Laugh or cry time at the musée d'art

[quite_a_delight]

We are stars
We will get brighter
And we will shine
Forever and ever.

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[lucked]

Claire had to admit- these days, she was feeling pretty lost.

Between the appearance of a city under the island, Chris' confessions about his condition, and the knowledge that no matter what hurdles the island sent at a person, things could only get worse, Claire found herself on edge most days. Just waiting for the next crack to form. The boardwalk was the best place to go those days, a place from where Claire could see hints of everything. Waves, everywhere. Huts, not far away. The best mix of nature and nurture that one could find on that small island, and a place where she could both be alone and yet easily found, if anyone wanted to go looking for her.

Distracted by a multitude of thoughts she couldn't even begin to sort, Claire yelped when she felt someone bump into her as she sat, turning around and brow immediately furrowing once she noticed who it was.

"Marshall?" she asked, blinking. "God, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there- you okay?"

As soon as she said it, Claire noticed the small box on the boardwalk, wondering if she needed to immediately eat her words.

[quite_a_delight]

He lost his balance, nearly tumbled, saved only by a pretty spectacular flail that maybe he could've been embarrassed about if not for the giant KILLED IN CRASH literally burned across his retina.

"Sorry," he murmured distractedly, the careful calm on his face collapsing for a span of a second or two, replaced with a wave of cold, painful disbelief that sucked the air clean from his lungs.

"I..."

[lucked]

Holding out her arms to try and catch Marshall as best as she could (not that she expected they would have come out of it comfortably had he actually tumbled), Claire got to her feet as soon as Marshall regained his balance, looking worriedly over a face that look shellshocked, at best.

"No, god, don't apologize, it's totally cool," Claire replied, before her voice trailed off, eyes still gravitating towards the box with a feeling of unease. "What- what is it?"

She looked up at him, wondering if it was too much to ask if she could look, and resolutely keeping her gaze away from the scattered papers.

[quite_a_delight]

"I..."

Suddenly, the power of speech seemed like an impossible talent. Something well beyond his capabilities. He opened his mouth and all that came out was a weak squeak, lips opening and closing like a fish drowning on air.

Finally, he bent to pick up the clipping he'd dropped, frowning down at it with no more understanding than before. "I think my best friend might be dead."

[lucked]

"Shit."

Claire didn't usually make a habit out of swearing. If anything, most of the time, her reactions were muted. Understated. The result of always hiding herself in one way or another, earlier on because she found so many of her interests at odds with the various cliques at school, and later because her ability left her unsure where shse fit in the world at large, if indeed anywhere at all. It was easier to let herself and her life float vaguely when she didn't feel strongly about anything in particular. Sometimes, championing a cause felt like anchoring herself down.

But this- how could she react anything but strongly to the loss of a friend? Of family?

She felt her breath grow thin, her mind dizzy, thinking of Chris.

"Maybe it's just- maybe it's a cruel trick. Maybe it's just the island," she said, but the words felt thin at best. "God, I'm so... sorry."

[quite_a_delight]

"It doesn't even matter if it is though, right? He's not here, and as far as any of us know, we'll never see any of those people back home again," he said, crumpling up the clipping in his hand and tossing it into the box at their feet.

"I mean, that's the beauty of this place, right? Take away everything we know, only to give us even more people to lose."

[lucked]

"We don't know that," Claire argued in turn, even if her words felt thin, hollow even to herself. "We don't know that we'll never go home or see our families and friends again. We don't know what comes after this, we don't even know what this place is. You can't just... give up hope like that. Otherwise, god, nothing that we do would even matter. Doesn't matter if we live at all, and that's just so wrong." Shaking her head, Claire tried to ease the chill from her spine, biting her lower lip nervously. The last thing that she wanted to do was to start an argument.

Or no- the last thing that she wanted to do was to let Marshall go on with statements that she didn't necessarily agree with. Claire Bennet was a lot of things, but quiet... was no longer one of them.

"Besides, there's that whole trite 'better to have loved' saying, isn't there?"

[quite_a_delight]

"Yeah, except for the part where I don't even remember us being together," he muttered flatly, though he seemed to realize, finally, that he was being rude, a wince of a smile finding its way onto his face and his shoulders lifting in an awkward shrug.

"Sorry, I just... I didn't expect to find any of this."

[lucked]

"I didn't..." Claire breathed, feeling the guilt immediately come crashing down- and for what, she wasn't even quite sure. Maybe for the fact that she was trying to defend herself, as though the oversight on her end mattered, as though it was even important to make sure that he knew she hadn't peeked at the contents. Maybe because she felt bad at all for having apparently triggered more emotions still. Maybe because the entire encounter was one where she was clearly seeing too much, seeing things that weren't meant for her eyes. Shaking her head, she continued softly nonetheless. It didn't make sense to stop. "I didn't necessarily mean that, just that he was your friend. And."

She ran a hand down her face, wishing that the ground would swallow her whole. "God, you shouldn't be apologizing. That's the last thing you should be doing, I just... wish I knew how to help."