[ Some bleak humor might be found in that. Claire weighs the little knife in her hand, rolling in over the lines in her palm. Not aloud, she wonders if maybe that was why he had given it to her, although she knows, realistically, that it comes down to practicality and nothing else. Fingers close around it and offer it back .]
That probably would have been good to know before I decided to try my luck with the lamp. [ Her brow furrows. ] Or maybe after. I'm not sure. It came in handy later, at any rate.
Then keep it. [ He shrugs a little. ] I had a gun I didn't even use.
[ Borrowed from Heather instead of the gunnery - Heather had offered, and since it was from her personal collection, it meant Severus wasn't removing a resource from someone else who'd pick one up via security. He didn't really want it, but he hadn't trusted the ship to not blanket-out his magic, or some other damn thing. Fortunately it didn't go that way. ]
[ Wanting him to have something more solid and tangible is a weird desire, and she knows that, given what he can do with magic, what she's seen him do with it. There's a disemboweled manticore in her living room somewhere, after all. She gives him a look, as if saying if you're sure, and then curls the little switchblade back up in her palm and tucks it into her pocket with her comm unit. The pocket weighs a little heavier, and Claire feels more balanced. ]
You aren't going to go back down there, are you?
[ Is what she really wanted to ask. She just wants to be sure. ]
It's not mine. [ Weapons like that are a commodity onboard, especially for people who don't have the ability to cast a spell and turn a monster inside out. He wouldn't keep it even if Heather offered. ]
I don't know yet.
[ He doesn't know if everyone is out. He doesn't know if he can go back. ]
[ Severus gives her a look that's both challenging and bemused, because-- what's she going to do, throw herself on him to stop him? But also because the buddy system isn't exactly effective, down there. He has a feeling the idea to set out in groups was pointless, as much as he'd like to think otherwise.
And then he smiles, humorless and lopsided. ] Let me know when you go to sleep.
[ Maybe then he will, is the implication? Who are you fooling, Claire. ]
[ Do you really doubt her that? She's very good at throwing herself in front of things. Just watch the video tapes.
As for a response, Claire just narrows her eyes. Not unpleasantly, but with an amplification of stubbornness not totally uncommon with her. I probably don't need to sleep, she thinks, but doesn't say, because she's sure he'd have a response for that, too. Not to mention how exhausted she feels herself. ]
Will you let me give a crap about you and actually, you know, show it, for longer than five seconds, just this once?
[ She does know that he's kidding. Sort of. Which is why she doesn't haul off and smack him across the face, even though she kind of wants to. Caring about him on any level is something like driving her head repeatedly into a brick wall: it doesn't really hurt and it seems really stupid and insane to keep doing it, but there's always the belief that maybe one of these days her skull is going to be thick enough to make a dent.
Instead, she shoves him, palm hard and flat on his shoulder. Her face is full of agitated, tired frustration. ]
[ Severus lets himself be wobbled back a little, and he reaches out to snag her arm - lightly - to balance himself. At a loss, he leaves his hand there.
[ That's better than nothing. Although if Claire is being honest with herself, she's been getting less and less nothing from him over the months - months? - that she's known him. Maybe she's been making a dent after all. She tries not too look to pleased with herself all the same, which isn't difficult under his scrutiny.
She doesn't say anything either. Just takes a deep breath and lets it out again.
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That probably would have been good to know before I decided to try my luck with the lamp. [ Her brow furrows. ] Or maybe after. I'm not sure. It came in handy later, at any rate.
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[ Borrowed from Heather instead of the gunnery - Heather had offered, and since it was from her personal collection, it meant Severus wasn't removing a resource from someone else who'd pick one up via security. He didn't really want it, but he hadn't trusted the ship to not blanket-out his magic, or some other damn thing. Fortunately it didn't go that way. ]
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[ Wanting him to have something more solid and tangible is a weird desire, and she knows that, given what he can do with magic, what she's seen him do with it. There's a disemboweled manticore in her living room somewhere, after all. She gives him a look, as if saying if you're sure, and then curls the little switchblade back up in her palm and tucks it into her pocket with her comm unit. The pocket weighs a little heavier, and Claire feels more balanced. ]
You aren't going to go back down there, are you?
[ Is what she really wanted to ask. She just wants to be sure. ]
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I don't know yet.
[ He doesn't know if everyone is out. He doesn't know if he can go back. ]
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[ This said with both a firm tone and expression, which she trades for something a little... less once she realizes how stubborn she's being. ]
You look exhausted, Severus.
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And then he smiles, humorless and lopsided. ] Let me know when you go to sleep.
[ Maybe then he will, is the implication? Who are you fooling, Claire. ]
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As for a response, Claire just narrows her eyes. Not unpleasantly, but with an amplification of stubbornness not totally uncommon with her. I probably don't need to sleep, she thinks, but doesn't say, because she's sure he'd have a response for that, too. Not to mention how exhausted she feels herself. ]
Will you let me give a crap about you and actually, you know, show it, for longer than five seconds, just this once?
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Look, he's bad at this. ]
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Instead, she shoves him, palm hard and flat on his shoulder. Her face is full of agitated, tired frustration. ]
Too bad.
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Instead of talking he just looks at her.
All right. ]
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She doesn't say anything either. Just takes a deep breath and lets it out again.
Better. ]