River's mention of peach pie prompts a surprised blush from Ned, though he should know better by now. Knowing that she can see everything that's going on in his head isn't quite the same as hearing her repeat a phrase like that and understand everything that it implies. But it's a good sort of surprise.
The story she tells about Erik and Charles is quite a lot of information take in, considering he only woke up a few minutes earlier. Still, he listens intently, and gets the gist of it. Erik had told him he understood what it felt like, thinking he was alone. It only makes sense that Charles was the first other mutant he met, that Charles introduced him to his identity. As for that path, that drive, Ned doesn't know what it's in reference to, but he sets the information aside for later. Far more important, for the time being, is the point that River comes to next.
Ned's eyebrows climb high on his forehead, holding his toast halfway to his mouth, forgetting it is even there. "They're- the two of them-" The kettle on the stove is starting to whistle, but Ned pays it no mind whatsoever. Slowly, his eyes start to spark with delight and comprehension. "Together?"
It makes sense. How Erik had told him that nothing he could do would come between them. How Charles had been sure that his own safety was sure, with Erik around to look after him. How broken up Charles had been when Erik was gone, the fact that Erik concerned himself with what Ned thought of Charles after what had happened between them. Even smaller details that he didn't realize he remembered: the way they moved around one another, the way they spoke to one another.
Ned sets down his toast and puts one hand to his mouth, but he's grinning underneath it. The whistling of the kettle is getting quite insistent, now. He goes over to turn off the stove automatically, prepares the tea mechanically while his mind is awhirl.
"I won't breathe a word," he assures, because she'd made it very clear how important that is. "You know I can keep a secret." It's second nature, to him. Not a burden at all. But that need for secrecy is nothing compared to the mental bombshell that is the revelation that Charles and Erik are secretly a couple. "Oh my god, I had no idea."
no subject
The story she tells about Erik and Charles is quite a lot of information take in, considering he only woke up a few minutes earlier. Still, he listens intently, and gets the gist of it. Erik had told him he understood what it felt like, thinking he was alone. It only makes sense that Charles was the first other mutant he met, that Charles introduced him to his identity. As for that path, that drive, Ned doesn't know what it's in reference to, but he sets the information aside for later. Far more important, for the time being, is the point that River comes to next.
Ned's eyebrows climb high on his forehead, holding his toast halfway to his mouth, forgetting it is even there. "They're- the two of them-" The kettle on the stove is starting to whistle, but Ned pays it no mind whatsoever. Slowly, his eyes start to spark with delight and comprehension. "Together?"
It makes sense. How Erik had told him that nothing he could do would come between them. How Charles had been sure that his own safety was sure, with Erik around to look after him. How broken up Charles had been when Erik was gone, the fact that Erik concerned himself with what Ned thought of Charles after what had happened between them. Even smaller details that he didn't realize he remembered: the way they moved around one another, the way they spoke to one another.
Ned sets down his toast and puts one hand to his mouth, but he's grinning underneath it. The whistling of the kettle is getting quite insistent, now. He goes over to turn off the stove automatically, prepares the tea mechanically while his mind is awhirl.
"I won't breathe a word," he assures, because she'd made it very clear how important that is. "You know I can keep a secret." It's second nature, to him. Not a burden at all. But that need for secrecy is nothing compared to the mental bombshell that is the revelation that Charles and Erik are secretly a couple. "Oh my god, I had no idea."