Tearful Reunion, Take Two

Cheeto was apologizing again. Chloe kept her hand on Cheeto's shoulder, patting occasionally.

"Apology accepted," she said. "Come on, let's get cleaned up." Chloe assumed that Cheeto was just apologizing to her, for risking her life over an effort that was doomed to fail. She didn't want Cheeto to beat herself up over it too much.

They made it into the bathroom. Chloe took off her underwear - it was all that she had been sleeping in. "I was thinking I'd help you get cleaned up, seeing how unsteady on your feet you are. Don't want you falling over in the shower. Still drunk?"

Chloe felt awful, but Cheeto looked even worse.

Chloe's mind was still caught on the "Cheeto drowned" thing. That would make sense, but... she must have been unconscious for a while, for Dorito to have lost contact with her for so long. That couldn't be a good sign, medically speaking.

She tried not to think about all the horrible things that could be happening to Cheeto right now. There were so many nasty things a doctor could find checking up on her. Hemmorhaging in the brain, long term damage from asphyxiation, the list went on.

Snapping back to reality, Chloe's initial reaction to that question about soap and towels was chuckling, assuming it was a joke. Moments later, she realized that it might not be, and that Cheeto had probably never been to a hotel before.

"Oh, those are complimentary. We're supposed to use them."

Chloe wasn't just using Cheeto's health as a weak excuse to be naked in the shower with her - she was legitimately concerned. Between her concern and the throbbing in her head, sex wasn't really on her mind.

Cheeto definitely looked like she was in rough shape. Chloe stared at the welts and bruises, her hangover-addled mind trying to think of some way for her to help treat all those bruises.

"Not waiting, just worried about you. I'm taking you to a clinic or something as soon as we can get some doctors who aren't normies."

She stepped into the shower. "Just, uh, let me know if you need help standing up or reaching a spot or something. Don't do anything that hurts. I - ohshit"

Chloe was interrupted by nearly slipping on the slippery shower floor on her clawed toe-feet. She barely caught herself on one of the hand-rails that had been installed in the shower.

"I'm here to help you Chee, no need to worry," Chloe laughed as she pulled herself to her feet again.

"Anyway, what does Mab mean?"

Chloe would take her up on that offer. "Sure," she said. After an awkward pause, she lowered herself into a sitting position so that Cheeto would actually be able to reach her back. "I was just gonna offer the same to you, actually."

There was plenty of room for them to maneuver in the shower. It was a relatively large walk-in shower, unusual for a hotel. Her dad must have gotten them one of the nicer rooms.

While Cheeto got her back, Chloe kept that line of conversation going. "You know, I've known you and your sister for about a year and a half and I just now learned that Goblins have their own religion. Was the religion thing a big deal where you came from?"

She hoped she could function as adequate support for keeping Cheeto upright. She was a lot more stable in here sitting down than standing up.

Chloe nodded. She could appreciate a person's situation growing up having an impact on their spiritual life. Starting to look like a demon when she was 14 didn't do any favors to Chloe's faith in the Christian God. Then learning that she was an actual demon, well... that part wasn't even the last nail in the coffin. The coffin already had more than enough nails in it. That part was a rich playboy nailing a pole for exotic dancing onto the top of the coffin and going nuts.

"That makes sense."

The conversation moved on to her hangover. "Don't remind me about it," Chloe said. "There is not enough coffee in the world to save me. I feel like I'm still going to be hung over by the time they rebuild the school." She chuckled. "I should be asking you that, though. You're the one who got into a fight with a tidal wave. So, uh, how are you doing?"

Nice as it was to get lathered up by her girlfriend, it felt wrong right now. Chloe felt like she was supposed to be helping Chee with her shower, not the other way around.