FicWad

A sudden crash of thunder made Joan jump, though Grey didn't seem startled at all. Rain began to fall again in a sudden downpour, thrashing through the window (which Claude had forgotten to shut before storming out.)

"Oh!" Joan jumped up to close the window, but Grey laid his hand on her shoulder, making her sit back down.

"I'll get it," he murmured. "I suggest you brace yourself. Claude is not going to be pleased when he comes back in." Grey paused and looked around the shabby apartment curiously. "I wonder if there are any earplugs in here . . . ah, well. We'll make do without."

Just as he was sliding the stubborn window shut, the front door of the apartment banged open with a sound like the report of a shotgun. Claude stood in the doorway, dripping on the carpeting with half a sodden cigarette dangling from his bottom lip. Some of his hair had come loose from his ponytail and was plastered to his face.

"Happy?" he snarled furiously, slamming the door behind him. "The cigarette's out!"

Grey was obviously trying his hardest not to laugh at his soaked twin. "Oh, Claude . . . you're wet."

"NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!!"

Grey covered his mouth with his hand, hiding a smile, and even Joan couldn't help but giggle quietly. Claude glared at both of them, spitting the cigarette into a garbage can and plopping down on the couch again. "Think it's funny, huh?"

Joan shook her head frantically, clearly terrified, but Grey was more frank. "It's hilarious, actually." The blonde angel leaned forward and flicked a strand of sodden hair out of his brother's dark eyes with one long, slender finger, smirking good-naturedly at him.

Claude made a noise halfway between a growl and a snort, staring furiously at the ceiling as though it had committed some dire offense. "S'not funny. This is your fault." He turned over so that he was facing the wall, with his back to Joan and Grey.

"Come on. You aren't really angry," Grey murmured soothingly, all traces of amusement instantly vanishing from his tone. "Why don't you get some dry clothes on?" He suddenly seemed to realize something, and he turned to Joan. "Joan, don't you need a change of clothes, as well?"

She flushed, glancing down at the floor. "Well, I . . . all my clothes are at my boyfriend's house," she mumbled.

"I'm sure you can pick some up tomorrow, but for now you can borrow some of Claude's clothes," Grey replied. Claude stuck his head up, frowning.

"Wait, what? Who's getting my clothes?!"

Grey ignored him and continued watching Joan, waiting for her response. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "N-No, that's okay. I think I'll just buy new clothes."

"That's stupid," Claude snorted. "What's your boyfriend gonna do with all your old clothes?"

"You don't want to go back?" Grey murmured, looking at Joan with concern in his pale eyes. She shook her head silently. "You're afraid?" he pressed. After a moment's hesitation, the young artist nodded.

"He . . . he was really mad when he threw me out," she mumbled. "I r-really don't want to go back."

Something seemed to spark in Grey, and he straightened up in his seat, frowning. "You shouldn't worry about that, Joan. It's not right for you to be afraid to retrieve your own possessions. Claude and I will go with you tomorrow."

"We will?" Claude asked incredulously, cocking one long, black eyebrow.

"We will," Grey repeated forcefully. "Besides . . ." His tone darkened, and his frown deepened slightly. "I want to meet the kind of person who'd throw a teenage girl out into the rain."

Claude noticed that his brother's hands were clenched into fists, and a vein was pulsing on the side of his jaw. The Fallen angel sat up and touched his twin's shoudler lightly. Grey turned his head and they made eye contact, and both of them instantly relaxed.

The exchange took less than two seconds, but Joan caught all of it. there was certainly something odd about these twins . . . something abnormal . . .

You're being silly, she told herself firmly. There's nothing strange about them. Sure, they're both more beautiful than any living creature you've ever seen in your life, but that's not really very strange, right? And . . . maybe all twins act like this. You've never really befriended any before, so how would you know?

But, despite her frantic rationalization, Joan couldn't shake the eerie feeling that had settled on her from the first moment she saw the two side by side. They knew each other too well, they connected too deeply . . . as though they had been together for far longer than twenty-three years. She shook her head, frowning, and forced herself to think straight. Jeez. I must've hit my head really hard, she thought ruefully.