A Machine Without Feelings (Cherik) | ✓

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔖𝔦𝔵

"It is so very odd."

Charles looked as Moira as the woman drummed her fingers on the table. Moira crinkled her nose, taking a bite of the sweet cake on her plate and washing it down with a sip of fresh tea. She then pursed her lips thoughtfully before looking at Charles.

"What is your opinion on the topic, Charles?"

"On what?" Charles asked, marking some of Peter's English work with a pencil with one hand, taking a sip of his tea with the other.

"On Mr Lehnsherr and Miss Frost," Moira supplied, Charles coughing and choking on his tea, spitting a little onto Peter's work book. Moira clicked her tongue, throwing him a napkin, which he used to dab at the book and along his chin.

"What about them?" Charles asked, voice squeaky and not because he almost choked on Darjeeling.

"Well, it has been almost a month since Miss Frost and her party returned home, but Mr Lehnsherr hasn't gone to visit her at all in that time. It is only natural after courting for him to propose, but he has not even seen her since! It is not a long trip by horseback, and the master is a skilled rider. So, as I said, it is very, very odd."

"Is it for sure that Erik intends to propose to Miss Frost?" Charles asked, pain twanging in his seemingly hollow chest cavity. Moira, as always, looked a little startled every time Charles called the master by his first name, but she was slowly getting used to it. The first time, Charles thought he had to go and mount a horse and ride to fetch Dr Hank McCoy. Now, Moira just gave him a funny look every time he did it, but otherwise pretended she didn't hear anything.

It was not like people didn't know that Erik and Charles got along well, even if they sometimes heard what sounded like a heated argument coming from the drawing room over a chess game, the two men often drinking whisky as they played and debating politics. They were used to Erik's occasional bouts of rage, but Charles was usually such a serene being, that hearing him deliver a biting retort against someone like Erik with equal vitriol was startling, and potentially even more terrifying. Hearing Charles raise his voice was scarier than the shark-like grin Erik would shoot at Charles whenever the tutor said something amusing.

Erik did not treat Charles like he treated other subordinates, and it was obvious that their master favoured the young tutor quite a bit. Everyone that worked at Ironfield thought that Charles was extremely charming, and he was always apt at making conversation, but they didn't think that the Charles Xavier charm would have worked on the seemingly impervious Mr Erik Lehnsherr.

It clearly had, though, and people were all the happier for it. Charles seemed to temper Mr Lehnsherr's sour moods, and Alex had even taken to calling upon Charles to appease Erik whenever he noticed the master's mood declining. Charles was always able to divert Erik's mood over a game of chess or with a walk around the estate, sometimes even making the master forget his anger by playing a horrible rendition of a Liszt piece on the piano.

Even if Charles was not able to soothe Lehnsherr's fury every time, he was the only one that could withstand the brunt of it without crumbling into tears. Alex had asked him how someone so small and soft like him could brave it, and Charles would just give him a lopsided smile, saying either "I'm tougher than I look" or "Erik is just impassioned, but not scary".

So, Moira often asked Charles about their master now, knowing that if anyone knew what was going on in Lehnsherr's labyrinth of a mind, it would be him. Unfortunately, Charles looked as stumped as Moira, the older woman sighing.

"I understand that you are young, and don't really know the ways of courting," Moira said, stuffing another morsel of cake into her mouth. "But a man does not pay attention to a woman like that without having the intention to propose. They looked quite taken with each other during their last few days here, and Miss Frost was even spending time with the staff, like Scott. If a woman of high birth like her takes the time to ingratiate themselves with the help, then it is obvious that they are planning to take over the household."