Misadventures (Claire)

[karen6]

Only just having arrived on the ship, Jem had no problem in admitting to himself that he was completely and utterly lost. The problem was beating back his pride enough to admit it to someone else and ask for directions. How the hell was he supposed to get to work if he couldn't even find the freaking computer lab?

He wandered aimlessly through the halls, hoping that by some fluke of luck he'd stumble across his destination unintentionally, but of course no such thing happened. From the sound of practice gunfire and boisterous chatter, he gathered that he had to be near tactical. Hadn't his recruiter told him that the computer labs were by engineering? Where was that from here?

Muttering curses in frustration, Jem turned to stalk away when he heard light footsteps behind him. Turning back again, he saw a petite woman with dark hair coming toward him, and finally he choked back his pride and waited for her to get close enough to hear him. "Excuse me, do you know where the computer lab is? I've successfully gone and gotten myself lost in this confounded place. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece, and all that jazz."

[claire]

Claire sat on her bed and pulled on her heels gently. She looked over at Lucy and gave a half smile to her sleeping friend. Charming girl. They had got on so incredibly well. She gave one last sigh, fixing the hair in the mirror and exited her room without another sound.

She had grabbed a few files to run over on her way to her so called 'office'. They weren't anything exciting, simply the details of a new UGAP rifle, handgun and...something that looked awfully dangerous. She scanned the pages, walking a slow steady rhythm, biting the tip of her thumbnail as she scanned across the research and damages of the new weapons. She gave a short sigh and turned a corner, almost running directly into a new figure. "Oh.' she exclaimed quietly to herself, looking up at him. She had definitely never seen him before. He was attractive, that was for sure, but she had no motives for a relationship, especially since such an important mission was going down. Other couples had already hooked up, that was evident, but Claire was not as adamant as they were.

She bit her lip in thought, letting it fall from her teeth slowly as the words came to her. "I..uh yeah, yes, yes I do." she half smiled as her chipper British accent hun in the air. "The computer lab happens to be on the 4th floor. I was just heading that direction there myself. I can show you if you'd like."

[karen6]

"Much obliged," Jem said, silently breathing a sigh of relief and offering the woman a winning smile--rare, from him, considering his usually-discourteous air. She was obviously a woman of self-confidence and determination; it was clear by the way she carried herself when she walked.

She was also, admittedly, very beautiful, but both the knowledge of growing up with sisters and Shakespeare's written words had taught him that, Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. In other words, just because a woman's good looking on the outside doesn't mean she's that good looking inside as well.

However, that didn't mean he had to be a jerk right from the start--he could build up to that once he'd been on the ship a little longer. What was it people normally did when they first met? Ah, right. Names. "I'm James Wilson, by the way. You can call me Jem."

[claire]

"Not a problem, always eager to meet a new face." she beamed up at him. Smiling was Claire. She was by far, if not always the happiest person around, even when she wasn't inside. She didn't mind, not in the slightest. It took her a second to figure put he was looking her up and dow, as many other men had before. Whatever eh was thinking, he respectively kept his mouth shut, which she took as some form of respect.

For once, he was quite easy on the eyes. Rugged, but no doubt handsome. His eyes held secrets, pain, mysteries that she was a bit curious to uncover, then again, she did that to everyone. When she got to know a person, it was down to their very soul, not simply acting like she cared on the outside. Claire extended a hand to the new face, smiling again. "Claire, Claire Dubrovskiy, feel free to call me whatever you wish." Claire had a ton of nicknames, and welcomed all the more. She was truly a people person and always put everyone ahead of herself. Others came first, always had, always would.

[karen6]

Much to Jem's surprise, the woman's smile seemed genuine, as if she were actually happy to meet him; like helping him wasn't a burden, but rather something she wanted to do. Unaccustomed to such kindness, Jem fell silent for a time and merely followed her as she led him down the hall.

When she stuck out her hand and announced herself as Clair Dubrovskiy, he offered her another flash of a smile, reaching out to give her hand a firm shake. "I can call you anything I like, huh? Well, the Italian form of Claire is Chiara, so I suppose I could call you Chi, if you're agreeable."

He wasn't sure where he came off on pulling a nickname out of thin-air for a woman he'd only just met, but he didn't go about trying to take it back. If she didn't like it, she'd tell him not to use it, and that would be it. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Claire seemed to be leading him toward what looked to be some sort of elevator, and he frowned a little. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He let it go. "So, what's your position around here?"

[claire]

"Chi, I like it." She smiled back at him with a slight blush. He was flirting with her, or at least that's how it seemed. She walked at a slow pace, allowing him to follow at her side. She pocketed her hands so she wouldn't accidentally touch him. With a short sigh, they turned another corner down towards the elevators.

"I'm the weapons specialist." she replied, placing a few strands of her dark hair behind her ear. "I know, I don't seem like it, but I contradict myself." She laughed, turning her grey eyes up to face him. He had a nice smile, charming face. It was definitely hard to look at him, especially when he locked eyes with her like he did. Men rarely looked women in the eyes. In fat, she almost felt uncomfortable, but couldn't force herself to say so, or make a move to leave him, or his eyes.

[karen6]

There was no way for Jem to repress his grin as a delicate blush added colour to Claire's cheeks. He'd always been a charmer, but due to the unfortunate events as of late, he hadn't had the chance to flirt much. Going on the run, he found, was very cramping on the social life. To see that he was still able to flatter a woman was pleasing--not to mention the fact that seeing Claire blush was rather endearing.

They walked down the hall together in, to Jem, anyway, companionable silence. However, she seemed to feel a little more awkward than before with her hands jammed in her pockets and her eyes on the floor in front of her feet. When he asked of her occupation, she told him she was the weapons specialist and he glanced at her in mild surprise.

"Weapons specialist, huh?" he repeated, his impressed expression completely genuine. "Wow. The most any of my sisters achieved was the status of a professional dancer." As they entered the elevator, he noticed that she was looking at him, and so he returned her gaze, his eyes locking in on hers. She had lovely eyes.

Her whole appearance was lovely, in fact. Bright, lively eyes set into a smooth, ovoid face, a friendly smile formed by full lips, the gentle curve of her jaw... he stopped himself there, his eyes shooting abruptly up to her hair as she pushed her dark hair behind her ear. A few disobedient strands fell forward again, and without thinking he reached up and pushed them back for her.

What in the world was that, Jem?! Clearing his throat out of slight embarrassment, he turned to the panel set into the wall, studying the buttons so as to avoid looking at her for a moment. "You said the fourth floor, right, Chi?" he clarified, having collected himself enough to throw her yet another dazzling grin.

[claire]

Claire bit her lip, returning her wayward glances to the ground again. With a small huff of a sigh, they made their way into the elevator and continued their conversation. She gently rested her back against the metal bar, folding her arms and extending her long legs for a second as the doors slid closed. He pressed the button for the floor and then she replied. These elevators were always slow.

'Yup. I was in the military for a while, then transferred here. Apparently they wanted...well...someone who knew about...weapons? Not..not to toot my own horn or anything, but I..I suppose I'm pretty good at what I do. I know a lot about weapons of mass destruction." She smiled sheepishly and sucked her bottom lip, looking up at him with an almost child like gleam in her eyes.

A few strands of her dark hair slipped again and he did something that stopped her heart in her chest. He reached over and brushed it away from her cheek gently. Claire stopped breathing and looked back up at him slowly. What the hell was that? She watched him turn away from her, obviously embarrassed. She couldn't help but blush a little too. Her cheeks warmed and flushed and she turned as well, clearing her throat. "Uh..yes, four...fourth floor." she shifted again, looking down at her feet.

[karen6]

"You? In the military?" Is there an echo in here? Really, it shouldn't have surprised Jem--he'd known plenty of beautiful women who worked for the Mafia, and the twins, Selena and Melina, were prime examples of beautiful and dangerous. Claire, however, seemed to be the kind of girl who wouldn't hurt a fly--but if she was the weapons expert, she would have had to learn somewhere.

Trying to recover from his blunder, he asked, "Where'd you serve?" When she stammered through a boot of self-confidence, he offered her a grin. "Well, I've heard the Venia only recruit the best in the field, so you must be good at what you do. For example, I'm a prime hacker--thus I was hired as a computer specialist."

The way she was looking at him shyly, her lower lip sucked in, was absolutely adorable, and Jem couldn't stop himself from smiling at her gently. She seemed such a sweet girl; picturing her wielding deadly weapons was almost impossible, and yet it was how she made her living. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said she was a contradiction in herself.

When Claire confirmed it was the fourth floor, he nodded once and pressed the button before coming over to lean against the wall next to her. It was quiet then, and he considered what he could say to smooth over the awkwardness his impetuous action had left hanging palpably in the air.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, the elevator jarred violently, and only his hand on the wall-rail kept him on his feet. Claire, on the other hand, lurched forward, and he instinctively reached out to wrap an arm around her waist in order to keep her on her feet. They couldn't be there yet--which must mean that the elevator had broken down somehow.

Releasing Claire now that the elevator had stilled, Jem stepped over to the panel on the wall and searched for the emergency button. "What do you suppose happened?" he mused aloud, finding and pressing the button--only to have the lights flicker out, plunging them into complete blackness.

Swearing harshly in Italian, he squinted through the darkness, trying in vain to see through it. "Claire? Where'd you go?"

[claire]

"Yeah, uhh army actually. I was special OP, but I...I transferred to the specialty side. Like what does what, damage, that..that sort of thing." Claire was rambling a bit nervously. "I mean..I..I'd be handy if the ship was ever in danger, if we..were..well...yeah." She gave a short sigh and hugged her arms, then git her lip again, tugging at it slowly.

She gave a short breath when he complimented her and looked away at him again. No one had ever been so forward with things like this. She wasn't used to compliments, or people being so friendly back. Normally people just smiled and nodded. This was new, and she loved the warm feeling that washed over her. Maybe she would have real friends for once.

All of a sudden, the elevator lurched shifted and Claire was thrown from her position. A protective arm wrapped tightly around her small waist. She instinctively reached over his arm, strong and powerful, holding her from the floor. She was no expert on relationships, but there were touching-intimately. It was only by accident, but they were definitely touching and she didn't want to pull away just yet. It was probably just the overwhelming feeling of the moment, the raging hormones, cute fellow who happened to save her from the floor.


He reales her slowly and she reluctantly pulled away. The elevator lurched again and the lights flickered. Silence. Complete and utter silence. Her breath faltered a little and she slumped down to the floor. This was not good. Silence she could handle, darkness was fine, but the mix of the two threw her into panic. She gave a small whimper and tried to control her breathing. She prayed and hoped she wouldn't fall into a panic attack. Somehow she felt so...alone, even though she wasn't. James was still here....somewhere. "I...I..I'm here." she stuttered a little.

[karen6]

For a long moment, there was nothing, not a breath or a movement in response to his words, and Jem's heart leapt nervously. Where'd Claire gone? But then her voice finally broke the silence, shaking and fearful--and from lower down than expected. She must have sunk down on to the floor.

Feeling his way along the wall, he found his way back to where she was and touched her shoulder to let her know he was there before seating himself next to her. "Are you all right? You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?" Where was this concern coming from? He was usually aloof and uncaring, and yet... he was pretty sure the reason was Claire herself.

How strange. He'd barely even known the girl ten minutes, and already she was affecting him. Maybe it was her blatant kindness that was the cause of it, but she was the kind of person where if you hurt them in any way, it would be like kicking a puppy. She was so sweet and soft, it would just seem wrong. Maybe that was why she was a good soldier--because the enemy always expected the least from her.

Shaking his head a little, Jem turned his attention back to Claire and what she was saying.

[claire]

Almost instantly, she clung to him for comfort. He was her reality right now, her comfort from the dark. "No...no I...I...I'm fine." Her voice was broken and afraid. Her heart was pounding painfully inside her chest. She was lying. She was incredibly afraid, terrified even. She sniffled again, and clung tighter to his arm. "I'm scared." she breathed just above a whisper.

She hadn't known him long, but he was all she had right now, and that was more than enough. He had a bad boy aire about him, that would have regularly pushed her away, but she couldn't help herself. He was so soft, kind and gentle with her. He acted the completely opposite of what she expected. Claire was abandoning all her morals and reason and clung to the one thing that made her feel real and safe right now. Her breath was still erratic and she had to take deep breaths to keep the panic attack away. It was coming sooner than she expected and if she didn't calm down soon, she would be a crying, frantic mess. She sniffled again, to keep the rivers at bay and clung tighter to him as if he was her only hope.

[karen6]

Fine me arse, Jem thought to Claire's words, though he didn't voice it. She was already terrified, he didn't need to make her upset as well. He didn't do well with tears at the best of times, and setting her off bawling by saying the wrong thing would hardly be beneficial for either of them. Besides, she clearly just needed talking down. And that was something he could do.

Not giving him the chance to think up anything to say, Claire told him she was scared. His eyebrows shot up, though she couldn't see it in the dark. It wasn't because he was surprised she was afraid--he'd known that already--rather that she'd so readily admitted to it. He'd never really come across anyone so honest before, and for a moment he wasn't sure how to react.

It was the way her breaths were coming in hitching gasps that brought him back to reality, and without a second thought he wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "Hey now," he said gently, squeezing her once, "Relax. It's going to be okay. Someone will come to get us out before you know it. But you've got to be brave until then, okay?"

What was with the patronizing attitude he was taking on? It was as embarrassing to him as it no doubt was insulting to her. But he couldn't help it--he'd grown up with three sisters, after all, and all of them, even Nikki, had all come running to him in need of soothing at one point or another. Though why he was exercising those skills on a complete stranger...

Deciding to try and patch things over, he recited the first quote that came to him that fit with what was going on. "It's not hard to be brave, Chi. Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid. Did you ever see that movie? Oh, what's it called... it's old... The King and I I think it was called. The whole 'I'll whistle a happy tune, and no one else will know I'm afraid' thing is true. Believe you're not afraid, and you won't be."

[claire]

Claire wasn't used to so much physical contact, in fact, she hadn't had much at all outside her family. Nobody wanted o hug or touch the weird happy girl who won't shut up. She closed her eyes tight when he wrapped an arm around her small shoulders. She sniffled a little bit, and took a whiff of his cologne. It was musky, but not overwhelmingly so. It was comforting and made her feel warm inside. Slightly spicy with a hint of...was that vanilla? Maybe that was just hers. If that was the case, both of their perfumes mingled quite well together.

She defiantly felt embarrassed, breaking down like this, but she couldn't help it. This was her biggest fear, being trapped in the silent dark. It could always be worse however, she could always be alone. "Thanks.." she sniffled again, wiggling in a little closer to him for protection-not that there was anything here anyway. Just quiet...darkness. James seemed to speak from his heart, or at least experience. It wasn't often that others reflected the same care and concern she shed. He genuinely seemed to acer that she was a nervous wreck of a mess.

'I've never seen it." she whispered, slowly looking up at him. Her grey eyes adjusted to the darkness a little, and she studied the curves of his face, the rough bristles of his five o'clock shadow. She met his eyes and stared into them, longingly almost. Not hungry, or helpless or desperate even, just a deep glance into his soul.

[karen6]

"Oh, come now, you have to have heard the song before," Jem teased, glad that Claire seemed to be relaxing--even if that meant shifting closer to him and staring up at him fixedly. He certainly wasn't going to complain. "Even if you haven't seen the movie, the song's a classic."

He hummed to himself for a moment, trying to remember the key the song was in. After a moment, his humming turned into singing. "Whenever I feel afraid / I hold my head erect / And whistle a happy tune / So no one will suspect / I'm afraid." He broke off with a bark of laughter. "Okay, so my singing is terrible. Seriously, though? Never heard it?"

It was only then that he noticed the intensity of Claire's eyes. The way she was looking at him... no one had looked at him that way before. It was a foreign thing for him to have someone's eyes so deep and knowing, like she was seeing beyond his face, right into his heart. Despite the way it frightened him to some extent, he found he couldn't look away.

"Is every day on the Venia this interesting?" Jem asked, not really searching for an actual answer so much as both trying to keep her calm and to distract himself from being lured in by her entrancingly-deep eyes. "Getting lost, and then finding yourself stranded in a stalled elevator and so on?"