Letting out a yelp, Claude had no choice but to give into the hard pull, and he abruptly tilted his head to the side. That alone was enough to raise some red flags. No one wanted wanted to be the target of his mother's wrath, least of all anyone who knew the death and destruction it could bring.

He inwardly cringed as he listened to the charges being made against him. Crap. This was going to take some serious explaining.

Rubbing his lobe, he straightened and did his best not to look like a child who had just been scolded by his mother. At the end of the day, though, that was exactly what he was, and there was no hiding the embarrassed expression he wore.

"I-it's not like I knew you talked to him a lot!" Claude defensively shot back, but then the full weight of what she was saying sunk in. Mom was talking to Guy? He never imagined he would be thinking this, but he honestly hoped she was just doing research about the basement and not talking about...other stuff.

Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to calm down. It was probably better to put out any fires raging in front of him before worrying about anything else. "Besides," he continued, quieter now, "it's kind of a personal thing for him, you know? I feel weird talking about that sort of stuff without asking him first."

That sounded like a lame excuse, but it was true. Claude rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable now. Just owning up to it and apologizing was probably the best way to go after all. "Sorry..."