oh boy. this one's a bit longer than a normal drabble. i got a little excited.
It'd be important to know two things:
1. They had discovered they shared very similar music tastes, and
2. They were both very, very, stupidly drunk.
In no way was Lightning one to get drunk. She could actually hold her liquor very well compared to others her size, and some (mainly Snow) bigger than her.
Claire, on the other hand…
Well, in some ways Claire was a bit more reckless than Lightning.
Hope could never hold his liquor very well. It was a fact that all of them knew; apparently being converted back to your adult form doesn't mean you can handle a glass of wine without getting a bit tipsy.
This would not have happened if they hadn't gone to Fang's party. Most of them had left a bit after the bonfire broke out near the beach, but not Hope and Claire. They stayed behind, lying on the sand, talking about everything and anything— a radio sitting above their heads.
"I just… can't believe we're actually here," Claire said. They were both on their backs, staring up at the night sky. "Like, in the new world. New world. It feels funny just saying that."
"Yeah, I know," Hope nodded. "No more Cocoon, Pulse… no more anything. And no more monsters. I like that part."
She laughed a bright, bubbly, definitely-not-like-Lightning laugh. "No more monster guts on my uniform. And no more uniforms! Or armor, or feathers, or skimpy garbs."
He didn't even realize he was laughing until his stomach started to ache pleasantly. "No more creepy gods or-or fal'cie, and no more weird tattoos."
They could have gone on for centuries, listing the thing that they hated the most about their journey, but they were laughing too hard to even continue. When they finally calmed down enough to hear the ocean's waves softly splash against the shore, Hope glanced towards the smiling Claire. It was weird seeing her so open with her emotions. He'd never seen her smile so big or laugh so much, and he noticed this about her even before she was drunk.
A quiet humming drew him out of his thoughts. He turned to face the rosette, "You listen to this band, too?"
"Just this song," Claire answered, closing her eyes. "It's nice."
Seeing as his judgement wasn't his best at the moment, Hope threw any kind of embarrassment out the window and stood up. He extended his hand out, "Dance with me."
She giggled— yes, actually giggled— and took his hand with shaky legs, nearly toppling over him. They swayed slowly, Hope holding her waist with one hand while the other held her hand while Claire's head on rested his shoulder, to no particular rhythm.
It was Claire who spoke first. "I really like you, you know."
Despite being stupid drunk, this was news to him. "Really?"
"Yeah. I have for a while, I guess. I don't know. I like you." Another laugh bubbled out of her.
"I like you, too. Like, a lot, a lot." He said, laughing with her. "I like you, Claire."
Another laughing fit took over the both of them, and they stopped swaying to collapse back down onto the sand. Their hands stayed linked together while they fell back into another conversation that probably wouldn't make sense when they woke up. Hope was the first to nod off, however.
And, Eventually, since the fire was warm, and Hope was warm, Claire dozed off.
the song they were swaying to is you're the one by the black keys.