Chapter 13: Glasses and polygamy 2 (Chloe and Rhea)

(POV Chloe)

Chloe knocked on the door to the old farmhouse. The air was still cold early Wednesday morning, though the warm rays of the sun were slowly lifting the blanket of fog that lay over the lower parts of the valley. Jason had asked if she could come pick him up that morning, and if he could get a ride home. He usually wasn't the kind of guy who asked for help, or even accepted it easily. So she had said she could do it.

Chloe was rocking on her toes as the door swung open. Her jaw dropped. “What happened?”

Jason was standing on a pair of crutches, keeping one foot slightly off the ground. Looking closer at it, there was some bulging around it. Is that a brace?

Jason chuckled. “I twisted it on Saturday. Unfortunately, I can't really drive with the brace on.” He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about asking you to come all the way out here.”

“No, Jason, it's fine. It's no problem at all.”

Jason turned, as smoothly as anyone could on crutches. His backpack was on the ground behind him, and he simply stared at it for a second. Leaning a crutch against the wall, she watched as he tried to bend down to pick up his backpack. It was entirely apparent that Jason had never had to use crutches before in his life.

Chloe stepped closer. “Let me get that, please.”

Jason looked about to object before Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. Glancing between her and the backpack, Jason sighed and muttered a quiet but sincere thank you.

It had taken nearly five minutes before they were in the car and were ready to go. Her heart had felt like it was resting in her throat when Jason had been going down the stairs, but ultimately, he had done just fine. He was an adult, and he had managed just fine down the stairs inside the house; she really had no reason to be worried about the front stairs. Of course, telling herself that didn't help at all.

Chloe glanced over at Jason as she drove out of the driveway onto the road proper. There was a tension in his face that wasn't normally there. He rarely had that look, and when he did, it could only really mean one thing: he was worried about something. very worried or at least concerned about something.

“So how was your weekend?” She injected as much cheer into her voice as she could manage. “You know, other than,” She nodded towards his ankle, “that.”

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. “Good, I think. A lot happened. I went to Helena on Saturday, which was interesting, fun, even. Then later that day, I just had to go and sprain my ankle.” He sighed. “I… just something happened, and I had to… look for something in the woods. And then I twisted my ankle. Luckily, Jasmine found me not long after that, because I couldn't stand, like at all.”

Chloe's eyes scanned the treeline for deer or other animals as she drove, stopping at one spot as she blinked. She had heard Jason lie from time to time; he wasn't very good at it. However, she had never heard him state something that was as blatantly a lie as what he just said. The explanation didn't even make sense.

“What were you looking for?”

Jason shifted in his seat. “Just my phone, I managed to drop it… out of the car window as we were driving to her place.”

Bullshit. She had never in her life heard an explanation that was so obviously bullshit. However, the other part of that statement was far more important and was the part that made her hands tighten around the steering wheel.

“Wait, you spent the night at her place? As in Jasmine's place?”

Jason hesitated a bit. “Yeah. She asked me to go with her to a thing in Helena.”

Chloe could feel her heart in her throat; she hadn't expected it to happen this quickly. Slow down, Chloe, slow down. She knew she needed all the facts before she came to a conclusion; the worst might not even have happened. Jason wasn't the easiest person to talk to about things, not when they concerned him. She needed to ask. As she took a deep breath she resisted the stupid urge to close her eyes while driving through the woods at forty miles an hour.

The most important thing had to come first. Whatever they did in Helena could wait a bit. “So you and Jasmine, you know, did… It?”

Glancing over, she saw Jason blush ever so slightly. “No… We aren't there yet.”

YET he says. “I see. So what were you doing in Helena?”

Jason explained most of what had happened, though he seemed to be holding back again towards the end. The explanation of the kiss was pure torture, not that he went into too much detail. Of course, she had kissed him; she was doing exactly what she had said she was gonna do, or was moving towards it anyways.

Chloe cast a glance into the rare view mirror. There didn't feel like there was anything to catch on to here. No way to get him back. And even then, Jasmine had been right; it wasn't like her subtle hints worked all that well. Yet even if she lost him like that, she knew he would always show up to help her. He was just like that, as reliable as a mule in a mountain pass. As stubborn as one to, too stubborn sometimes. That woman, however, had given her an out. Maybe it's worth it.

It was not an idea she liked. God knows she didn't WANT to share. But what if that was the only way she didn't lose what chance she might have left. There was always the chance that Jasmine screwed it up, or that it simply didn't work. However Chloe had never been a gambler and she was not going to put her money on it. Jasmine had also somehow gotten to Jason. Dad always says I need to get better at asking for help.

“Hey Jason, what do you think about polygamy?” Her voice felt quieter than she intended it to be.

“Eh… I am not sure how I feel about my girlfriend dating someone else, too.” His eyebrows were furrowed slightly.

“That's not what I meant. I mean that you date multiple people. At the same time."

Jason seemed to consider the idea for a few seconds. “I am not sure. If both people are aware of it and are willing to help make it work, then maybe. I couldn't manage two people like that on my own, though. But I really don't know.”

For some reason, the itching sensation that had set itself in her back the day she had seen him with Jasmine eased. It didn't disappear, but it still felt like a door hadn't completely shut. Was that what Jasmine had meant when she said she was willing to share. Am I willing to do that?

“You ok?” Jason's voice held mild concern.

Chloe blinked. “Yeah, I am fine. Just got distracted, is all.”

—--------------------------------------------------

(Pov Rhea)

Rhea Martinsen leaned over the open chest of the corpse in front of her. The air was cold, with a gloom that might have been better reserved for a Victorian horror story. Though she supposed that was only because she knew what they did down here.

Golems were tricky things; getting a spirit to willingly animate a puppet was probably the only thing she could think of that gave quantum physics a run for its money. Quantum computers were at least fully predictable, in the sense that you didn't literally need to bargain with them and they didn't start breaking the furniture if you left them without a task.

The process had multiple steps; you needed a suitable puppet, mostly made from something that had once had a soul. Wood worked just fine; it was the easiest to work with, actually. Then you needed a core, one that outlined the contract that the spirit would follow. And then came the actual negotiation and rituals to get the spirit to actually accept. That was the tricky part; that is what truly required a golemcraft specialist. It was also, much to her relief, not her problem.

She turned over the ball of interconnected iron, copper, and bronze bands in her hand. The text on the thing contained not a single flaw, and the settings where it would be connected to the bone and sinew looked solid. The golem produced by it wouldn't be the brightest being in existence, but that wasn't the goal.  It would be stable and smart enough to be trained for most simple tasks and to receive and carry out orders.

As she started sewing the thing into its place in the corpse, she wondered for a split second what stories this person had once had, what life they had lived. She could ask it, of course; it's not like speaking with the recently deceased was difficult. No, the real thing stopping her from doing so was the time crunch and the fact that she was freezing her tits off. A real problem, as it was one of her best assets for keeping a potential future member of the fairer sex from thinking too much about the rest of her anatomy.

As she washed her hands and stepped out of the cold room, a shiver ran through her at the ambient heat. She drew a deep breath, letting the heat spread through her admittedly massive body. The only good thing about the cold was when it disappeared, to feel it seep out the bones.

She felt her phone buzz under her thick clothes. It took her nearly thirty seconds to dig the thing out. Checking her messages, she saw Jasmine's name with an unread message. Taking off her wide-brimmed hat, she hung it on the stand next to her desk and sat down on the chair that might more appropriately have been called an ottoman.

Jasmine the bloodsucker: So I need to tell you something. Things didn't go that well with Jason the other day. He kinda saw me, drinking blood. He freaked out. It wasn't pretty

a million questions shot through Rhea's mind, some of which she dismissed instantly. Jasmine would be complaining about something completely different if she thought the boy was gonna tell anyone. Other questions she simply dismissed as they would only be relevant to someone who had spent parts of their life temporarily psychotic, a professional risk in her line of work, but not relevant to the behavior of most people. In the end, she simply sighed.

Rhea: What happened? How did that happen?

Reading Jasmine's explanation felt like watching a bad black-and-white comedy skit. She did, however, understand why Jasmine hadn't just tackled him to the ground; boys tended to be skittish things. Though, to be fair, that tended to apply to most people who hadn't interacted much with things from the old country or magic. It simply applied more to the fairer sex. Still, she should never have let him leave the house before she managed to talk to him.

Rhea: I think giving him the glasses was the right move. Though you shouldn't have let him leave the house

Jasmine the bloodsucker: I know. I was just in shock ok, he was supposed to be asleep, and he was drunk. I figured he'd be all comfy and passed out in bed

Jasmine the bloodsucker: Yeah, at least I hope so. I do like him, and him never talking to me again would be kinda depressing

Rhea: So he's thrall material then?

Jasmine the bloodsucker: Yeah, he seems to be, and before you ask, yes, I will be keeping to our deal

Rhea blinked before reading the last message one more time. It might finally be happening; she might actually get a chance. A warm feeling, Rhea couldn't remember feeling outside a few hazy hallucinations she had during her apprentice days when she screwed up a particularly odd ritual spread through her chest. It was unfortunately snuffed out as quickly as it came. Jasmine was unsure if the boy would talk to her again. That wouldn't do.

Rhea: Do you need me to check in on him?

Jasmine the bloodsucker: You mean convince a spirit to follow him like a creep stalker. No, Rhea, it should be fine. He was a lot calmer towards the end. Julie also said he seemed to be considering dropping by for me to help speed up his recovery

Jasmine the bloodsucker: There is one thing, however. His sister really wants to become a theurgist, and Jason seems set on helping her. Could you drop by and test the girl? See if she's got what it takes?

Jasmine the bloodsucker: Doesn't have to be this year, just the promise and a date would do

Rhea blinked. An apprentice wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. She had been considering that for a few years now, so it already fit the plan. The clans also needed more theurgists as did the coven. And if it also bought her points with her potential future boyfriend, or with Freya's blessing husband, then. She ran a soft palm of her exoskeleton-covered hand over her face.

Rhea: Yeah, I can do that. Not soon, but eventually

Rhea: Can you send me a picture, though? And you know I don't mean one of the sister