"Claude can I talk to you?" Theoren asked. He had left his friend in peace for the duration of the day, having figured out the other thief wasn't alone when he couldn't find Fifolet anywhere. But now it was suppertime, and both Fifolet and Claude were walking down to the kitchen together. The two men had spent the afternoon talking about life, discussing Stephen King novels and playing card games.
Fifolet looked at Claude questioningly, wondering what the answer would be. Claude shrugged, remembering what Fifolet had told him earlier.
"Sure. Feef, you go on, we'll catch up. Tell ev'ryone not to wait if we're late."
Fifolet hesitated. "You sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure. Go on." Claude assured him.
Giving Theoren a look that plainly said "You make him cry 'gain an' I'll rip your heart out, y'hear?" Fifolet nodded and continued down to the main floor of the safehouse.
Deciding to save the relationship talk until after the apology was out of the way, Theoren sighed and shuffled his feet a little. "Been doin' a lotta t'inkin' today..."
"Oh?" Claude asked lightly, not wishing to betray how hurt he still was by Theoren's treatment of him.
"Yeah. Seems I opened my mouth an' stuck bot' feet in up to my knees. I overreacted, an' I'm sorry. I was wrong to say de t'ings I did to you. Bein' shocked, hurt an' scared ain' an excuse, but it's all I've got." Theoren elaborated. "I wasn' expectin' somethin' like dat to come outta your mouth an' it freaked me out to say de least. An' den I got to t'inkin' dat for all dose years you felt you couldn' trust even me an' dat hurt. An' as for bein' scared...yeah I was scared...scared of losin' de guy I'd grown up wit'."
"What changed...?"
"Tante Mattie scolded me an' made me realize I was bein' an idiot an' not t'inkin' straight. She helped me see dis whole t'ing from your eyes instead of my own an' I saw what a jerk I was. Claude...I'm sorry..."
"Apology accepted, Theo. But can you tell me somethin'?" Claude asked. "Why were you scared of losin' me over dis? Here I was scared of losin' you...scared you'd hate me an' not want me to be around...all over de fact dat I'm gay."
"You know me, C. I hate change. In spite of it bein' somethin' you've been dealin' wit' for years, it's new to de rest of us. It's change. I don' do change well. Remember when Remy joined de family? Oh lord...speakin' of Remy...have you...?"
"My friendships wit' you an' de others are not gon' change jus' b'cause I'm gay, Theo. Like I said earlier when I told everyone, if dat ever happened, I'd leave." Claude reminded. "An' yeah I've spoken to Remy. I owed him quite de apology for de way I treated him over de years. It's all okay."
"Okay." Theoren smiled. He was relieved that the conversation had gone as well as it did. He'd been scared Claude wouldn't accept his apology. His stomach growled. "Hey I'm hungry...let's go join de others, huh?"
"Yeah."
As the two friends walked, Theoren suddenly laughed. "So what's up wit' you an' Feef, anyway? Seems to me you got your own personal bodyguard or somethin'..." Seeing Claude's alarmed look, Theoren shook his head. "Tante Mattie told me he's bi. I'm jus' curious. I'll shut up if you want me to. But seriously, he seems awfully protective of you all of a sudden."
Claude blushed and looked away. "It's okay. We're friends...wit' de possibility of somethin' else happenin'...it's still pretty soon, y'know?"
"You like him don' you!" Theoren mockingly accused, noticing the fierce blush on Claude's cheeks.
Claude turned and even deeper shade of red, if it was possible. "Yeah..." He admitted. "Have for a long time...never t'ought anythin' could be possible 'til de other night when he told me he's bi. I coulda danced on de moon when I heard dat news."
"You t'ink somethin's gon' happen? I mean de way he didn' wan' leave you 'lone made me t'ink he likes you too, but still..."
"I don' know. An' yeah he does, I guess. He likes spendin' time wit' me an' stuff...but for now we're jus' friends. An' for pity's sake, Theo, you sound like a teeanger."
"'Ey, I admit to bein' as big a gossip as de women, jus' don' tell anybody." Theoren laughed. "An' don' worry, I won' go blabbin' anythin' to anybody 'bout dis if you don' want me to."
"It would be nice to have somethin' more established b'fore de whole world finds out, yeah..." Claude joked. "Now hush up b'fore de others hear us."
After supper, Fifolet cornered Claude in the upstairs hallway. Everyone else was in the living room, getting ready for another movie night. Claude had gone upstairs to get his video of "Pearl Harbour" from his room. He'd suggested it because the Assassins had never watched it and the Thieves loved it. Before he had a chance to get the movie, though, he was sidetracked by Fifolet, just outside his room.
"Everythin' okay?"
Claude laughed. "You really are my new personal bodyguard, aren' you? Not dat I mind...I could get used to it, actually. But to answer your question, t'ings couldn' be better. You were right."
"Cool. I'm glad. I'd hate to see somethin' like dis break up your friendship wit' Theoren. You guys been friends too long for dat." Fifolet smiled. He leaned in closer, pinning Claude against the wall beside the door to the latter's bedroom and blocking any escape Claude might have thought of.
Claude looked at him, a smile playing at his lips. "What's dis...?"
"Curiosity's gettin' de better of me 'gain." Fifolet joked.
"Oh...but..." Claude glanced down the hall, towards the stairs. "Dey..."
"Shhh." Fifolet commanded in a low voice. He leaned in and caught Claude's lips with his in a slow, deep, tender, searching kiss that seemed to last forever. It didn't though, and when it finally ended, Fifolet smiled at Claude. "Dey coulda caught us in de library de other day too, but dey didn'."
Claude blinked, a slight flush on his cheeks. "You're gon' drive me nuts doin' stuff like dat..." He complained lightly. He didn't really mean it; his head was spinning from the kiss and he couldn't think straight.
"Do you mind?" Fifolet asked with a teasing smirk.
"Did I say I minded it?" Claude retorted.
"No..."
"Well den." On a whim, Claude decided to give Fifolet a taste of his own medicine. He moved over to where Fifolet was and kissed his lips gently before pulling back and raising an eyebrow at the astonished look on Fifolet's face. "You started it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm gon' get de movie b'fore de others come lookin' for us."