Chapter 29 - Explanation
As Topher left his office, one hand held gingerly to his bleeding lip, he wondered if there was any way that he could have kept Caroline's wedge a secret from Bennett. He'd known that she would eventually ask who was on the wedge and that when she asked he wouldn't be able to lie. Though surely punching him was an overreaction. Then again, if he'd been taken hostage and tricked into half resurrecting his worst enemy before realizing who they were he would probably be inclined to punch someone too.
"Hello?" Topher called as he walked into Claire's brightly lit office. He mentally reminded himself to stop thinking of it as her office; after all, she might never come back and eventually DeWitt would have to replace her. In the end the actives' safety and wellbeing was more important than holding a position open for someone who would most likely never return to the Dollhouse. Reaching the centre of the office Topher stopped next to the examination bed, wondering if DeWitt had even appointed a temporary doctor for while Claire was gone. The lights were on he assumed that someone had been in here, though luckily he didn't need to wait for them to come back as having had many minor cuts and grazes while working on his tech Topher knew where Claire kept the antiseptic and cotton buds.
Topher walked across to one of the many wooden shelves and began to sift through the assortment of bottles and containers looking for the antiseptic. As he searched he heard footsteps coming towards him and the deep murmur of Boyd's voice followed by one of his rare laughs. Finally finding the antiseptic he turned to greet Boyd, plastic bottle held triumphantly in hand.
"Hey, man fr-" he stopped suddenly at the sight of the figure standing in the doorway next to Boyd and there was a clatter as the bottle fell from his slack grasp to the wooden floor.
"Topher?" Claire asked, eyes widening in shock.
"Claire? I… You… You're back." Topher stuttered. "Where were you?" he continued as Claire left Boyd in the doorway and walked over to him. "I mean, not that I'm not glad that you're back… Actually the opposite… I mean-"
"Topher," Claire interrupted his stammering softly, before bending to pick up the bottle of antiseptic from where it had rolled to next to examination bed. "You're bleeding."
"Oh," Topher said and he reached up to try and wipe away some of the blood from his lip but only succeeded in smearing it across the rest of his mouth. He'd entirely forgotten about his split lip, but now that Claire had reminded him it had begun to throb in earnest.
"Why don't you let me take care of that?" Claire asked with a soft smile before patting the examination bed, "Hop up."
Still staring at Claire, unwilling to take his eyes of her in fear she might disappear again, Topher made his way over to the examination table and jumped up to sit on the edge. Sitting down helped Topher clear his head and in that moment he realized that Claire was wearing her coat. He wondered in a panic where she'd got the coat seeing as he'd taken it from her office earlier. He'd had it up in is office and surely Claire hadn't gone up there; he'd have noticed. When had she got back anyway? She also hadn't answered his question about where she'd been; but Topher didn't get a chance to ask Claire any of his multitude of questions as, while he'd been thinking about her coat, Claire had picked up a cotton bud from the tray next to the examination bed, dipped it in the antiseptic and was now holding it up to his mouth.
"Tip your head back," she commanded and he was forced to keep his mouth still as she dabbed his cut with antiseptic, causing it to sting painfully.
"I was staying with Boyd," Claire said, answering Topher's first question as she intently swabbed Topher's lip. Topher's gaze darted over to Boyd and he glared at him angrily.
"Wait… wh-what?" he stammered, raising one arm to push Claire's gently hand away. "You told me you didn't know where she was!" he almost shouted at Boyd, "You were lying to me that whole time!" Topher's anger faded quickly as everything began to make sense. "That's why you weren't here when I called you to say she was missing… You were with her! How could you… when I asked you…" Topher trailed off, eyeing Boyd disappointedly.
"It's not his fault, I made him promise not to tell anyone," Claire said, trying to come to Boyd's defense.
Topher scowled disbelievingly and Claire took the opportunity to bring the cotton bud back up to his lip while his mouth was closed, bracing her other hand on the side of Topher's jaw. Topher rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, unimpressed by the fact that he was unable to speak. An uncomfortable silence filled the room and Topher was suddenly hyper aware of the fact that Claire was standing extremely close to him. She was standing between his legs, close enough that the cuffs of her coat brushed against his chest as when she moved her hands. He could feel the heat radiating off her and his lips tingled under her intense gaze making him fight the urge to moisten them with his tongue. Claire seemed to notice how close they were and her eyes flickered up the meet his for a second before refocusing on his lips. Topher's eyes slid closed as she continued to dab at his lip with her right hand while her left moved down to rest on his thigh. He leant into the warmth of her touch which brought their faces close enough that he could feel Claire's breath warm against his cheek.
"Mr. Langton I need to speak with you immediately," DeWitt's commanded, her voice abruptly shattering the silence, causing Topher to jump slightly as his eyes shot open and Claire to quickly turn her head towards the doorway. Topher had been so caught up in the moment that he'd totally forgotten that Boyd was standing in the doorway. Boyd gave the two of them a brief smile before stepping outside to join DeWitt. "Topher," DeWitt continued, "that troublesome one armed creature, where is she?"
Claire moved her hand away so Topher could reply, also surreptitiously removing her other hand from his thigh to rest by her side.
"I left her with Ivy in the imprint room, couldn't leave her in the lab unattended," Topher replied, clearing his throat to dispel his suddenly hoarse voice.
"When Doctor Saunders is finished with you come and see me please," DeWitt instructed before walking away with Boyd following behind her. The fact that she hadn't even looked twice at Claire told Topher that DeWitt had already known that she was back and he began to wonder if he was the only one who hadn't known about her return.
Topher tried very hard not to think about the fact that he and Claire were now alone in her office as she turned to trade the now bloodied cotton bud for a clean one.
"So you stayed with Boyd, huh?" Topher asked as she took a new cotton bud out of the packet on the tray.
"He offered for me to stay with him," Claire replied raising the new cotton bud towards his lip, "And I had no where else to go."
"You didn't have to go anywhere!" Topher exclaimed, the sudden movement of his mouth causing the cotton bud to slide across his cheek, leaving behind a wet trail.
"I had to get away," Claire replied simply, abandoning the cotton bud on the tray, "I couldn't stay here after..."
"You came back though," Topher said, "Why did you come back?" Claire stepped away and for the first time during the conversation her gaze left Topher's so he could tell that she was lying as she replied.
"Boyd convinced me that I would be better off here."
"That's a lie and we both know it," he said, reaching out to grasp her wrists and pull her back in closer.
"Topher," she murmured, halfheartedly trying move away to put a bit more space between them.
"You couldn't stay away because the Dollhouse is your home," Topher said, leaning in even closer. "You belong here," he whispered, their faces now close enough that he could see her individual eyelashes. "You belong here, with me," he finished and to his satisfaction he saw here gaze slip to his lips as her tongue slid out to moisten her own.
Topher couldn't hold back any longer and with one swift movement he closed the gap between them and crushed his lips against hers. For a second he worried that she'd push him away but she responded, her soft lips moving beneath his as she grasped desperately at his arms. The kiss wasn't calm but it was still tender even in its urgency as Topher licked at the seam of Claire's lips, begging for entrance. She opened her mouth with a soft moan and the next moment their tongues were dancing together. Topher felt as though he was drowning as Claire's hands grabbed at the front of his shirt, fingers digging into his skin through the cotton as she tried to pull him impossibly closer. She was standing so close now that their bodies were joined from their hips up and Topher rested his hands on Claire's waist, unable to keep his fingers from curling tightly around her. He could feel the heat of her skin through the fabric of her dress. The kiss was by no means perfect though, as Topher's lip stung with every touch and the bitter tang of antiseptic laced both of their tongues.
Finally they broke apart, Topher's hands remaining on Claire's waist and hers on his chest as they both gasped for breath. Topher could feel his heart pounding in his chest, trying to escape with every frantic beat and as an unfamiliar warm feeling of contentment washed over him he couldn't help but tenderly pull Claire back in closer so he could wrap his arms around her.
"Now I'll have to redo your lip," Claire sighed jokingly as she tucked her head into the curve of his neck, her breath hot against his skin and Topher couldn't help but think that she would have been more convincing had she not sounded so breathless or looked so utterly wrecked with her flushed cheeks, kiss bitten lips and messy hair.
"That's okay, I've got time," Topher replied with a smirk.
Note: A huge thank you to the wonderful Bec whose fantastic message from a few weeks ago inspired most of this chapter. I praise her amazing skills of observation and dedicate this chapter to her. I love you sweetie! To everyone who has reviewed or even just read the chapters: I love you all, you never cease to amaze me with your dedication even though I take ages to update and should super glued to my laptop every week until I post a new chapter.
