Moira grins, snorting slightly as she listens to Sarah's hilarious story of this party she went to last weekend. It's a sunny Saturday afternoon, and Moira and her friends are just chilling out in the little café they like to go to. They're all supposed to be shopping for a new outfit for Nicole's birthday party which is next Friday, but they decided with it being such a nice day they'd just grab some drinks and chill out for a while.
"What about you Moira?"
Moira's attention is brought back to the conversation at hand as Kayla says her name.
"What?"
"I was asking what you got up to last weekend, you've barely told us anything in weeks"
She shrugs, taking a quick sip of her drink before replying "Not done much, had this family barbeque thing which was so fucking boring and lame"
"God, who are you and what have you done with Moira? she always has some sort of story to tell" Sarah asks with a soft laugh as she glances at Moira over her drink. Moira groans dramatically, flashing her friends a small smile as she realises that maybe she might actually have a story to tell after all.
"Okay, so maybe the barbeque wasn't totally boring and lame"
"Ohhh, were your dad's old weird friends there again?"
"Yeah, but they're always there. Jill and Chris practically live at ours with the amount they come round"
"Then what's so exciting about them being there?" Kayla asks, raising an eyebrow, although Moira is sure her friend definitely knows the answer already.
"Not just them, Claire was there"
They both stare at her blankly, which honestly Moira is a little upset about. It's not like she talks about Claire constantly or anything, but she does mention her in passing sometimes. Okay more than sometimes, she talks about her a lot. She sighs in defeat, taking another sip of her drink and wondering if her friends ever listen to a word she says.
"Oh" Kayla suddenly says, getting the attention of both Moira and Sarah "Claire as in 'Claire is so awesome I love her so much' Claire"
"Shut upppppp" Moira groans dramatically, looking down at the table mostly out of embarrassment as her cheeks flush slightly. Okay, so maybe she really does talk about Claire a lot. But her friends all know it's because she just looks up to the older woman, that's all. Claire is a total badass who just understands and really gets Moira more than anyone ever could. She rides a motorbike for Gods sake! like that is the coolest thing anyone over the age of thirty could ever do in Moira's books.
"So did you guys like totally make out or something?" Sarah says, totally not interrupting Moira's daydream about her and Claire riding into the sunset on Claire's motorbike at all.
"What?" Moira asks, her voice raising several octaves as her face flushes even more "No, of course we didn't!"
Her friends just laugh in response, elbowing each other and mocking Moira further, especially about the fact her face is now bright red. It's all harmless fun of course, the sort of things they all do when one of them has a crush on someone. But the thing is, Moira doesn't have a crush on Claire. No way could she ever have a crush on Claire, ever.
"Aw don't lie to them Moira, you know exactly what we got up to in that closet"
The girls stop laughing, their mouths slightly hanging agape as they stare at the person obviously standing behind their friend. Moira turns around, grin already on her face before she even sets eyes on Claire.
"Claire, hey" she greets casually, hoping her face isn't still totally flushed as she stands up to give her friend a quick tight hug. Claire of course returns her hug, giving her an extra tight squeeze and a smirk when they pull away from each other.
"You sharing your fantasies about me with your friends here?"
Moira rolls her eyes "Oh yes of course, just telling them about how I want to ravish the great Claire Redfield"
Claire lets a loud laugh escape her lips as she grins back at Moira "You crack me up Moria, you know that?"
It's only as Moira stands there, trying to think of a reply that she remembers her two friends are still sitting there just staring at her. "Oh yeah, this is Claire by the way, if you hadn't got that by now"
"Nice to meet you both" Claire says with a smile as she looks to Kayla and Sarah, giving them a quick nod.
They both nod back at her, seeming to snap out of whatever strange little trance they're in. Moira is a little confused to why they both seem to be so interested in Claire, but she doesn't really care to think on it much.
"What are you doing here anyway?" She asks as she turns back to Claire with a soft smile.
"One of the girls at work is about to go on maternity leave so I'm doing my obligatory baby shopping for her" Claire answers as she holds up the bag she has in her hand. "Plus, any reason to get away from the paper work waiting for me back at the office is a god send"
"I know right, fuck paper work" Moira says with a grin.
Claire smiles politely in response to Moira's words, obviously refraining from mirroring the younger girl's bad language. If that's because they're in public, or just in front of her friends, Moira doesn't know. Claire isn't really one for swearing or anything like that often, but Moira has heard her do it a few times, and honestly, she thinks that Claire definitely ought to do it way more. She decides to stop that train of thought right there, before she has some sort of revelation that she has a weird swearing kink or something.
"Well I better get on with this" Claire says, interrupting her thoughts "I'll text you later, okay?"
Moira cringes slightly, thinking about how bad Claire is indeed at actually texting people when she says she will, but Moira doesn't say that out loud obviously. She just nods, grabbing her friend for another hug before Claire wanders off to continue her exciting shopping adventure.
She turns back to her friends, expecting them to look confused. Most people do when they realise she's in fact very good friends with someone who is twelve years older than she is. But instead of confused looks, she's met with two very wide smirks. Uh oh, that isn't good.
"Holy shit Moira, she's hot"
Moira just laughs, expecting her friends to join in but they don't. They both look at her with serious expressions. That's when Moira really grasps the situation she's just landed herself in.
"Well yeah, she's good looking, could have any guy she wants" Moira says with a small shrug, trying to play it cool and brush her friends off.
"Or any girl she wants" Kayla replies, the smirk returning to her face.
"Pretty sure she's straight Kay"
"Are you kidding me? she looks like the biggest closet lesbian I've ever seen"
Moira nearly chokes on her drink.
"No wonder you like her so much, I would so be in there if I had the chance" Sarah says with a laugh.
"Have you both just turned gay as hell for Claire Redfield?"
"No one's as gay for her as you are"
Moira finishes off her drink, waving her hand as if to dismiss Kayla's comment entirely "No fucking way. Claire and I are just friends"
"Uh huh"
"Seriously, just friends"
"I think you guys would be cute together!" Sarah says with a grin. Sarah is definitely the match maker of the group, she always wants to try get everyone coupled off together. Well, she tries to get them coupled off anyway, but it turns out that being told 'you guys look cute together, quick go date!' isn't the best premise for anyone to start a relationship on.
"Even if I did want to date her, she's old as fuck so I can't" Moira says simply, looking down at the now empty cup in her hand.
"Never stopped Lucy and John"
"Yeah, 'cause he's five years older, Claire is hella old compared to that"
"Eh, you're lame Moira, thought you'd so be up to the challenge"
Moira is well and truly stumped. Her friends think it's cool to date people that much older? That's something she hasn't heard before. Then again, the only person who has even talked to her about relationships is her dad, and he doesn't want her or Polly to date anyone ever.
"I'm not lame, I could score that if I really wanted" Moira says, actually feeling a bit offended for some reason.
"Hmm" Sarah muses, her eyes widening slightly as an idea suddenly hits her "How about we make this a little bet. If you can get a date with the legendary Claire Redfield I'll give you 20 bucks"
Moira almost laughs out loud at her friend's suggestion, but as she looks at Sarah she realises the girl is being serious. It's not that she's desperate for money or anything, but it could be a good bet to win, for her reputation of course, and for a bit of fun in all honesty.
"Fine, challenge fucking accepted"