#**angst

                  Erik, to his shock, is receiving projected thoughts from Charles on a regular basis. Charles doesn't think they're getting through. He's not even trying anymore. It's a pallid sort of comfort, just being able to quietly "tell" Erik about something Alex has said, a thought he had about a television program. Those aren't the thoughts that get to Erik.

                  Charles' time stopped in that beach.

                  Charles wakes from the absence of noise. There is an empty space in his room, beside his bed. Not quiet as in an abandoned room, but utterly, featurelessly blank. Like a box made of unblemished, impenetrable metal and Charles knows before he opens his eyes.

                  Unable to sleep one night Erik takes a midnight walk in the local park. He finds himself being followed and propositioned by a rent boy named Charles, and begins to fall rather rapidly for his charms. Charles however has never known what love is, and doesn't recognise it even when it's staring at him in the face. As for Erik, he doesn't realise a creeping illness is slowly affecting Charles, and his dark past is something he couldn't have imagined.