For Claire [Backdated to 8/22]

[noonelaughed]

Claire is one of the first people he goes to tell about it.

See, Maxxie's birthday's coming up really soon, and Chris reckons that now's as good a time as any for another party. The last one was fucking amazing, it was, and with everything as fucked as it's been lately, everyone could use one.

And to top it all off, Chris has got like, some great stuff planned for this one. Maxxie'd mentioned wanting a throne, so they're gonna find a proper one for him with a crown to go with it. Only problem is, Chris is kind of shit at all that. Claire's not, though, and Chris figures she'll know just how to pull it off.

Or, at least, he hopes she does. Otherwise Maxxie might find himself sitting on a chair from the compound or something.

Comments

[regenerated]

He doesn't get it. That's the first fact that immediately comes clear when he pushes off the bed and stands to the side, throws his words at her like the very idea of being unable to enjoy the parties is... wrong, or incomprehensible to him. And for all that she knows he throws around curses more often, more off-handedly than Claire does herself, at the moment, that feels like its own barb, too. Everything's wrong. Everything's going wrong, and Claire can't help but blame herself for that, for having forced him into something that he probably doesn't even want. She's not the kind of girl that he wants, the kind who can hang and let herself go.

There's been too much in her life for Claire to give way completely. She thought, maybe he'd understand, having been to New York, but. If he didn't, she's not going to force him to try.

They're not the sort of emotions one would want to force on anyone.

"Yeah," she echoes instead, even though her words feel tight and her throat's a touch hoarse. "Not the end of the world."

[noonelaughed]

He’s made it worse, and he can tell straight off. He can tell by the look on her ace, and he can tell by the way she sounds now. It’s about right though, isn’t it? It’s what he does every time he gets something in his life that’s fuckin’ worth anything at all, he fucks it up.

“I’ll uh… I’ll catch you later yeah?” he says, his throat feeling dry as he takes a step closer to press a kiss to her cheek.

“Day after tomorrow maybe?”

[regenerated]

Maybe she's being unreasonable. Her breath grows thin with the weight of it all on her chest, hands balling into uneasy fists by her sides, but if there's anything that Claire hates more than making a hard decision, it's backing down. Wavering. Doing so at this point wouldn't do anyone favors, she knows; to throw out hope without being sure of where it'll land, it might only lead to this all over again. Words uttered in a moment of passion should be carefully tempered.

Still, she allows herself a turn of her head, until her lips just manage to brush his cheek before he pulls back.

"Yeah," she nods, voice quieter. "Yeah, that sounds good."