When Claire pulled into the garage, she was pleasantly surprised when Wesker came out and helped her carry in bags from the store. "Did you enjoy seeing the town, Miss Redfield?" Claire wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a trick question or not. "You know, I never really believed that the saying 'one-light town' was literal, I guess I found out the hard way." Wesker only hummed at her response. "There was a bar, though. Might be fun to check out. See what the people of this town do for fun." Claire doubted Wesker would join her if she decided to ever go, but it didn't hurt to see his reaction to her statement. Somehow the gritty bar scene didn't seem his type. Claire doubted the man had ever been to a bar aside from fancy hotel bars he probably used when he traveled. "Very well, we will go tomorrow night." Claire stood there dumbfounded. She only realized she had been staring at him with her mouth slightly open, when he coughed. "Coming in, Dearheart?" he said very suavely. Claire blushed and walked in through the door he was holding open for her.
After Claire put away the groceries and had a small snack, she decided to walk around the grounds of the house. Mostly, it was just woods, but there was a small creek out the back that she thought would be a good place to sit and relax. She took out the book she brought and sat with her feet in the water. I could get used to this. Maybe country living is the life for me. Claire spent the next few hours just sitting there reading her book. She only stopped when she heard what sounded like footsteps behind her. Getting up and turning around she was greeted by a man that could only be described as a recreation of Adonis himself. Dressed in a black muscle t-shirt, black slacks, black boots, and gloves (don't forget the infamous sunglasses) was Wesker. "I see you've found productive ways to spend your time, Miss Redfield. I must admit, I'm surprised there exists a Redfield who reads, let alone enjoys it. Come, we have guests at the house, Elena." He said this with such a smirk it was difficult for Claire to be annoyed at the obvious insult he gave. Wait, did he say... "Guests?", Claire balked, "Who?" "Townsfolk." was the only answer she received.
Claire was nervous. She had forgotten that there were others who lived nearby. She had gotten used to the seclusion in only 2 days of being there. Not to mention she was dirty from sitting on the ground for so long. Seeming to sense her discomfort Wesker put his hand on her shoulder. Claire was surprised at her acceptance of the gentle touch. "Don't worry, my dear. You don't have to worry about impressing these people. They have no significance in our lives." Claire just nodded. Why is he being so nice to me? When they came out of the clearing Claire noticed there was a white sedan in their drive way. An elder man and woman came over and greeted Claire. The woman spoke first. "You must be Elena! It is lovely to meet you! James has told us so much about you already!" Jeez lady, calm down. "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Quinn Werner, and this is my husband Eustace." The man behind the lady just gave a small smile and nod. It's obvious who wears the pants in this relationship. "It is so nice to meet you, Quinn and Eustace. Would you like to come inside? I'm afraid I was reading by the creek and let time slip away from me. I haven't even begun to prepare dinner, so I am sad to say I cannot invite you to stay for it tonight. Perhaps some other time?" Wesker placed his gloved hand on the small of Claire's back and raised an eyebrow. "Oh no!" The woman seemed embarrassed. "We would never want to impose on you so soon after having moved in, we wanted to extend an invitation to our house for dinner the night after tomorrow." The woman looked between Claire and Wesker, to Claire's surprise it was Wesker who spoke first. "My beautiful lady and I would be delighted to indulge in a dinner, but we insist on holding it here, as we haven't had guests over yet. Should we say 7?" It looked like the wicked old lady was going to argue but instead she smiled and nodded to Eustace. "That sounds wonderful! See you then!" With that Wesker guided Claire towards the front door of their shared house.
Claire froze when she entered the door and only closed it after the Werner's had driven out of sight of their house. "Those people suck, Wesker. I don't know how I feel about them in my house." "It's your house now, is it, Miss Redfield?"
"Well yeah, I'm living here too, right?" Wesker only did a small chuckle in response. "While I find them repulsive as well, it is necessary to have some resemblance of normalcy. I assure you I will try and make it as short as I possibly can. I find it is hard to have conversations with even the most tolerable people anymore." Claire was relieved to hear this. She had a bad feeling from that woman, especially. She started walking to the kitchen to prepare dinner but found it was already finished. On the dining room table there were two plates made up of pasta and baked chicken. There was fresh baked bread in the middle of the table for sharing and a glass of wine next to, what Claire assumed was, her plate. Wesker seemed the type to have the glass of brandy. Claire looked up at Wesker "Did you make all this?" "It did not appear out of thin air, Dearheart. Do you not like pasta?" Wesker walked over to Claire's chair and pulled it out for her to sit. Walking over to it, Claire silently sat down. Realizing she hadn't responded to his question and not wanting to seem rude she said "Pasta is fine. I'm just not used to anyone cooking for me, I guess." Claire nervously started eating. IT WAS DELICIOUS! "Wesker, this is SOOO good! Where did you learn to cook like this?" "It is simple, Miss Redfield, I read cookbooks. As a child we didn't have resource to many books other than textbooks, but I would sometimes sneak into the kitchen and steal the chefs' cookbooks and memorize them within a day or so." Claire was surprised, but gracious, that he was sharing such an intimate detail of his childhood with her. Not wanting to pry and ruin the friendly mood she only said, "Well, it paid off that's for sure. I wish I could cook like this." "Perhaps while we are on good terms, I could show you while you reside with me." "I think I would like that, Wesker." They fell into a comfortable silence while they ate. Claire had finished her glass of wine and upon seeing that Wesker's drink was also empty, asked him if he would like another as she was going to get herself some more wine. He handed her his drink and she set into the kitchen to get him more. Claire seldomly drank, and when she did, she was usually alone, but not wanting to be caught unaware in case someone tried to break into her house, she typically just remained sober. She probably should have been more wary of drinking more than a glass of wine when she was around Wesker, but for some reason she felt safer than she had in years with him there. She quickly drank another glass before pouring herself a third and walking back to the dining room.
Claire was feeling a little tipsy when she sat back down to finish her dinner and decided to be bold. "Wesker?" she said, softer than she intended. "Yes, Miss Redfield?" "I don't mind when you call me Dearheart, actually I kind of prefer it, but can you call me Claire, please. Miss Redfield makes me feel like a schoolteacher" she quickly added. Wesker stared at her for what felt to Claire like a lifetime, but finally nodded his head. "Very well, Claire." Upon hearing her name come out of his mouth she decided she very much liked the way it sounded when he said it. Claire only responded in a toothy smile. "Do you get drunk, Wesker?" "I have never tried to indulge in enough liquor to bring me to the point of inebriation, why do you ask?" Claire just started giggling. Pretty soon she was uncontrollably laughing. "What seems to be so funny, Claire?" "Nothing. You're just always so formal, it's cute." Claire's eyes grew wide as she realized what she had said. She didn't miss Wesker's raised brow at her. "Um, would you like me to take your plate from you?" With that she got up and quickly took Wesker's dishes from him. She figured she had already put her foot in her mouth, so she poured herself another glass of wine. Then she returned to the dining room only to find Wesker gone.
Claire walked to the tv and turned it on. She was happy to see that one of the new movies that had recently came out was about to be on. What was I thinking? Did I just call Wesker CUTE? Oh god. Oh god. I'm so stupid. Claire heard soft footsteps coming up behind the couch. "What are we watching tonight, Claire?" Oh god, he said my name again. Why does it give me butterflies so much? "It's about to be this new movie that was recently released, I've never seen it, but it looks pretty good. I think it's supposed to be scary." Wesker sat on the other side of the couch, and Claire couldn't help but be disappointed that he was sitting so far away from her. You dummy. What do you think would happen? What do you WANT to happen? He doesn't want anything to do with you, nor you him! You're here to get what he promised out of this. An end to all the fighting. You're not here to get laid! While her head was warring with itself, she hadn't noticed Wesker staring at her. When she looked over, she was surprised that he seemed to be staring at her softly. In a move that Claire could only later describe as ridiculous, she scooted closer to where Wesker was sitting. Then in one move she was straddling him. Wesker didn't move, he only stared at her. So slowly, Claire moved her hands toward his face. Not getting a reaction from Wesker she reached up and grabbed his sunglasses. She was terrified and could feel her chest moving up and down with her heavy breathing. Pulling the glasses off at an excruciatingly slow pace, she found herself staring into golden-red hues. She set the glasses on the back of the couch and put her hands up to cradle Wesker's cheeks. They sat like that for a few minutes, her just staring and feeling his face and his eyes never leaving hers. Sometime in the moments, his hand had come up to rest on her lower back, drawing small circles with his fingertips under the shirt she wore. Without thinking about it, Claire timidly touched her lips to his. Barely enough to be considered a kiss. Realizing what she had done she quickly put her hands on his oh my god so hard, NOT NOW CLAIRE chest and became wide eyed. "Oh my god, I don't know what came over me, I am so sorry, I'm so sorry. She spewed out words faster than her mind could think. Wesker said nothing. His hand went to the back of Claire's neck and he mashed his lips to hers.