Shift Of Clothes (Patreon)

As far as the zombie apocalypse was concerned, scarcity was the way of the world. Everyday appliances and conveniences shone in their absence, and while it was possible to perhaps brew oneself a cup of hot coffee over a makeshift fire, the true creature comforts of the industrialized world often remained elusive - and for Claire, a hot bath was chief among them.

As such, when she found an abandoned motel with a functioning boiler, a diesel generator with some fuel left, and a tank full of water, she had jumped on the opportunity. Washing weeks of grime and sweat off of one's body didn't feel so much as a relief as it was the purification of the soul, and as she reluctantly left the steaming tub, she felt, for the first time in a long while, quite refreshed and upbeat.

Her mood, naturally, changed immediately when she realized her clothes, of all things, had been stolen.

Weapons, ammo, medical supplies, food, everything else had been left behind, but her clothes had, somehow, been mysteriously replaced by a short, very threadbare indeed, dress of dubious origin. Having little else to put on, and seriously alarmed at the invasion of her privacy, she'd donned it and searched the area - coming up completely empty, like it had been the will of a ghost that she make a shift of clothes.

"You must carry it on."

A ghost that had left a note, one which she hadn't immediately seen, but which she realized, upon returning to her room, must have been attached to the dress after she found it on the floor. Carry on what? Her journey? She was on the way to rendezvous with Leon, and she couldn't quite imagine him pulling off a stunt like this - he was way too seriously minded and nice.

"May I have this dance, Leon?" She curtsied before the mirror, attempting a terrible, British accent with her tone half amused, half exasperated. Staring at herself for a brief moment, she felt her face heat up, and pulled as well as she could on the sides of the accursed thing - the ghost hadn't been so courteous as to leave her underwear behind, and the dress was, by every measure, all too short for her stature. Quickly looking through the drawers of the room netted her a bible and a few loose buttons, nothing that could help with her plight - and owing to the extra time she'd taken to enjoy her bath, she had to leave very, very soon to stay on schedule.

"Good lord, fine! Fine! I'll carry on!"

Slinging her weaponry over her shoulder and affixing her bag, she left the room on unsteady legs - whether the heels were better than no shoes at all remained to be seen, but she wasn't particularly keen on burning her feet against the tarmac.

Perhaps she could have lived without that bath, at the end of the day.

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Wednesday wallpaper! Been a while since we saw the lovely Claire, and since I was a bit short on time today I figured I'd try posing her for a pinup in Ada's dress. Maybe now, finally, she can carry on the Redfield bloodline :)

Thank you, everyone, for your continued support and for all of your kind words! The heat remains at a comfortable level for now up here, and man have I missed being able to sit around comfortably in my own damn home, so I hope you're blessed with similarly mild weather, wherever you are.

Take care of yourselves, and each other!
/DH