Chapter Text
"CLAIRE!!" her grandfather yelled. She ran upstairs, afraid for her life. She knew he could barely walk, but he was strong in the arms when he caught her. In her panic, she ran into her father's room. She slammed the door closed, making him jump and drop a mirror. "Claire?" he asked not looking away from the mirror in front of him. The small girl began to cry, hesitantly walking toward him and hugging his leg. She looked up at him, smiling at the sight of him staring back at her. She crawled up into his lap and laid her head on his chest, curling up into a ball. Mirror Man went back to the mirror, grabbing a foundation palette from the counter. Claire leaned into the hand running through her hair.
Mirror Man stood up and held Claire in his arms as he walked to the bathroom. The two reached the door to Claire's mother's room. She clung to her father's shirt, afraid of the thought of her mother grabbing one of hr dangling legs. "I won't let her hurt you," Mirror Man said softly, feeling his daughter hyperventilate. He walked through the room of his wife, noting all the wine bottles and mysterious pill bottles. Claire yelped as a hand wrapped around her ankle. In response, Mirror Man moved away from the boney limb.
"Claire?" the skinny woman called out, appearing from the blankets. Claire pressed her entire body onto her father, clinging to him like a koala. He speed walked to the stairs in the next room, ignoring his drunk-probably high-wife, and running up the stairs into the bathroom. He shut and locked the door, then set Claire down onto the tiled floor. "Are you able to wash yourself? Your hair?" he asked, frowning when she shook her head.
"Alright then, I'm going to give you a bath, okay?" he said, kneeling down to her height. Claire nodded, stepping out of the way so he could get the bath ready. As he was doing so, she clung to his leg again. "I'm sorry," she whispered, watching as Mirror Man stopped what he was doing and turned to her, "you..Can talk?" he asked hesitantly. "yes," her voice was ragged and it hurt to speak. "I'm sorry, Claire, I thought you were mute," her father said, getting back to the bathtub. "I love you," Claire said quietly, earning head pets. She liked head pets. They were nice, like her father.