"I honestly don't remember a lot of it," he admits quietly. "I think I was pretty sick, for most of it. I mean, I know I was. I must have blocked that out though, because I really can't remember any of the treatments, or anything before I was about seven or eight years old."
She stares at him in surprise, and a bit of horror. That wasn't the answer she'd expected when she asked what he meant by an 'atypical childhood.' "Chat, are… are you serious?"
He nodded. "Um, yeah. Why would I joke about that?"
"So you don't remember anything? No childhood friends, or parties, or-?"
"I didn't have any childhood friends," he cuts in. "Nobody there to forget. My family… we ran in some pretty messed-up circles. Nobody wanted their child to be friends with the dying kid, and be hurt when I 'inevitably' took a dirtnap. By the time I wasn't dying anymore, most kids my age who I had a chance to see at all had already been told to leave me alone… I made my first friend when I was thirteen, a girl who was new to Paris and hadn't heard about what a freak I was."
She can't believe what she's hearing. Her cocky, funny, flirty partner, that isolated? How was that possible? "Chaton, I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have asked…"
"I don't mind. I can't remember most of it anyway, so it doesn't hurt," he smiles cheerfully. "Anyway, I didn't know anything else. I don't think I could go back to that now, but at the time, I really didn't know that there was anything better. And I have you now, and some kids at school who I consider friends! And I know for a fact that at least two of them consider me a friend back!"
She takes his hand, looking him in the eye. "Yeah, you do have me. I wish I could have been around sooner, but I promise, you will never have to go back to that time. I'm going to be here for you, a hundred percent." She smiled slightly. "Anyway, we're only sixteen. Still technically kids… so you can cite me as a childhood friend, if you like?"
His smile overtakes his whole face as her hugs her excitedly. "Thank you, my Lady!"
"It's not a problem-"
"It means a lot to me. I… There's a lot that I never got a chance to do. I always figured having childhood friends would be another thing I completely missed out on. Having a shot at that… it just means a lot," he says, softly. In this moment, he's vulnerable. Open. It's a side of Chat she can only see on rare occasion, and a side she's pretty sure no one else sees, ever. He pulls away after a moment, and the smile is back, his eyes incredibly bright. "So! What sort of stuff do childhood friends do?"
She thinks a moment. "Playgrounds, ice cream trucks, I don't know, the normal kid stuff?"
"I don't know what 'normal kid stuff' is…"
She takes his hand, slowly grinning. "Okay, Chaton. We're going to a playground. And I am going to prove that I can beat you to the top of the swingset."
His eyes widen, and he begins laughing as she pulls him along, determination flashing in her eyes. Maybe her partner didn't have a childhood when he was younger. But hell, she's going to do everything she can to make sure he gets one now.