Avenging A Fallen Birdman (Flynn/Claire/Chey)

[GRIFFIN CARTWRIGHT]

The gentle sound of sizzling escaped the kitchen as Griffin sauteed the asparagus. The salmon was in the oven, fresh herbs scattered over his counter tops along with two squeezed halves of a lemon. "I appreciate you coming." The man said as he pulled the lid of the small pot and mixed the rice pilaf. Everything smelled wonderful, at least to Griffin. "And you didn't need to bring dessert!" His smile was apparent as he looked over at Flynn, glad his old friend could come.

There were few people in the world Griffin felt he could count on, and Flynn was one of them. She knew how important it was to make sure the skeleton never met the public eye, and he knew he could trust her to be discreet and cautious. Her heart was large and kind, which was why she was such a close dear friend of his. He knew Claire would love her.

Griffin rolled his sleeves up and reached for his glass of wine, sipping it before placing it back on the counter and opening the oven to check on the fish. Claire had gone to get her sister so they could come together, and he assumed would change out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable. He himself changed into a more casual sweater before setting to work on getting supper ready. He had prepped the food the night before so everything was ready to go when he got home. His pale eyes moved to the clock on the wall. The girls would be there any moment.

"Okay.." Griffin wiped his hands on his pants and leaned on the counter to talk to his lady friend. "I think it's best to warn you about Claire. She sometimes.." How could he explain Claire? Why did he feel the need to warn Flynn about her? Because Claire needed a warning. "She's charming." His brows furrowed and he licked his lips. "And sometimes she gets sort of carried away with words. She just says too many. Don't be alarmed, I just thought I should give you a heads up, it usually takes her a bit of time to get to her points, but they're strong points. She's on our side." He wasn't trying to speak ill of Claire. Quite the opposite. In fact he smiled a little thinking about it. "I'll think you'll like her. If it weren't for her I wouldn't be working there and we would have never known about the skeleton!"

[FLYNN YOUNG]

Flynn had agreed to go to her good friend Griffin's house for a dinner he was hosting. He was only have a few guests over but Flynn loved to meet new people and potentially make some new friends. And if they were friends with Griffin they must have been good people. Griffin was one of the nicest, kindest she had ever come to know. And that meant a lot since their kind, the Avisaille, were very kind and docile beings to begin with. Also she knew that there was going to be some serious conversation over dinner. Or maybe after dinner, since having heated conversations usually made the food less enjoyable. She'd just have to see how it went.

The female Avisaille had managed to get herself into a harness that with the help of Griffin, she'd been able to fix up. It was an old one but after a few tweaks it was a usable device to holster the magnificent wings that were on her back. Normally she bound them with very thick bandages, wrapping them around her torso. But she also wore baggy clothes when she did that, and she didn't want to look bulky and too covered for a dinner party so she had worn the harness. "I don't know how you can wear your harness all the time. It's so constricting." Flynn called from the dining table. She had volunteered to help him set the table before the guests arrived.

"Oh it was nothing! I love any excuse to make bake goodies." She said and laughed lightly as she placed the forks to the right of the plates and being careful to make sure they were even with the spoons. "You know how I love social gatherings. And we don't have them too often. At least not as often as I'd like." Flynn was always a happy person and loved to socialize. It was just so difficult to keep friends for too long. Since they didn't age the same as humans they couldn't stick around for too long.

The girl made her way back into the kitchen where she found Griffin, her footsteps quiet in her flats. Flynn was always quiet. "You don't have to warn me about your friend." She laughed again and leaned against the counter, reaching for a glass of water that she had helped herself to earlier. She didn't want to fill up on juice or pops and ruin her appetite. And she certainly didn't want to drink anything with alcohol and be incapacitated by the time his guests arrived! "She sounds lovely. And you are an excellent judge of character, Griffin. I trust your judgment about her."

She thought it was fascinating that this girl wanted to help them obtain the skeleton. It wasn't something she would normally agree to but this was one of their own. The very thought of their dead being displayed for the city was unsettling. They took care of their dead and they mourned their memory. She wondered who the pour soul was that had been put on display. Why hadn't they had a proper memorial? Was this someone who had nobody? She looked at Griffin with concern in her expression, the glass of water still held up in her hand. "Are you sure she's not one of us? And you're sure she doesn't know about you?"


Flynn's Attire

[GRIFFIN CARTWRIGHT]

"You'll get used to the harness." He said gently with a light chuckle. He'd grown up wearing one. When he was a boy and his wings were still small, he had no reason to wear the harness but as he grew, and as his wings grew, he was forced to wear it more and more until it became an every day part of his ensemble. He remembered how restricted he'd felt, and how itchy they were from being tethered all day, but he knew he had to wear it and knew how fortunate he was to have one. It was a humans world, and there was no room for a boy with wings. "It will take time, but you'll get used to it." He assured again and then grabbed his oven mit and pulled the fish out of the oven. The seasonings were starting to turn dark and the fish was the perfect color. He took a fork and flaked the edge of the filet to make sure it was done inside and was pleased to see it was. It smelled amazing!

"I'm absolutely certain she's not one of us. If her personality alone wasn't a dead giveaway, her lack of wings would be. I'd met her and her sister over the summer down at the beach. They were both without wings." He thought of the girls again and recalled the way Cheyenne acted. She was definitely not an Avis. "Claire's sister is... a character. I'm not really sure how to take her." The girl obviously loved attention, that was for sure, and it seemed to him that Claire felt bullied by her in a sense. Not that Cheyenne was really a bully, but she was a dominant force in the girls life.

"And I''m pretty sure she's oblivious to what I am." Griffin grabbed the handle of the saute pan and shook the asparagus around. It looked done. He grabbed a plate and slide the green and brown spears onto it. "I don't know how she would know, and if she did she would have likely said something accidentally during a rant, but she hasn't. I'm certain my secret is safe." He recalled wanting to tell her on several occasions, the urge growing stronger with each day, but he knew he couldn't no matter how much he wanted to.

"But perhaps if we all hit it off we could have more gatherings. You're right... we don't have enough." Griffin liked company, but he was a loner. It wasn't because he preferred to be alone, but because he just didn't think to seek the company of others, even though he enjoyed it. Perhaps it was traveling alone for ten years that did it. Either way, he had to agree with Flynn; there weren't enough gatherings.

[CHEYENNE MCLEESTER]

"Oh my God, stop dragging your damn feet." Cheyenne rolled her eyes, bottle of wine in hand as she walked towards the elevator. She had no idea what Claire was doing that was making her walk so damn slow, but it was getting on her nerves. She reluctantly agreed to come on this little dinner date with Griffin, internally insisting she was going to be a third wheel, but that didn't really bother her. What bothered her was that Claire didn't have the cojones to do it alone.

One day perhaps she would.

She pushed the elevator button and as it opened she snapped her fingers to try and hurry her sister along. "Seriously? Move your skinny little ass." She took a deep breath and let it slide out. She was dressed nice but not too nice. She didn't want to look nicer than Claire, even though she knew that it wouldn't matter with this guy. He wasn't interested in Cheyenne, which was a little strange but definitely honorable.

"Okay, remember what I told you last night. Compliments are key. You want to thank him, tell him his house is lovely and all that other mumbo jumbo. Compliment his cooking even if it sucks. Stick your boobies out a little." She reached over and pulled at her sisters neckline to make her cleavage a little more noticeable. "Talk business and at the end thank him for the wonderful time, yadda yadda yadda. You'll be fine. This will be fun." She had her doubts, but Cheyenne knew how to handle herself and defuse most situations.

The elevator door opened and she got out. "And for crying out loud don't ramble incessantly about nothing. I'll give you a kick or a pinch if you're going overboard. Be calm, take deep breaths and think before opening your mouth. Okay.." She stopped outside of Griffins door and faced Claire, reaching up and fixing a few flyaway red hairs on the other girl. "This is going to be great! Are you ready?"

[FLYNN YOUNG]

Flynn knew that she would adjust to the harness eventually. She didn't grow up wearing one the way that Griffin had. Her grandmother who had the wings and personality of a vulture, didn't teach Flynn much about their kind. And Flynn had to adapt and learn it herself. Growing up was already a learning experience, but with her Grandmother it was more of a challenge than anything else. But Flynn didn't hold a grudge against the old woman who raised her. She just had difficulty coping with the harness. But she knew she would make it through dinner without fidgeting too much with it.

"If you're certain they're not one of us then we'll just be careful, won't we?" She moved to her friend's side and put a reassuring hand gently on his arm and patted it. "But wouldn't that have been something?" It would have been nice to know a few more Avisailles in their community. There were many of their kind but they were either elsewhere in the world, travelling and falling in love with all the treasures this beautiful planet had to offer. Or they stayed in small groups like her and Griffin did. She liked to think that most others desired to flock together the way birds often did, staying with their own like one big family. But then large groups always tend to draw attention and that wasn't something that they favored.

"More gatherings is a splendid idea!" She took what Griffin said about the sister and made herself a mental little note to be cautious until she gathered her own opinion of her. She'd do the same for this Claire who her friend seemed quite fond of. It appeared they had become fast friends. She hoped she'd be able to call them her friends too! Maybe they couldn't share their differences as far as what they were with the girls but why did that have to stop them from being friends?

She looked back to Griffin and then towards the food and took a whiff of the savory aroma that wafted through the air off of the freshly baked fish and asparagus. "Everything smells wonderful, Chef Griffin!" Flynn commented playfully. "Now what else can I do to set up for what could be the first of many wonderful dinners?"

[CLAIRE MCLEESTER]

Claire was definitely not prepared for this dinner. Not at all! She'd gone and picked her sister up in her little VW bug, they'd stopped at the The Cellar and picked up a bottle of somewhat nice wine. "What wine do you have that isn't too grapey?" Claire had asked along with a few other questions that surely embarrassed Cheyenne to no avail. She didn't like grapey wines! Then again she wasn't really a wine drinker to begin with. She strayed from alcohol as often as possible since it made her even more of a chatterbox than she already was. And it also posed as a fabulous truth serum for her, too. Reason number two why she strayed from a life of booze and drugs. For someone who could hardly control what came out of her mouth sober, there was no off switch when she was intoxicated.

Claire didn't know why she was so nervous. Maybe because Cheyenne was the one who was hyping it up to be more than just a meal with a friend. Cheyenne started putting the thoughts of this being a date in Claire's head. And those dreadful thoughts made her a nervous wreck. She'd managed to chew on her hair all the way there which resulted in a wad of saliva drenched strands that Cheyenne somehow managed to fix before they even got out of the car.

Then in the lobby Claire was dragging her feet, looking around as if she'd never seen the inside of a lobby before. "Hey Cheyenne look at this fire extinguisher behind glass. It says to break glass in an emergency. Isn't that rad?!" She tried to hype the fire extinguisher as if Cheyenne were a fire inspector and this was Claire's building and she wanted to make sure that she knew that Claire took ALL the proper safety precautions in order to get her building to clear its' inspection! Of course, Cheyenne didn't want to have any of it. So Claire moved on to the next thing.

"Hey what's that? A candy dish?" She pointed towards the front desk and opened her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise and awe! "Awesome!" She said and walked towards the candy dish to find the little strawberry candies that were wrapped like -- you guessed it -- little strawberries! They were the kind that got stuck to your teeth and Claire didn't like them one bit. "My favorite! Cheyenne come and get a piece of ca-" Her sister hissed for her to get in the elevator and Claire dropped the piece she was picking up and bustled about trying to get in before the doors closed on her. It was hard rushing in heels and she slouched her shoulders forward when they were in the elevator and let out an exasperated sigh. "Whew! Almost didn't make it!" She said nervously. Cheyenne was going to kill her before they even got to Griffin's door, she just knew it. And a part of her wanted her sister to! Why did she have to open her giant mouth and say it was like a date? Why couldn't she just let it be!

Claire didn't have much time to really fidget as Cheyenne started to tell her what to do. "Compliment boobies! Got it!" She said and then felt her sister starting to mess with the collar of her top. She'd changed haphazardly in the car on the way there since she had been running late to get Cheyenne and then taking forever in the wine store. But she looked nice enough in a nice teal blouse that she always liked. She'd been told that it brought out her eyes, so she figured it was perfect for the night. Her teal heels matched almost perfectly and were very high. Claire had grown so accustomed to wearing heels that the height or shape of them didn't bother her feet anymore. "Hey! Stop that!" She swatted at her sister's hand to try and get her to leave her top alone as she straightened it out by pulling at the hem of it and using her hands to smooth any creases out of the fabric along her stomach.

She walked silently to Griffin's door and then Cheyenne started to lecture her about rambling. "I don't ramble that much! Okay - maybe I do sometimes but it's not that bad is it? I mean I can stop. I can stop whenever I want." Claire gave her sister a firm nod of her head. "Like, any time. Except right now. Hey! Here's an idea! How about we go back down to the car? I think I forgot something. Like, a tampon! What if I need one? What if someone has a nose bleed? Although.. I've seen movies where people have stuck a tampon up their nose to stop bleeding. Mostly those little high school parody movies? I wonder if anyone has ever actually done that though." And there she went on a tangent.

"Oh!" Claire snapped her fingers and pointed at her sister. "We forgot a wine opener. What if he doesn't have one? I should head to the store and pick one up. Better safe than sorry, right? And what if he doesn't drink wine? Maybe I should just go return the bottle instead. But still buy the corkscrew because I don't have one either. So what do you say?" Claire tried to reach for the wine bottle but she knew her sister was going to yank it away, and like typical Claire, she reacted before Cheyenne even did. She assumed Cheyenne would yank it away from her so before she even grabbed the bottle her mind decided to tell her arm to jerk back and her elbow banged into the wall and hit the tip of the doorbell. "...yeeeow." She cringed and rubbed her elbow. "...My subconscious is against me and I'm sure I have you to blame for that." She said to her sister and then looked at the door. There was no turning back now.

[GRIFFIN CARTWRIGHT]

Griffin continued to get everything ready as quickly as he could, his eye on the clock on his wall. There was a black apron tied around his waist which was splattered with spots where he had got food or water on it. He was actually looking forward to having others in his home. It was a rare treat indeed for the man! "Everything smells wonderful, Chef Griffin!" Griffin couldn't help but smile at the compliment and name. It did all smell good, he had to admit. He hoped they all liked it... He had studied cooking in both Paris and Tuscany, but he didn't think of himself as a good cook. He knew his way around a kitchen well enough to prepare meals that tasted good and were healthy, and that was it. f you wanted fine dining, Griffins home wasn't exactly the best destination. "Now what else can I do to set up for what could be the first of many wonderful dinners?"

"There's a dozen or so bottles of wine in the cabinet over there. If you would be so kind as to take a couple out and set them on the table, I would be very appreciative. Anything that looks good to you will do!" He watched Flynn gratefully for a second before reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a nice dish for the rice pilaf.

"Thank you again for all your help, Flynn. It's nice to have you here." He called out as the doorbell rang. He felt his heart flutter with excitement. "I got it!" He called, wiping his hands on the apron and untying it as he made his way to the door. By the time he got it open the apron was slug over his shoulder and he grinned at the two beautiful women graciously.

"Come on in." He said in a soft, kind voice, moving aside for the pair to come in. Griffin smiled at Claire and then at her sister, giving Cheyenne a little head nod. "I'm glad you could make it as well." He still wished that it had been only Claire, but that was because he wanted to keep as many people out of the plan as possible. It wouldn't be bad, though. The more help, the merrier.

"Please, make yourselves at home. Dinner will be ready in just a couple more minutes. My friend Flynn is here, as well." He moved with the girls into the main living space where Flynn would have been getting the wine ready. "Flynn? This my colleague Claire and her sister Cheyenne. Ladies, this is an old friend of mine, Flynn."

[CHEYENNE MCLEESTER]

Claire made it difficult to not want to smack her. There was a reason Cheyenne bullied her sometimes, and she was showing signs of wanted a good hard kick in the ass right now. "Hey! Here's an idea! How about we go back down to the car? I think I forgot something. Like, a tampon! What if I need one? What if someone has a nose bleed? Although..." Cheyenne groaned and rubbed at her temples as another tired of nonsense poured from Claire's mouth, seeming to form a puddle around them. "I swear to God, Claire.." She grumbled as the words continued on and on and on...

"...But still buy the corkscrew because I don't have one either. So what do you say?" Her eyes narrowed. "I say.." she was about to reach for the wine, but saw her sister jerk back and hit the doorbell, hearing the bell chime from within which stopped her movements, a sly grin sliding over her face. "..that was impeccable timing. Now stand up straight and stop whimpering like the pathetic lump you are." "...My subconscious is against me and I'm sure I have you to blame for that."

"Come on in." Cheyenne stood upright and grinned at Griffin as though she hadn't just been arguing with her sister. She had made a point to dress much less provocatively than normal for the little dinner get together, wanting Claire to remain the star of the show. Though she knew it didn't matter, Griffin had his eye on only one of the McLeesters, and for once it wasn't her.

"Thank you." She chimed in pleasantly, looping her arm through Claire's and practically dragging her along with her. There was no escape now! "Be cool. Compliment his apartment.." She whispered under her breath to her sister before she caught sight of the one single thing she wasn't expecting.

A girl.

"Flynn? This is my colleague Claire and her sister Cheyenne. Ladies, this is an old friend of mine, Flynn." A sinking feeling hit Cheyenne suddenly. This girl right here was the reason Griffin hadn't made a move on either of them. He was totally dating Flynn! No man has friends that pretty and isn't seeing them as more than friends! "Flynn?" She asked and plastered on a fake smile, feeling nothing but hatred for the single hing standing in the way of her sisters happiness with the one single guy decent guy she'd ever met that was perfect for her. "How nice to meet you." She lied. They were in for a long night...

[FLYNN YOUNG]

Flynn did as she was instructed and headed to the cabinet that Griffin told her the wine would be in. When she opened it she found that he wasn't kidding, either. He had quite a collection of wines in there! Flynn had never been much of a drinker but she did enjoy a nice wine with dinner. A light blush colored wine was her favorite, and so she made sure to grab a bottle that definitely had a pinkish hue along with a white and a red just for some diversity. Especially since she was unsure what Griffin's dinner guests would prefer and she didn't want to be selfish and only pull out the blush wines. What kind of manners would she have if she did that sort of thing? She then brought them over to the kitchen counter so they'd be out of their way and began to look for a bottle opener so she could place it beside the bottles and they'd be ready to go without having to look for anything, like she was now.

When Griffin thanked her she looked up from a drawer she was opening and smiled at him just as the doorbell rang. "That must be them!" She said with excitement and continued her search for that hidden bottle opener! "Now where could you be.." She opened up another drawer and it was as if the cork opener had known she was searching for it and it rolled to the front in the drawer. "There you are." She said to herself and smiled, pulling it out of the drawer and placing it on the counter beside the bottles.

She then took a step back away from the counter and looked down to check and make sure she didn't have anything on her. She wanted to make a nice first impression, and wanted it to be just right! Especially if they were going to be discussing the bones of an Avisaille she wanted to make sure she was ready and emotionally prepared for it. She pressed her hands on her sides and smoothed out her top where it had seemed to bunch up unattractively. Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and held it for a moment and then let it out and opened her eyes at the same time.

It was time to meet the guests! She put on her most genuine, excited smile and left the kitchen area to go say her own greetings. She could tell that Griffin seemed both excited and anxious when he had been talking about the girls before they arrived. She got the feeling that maybe he was conflicted about how to feel.

"Hello! It's so nice to meet you!" Flynn said as she came right up to the girls and stood near Griffin's side, since he was the only person that she knew at the moment. "You must be Cheyenne." Flynn said to the blonde female, getting the feeling that she was definitely the one that Griffin was unsure about. "It's so wonderful that you decided to come! Griffin made us quite a treat tonight, I hope you're both hungry!" Her eyes panned to the redheaded sister and it was clear that she was Claire. If there was any doubt in Flynn's mind that the blonde might not have been Cheyenne it disappeared quickly. The red head looked very nervous and antsy. "And you're Claire. I've heard so much about you!" Flynn offered and her smile only got bigger.

[CLAIRE MCLEESTER]

Claire was ready. To just DIE, that is! She pivoted on her heels just as the door opened up and gave her biggest smile with bright eyes as she possibly could. Only, her brows didn't seem to realize what the rest of her face was doing and they arched down slightly, just enough to make it seem like she was confused as to why she was smiling. But she wasn't! She knew why she was smiling! Blasted eyebrows! They were against her, she knew it!

"HIIIII there!" Claire clamped her hands together in front of her body and just stood there for a minute because she felt like she was frozen in place. Her head was screaming for her to take one step after another until she was in the apartment but her legs had a different plan. They didn't want to move at all so she just sort of leaned to the right for a moment and kept smiling. Then as if her legs were just released from a cement tomb, she started to walk. Maybe it was that she caught sight of her sister in her peripheral vision heading in, but she started moving! That's when Cheyenne told her to compliment the apartment, even though they hadn't even gotten that far into the apartment yet!

"Nice place." Claire said in the most blunt, monotonous tone she could muster up. It was her way of trying to sound nonchalant and playing it cool, but it sounded horribly wrong. "I mean -- well yeah I do mean that but it just sounded diff- it shouldn't ha- you-- your place is great!" Claire couldn't get a break, that was for sure. And to add a cherry to this already fudged up sundae, Claire gave Griffin a thumbs up as if she were some sort of apartment critic that had come there just to give him her opinion of his place.

"Just throw me out the window." Claire muttered under her breath hoping that nobody but her sister could pick up on what she just said. She was going to have to live with this embarrassment the next time they saw each other at work. And the time after that and the time after that. Not to mention the banquet where Griffin was going as her date. Not that it was a real date or anything.

And Claire's mind had decided to leave her body for the time being, as she started to think of how awkward it would be at work.

Then something snapped her back to and she looked from Griffin to Cheyenne and then to ... Flynn?! Who was she? Griffin never mentioned to Claire that he had a girlfriend, and a HOT one at that! The girl had some nice eyes! Claire was suddenly envious of her eyes, but knew if she had eyes like that she'd look like a cartoon. She already made weird faces as it was, she didn't need to add in emphasized features to that!

"Hi. Yes. I'm Claire." She looked at her sister and then pointed at herself and then offered her hand to shake if Flynn was the kind that did the whole handshake thing. "Wow. I-- Griffin never told me he had such a gorgeous girlfriend." She said without her words sounding awkward or weird in any sense. It was probably the most honest and normal sounding thing she'd said in the last hour and a half that she'd spent with her sister, whining.

"I mean --" And that's when it started up again. Claire blinked a couple of times and retracted her hand back and placed both her palms against her back making her elbows stick out in a weird, awkward manner. "--not that Griffin shouldn't have a gorgeous girlfriend, know what I mean? He's not half bad himself. I mean, look at the way he dresses!" Claire glanced at Griffin and placed a hand square on his chest and stroked it down as if she were petting his sweater while looking at Flynn. "Who wouldn't want someone who dresses as snazzy as him? Huh? Huh? Am I right?" She then looked back at Griffin's chest where her hand was and she let out a sigh before patting it and putting her hand down by her side. "I am.. so.. sorry. I'm not usually like this-- I mean I am but I try not to be! Not that it ever works. When I try not to I end up being more like it and then I tend to just ramble on and on and on and--" She had to stop and take a breath, "--and on some more. Sort of like I'm doing now. Cheyenne.. you can stop me anytime now, dear sister." Her eyes landed on Cheyenne and she gave her a stern, angry look. It seemed like not only would Cheyenne need to kick her when she went on her tangents, she'd have to tie her hands behind her back also so she wouldn't be touching people. What was wrong with her?!

[GRIFFIN CARTWRIGHT]

Griffin should have known that Claire would be a mess. Any sort of gathering seemed to get her all flustered and tonight would be no different. He was starting to wonder if maybe having her on board with this whole scenario was a good thing. If anyone would blow their cover it would be Claire in an instant. "Thank you." He said politely with a kind, gentle smile when she complimented his apartment and went on her first of, he was sure, many tangents that evening. He was used to her odd outbursts by now and expected them. He realized he would probably see many that night just by her posture. She seemed tense, uneasy, and definitely out of her element. Why hadn't he thought of that? Maybe they should have met in a more neutral place where she didn't need to feel so uptight. Poor thing..

"Wow. I-- Griffin never told me he had such a gorgeous girlfriend." Griffins brows raised and he looked at the gorgeous Flynn and then at Claire, starting to shake his head, his mouth open to protest when she went off again, as expected. "I mean ---not that Griffin shouldn't have a gorgeous girlfriend, know what I mean? He's not half bad himself." And there she went.. Hand sliding down his chest and everything. He tried interjecting a couple of times, but when Claire went on a tangent it was difficult to snap her out of it, sort of like how you weren't supposed to hold someone down when they had a seizure. Claire's rants were very much like verbal seizures, and she wouldn't even hear you until you were done.

Griffin had known her all of three months and knew this about her already. He was glad he had given Flynn the warning about her. Not because he was afraid Flynn would be scared of her, but because if you weren't used to the outbursts, they could be a little confusing and quite unnerving. He was even surprised at the severity of this one. She even went so far as to touch him, which meant she was probably extremely nervous, since she rarely reached out, and he couldn't remember her ever stroking his chest. He did his very best to not chuckle, though it was difficult, even for him.

When she finally finished, and looked quite embarrassed with herself, Griffin gave her his kindest smile, taking a step forward and looking her in the eye as if she were the only other person here. "Don't worry about it. Flynn, though she is a very beautiful woman, is not my girlfriend. We grew up together and she's one of my oldest dearest friends. And thank you. I had no idea you liked my wardrobe so much." There was a slight air of teasing in his tone. "Speaking of which you look beautiful." His eyes wandered briefly to Cheyenne and he gave her a smile as well. "Both of you do." He took a step back and grinned over at Flynn, hoping she didn't feel too out of place.

"Here," He said reaching his hand out and trying to break the tension. "Let me take your coats. Flynn was just getting the wine out. Why don't we start with a drink and sort of wind down first while I finish getting supper ready. Then we can talk more? I made salmon and Flynn baked her famous chocolate drizzled shortbread. It's phenomenal! Flynn? Would you mind pouring the wine? What would you ladies like? Looks like there's a pinot grigio, a rose and I think a chianti. One of every color!"

[CHEYENNE MCLEESTER]

Sometimes Cheyenne wished she could disown her sister. Embarrassed wasn't a strong enough word for the way she felt about her sister sometimes. This was beyond embarrassing. This was borderline catastrophic! Cheyenne let out a long deep sigh as the words just spilled from her sisters lips. With every passing word she felt more and more like walking up to Griffin, pulling his belt off, and wrapping it tight around Claire's throat and just pulling until the words ceased to come out. That was what it would probably take to get her to shut her pie hole, and when she reached out and actually touched him she wanted to crawl into a hole herself and just die.

Why was Claire continuously doing this sort of thing to herself? Really, there was no surprise as to why she was single, and she knew if there was any chance in the world to win Griffin from this fox, she had tossed it out the window the second they walked into the apartment. A cute outfit and sexy shoes wouldn't be enough to dig her out of this ditch.

Cheyenne actually lifted her hand to her mouth, turning and staring at the train wreck standing beside her, not believing this was even happening, yet, completely believing it at the same time. "Cheyenne.. you can stop me anytime now, dear sister." Her hand slipped away from her mouth and she folded her arms over her stomach. "Are you sure? You don't have anything else to add?" She asked in a mocking tone, showing her slight disdain for the behavior.

"Don't worry about it. Flynn, though she is a very beautiful woman, is not my girlfriend." Cheyenne was more than surprised that Flynn was nothing more than a friend, and she was certain at that moment that they must have had something going on at some point, but she didn't ask. Not yet, anyway. Regardless of his being single, she was certain Claire just destroyed any hair of a chance of getting with him. There was no coming back from that. Sure it could have been worse, but that was pretty epicly bad.

She forced a smile when he complimented her, her lips pinched together. She had no idea what to even say, wishing she could rewind time and tell Claire that this dinner thing was just a mistake and to forget all about it, but what was done was done. She pulled her coat off and passed it to Griffin. "Thank you. I would love a glass of that chainti, and Claire...Claire mentioned she needed the bathroom so..." She looked around and saw the door open. "It's that over there, right? Awesome. I'm...just going to go with her. Give Griffin your coat, Claire bear." She hardly gave her sister time to do that or even let Griffin answer her before she was hauling ass to the bathroom, her arm wrapped around her sister.

She pulled Claire to the bathroom and shut the door hard behind them. "What the HELL was that!?" She hissed throwing her arms in the air. "Are you out of your damn mind? Who does that, Claire? Huh? You babble more than a brook, I swear to Christ!" She put her hand on her forehead and shook her head before pulling her panties down and having a seat on the toilet. "Okay, first of all? You need to seriously calm down. Second? Tomorrow you need to call a psychiatrist and get on some meds because this isn't normal. I mean, you put your hand on his chest and stroked him Claire! You stroked Griffin, and normally I'm all about you stroking sexy men, but this is not what I mean by stroking." She grabbed some toilet paper and finished her business and got up, flushing and pulling her panties back up. "Can you handle this or do I need to play sick?" She asked, washing her hands.

---

Permission granted by fellow player for slight power playing

[FLYNN YOUNG]

Griffin had warned Flynn about Claire's mannerisms but she was in no way prepared for what happened. Claire started to talk about Griffin's girlfriend and Flynn was about to ask her who this girlfriend was, a bit puzzled but she quickly put the pieces together and realized that Claire was talking about her. "Oh no I-" Flynn was going to correct the girl but she didn't stop talking there. In fact, she kept going and looked incredibly nervous. Flynn wasn't sure how to take the girl so she just stood there, nodding her head and listening to her with a curious but polite expression on her face. She was a little afraid to answer anything.

When Claire put her hand on Griffin's chest and started to compliment his clothes Flynn had to do her best not to laugh. She put her fingers to her lips and left them there gently pressing them to her face to try and keep from grinning. She managed to make it seem like she was just smiling politely but it was really hard not to laugh. The poor girl just kept going and Flynn furrowed her brows and nodded. "Mm.. yes.." She said to show she was still listening, although she was quite lost in the conversation already. But she didn't want to seem rude and cut Claire off. She wanted them to be fast friends so that they could have more dinner parties!

When the redhead completed her nervous chatter Flynn was about to correct her about the girlfriend remark but Griffin beat her to the punch, stepping in and giving Claire his complete attention. She had to double take and looked at him once more and listened to him, getting the feeling that when he gave her all of his attention the way he was in that very moment that it calmed her. And almost instantly she saw Claire seem to relax a little more and that made her smile even more. Dinner would go well!

At the mention of coats she side stepped to get out of the way and watched as Griffin did the gentleman thing and took the ladies coats. He was a true gentleman, which was one of the things that always drew Flynn to him. She'd never been attracted to him but she did find how polite he was and considerate a very attractive trait for him to have, which was why she'd become fast friends with him. When the compliments started on her dessert she shook her head. "Oh it's nothing too fancy, he's just being polite!" She said and then nodded when he asked her to pour the wine she was more than happy to do so! "Of course!"

Cheyenne said she wanted Chianti but before Flynn could ask Claire what she would prefer the two were heading to the restroom together. Once the bathroom door was shut Flynn looked to Griffin and then gave a little laugh and turned to go grab the bottle of Chianti and the bottle opener that she had already set out on the counter. "They both seem lovely."

When she reached the counter she snatched up the bottle opener and grabbed the Chianti, pulling out the small cutting tool so she could slice through the wrapping around the mouth of the bottle. "Claire seems... like a very nervous person. I hope this isn't your doing?" She teased Griffin and peeled off the wrapper she just sliced through and tossed it in the waste bin before sticking the corkscrew into the middle of the cork and twisting it down so she would be able to pull the cork out smoothly. "Are you sure she'll be okay to talk to about this? Are you going to tell her about you?" Flynn asked and felt a sudden worry flood over her. Griffin had said that Claire didn't know about him but did that mean he was going to keep it that way? She certainly hoped so.

[CLAIRE MCLEESTER]

Claire had been embarrassed plenty of times before in her life. One time in the third grade she'd been playing tag at recess and ran over a very muddy patch of grass where she slipped and fell, then she slid on her butt through the mud in a skirt. But that wasn't the worst part of it. She had won an essay contest about school sanitation which meant she had to read it in front of all of the third grade classes in an assembly. Why they decided to have assemblies after recess was beyond her, but needless to say she stood up there preaching her little elementary school heart out about how germs were bad and spread through dirt while she had it caked onto her butt. As if that wasn't enough she'd left a dirt trail everywhere she went that day. Talk about irony. It was brutal, and it wasn't as if Cheyenne was old enough to save her back then.

But at the moment she felt this was way more embarrassing than her adolescent mishaps.

Claire was about ready to just pivot and walk out of there and never look back but then Griffin caught her attention. He was to her what catnip was to Luna. Or even her during that time of the month when she was forced to shift. She'd tried that once! It was like magical crack! Her attention was completely on Griffin and she seemed to tone down the antics a bit and even let herself relax a little. Not only was Flynn not Griffin's girlfriend, but he wasn't trying to shoo her out of his apartment at the moment! Score!

She was about to say something to Griffin, maybe a little apology and request they start over but then he was asking for their coats and Cheyenne was asking for a bathroom and Claire didn't know WHAT was going on suddenly as it all happened to quick. "Wait a minute I don't ne-" Her words weren't even heard as her coat was taken off of her by Cheyenne and then she was being forced to the bathroom!

When the door was closed she turned to look at her sister. "Hey what are we doing in here I don't have to go!" She said defensively and then got the scolding that she knew was coming. Cheyenne could sometimes be a little harsh in her choice and manner of speaking to Claire and most of the time Claire let her, just ignoring the harsh part of it and dissecting it to be Cheyenne really saying 'hey sis, not to worry! I love you and you're doing great!' Although she knew that wasn't what Cheyenne meant at all. "I'm trying! I can't help it he makes me nervous!" Claire said and glanced at herself in the mirror and started to fix her eyeliner a bit, noticing a bit of a smudge in the corner of her right eye.

When she looked back to her sister she was already on the toilet. "Aw, come on! Do you really have to do that with me in here? That's gross. I hope you know that." Claire wasn't one of those girls who could pee in front of others. Unless she was being forced to at gun point she preferred to relieve her bladder in private. Why did girls like to go to the bathroom in groups? She found it very uncomfortable. And if it was anyone but Cheyenne she'd be having one of her fits right about now.

"Was it that bad?" Claire asked when Cheyenne made the comment about her stroking Griffin's chest. She leaned against the door and put her head against it looking up at the ceiling and sighing. "I'm not taking medication. You know I'm against that and could you see me talking to someone who was a professional? I'd definitely tell them something that shouldn't be told and then they'd definitely lock me up." She looked down at her sister and frowned a little, feeling her mood drop even more. Claire liked to try to stay in a good mood and show a happy face even if she wasn't, but she was seriously considering taking Cheyenne up on her offer on playing sick.

"The problem is what we are. That's my disease. If I didn't have to worry about saying something all the time then I'd be calm." Claire was definitely more calm and relax with her sister because her sister was just like she was. Claire hated hiding things from people, and it was difficult to make excuses on a full moon. Which was why she just kept to herself. Until now, of course. A part of her wanted to tell Griffin, curious to how he would react and if he would accept her or think that she was a nutter the way that her sister did most of the time. But she wouldn't tell that to Cheyenne. Her sister would only try to talk her out of it more than likely, and Claire wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"I can handle it. I'm good." Claire said and offered Cheyenne a partial little grin before she reached for the doorknob, unlocked it and started to open it a bit but then hesitated. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head a little from side to side as if she were trying to figure out a conflict in her own head before she swung the door open. "Let's do this then." Claire had been thrown off by Flynn which sent her into a tangent. But now she was ready and once they started talking shop she knew she'd be fine again.

[GRIFFIN CARTWRIGHT]

Griffin held the coats as he watched the girls head to his bathroom. He had a feeling Cheyenne was laying into Claire for that little tirade, and genuinely felt bad for her. It was bad enough that Claire had these odd sort of meltdowns but to have Cheyenne berate her on it afterwords probably made the whole ordeal that much harder to digest. "They both seem lovely." Flynn's words brought him back to reality and he couldn't help but grin. "Oh, hush." He said in a teasing voice, giving her elbow a gentle pinch, his eyes moving back to the bathroom.

When Flynn asked if she was nervous because of him he simply rolled his shoulders. "I'm not really sure. She's always acted this way around me, so I suppose it's possible. It's strange... I don't think I do anything to make her break out into a pile of nervous jitters, but I must because in front of a tour group at the museum she's usually so calm and collected. Sure, she rants now and then, but not so severely as she did just now." He wondered if there was any truth to what Flynn had suggested. Was it really him that made her act that way? What was it about him that made her react so harshly? He wished he knew so he could stop whatever it was and give her a chance to be a normal girl.

There was also the possibility that this was Claire. She might just be comfortable talking in crowds. Maybe he wasn't the only person she ranted in front of, and there were plenty of times where she acted like a normal person! Was it Flynn? Maybe because he hadn't mentioned she would be joining them and she wasn't expecting a fourth? Especially since she thought he had a girlfriend he hadn't told her about! Goodness, for a moment she probably thought he had been trying to hide a relationship! Still, to him it seemed absurd that something like that would cause that kind of reaction, but things weren't always logical when it came to Claire. He'd learned that long ago.

"Are you sure she'll be okay to talk to about this? Are you going to tell her about you?" Again the gentle sound of Flynn's voice pulled him from his little reverie and he looked back at the delicate woman at his side. He reached for the pinot grigio and poured himself a glass. "I think once she settles down she'll be able to talk with us, but I don't think I could ever tell her what I am." He said a little sadly, though then he grinned. "I fear I might give her an aneurysm."