yo (timeinbetween) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-08-25 18:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-08-2017, claire, claire and gabe, gabe |
Moving On
Who: Claire and Gabe
When: Afternoon
Where: Claire's then out
It had been three days since Ren died. Seven since she had talked to Ren last. Claire had skipped out on school, and even work, staying home and laying in bed like a lazy asshole, but she hadn’t been able to muster the energy or desire to do anything else. The rain seemed to have stopped earlier that morning, and the sky was clear enough to brighten Claire’s room considerably. This prompted her to take her pillow and hide her head underneath it to block out the light. She needed to get up and take a shower. Get dressed. Eat. Do something productive. Useful, maybe. Claire told herself that she would. Soon. Just... not yet.
Gabe knocked on the door three times, then let himself in. It had been days since he’d seen Claire last and it was time to get her out of the house, where he presumed she was hiding. He understood the desire to stay in bed and mourn, but he knew it wasn’t going to help her any more than it had helped him. They’d both lived with death for years. While they’d felt safe in the dome, this wasn’t any different. Gabe wasn’t past it, but he knew it would take work, and he hoped maybe he could help Claire with that too. “Claire!” he called out, heading towards her room. “Get up. We’re going out.”
When Claire heard Gabe coming, she briefly thought about jumping up and hiding in the closet. But that was totally ridiculous, and despite the desire to be alone the last few days, she had missed him. Still, Claire stayed put, tugging the blankets high over her head to try and hide some, since it sounded like he was headed for her room. "Out where?" she asked, despite the fact that her voice was likely muffled by the pillow and blankets.
He didn’t knock. He just headed into her room, assuming that she was in bed and immediately finding that he was right. “Anywhere,” he said, coming to sit down on the bed next to her. “Just as long as you’re out of bed. There’s this thing going on in the center of town and we should go.” It could’ve been a massive game of hide-and-seek and Gabe would’ve still suggested it. They needed to get back to living and the first step in that direction was getting out of bed.
Claire groaned beneath the layers of blankets she was hiding under when she felt the mattress dip under Gabe's weight. Getting out of bed meant having to shower, and find clean clothes. Then wandering outside and being surrounded by people. But Claire knew she couldn't hide forever, even if she wanted to. After a moment of deliberation, Claire slowly pulled the blanket down, just enough that she could see Gabe. "What kind of thing?" It wasn't a no, specifically, but she at least wanted to know what they were going to be doing
before she agreed to anything.
“A festival type thing,” he said, tugging at the blankets. “People have brought food and there are booths set up. It’s something to do that’s not laying in bed.” He understood not wanting to do anything, since he was in the same boat, but laying around wouldn’t do her any good. “Come on. Get dressed. It’ll be more fun than this, I promise.”
Instinctively she reached for the blankets he had begun to pull away from her, but Claire thought better of it and let them go with a sigh. The mention of food had piqued her interest, at least, because she wasn’t sure when she ate last. “Okay,” Claire said reluctantly before pushing the pillow off her head. Her hair was a mess, but she didn’t think Gabe would really care. He had seen her looking worse than this. “Give me like, ten minutes, because I need to shower.” Pushing the mass of hair back from her face, she shifted around to climb off the bed and find some clean clothes to change into.
“If you can be ready in ten minutes, it’ll be a record,” Gabe teased. Claire was quick, but she wasn’t that fast, as he was pretty sure that showering, washing her hair, and getting dressed would take longer, even for a guy. Of course, when they’d had no hot water, his showers had been epicly fast, so maybe he was wrong. “I’ve missed you the past few days. Have you been hiding out here the whole time?” He hadn’t been in the best mindset himself, but he’d at least gone to school and work.
“Okay, twenty minutes,” Claire corrected with a small, tired smile. “I won’t take long, I promise.” She wasn’t really one to prep and pamper herself before going out. All she really wanted to do was just stand under a hot spray of water for a few minutes. It might give her some energy anyway. Holding the jeans and t-shirt in her hands, Claire turned to face Gabe as she closed her dresser drawer. “I missed you too. I don’t know if you could say I’ve been hiding here, but… it’s just been hard to go do stuff, you know?”
Gabe knew Claire wasn’t one to spend a great deal of time primping, so twenty minutes seemed acceptable. He made himself comfortable on her bed, prepared to wait, feeling the emptiness of the house around them. They needed to do something about that. He needed to help her clear out Ren’s stuff, because that would just make it harder. “I know,” he said, giving her a small smile. “But if we don’t keep moving, I think it’ll be worse, you know?”
“Yeah.” She knew he was right. It was usually Claire who was the rational one, thinking with her brain rather than her emotions. She just felt something had changed inside of her when she saw Ren’s body, lifeless and pale, in the morgue. Claire couldn’t really pinpoint what it was, and it wasn’t like she had spent the last couple of days thinking about it. She was thinking about much of anything, really. “I’ll be right out,” she promised before clutching her clothes to her chest and leaving the room to head for the bathroom.
True to her word, Claire washed and shampooed her hair as quickly as she could, and she was getting dressed and then drying her hair about twenty minutes later. She brushed her damp hair into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face and then emerged from the bathroom to find Gabe still in her bedroom. Ren’s bedroom door was shut, and she made it a point not to even glance in it’s direction. “I just need shoes,” she said with a tired smile. “Ready to go?”
“Yep,” Gabe smiled, waiting patiently for her the whole time. He knew this was hard. He was there himself. But he kept repeating Corey’s words, reminding himself that he couldn’t have done anything to save Ren. He hadn’t been there. There was no telling where she might have been if things had been different, and going over every little step and re-thinking it wouldn’t help any. “Are you reading anything new?” he asked, trying to get them back on track with their usual form of conversation.
She led him out of her bedroom, a bit distracted when Gabe spoke again. Claire blinked and looked over at him, brows drawn together in confusion before she caught up. “What? Oh! No… still reading American Gods.” She was almost finished with it, actually, but hadn’t really been in the reading mood lately. At the door, Claire shoved her feet into her shoes. “What about you? Are you reading anything new?” She didn’t mind normal conversation at all. It helped her feel a bit more balanced, which was nice, even if it could eventually become boring. But small talk with Gabe was okay. She usually felt comfortable enough in silence that she didn’t feel the need to chat his ears off every second of the day.
“I haven’t been reading much lately,” Gabe admitted, his own mind too preoccupied to keep to a book. Now would’ve been a good time for video games, but they didn’t even have a tv in the house. “I’ve actually been thinking that maybe you should move in with me. Me and mom. Or that someone should move in with you. I don’t like you living alone.” Claire wasn’t safe alone, at least in his mind, though Gabe didn’t really know what getting a new house would entail. And while he wasn’t completely sure his mother would approve of such a proposition, Gabe wanted a solution and those weren’t made without speaking them out loud.
She could understand that. Reading required some semblance of concentration, and she doubted Gabe could concentrate on much of anything anymore than Claire could. Her brows drew together in mild confusion as they stepped outside the house. It was a nice day and she squinted a little against the sunshine again before looking at him. She really liked Gabe, and she trusted him more than anyone else, but it felt kind of weird, imagining her living with him. Or maybe it was living with him and his mom. They had just started dating, after all, and living together might throw everything off. "I don't know that your mom would go for me moving in," Claire said after a moment, and with a faint smile. "And honestly, I don't know who I would trust enough to live with. I think I'll be fine on my own, Gabe. You're right next door, you know?"
“I know,” Gabe said. “I just thought maybe if you had a roommate….” He didn’t really have an answer to go there, just that he worried about her in that house by herself. It would be weird if she moved in with him and his mom, since they’d really just started dating and that actually seemed too fast in that respect. He’d lived with Claire before, but not like that. “Just something to think about, I guess,” he said as they stepped outside. It was a beautiful day and he was determined that they should find some way to enjoy it. “So. To the festival? Anything that sounds good to you food-wise?”
Claire shrugged and then reached up to tighten her ponytail some. “I’m pretty self-sufficient, Gabe. If someone comes along who needs a roommate, then maybe… but I’m fine.” She had her friends, but Claire had always been all right on her own too. Lowering her hands, Claire glanced at Gabe with a small smile. “Yeah, the festival sounds good. Uh, food wise? Anything at this point. Do you think they have anything deep fried, or do you think that’s asking too much?” she asked, her smile coming a little easier now.
“If you say so,” he smiled, not wanting to push the subject. He just knew that, if it was him, living in that house would be hard with Ren gone. “Deep fried? I think we’ll be lucky, but I’m sure they’ll have pie and potato salad. Maybe some chicken. Oh, maybe fried chicken! I could go for that.” It made him hope the Chicken farm was out selling today. “If not, I may have to go buy some chicken and try to fry it.” That wasn’t something he’d done before, but he’d try anything once.
It was hard living in the house, especially with Ren’s room still full of her things. But Claire didn’t think having a new roommate would make it any less hard, unless Claire moved out and into another home herself. “Pie and chicken,” Claire repeated with a laugh. “My stomach is growling right now. If you decide to fry some chicken, you better invite me over for dinner. I haven’t had fried chicken in ages.” If she tried to fry anything, she would probably end up burning the house down in the process. “I could definitely go for some pie though. I’ll have to try hard not to stuff my face.”
“You know you’re always welcome for dinner at my place,” Gabe said, an invitation that he’d extended before and would probably always extend to Claire. Even if they weren’t dating. He was pretty sure they’d always be close, no matter what happened. “I think this is an opportunity to stuff our faces. When was the last time you ate? Wait, don’t answer that,” he smiled. “Let’s just have fun, okay?” He knew it was hard for her because it was hard for him to, but they had to make the effort in order to move on.