Kill me, Kill me, or let god solve it [King]

"That is unexpected," Lochlann said, his eyebrows lifting to mirror his surprise. "I've never met anyone who fought for a living before. What set you down that career path?"

He nursed his water like it was a stiff whiskey and then took a slow sip, feeling the cool liquid soothe this tongue and his nerves.

Her question about the dog made him smile.

They'd eaten a dog once.

"No," Lochlann said. "My sister really wanted one. They might have gotten one since I moved. It was hard in the beginning because we did not have a lot of money, and my parents are very particular about feeding things right, so a dog was always out of the question. Do you like dogs?"

Lochlann nodded. The answer satisfied him. That was as good enough as a reason to do anything, especially a job. She was certainly an interesting woman, and Lochlann wanted to know more.

"You like dogs," he reiterated. "But you have a bear. How did you and Bear meet? Why do you have a Bear instead of a dog?"

This bear situation still baffled him.

So....she fought a wild animal, and now the wild animal was her friend. Was friend the appripriate word in this context?

Then, suddenly, Lochlann wondered if he should ask her to train him. After all, he'd attacked her, and she fought him, but somehow that seemed completely different.

"So is bear like...what kind of bear is he?" Lochlann didn't know how to ask this. He finished his water and set it on the table, and a waitress came to refill their cups a moment later. She returned with their sandwiches as well and set them down on the table before them.

Lochlann bit into his and then hesitated, waiting to see if she'd like it or not.

"It seems strange that they would allow you to have abear in your place, but not a dog. Have you considered asking them to make an exception? What if you taught dog-training classes or something?"

Lochlann was honestly interested in bear, but he was also horribly confused. The expression on his face was probably akin to the look a doctor made when a patient entered with a lightbulb shoved up their ass. In this metaphor, Lochlann was reacting as though the patient said "I fell."

He was absurd?

"You know how to train a dire bear," Lochlann repeated, trying to believe it. "But...not a dog?"

He finally took a bite of his sandwich, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to eat.

"You work at the school?" he asked suddenly, remembering her comment about the school quarters.

Lochlann put his sandwich back on his plate without taking a bite. Standing on hind legs. Various fighting styles.

She was teaching the bear martial arts.

Lochlann wasn't sure why this baffled him. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't think of a reason why a bear would need to know martial arts.

And, for that matter, why was this on his mind so much?

"I hope you get the position," Lochlann said. "There's a lot of students who could benefit from classes like that."

Now, Lochlann took a bite of his sandwich. He didn't know if he should apologize again for trying to eat her. He was glad that she'd kicked his ass, even if he still felt bruised for a few days after.

"Would you offer private lessons?"