Closed starter for @nottheemuse / Declan & Cora
Declan had done a lot of things in his life. Some good, a lot bad. Most of them based on smart, meticulously planned, unemotional decisions. That night with Cora though, he probably had to add to a fairly short list of foolish things in his life. He shouldn't have let her leave like that; he knew that, and had spent at least the first few days going back and forth between anger and regret. Pride though, arguably his biggest influence as far as the seven deadly sins went, kept him largely locked in anger. Anger with Cora, with Marcus, with himself. And it wasn't logical, which only made it worse. To most people, Declan Archer seemed his usual self, though decidedly less likely to grant a smile, and perhaps a little shorter with his poor PA.
He'd been distant, had kept his sparse communication with Cora practical. She'd told him when she got on the plane, and had gotten an "ok" in response. She'd told him when she landed safely, and had gotten a "good" in response. Then Cora had removed her watch, something he always got an alert about, and he'd figured maybe she needed to charge it, or perhaps - more than likely, she was trying to send him a message that she was done. After a day or so, the tension in his chest got to be too much, and he'd texted her. With no answer, a few hours later he'd tried calling. No answer. Another text the next day with no response. Another call, this time going straight to voicemail.
By that point, he'd started to worry. He hadn't kept tabs on her while she was away, trying to give her the space she'd asked for, and he felt fairly certain that she was safe in Alston with her brother. But the tension in his chest had become more of a gnawing sensation in his gut, so he'd called his pilot and gotten the plane set up for take-off. Then he'd told Lily goodbye, telling her simply that he had a last minute business meeting and that he'd be back soon. He'd tried calling Cora again before getting on the plane and was sent straight to voicemail.
By the time he stood before Cora's childhood home, premium SUV parked behind him, a driver (not Tim) he'd hired in order to be able to work on the way there, seated behind the wheel, he was a lot less patient than he had been.
Two firm knocks on the door, before it was opened by a beautiful woman he had to assume was Val. She barely got a glance before Declan was breezing past her inside the house. He was perched to call out Cora's name when he spotted her in the living room. Steps quick, determined, he closed the distance between them and wrapped strong fingers around each side of her face, thumbs brushing over her cheeks as he took her in, azure orbs flickering around her face, concern written all over his austere features as he took in everything he could possibly read. Lips parted to let out the breath of relief that surged out of him. She was safe. She was okay. Which only left one other obvious conclusion: He'd come all this way for a woman who'd already decided to shut him out.
So as suddenly, as quickly as the flick of a switch, Declan dropped his hands from her face, and the curtains closed on that worried look, leaving the same shuttered, cold surface she'd seen before as he took a step back. "You're alive. Good." A curt nod before he turned to leave again.
