There were only about fifteen minutes to her break, and although there was a perfectly comfortable lounge she could’ve spent that time in, Claire grabbed a leftover scone from her morning stop at the bakery and headed towards the stairs. She knew where Matt would be at that time of day - generally speaking, anyway. And she knew she should probably let him get on with training whoever might need it.
But it was too tempting to resist. The walk didn’t take long, and she slipped into the room quietly. She could tell the exact moment he realized she was there, the way his head twitched slightly in her direction. It made Claire smile, but she didn’t make a move to get closer. She planted herself against a wall, thinking she’d just watch for a bit and head back upstairs.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she murmured under her breath, knowing he’d hear her.
In the weeks and days since the last COS attacks, Matt’s training had become even more rigorous. Besides working with powered individuals to set up simulations and teach non-powered fighters to work with their friends (the buddy system seemed elementary but useful), he doubled his efforts on hand to hand. Many of the younger recruits were still mystified by the blind ninja. But when he demonstrated his efforts, they believed.
As soon as Claire entered the room, he softened. Raising his hand (a smirk on his face), he signalled his trainees to stop. He turned in Claire’s direction and smiled crookedly.
“They’re all yours.”
“Oh, no,” Claire laughed and held up her hands, palms outward. “I just came to appreciate the view.” For all the progress she’d made with her own fighting skills since she’d arrived in Atlantis (thanks to Matt, mostly), Claire knew she was still no match for most of the agents around. She’d probably be able to hold her own for a little while -- she hoped she’d be able to -- but she was still very, very normal.
“Although,” she continued, “I could test them on their CPR skills. Never know when you might need it.”
Matt turned back to his students, a smirk on his face as he spread his hands. “Who wants to stop their heart? Just for fun.” But it was clear he was in jest, particularly when one earnest pupil started to step forward and he shook his head briefly. How does he know that? went rolling through their ranks again. “You got touched by an angel. Hit the showers, folks.”
Having dismissed his students, he turned back to Claire and crooked his finger in her direction. “C’mere.”
“Hmm.” Claire hid her smile behind her hand as the students walked away, debating just how coy she wanted to play this. She wanted to steal every moment she could with him, though, so she pushed away from the wall. It only took a few steps to reach him, and once she was there, she reached out to push his hair off his forehead, sweat be damned.
“Having a good day so far?”
Matt bowed his head, letting himself lean into her touch as he relaxed immediately. Claire meant safety and peace; he knew that it existed in a binary, with the dichotomy of their choices hinging on their attention to that safety and peace. But for this moment, he indulged.
“They’re starting to get it. I feel mildly useful.”
“Just mildly?” Claire questioned. From where she stood, he was more than just mildly useful. As far as she was concerned, he was instrumental in their ability to keep fighting back. But Matt was always too hard on himself. Harder than he ever needed to be, harder than he might’ve realized. That martyr was still in him, lurking in the shadows.
She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “You’re a good teacher. You should give yourself more credit.”
He didn’t want to mention how he felt COS closing in on them every day, wrecking any hope they had of staying in this world or finding one another in the next. Instead, he smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. After a beat …
“The good teacher is hungry.”
“Well...” Ever after all of the months she’d spent with him (nearly a year, she thought), little things like the way he tucked her hair away still sent a shiver down her spine. She wasn’t used to relationships holding strong for so long -- probably because it’d never been the right person until Matt.
She held the lemon and lavender scone up. “Lucky for you, I’m good at sharing. That is, assuming that’s what you were talking about.”
Claire’s reactions still made him curious (still threatened his very practiced concentration) … but so did the scone. Moving his hand to gently grasp her wrist, he held it aloft and moved it toward his mouth. After taking a bite, his eyes widened.
“You’ve been holding out on me. That’s amazing.”
Claire laughed. She’d had a feeling it would be a hit (though, to be fair, she had yet to eat something in Atlantis that wasn’t incredible). “It’s gotta be one of the best I’ve ever had. Forget training ever again. I’m going to eat one of these every day for the rest of my damn life.”
She wasn’t serious, but it was tempting. She leaned in to take another bite before Matt could steal it all. “I only have maybe ten minutes left of my break. I just --” She didn’t know exactly why she felt like she needed to explain herself, but she did. “Missed you.” It was nice -- nicer than she would normally admit -- to know where he was at all times, to know she could check up on him if she got an itch to see him, to know he was okay. Claire didn’t think she’d ever get over how good that felt.
His (non-crummy) thumb brushed against her cheek and he leaned forward, touching his lips lightly to the end of her nose. “Save lives and save people, Claire. You’re always doing it and you’re doing it for me every day.” His eyes crinkled as he tilted his head, making his earnest moment a touch lighter. “One scone at a time.”
“God, you’re so cheesy,” she teased, but it was so sweet that she couldn’t even bring herself to swat him playfully. If someone had told her when she first met Matt that this side of him was really, truly there, she probably wouldn’t have believed it. It’d taken some time to see a gentler side -- it’d taken the moment he rescued her, to be honest -- and it still delighted her to know he was comfortable enough to show it to her.
She patted his side. “Don’t eat too many,” she warned. “I like your abs.”
“Bring a cheesy scone next time and see what I can do,” he told her as he stepped back and grinned. He pulled up the corner of his shirt to expose the abs in question.
“Glad you only love me for the abs, though. I’ll remember that as I get sedentary and enjoy retired life.”
“You, retired?” A laugh escaped Claire in a huff. She didn’t let him step out of reach; she dropped one hand to slide under his shirt, where he’d lifted it. He was asking for it, after all. “Sure, buddy. I’ll believe that day’s here when I see it.”
She wasn’t wrong. Matt could barely sit still, much less sit out. But it was a good dream. And one he could perhaps even cultivate in Atlantis. Matt leaned into her touch, a rumble of laughter deep in his chest. “I’ll surprise you yet,” was a promise as he pressed his lips against her ear. “Aren’t you supposed to be going?”
“Christ,” Claire muttered. She’d been asking for that, hadn’t she? She’d been teasing him and she knew it, and, evidently, so did he. She hadn’t been trying hard to not make it obvious, though.
She took another moment to lean against him and enjoy the warmth of his skin under her hand. It was genuinely something of a miracle that she even got to do that at all. Maybe that was why she had trouble keeping away; she was trying to soak up every moment she could get with him since she didn’t know how long they’d have. She did need to go back up to the medical floors, though, and the longer she lingered here, the harder it’d be to drag herself away. So she took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, okay.” Gently, she pushed at him. “I’m leaving. See you tonight?”
He imitated stumbling back several steps, hand where she had shoved him. “Getting stronger, Temple.” His smile was soft; he too felt the intense pressure of being aware of time. That was the stressful part of this world -- he had to be sure and mindful of every moment. Nothing could be taken for granted.
“I’ll make curry. So that means you might want to pick up something.”
Claire shook her head and laughed. “You’re a better cook than you are a liar.” She took a step away from him (to bolster her own will power), and then another. “Something like naan or something like dessert? Both?” She didn’t wait for an answer; instead, she kept backing up, heading towards the door. “Okay, I’m really leaving now.” God, when had she turned into this person? Someone who couldn’t go a full day without seeing her man? (Sometime around week two, she suspected.) “Love you, Murdock. Be good.”
“Bread is always the right answer.” Matt began unwinding his boxing wraps, torn between reaching out to Claire and letting her make the space since they both had to go and uphold their responsibilities instead of spending every waking and sleeping moment in one another’s presence. He stretched his fingers and slid them through his hair before speaking again.