[RL with Rachel]

[immortal_vino]

Claire stood at the kitchen sink, watching blood from his hands and humming to himself in contentment. Tempting smells issued from the oven, and from the bubbling pot on his stove, and a bit of music floated through the apartment from the radio in the corner - a bit of soft jazz, Claire's favourite

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[ridingfree]

The atmosphere wasn't too unfamiliar to Rachel, who often fell asleep on her own couch, sometimes while listening to jazz. No, what ultimately stirred her was the food. Even in sleep, she was aware that she hadn't cooked anything. In fact, she only recently acquired enough money to go grocery shopping, which she'd planned on doing later, so there shouldn't have been any food to cook.

Slowly blinking her eyes, she pushed herself up enough to blearily look around the apartment. When her eyes landed on unfamiliar furniture, unfamiliar decor, she came to the sudden, terrifying realization that it wasn't actually hers.

She quickly shot up with a gasp and braced her arms on the couch, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

[immortal_vino]

Claire heard the creak of the couch and a soft gasp, just barely over the running water and the bubble of boiling water. He grabbed a towel and began buffing the last of the pink water from his hands as he walked back out to the living room.

"Hi!" he said cheerfully. Then he noticed her panicked expression and sobered a little with concern. "Did you sleep okay?"

[ridingfree]

Rachel's head whipped around in the direction of the voice, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "You--!" She stood from the couch and began to back away. "What are you... what..."

[immortal_vino]

Claire's concern deepened at Rachel's reaction. He dropped the towel on the floor and looked around alertly, as if there might be someone coming up behind him. He had been pretty involved with cutting up that pork loin that he'd bought at the store, and with cooking, and might have missed something, conceivably.

But obviously they were the only ones here.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked, confused.

[ridingfree]

"H-honey?" She took another step back, then looked around. "Why am I... Where am I..."

[immortal_vino]

His eyebrows drew together sharply. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't understand why Rachel was suddenly so panicked. Was it something in a dream? But she was pretty fully awake by now.

"This is our apartment," he said soothingly. "In Manhattan. Remember? It's a block from the Cariggioso." He lifted his hands, palm up. "Do you want some dinner? It's almost ready."

[ridingfree]

She turned back to him, her eyebrows knitted in confusion, though the shock never left her face. "Our what?"

By that point, a million thoughts were running through her head, so much so that she couldn't quite get hold of them. What was she doing there? Why was he calling it their place? Had he abducted her?

Having noticed what she believed was the front door during her brief examination of the place, she slowly inched her way in that direction.

[immortal_vino]

Claire saw her moving towards the door and moved forward quickly to cut her off. He reached out to grab her hand, smiling brightly.

It was vital that he not let her escape. Something was obviously wrong with his love, and she might get hurt if she went out onto the streets.

"Come on," he said. "Dinner's almost ready. I'm making roast pork and potatoes."

[ridingfree]

Before he could take her hand, she jerked it away and quickened her pace, moving backwards towards the door. "Why are you doing this?"

[immortal_vino]

Claire sighed and jumped. He wasn't wearing his coat at the moment, which was a disappointment. It would have flared dramatically as he flipped over her head and landed in front of the door, arms spread wide as if completing a leap in a circus - or to bar her from leaving.

"Rachel," he said, very calmly. "You're in no danger. I promise you. But I can't let you leave when you're confused like this. You've obviously been hit by a virus, or gotten hit on the head or something, and I don't want you to get hurt." He frowned worriedly. "I mean, it doesn't even seem like you remember that we're married."

[ridingfree]

Rachel spun around to face him. As much as she tried to prepare herself for whatever Claire had in mind, though, nothing could have prepared her for the words that had just left his mouth. She froze in place, her guard momentarily lowered by shock.

"Married?" Bewildered, she glanced around the apartment once more, looking over the furniture, the decor, the little touches here and there. He thought this was their home? He thought they were...

Running his words through her mind, a realization suddenly dawned on her. "This is a virus..." Slowly, she turned back to him. "That place... This is a virus."

[immortal_vino]

He brightened and nodded quickly. He could tell that she still didn't actually remember, but that was all right so long as she understood that it was a virus, and so there was no need to be scared.

Not that there was any need for her to be scared of him, anyway. That was just silly.

"That's right," he said. "I'm sure you've just forgotten because of a virus, and it'll wear off in a few days."

[ridingfree]

Rachel's lips thinned as they pulled into a tight line. He thought she was affected. No one had briefed her on proper virus protocol, as far as this was concerned. Should she try to convince him otherwise or play along?

"In a few days... Right." She wasn't sure she could play along for that long. "What will we do until then?"

[immortal_vino]

He took a couple of steps towards her, uncharacteristically uncertain. Rachel wasn't the only one who wasn't sure exactly how to deal with this. He didn't want her to run away from him or to be scared. That would get really annoying, quickly. But hopefully she'd calm down now that she understood that he hadn't kidnapped her.

"Well," he said, smiling at her hopefully. "I thought we'd start by having dinner." He sobered, his eyes widening as another possible source of her nervousness struck him. "I won't make you do anything, if you don't want...Though you always seemed to like it. I can wait until you remember."

[ridingfree]

She tensed as he approached but didn't move away this time, frowning as she tried to decipher what he meant. "Always seemed to..."

And then her back straightened at the realization, her eyes narrowing.

"We'll wait," she quickly said in a tone that brooked no argument. After a moment, she hesitantly added, "But dinner is fine."

[immortal_vino]

Claire nodded, not too surprised. Rachel had taken some doing to get her to warm up to him, and she was as stiff and withdrawn as ever once more.

That was okay. He could be persuasive.

He beamed at her and nodded, veering away to head towards the kitchen. "I'll just take it out of the oven. Table's already set, why don't you go sit down?" He glanced at her over his shoulder, grinning, but also making sure she didn't bolt for the door again.