Claire was amazed at Popuri's efficiency. In the span of fifteen minutes, she'd been introduced to Popuri's mother, Popuri's chickens, and Barley from Yodel Ranch. They were now power walking up the road towards the church, and the pink-haired girl was chatting endlessly about various things. All Claire really had to do was nod or laugh once in while, and answer questions when needed. She mostly took the time to take in the scenery: though it was early in the season, a few cherry blossom trees had begun to bloom, and delicate pink petals floated down over their heads. When they landed in Popuri's hair, they were indistinguishable from the rest of it. Po must have noticed Claire's staring, because she smiled and said "It's natural! Pink hair runs in the family." Claire thought it was more unnatural than anything, but she didn't say it out loud.

"Ah, here we are!" exclaimed Popuri, clapping her hands excitedly. "This is the church. Our pastor's name is Carter; he's probably in there right now. Oh, and Cliff."

"Cliff?" inquired Claire.

"He's new here too," Po responded. "He doesn't talk much, though. I think he might be antisocial."

Or just scared off by your peppiness, thought the farmer, but kept her mouth shut again. "Can we go in and meet them?"

Popuri shook her head. "They're actually doing some refurb... refrab... decorating," she finished. "But we can take a peek." An unexpectedly devilish smile crossed her face. Claire was a little uneasy, having been told off once already for spying on people, but there was nobody around, so she gave in. The two girls crept up to the righthand window. Popuri was a little shorter, and had to stand on her tiptoes to see in.

When she'd heard the name "Cliff", Claire had pictured a tall, muscular guy with a crew cut, an image reinforced by Po's description of him as being antisocial. She could only see the back of him now—he was helping Carter (identified by his black robe) patch up a stained glass window at the opposite end of the church—but could see that he was lean, and not much taller than herself. His clothes consisted of a brown vest and a pair of black pants, bound around his ankles and boots by fabric. They were a little shabby-looking, as if he didn't own much else. His hair was chestnut brown, and tied in a ponytail at the back of his head. He turned a bit to say something to Carter, and she noticed his eyes were almost the same colour as hers—they were blue, too, but just a little darker. She brought her face closer to the window, and then her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a giggle.

"You seem pretty interested in Cliff," Popuri offered innocently.

"What? No, no, nothing like that, I'm just curious about the, uh... about the windows. I've never seen stained glass like that." Claire wasn't sure why she felt the need to cover anything up, but it was a white lie either way. She had never been in a church, and there wasn't exactly much emphasis on aesthetics back in the city.

Popuri shrugged. "Gotz did those. I'll have to introduce you to him later. Speaking of which, we need to continue our tour, it's almost 10:40!" She dragged Claire off again, away from the church.

A/N:

I think this will probably turn out as CxC, but who knows at this point? I definitely want to try a KaixClaire fic in the future though. Those are my two favorite pairings (but I love them all) :)

Who will Claire run into next? And, will Otter ever stop using these annoying blurbs? Chapter 8 tells all!