RE: Inclination

A/N: Onward.

Pressing the power button on her phone, Claire glanced over at where Robert was snoozing in the chair next to their luggage. It wasn't that she was hiding Leon from him… just that she figured no ordinary man needed to try and compete with a secret service agent turned special ops black box. Robert had a hard enough time dealing with things, she didn't necessarily want to dump that in his lap as well.

Crossing back to where he was dozing, she sat beside him and let her hand rest on his knee. He roused slightly and tipped his head towards her before sleepily opening his eyes a bit. "Nothing deadline-related, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Just an old friend," Claire said, touching his brow with her fingers. Robert had thick, dark hair that curled. "He lives in Washington… when he's home."

"I see," Robert replied.

He didn't sound like he was really listening. It was boring, having someone who couldn't keep up. They'd pulled an all-nighter to get the paperwork completed for their business meeting in the morning, and while she was anxious and a little tired, Robert seemed to be completely worn out. She frowned slightly and tipped his head onto her shoulder. "Just get some more rest."

"When we get to D.C. I need caffeine. Buckets and buckets of caffeine."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Talking to Leon had been a bad idea, Claire reflected. Robert settled against her, letting his head nuzzle into her neck. Robert's weight was light, his shoulders somewhat slender in the padding of his suit. He had booked their tickets, and demanded first class seats. It didn't suit the organization, really, to pay that much on the airfare for such a low-priority meeting, but he'd insisted.

It was something along the lines of 'taking care' of her needs. Claire hadn't brought up the fact that she could care less about the position of the seat in the plane, but she had quietly made sure to book them separate rooms. Robert didn't know about that just yet, but he'd know when they arrived.

She just… couldn't think when he was in her sleeping space. It was strange. Normally there was no problem, but recently, and this had to coincide with his idea of meeting her needs, she'd begun to feel strangled mentally the more time she spent in an enclosed space with Robert. It was just about time to get done with him, she thought sadly. At least he'd lasted longer than the rest. Robert had picked her out of a staff meeting months ago, before they'd been partnered together to work on the current project.

Thankfully this was the last of the reporting and meetings on it, so it would, at least, be a clean break. She had been planning some time off… or at least some time away from him, for the past month.

He woke up enough to shuffle onto the plane behind her, and fell back asleep promptly as they took off. It wasn't until they touched down that he roused himself enough to move himself on his own. She was glad not to have to shoulder his weight any further. At the hotel, he glanced at her in confusion when she collected a second key, and frowned at her.

Claire took the high road, for once, and ignored it, dragging her bags to the elevator. He followed, and the two of them stood in silence. "So… separate rooms."

"Don't worry, they're small," Claire replied. She leaned forward and pressed the button for their floor.

"Isn't that a little wasteful, given the circumstances?" Robert asked, turning to look at her.

"Not if I can't keep my temper in our meeting."

Robert's brows lifted and he leaned over to put his arm around her waist. "I'm sure I can give you reason to calm down."

"Robert, I care about you a lot, I'm really very fond of you. But sometimes you come on too strong."

He had been about to kiss her, either her cheek or her neck she couldn't be sure, but… he stopped, blinking again and straightening up. His face tensed, and the elevator opened. Claire pulled her suitcase into the hall, and put her hand into her pocket. She gripped her phone, and the keycard to her room. The outside world, and a private sanctuary. It was important to her, now.

Robert still made her heart beat rapidly, but when he was lethargic like this… she couldn't quite bear to tell him that when he was like that… even his morning breath was so similar to…

It was very hard to tell your boyfriend that he reminded you of a zombie. It was … difficult to keep up a relationship with someone who didn't know to begin with. Every now and then she would have a nightmare, more frequent since Harvardville. She would wake struggling or screaming, and he would try to hold her, try to comfort her. But screams didn't wake Robert the way they should. Robert was always so lethargic…

He was like a damned zombie.

Claire jammed the key card into the door and all but kicked it open as she pushed the handle down. Why hadn't that struck her before? What was different about the Robert now than the Robert she had found so charming when they had started to see one another? Where was the Robert she couldn't wait to get into bed?

She shivered as she closed the door. His footsteps even reminded her of that time… of the lobby. Even his groans in the shower.

Pressing her back into the door, she hung her head and kicked her suitcase to the side. It hit the wall and she leaned her head back against the door. She tucked the keycard into her pocket. Her fingers found her phone. She picked the phone out of her pocket and turned it on.

No new messages. She walked to the bed in her room and flopped down on it. The phone fell from her fingers onto the bed. She closed her eyes a moment before opening them. She lifted the phone to set her alarm for the morning. Relaxed on that score, she snapped her phone shut.

Sorry Leon, she thought to herself as she shifted to unhook her bra, getting comfortable enough to sleep in her clothes, I'll have to call you later. I'm hiding from zombies at the moment.