What The Fudge? (Char and Cobie)

When Cobalt rolled onto the floor Charlotte gave a little squeak, she knelt down beside him and placed one hand on his cheek and another on his stomach, Charlotte peered into his eyes just to see if he was alright. She didn't know what had made him like this, after all, it hadn't hurt much...it hadn't hurt her much!

"Cobie...why did you do that? You shouldn't have taken so much pain from me...it's not right. I would have taken it gladly."

Charlotte smiled sadly and moved a few strands of hair out of her eyes that had obscured her view when she flopped down next to Cobalt to see if he was alright. Sighing lightly Charlotte gingerly reached up to touch her nose, it didn't feel any different.

"Here..."

She smiled getting up and running to her bag, rummaging around in it she brought out a bottle labelled 'Dittany' and held it out to Cobalt.

Cobalt waved her away casually as he sat up straight from his position on the floor. He rolled his neck a little and leant back before flinging his body forwards into a forwards roll. As he rolled he stood up suddenly, looking and feeling completely steady. He smiled a little,

"Ah little soft-soft..." he ruffled her hair, "Rule two is optional once you are able to reason it properly like I can."

He pushed the dittany away lightly,

"Keep it. I keep my wounds." he flexed his fingers absently, "They sharpen my mind."

Shrugging he poked her nose,

"Can you smell anything more?"

Charlotte took the dittany back and placed it once more into her bag making sure that it wasn't going to break, sighing a little Charlotte wondered if she would ever get to be like that, so tolerant to high levels of pain. Wouldn't that be good? She supposed that came with time rather than immediately.

"I see..."

She said in response to Cobalt. Taking in a deep breath from her nose Charlotte frowned a little, she could definately smell something, she wasn't sure what thought but there was a scent that wasn't there before. Charlotte leant against the bed frame and thought a little more, she couldn't quite place it.

"I can, there's something in the air I couldn't smell before...it's driving me nuts I know what it is I just can't seem to remember."

He smiled a little and held up his burnt finger,

"Is it coming from this?" he asked innocently as he sniffed at his own finger. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, "Ech. Never get used to that smell."

Cobalt flexed his injured finger,

"The smell is a mixture of burnt flesh and blood." he shrugged, "I guess we'll try something different."

He reached into his jacket and took out a vial of blood. As he set it down on the other side of the room he smirked at Charlotte,

"Don't ask." he told her playfully before he uncorked the vial from across the room with a charm. He breathed in deeply, "Now take a death breath in Charlotte. Can you smell it?"

He sniffed again,

"It smells matallic. Tangy."

Charlotte sighed and moved over to where Cobalt was standing this was all a little weird to her, she really didn't know what smell was which any more because everything was a little too overpowering right now. Charlotte raised her eyes at Cobalt, she wouldn't be able to smell that from all the way over there. Charlotte glanced at Cobalt and sniffed the air slightly, her nose wrinkled a little.

"Yes I can smell it, it smells like metal."

She handed the vial back smirking a little, I wonder why he has a vial of blood with him in his pocket? Choosing to let it go Charlotte cocked her head and sniffed something else in the air, she sighed happily and let her head fall into her hands.

"Mmmm...that smells quite nice actually." She mused a loud

Cobalt sniffed a little before putting the stopper in the vial,

"Yes... I find that as well." he smirked, "Of course you might just be referring to the smell of my cigarette from earlier."

He shrugged,

"Personally I like the smell of blood. It soothes me." he frowned a little, "It reminds me of a job well done."

He smiled a little and poked Charlotte in the shoulder,

"Be sure to smell Arsen... that way you'll remember the scent!"

"It might just be. It might just be."

Charlotte smiled lightly, twisting a strand of hair around her finger, she did like that smell, it was something that soothed her, not many things did that, maybe that was why she felt so at ease around Cobalt. Charlotte didn't know.

"Ne? Oh...would kissing him do?"

She joked pulling tongues at Cobalt before thinking of another witty remark to say to him, although she liked it when he did this, he did it an awful lot.

"Hey, at least you didn't ruffle my hair again, would it kill you to give me a hug."

She joked poking him on the arm back.

(OOC: I don't hate you daddy...I'm sorry...I love you very much.)

Cobalt smirked a little before deciding to up the ante,

"Kissing?" he scoffed, "You need to be sure to smell as much of him as possible. Smell his sweat. Smell his blood. Smell his sex."

He stuck his tongue out at her to show that he'd been kidding,

"Enough for you?" he joked as he ruffled her hair again. He grinned a little, "It just might Soft-Soft..."

Chuckling a little he wrapped one arm around Charlotte's shoulders and gave her a one-armed hug,

"There... first hug in five years. How'd I do?"

(OOC: I know it's not a popular decision but I was paid for it. And that all an assassin asks for. I love you too Soft-Soft.)

Charlotte's eyes widened and she blushed her hair turning a pink colour as she listened to what Cobalt was saying about Arsen, quickly though when she found out that he was joking she growled playfully and poked Cobalt's nose with her finger.

"Yes that's quite enough thank you."

She muttered indignantly, crossing her arms and pretending to be mad, when Cobalt gave her a one armed hug Charlotte sighed again, it was obvious that it was his first hug in a long time. It was a man hug. A typical man hug. Moving out of it Charlotte tapped her foot, and wrapped her arms around Cobalt's waist.

"To be fair...it was crappy. This is a proper hug."

Cobalt laughed a little when she poked his nose. He pouted playfully,

"Hey!" he cried indignantly as he covered his nose with a hand, "Watch the merchandice!"

He chuckled a little but tensed when she hugged him at the waist, his arms raised comically above her as if touching her would breaking her or make this very surreal (to him) situation turn out to be a dream. After a few seconds hesitation he slowly lowered his arms and lightly wrapped them around her shoulders,

"I'm sorry... I've not gotten much practice."

Charlotte smiled gently into Cobalt's tummy sensing that he wasn't very comfortable she moved away with her hands held up into the air in an 'I surrender gesture' Charlotte sat on the bed and swung her legs from it, she grinned a little at Cobalt before saying;

"It shows you know, maybe you need to get a girlfriend."

She mocked pulling her tongue out at Cobalt.

"Besides...you don't have to hug me...I understand it's not like we're friends or anything."

Charlotte muttered.

Cobalt laughed out loud at that statement,

"Oh come now Soft-Soft... what woman would want me?" he gestured at himself, "My body is scarred, my face is ugly, my nose can tell everything she's ever done and I'm paid to kill people."

He rolled his eyes,

"Not exactly a-grade material." he muttered to himself before sitting down on the bed next to Charlotte. With a deep breath, he reached over and hugged Charlotte tightly from the side,

"I'm your mentor and your master now Charlotte..." he smiled faintly, "I'm like a father to you now."

Charlotte giggled lightly at what Cobalt said, he obviously didn't have a very high opinion of himself, Charlotte wondered whether she should tell him what she had heard around the castle and decided she would, it would be funny to watch his reaction.

"Well that's not what some of the students are saying 'Have you seen the new Professor?' 'Yes isn't he dreamy?'"

Charlotte mocked pulling her tongue out at Cobalt but she stopped stock still when he said he was like a father to her, she actually froze into the hug and her eyes widened.

"A f-f-father?"

Cobalt chuckled a little,

"Well that's not too bad but it's a bit creepy." he stuck his tongue out at her, "Perhaps if someone even close to my age was attracted to me, then maybe that would have cheered me up. Don't make it your living Charlotte."

He sighed a little and hugged her a little tighter,

"I will protect you from everything I can while still allowing you to make your own mistakes so that you can learn from them. I will help you when you're hurt and make sure that you want for nothing." he shrugged a little, "The bond between an Apprentice and a Master embodies exactly what a father should be like."

Charlotte blinked her eyes a couple of times to try and fight back a few tears that had begun to mist up her eyes, she swallowed hard and bit down on her lip softly. She had to resist the urge to hug Cobalt again, Charlotte let a tear roll down her cheek, they had only just met today but this man had showed her kindness few had.

"Thank you...I just hope you're a better father figure than my actual father, Merlin knows he was crap at showing he cared." Charlotte pressed her hand to her mouth and blushed "Sorry..I shouldn't swear."

She suppressed the urge to shudder once more and Charlotte threw her arms around Cobalt's neck and kissed him lightly on the cheek rubbing a few of her tears against his face in the process.

"I...I'm sorry. You must be so ashamed right now. You don't want some whiny baby as your apprentice I need to be strong and tough!"

Charlotte wiped at her tears and punched the air to show how much she wanted to change.

Cobalt hugged her to his side while resting his head easily on top of hers. He sighed softly,

"I'm sorry that you didn't have the early childhood you, and every child, deserves." he hugged her a little tighter, "I'll do my best to do right by you Charlotte."

He paused for a few seconds before he decided to speak,

"Charlotte... I don't know what you've been through." he shrugged a little, "I had everything when I was a child. My family wasn't rich but we always had enough to get by. I have two siblings, a brother who's younger and a sister who's slightly older. We always got along, we never really fought. My mother stayed at home and doted on us. My father was a kind man who worked in a muggle bakery part-time while also working as a hit-wizard part time."

Looking off into the distance a little he smiled fondly at the memory,

"I had an ideal childhood." he rolled his eyes a little, "Of course I ruined it for myself. Got into a needless argument about excitement and left, vowing never to speak to them again. But then again I was never going to be a baker, I was far too fixated with knives and guns to be a baker."

Chuckling, he ruffled her hair,

"But I have some good experiences to draw on Charlotte." he hugged her fully again, "And I'll make sure that the rest of your childhood is as happy as mine. I swear it."

He smiled a little at being kissed on the cheek,

"That's all well and good Soft-Soft but if you became all tough all of a sudden I'd have to think of a new nickname!"

Charlotte listened to everything that Cobalt had to say and she felt his arms around her and instead of feeling scared like she would have done Charlotte moved herself so that she was sitting on his knee and her hands were wrapped around his neck in a hug. Charlotte lay her head on his shoulder and let her eyes glaze over as she thought about her past.

"You want to know? I don't mind telling you...it might be easier...for you to understand me if I tell you."

Charlotte waited a minute to hear his reply and she took a deep breath, trying to order things in her head so she could tell her story correctly.

"Well, I had a pretty good childhood...to begin with, then my mother left my father, she was a death eater and because he refused to join the ranks she left him. He didn't handle that well. Slowly he became more angry, it was just an odd smack now and again but then it was a punch, a kick to the ribs and eventually he decided that wasn't good enough.

He used to put me in this cupboard, like I said, sometimes he would send in a wraith, hence the marks, sometimes he would drain out the oxygen. While I was in there he fed me food, but, it was poisoned, I had to eat it or I couldn't come out, I'd die in there.

He...he...used to make me do things too. Make me look like my mother...he missed her and I was as close as he could get.

When he didn't show up at the house I thought he'd left me but then I got this package, I opened it and I knew why he wasn't there any more, my mother she killed him and she sent me his heart. She told me...she said...she said I was next and that if I left the house she'd get me...

That's why I need to get stronger! I need to be able to defeat her! I want to travel...to go away places but I can't because I'm too sodding weak. I'm too afraid."

Charlotte couldn't stop the tears rolling down her cheeks as she told Cobalt her story, every memory jolted through her mind and burned in her senses until she couldn't take it any more.

"I didn't know what I'd done wrong...but I must have done something...I must have done..."

Cobalt shook his head slightly as he gently wiped some of her tears away with his thumb,

"Don't think like that Charlotte." he told her in a soft but firm voice, "You did nothing wrong. Sometimes the world just... messes everything up. We have to constantly struggle to be balanced people despite the world and what it does to us."

He sighed a little and hugged her tightly to him, letting her rest her head on his chest,

"Charlotte you don't ever have to be afraid anymore." he told her with a firm glint in his eyes, "I promise you Charlotte, you won't ever have to be afraid of that... woman, ever again. I'll protect you until you can protect yourself."

Leaning back, he smiled gently at her and stroked some more of her tears away,

"And when the time comes I will help you stop the source of the fear, if you want to."

Charlotte sniffed lightly and moved her head back into Cobalt's chest and cried a little more, the tears coming out thick and fast now, she hoped that this would be true, that Cobalt would help her and care for her if he was lying she didn't know what she would do. She would just break completely.

"I'm sorry...I'm so weak, I annoy myself. I need to grow a backbone."

Charlotte growled, angry at herself but still unable to stop the tears flowing down her face, she kissed Cobalt's cheek again softly.

"I'm sorry...you don't need to be landed with a basket case like me. I don't blame you, you know, if you rethink this whole apprentice thing."

She curled herself up, as if she was hiding herself away from the world.

"I don't think I could do it...even if I wanted to. I'd be too scared."

Cobalt poked her lightly in the middle of her back before smiling brightly at her,

"Nope! You definately have a backbone!" he teased her, ruffling her head a little more, "And even if you didn't we can work on growing you one. Nothing some skele-grow can't fix!"

He kissed her cheek in return with a soft smile,

"Charlotte Matthews... you stop feeling sorry for yourself right now." he chuckled lightly and gave her a friendly squeeze, "Everyone starts weak. You wouldn't believe how weak I was when I started... you've got a head start on the old me!"

He nodded slightly in agreement,

"That's natural." he smirked a little, "I was so afraid when I made my first kill. I was so afraid of everything about it. In the end it almost landed me in Azkaban because I panicked. Don't worry though Charlotte, we'll train you up so that when the time comes you can do what you want."

Charlotte shut up immediately when Cobalt told her to, she was technically still in training and she would be flouting the first rule if she didn't do what he told her to. She wiped the tears from her eyes and focused on the training that she would be doing to make herself stronger, Charlotte snuggled her head against Cobalt's chest and splayed her hands across his shirt.

"Really? We're you a nerdy pushover?"

She laughed pulling her tongue out at Cobalt, she was happy, Charlotte felt like she could be herself around him now that he knew her past and that he accepted it.

"Thanks, with your help I should be able to do anything I want if I put my mind to it ne? I'll be able to finally go places, you know, I've always fancied China, or maybe even Australia!"

He laughed a little but nodded as well,

"I was..." he agreed with a smirk, "I even wore glasses. Great big, thick framed, glasses! I was a nerd in muggle sciences and in potions... God I was like the stereotypical weakling!"

He chuckled again and patted her on the back

"You'll visit Austrailia and China in your training." he smirked at her, "After all the training can't stop just because of school holidays! I'll take you to China and Austrailia... got some special training in mind there."

Charlotte beamed and squeaked happily, she threw her arms around Cobalt's neck again and squeezed him tightly she was so happy! Charlotte could go abroad and she wouldn't have to be scared about getting hurt, Cobalt would protect her. She could paint the things she'd always wanted to and frame them in her house.

"Will we have leisure time?"

Charlotte asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I know it sounds stupid but I really want to paint some different landscapes not just green, green, green, SHEEP, green, green, green, COW!"

Charlotte giggled.

Cobalt laughed lightly and patted her back warmly,

"Of course we will." he rolled his eyes playfully, "You think I'm some sort of slave-driver?"

He smiled wide,

"Oh there will be plenty to paint!" he grinned, "The Great Wall is breath-taking. I'm no artist but I could sit up on one of those towers and quite happily never move."

Sighing a little, he laid back on the bed,

"Not to mention the food... real chinese food..."

Charlotte grinned even wider and kissed Cobie's cheek again, she was so excited for the holidays to come! She listened intently to Coblat when he told her about the Great Wall and Charlotte bit her lip desperately wanting to go there right now, but good things come to those who wait.

"I never know with you."

Charlotte smiled poking Cobalt's tummy.

"I...I've never tried Chinese food...is it nice?"

Charlotte got up off the bed and walked over to the fireplace where she tried to get a little warmer, sighing she flaked dry paint off her hands idly she had this idea about painting landscapes, she wanted to try it in England first before she did it with placed abroad. If she could work it. It would be a good skill to have.