charlie-freakin-essex:
HAND IN GLOVE || charlie & mira
[[ Charlie’s smile turns more muted; he knows Mira doesn’t enjoy the games, and it makes sense when it goes against one of her prime directives. He wishes there were something he could do about it, some way to get her out of it, but obviously they can’t show favoritism. And somehow he doesn’t think Quinn would appreciate him making an impassioned speech about why the android oughtn’t have to play the Games ( even if he’d be happy to make it ). ]]
Yeah! I enjoyed them. [[ He almost feels guilty for it, knowing Mira didn’t, but the enthusiasm is difficult to tamp down. ]] Maybe next time, if the rules allow it, we could team up. I could protect you. [[ He’d done the same for Felix, for a while. He would for Ricky, too, and none of them were Torren. It’d only get dicey if it were house-versus-house, but that could be a bridge they cross when they get to it. Charlie says ‘if the rules allow it,’ but he’s frequently content to make his own rules.
Charlie nods as they enter Calyset, one of the houses he has the least cause to frequent — that, and Brink. Most of his time is spent between Delma and Torren, so he doesn’t blame her for wanting to park him here when he’s not much of a fixture. ]]
Yeah, of course. [[ Charlie smiles and nods once, glancing around the common room and back to Mira. ]] I’ll be right here where you left me.
[She enjoys his enthusiasm about the games. She can understand that they have different opinions on them, but she still appreciates that he enjoys them. She’s sure people are confused by her love of cleaning, so she’s used to having different opinions on what classifies as a ‘fun hobby’. And though she may not get the same thrill from the games as Charlie, she’s glad that they make him happy.] Oh, yes, I would do much better on a team with you, [she smiles.] I would enjoy that. I like when the Games are team based, and I would really like being on a team with you.
[As they enter Calyset, she smiles at his willingness to wait. It was interesting to say something to someone and have them listen to her for a change. Though, her friends always listened when she asked them things. And she supposes this is just more of a confirmation of information she already knew-- that Charlie is her friend.
Mira smiles and heads off to her room. She’s glad to find it empty, not because she didn’t want to see her friends, but because she wouldn’t want to get side tracked while Charlie was waiting. Or for one of them to ask her what she was doing or try to follow her to sneak a peak at what she was doing. She knows they wouldn’t be mean or anything of the sort, but she’s seen how they lightly tease and encourage and act whenever Annie says she’s just seen a boy she likes. Not that this is the same, she just doesn’t want them to think that. Why doesn’t she want them to think that? She could just explain that away. But she worries she wouldn’t be very convincing at trying to say that it wasn’t the same.
She opens her top drawer, moving aside her neatly folded clothes to easily access the back of it. There, lined up in neat little rows are all the little objects Mira has found over the years here. Some coins she found behind bookshelves while cleaning, the now dull glowsticks from the Delma party, a paper butterfly that she can’t quite recall how she got it, but she couldn’t part with it. And several other interesting little trinkets that may seem a lot like trash, especially for someone so organized and dedicated to cleaning. But she finds the item she was looking for, grabs it, sliding some of the other objects over as to not leave a gap in the rows, before returning to Charlie.
There’s a moment where she wonders if Charlie will think her gift is not as good as the one he gave to her. It’s not practical. But people did value sentiment as well, so maybe he wouldn’t mind. She approaches him with it cupped in her hands,] I know it’s not as useful as your gift to me, but I do hope you like it.
[Mira opens her hands to reveal a wooden chess piece, the dark brown wood having lost most of the shine, a few dents and nicks in the stand, but overall still clearly a knight-- a very simplistically carved horse head.] I found this while doing grounds sweeping. I think the rain uncovered it from being buried in the mud. Don’t worry, I did check to make sure it wasn’t a piece from one of the sets we have around the Colony. I couldn’t find any that it matched. But I want to give it to you. Because of when we rode the horse together. [She says, looking up at him with the slightest smile. Then, she feels something strange in her chest and she looks away for a brief moment before continuing,] And you’re sort of like a knight. At least, I think you are.[She’s referring to all the times he’s promised to look out for her. To help protect her and her friends. She’s seen him in the Games. He’s a good fighter and seems very brave. And perhaps she’s comparing him more to the fantasy knights rather than what she knows historically accurate knights were like, but she’s not going to explain that nuance. She doesn’t want to bore him with a history lesson when she’s just trying to give a gift.]