[It's enough of an anchor to at least cease her broken record of "but's", and she tries to draw in a deep breath, only to take in shaky gulps. Claire tries to find words, really tires, because she wants to say so much more than what falls out.]

Damnit.

[Claire holds Parker's gaze and shakes her head sadly.]

Thanks...for...whatever. I know this happens. A lot. I know that. But that last Port...he was so close. Just like Serena was.

[Claire moves to where his bookshelves used to be, the ones she had filled with real reading material and not just impostors of empty pages, and she slumps down to the ground along the wall. In these moments she feels like a kid again. No matter how many adult situations she'd been faced with, forced to live with.]