A long few minutes...

You wait around the entrance to her chamber, pacing back and forth, just waiting. You really didn't know if Claire was even going to come back to her room but you didn't want to go up to her in the middle of the Plateau so you decided this was your best bet. "Come on Claire..." you mumble to yourself as your finger traces a stone pebble on the wall "Where are you..."

You're suddenly broken out of your haze when Claire and Eleanor turn the corner of the mountain hallway "Oh..." Eleanor looks up at you "Looks like you have a visitor." she chuckles lightly before moving her head close to Claire's and whispering something into her ear.

Claire reciprocated the gesture, whispering something back to her.

"I'll leave you to it." Eleanor says loud enough for you to hear "Enjoy your night!" she looks at you, giving you a wink, before turning around and heading back the way she came.

"Inside...now!" Claire growls at you as she walks by, swinging her door open and slipping inside. You quickly follow, shutting the door behind you.

You're expecting to be greeted with a friendly hello, a hug and a smile but that was shot down quite quickly.

"The fuck are you doing?" Claire almost rudely states

You're kind of confused "Uhhh...waiting for you?"

Claire just walks up to you, lightly slapping your arm "Well Duh!" she exaggerates "I mean you're constantly waiting around my chambers, constantly doing shit to try to talk to me. Normally I would have killed you on the Plateau if it wasn't...ya know, you!" she backs away "I don't want my warriors getting the wrong impression."

"What impression is that?" you reply, feigning curiosity.

She just glares back at you "Don't play coy."

You just smile back at her "Well...I was hoping we could just hang out, like old times, unless of course...you're going to go out and enjoy the night before you leave tomorrow?"

Claire just stands there for what feels like a minute, just looking at you, trying to read your thoughts. "I'd rather stay in, I need time to concentrate, think about my battle plans for the coming war." she walks over toward her desk with the two chairs next to it, pulling out a scroll which unrolls to the map of the entire continent. "My Sunriders..." you slightly pauses "I need to make sure I do as best of a job as I can for them. I'll let them have their fun tonight. I have a job to do. I'd rather just be alone right now."

It hurt a little bit. Claire saying she'd rather be alone to prepare for war. You figure you'd poke some fun with her, try to brighten the mood "So...was Eleanor just walking you to your door then? Hoping for a good night kiss? Or were you going to invite her in?" you grin at your sister, teasing her.

She looks at you, once again staying silent for a few seconds"She was..." you caught her off guard.

"Claire, Claire, Claire..." you just smile and shake your head at her "Who knew my sister was such a little minx..."

"Oh come on!" she smiles back at you

"Or maybe you were going to tease her just for fun."

"Nope!" she's grinning ear to ear now "I only do that to little brothers!"

The both of you just laugh out loud at that. It was nice to hear her laugh, nice to see that smile on her face.

"Plus, what can I say...Eleanor can be quite passionate!" she slightly trails off "It makes a stressful night of battle planning much more relaxing."

"Ya know..." you begin "I'd be more than happy to help stay the night here with you, discuss battle plans and...errr, well...ya know...help you relax if needed..." your eyes lock with hers.

Once again, she just looks at you, her head slightly tilted to the left, not saying a word, just thinking.