Re: Woods: Claire/Daniel
Daniel's silence spoke volumes and she wanted to explain something, but she did not precisely know what. So she didn't say anything. Instead she stayed put to guard Daniel, and when he was ready, lead him back home. She honestly didn't want anything from him. Not his pain. Not his blood. Nothing. Claire only wanted him to be safe. And to not kill anyone. Which was a whole new problem when that confession that he wasn't hungry kept ringing in the back of her mind. It could have been a deer. She'd like to believe that. The only thing that would be worse than if he had gotten hold of someone, would be if he got a hold of the dog. If it really was a Hellhound? Claire had no idea what would happen to Daniel in that case. They'd deal with that if it happened. For now? A deer. Just a deer. A mantra in her mind.
The young woman dressed in black leather fell into old habits, afraid God was displeased with her choices, and so as they sat against the tree, she did what she did best. Temperance prayed. She prayed for her friends, she prayed for the town, she prayed for the birds above and the ground below. The silent action helped fill her with peace, giving her a clarity of purpose. Protecting Daniel wasn't wrong. He may be dangerous, but she firmly believed he didn't want to be. Wouldn't it be grand if she were right, and she could prove that there are creatures out there that didn't need to be immediately slaughtered? That they were each as precious as any of God's creations? She hated it to get this far, but to Claire, any blood he spilled was on her hands. That was why she spent so much time doting over him. Well, that, and he was funny.
Claire had heard from Helena, though there was little she could do to help her demon-hunting partner with her family issues. Claire never had family, and while she was often blindly trusting, she didn't trust this Wainright situation. It was difficult for her to understand which made it difficult for her to give any sort of proper advice. And Claire had heard from Juliet, who'd survived the hallucinations with her. She was alive and well, too. Apart from the jacket that had been ruined. She'd heard from Daniel, and well, here we were assisting with that. The person she hadn't heard from yet? Carver. Even the thought of his name sent her pulse into double-time, still able to taste the wine and feel the soft warmth of how close he had been that was so much more welcoming than any fire. The thought made her cheeks tint pink, and while she made sure to keep an eye and ear out for any that may get too close to her cloaked ward, Claire pulled out her phone to check on Carver as well as to make certain he wasn't the one that had broken into Daniel's place. Which was going to be a delicate conversation without bringing it up.
As the sun grew lower in the sky, Claire looked towards the red tent that was Daniel, but waited patiently. It painted the sky in the start of oranges, the shadows shifting along the ground and growing longer. The warmth started to bleed out of the air, whipping the leaves above into a long rattle of nature's song. The beauty was touching, a blend of color above that reminded her of the evening reflection against the marble in the Vatican. The pull of homesickness was pushed aside, a sickening twist of her stomach that made her feel like she was longing for a time when she was a monster. She hated missing Rome. She didn't miss what she had done, or the blood she had spilled, but, oh, how she missed the sparkle of moonlight along the Tiber.
Daniel was still under the cloak, and for hours they had sat there, Claire careful to note the slight movements of fabric that betrayed his discomfort. "The sun has almost set, treasure." The Italian came easy, her voice soft, "Do you feel well enough to try to get home yet?" She didn't know for certain, and she'd stay here as long as he needed, but it had been a while and maybe he was worse off than she assumed.