Claudeson held up his hand in farewell as Lavender and Faith headed in the direction of Lavender's car. He allowed the both of them a toothy smile as they left, nodding at Lavender as he did.
"Take care, ladies. Drive safely!"
Adding the last bit on was probably redundant; if anyone was going to be a safe driver this evening, it would likely be Lavender. What she was doing really was quite a service to her fellow classmates. The propensity for people to get behind the wheel of a car on an evening such as this was probably quite high, and throughout his time at the door, Claudeson had tried to make note of those who had been dropped off, and anyone who had arrived on their own. He wasn't exactly confiscating keys or anything to that effect, but he'd been fairly strict at letting everyone know that drinking and driving wouldn't be tolerated.
Of course, if they were going to drink and drive, nothing Claudeson could say or do would stop them from getting behind the wheel, so good riddance to anyone who decided to put their life in the hands of fate like that. The Lord was just, and watched over all of his children, but when someone decided to act as recklessly as that... actions had consequences.
All the same, he did hope that Lavender would return Faith home all right. Claude smirked as he turned back to his watchman post by the front door. It seemed as though he was constantly wishing people safety as they returned to wherever it was they called home. Many of those had been layered with insincerity, but for once, he meant it. As he glanced around the front of the yard, his shoulders sagged. He had been here for hours, and this whole exercise was starting to wear thin upon him. The evening was well in hand, and finally, it seemed as though no one else was arriving to Swiftball.
The more he twirled the thought around in his mind, the less he wanted to be there at this given moment.
The house behind him was a representation of everything that he despised about his fellow classmates, and there was a part of him - a very small part of him - that would not have batted an eye had the entire den of debauchery gone up in flames, trapping everyone inside for a date with Satan himself. The hell with all of them.
Snapping his eyes open, Claudeson gave his head a shake. Goodness, no. Of course not - that was a horrible thing to think. He didn't want to be inside, participating, but he would let the people do what they would. It wasn't harming him at all. As a shiver went through his spine, Claudeson suddenly felt the urge to be anywhere else but there.
The door opened, and a drunken party goer stumbled out of it, evidently looking for a place to light up a cigarette. Immediately stepping up to the student - whose name he didn't know and face he didn't recognize, Claudeson put a firm hand on his shoulder. The student stiffened, expecting a reprimand for the cigarette in his hands. It didn't arrive.
"I need to go and ensure someone is safely home. Please sit here and keep watch. There is some leftover pizza in it for you if you do."
Claudeson watched the gears turn within the drunken student's head, and at the mention of pizza, the guy's face immediately lit up.
"No problem, dude!"
Scampering over to the table, the student slid into the chair and immediately got to work on the pizza, lighting up their cigarette as they did so. Nodding at the sight, he turned his back to the student and the expression on his face turned from calm purposefulness to disdain. Stepping away from the front door, Claudeson strode into the night, never once looking back at the spectacle that had been #Swiftball. The more that he thought about it, the more that he could affirm that he wasn't lying. He did need to make sure someone was home safely - but that someone was him. There were so many different sins presenting themselves behind him, and he wanted nothing more than to leave them all behind him.
So he did.
((Claudeson Bademosi continued in The Echoes of Silence))