After closing Raven’s Loft on that Christmas Eve, Claire made her way across the street at just past three am. There stood a rather large Victorian Manor, surrounded by wrought iron gates and tall hedges. While the home itself was not completely finished being built, it was still sturdy enough to protect it’s inhabitants from the elements, which normally only included the sunny California heat or an occasional rain shower or even more rare earthquake.
She moved through the gates, locking them behind her, and then continued up the walkway toward the front door. As she stepped up onto the porch, the front door opened and Eliot greeted her with a smile that did do well to improve her somber expression that night.
Claire stepped inside as he leaned down to grace her with a gentle kiss, “You stayed up?” she asked, trying to force lightness to her tone, despite the emotionally taxing visit Summer had paid her earlier that night.
“It is our first Christmas Eve in our new house,” he smiled. He then looked around as he closed the door behind her. “What’s finished of the house anyway,” he added wryly, trying not to press her about her rather sullen mood.
“Humans and their holidays,” she stated, though in a near whisper. “Besides, it’s Eliot Howard’s house, not mine.”
“Only because it’s easier to purchase property under the name of a man born in 1846, rather than a woman born in 1568,” he attempted a teasing smile. “And I thought it would be a good time to retake my mother’s name, as I had never been all that fond of my father’s anyway,” he added. He then gave her another concerned look, “So, busy night?” he asked as he helped Claire out of her long jacket, which she only wore for the sake of fashion rather than any need to protect herself from the temperature, which was still above well above sixty degrees.
“I suppose,” she said as she hung the now removed jacket inside the door.
“You’re a woman of few words tonight,” he gave her a small smile. “Let me guess. You’re upset because I didn’t make us a holiday dinner?” he flashed her another playful smile.
“Funny,” she scowled up at him but finally allowed the tiniest smile. “Sorry, I’m just going to go upstairs and change. Maybe my mood will improve if I just concentrate on working on the house a bit more before dawn.”
Eliot gave her another concerned smile as she moved up the massive ornate staircase. He then turned his eyes back toward the front door with a furrowed brow. His wards easily telling him any time anyone approached the gate, he moved to look out the window nearest the front door. Swallowing a bit of wariness, he moved to open the door once more in order to greet their visitor.
Several feet away, on the sidewalk that passed by the home, it was none other than Sean who had now appeared outside the gates of the sizable manor that night. Sean moved to reach for the entrance gate and immediately drew his hand back as a rather sharp pain ripped through it, the shock of the sensation even more apparent than the pain.
“You need to be invited first,” Eliot said warily as he stepped down off the porch.
“Inv--” Sean shook his head as he held his aching hand while his eyes moved over Eliot. “Wards, of course.”
“Even more dependable than blood bound servants most of the time,” Eliot confirmed as he moved down the walkway toward the inside of the gate.
“And I’m not invited, is that it?”
Eliot couldn’t help a small sound of disbelief, “How could you be when I wasn’t even sure that Claire had told you about the house yet?”
“She didn’t,” Sean stated, keeping his tone flat whilst giving the gate another pointed look as the two of them stood on opposite sides of it.
"Then...” Eliot just shook his head, sure there was a million ways that Sean could have found out about the house. And it wasn’t like they were deliberately trying to keep it a secret from him anyway. It was more a side effect of Claire and Sean hardly having much communication at all over the past year. At least none that Claire had made Eliot aware of, at any rate.
“Are you seriously not going to let me past the wards, Eliot?” Sean asked with pointed look.
Eliot took a deep breath, glanced back at the house, then finally responded, “Fine, come in,” he allowed, but his voice was barely above a whisper, hoping that Claire wouldn’t be upset by the invitation extended to Sean, despite its temporary nature.
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Sean shook his head as he reached up to easily open the gate this time, and gave Eliot another cool look. Though he quickly returned to his normally blank expression that his very position demanded he wear nearly all the time.
“So what has brought you here tonight?” Eliot made himself ask as he followed Sean to the front door.
“I see Claire’s not saying much to you these days either,” Sean stated quietly.
“Pardon?” Eliot asked with a puzzled look as he made himself courteously open the door to Sean.
“Summer went to the club tonight. Claire mentioned the house to her. But apparently she didn’t mention Summer’s visit to you, it seems,” Sean informed as they stepped inside.
“She only got here a few minutes before you did,” Eliot excused as he let out another breath and closed the door behind them. “But she didn’t seem in that high of spirits tonight, so I assumed there must have been some reason for that,” he simply sighed as he looked up the staircase. He then added, “Besides, she tries not to ever talk about Summer at all, considering I had been rather good friends with her before... everything,” Eliot reasoned.
“But you’re not friends with her now?” Sean had to ask.
Eliot scoffed slightly, “I haven’t really seen much of Summer in a long while. Neither of us spend a lot of time at her father’s house anymore. And I no longer spend much at yours,” he added even more quietly.
“Oh, is that the reason you two fell out of touch?” Sean replied knowingly.
“Do you think there should be any other reason, Sean?”
That was when Claire finally appeared at the top of the stairs again, now wearing a simple night dress. “Well, can’t say I was expecting this visit, either,” she interrupted as she made herself move down the stairs once more. “Well, at least not until my earlier visitor headed back the the estate. Then I supposed you would have some reaction. Just had no idea what that reaction would even be,” she finished as she reached the landing.
“Please, Claire. I’m sure you know full well what my reaction would be to finding out you just suddenly decided to... do this,” Sean decided on as he gestured to the semi-finished house they now stood in.
“Honestly, Sean, I no longer had any idea how you would react. I suppose that’s why I put off even bringing it up, hoping that maybe you’d eventually give me some clue as to what reaction I even could expect.”
“And how was I supposed to give you that clue when we’ve barely spoken for almost an entire year?”
Claire tried to force down a sad scoff, “I guess some could say that was the clue. I still slept in your house most every day. The only place I regularly went was to The Loft, or to this; a house right across the street from it. It’s not like I would have been that hard to find if anyone actually wanted to find me. I mean, hell, Summer managed to. I was hardly hiding.” She just shook her head, still gripping the stair’s railing with slightly shaking fingers.
“Eliot, could you give us a moment?” Sean turned to him, his voice slightly stammering.
Eliot looked to Claire, though she remained silent. With another deep breath, he vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the entry hall of the home.
“Does he do that often?” Sean asked as his eyes remained on the place Eliot had just been a moment ago.
“Asking him to leave in his own home? Really Sean? I never asked Summer to leave in what was supposed to be my own home. Then again, I guess I’m not a Prince,” she scoffed slightly, but still didn’t move from her spot at the foot of the stairs.
“No, you never did ask Summer to leave. You barely had any reaction at all. That’s probably why...” Sean just shook his head.
“Why what?” Claire pressed.
Sean looked down sadly, “You really think I’d rather be with her instead of you, Claire?”
Claire couldn’t help her cool look, “I don’t remember saying that out loud. And are you really surprised that that was very heavily implied, to say the least?” she added more quietly. “I mean, that is why we’re here instead of there. Isn’t it?”
“How could you even think that was true?” Sean asked with hurt.
“How could I not?” Claire whispered, “I mean, here I am, not even knowing how much time I have before those snakes that, yeah, Eliot might be able to save me from, someday. And that’s when you finally decide you can make time in your life for a lover after all? Only...” she just turned away.
“You’ve been with Eliot for the last three decades Claire.”
“Twenty-two years of which he wasn’t even conscious,” she mumbled.
“Even so...”
“Fine, you’re right. I’m completely taking this the wrong way. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I ended up with Eliot because otherwise, I’d just be spending eternity waiting for you to decide you wanted to spend an hour or so with me, whenever you got around to it.” Her voice shook as she couldn’t make herself look up at him, “Because me just sitting around having nothing to do but think? I’m sure that would be really healthy for me to do for years, and years, and years on end. Because you already know how fun it is for me here in my head. I mean, you literally do know, Sean.” She just shook her head, still not able to look directly at him.
“That’s not how I ever...” Sean just looked down then as well, having trouble finding any more words right then. After another long moment, “If this is how you felt, then why didn’t you ever say anything? Not to me or even Summer? You just never said a word. You just... faded out of my life.”
“I figured that was saying something itself, wasn’t it? I thought that if it mattered, you would have maybe noticed,” she whispered.
“Please Claire, of course I noticed,” Sean denied.
“But you didn’t say anything either. Did you, Sean?” And with that, she headed back up the steps.