driftfleet | (no subject)

[ Friend seems like a small word, but Charles understands. ]

So am I.

[It's the only word she really has, for anything. That, and partner. Winter's pretty much become her partner, here. Someone who will watch her six no matter what. But she never really had friends until after Carolina threw her out of that building. And Octavian had been her partner once, she remembers, but there'd been no one again until Maine.]

You're a good guy, Charles. He's lucky to have you.

[And so is she. She knows he's helped Winter a lot, and he's helped her too. No one else could have done that, and it can't be easy for him. It a way harder job than what she and Winter have.]

He's lucky to have both of us. Just as I am.

That's really sweet of you, Charles.

[She kisses him on the cheek again. Because she can. She gets to have friends now. Really good friends.]

Wanna help me pick out a good picture for Winter?

Certainly.

[ He moves his chair forward. ] So you have several?

Yeah, I've sketched him some...

[She goes to retrieve her digital frame, then takes a seat on the arm of Charles's chair. She brings up one of the folders and starts going through the images there. It's a lot of sketches of Winter, sometimes with other people thrown in (Kitty, Winn, Charles, Erik, Beverly, and then the absent Maine.) There's an array of expressions on Winter, from the angry to pensive to that little crooked smile he gets sometimes when he's really relaxed, which is her favorite.]

These are lovely. So which one do you want to use?

I don't know. I mean... I've got a couple of him looking really happy...

[A couple times she's caught him laughing and recreated it to her satisfaction.]

But...

[She goes back to another picture, one that's more peaceful, one of those smaller smiles.]

I think maybe this is more him.

[ He looks at it for some time before nodding. ]

I think so too.

I could paint this, with a lot of light to it. [She traces one finger lightly over the image of Winter's jawline.]

[ He hands the journal over. ]

Give it back once you're done.

[Wrath opens the journal and fees the paper meditatively between her fingers. She offers it back to Charles.]

You hold onto it. I'll do the painting on digital and get it printed, and then we can attach it in the journal. So while I'm working on that, you can have Steve Write in it.

[ He takes it back gently. ]

All right. Tell me when you're ready and I'll come by.

Oh yeah, that'd be smarter than me bringing it to you, if you want it to be a surprise.

Hey Charles, what are your favorite colors?

My favourite . . . ? Blue, I suppose. I have an odd fondness for pale brown - a more ochre kind of colouring.

[She goes to a blank screen on her frame and does a few slashes of color on it -- a few shades of ochre, and then a wider range of blues, intense to muted, light to dark.]

Which do you think?