send one for your character to reach out to mine.
she’s nursing the second martini of the evening, nothing scandalous considering the attributes of a high tolerance and mixed company — and in any case, tipsy claire was considerably more open to having a good time guilt free than the numerous other versions of herself. it’s been a month. and four days, as it were . . . something she was occasionally embarrassed by knowing on command. it’s been a month of fastidious calendar - keeping, of patient impatience, and carefully contained pining. she’s not been a wet blanket, despite the temptation to be, she’s just as present with their friends as she’d be with him there, but there’s an undeniable nuance to it ; the occasional target - less glance to one side, the twitch of an unheld hand. but she had been there, and she was having a good time, in spite of herself. the alcohol simply made her feel a little lighter for it. she’s tucked herself into some unassuming corner of mike and jeannette’s impressive backyard, blond hair luminous beneath the lazy twinkle of the fairy - lit trees, a little smile curling her lips as she reminisces on the boys’ indignant insistence that she get off the ladder and let them hang them up instead. she’d helpfully countered: oh ? where was that attitude a few hours ago, when i asked you to do it. ( really, claire — ) bobby, i swear, if you don’t hush and let me finish this, it’s you i’d worry about getting hurt. not me.
the rounds have been made by now, she’s brushed arms & knocked elbows, and so she feels comfortable taking a moment to exist on the outskirt, laughing as neil endures the opening remarks in what is sure to be an over - exuberant speech prefacing big news —- she isn’t sure, at first, what the sudden commotion is, but she cranes her neck at the shout she hears above the hum of background music & newly whispered conversation. there’s another unclear bit of surprised laughter and an additional shout, and suddenly neil’s being hoisted up on the shoulders of david and sean, a torch soon taken up by a number of others, none of which are raymond, she’s sure of that, but she doesn’t have a long enough moment to consider this information before her attention is called back as the glass in her hand is swiped unceremoniously from her hand by the whip - quick hand of a certain brunette. ❛ alex – ❜ confusion uttered in undeniable fondness, cut short by breathlessness as an arm is wrapped around her midsection from behind, and she’s pulled against solid heat, his laugh a burst of dry warmth against the shell of her ear.
her feet leave the ground, something that sounds a little too close to a yelp for her liking escaping her as he spins her around. the instant she’s back on solid ground, he forges forward, arms wound around her as he kisses her, a little off the mark, more to the side of her mouth than smack on it, but she can’t be bothered to care. if anything, it makes the giddy smile that breaks in the wake of it all the sweeter. a warm laugh follows this, interrupted by another press of his lips before she can find the space to speak. ❛ ray — ❜ she’s forgotten whatever it was she wanted to say, swathed in the acute awareness of him, the warm spread of his palms at the small of her back, the softness of his gaze as he pulls back, content even to hold her. hi. it’s the simplest greeting, but it softens the pale blue of her eyes impossibly further, and she raises up on tip - toes to press her lips to his temple before arms wind around his neck, chin tucked at his shoulder. ❛ i missed you. ❜
