DISCLAIMER – I own none of the characters and all things Morganville are completely owned by the amazing Rachel Caine (:
NOTES – Thanks to everyone for the brilly reviews so far and i hope i can keep up to the expectations. I know it's not an action-packed chapter, but i wanted to write the build up to the next bit, and...yeah so next chapter hopefully will be up soon. R&R pleeease (:
CHAPTER SIX ~
Claire turned over sleepily, moving to lay on her back and throwing her left forearm over her eyes. She didn't want to wake up just yet; she been sleepily peacefully, the rest definitely restoring her energy. But she couldn't sleep forever; even if someone hadn't been slowly pushing open the door and peeping in, a grin lighting up his handsome face as he saw that Claire had blinked her eyes open.
"About time too, i was about to crank up some heavy metal and see if that could stop the snoring." Shane grinned and pushed the door open all the way, ducking inside with a breakfast tray before pausing to use his foot to shut the door behind him. He moved over to the bed, putting the tray down on the side table before thumping down next to her.
"I do not snore." Claire protested sleepily, rubbing her eyes and watching him with interest, moving to sit upright as he took the tray and rested it upon her lap triumphantly. Her eyes glanced down, catching the array of toast, orange juice, bacon and eggs before glancing back up at him with a soft smile.
"Aren't i just the best boyfriend." He grinned jokingly.
"I have to say that...yeah you are. Thank you...you didn't have to do this you know." She said, touched by the gesture. Sure, some would wonder why the hell she felt such a warm glow over the whole 'breakfast tray' thing – hell there were probably girls out there who expected it every morning. But to Claire, anything Shane did to show how much he cared made her feel just that little bit special, and a whole lot of happy.
"Yea i did. You're an invalid. It's my job to act the nurse." Shane teased, laying back on the bed and resting his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. Claire rolled her eyes and nudged him gently, which only made his grin widen.
"I am not an invalid." She rolled her eyes and then raised an eyebrow. "And if you're acting nurse, where's your uniform?" She took a sip of orange juice, feeling the dryness in her throat lessen considerably. She watched Shane turn and prop himself up on one elbow, eyebrows raised.
"Why? You into that sort of thing?" Claire blushed and shook her head.
"Of course not." She said simply, ignoring the burn of her cheeks as she started tackling the breakfast feast in front of her. She playfully made to slap Shane's hand away as he attempted to sneak a piece of bacon off the plate.
"Hey!" He protested. "I made it!" Claire grinned and shrugged.
"I'm the invalid, remember?" She retorted, taking the piece he'd stolen and biting into it. Shane watched her with narrowed eyes.
"I thought you said you weren't an invalid...remember?" He shot back and grinned as he watched Claire struggle to retaliate, in the end she shrugged and gave up.
"Touché." She smiled. There was a contended silence as she ate and Shane lay beside her, thinking she presumed.
"So...how are you this morning?" He asked, being serious for a second. Claire made to put aside the tray, already full despite having left almost half of it, and this time she didn't stop Shane as he snagged the rest of the bacon and the other half slice of toast, looking at Claire carefully for an answer. She thought about it for a second, one hand reaching to gingerly touch her neck, and then she nodded.
"Good. The headache's gone, and i don't feel tired anymore...my neck hurts a bit...and my wrist...but i'm fine." She answered truthfully, and glanced down at her bruised wrist with a small frown. Well, at least he hadn't broken it she supposed. Shane saw her glance and he captured her wrist gently, a finger stroking the darkened skin lightly before bringing it to his lips and kissing the sore skin. Claire bit her lip and blushed, eyes caught by his for a second. And then she ruined it.
"You know i have to go back today, don't you." She didn't ask the question – she knew Shane already knew the answer, but he answered anyway, letting go of her wrist gently and sighing.
"Yeah i know." Claire touched his cheek lightly, wishing she could just smooth away the worry etched on his face. He smiled under her fingertips and turned to kiss them lightly. "But he didn't say when, right...?" He asked, and Claire raised an eyebrow.
"No...what did you have in mind?" Claire caught the mischievous look in his eyes and grinned in return.
"Well...Eve will kill us both if she doesn't get to go sledging today." He replied teasingly. "Why, what did you think i was going to say?" There was that teasing edge to his smile but she refused to rise to the bate, sticking her tongue out at him instead.
"Nothing, i was hoping you'd think i'd be a good idea to catch up on some sleep instead." Claire rolled her eyes and lay down next to him, rolling over onto her over side and smiling, knowing he'd take the bait. Sure enough...
"I can think of something else..." And he grabbed her lightly, pulling her back over to face him, and with a grin, he brought his lips to hers.
Emerging a little while later, Claire managed to get through the process of having her bandage changed before Eve bounded into the kitchen, scarf, gloves, coat and colourful hat already on and ready to go.
"Finally!" She rolled her eyes at Claire. "How much sleep do you need girl." She grabbed her half drunken glass of orange juice and drained it. "Now can we please go and make use of the snow before it melts." Claire rolled her eyes back and turned around to face her properly as Shane bent to put away the first aid kit.
"There is nothing wrong with sleeping until a decent hour." Claire pulled a face and then sighed. "Yes alright, calm yourself Eve before you bust a vein or something. We're coming." She shook her head, though silently applauded her for the fact that she was able to remain so upbeat about the snow. It was already sorta annoying Claire.
"I am calm." Eve replied, acting nonchalant as she practically danced out of the kitchen, and Shane and Claire followed. Michael had not yet emerged from his room, and Claire gathered he was bunkering down in the peace. She didn't expect to see him til later tonight.
The three of them spent the next hour sledging. They didn't go far – there really weren't that many great places to go in Morganville - but they'd found a reasonably steep and nicely iced road just a few streets away, and so taken up the challenge. At first, they playfully argued about who was to go first, before Eve got impatient and sat down resolutely on the sled, grabbing the string attached for steering and glancing up expectantly to her friends.
"I'm not pushing you..." Shane said with raised eyebrows, smirking. Eve frowned, but before she could go all offensive, Claire bent slightly, placed her hands on the wood of the sled and shoved it hard. And Eve shot off, laughing with the un-expectancy of it and enjoying the crazy excitement as she served from left to right across the road with no control what so ever.
Claire went next on Shane's gentlemanly insistence, despite her teasing that Shane was scared. She had to admit that the thrill was incredible, and there was an essence of fear to the thrill – the fear that you were going out of control and would crash into one of the stationary cars sunken in the snow. But that just added to the excitement of it, and as Claire towed the sled back to the top of the hill with pink cheeks, a wide grin had planted itself on her face.
Pushing Shane was harder – he was heavier than the girls, but despite that fact he chided them both as they used their strength to start him off down the hill. He whooped all the way down, and then executed a wild sideways slide before tipping right over and tumbling into a few forward rolls, finally stopping when he lay sprawled in a thick bank of snow, still laughing.
"Smooth." Eve rolled her eyes at Shane as he picked himself easily back up and dragged the sled back toward the girls.
"It was intentional of course." Shane retaliated, rolling his eyes, and putting the sled down in front of them all.
"Of course...very well executed." Claire teased, and was rewarded with a handful of snow dumped on the top of her head. She shook it from her hair and responded by gathering up some of the snow and reaching up to rub it in his face with a triumphant grin.
"Thanks..." Shane said sarcastically and he wiped away the snow before grinning at her and then nudging the sledge back into position and indicating it was Eve's go again.
And they went on to waste the hour. Shane had just experimentally taken a turn on the sled sitting backward when Claire's phone buzzed. She sighed, knowing who it was without even needing to check the caller ID. She pressed the phone to her ear, catching the glance shared between Eve and Shane as they paused mid-switch on the sled.
"Yes Myrnin, i'll be there soon." Claire said with a sigh, knowing she sounded irritated.
"Yes well, do take as much time as you need..." Myrnin responded and Claire frowned – evidently he still felt guilty about the incident...well he should. Claire ended the call, not really wanting to make small talk with him right now, and slipped the phone back into her pocket. She glanced at Shane, who she could visibly see fighting to remain positive. She knew he'd never forgive Mrnin for what he'd done, and she knew that it made Shane feel helpless and angry to have to watch her walk away right back toward the vampire that'd bitten her twice with no way of protecting her.
"Time to go i suppose." Claire said into the awkwardness, nudging the snow with the toe of her trainer and biting her lip. "I'll be back tonight..." She hoped anyway. If Myrnin wanted this whole hacker thing sorted, it could take any amount of time from minutes to days.
"I'll walk you there." Shane offered with a smile, and it only looked a little forced. Eve looked back and forth between them before speaking.
"Yeah...i'd rather not go stumbling all the way to crazy boss' laboratory, so i'll see you late Claire Bear. I'll save you some dinner." She said lightly and stepped forward to hug Claire tightly; that was the only way Claire could tell she was just as worried as Shane right now, and Claire almost had to peel her best friend from her. She smiled at Eve and then watched her head inside, turning back around to see Shane biting his lip. She knew he wanted to say something – probably all the arguments he could use to persuade her not to go back, but instead he just nudged the sled slightly, causing her to look down at it.
"Your chariot, m'lady." Shane grinned suddenly and made an exaggerated bow. Claire grinned and sat herself down on the sled, picked up her feet to rest them on the front bar, and gripped the edges of the sled. Shane's grin widened, a mischievous glint to his eyes as he picked up the string and began to tow her down the road.
It didn't take long to get to the lab with her new form of transport, gigging and laughing most of the way as Shane tugged her along the roads, almost slipping over on the ice a couple of times and causing Claire to burst into giggles. But the ride was over too soon. It was weird how suddenly the laughter died in their throats as they stopped at the mouth of the alleyway beside Gramma Day's house, and how much tension suddenly crackled in the air. Shane stopped the sled and Claire stood up slowly, pausing to face him.
"I'll be back soon, i promise." A promise she intended to keep. Shane smiled sadly and took her hands, pulling her lightly closer to him.
"Just call me when you're done and i'll come and walk you home." He said gently, eyes locking on hers. Claire nodded. "And if anything happens, or he tries to do anything, call me and i'll come running Claire. I promise." And he bent to kiss her. It was sweet and soft, but with an edge of fierce protection that left Claire breathless.
She pulled away reluctantly, extracting her hands which she'd tangled in his hair and stepped back, turning to walk toward them lab with Shane watching her every step. She felt her heart speed up as her hand touched the handle, and she turned back to raise a hand almost wistfully at Shane in goodbye. He seemed to sense her distress, but there was nothing either of them could really do. Unless...
"Why don't i stay whilst you work?" He offered almost desperatly, chewing his lip and hurrying toward her. "He can't argue." And Claire knew what he meant by that was Myrnin daren't argue – Shane would have no patience with him after yesterday. She bit her lip, thinking it over quickly. Usually she'd have shaken her head and teased him for being over-protective, but something with different. Last time Myrnin had bitten her, he'd been starved, ill and helpless – she'd forgiven him because it hadn't really been his fault. This time it'd been different. He'd had a choice. He'd bitten her because he'd wanted to, not because he'd had to, and she'd had no way of stopping him. She thought herself fiercer than she used to be; more able to take care of herself. But she hadn't been able to yesterday, and to be truthful, it'd scared her. She knew things might change a little once she got back to work and her and Myrnin went to acting like it hadn't happened, but right now she needed support – and she needed Shane. So she nodded.
"What about the sled?" She asked, glancing back at the abandoned object at the mouth of the alleyway. Shane rolled his eyes at her and opened the door for her.
"Claire...who the hell is ever going to steal a sled?" Claire shook her head at herself and half smiled.
"This is Morganville? All sorts of crazy goes down..." She sighed and took his hand, ducking inside and tugging him with her before she could chicken out and beg Shane to take her home.