Hideaway Strath I wonder why I'm so afraid

Thankfully she seemed to come round on the sticks thing and Charles grinned. Of course she'd find some medicky use for them somewhere. Honestly, playing was mostly something that was important to Charles for two reasons. One was that it was pretty easy to just let go and have fun, and it kept him distracted from the fact that he had pretty little applicable skills. Secondly, he hadn't had a lot of fun in his youth. And when he did have it, with Leta or on his own, then it was like this way to let go of all the misery and pain around him. It didn't matter that he was a child who wasn't even loved by his mom. It just mattered what was happening right then and there, in the moment.

Yeah, sure, Charles said when Arlette offered to teach him what to look for. He didn't really like learning new stuff (because he usually was bad at it and it reminded him of how little useful stuff he could do) but he found it hard to turn down anyone's offers for it. That'd just emphasise how little he could do, too. Who knew, maybe it would teach him a thing or two. Maybe he could provide something, at least, for this pack, instead of being a total scavenger.

So, Kaito, huh? Charles didn't realise how many unresolved daddy issues he had around Kaito until just now. Honestly, Kaito wasn't even someone that'd been in Charles' life like, super much. But he had been there in a few crucial moments when his mother had not been. Just thinking about him was confusing as heck. Charles didn't know half of what Kaito had meant to him. Yeah, uh, I guess that's for the best, he said a little off-handedly. He almost asked if Arlette wanted to share some of her favourite memories of Kaito, but then he shut his mouth instead and looked away, afraid to be vulnerable.

Instead, after an uncomfortable stretch of silence, Charles said: How do you think we can prevent to be like our mothers? He wasn't sure if Nyra would be — well, if it caught — but if it did, then how did they prevent becoming the same way? Shit, it was a lot to think about.