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Tweak says, "Say hi to Chelsea's mom."

Claire Bennet (x_clairebear_x) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2009-05-23 01:22:00

Entry tags:

claire winchester, gabriel 'sylar' gray

WHO: Claire Bennet and Gabriel "Sylar" Gray [Nathan Petrelli]
WHAT: Nathan's gotten quiet lately. Claire's getting worried.
WHEN: Around 10AM
WHERE: Room 104B
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

After having spent as much time with Nathan as she had since arriving in Colligo, as well as chatting with him most every day (sometimes even more than once), Claire had to admit she was becoming a bit concerned. He'd gotten quiet as of late and she hadn't seen nor heard anything from him in a few days at least. Granted back home that was no big deal. Between his life in politics, her attempts at living a normal life, and the fact that neither was precisely sure how to really involve the other in their personal lives entirely, it wasn't unusual for them to go long periods without speaking to one another. In fact, it was typical.

Here, however, that had begun to change and Claire wasn't about to let it revert to type without first figuring out why.

So armed with two cups of coffee from a local coffee shop, Claire headed to the room that her uncle and bio-dad were sharing. She wasn't sure if Peter was there or not but, if he was, she fully intended on asking him to step out for a while so she could talk to Nathan alone. It tugged at her heartstrings a bit, thinking about asking such a thing of Peter - of excluding him in such a way - but there were a few things that she wanted to get off her chest in regards to Nathan and she just didn't want anyone, not even Peter, present for them. As it was, she wasn't certain she'd even be able to say what she felt she needed to say.

That didn't stop her, though. She already had a speech planned in her head and was going over it repeatedly as she stepped into Building B. Approaching their door, she glanced almost fondly at the golden plate with their names engraved upon it before raising her free hand and knocking. It had never crossed her mind to call ahead of time to make sure someone was awake. She just naturally assumed one of them would be, and held the coffee out in front of her as a sort of peace offering to whoever opened the door first on the off chance she was wrong.

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unsureidentity
2009-05-23 12:54 am UTC (link)

Nathan didn't know what was going on in his head. It had started on the roof with little Noah, the second that he'd ruffled the kid's hair. His mind had been filled with all of this images, pictures that he just couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried to push them out of his mind. It was Sylar, but then, it wasn't.... He was kind, gentle, sweet, and patient, the exact opposite of every one of the stories, the information that had been drilled into his head. That wouldn't have been so bad if those memories hadn't provoked others, wisps of dreams that flittered in and out of his consciousness until he couldn't separate them from his own memories. They meshed together, tangled like a woven rug that had been ripped apart and stitched haphazardly back together.

It was another of the nightmares that plagued him this time, a nightmare of which he was the villain, blood soaked hands and a heavy heart. Another body, another brain, another life washed down the drain. He could feel everything, his senses heightened with a sickening clarity that left him struggling for air that didn't have the tinge of blood in it, raking his hands across themselves as he tried to clear the nonexistent blood spots.

Peter was gone. He was thankful for that. He wouldn't know what he'd do if his brother had to see him like this.

Looking up at the knock at the door, Nathan stared for a long moment, eyes wide as he swallowed over the lump that had formed in his throat, trying to clear out the dryness that had taken over his mouth.

"Come in."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-23 01:07 am UTC (link)

Claire breathed a soft sigh of relief when it was Nathan's voice that beckoned her to enter. She was still concerned, especially since his voice sounded... off, somehow. Yet she pushed the worry aside for the time being and opened the door with the same hand she'd used to knock, carefully balancing the cup holder that contained the two coffees with the other as she stuck her head into the room first.

A quick glance revealed that Peter wasn't there. Glad that she didn't have to ask him to leave his own room, and quite likely put Nathan on the defensive before she'd even gotten a chance to speak, she instead flashed Nathan a smile as she stepped fully inside. "Morning," she greeted him. Using her foot to shut the door behind her, she motioned to the steaming cups she was carrying.

"I come bearing coffee," she said. Plucking one from the case, she held it out for him. It was then that her gaze finally took in his appearance and her smile instantly faltered. "You look... rough. Worse than that morning in Mexico rough."

Smooth, Claire. Real smooth, she instantly berated herself. So much for her carefully planned speech and easing her way into the conversation.

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unsureidentity
2009-05-23 01:37 am UTC (link)

"I haven't been getting much sleep lately," Nathan said, offering her the best reassuring smile that he could manage, but it was an awful attempt and far more pained than reassuring. Raising a hand to rake through his hair, Nathan reached out with the other to take the cup with a smile that was easier and more sincere, a smile of gratitude as he took a sip, "So I really needed this, thanks," He said with a slight glance behind her, at the mirror, almost as though he were expecting to see someone else staring back at him.

The thought was shaken off in a moment, though, and he turned his attention back to Claire. "You've been fairing better, I hope."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-23 01:47 am UTC (link)

"You know me. Just peachy," Claire replied in a light tone. Her expression, however, didn't quite match her voice. She was still concerned. Really concerned, if she were being honest. He was a professional politician. The simple fact that he couldn't even fake a sincere looking smile was probably the most worrisome thing of all.

With her own cup of coffee in her hands, she moved to the edge of his bed and sat down. Her gaze flickered down to the dark liquid in her coffee cup for a moment, watching as the steam swirled its way upward. It warmed the tip of her nose as it blew past and, with a soft exhale, she turned her gaze almost grudgingly from the scene back to Nathan.

"I'm worried about you," she blurted out before stopping herself. No. She was going to stick to her speech - or as close to it as she could manage given she'd already screwed it up quite a bit - no matter what. With another sigh, she tried again.

"When we first showed up here, you and I spent a good bit of time together. We talked, really talked, and we explored and... well..." As her words began to fail her, Claire felt her frustration mount. Finally, she couldn't remember a single bit of her carefully crafted litany and simply finished with a rushed, "I know there's something bothering you and I wish you'd just tell me what it is, because if it's something I've done I should at least be able to apologize instead of having you just shut me out like this."

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unsureidentity
2009-05-24 01:39 pm UTC (link)

"I'm sorry, Claire," Nathan said, looking over at her with a soft sadness in his expression. He wished he could explain what had made him withdrawal, but he wasn't even sure what was going on himself. Just that he'd been having thoughts that had left him feeling wholly off balance. "I just haven't felt like myself lately," He said, sipping the coffee slowly as he looked up at her and smiled apologetically.

"I've been having really odd dreams lately," He said, closing his eyes for a moment. "And I don't really know what to make of them."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-24 10:38 pm UTC (link)

Odd dreams. That's what all this was about? It really wasn't something she'd done? For a moment, Claire wasn't sure if she honestly believed that. But the more she studied Nathan, the more she took note of the circles under his eyes and the sheer exhaustion that seemed to all but emanate from him, the more she had to admit that he was very likely telling the truth.

"Well," she finally spoke, dragging the word out slowly as she tried to figure out the next thing to say. "Want to tell me about them?"

Not sure if he'd just jump at that chance or not, Claire offered a hint of a smile. "It might help to talk about it and I have been known, on very rare occasions, to have a little bit of insight and wisdom," she said lightly.

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unsureidentity
2009-05-24 10:45 pm UTC (link)

"They're..." Nathan hesitated, the words catching in his throat as the images of the dreams flashed in front of his eyes and his stomach turned, taking another sip of the coffee to calm it, collecting himself before pressing forward. "They're not pretty, Claire. They're violent, grotesque, and I don't know where they're coming from," He said, hands tightening around the cup before he moved and set it on the nightstand because it mostly felt like he was going to shatter it if he squeezed anymore.

"I'm hurting people... So many people," Nathan said, closing his eyes and raising his hands to pressing against his face. "Over and over. And I don't know how to stop."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-24 10:56 pm UTC (link)

The more Nathan spoke, the more Claire began to frown. By the time he'd finished, her forehead was furrowed and her lips were turned almost completely downward. It wasn't a look of displeasure, or even a judgmental expression. It was one born of confusion because she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he would be having dreams like that.

"That's..." She stopped, not trusting herself to just babble inanely without a clear end in sight. Not on a topic like this. So instead she began to think. When she spoke again, it was in a much slower, more contemplative tone.

"Do you know the people you're hurting? Like, do you know them personally?" she asked, first and foremost as she placed her own coffee on the nightstand and turned to face him fully. She had a potential theory - a bit skewed perhaps yet still easily fitting into the 'dreams don't always make logical sense' category - but she didn't want to just blurt it out until she had a few more details.

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unsureidentity
2009-05-24 11:03 pm UTC (link)

Nathan shook his head slowly, "Most of them, no. No, I don't. They're just random faces in the crowd," He said, swallowing down the bile that wanted to rise up in his throat out of sheer disgust. He hated himself for having dreams like this especially when he couldn't explain where they were coming from. "But then there's Mohinder... And Peter. And I don't... I don't know."

It was all such a mess, a jumble in his head, and he didn't know what to think about any of it.

"I know I've done some horrible things," Nathan said quietly. "I know I have but never anything like this.... I never even considered anything like this."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-24 11:28 pm UTC (link)

If he hurls, I'm gonna hurl right beside him.

The thought was so very random and selfish that Claire felt guilty just thinking it. It had flickered into her mind without her even realizing it and she quickly forced it away by focusing on what Nathan was saying rather than his pale complexion or heavy swallowing. At the mention of Peter, though, her own stomach dropped so sharply that she thought she might be the one to be sick first.

"Hey." When she spoke her voice was thick, her throat tight. "First of all, you need to remember that they're just dreams," she said, her gaze searching his face for some sign that maybe what she was saying was helping. "They aren't real and dreams aren't literal anyway." That was pretty much a scientific fact, right? She thought so, at least.

Claire fell silent for a long moment and collected the rest of her thoughts. She turned her original theory over in her head a few times before speaking it aloud. "Maybe... maybe it has something to do with what just happened, back home?" she offered, sounding a lot less sure now that she was talking than she'd sounded in her head. Still she pressed on, thinking that she might be on to something.

"You said yourself you feel guilty over all of that. So maybe this is just your brain's subconscious way of trying to work through the guilt." Okay, that didn't exactly make sense, Claire would be the first to admit. But dreams weren't known for making perfect sense and she wasn't an expert by any means. The point was, it had to be something along those lines because there was no possible way that they were some sort of memories of things Nathan had actually done.

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unsureidentity
2009-05-29 10:42 pm UTC (link)

"Maybe," Nathan replied with a weak smile, his stomach clinching. Just dreams. They were only dreams, and he had nothing to worry about as far as they were concerned. They would stop eventually, as soon as he stopped feeling guilty about what he had done and how he had betrayed them. Looking at Claire, a very soft smile on his face, he raised a hand to touch her cheek, gently brushing a strand of hair back off of her face.

"Maybe all I have to do is forgive myself," He said, looking at her for a moment before leaning forward, wrapping his arms around her in a loose hug, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He was grateful that she was here, that they were all here, far more than he probably should have been. But he'd taken them for granted for so long. He'd never do that again.

"Thank you, Claire," Nathan said, his appreciation soft and sincere. "For caring."

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x_clairebear_x
2009-05-29 11:03 pm UTC (link)

Claire returned the hug with ease, marveling at the fact that she was able to do so. Time was, she wanted nothing to do with Nathan. Until very recently, in fact, she'd been so upset with him that she didn't even want to think about him. But then he'd saved her from the agents, and they'd spent that time together in Mexico and, well, it may not have gone exactly perfect but she'd come away with a little more understanding of the man rather than the image she'd built up in her mind. And now that they were here, and she'd spent some time with him, she was finding herself getting along with him far better than she ever thought she would.

"Of course I care," she replied. There was a light smile on her face as she peered up at him., but her words were both gentle yet sincere. "You should forgive yourself. Everyone else has, and you're not the only one that's made some pretty bad choices here lately either." Granted his ranked pretty high up there, but Claire saw no point in mentioning that fact. Instead she released him and gave his shoulder a light nudge.

"Besides, you're not getting rid of me that easily," she teased with a grin. "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

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unsureidentity
2009-05-29 11:09 pm UTC (link)

Nathan chuckled lightly, his smile widening a bit as he nudged her shoulder back, "I'm not about to complain. I could certainly be stuck with someone worse," He said, a weight lifting off of his shoulders as the dream was shoved to the back of his mind. There was no point to dwell on it. If she wasn't going to worry about it, neither was he.

"I promise, I'll try and be more open, Claire," Nathan said, smiling at her. "And I'll tell you when something is bothering me from now on rather than just locking myself in my room and pretending like nothing is wrong."

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