"You'd better get home before you catch pneumonia" Charlie replied, seriously considering giving the kid a few dollars...

“But I don’t have a home.” The child said hugging the older man.

"Where are your Mom and Dad then?" he asked, thinking the kid might've gotten separated from his parents somehow or possibly ran away from one of the local youth shelters...

"I don't have one." He said. "Can't I live with you?"

Charles froze then uncertain how to proceed - between the heavy rain and rapidly dropping temperatures, the boy would surely perish if he didn't find shelter. Leaving him here would be nothing short of murder.


"Alright, you can stay with me for tonight. And tomorrow we'll see if I can't find you a place to live" he decided, taking the child's hand again to lead him back to the apartment...

He took his hand and he followed after him sniffling. He was a shivering mess as he stepped inside the apartment and he kept close to the unknown man.

Charles quickly doffed his overcoat and hung on the rack before looking down at the drenched child.

"You'd better take those wet clothes off, you'll dry faster" he hold the kid.

The child nodded and he took his clothes off. He had a few scars over his body and he glanced up at him with wide eyes. “It’s warm.”

Charles nodded as he gathered up the rags that could, charitably, have been called the boy's clothes and deposited them unceremoniously in the trash can.


Taking the child's hand again, Charles led him to the bathroom and began to draw a bath...

He felt his hand he taken and he followed after him. He saw the warm bath and he glanced at it. “Bath?” He asked and he immediately stepped into it.