It's Complicated

Chloe saw him as soon as she walked in. She sighed. No matter how much she reassured him that she would be safe, Loch still worried.

She wasn’t here to meet Lochlann. She was here to meet Guinevere, the young woman who had supposedly been trying to kill him. Lochlann was worried that she would try to kill Chloe too, which… was almost understandable. Guinevere had a pretty good reason for wanting Loch dead, if Chloe was being completely honest with herself. She could probably use Chloe to get to him. Or she might just kill her for siding with the cabyll-ushtey.

But this was a public place. None of that would be happening here now, if it ever did. She shook her head and walked over to Lochlann’s table. “You know you don’t have to be here to protect me, right, Loch?”

With any luck, all of his fears would be unfounded. She could just convince Guinevere to give Lochlann’s amulet back and stop trying to murder him.

Chloe was hesitated, then sat down with him. She didn’t know how to respond to his gratitude. This was the boy who either saved or ruined her life by bringing her to this universe, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to tell which. She wasn’t even sure if she legitimately cared for him, or if it was just some side effect of her power clouding her better judgement. Everything about her relationship with Lochlann existed in an uncomfortable gray area.

He had a cute human form, though. She returned his smile reflexively.

“Uh…” Chloe shrugged. She hadn’t even thought of keeping herself safe that night, aside from the usual not-spending-the-night-with-Lochlann. “I guess I could ask Cheeto if I had to.”

Chloe didn’t anticipate needing to do that. Besides, even if Guinevere did decide to kill her after tonight, she would probably need more than one night to plan it. So she would have at least another day left to live.

She really hoped helping Lochlann wasn’t a terrible decision. She knew that he was a murderer, but he didn’t choose to be that way. Just like how Chloe didn’t choose to have those unnatural cravings for whatever it was she drained from people.

“I wouldn’t worry so much, though. The worst I’m expecting from her is ‘no’ to giving back the thing she stole.” But she didn’t really know her that well.

Chloe chuckled. “I didn’t want to say it, but yeah.” Staying with Lochlann overnight was definitely a bad idea. But his willingness to bring that up again with her was a good sign. It reminded her that he didn’t want to hurt anyone. Lochlann didn’t kill people, his nature did. He deserved a chance to overcome his nature, to have a happy life.

He had a cellphone? “I’m actually kind of shocked I don’t have your number already,” she told him. “Even if my phone became a brick when I got here.”

She pulled out her own years-old smart phone, the likes of which would never be seen in this universe. It was made by a company which technically never existed, but it was still compatible with some prepaid SIM cards and it still played music. Not quite a brick anymore. They traded numbers.

Chloe chuckled at the thought of Lochlann with sparkly pink hooves. “Nail polish,” she had corrected him. She wasn’t entirely sure why he was telling her any of this – maybe he was just nervous?

Either way, Guinevere was here now. Lochlann was leaving – which was probably good for everyone involved. Guinevere would be less on-edge, Chloe would have a better chance of succeeding, and Lochlann wouldn’t have a massive panic attack. She tried to say goodbye, but he was in such a hurry to leave he might not have even heard her.

Now he was gone, and Guinevere was ordering a coffee. Chloe spent a minute pretending to look at her phone, getting her nerves under control, before walking over to Guinevere’s table. She didn’t even look at the table or Guinevere, didn’t even acknowledge their existence, until she stopped and sat down across from her.

“Guinevere, right? I’m Chloe,” she began. “Sorry about the note. I heard that would be a good way to get in touch with you." Chloe's origial plan had been to talk to Guinevere like a human being and arrange the meeting that way. Supposedly this wouldn't work. Chloe didn't trust Lochlann's judgement in any meaningful way, but she supposed he knew Guinevere better than she did.

"I wanted to talk to you about Lochlann."

Guinevere’s shields went up instantly. Maybe Chloe shouldn’t have opened the conversation by mentioning Lochlann.

“…Okay, sure. Brief. The short version is, he’s scary. He’s a threat to any girl he comes into contact with, whether he wants to be or not… uh, like I needed to tell you that. And I... have a plan, to make him stop being a threat. But I need your help to make it work.”

That's the way Chloe was going to frame this. They were all in this together. It was technically true, too. Hopefully it would endear Guinevere to her cause.

She sighed. “I’m sorry. This probably isn’t something you wanted to think about. But the last time you encountered him… you took something from him, right? That’s the bare minimum I would need from you.”

That was… actually a very good question. Why did she care so much about Lochlann?

“Because…” she grasped for words through an awkward silence, then sighed and shrugged. “I pity him, I guess.” Chloe decided. “He didn’t ask to be this way. I think he deserves a chance, to hang out with people without…” She trailed off. The waiter came back with Guinevere’s Americano, freezing their conversation. Nobody wanted to Chloe asked for a cappuccino.

The waiter left them, and Chloe picked up the conversation again. “I also guess I feel kind of responsible for him. Since I didn’t just… eliminate him. Though I can still do that, if I really want to.” She chuckled, nervous. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach. “I just want for as few people to die as possible. And I think I have the power to keep him under control.”