(Untitled)

[teenagerenegade]

Normally, though Charlie loves snow. He grew up in Upstate New York, so he figures that it's kind of a requirement. He worries about Edmund, though. He knows what he went hrough. He does his best to keep him warm. Today, he built a snowman outside their hut (he spends less and less time at his own hut), stayed out in the snow until his cheeks

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[niceofyoutoask]

He's spent far too long surreptiously reading the body language of boys hunched over in foxholes not to notice that something is definately not right with this kid. He's got something in his hands - his gloveless hands, Lipton noted, and his own gloved fingers almost seemed to tingle in the memory of frostbite.

Lipton appraoched him, his boots crunching in the snow, and he crossed his arms reflexively as he looked the kid in the eyes, or at least tried to.

"Hey kid. You alright?"

[teenagerenegade]

The guy's too young to be Charlie's bed, but there's something about him that says 'Dad' all the same, and Charlie can't help but wince away from that a little. He's never been good at talking about his Dad. That doesn't mean that he doesn't miss him, all the same.

"Yeah," he says, lying. "I'm okay."

[niceofyoutoask]

"Alright," Lipton nodded, but he leaned against the post of the porch anyway. There was no way that was the truth, but if he didn't want to talk about it Lipton wasn't about to make him. Up close he could see the kid was holding something in his hand, some kind of canister, and he had a piece of paper crumpled in his other hand.

"Never been a huge fan of snow." Lipton said conversationally, just in case this was the sorta guy who wanted a distraction when something was bothering him. He might get thoroughly rebuffed, but he wouldn't mind. "But this stuff isn't so bad. It's more festive than anything else."

[teenagerenegade]

"I grew up in Upstate New York," he says, quietly. "I'm sort of used to the snow. My boyfriend kind of hates it, though. He kind of likes that our hut has a bit of a turret now, though. Castles, he's used to."

He's just talking to be doing it. He knows that.
He's not sure he can stop.

[like_arrows]

I'm gonna go ahead and blame the ice for the fact that I step out of the Compound and nearly run some kid down. And yeah, it could just be that he's sitting there and I'm not looking where I'm going, bundled up to my ears with this scarf wrapped around my face, but I'd rather blame the weather. Because this weather -- I'm not cut out for it. I'm a California girl, born and bred, thanks, and we don't do snow. Except that around here, I have no choice.

I hold a hand out in front of me to steady myself, nearly catching it on the guy's shoulder and then stopping. "Sorry, sorry," I say quickly, "are you okay?" And then I get a better look at him, holding onto whatever those are pretty tight and I take a step back, uncertain. If he's not okay, I'm not sure it's anything to do with me.

[teenagerenegade]

"Yeah," says Charlie, nodding and not even looking up at her. His hands tighten on what he's holding and that's when he realises that he can't feel his fingers very well any more.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

[like_arrows]

I nod, even if he's not looking to see it, and start around him, but -- I don't know, call me a sucker or a sap or whatever, but I turn back around, hands buried in my pockets, because he's just sitting there and I don't know him, but it's still hard to walk away. "No offense," I say, "but you don't really look it. Aren't you cold out here?"

[teenagerenegade]

"Yeah," says Charlie, numbly. He can't quite tell if he's crying or not and he swipes at his face with the heel of one hand, anyway. "Yeah, I'm pretty cold."

[legendarymadman]

Geoffrey snaps his gloved fingers in front of Charlie's face, just to see if he's actually paying attention, or if he's just guarding the door for some mysterious purpose.

"You with us?" he says. "Where are you off to with that?"

[teenagerenegade]

"I don't know," says Charlie, because he honestly doesn't. He can't tell if he's crying or not, eyes stinging and he shakes his head and wipes at his nose with the back of his hand.

"I just...I can't."

[legendarymadman]

"Whoa, hey," says Geoffrey when he realises he's not just being a space case, and something's actuallyw rong. "What's going on?"

[teenagerenegade]

Charlie doesn't feel like he's actually got the words to explain it without completely losing his shit, if he hasn't lost it already, so he just holds the note out to Geoffrey, slightly crumpled in one hand.