Charlie reached to drag his stool closer to her. "Yeah, but the painting is going well. I don't normally have company and so tend to distract myself unless I'm - um - under orders, but today I'm having fun." He smiled at her brightly, though his eyes were tinged with worry.
The little pale misty dots were drawing away, hovering in the corners of the room, always a bad sign, and the lines of light trembled around Anastasia. As ever Charlie moved through them with less disturbance than a trout in a stream while they wrapped and caressed around Anastasia - they seemed to like creative people. But now they quivered and had drawn away a little.
Charlie put his arm around her, hoping to help, protect, whatever. He wasn't sure what to do, just hoped for the best.