[center]Clara had caught his smile, but to be honest, she hadn’t felt much like smiling back. She bit the inside of her cheek after a moment longer as she approached the group, her hands still stuck deep into her back pockets. This was a distraction - she had to keep telling herself. No matter how much she wanted to simply stow away to the kitchen, have a drink, and lock herself up in her room with her own thoughts, this was probably much better for her. She could get some fresh air and she could find anything else to keep her mind off of every little thing that had happened in that house as of late.

They had all stepped outside and were soon trudging through the snow towards town. A fifteen minute walk wasn’t terrible and the cold didn’t bother her in the least. She simply eyed the snow beneath her with each step, listening to the crunch her boot had caused as she pressed forward, drowning out most of the chatter between the rest of the group. Christian had probably wondered where she went off to, but she hardly cared. He was used to her flippant ways anymore and it was a wonder that even he had kept her there with all of the danger that continued to loom around them. Whether or not he thought it was a good idea that she was near her sire was to be seen -- but he hadn’t pressed for her to leave just yet. 

Clara breathed a quiet sigh as she trailed along towards the back of the group, wondering if she could break away a bit from them once they had gotten into town. Their list was long enough, and the idea that they could split was rather appealing -- although, she would have to tuck away the urge to simply break away for a long while. It probably wasn’t the best idea, not with the risk of whatever that shadow mage had up their sleeve… But lord, she just wanted to be on her own and far away with her own thoughts. Ryanair had certainly stirred up far too many things within her that couldn’t very well be settled until Kieran was in his right mind to talk about it. And whether or not she had the courage to ask him about everything still was much a mystery to her. Part of her hadn’t wanted to know the truth. 

All she wanted to know was what she needed to gather for them and then they could be on their way… As long as everything went smoothly enough. [/center][@Arista]