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[wingerguarantee]

Really, the day had been hellish from the start. It was the kind of day he should have known it was probably to give up on, to just roll over in his bed and sleep through it. The sad part was, it didn't even take him long to regret his decision to do otherwise. He'd just finished cleaning himself up in the bathroom area when he started to notice

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[lucked]

If anything, it was the yells that drew her attention to the Rec Room.

Earlier that day, Claire Bennet had been busy baking cupcakes in the kitchen. Even though there was a perfectly serviceable bakery just across the Compound, Claire couldn't help but long for the sense of accomplishment that she got from baking her own pastries. Aside from the arguably useful desk work that she did for the IPD, it was the only thing left to Claire that felt productive, most days. And it was an occurrence common enough that she didn't even really think much of whatever questionable music filtered through from the Rec Room.

But the yells, those were pretty noticeable.

With a plate of freshly baked and as of yet unfrosted cupcakes in hand, Claire tiptoed to the Rec Room, leaning against the door frame. A grin spread across her face. "Oh god, no, don't shut it off. This is way too amazing to miss."

[wingerguarantee]

He should have guessed there'd be no getting out of someone seeing. Still, the (familiar) voice made him wince, and he fought the urge to just break the thing. And that was only because he was aware it was the only one on the island, and he didn't want problems on top of this.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," he said, with what almost sounded like a huff. Despite her protests, a few moments after he finally spotted what looked like the 'off' button, which did, in fact, switch it off. The damage was done, he was sure, but at least he'd stopped it. Looking at Claire with a hardened expression, he added, "You never saw that."

[lucked]

Giggling and climbing over the armrest of the sofa to settle down among its cushions, Claire pulled her knees to her chest and grinned widely at Jeff. If anything, seeing something like this just endeared him further to her- proved that he was just as much of a dork as the rest of them, if not even more of one. Even if she had to question his taste.

"But I did," she laughed, rolling onto her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, arms draped over the rest. "I totally saw it. So now, what are you going to do?" She lowered her voice, feigning a serious look.

"Does this mean you have to kill me?"

[wingerguarantee]

Were all teenagers like this? He imagined Annie doing the same thing, and he imagined being just as irritated and equal parts unable to do anything about it. Because she was right, he had no actual leg to stand on here. She could do whatever she wanted with this, including spreading it to the entire island. He could deny it, but people would probably believe her over him.

"It's tempting," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "Would saying please don't tell anyone do anything?"

God, even his attempt at negotiation was weak right now.

[lucked]

As tempting as it was to stick her tongue out at Jeff and let him know that she could tell whoever the hell she wanted, Claire decided that she had probably already been cruel enough, unable to stop her snickers until she literally pressed her face against the closest cushion, muffling the noise. It was the hair, really. Bad singing, she could deal with (could she ever, being a part of a group of girls who considered themselves way too good at anything remotely feminine), but the styling was something else entirely.

Surfacing again with her face flushed from restrained laughter, Claire nods her head.

"I think I can be convinced," she replied, rolling onto her back and sitting straight on the couch, making room for Jeff if he wanted it. And making sure not to mention that, without proof, she didn't anticipate that other people would find it half as amusing as she did. "But you know, with your luck, it might start showing up all over the bookshelf or something. Reels and reels of your MTV tryouts."

[wingerguarantee]

Leaving the reel still in the projector (he liked to hope it wouldn't just turn on again on it's own), he did join her on the couch wearily. She had a point that he didn't even want to think about, and couldn't bring himself to check.

"Don't these things just show up one at a time? The stuff from home?" he asked, grasping at whatever hope he could get. "Which means this is the only one I'll have to deal with."

[lucked]

Claire's smile widened as Jeff came around and sat himself on the couch, pleased to have company, and glad that the only source of stress between the two of them was one that honestly (at least, in her opinion) didn't matter all that much. Everyone made mistakes, some more embarrassing than others, and as far as Claire was concerned, it was still pretty courageous of Jeff to have attempted tryouts at all.

Not that she'd say that or anything. That would just feel like rubbing it in.

"Iiiii have no idea," Claire shrugged apologetically. "I haven't gotten anything like this yet from home. But I mean, even if it was just one thing at a time, who says that a collection can't count as a single thing? Maybe the island will see fit to dump all your embarrassing videos here at once."

[wingerguarantee]

"Ugh, don't even joke like that," he sighed as he sunk into the couch's cushions. There weren't that many, and most were from his childhood (which he liked to think about even less than this phase of his life). To say he didn't want them to ever see the light of day would be an understatement. "This place sucks sometimes."

[lucked]

"No kidding," Claire agreed, looking more sobered as she stared down at her hands, thinking about all of the crap that the island had pulled lately. After practically a year without anything much happening, aside from the entirety of the island turning into a Seussian winter wonderland, being hit with two days of nothing but the truth had been a big wake-up call. "Even when it gives you good things, it's never really without a price. Get free food and board, receive dinosaurs tromping around half of your living space. And for this weekend only, bonus dose of truth serum!"