Sarah had been doing her best to help Chuck, keeping him company, but when all was said and done, there wasn't really anything to be done. She knew that perfectly well. Maybe they hadn't been her family, but she'd loved them, too, and she'd lost Pam at the same time. As badly as all that hurt, though, not being able to make things better for Chuck was maybe the hardest part.
Finding him in the rec room was unsurprising, though her hesitance in approaching him was uncharacteristic. It was hard to know what to do at a time like this, so she just eased down to sit next to him. "Are you winning?"
"Yeah, sort of." Chuck said. "I'm not dead yet, so it's kind of the same thing." He looked up at Sarah with a half-hearted smile that was mostly for her benefit.
As much as all of this sucked, Chuck knew that he still had Sarah. Sarah was still there, and so was Casey. He wasn't completely alone.
Even if remembering that his family was gone made it feel like that was the case sometimes.
"Sounds close enough," Sarah said, nudging him gently with her shoulder. It would have been the case out in the real world anyway. That didn't matter so much as the fact that he'd smiled, even if she suspected it was for her sake more than his. She didn't want him to pretend to anything he didn't feel, but at least he could make the effort. "That's... a lot of pie. What kind is it?"
"Mango, I think. I don't know." Chuck replied, looking over at what was left of the pie. He would have offered Sarah a piece if he hadn't just stuck the fork in the middle back when he'd first grabbed it. Now, it was basically a big mess of filling and crust.
Karen had mostly showed up to take advantage of the video games, but when she saw Chuck, she decided he had a much better idea. She sat down next to him, legs folded underneath, and held her hand out for the fork.
The pie was pretty much a mess of filling and crust, since Chuck hadn't bothered with cutting slices. He paused his game for a second and passed it over anyway.
"I think it's mango. It's something tropical anyway."
"It's pie, that's all that really matters," Karen said, which was all the wisdom she felt she needed to impart for the day. Nick had been pretty much a saint for the past few weeks, and the rain did nothing but feed into the crappy mood Karen had been in.
"Yeah." Chuck agreed with a small nod. He hadn't been able to help but be reminded of when his mother had abandoned he and Ellie, even if this time, it hadn't been voluntary at all. He'd stayed up all night with Morgan, playing Legend of Zelda and eating cheesecake, so he knew from experience that it would at least get his mind off of everything.
"Something like that," Chuck said, not bothering to look up from his game at the unfamiliar voice. Sometimes, people trying to cheer you up when you were down just made things worse. And as it was, Chuck didn't know if he was up for making small talk with a stranger when all he really wanted to do was shoot at fictional soldiers and eat pie filling.
The response was cold, even if the person seemed to be anything but. Claire could tell from the smile lines, carefully drawn from the nose to the corners of his mouth- they weren't wrinkles, but still seemed to suggest that he used those cheeks pretty often. Maybe he had been happy before the island, maybe the rain got him down; in all honesty, Claire couldn't even hope to guess, but he didn't seem like the type of person who should have been left to his lonesome for too long. Or maybe, just maybe Claire was deflecting too much.
It was hard to tell.
Not wanting to step on toes, but not wanting to return to the nervous atmosphere of the crash room, Claire paused for a few minutes before speaking up again, voice soft and unsure. "Mind if I just watch?"
Silent companionship would have suited her just fine, too.
"Hey, Chuck," Mary Jane greeted quietly, lifting one hand in a slight, halfhearted wave as she walked over. The two of them not being especially close, she'd wondered for a few moments if it would even be alright to approach, but in the end, she hadn't been able to help it. She may not have known him all that well, but she did like Chuck and she had loved Ellie, and if she had found hearing about her disappearance difficult, she didn't have the first idea of how awful it must have been for him.
The pie was a pretty good indication, though.
Biting her lip, she glanced down at the couch. It was, of course, a public rec room, and the Compound had been more crowded than usual since the rain had started, but for all that she wanted to be able to offer some kind of support, she didn't want to overstep, either. She decided just not to mention it. "How's the shooting going?"
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Finding him in the rec room was unsurprising, though her hesitance in approaching him was uncharacteristic. It was hard to know what to do at a time like this, so she just eased down to sit next to him. "Are you winning?"
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As much as all of this sucked, Chuck knew that he still had Sarah. Sarah was still there, and so was Casey. He wasn't completely alone.
Even if remembering that his family was gone made it feel like that was the case sometimes.
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"Is it still raining?"
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"I think it's mango. It's something tropical anyway."
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"I can switch to two player if you want."
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It was hard to tell.
Not wanting to step on toes, but not wanting to return to the nervous atmosphere of the crash room, Claire paused for a few minutes before speaking up again, voice soft and unsure. "Mind if I just watch?"
Silent companionship would have suited her just fine, too.
Reply
The pie was a pretty good indication, though.
Biting her lip, she glanced down at the couch. It was, of course, a public rec room, and the Compound had been more crowded than usual since the rain had started, but for all that she wanted to be able to offer some kind of support, she didn't want to overstep, either. She decided just not to mention it. "How's the shooting going?"
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