Charles tends to display his friendship in ways one might liken to a domesticated house cat. Many of his more affectionate gestures tend to fall into tactile fields – be it brushing up against a person’s side or even taking a seat and pressing his side against them, chances are casual and calm physical interaction is a sign that Charles likes you.

Resting his head against shoulders and even laps is a sign not only of his affection, but of his trust and admittedly, possession. This is his quiet, but poignant means of showing the world that you are his person, and that undoubtedly means people would answer to him if anything were to happen to you. 

Perhaps the most notable tactile offering Charles has though, is in regard to his hair. He does not take well to it being touched or grabbed by anyone without some form of permission granted from him – each and every time. Simply because you could touch his hair before doesn’t mean you can now, and that is important to understand.

That said, anyone he allows to not only touch his hair, but to modify it – either by means of styling ( be it braids, buns and ponytails – or flowers and beads to decorate it ) or in the much rarer instance of cutting it is someone Charles not only trusts, but is someone he openly adores in as affectionate a manner as he understands how to convey. To put it in meme terms, being allowed to play with or modify Charles Vane’s hair in any way makes you a God Tier friend.

It should be noted that in cases of a sexual nature, this does not always hold true. Just about anyone can touch Charles’ hair if he happens to be fucking them – but as soon as the sex is over the permission is immediately and thoroughly revoked, unless of course the person he is having sex with happens to be someone he trusts – which frankly has only ever happened in an AU environment anyway. 

( Fun Fact Time: Outside of the circle of ocs I have yet to write about, there are very few people with the right to touch Charles Vane’s hair. Anne Bonny is the reason behind the braids we see more often than not. Jack Rackham and Blackbeard are both permitted to touch his hair depending on his mood and theirs. Outside of this, and only in the applicable AU’s, the only other people with this permission are Edward Pellew, Joji and Abigail Ashe. )

Another means in which Charles displays his friendship in a feline like fashion comes from his manner of bringing his people food or fighting off their enemies. The more he looks after someone’s welfare and even reputation, the more likely it is that they matter to him. 

( Fun Fact Time: Charles had other means of getting information on Low that did not involve turning to Max. If he had not wanted an excuse to restore Jack’s reputation, he would not have been pressured into accepting terms that would require him to restore it. ) 

Another thing is lending – Charles is not the most materialistic person ironically enough. Despite being a pirate, greed is not his vice and in fact there is very little in life that he covets that can be measured in a physical sense. That said, he doesn’t particularly like being stolen from, and if he doesn’t like someone he is not above going after them for doing so – even if all they stole was something small and innocuous, like a shirt.

In the event that he likes a person though, what is his – well, it is as good as theirs anyway. A good portion of his formative upbringing was spent as a slave in a labor camp – when one has absolutely nothing to call their own, what little things they have are either guarded jealously or shared communally, and Charles was very much among the latter in his camp. So to him, sharing his clothes and even his food with his crew and chosen family comes completely naturally – what belongs to him, belongs to all who depend on him, and all whom he counts as his own. 

( Fun Fact Time: He is aware that some people – namely, Jack and Anne – seem to consider taking his clothes to be something of a sport, so he plays along even though he believes them completely entitled to his shirts and other miscellany, as he sees it as a form of play between the three of them and literally does not realize they actually think they’re just getting away with stealing his stuff. ) 

Small gestures like getting something broken repaired or anticipating a need and tending to it is also a big way Charles shows he cares. He watches all the fucking time, he is always absorbing knowledge and observing, so he tends to note small details and kind of plays his hand sometimes. This is perhaps the most notable in Living Does Not Mean A Happy Ending, where he is partly looking after Flint. Here, he brings the man books and teacups, and generally finds means of repairing household damages during downward spirals, as well as ensuring Flint has means of self care when things get really bad. None of which he would do, if Flint had not become one of “his” in that verse. 

Lastly ( and perhaps, by Charles’ view, most importantly ) if he hands a person an iguana or any other type of lizard, this displays the same measure of trust and adoration as someone handing you a kitten from the litter of their most treasured childhood cat. Rejecting that lizard is a terrible offense, and will make it difficult for Charles to wholly trust you going forward.

Oh – actually, one final thing. If you’re afraid of a type of bug or like, scared of lizards, he will shoo bugs for you and also do silly shit to make lizards less scary — like put them on his head. 

And that is the sum total of How To Tell If Charles Vane Is Your Friend!