Charlie Wright

A small but genuine smile lit up Noemi’s face at the idea of Charlie spending more time here. She looked up to share it with her friend, but it faded just as quickly when she saw the other woman’s hands shaking.

“What’s the matter?” she asked with concern. Her hand reached out, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want to make Charlie more uncomfortable, especially if…

If this was because of her.

Noemi laughed with her. “She’s absolutely being a terrible guest and taking advantage of those poor boys.”

She stirred her soup idly. It was already starting to get cold. “I probably won’t sleep much either. If you want, there’s another chair in my office. I could make us some coffee, and we could stay up and watch bad movies.”

“She’s with Logan and Skipper.” Noemi sipped her soup. It was warming her up, at least. “I didn’t want her home alone if I do get stuck here. And you know how she eats.” A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “She’d gobble up whatever I left her and be out of food by morning.”

Her eyes drifted around the room. “Hope you don’t mind being crammed upstairs with everyone. At least the beds aren’t too uncomfortable. I get to sleep in my office chair.”

Charlie laughed at the thought, because of course Bloofer would do that, but the nostalgia brought about a pang of sadness too. “I bet she’s getting them to give her pets and treats as we speak.” She hypothesized anyway.

“I’ll be fine. As long as we don’t get stuck here for more than a day,” Noemi said dismissively. “Then it might get a little dicey.”

She led the way down the stairs to the makeshift dining area they’d set up. Soon, the two of them were seated at a table among the last few stragglers to come in out of the snow, each with a steaming bowl of vegetable soup in front of them.

“This’ll last a few days, at least.”

With the way things were going outside—which Charlie had just gotten a fresh glimpse of in the dining area window—things getting dicey was not at all off the table. Noemi’s dismissive attitude about it did nothing to make that concern lighter, especially with the way she’s treated her own safety lately. (In Charlie’s mind, at least.)

She tucked the thought away for now. There were plenty of other things to be worried about here, after all. They could lose power, or come upon issues with a bunch of strangers stuck in a small space like this. Someone could pick up the regulator vibes from her and start problems. 

There were almost too many worries to keep track of, and she felt burnt out over it all. Hopefully the soup would reignite some life into her.

“...Okay, good.” She took a bite and peered over at Noemi, then the general area like she was searching for something. 

“You should come down and get something to eat before we put it all away.”

Noemi should too, just to keep up appearances. She’d have to stretch out her blood supply, at least until tomorrow.

Charlie mostly wanted to rest as much as was possible in an environment like this but she knew it was probably a lost cause. 

“No, we’re just about done. Just a little cleaning up to do after we get the last few people settled in.”

This was nice, having Charlie around again. Of course, Noemi knew the other woman wasn’t here for her. They had a job to do. Still, a small part of her hoped her friend had agreed to help because Noemi had been the one to ask her.

“Joan and I can handle it from here if you want to get going.” She glanced out the window at the snow still coming down. The plows were coming through regularly here in the center of town, but it still managed to cover the streets between passes.

“Or if you want to stay, you could call that last bed for yourself. Either way, I really appreciate this.”

It was nice for Charlie too, and she wasn’t ready for it to end.

“No, yeah, it’s way crazy out there. Might as well stick around.” Charlie shrugged. “And, uh, no problem.” She smiled a little, unsure, before taking stock of the area again. She chose the bed closest to the stairs to sit down on, needing the rest after all of the running around.