Application for Claire Bennet (Heroes)

[ms_miracle_grow]

((Done with permission from the Heroes-muns. Spoilers for the whole first season.))

Comments

[totallyluminous]

(Sorry, it cut out about half of my reply.)

Pink, glittery stuff? Mel is so there.

'The application's the weirdest thing on the planet. Much like the school,' Mel says, smiling in a friendly way. 'Hey, I'm Mel. It's nice to meet you!' Because Hogwarts can always do with MORE perky, superpowered teenagers!

Running her eyes down the application again, though, Mel's eyes snag on the Hufflepuff question. Nobody is ever 'just' anything. That is something the angel knows. However, she holds back a little, trying not to wade in too soon.

[ms_miracle_grow]

Clare gave Mel a grin. "I don't know about on the planet," she laughed. After all, an exploding man was pretty weird. As was a girl who could grow back fingers. Or a woman who could hold fire in her hand. "Have you ever seen a duck-billed platypus? Those things are kind of weird looking all by themselves."

She held out her hand. "You too. I'm Claire. Are you a student here?"

[totallyluminous]

Eh, Mel's probably cool with it. Seeing weird stuff is almost her job.

'Only at the zoo,' Mel admits. 'I always felt a bit sorry for it, actually. Imagine what it must have been like growing up--it's bad enough to have a spot, let alone something that looks like a beak.'

Having died young, Mel never got to study the interesting animals.

'I've been here maybe a year.' She pauses, shaking Claire's hand. '...actually, over a year. There's food for thought...where are you from? You don't sound British.'

Always a plus. Her favourite mission was probably the one in America.

[ms_miracle_grow]

"You kind of have to wonder if it'd rather just be all duck. Or all...platypus. If there is just a regular platypus." She had no idea. "Or maybe it just thinks we're all weird. Because we don't look like it."

Wow. "A year, huh? What's it like? Have you learned a lot?" Breaking off her questions with a laugh and an eyeroll at herself, she held up her hand. "Sorry. I'm just...a little excited. And I'm from Texas. You?"

[bantersucks]

((Will be GLACIALLY slow because I'm doing this during D&D breaks, but OH MY GOD CLAIRE! Can't resist. Permissions post is here but I'd prefer he not really notice anything.))

Okay, she was nothing like most of the blonde cheerleaders Jaime knew. A lot less shallow. He read over the app, hesitating on the Hufflepuff answer thoughtfully before he spoke. Okay, she'd been through something bad. Probably didn't want to talk about it.

"I think the questions are there to gauge your weirdness tolerance," he said, with a friendly smile. "And there's nothing wrong with nachos."

[ms_miracle_grow]

((XD I'm cool with him not noticing a thing. So is Claire, the sneaky ninja. :p))

"Well, then I know I passed," Clare returned with a grin. "I can do weird. And nachos are bad for you if you're trying not to look like an elephant and/or you have to be the flyer for lifts at halftime!" Duh!

Oh, yeah, manners. "Sorry," she gave him a slightly embarrassed smile and held out her hand. "I'm Claire. And I swear, I usually don't go into nacho rants with strangers."

[bantersucks]

((I figure she'd ping as normal if she wasn't actually in the process of healing, and since I think he needs normal so much now he'd ignore it even if he was pinged.))

"Dealing with weird is kind of a requirement here." Jaime told her, aware of how much of an understatement it was. "I'm gonna have to take your word for it about the lifts." He was also fairly skinny, despite the fact he ate like a horse. Not that he was going to mention that - he'd learned better by now.

He shook the offered hand. "I'm Jaime. No problem, I was asking for it when I brought up the defense of nachos." Glancing back at the app, he noticed something he'd missed on the first read. "Texas, huh? You come from there, or was that your last stop? I was in El Paso before I got dropped in here." Literally.

[ms_miracle_grow]

((LOL Claire relishes the normal most days. And yeah, that makes sense - unless she's popping bones back in place, she's pretty average. XD))

"Hey, what do you know?" She gave Jaimie a little grin. "I'll fit right in." So, not bad - ten minutes in the school and she'd already met a relatively cute boy about her age. And he didn't seem like a potential rapist! Bonus points for that.

"I lived there. In Odessa. That's about, like, four hours away from El Paso." She tilted her head slightly to the side. "What do you mean 'dropped in here'? Didn't you come here on purpose?" Oddest school ever if the answer was no.

Then she leaned in, slightly conspiratorial. "I never fault anyone for defending nachos. Seriously, so good."

[soopernathan]

((EEE, you have no idea how much I fangirl you right now >>; Too bad my characters have to crush your hopes and spirits :D))

Oh, Jesus, of all the freaking people.

"Claire?"

He hadn't seen her, in weeks, not since... God. And now she was here? Exactly who else was going to show up? This was nearly the entire family of Bennets, apparently. There was Hiro. There was Sylar. Who next? Heidi? Meredith? ...Niki? "You... what..." It was the most awkward Nathan had felt around somebody. His own flesh and blood, and he didn't know a damn thing about her. "What are you..."

This couldn't end well. Nathan cleared his throat, adjusting the unbuttoned collar of his shirt and fixing Claire with a half a smile, one that probably didn't quite reach his eyes. "I didn't expect to see you here."

[ms_miracle_grow]

((*blush* Aww, I love the soul crushing. \o/*))

Claire's eyes went wide and she froze, just utterly motionless.

Dad. Nathan. Bio-dad. Jerk-face who had been willing to let New York explode. Guy who had shown up at the last minute and done the right thing. Um, yeah, she was kind of at a loss as to what to call him.

Whatever his title, Claire had been sure he had been dead. It was a little like seeing a ghost. Making some strangled sound of disbelief, she started forward, only to stop again.

"You're alive."

Yeah, that was a good way to start.

[likeabadpenny]

Peter was beginning to wish that he had some sort of power to let him see the future (that wasn't painting, because that was normally pretty vague at the best of times) - because how good would it have been to know about this beforehand? He could have been cheered up for days, weeks, even.

It had been one thing that Peter had been worrying about ever since he came here. Not that he was scared that Claire had gotten hurt in anyway, because he knew she hadn't - but simply that he hadn't been able to keep his promise to Mr. Bennet that he would keep Claire safe. Even though 'keeping her safe' rang synonymous with 'asking her to shoot him in the head'.

Ooh, who was Nathan talking to? Peter was going to kick his ass if Nathan was flirting again. Coming up behind him, Peter frowned. "Nathan, I swear if you don't stop-" He broke off, staring at Claire who he'd just spotted. "Claire?" Shock eased its way into a grin. "Claire! God, when did you get here?"

[ms_miracle_grow]

For every moment of awkward uncertainty that Claire had around Nathan, there was the exact opposite with Peter. From the second she'd met him there had been a kind of connection, a sense of belonging, which was only cemented by the fact that Peter had saved her life. Peter had made her feel safe, had been part of the reason she had been willing to finally embrace who she was.

He was kind of her hero.

So with a delighted shriek that only teenage girls could accomplish, Claire threw herself at Peter in a huge hug. "Oh my God, you're alive!" she said, beaming. "I thought you were dead! How are you not dead? Peter!" Literally too happy for cohesive sentences, Claire settled for hugging him tighter. She'd grieved him, mourned him, and now he was back. There weren't words enough to express the level of relief and joy.

So hugs would do.

[waste_lock]

[ms_miracle_grow]

Blink.

"Um, not a fan, I take it?" she offered with a slightly disturbed smile. Seriously, what?

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Laura let out a high-pitched little squeeee.

"Gummy worms! I haven't had any of those in ages!"

[ms_miracle_grow]

Beaming at Laura, Claire handed her the package. "Far be it for me to deny a woman her gummy fix. I already ate some on the plane. You can have the rest."

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She took the offered bag. "Welcome to the madness. So what made you want to come here?"

[ms_miracle_grow]

"Oh, um." Crap, she probably should have thought of a good answer to that before now. Not wanting to give away anything, but also not really wanting to lie, Claire gave Laura a tiny half-smile. "I want to learn how to help people. I thought this might be a good place to do that."