concordia

thirty two

word count: 2k

date written: 20.3.20

verse: unspecified au

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"you excited, mum?" kalen asked, leaning against the kitchen island. 

"i am!" claire piped up in response, resting her chin on the edge of the counter. she had rainbow paint all over her face and glitter in her hair, but connie didn't have the heart to chastise her for it given the occasion. "i'm super excited!" she twirled away from the counter, dancing across the kitchen. "all the laughing and fun and rainbows and-" she spun into kalen with a light oof  before stepping back and beaming brightly up at him. he rolled his eyes, grinning in amusement as she latched onto the counter again, and turned back to connie. 

"don't worry, it'll be a laugh," he assured her when she still didn't respond, and she offered him a weak smile in return. elle immediately clicked her tongue, angling connie's head away from him. 

"stop moving," she chided, frowning in concentration as she continued trying to paint on connie's cheek. while claire had been content with just smearing a dozen different colors all over her face, connie had reluctantly opted for something a little simpler and far less eye-catching. although she'd initially planned to paint the stripes on herself, elle had insisted she do it instead -- something about wanting to keep her dexterity sharp, although connie doubted it was entirely truthful. 

she sighed, doing as she was told, and watched from the corner of her eye as claire started to dance around the room again. "will there be lots of people?" she asked kalen, bouncing excitedly on the spot. "i mean lots and lots. like, um..." she stilled, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to think of an example. "at the carnival!" 

"probably more," kalen said offhandedly, and claire's eyes widened in mild panic. lots of people meant lots of loud noise and she wasn't particularly a fan of either. kalen glanced over at her when she didn't say anything. "hey, don't worry. they're all nice people." claire frowned, sliding over to him in her socks. "and mum would break your hand before she let go of it." connie scowled across at him, but elle immediately moved her head back again. claire giggled, turning to watch elle paint. 

"we can wear the arm-string-thingy again!" she suggested, balancing on her tiptoes so she could rest her arms on the counter. when they'd last gone to the carnival, connie had given her a 'magic' bracelet that had connected to her own matching one, and claire had dragged her all over the place throughout the afternoon. wherever she'd gone, connie had gone too, and vice versa. it had certainly helped her relax in such a crowded environment. 

kalen snorted at the mention of it. he vaguely remembered when connie had tried to do the same thing with luca when he was younger, and he'd refused to even stand up let alone go out anywhere. fortunately, claire wasn't quite as uncooperative as their brother had been at her age. "sounds like a good idea," he agreed when connie didn't say anything, seemingly hyper-focused on the kitchen wall as she waited semi-impatiently for elle to finish what she was doing. claire beamed at kalen's approval, rocking back and forth on her heels as she turned her attention to elle instead.

"are you finished yet, mum?" she asked brightly, holding onto the edge of the counter. elle didn't look up from what she was doing, eyes narrowed as she added a fleeting stroke of paint to connie's cheek.

"almost..." she said after a moment, tilting her head to the side slightly as she scrutinized her work. it just needed a few finishing touches. claire held her breath and her tongue, falling still as she watched elle in silence, waiting. kalen thought elle was taking it a little too seriously, although he understood why, but claire was captivated, reminded of the few times she'd seen elle working. it was almost as though a scalpel and a paintbrush were one in the same thing to her. in some ways, claire supposed they were.