What The Fudge? (Char and Cobie)

Cobalt shook his head a little,

"Not really." he stood up and slowly drew on of his own knives from the inside of his coat, a plain knife like Charlotte's, "What I'm going to do is teach you how to take a life. It's the first, basic, rule of this business. And if you get it right then you may continue. If you don't then you can leave right now."

He placed a wax seal on the head of one of the trainning dummies and it suddenly fleshed out to appear to be a real human being, panting and weezing on the floor. Cobalt glanced at Charlotte,

"Kill him."

"Um...okay then."

Charlotte looked at Professor Smith, eyebrow raised, sighing she walked over to the man on the floor, looked him in the eyes shrugged lightly and placed her foot on his chest keeping him firmly pressed to the ground. Thinking what would be most humane Charlotte kicked him hard in the head so he fell unconscious then took her knife, plunged it into his chest, missing the heart but striking a main vein and watched as all the blood slowly drained out of him. Waiting a while Charlotte checked the pulse, definitely dead.

"What next?"

She asked carefully. Wondering if she had done the right thing.

Cobalt frowned a little,

"I saw you hesitate." he shook his head, "When I take a contract the person dies. You will have to take that exact same policy. It's how you get repeat customers."

He sighed a little and knelt down by the animate dummy,

"You want to be human?" he pulled the dummies head back and slit the throat open, allowing the artificial blood to seep out weakly, "You kill them quickly. Less suffering."

He whiped his hands clean before pointing to another one of the dummies,

"Point to two places on the body that you can easily kill someone by cutting."

Charlotte watched and listened carefully to what Cobalt was telling her to do, she knew she had hesitated but there was very little she could do about that...she was 11 the guy couldn't expect miracles yet. Sighing she made her way over to the dummies and pointed to the inner thigh area and the neck. She knew there were important blood vessels there and they would make the person loose blood rapidly.

"Are they right?" She asked for reassurance

Cobalt ruffled her hair reassuringly,

"Very good points Charlotte... you don't mind if I call you Charlotte do you?" he smiled a little before gesturing at the dummy, "You could have points anywhere on this dummy and it would have been right, but you did happen to pick two very good points."

He pointed to the chest, just above where the heart would be,

"Aorta. If you even knick this artery then they will lose so much blood that they will die."

He moved his finger down an fraction,

"The heart. Goes without saying that if you put your blade in there then they'll die."

Dragging the digit up he pointed to the throat,

"As you pointed out earlier, the neck. Massive blood vessels and the entrance for all oxygen to get into the body."

He smiled a little and patted her lightly on the shoulder,

"Hell if you coated that blade in bassilisk venom you could give them a paper-cut sized wound and they'd die." he grinned a little, "Any wound is a good wound Charlotte."

Frowning, he drew a single cigarette from his pocket, lit it with his muggle lighter and took a drag. He glanced down at Charlotte,

"Except self-inflicted wounds." he paused and took another pull before continuing, "Care to explain yourself Charlotte?"

Charlotte listened intensely to Cobalt these were all good points that he was illustrating to her and she must remember to use them all when it came to killing somebody. She was particularly interested in the venom side of things, why get your hands messy when you could kill with so little effort? But it was the. That Charlotte fell silent, self inflicted wounds? She didn't have any...what was Cobalt talking about? Then it dawned on her and charlottes hands clamped around her arms.

"I didn't do these."

She hoped that she wouldn't have to tell him about all of the things that had happened to her but Charlotte realised that it was only fair. If he was helping her then she should be honest with him at least. Finding the cigarette smoke comforting Charlotte breathed it in hungrily.

" it's a rather long depressing story...my father after my mother left got a bit well crazy he locked me in this room if you could class it as a room and sometimes would drain out the oxygen from the room others he would send in a wraiths...It found me quite tasty. All of them do for some reason..."

Cobalt grunted a little but remained silently for a moment. He took another pull on his cigarette before he spoke again,

"Charlotte." he glanced at her, "I have only a few rules if you are to become my apprentice."

He held up a finger,

"Rule number one. When training or on a hit you will do what you're told, when you're told, without complaint or hesitation."

"Rule number two. You will keep your body in peak condition. You will treat it as a temple." he glanced at her again, "This one is important Charlotte. Don't neglect your body and don't let anyone else neglect it either."

"Rule number three. When you are told to kill you kill." he shrugged, "They're simple enough. Any questions?"

Charlotte nodded at every point that he made, of course they were all valid points and even though she hadn't done anything to hurt herself, she had let other people. Charlotte thought that even though she was at that time incapable of stopping them, with Cobalt's help, she would get a lot stronger so she would be.

"Of course Professor Smith. I understand. No there are no questions, I shall do as you ask."

She sighed happily and breathed in the smoke from the cigarette, Charlotte didn't know why but she loved it. Of course she would never smoke herself but...that surfaced a question in her mind. If she was to treat her body like a temple, surely that must apply to Cobalt...why was he smoking then?

"I like that smell." Charlotte smiled sadly

Cobalt smiled slightly and ruffled her hair teasingly,

"We'll see in the fullness of time little one." he chuckled, "My last apprentice said the same thing. And... well he's not my apprentice anymore so you get the picture."

He watched her inhale some of his cigarette smoke with a slightly rasied eyebrow. Taking another pull on the cigarette he chuckled,

"You like the smell?" he blew some of it out, away from Charlotte. He smirked and gave her a side-long glance, "Or do you enjoy the smell of burning? The smell of an Arsenist."

Charlotte smiled lopsidedly she wasn't used to being the object of affection and she found that she quite liked it, even if it was just a ruffle of the hair. The smile still on her face Charlotte nodded when he asked about the smoke, as odd as it was she did like it, she found it comforting.

"Yes, it's comforting I think."

She mused aloud.

"What are you insinuating?"

Charlotte asked with a raised eyebrow, she had caught the emphasis on Arsen when Cobalt had spoken and she wondered if he objected to her having friends, she hoped not, because Arsen was the one thing Charlotte simply couldn't give up.

Cobalt smiled a little and nodded his head slightly. He'd once thought so as well. As a child he'd associated the smell with his uncle Albert, a man who showed him a great deal of affection. Of course now that he was smoking the cigarettes the smell meant nothing to him but the constant reminder that he was slowly killing himself. He sighed a little,

"It's a nice smell... it soothes the nerves." he smiled a little and patted her on the head, "You know, you remind me of me when I was soft. I think I'll call you that. Soft-soft. Sounds about right."

He laughed a little and tapped the side of his nose,

"The nose knows little Soft-soft." he teased her before shrugging, "What you do with boys your own age is no concern of mine. Of course I always thought puberty started later than eleven..."

Charlotte choked on thin air, she didn't know what Cobalt meant but she hadn't been doing anything like THAT with Arsen, the only thing they had done was kissed and that wasn't even a proper kiss. She calmed down a little when he patted her on the head and Charlotte moved her head a little to meet his hand.

"Seriously? You're nickname for me is 'Soft Soft' you implying I'm dozy?"

Charlotte joked, laughing a little.

Cobalt shrugged, a little smile tugging at his face,

"Oh nothing of the sort Soft-Soft..." he smirked, "Just implying that you've yet to harden up enough to be a tough bastard like me. It's probably a compliment to be fair."

He sighed a little and sank into the sofa which had magically appeared behind them. Smiling, he relaxed in the leather sofa. It was official. He loved this room. With a newly contented sigh, Cobalt smiled up at Charlotte,

"I was joking Soft-Soft." he rolled his eyes, "But it won't take long before he's hanging off of you more than he is now. Poor boy's been ensnared by you, Soft-Soft."

Grinning, he flicked his wrist idly to sending a throwing knife into the throat of one of the trainning dummies. He hadn't even really meant to do it, it was more of a thing he did when he was bored or at ease. Shrugging, he smirked up at her,

"I'd be worried for the boy if you weren't also hanging off of him." he yawned, "Try not to be surprised. I can be undetectable... did you really think I didn't use it to learn everything I could about every one I had to come into contact with? In my... our... line of work being thorough keeps you alive."

Charlotte smiled again, she was beginning to like Cobalt more and more as she spoke to him, even though he was quite distant she enjoyed his sense of humour a lot. She had a hard time not laughing at most of the things that he was saying. Charlotte blushed a little her hair turning a shade of pink.

"You think so...?"

She asked him about Arsen, after all, Charlotte did like him, that much was obvious. Secretly though Charlotte was a little mortified that she appeared to be coming across a little too eager to him... was that a bad thing? Should she not do that?

"Sir, am I not supposed to be 'hanging off him' is that not right?" Charlotte asked confusedly

Charlotte sat on the stone floor, her legs crossed and a light dancing within her eyes from the fire in the grate which had just been lit, the room must have sensed her cold temperature. Sighing happily Charlotte lay down on the floor in front of the fire, her tummy touching the tiles and grinned at Cobalt.

"May I have a nickname for you Sir?"

Cobalt smiled a little,

"Don't worry about it Soft-Soft." he smirked teasingly, "It doesn't look like he minds your company at all. In fact you seem to be the only person his own age that he will associate with. Between being friends with his adopted dad, Richie-boy and The Princess, I'd say you've got a good chance of snagging that boy."

He chuckled a little more and took a pull on his cigarette. Holding the smoke in a little, he blew a few smoke rings idly as he relaxed. Looking down at Charlotte he raised an eyebrow,

"A nickname? For me?" he paused and thought about it for a moment, "I can't remember ever having a nickname. I've had codenames. I don't suppose 'Ghost' counts as a nickname does it?"

Thinking about it a little more he shrugged,

"I don't suppose it does." he rolled his eyes, "So sure. Knock yourself out Soft-Soft."

Charlotte grinned happily, her eyes lit up as she thought about what could happen in the future with Arsen, Charlotte brought the tips of her fingers together as she thought of what she could call Cobalt, she had one in mind but it was a little childish. Charlotte bit her lip and moved over to where Cobalt was sitting, perching herself directly underneath him.

"No Cobie, 'Ghost' does not count as a nickname. I have decided that your nickname will be Cobie and you will like it."

Charlotte laughed lightly, she found herself oddly enjoying the interruption to her training just for a chance to talk and relax after all she assumed that Cobalt had his fair share of stresses too.

"I wont call you it in front of other people...if you don't want me to."

She smiled shyly watching as Cobalt blew out smoke rings.

Cobalt, or 'Cobie', rolled his eyes a little before giving Charlotte a little salute,

"As my little Soft-Soft commands." he teased her before taking another pull on his cigarette. Looking down at her from the corner of his eye, he sighed a little before shrugging, "You call me Cobie whenever you like."

Rolling his neck, he yawned a little,

"Alright then Soft-Soft... time for some teaching." he smiled a little, "Or we can skip that and go for something with instant benefits."

Charlotte smiled happily and had to resist the urge to hug Cobalt around the waist instead Charlotte jumped up from the floor and stood ready to be taught, however, she was pretty interested in these benefits that Cobalt had mentioned. What could they be? Were they benefits for him or for her?

"I'm ready for your lesson Cobie."

She grinned saluting him back and clapping her heels together in an army type fashion.

"What do you mean...instant benefits? I thought this was going to take a long time...?"

Charlotte knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, was there some sort of spell or potion she could drink to make her endurance improve? She leant against the wall and waited for Cobalt to begin to teach her once more.

Cobalt stood up from the sofa, ruffling her hair affectionately as he passed her. Chuckling, he threw the remaining parts of his cigarette into the fireplace and turned to face her with a small smile,

"Well... aren't you eager to learn?" he shook his head, "I think we'll go with the instant benefits."

He tapped the side of his nose,

"My sense of smell is second to none. I can lock onto a specific scent across the length of Scotland." he smiled a little, "It is simple to obtain this ability, but only I give it out. So... how about it Soft-Soft? Want to be able to track Arsen if he's in trouble? To check both your food and his for poisons?"

Charlotte's smile jarred a little, she practically paused herself for a minute while a flash of her father ran through her head, the poison he used to give her in her meals, she could tell of course when he had put it in...yet she still had to eat it or die of hunger. Trying to mask her upset Charlotte nodded slightly.

"I'm ready."

She whispered softly.

Charlotte tried to focus on the good things that could come from having whatever Cobalt was going to do to her done, she would be able to track her mother easily, sense her coming and like Cobalt had said she could protect him and Arsen if they needed it.

"What exactly are you going to do?"

Cobalt sighed a little and took a small metal hook from a small inside pocket of his jacket,

"We'll soon know just how ready you are." he commented sadly as he moved back round in front of Charlotte. He held up the little hook, "We're going to use this."

He frowned a little,

"This will hurt I'm afraid. I wish it didn't have to but it hurts anyway." he patted her on the shoulder a little, "I'll try and take as much of the pain from it as possible but I can't promise it won't hurt."

Sighing a little, he gestured to the sofa,

"Perhaps you'd best sit down." he told her as he looked down at the hook, "Have you had your ears pierced Charlotte?"

Charlotte's eyes focused on the hook, they widened slightly and she sighed, she should have known that this was going to hurt, it was too good not to have some sort or drawback but at least she would be able to smell things out, just like Cobalt, it would be worth it.

"I have indeed."

She moved some of her hair back from her ear to show the ring wrapped around her upper ear, she had made that earring herself. Charlotte hoped that this would only be like the pain received from that, after all, it wasn't very great and she could deal with it.

"If it's only like that then I should be fine. Please don't worry about me Cobie, I'll be fine and it's worth it in the end ne?"

Charlotte asked sitting on the sofa, she always used to say that on the end of questions and she didn't know why she stopped. Shaking her head Charlotte readied herself for whatever Cobalt was going to do.

Cobalt smiled a little and patted her head affectionately as he stepped up close to her,

"Good girl Charlotte. This won't hurt very much." he told her while mentally preparing himself. The reason why it wasn't going to hurt Charlotte too much was because he was choosing to take the pain into himself instead. Taking several deep breaths, he placed the tip of the hook on the side of Charlotte's nose. Muttering under his breath, the hook began to glow a bright purple colour, the metal rapidly becomming hot to the touch. The handle of the hook, which was around Cobalt's right middle finger, was no exception to the rapid heating and the air began to fill with the smell of burning skin. With a growl at the end of the muttered incantation he quickly trust the point of the hook clean through to the other side of Charlotte's nose.

Immediately the smell began to take affect and the bonding began. The pain rolled out of the hook in waves but Cobalt reigned it more towards himself so that Charlotte wouldn't have to feel much of the pain. Of course the pain from the ritual was designed to be shared equally between two people. And it was supposed to be agony for the both of them. So as Cobalt took roughly 90% of the pain he was feeling white hot pain rush through his veins as fast as possible. Gritting his teeth, Cobalt tried valiently not to scream out loud as the ritual came to a close, the hook disappearing completely. The pain appruptly stopped and Cobalt collapsed sideways onto the sofa.

Charlotte's heart began to beat a little faster as she readied herself for what was about to come, Cobalt had said that it wouldn't hurt very much and she trusted him, leaning her head back so that he could reach her nose easily Charlotte flinched as the hook was pressed into her. She could smell burning but it wasn't from her, her eyes widened and Charlotte looked at Cobalt. As soon as the slightly hot feeling had gone from her nose Charlotte moved over to him.

As she looked at him Charlotte raised her hands to her mouth and she nervously approached him, she placed her cool hands on his own and peered into his face.

"Cobie...?"

She asked, a little scared, was he alright?

"Cobie are you ok?"

Charlotte could feel herself begin to well up, she couldn't cry. He was fine. Cobalt was fine, and she didn't want to seem like a baby for caring about him this soon after meeting.

Cobalt groaned a little and rolled a little without opening his eyes. Unfortunately this meant that he fell onto the floor.

"Ow..." he muttered, his voice muffled by the floor. He rolled over onto his back and blinked his eyes open to look up at Charlotte. He smiled a little, "How was that Soft-Soft? Not too bad right?"

He brought his right hand up and looked at his right middle finger, where the shape of a ring had been burned into his skin, the burn still raw and bleeding. He frowned,

"That one's going to smart."