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fembuckTitle: The Innocent Flower
Author: Janine
Fandom: Dollhouse
Pairing: Claire, Adelle, hints of Echo/Claire
Rating: PG
Word Count: approx. 1,614
Disclaimer: I don’t own them.
Summary: Claire needs Echo, and Adelle knows it.
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“Do you see now? The gift we give them?” Adelle asked, her voice quivering with emotion as she lifted her eyes to meet Claire’s.
Claire’s gaze drifted to the monitor in front of Adelle, her eyes locked on the black and white images of herself and Echo in her lab. She stood in her white lab coat trembling faintly, and Echo stood in front of her holding her hands. As she watched, Echo leaned in towards her and kissed her cheek, her lips pressing right against the lower gash that ran across Claire’s left cheek. The Doll kissed her cheek again, and then nuzzled her cheek with the tip of her nose, before she pressed her cheek against Claire’s and wrapped her arms around her body and hugged her.
“Yes,” Claire said shakily, her eyes closing to contain the moisture that built up in her eyes at the memory of that hug.
Echo was so innocent. She was so pure. She was kind and loving in a way that people couldn’t be in the real world, at least not at the age Echo was. Echo was beautiful. Her touch was beautiful. Those sweet, chaste caresses were perhaps the most exquisite things Claire had ever felt. They were honest, true, an expression of Echo’s deep longing to help her, and make her feel better without the woman wanting anything in return except for her smile.
“We must watch over them,” Adelle said, leaning back in her chair.
Her hand extended gracefully to the side and picked up a box of Kleenex which she then handed to Claire.
“Yes,” Claire murmured, gratefully accepting the box.
She had lost the fight against her tears.
“Protect them,” Adelle said softly, her eyes drifting to the monitor where Echo was holding Claire’s face gently in her own, as Claire looked down at the ground embarrassed by the comfort Echo’s touch had given her, though she smiled shyly at the Doll despite it.
“Yes,” Claire murmured, her eyes drifting to the screen once more as well.
“Good,” Adelle breathed out, turning her attention back to Claire, a soft smile touching her pink lips as she did. “I’m glad that we had this talk.”
“Yes,” Claire replied, blinking as Adelle reached out and turned the monitor off, leaving her staring at a dark box.
Claire remained standing were she was for a moment, stock still as she waited for Adelle to speak again. But the Director simply gazed back at her curiously, as if she wasn’t quite certain what Claire was still doing standing there.
Claire breathed in sharply through her nose, and then inclined her head respectfully before she turned to head for the door. She moved slowly, as if her limbs were made of lead. That couldn’t be it? Could it? Surely that … that … chat, couldn’t have been all the Director had to say about the tape. She had been caught fraternizing with the Actives. That was strictly verboten. In her defense, the contact had been chaste, it had been innocent. But it hinted at a deeper longing, and Claire knew it. She had seen that desire in the grainy black and white images of herself and Echo.
“We’ll move Echo’s sessions to the evening. When there are less people about,” Adelle said lazily as Claire slowly made her way towards the door. “I would recommend you use Lab C instead of your usual room. The camera in the back office of C is broken. Normally, I’d have it repaired immediately. But, given certain … circumstances, I think it would be best if we left it, in the dark, as they say. Don’t you agree?”
Claire jerked to a halt in just before the door to Adelle’s office. Her stomach clenched, and her eyes closed as her heart rate increased.
Adelle was giving them permission to be alone.
She was giving her consent to them being completely alone together.
She was giving them permission to …
Claire wrapped her arms around her middle as a shiver of arousal coursed through her.
Adelle knew what being alone together would mean. It was why they made very certain to monitor the Dolls at all times. The Dolls had no memories of their prior lives, but they were adults and they had adult urges, even if they didn’t always understand how to satisfy those urges at first.
Echo was still struggling to understand her feelings, but she was getting there quickly. Echo watched her constantly, her eyes trailing over Claire’s body, focusing on areas of it with an intensity that made Claire blush when she saw where Echo was looking. And Echo was touching her more than ever. Echo’s fingers lingered on her when they touched. She would trail her fingers up and down Claire’s arms and take Claire’s hands in hers and stroke the soft skin at the back of her hand with her thumb. She would reach out for Claire, when Claire stood in front of her, and place her hand on Claire’s hip, her hand trembling slightly as she gazed up at Claire with big, longing, deep brown eyes. Her fingers would trail across the small of Claire’s back, running lightly up her spine when Claire walked by her.
Claire had tried to avoid Echo’s touches in the beginning. She had tried to be strong. But she wasn’t really, no matter what she liked to think.
Echo’s attention amazed her … and flattered her. She liked it when the Doll looked at her. She liked it when Echo’s fingers danced down her arms to caress the soft skin of her hands. She wanted Echo to touch her, and she wanted to touch Echo in return.
It had been very hard for her to be around the Doll for the past couple of weeks, and their last meeting, the one that had been on the tape Adelle had just showed her, had nearly undone her. The feel of Echo’s lips on her cheeks, the warmth of the woman’s hands cupping her face had nearly tempted her into leaning in and brushing her lips against the Dolls.
It was only the distant memory of the windows that lined her lab and the camera’s in the ceiling above that caused her to instead dip her head and bury it in Echo’s neck as her arms slipped around Echo’s waist.
She had been anxious since that meeting. She hadn’t known what she was going to do, how she was going to get through her next appointment with Echo. But, if they could be alone … they could … she could … let Echo keep touching.
Claire breathed in deeply at the thought.
Echo would be gentle, Claire was sure. Echo would take things slowly. She would listen to Claire’s breathing and study the way her body moved, learning how to pleasure her with every gasp, and sigh, and twitch that was drawn from her. Echo would be impossibly, heartbreakingly tender, Claire was certain of it. Echo always was.
She squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that she shouldn’t be thinking such things let alone wanting them so badly. But she wanted, god help her, she wanted … badly.
She kept her eyes clamped shut, trying to block out her thoughts along with the light, but they didn’t go away.
The darkness only made it easier for her to imagine.
“Yes,” Claire responded roughly, keeping her back to Adelle as she spoke.
“You will be careful, of course,” Adelle replied, a thread of steel appearing mixing in with her usually calming, dulcet English tone.
“Yes,” Claire responded, admitting the inevitability of her giving into her feelings for Echo.
She would be careful with the woman. She would be considerate and gentle with her. She would let Echo set the pace, and determine what happened, and didn’t happen between them. She would love Echo, and cherish her. She would not sully her in any way. She was certain of this, not because she feared what Adelle would do if the change in their relationship affected Echo negatively, but because she cared about Echo. She loved her … what there was of her, at least.
“I know this meeting meant you had to cancel the session you had set with her for this afternoon. I took the liberty of booking you into Lab C at
Claire nodded, and then reached for the handle of the door. She yanked it open and slipped through with an unseemly haste, her mind filled with thoughts of Echo, even as another part of her wondered about why they had been given this gift.
Claire did not hold any silly ideas about Adelle Dewitt being a closet romantic. Adelle was not allowing them to be together out of the goodness of her heart. She couldn’t have been. Claire was almost certain the woman didn’t have one. There was a reason Adelle was giving this to them, though she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what that reason was. Her brain didn’t work that way, she didn’t know how to be calculating.
As Claire made her way down the hall and back towards the Dollhouse, she knew that she was being used, that she was being manipulated. She could practically feel the puppet strings jerking at her arms, making her sway from side to side unsteadily as she navigated the lovely hallways.
Adelle was using her, but this time Claire didn’t care because she could see a silver lining.
She would enjoy her evening. For the first time in a very long while, she would enjoy her evening.
The End
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 07:01 am (UTC)I like how you write the Claire/Echo relationship. Because Claire doesn't come across like a creeper. Poor Claire. Her torment is palpable. She wants what she knows she can't have but also knows her resolve is crumbling. And then Adelle hands it to her on a silver plate. Oh yea, there are strings attached.. I'd call them chains.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 07:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 07:31 am (UTC)That was excellent, and poor Claire, Adelle is so going to extract payment one day.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 08:21 pm (UTC)The puppet imagery at the end really sold it for me. We both know Adelle will exploit this somehow to her benefit, but damned if I wouldn't do the exact same thing in Claire's position.
AblatedCrayon
no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 09:24 pm (UTC)though i was kind of sad to see a 'the end' though it really fits...it's just....well who DOESNT want to read about Claire 'enjoying her evening' ???
you did a wonderful job as was expected:p
no subject
Date: 2009-04-11 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-12 10:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-14 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-14 02:49 am (UTC)Joining the Ditto club
Date: 2009-04-15 03:19 pm (UTC)I love it and I wish to see more now back to ditto chanting
ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto dittoditto...etc
no subject
Date: 2009-07-18 11:34 pm (UTC)