[ that is a good thing, because charles hugs with his entire being — throws his whole damn soul into it, squeezing her close and tucking his face against her shoulder briefly before he lets her go... though not going far is something that suits him just fine. it isn't like he believes people will disappear if he isn't within a touching distance, like edwin was torn from him back to hell while he was just a little too far to intervene... but, well. if he's close enough to root to touch her should she show signs of disappearing, that's a good thing, innit?

the admission makes his brows furrow into something like sympathy — not pity, never that, but understanding. ]

... Yeah. I get it. Maybe you heard of the Gnos infection, but I — well. If I had to pick between reliving my death by hypothermia and internal bleeding for the fourth time [ yes he did say fourth, let's not linger there, ] or getting gutted by an iron sword, I'd still take the hypothermia.

[ with a slight shake of his head, ] Dying's never easy. Not if you do it twice, not if you do it five times, not if you do it for seventy years over and over again. [ a very specific reference, that, let's not linger there either. ]