THE "VERY BREATH OF SPRING" PARTY; OPEN

[miss_waldorf]

When; Daytime, March 21st
Rating; PG
Characters; EVERYONE~
Summary; Is that loveSpring I smell in the air~?
Log;

Comments

[adamantined]

Claire does show up. A bit late, but there's an appearance all the same. Peter is elsewhere, getting her a drink or finding a place to put her coat, or doing whatever it is that uncles do when their nieces throw them into a blazer and demand they escort them somewhere that makes her stomach crawl a little. A lot of this strikes her as trite, still - pretty, but trite. Underneath their feet the clock is still ticking, and there's an election on. But Claire is capable of pretending that she's still seventeen for just a little bit longer: your normal, average, everyday girl.

She at least knows how to dress herself to the point of looking presentable, hair straight and understated. Her father might kill her for the length, but he's not here, and Claire likes heels as much as the next girl, even if she finds herself more prone to sneakers and jeans these days, winding her fingers around drawstrings and the hems of sleeves that fall past her knuckles.

There is a tin box filled with clock-faced cookies in her hands, and she looks as much for a place to set it down as she does for a way to avoid Blair. If she has to buzz in and buzz out, she's alright with that. At least she's swallowed her pride enough for this month. And if she runs into the other girl, well... that's alright, too.

Placeholder because some of us sleep.

[punchlikeagirl]

Kara spotted Claire almost immediately, mainly because she was one of the people she was looking for. She knew that there were a few, okay a lot, of people Blair didn't get along with and Kara took it on herself to make those people feel welcome to her boss's party.

Striding over in her green dress and matching heels, Kara smiled at the other girl.

"Hi, I'm Kara," she said, offering a hand out. "Thank you so much for coming."

ffff what's this thing you call sleep

[adamantined]

Maybe it wasn't so much that Claire didn't get along with Blair as it was they just didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. A year ago Claire would have been the type of person who flocked to someone like Blair, someone like Jackie, wanting to be popular, ready to be interested in dances and boys and dresses. Things were so different now.

But Claire was nothing if she wasn't good at putting on a front, and she shifted the large tin her hands, rolling it back into the crook of her elbow so she could shake Kara's hand in return. "Claire," she replied with a free-flowing smile, her grip surprisingly firm. "I think we spoke once on the network. A looooong time ago. It's good to see you or hear you or whatever again."

It's resting. You should try it.

[punchlikeagirl]

Kara gave a firm shake back, nodding as Claire mentioned them having talked on the network once long ago. That was one of the tricky things about this place, trying to remember just who you had talked to in what capacity.

"I think so," she said. "And yes, it's good to see you in person too. Did you come with someone or are you by yourself?"

i did! at 6am

[adamantined]

"My uncle's here somewhere," she replied, pulling her hand back and tucking it around the tin for a firmer grip. Claire made a show of going up on her toes - somewhat difficult in heels - while craning her neck around to look for him, but Peter wasn't in the immediate vicinity. She knew she should have asked Alex.

"I sent him to go hang my coat up somewhere but he probably got distracted by something small and shiny." Claire laughed, as much for herself as for Kara. "Are you the host or something?

*shakes you*

[punchlikeagirl]

"Your uncle is Peter Petrelli, right?" Kara asked, taking a look around to see if she could see him with a quick glance. "I met him one of the times he was here before, we went flying together."

Kara wasn't exactly the host, but she was probably close enough and didn't have a better name for it.

"Sort of," she said. "I work for Blair."

ffff work

[adamantined]

Claire nodded, pushing her bangs absently behind her ear as she crossed over to a low table where she could drop the tin of cookies off. Over her shoulder, she called to Kara, "That's Peter. He's... something else, that's for sure. In a good way."

Once the tin was set down, Claire turned to face Kara again, fingers folded across her abdomen as she drew in a breath and gave the other girl a look. "I'm... sorry to hear that?"

ffff illness and memes

[punchlikeagirl]

"Definitely in a good way," Kara said with a bit of a laugh.

When Claire offered her apologies Kara laughed a little bit more. It wasn't the first time she had gotten a comment like that tonight.

"It's okay, she's a good boss and I really enjoy the work," she said. "It sure beats any of the other mundane jobs here that I've done."

UH. I DON'T THINK THEY'VE MET IN PERSON YET SO~

[theserenashow]

Being new to The City, Serena is intent on using this time to make new acquaintances as her best friend is off being a hostess or flirting with a prince or both. So she notices Claire who looks more than a bit uncomfortable in the setting and walks over. She holds out a hand. "Hi, I'm Serena."

HELLO SERENA

[adamantined]

Claire at least has free hands at this point, so she offers the approach girl something of a wave as she comes over. And then she realizes that she's extending a hand to shake and Claire has to cover and backtrack. It's not that she's bad at these things, it's just that she's somewhat out of practice.

She shakes Serena's hand, though, and lights up when she realizes who she's talking to. "Hi, I'm Claire. I think we've spoken on the network once or twice. I'm supposed to give you baking lessons."

She likes to jump right in, okay.

[theserenashow]

Serena's eyes bulge in the most ladylike of ways when Clair introduced herself. "No way! Ah, it's so great to meet you! Right right right, the baking lessons. We have to do that!"

She waits for a second, takes a deep breath before continuing. Being this bubbly is exhausting.

"How long have you been here?"

[adamantined]

Claire laughs, almost instinctively, like she's programmed. It's not that it isn't genuine, but it's maybe a little more rehearsed than it has been in the past. For the most part, Claire is still all smiles: it's just a different sort of smile.

But seeing Serena finally face to face is something to smile about, and Claire stretches a grin across her face and finds herself feeling lighter. "We'll do it," she says, nodding and then shaking her head, trying to keep up and keep her composure. Laughter is infectious. "I've been here..."

Claire has to pause and count on her fingers for a moment. "I got here originally last July and then left for a little bit in January. I was only gone a few days, though, so... about nine months?"

[theserenashow]

Serena grins, tilting her head. She's already covered that with Claire, over the network. "Actually, I mean here like right now, at this party."

She shrugs. Serena has a pretty good idea of how Clair feels about Blair so it's a bit of a surprise to see her at this party.

[adamantined]

"Oh." Claire exhales, and this time she really does laugh, though it's mainly in a rush of embarrassment. If she were capable of doing it and not making herself look even more ridiculous, she'd be facepalming right now. As it stands, she just rolls her eyes at herself and smooths over it. "Not long. Long enough to lose my uncle and long enough to drop extra cookies off, but not long."

[theserenashow]

Serena nods awkwardly- first time encounters and all that. There's always a certain level of uncomfortableness. Even with someone as supposedly social as Serena. She sneaks a glance over to where Blair is not so discreetly flirting with one of the guests and raises and eyebrow. "So it's not that I have a problem with you being here, I mean I was waiting to meet you and this is great and by the way you are so much prettier than I imagine but- I thought you didn't like Blair?"