Coffee or Tea (Artskaf)

[Claude Saint-Clair]

Claude allowed Nora to move the conversation forward. This was neither the time nor the place for a confrontation. Truth be told, Claude didn't want to confront her at all. As far as he was concerned, his 'mission' for his parents was done. Nora was alive and well. He'd even let Nora decide what to tell them so they'd get off her back. They had always been too protective of their daughter. The fact that Grym had been banished and Nora hadn't been allowed to continue hunting was proof enough of that. Considering they hadn't held her brother to the same standard probably attributed to that too. Claude had always felt that holding Nora back had been a travesty.

It didn't change the fact that something was wrong. Nora was nervous, and she was never nervous around Claude. Above the table, she adopted a calm facade, but Claude was quite aware of the bouncing foot underneath. It made Claude wonder if it was his presence that uneased her, something that saddened him greatly. There was no reason why she should be nervous around him, but if she felt there was - well that was a riddle indeed.

One of the nearby neighbors raised his voice, causing Claude to briefly look over. Claude gave the kid a smile, showing that his outburst had not been a problem and shifted, relaxing his posture, turning back to Nora, and giving her a disarming grin. "No one knows you were looking for her. That will not change," His word was gold. "Let's be careful with the surprise though - don't want her reaction to be dangerous to my health," he said with a laugh, indicating that he was joking.

Claude took another sip of tea, finishing the cup, and set it down on its saucer. "As of now, my length of stay here is undetermined." Given her message telling him to leave, he doubted she would like this. It was essentially Atharim code for 'permanent', and with things the way they were in Moscow, he likely wouldn't be leaving.