While some of the times he and Claire had come together in the last several months could be blamed on Atlantis, Leonard wasn’t stupid of oblivious enough to not realize he had developed some very real feelings for Atlantis’ real shrink. He hadn’t found the nerve to do anything about it - unless you counted asking her to the New Years party and making damn sure he was in the position to kiss her at midnight - but he’d decided a while ago that he was going to make her birthday special. He’d snuck into her office before she usually came in to set up a fondue station and decorate her office with a happy birthday banner. On her desk, he placed a vase holding a single red rose and a good bottle of red wine.
Ducking back out, he waited (none too patiently) for her to come in before strolling casually back into her office with a small gift box in his hand. He happened to know she didn’t have a patient for at least an hour and he leaned casually against the door frame. “You busy?” he asked, even though he thought he already knew the answer.
Looking up at the base building Claire almost wondered if she should have just taken the day off, one day to focus on herself. Sighing she pushed that thought out of her mind and on autopilot sipped her coffee and headed to her office. Glancing up as she heard a voice she smiled looking up.
“That depends, is this a professional visit or a personal one?” She responded putting down her cup of coffee on the front table and sliding her coat off to change on the rack.
It looked like she’d just gotten in and he wondered if she’d had a chance to notice the birthday set up yet. He didn’t bring it up and instead just walked toward her to set the box on her desk, offering her a rare smile.
“It’s a ‘Happy Birthday, Claire’ visit,” he answered.
She hadn’t looked around her office yet, more worried that he was going to tell her someone needed her that minute. “Oooh.” She said slowly nodding looking around the office, she slowly allowed herself to smirk.
“So, that’s what the banner and morning chocolate are about?” She couldn’t but tease him a little bit. “Are you getting sentimental on me?” Claire added finally allowing herself to smile.
“What makes you think all that was me?” he said, but with enough of a smile to give himself away. He wasn’t really trying to hide it, but he could take a moment to tease her, too. “Maybe you have a secret admirer.” Nodding toward that box which held a simple green pendant, he added, “that one’s definitely from me.”
“Oh, a secret admirer,” she said pretending to inspect the chocolate. “Are you sure it isn’t someone pissed off about advice I gave them trying to make me sick?” She teased looking over her shoulder at him before dipping her finger into the chocolate to taste it. As she tasted the chocolate she turned to see the box he was talking about.
Claire made sure she didn’t have any chocolate left on her hands as she picked up the box but didn’t open it just yet. Instead, she studied his face.
“Could be,” he agreed with a mock serious expression. “You’d better let me test it for you.” Of course, she was already sampling it for herself, but you couldn’t blame a guy for trying.
Claire smiled as she slowly started to open the box. She wasn’t sure what to expect really, they’d had such a strange balance lately that she didn’t know where exactly they fit, other than on a lot of levels caring about each other. Smiling as she looked down at the green pendant she looked back up to him. “Will you help me put it on?” She asked, mostly just to get him to walk closer to her.
Leonard stepped closer to do just that, but he didn’t complain when she kissed him once he was close enough. He managed, somehow, to fasten the clasp even as he returned the kiss, but once his hands were free, he slipped one around her waist to pull her closer so he could kiss her more fully. Maybe they hadn’t completely figured out what they were doing after their time in Breckentale and maybe Leonard wasn’t even fully sure, himself, how serious he wanted to get after everything with Molly, but one thing he was very, very sure of was that he’d never turn down an excuse to kiss Claire. That probably should have told him something, but for a smart guy, Leonard could be kind of a dumbass sometimes.
There were a lot of things she had to question about what they were or weren’t doing but at that moment Claire decided to let go of any of the thoughts and give into the moment. She completely forgot about everything around them, it wasn’t until she heard a hiccup from the chocolate fondue that she remembered where they were she pulled back slowly looking up at him. “This qualifies as a fantastic start to the day.”
Leonard grinned at that. Mission accomplished, he was glad he’d managed to start her day off well. That had been kind of the intent behind the over the top birthday set up here.
“You got big plans to celebrate tonight?” he asked casually. He knew Claire wasn’t necessarily a big party person, but she did have friends, including that guy from home now. Much as he might like to have dinner with her and maybe help her drink that bottle of wine, he wasn’t going to assume.
“I think Georgina is planning on kidnapping me to the club tonight,” she tilted her head thinking about it. “I hope you’ll come,” she wanted him to come but she knew crowds weren’t always his thing either. “We could sneak out early.”
“That sounds like a fantastic way to end the day,” he agreed, mirroring her earlier words with a smile. “Since it’s your birthday, I might even be willing to dance, just for you.” The club scene wasn’t his favorite, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to say no, especially with the possibility of sneaking out early.
Claire’s eyes actually got wide. “You might be willing to dance?” She asked reaching a hand up to feel his forehead. “And I wouldn’t have to drag you onto the floor?” A playful worried expression crossed her face.
“Don’t get used to it,” he mock-grumbled. “I just figured it’s a special occasion, maybe I can play nice just this once.” Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek. “We’ve both got work to do, darlin’,” he said, despite wishing he could hang around here a little longer. “I’ll see you tonight, birthday girl.”