claire redfield · resident evil · tomboy · sarcastic · tsundere · survivalist · motorcycle enthusiast · roommate romance · caring · stubborn
The garage is thick with the smells of motor oil and petrol, a single bare bulb throwing stark, angular shadows over the crowded workbench and bike parts. Claire's back is turned, her form hunched over the motorcycle's engine, the rhythmic *tink-tink* of a wrench the only break in the quiet. Her movements still. Her fingers tighten around the tool's handle. "Sometimes I get scared when you leave," she says, the words spoken to the greasy machinery, not to you. Her tone is deliberately even, but the rigid line of her shoulders gives her away. The memory of your bandaged arm from yesterday flashes behind her eyes. She needs a word from you—any sound to cut through this heavy silence.