#fun fact. claire will for sure kill the next person that hurts chris brady

[halechief]

"do me a favour, don’t lose any sleep over it."

they're in the oval - an odd choice for the conversation that they are stepping around actually having, but it had been where he'd found her, and thus was where she'd elected to stay. no one argues with a presidential dismissal, not when it's said with such finality, not in the face of the particular flint that had been present in her gaze.

claire had abstained from reaching out to him during the days he had requested, apart from a short hope you're well, because it was unlike him to miss work. it could be counted on one hand the number of times he had in the last year, and it was not owed to some dogged pursuit of ethic or acclaim. it was more. she knew this, and had known, for far longer than either would likely ever voice aloud. instinct told her the reason would be equally unprecedented, when the time came for her to know it. so when he'd entered the oval, and she'd seen the blooming bruise beneath his eye, she hadn't bothered with more politeness than was necessary. the words had been : can you give us the room ? but there had been no space left for dissent, his deputy and phillip's excusing themselves dutifully from the room per the demand.

you're looking worse for wear, she'd said. yeah. his reply comes with a boyish smile, one that does not come close to reaching his eyes. do me a favor, don't lose any sleep over it.

she straightens from her place leaned against the desk, crossed arms unfolding as she moves toward him where he stands, his expression and posture reading casual, like he'd rather die than have it read casualty. like the tiny split at the height of his cheekbone were nothing much to look at. i broke up with audrey. for a moment, claire does not quite connect the dots, she does not equate the innocuous looking young woman - who had classified her as chris's boss and not madam president at some event that had taken place too long ago now to recall the purpose of - with the explanation for what's in front of her. when she does, she takes care not to let it show on her face, her head simply nodding once, her eyes trained upon the evidence of the crime, one that itches in the back of her brain, that makes her reconsider the hands - off approach she's tried to take with christopher's life. an assault on his person is an assault on her own, she cannot diverge the two in her mind, but when her thoughts turn toward something darker, something that would be more than deserved by a person that would lay hands on a partner, her gaze instead shifts to catch his own, and she nods again, this time to herself : a concession. a reminder of what she's already stained him with, the hypocrisy it would be to sink to a level she'd made him swear to never sample again.

christopher does not need saving. nor would it be her place. she considers the situation reversed - the indignity it would be, and has been, for crimes against her to be answered by someone else. and while christopher would not, would never answer this the way that she might - the way that she did - it doesn't matter. it's his to answer. ❝  alright. i won't.  ❞ she inhales, deeply, allows it to lift her shoulders as she does, and it is visible, the way that it sticks in her throat. a hand raises, and meets the unsullied side of his face briefly, gently, the way a mother ruffles a young boy's hair. it contrasts starkly with the calm severity of what follows. ❝  but, no more of these, christopher.  ❞ it is not a question, and it is backed by something very like steel seated in the depth of her gaze as she maintains a hold of his own, only to let it fall away in the next moment, like her hand falls, too.

❝  you're the face of the hale administration. your continued beauty is even more important than mine, believe it or not.  ❞

#iii. verse: secondary: i don't think there's anything i wouldn't do anymore. / presidency alt. #newsworth #( and make death proud to take us. ) #abuse / #implied #fun fact. claire will for sure kill the next person that hurts chris brady #no more. do not put your hands on him. she'll cut them off. #makes a little joke tho to lighten the mood