Work Text:
Rachel didn’t really like people.
It wasn’t in the ‘I’m too good for you’ kind of way, but it also wasn’t ‘I’m too shy or embarrassed’ either. She just hated being around most people, plain and simple. She could work a room like no other, convince someone their eyes are a different colour and they were just lying to themselves. She’d picked it up from her father, being able to twist thoughts so pleasantly. it’s just that past some point it no longer interested her.
Rachel liked time to herself. She would sit in her library and read by the light pouring through the window, be it night or day. Occasionally Rachel would have the dining room properly set, the table long and painfully narrow, and sit down for a more formal dinner. It was more for a change if anything, she’d never enjoyed sitting so far away from her mother when she was younger. Daley had come by one day and been utterly perplexed by where he could sit. It almost amused her, but then it also reminded her that there was a great barrier between her and most people.
She hadn’t orchestrated a way to be born into this family, but she sure as hell took advantage of it. Her second house in Provence spoke for itself.
But she still wasn’t sociable at all. Perhaps it started when she was young and her mother was awfully isolated. It was after her father’s death, the year they rarely spoke of. Rachel felt bad asking because of the way her mother hollowed at the mention of his name. They’d spent so much time alone together that Rachel couldn’t imagine being both apart from her and with any other.
Regardless of all these preconceived notions about companionship and loneliness, Theodore was sleeping in her seat beside the window. His eyelashes gently fluttered against his skin, the dark locks of his hair cascading down the side leaning against the tall back of the chair. Rachel had left for no more than a few minutes, intending on making him tea. He’d come by without much notice, so she had to pull everything out of its place while he waited. She took a long, burning sip of it. Then she smiled.
She sat in the adjacent seat, gazing at their half finished chess game. He looked quite content for someone that had just returned from deployment. Her smile lingered.
Rachel didn’t like most people.