Hey, that stab made his stomach drop a little. Neat.

"Jesus!"

There's a lot of instinct on Charlie's side, so while the punch is unexpected, he takes it well -- too slow to dodge entirely, but fast enough that his backwards movement softens the blow a bit. Still hurts like an absolute bitch. Oh shit. Oh hell.

Instinct also says to go for the throat and finish the fight before his opponent can, but this is Arthur fucking Lester and some shared hallucination of civilisation they're talking about, not a goddamn fighting pit. He keeps hold of himself and takes quick steps backwards instead, fists raised to defend.

His face is throbbing, and his demeanour has gone taut. Fuck, Arthur is fast.

"Hey--"

One assumes he doesn't get much further than 'hey'.