Claude flashes a smile to Steven, then to Thace as he walks in. "Hey. I didn't realize we'd be eating; mind if I ask Dimitri if he wants anything? We were going to stop somewhere on our way back home, so I asked if he'd mind waiting outside for me."
This is, of course, Claude delicately placing the first card of the evening's game in full view on the table. He's here, and everything is friendly...and Dimitri, his deeply loving, extremely strong, and violently protective boyfriend, is outside. Expecting Claude to walk out of Fight Club's doors later, alive and unharmed, and if he doesn't, Dimitri will know who to demand explanations from.
It's simply a fact that Claude has made Steven and Thace aware of, nowhere even close to approaching a threat. In fact, Claude's casually arranged it so it doesn't even look like a precaution - except perhaps to men who would recognize what the precaution is, exactly, and why Claude might feel as though he needs to take it.
Dimitri, for what it's worth, is completely in the dark that there's even the possibility for danger to Claude here. For one thing, if Claude had informed him, Dimitri would have gotten protective to an impossible degree...but also, there's no way to explain why he might need protection here without potentially destroying both Steven and Thace's confidences (which he's already elected to keep) and also their friendly relationship with Dimitri. Even thinking they might hurt Claude could be too much for Dimitri to reconcile, Claude thinks. No need to tar and feather Steven and Thace with that particular brush in Dimitri's mind unless they actually do try something.
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This is, of course, Claude delicately placing the first card of the evening's game in full view on the table. He's here, and everything is friendly...and Dimitri, his deeply loving, extremely strong, and violently protective boyfriend, is outside. Expecting Claude to walk out of Fight Club's doors later, alive and unharmed, and if he doesn't, Dimitri will know who to demand explanations from.
It's simply a fact that Claude has made Steven and Thace aware of, nowhere even close to approaching a threat. In fact, Claude's casually arranged it so it doesn't even look like a precaution - except perhaps to men who would recognize what the precaution is, exactly, and why Claude might feel as though he needs to take it.
Dimitri, for what it's worth, is completely in the dark that there's even the possibility for danger to Claude here. For one thing, if Claude had informed him, Dimitri would have gotten protective to an impossible degree...but also, there's no way to explain why he might need protection here without potentially destroying both Steven and Thace's confidences (which he's already elected to keep) and also their friendly relationship with Dimitri. Even thinking they might hurt Claude could be too much for Dimitri to reconcile, Claude thinks. No need to tar and feather Steven and Thace with that particular brush in Dimitri's mind unless they actually do try something.