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Claire let out a soft grunt of pain as Kaia dabbed at the slash along her cheek with a wet cloth. “Sorry,” she murmured, pulling back for a second. “Jesus, Claire…”
“‘S all right,” Claire mumbled around the rim of her beer bottle. She’d started drinking as soon as she’d gotten inside and a faint flush of pink now tinted her cheeks. Kaia nodded slowly and brought the peroxide-soaked rag back to the slash mark.
Their little cabin had several advantages, the biggest of which was privacy. Claire could go tearing out of the driveway at three a.m. in the Impala without any nosy neighbors spying, or handle her weapons freely under the cover of the silent trees. And it was beautiful in the winter, too, when the snow came down and settled onto the boughs of the evergreens. Still and untouched and lovely, it was easy to feel like they were the only two people in the world. Claire had bought the place last year under a fake name from the son of the elderly couple who used to live in it. They’d died, and the cabin had fallen into disrepair; the guy had been willing to take anything he could get for it. And it had been work, a lot of work - late nights sweeping and cleaning and Kaia holding flashlights for Claire while she held the phone in the crook of her shoulder, taking instructions from Sam.
But it had been worth it in the end. They had a place of their own, safe, sheltered, and well-warded. And it was around their very own kitchen table that Kaia mopped up Claire’s many wounds, trying to put the pieces back together.
It was a vamp nest, this time, and Claire had gotten some bad intel and expected half as many as she’d gotten. It still didn’t have to be as bad as it was, but Claire couldn’t have that. She’d take ten hits and gladly step in the way of an eleventh rather than let Kaia take one. So they ended up like this far too often, Kaia with barely a scratch on her, and Claire injured and in pain, covered in scrapes and bruises. Her left arm was still in a sling from last month when she’d been thrown hard by a vengeful spirit through a bookshelf and into the wall behind it. Kaia could still hear the snap of bone every time she looked at it.
“I don’t think you’ll need stitches,” she said softly, setting aside the peroxide rag. “Let that breathe for now. I’ll wrap it up before bed tonight, okay?”
Claire nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she looked up at Kaia standing over her, fussing like a hen. “All done?”
“All done.” Kaia willingly bent down to let Claire kiss her cheek and then her mouth, dodged her good hand wandering to cop a feel, and went to the fridge to get a beer of her own. “Try not to get any new ones for an hour or so, we’re nearly out of peroxide.”
“I think I’m safe for the moment.” Claire grinned devilishly, twirling her bottle cap through her fingers.
“Really?” Kaia reached out, brushed her finger over the faint scar on Claire’s forehead. “Seems to me like you can find trouble anywhere.”
“It’s part of my charm.” Claire clambered to her feet with a wince and a soft groan; she was sore, stiff, and just plain getting older. Hunters aged like milk. Claire was only turning the corner of twenty-four and she was already in pain more often than she wasn’t.
“You should be taking it easy,” Kaia protested, but Claire pressed a finger over her mouth and shushed her.
“I’m good.” She turned, fumbled in her pocket and got her phone out. Kaia tried to peer over her shoulder but Claire turned so that her long, spilling blonde curls blocked most of the screen. “Patience, princess.”
Kaia ducked her head, as embarrassed by the pet name as she was the first time Claire had used it; that only encouraged her. Claire finally finished whatever she was doing and set the phone down, her good hand finding Kaia’s hip. “C’mon, dance.”
Kaia laughed, rolled her eyes at Claire’s utter ridiculousness, but wrapped her arms around her shoulders anyway, the neck of the beer bottle still in one hand. “You’re an idiot.”
“Your idiot,” Claire said smugly, pressing a Corona-flavored kiss to Kaia’s lips.
Here's to us, here's to love
All the times that we messed up
Here's to you, fill the glass
'Cause the last few nights have kicked my ass
Kaia chuckled, leaned in to press a tiny kiss just behind Claire’s ear. “Yeah, they have.”
“I am a little worse for wear…” Claire admitted, tipsy, hanging on Kaia like she meant the world.
If they give you hell
Tell em to go fuck themselves, here's to us, here's to us
“Fuck them,” Claire mumbled along with the music, her pretty blue eyes locked onto Kaia’s brown ones. “Love you.”
Kaia leaned in, left a feather-soft kiss on the tip of Claire’s nose. “Love you too.”