Martin walked up the drive way to Carolyn's house he had been forced to abandon his van a mile ago when it had broken down in the snow. It took him over an hour to walk there what with all the snow and ice, and as he walked he kept his arms wrapped around himself the coat he was wearing was much too thin for weather such as this, but it was all that he had. He knocked on the front door shivering willing for either Carolyn or her son Arthur to answer quickly. It was Arthur who answered the door "Skip, what are…?" Arthur began to ask as he saw how much Martin was shaking. "Martin comes in, you'll freeze out there" Arthur said. "Thank you" replied Martin as he walked into the house immediately noticing the difference in temperature. "So, what are you doing here, Skip?" Arthur asked him again. "Well you know I have a job as a man with a van?" Martin asked, to which Arthur nodded "Well business has been pretty non-existent recently, and my van has been on the verge of breaking down for a while now, in fact it did on my way here, so I had to walk. And because I've only had a couple of jobs with the van in the fast few months I haven't been able to pay my rent and so the landlord said he's finally had enough, and kicked me out" Martin said as he began to cry the realisation that he was homeless hitting him. Noticing this Arthur pulled him into a hug "Martin, it's going to be alright" he said as he held the crying Skipper. "I have nothing, no van, no clothes, no paying job, no food nowhere to live" he said in between the sobs looking down at the ground "But you have us Skip" Arthur said as he lifted Martin's chin up, Martin rested his head against Arthur's shoulder and allowed himself to be led over to the sofa where Arthur pulled the blanket that was on the back of the chair over the two of them. After a while Arthur's mum Carolyn came home from the shopping to find her son Arthur gently stroking the head of her captain, who had clearly been crying "Martin what are you doing here?" she asked "My landlord kicked me out, and my van broke down so I had to walk here in the snow" he answered "Martin…I had no idea things were that bad" she said sounding shocked "Well they've never been good, but now, now I have nothing" he said as he began to cry again "Martin, you have us remember? Mum, Douglas and I" said Arthur as he resumed running his fingers through Martin's hair which he had found calmed the Captain down. "For once, Martin Arthur is right, you can stay here" Carolyn offered "Thank you, but all I have is what I'm wearing" he said, which was his Captain's uniform "Not to worry, Skip, you can borrow some of my clothes" Arthur said. "Thank you, Arthur that's really generous of you, both of you" he said looking at the two of them. "Now then Martin I was planning on making fish and chips for dinner tonight, OK?" asked Carolyn "Of course" answered Martin who couldn't remember the last time he had had fish and chips.
After the meal Martin helped Arthur to do the washing up, the two of them stood side by side accidently brushing hands every so often, but neither of them said anything. When they had finished Martin allowed Arthur to pull him by the hand back into the living room to watch a film, it was one Martin hadn't seen before, and he was enjoying it so he tried to stay awake, but about half way through the film he found himself falling asleep on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur looked down at Martin, his mum had gone out to walk Snoopadoop so it was just the two of them "Oh Martin" he whispered as he placed a kiss on the Captain's forehead, who looked even smaller than he normally did. Arthur picked him up taking note of just how light Martin was, as he lifted him Martin stirred and moved himself closer to Arthur's body but he didn't wake. Arthur carried Martin up to his bedroom with little difficulty, it wasn't that Arthur was strong just that Martin was so light. The difficult bit came when Arthur tried to put him down, but Martin refused to let go. Eventually, Arthur gave up and led down next to Martin, and pulled the captain towards him, who gave a contented sigh. A little while later his mum came back from walking Snoopadoop, calling for Arthur "Up here, mum" he called trying not to wake Martin, although he could have probably yelled at the top of his lungs and Martin wouldn't have woken. His mum walked in to see Arthur being used as a human pillow "He fell asleep when we were watching the film, so I carried him up here, and well he wouldn't let me go" Arthur explained to his mum. "You carried Martin, up here?" she asked her son a hint of shock in her voice. "Yeah, mum and he's far too light" Arthur answered as he looked down at Martin who remained oblivious to the conversation between the mother and son. This piece of information didn't shock Carolyn as much as it should have done. "Well I'll leave you two to get some sleep, good night" she said as she closed the door "Good night mum" Arthur said.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
The next morning Arthur awoke to find Martin looking through his wardrobe unsure what was OK for him to take "Just take whatever you like" Arthur said. At this Martin turned to look at him "I was trying to find something smart, we have a flight later, and I can't really wear my uniform when I've slept in it" Martin replied. "Oh, well there's a suit right at the back, mum got it for me for special occasions, but I haven't worn it yet" Arthur replied getting up to retrieve the suit from the back of the wardrobe "Here you go Skip" Arthur said as he handed Martin the suit. "Thank you" said Martin as he took the suit and headed for the bathroom, as was their routing when they shared hotel rooms.
"Coffee, Skip?" Arthur offered. "Yes please" Martin replied with a yawn, as he retrieved the milk from the fridge. The two of them ate their breakfasts in silence with Arthur noticing just how much Martin was eating, but he said nothing "Martin, are you planning on eating me out of house and home" said Arthur's mother as she walked into the kitchen, neither of them had noticed her come in "No, sorry Carolyn. It's just I've barely eaten since the last flight" Martin apologised as he continued to dig into his bowl of cereal. "Oh…" was all that Carolyn said. After that the two of them just let Martin eat as much as he liked knowing how little he lived on the past few years.
Soon the conversation turned to that days flight "Martin, if you're not up to flying today I'll understand, and Douglas is well within legal hours to do it by himself if need be" Carolyn said, in a strangely understanding way "Thanks, but I really need to fly today, you know just get up in the air where I can be in control" he said. "Well if you're sure" Carolyn said. "I'm sure" he replied.
They left for the airfield in a rush, there were moments when they thought that Douglas would get there before them, and he did. "Carolyn…?" Douglas asked as he saw Martin stepping out of Carolyn's car followed by Arthur, and if he wasn't much mistaken it seemed as though the two had become oddly close.
The four of them crowded into Carolyn's office in the port-o-cabin, with Arthur keeping a reassuring hand on Martin's shoulder as he filled Douglas in on what had happened. When he finished Douglas sat there in shock for a few minutes before saying "Martin, why didn't you tell us things were this bad?" he asked the younger pilot "I tried, I even tried asking for a salary during the trip to Qikiqtarjuaq" he admitted "Martin, if I had known I would have tried to do something" said Carolyn, Douglas nodded in agreement "So would I, Martin" said Douglas. At this Martin began to cry again so Arthur pulled him close and began to run his fingers through his hair again. "See, I told you Martin you've got us" Arthur said as he held Martin close.