crystal, to be frank, is horrified when talk of his death makes charles smile. not one of his mask-smiles, either, but a warm, excited thing that lights up his face from the inside out.
"it was lovely," he says, almost dreamily. "edwin told me all about ghost rules and read me detective stories. just sort of drifted off, didn't i, mate?"
crystal's no-doubt wide eyes slide over to where edwin is looking at charles with his lips pressed into a tight line. she doesn't need to reach out and touch him to know that he vehemently disagrees.
"was it really that gentle?" she asks him later, when charles is busy sorting through his bag. edwin's fingers clench around his elbow.
"no," he says, voice tight. "no it was not." she watches him fight with himself, before he sighs. "late-stage hypothermia is anything but gentle. it was frightening."
crystal would chalk it up to charles's perpetual need to make any negative emotion something small and dismissable, if only he hadn't seemed so genuinely wistful. "does he remember?"
"i am not surprised that he doesn't seem to. he was not at all aware towards the end." edwin's face is pained.
"you don't have to tell me," crystal says, despite the desperate itch of curiosity. edwin visibly relaxes, sending her a tight smile.
"i believe this is best left in the past, truth be told. i doubt that charles would be happy for me to remember him as i do that night, so i shan't betray his confidence, unknowing or not."
when crystal googles hypothermia symptoms that night, all she can wonder is just how bad it had really been, and then be strangely glad that charles only remembers the kindness of it all.
-
for day 10 of @deadboyween: death
