and slightly over his eyes, the way that Charles was unconsciously biting on his lips making them redder and realised that Charles was only messing around and clearly hadn't thought this through because he looked unsure of what to do next.

When Charles didn't do anything further, Erik grabbed Charles by his hips and turned them around so that Charles was now pinned against the tree. Charles let out a surprised gasp, blushing uncontrollably.

"Erik, Wha-" Erik cut Charles off by moving closer to Charles, his mouth only a centimeter away from Charles'.

"I'm going to kiss you now Charles, push me away if you want me to stop." Erik said, his husky voice barely a whisper. He waited a few seconds, looking into Charles' eyes to see if he was opposed to kissing him. When Charles didn't push him away, he slowly moved forwards and kissed Charles.