Charles didn’t think his eyebrows could go any higher. The suggestion of a drink was wonderful, and he looked reluctantly down at his paperwork, checking due dates and other fine print. This was his house, after all, and he should be treating guests, not the other way round. It was far too late to go to a bar, and he wasn’t going to risk any sort of legal action if the young lady was a minor. And he wasn’t going to poke around inside the girl’s head to see if she was of age; that sort of thing he reserved for troublemakers and scoundrels, which he knew very few of.
One way or the other, the paperwork could wait. He pushed back his chair and got to his feet, sighing quietly and running a hand tiredly through his hair. “A drink sounds marvelous, but I can get it myself, dear. You’re welcome to join me,” he breathed before crossing the office to the door and tugging it open. Across the hall was his study, and in his study was a minibar stocked with wonderful goodies.
Clearly, there was going to be a lot of communication with eyebrows in this relationship. She raised her own at Xavier’s back and followed, saying, “I’m not really much of a drinker, myself, but I’ll sit with you, if I may.” She could sense his mild unease, but empathy without telepathy left her guessing about the reason.
He made a soft noise in the back of his throat and crossed the hall, pushing open the door to his study and traversing the thick carpet to the minibar, sighing with relief as he closed his fingers around the neck of a bottle of scotch. Oh, welcome home, Charles. He poured himself a glass and took a swig before even thinking to offer something to his guest. Chiding himself quietly, he turned and gestured to the minibar behind him. “If you’d like something, you’re more than welcome to it. Even if you don’t drink, I’ve got some soda here…you know, in case my sister ever comes back.”
He tried not to let the mention of Raven grate on him.
There was a flare of regret, and hurt … Summer tried to pull herself out of the man’s heart. It was really impolite, after all, and was just going to make the side effects worse as they kicked in. “A soda would be really nice, thank you.” She glanced around the room as she crossed to the minibar, snaking a quick hand inside the fridge to grab a can. “It’s a really lovely place you have here, Professor.”