Claire's Apartment (Join with Permission, Mature)

Claire's eyes went wide and almost feral at her words, her shifted arm raising to point at Jasmine. "You have no idea what my life is like. No idea what it's like to be terrified to get onto an elevator, or a train. To feel compelled to shut yourself away because you're too afraid of the outside. My life has been me struggling every day to find the courage to leave my house. And yeah... I leaned on Sarah. Too much... But I'd rather keep living my life, live in fear of any and everything, than live a life where, if something happens, I shut down all my emotions. Like you. You want to bitch at me about poor ways to handle things. You're the goddamned queen."

"You haven't seen anything yet." She moved her arm, pointing it at Claire over the blade. "You'd be amazed what shutting down does. You'd be amazed what a lack of emotion can do." The lock on the safety clicked suddenly, "I can't transform without shutting down, and that includes going back to human."

ooc: stumped here. posting as like a draft. i gotta sleep...

Claire met the revolver's eyes defiantly, touching the scythe blade to the bottom of the barrel, but not moving it. "You won't fire it." She said matter-of-factly, not a hint of doubt in her eyes at the statement.

"A single shot won't kill you." She answered back, glaring at her, dark blue on light, "Even at this range, we both know that it won't kill you.: Jasmine jerked her hand, pushing the blade off of it. "And don't ever test me."

Claire quickly shifted what hand was transformed, raising her other hand and setting it next to the revolver barrel. She never once broke eye contact, her brows furrowed. "We both know neither one of us has the resolve to do this. To hurt the person we love."

The revolver's eyes narrowed even further, the lightning on her arms fizzling out, sparking randomly as it did so. The calm that consumed her was beginning to fail, streams of thought starting to whirl around in the backdrop of her subconscience. There was no hesitation in her eyes, but there was in her stance, the lock on her barrel twitching just slightly back, her arm quivering just the slightest bit, barely enough to count as a muscle spasm. Memories began to flood her, slow and surreal, beckoning away the steady steel of her mind, tearing down the walls she'd supplied. Flashbacks and forwards of Brook began to weave and spin through her thoughts, memories of the bliss-turned-tragedy, of the others that followed, of Savannah at the end.

Suddenly the lock clicked back out of place, and she moved her shifted hand to the side, the lightning dying down across her skin and steel. The shift caused Tony to stop dead, just a little beyond arm's length away from her. In the moments of their bickering, he'd begun to step forward, silent and cautious, hoping to disable the revolver before she could shoot, undetected by the tunnel-visioned pair. Sadly, he seemed to have timed himself quite poorly, as the cylinder suddenly began to whirl, spinning for a while, gathering up the kinetic static. It stopped almost suddenly, loading the chamber, and then promptly fired before the lock jammed itself dead center of its path. The sound of the shot was accompanied by a grunt from Tony as he doubled over, curling in on himself. Jasmine jolted at the sound, her hand shifting back instantly as she looked over, her blue eyes widdening.

There was a hissed inhalation from the double-scythe as he looked at his friend with narrowed eyes. "Fucking hell, woman, why's it always gotta be me?!" There was no real anger in his voice, merely frustration and pain, a long ago used-to tone to his words.

Her face paled as she looked at him, realizing by his position just where she'd struck him. "I, ah," she rubbed the back of her neck, her face beginning to flush slightly. "Ya shoulda known better than to stand so close." Her expression was sheepish but her tone was slowly returning to her usual cocky self.

"Death damnit, I will end you." He coughed, wincing at the gesture, but there was a slight smirk on his face as he looked up at her --- same old Jazzie.

The smirk that had been tugging at her lip finally won out, and she gave him her usual, proud look. "You'd have to get off the floor first to do that." She reached a hand out, crouching slightly. He merely shook his head.

"I need to... ah, just stay here... a little... while..."

Claire's eyes widened as she watched, the shock of it all shifting her hand back to normal. She looked from Tony to Jazz, her eyes lingering in the revolver's before going back to Tony.

Sarah dashed forward the moment Jazz fired, sliding onto the ground next to Tony and patting his back. She glanced up at the pair, brows furrowed. "You two done now?"

"They are," he coughed. "Oh, you meant the girls?" His crooked smirk widened as he looked over at Sarah, shooting her a playful wink while Jazz snorted.

Claire looked over to Jazz, reaching to grab her hand and her attention. "Can we talk? Alone?"

Sarah chuckled softly, still patting Tony. "You're gonna be fine. I think..."

He grunted, trying to move to sit up, "Tell that to the boys," the words were ground out, but he kept the smirk on his face.

"It's not time to talk," Jazz said, reaching her head. "Later, not now; lemme... cool down."

Claire nodded, pulling her towards the door gently. "Yeah... Dinner first?"

Sarah nodded, grabbing Tony's hand and helping him up. "C'mon strongman. Walk it off."

He groaned, "You don't have to deal with these, Sarah." Nonetheless, he shook his head, doing as she asked.

Jasmine nodded, following along after Claire.

Claire led her to the dinner table, pulling out a chair for her to sit in and waiting for her to take a seat.

Sarah chuckled, brushing his shoulders off. "Just quit whining."

"I'll quit whining when it quits hurting." He shook his head but kept a false pout on his face as he followed along, watching as Jasmine sat down and kicked out Claire's chair for her to sit in.

Claire took her seat, smiling at Jazz, taking the revolver's plate spooning some pasta onto it. She handed the plate back with a smile, though she still looked uncertain.

Sarah helped Tony to the table, pulling his chair out for him.

The pout became genuine, but he sighed, grabbing his melting milkshake and sipping on it.

Jazzie returned the smile, nodding her thanks and taking the plate from her.

Claire dished up her own food, then for Tony and Sarah, setting it in front of them. She then started pouring sauce over the pasta, and grabbing some bread for herself.

Sarah nodded in thanks to Claire, slipping into her own seat and doing much the same.

Tony was continuously readjusting himself in his seat for a while before he finally moved on from the dessert to the actual meal itself. Neither him nor Jasmine had said a word.

The meal was held in relative silence, even Sarah decided to remain quiet. As soon as they were done eating, Claire gently grabbed Jazz by the wrist, leading her from the dining room and into her bedroom.

Sarah watched them go before collecting plate, taking them into the kitchen and setting them by the sink, and then grabbing the serving plates and grabbing them as well.

Tony took to cleaning the dishes, shooing Sarah out of the kitchen quickly.

More out of habit than anything else, Jasmine plopped down on the bed, looking at Claire curiously.

Claire sat down next to her, cupping her hands over her stomach. "I'm sorry for the things I said... And I'm sorry that I didn't act the way I should after getting home from the hospital. You... You deserved something better than an unanswering husk..."

Sarah stuck her tongue out at him, going to the kitchen and plopping down on the couch.

He merely shook his head, laughing to himself as he worked to clean up the mess from both the food and its preperation

She shook her head, looking away from her with pained eyes. "So did you. Do we have to do this? I'm sorry. I get this. I understand."

-Missing Passage-

She shook her head. "I know how this goes, Claire. I know. I got it. We have more important things to worry about."

"I know that too, but I still worry about you, Jazzy..." Claire slid her hand over the revolver's, giving it a squeeze.

She smiled back at her, nodding. "You have more important things to worry about."

Claire reached over, cupping her cheek and smiling. "You are important."

"Not as much as everything else." She shook her head. "Worry about you."

Claire leaned her forehead against Jazz's, smiling a bit. 'You're so stubborn..."

"Always." She looked over at her, smirking. "Unstable though, watch out."

"I think we're both a little unstable..." She leaved forward, giving her a brief kiss.

Her lips twitched upwards. "I'm fun though." She winked. "You're... too gentle." She stuck her tongue out at her, smirking.

Claire chuckled softly, kissing her again. "You never did show me how to be wild, Jazzy. Gentle's all i got. Maybe you should show me how to be fun."

Her eyes rolled as she looked at her, but the smirk widened. "You should know better than that."

Claire smirked a bit as well, kissing her again. "Know better than what?"

She smirked further, pushing against her just slightly. "You know exactly what."

Claire pushed back gently. "Mmm, my mind is slipping... Might need a reminder." Her smirk widened, and she kissed her again.

Her eyes rolled and she moved, straddling her and pushing her down, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
-Fade to black-
Claire let out a relaxed sigh, snuggling close to Jazz and pulling the covers over them both. She kissed her cheek, nuzzling her.

She chuckled, shaking her head and holding the girl close.

Claire snuggled closer to her. "I missed you."

"I know." She nuzzled her. "You, too."

"Don't leave again?" Claire kissed her cheek, wrapping her arms around the taller girl.

"Goes for both of us." The words were murmured, her eyes closing slowly.

Claire nodded sleepily, giving her one last nuzzle. "I promise..." Her eyes drifted closed as she fell asleep.

Sarah peeked into the room, giving a small smile at seeing the two of them, then softly closing the door.

-Segment End-
--
The Next morning
--
Claire awoke with a start the next morning, immediately unwrapping her arms from Jazz and pressing one to her stomach and the other to her mouth, dry swallowing to hold dinner down.

Jasmine shifted as she moved, squinting and looking over at her curiously. "Clai...re?" She blinked, not awake enough.

Claire waved her off, keeping one hand over her mouth. "I-I'm fine..."

"Liar." She said, forcing herself out of bed and dumping out the room's trashcan, shoving it over to her. "Here. I'll go get bread." Rubbing her eyes, she made her way over to the dresser, opening her drawer and pulling out an outfit. She undressed and dressed quickly. "Do I need to go out or do you have some?"

Claire pulled the trash can close, keeping her head over it and tilted down. "Should be some in the pantry..."

"On it." She said, making her way out of the room. She searched the pantry for anything basic or absorbent, taking anything that fit either, grabbing the bread first.

CLaire heaved a few times, but managed to hold it in, silently begging Jazz to hurry.

She returned not long after, already boiling water to make some rice for her. With bread and strawberry jelly with her, she slid back onto the bed, smiling reassuringly.

Claire smiled in thanks, taking a slice of bread and nibbling on it until her stomach calmed down. She leaned over, giving her a kiss on the cheek in thanks.

She chuckled, shaking her head and setting the jam on the nightstand. "You act like I want you sick."

Claire chuckled softly, curling under the covers. "I don't know what you want sometimes..." She was quiet for a few moments before she let out a sigh. "I should probably talk to Justice..."

Her brow raised and she shook her head, knowing. "She won't listen; no sense bothering with it."

Claire looked over at her. "Why wouldn't she? I mean, I'm just going to ask her to come over... Tell her I can't be her weapon."

"And that's what she won't listen to." Jazz chuckled. "You act like I don't know the woman."

Claire shrugged, suddenly grabbing Jazz and pulling her close, snuggling with her. "I won't know until I try."

She giggled, shaking her head and snuggling along with her. "I will, but that's just me."

"Shut up..." Claire said happily, giving her a kiss to enforce the command.

Her eyes rolled. "Nope."

After a few more moments of holding her, Claire gave a sigh and a pout. 'I s'pose I should get dressed..."

She just grinned. "S'pose you should. S'pose you should also do that talking thing with your sister." She shrugged, leaning back and laying lazily.

She snuggled close, letting out a whine. "Ugh... Can I just be pregnant and not do anything all day?"

"No," She said with a laugh, squirming out of her grip. "Life moves on, c'mon, now, you're not even showing."

"Fiiiiine." She let Jasmine go, sliding out of the bed and dressing, sliding her most comfortable clothes on.

Her head shook and she sighed, laughing to herself. "You're a child."

Claire pursed her lips, sticking her tongue out before going out into the living room. She promptly plopped down onto the couch, pulling out her phone and texting for Justice to come over if she was able.

Always -JA It was all xe said in response, and xe was out the door shortly, explaining to xir roommate and Royal where xe was heading. Jasmine, meanwhile, had set about cleaning once more.

Claire yawned, stretching out over the couch and waiting for Justice to arrive. She kept the wastebasket from her room handy, just in case.

It didn't take long for everything to be cleaned up, though Justice seemed to be taking xir own sweet time getting there. After a while, there was finally a knock at the door, however, and Jasmine got it for her... girlfriend? Shaking the thought off, she smiled at Justice, raising an eyebrow at the box she carried. Shushing her and nudging the revolver inside, xe set it down, releasing her kitten, Royal, a white cat with heterochromaic blue and green eyes.

Claire waved to Justice from the couch, sitting up and freeing room for her. "Hey Justice... Could you take a seat, please? There's... Some things I need to talk to you about." She let out a gasp at the cat, leaning down and trying to get the kitten's attention.