Chapter 34: Baths and Work 2 (Chloe)

Sorry for not posting this yesterday. Unfortunatly it will be a little variable. but the goal is still wednesdays.

(Pov Chloe)

The smell of coffee tickled Chloe's nostrils as she carried the cups towards her desk. Black wasn't quite to her taste, but it wasn't for her either, so that was fine. Now the frappuccino, that was hers. It would taste infinitely better too.

She put the cups on the desk before she leaned down by the small refrigerator hidden in one of the cupboards. Opening it revealed something that she would have thought better relegated to the inside of a hospital lab three months ago. Ranks upon ranks of vials of blood, sorted by age and blood type, and a few by the donors' diet. The thing that stood out the most in the fridge wasn't the crimson vials and bottles, but the regular coffee creamer on the door shelf. 

She carefully lifted out two vials of A positive. They were her boss's favorite, at least in coffee. 

She removed the lid of the styrofoam cup and poured both vials into the still-hot coffee. Her boss always insisted on the coffee downstairs, not that it tasted any better than the coffee from the lunchroom. After all, black coffee was just that, black coffee. It didn't make all that much of a difference. It did, however, give her an excuse to grab something better for herself, and it made for a nice break. Though she suspected it had more to do with the teenage boy who helped run the place. The boy who just so happened to be her boss's son, and who, along with three of the girls there, had helped start the place when summer started. To say the woman looked after the boy would be an understatement. After all, she was a noctian with a son.

She reaffixed the lid on the cup before she walked over and knocked twice on the door before stepping into the office.

“I am just not sure we can…” was all she heard the masculine voice say before it stopped talking. The man in the unified command uniform glanced at her.

She made her way quickly to her boss's desk, handing her the cup. “Here you are, black coffee with two shots of A positive. Anything else?”

The Noctian woman sitting behind the desk gave her a curt smile and a nod. “Thanks, Chloe. Also, that will be all for today. I have something rather personal to deal with, so you can take the last few hours off.”

“See you tomorrow then. Just call if you need me to help with anything.” Chloe said amicably, whilst suppressing the urge to fist-pump. 

She closed the door behind her, making sure it latched properly. She quickly made her way over to her desk and fished out her phone. It took her only seconds to reach the messaging app.

Chloe: Hey, so I got off work early. You free?

She hit send and took a long sip of her frappuccino. The cold, sweet coffee sent a chill through her chest as she swallowed. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for her to get an answer. She was going to help Jason make dinner later. He wanted it ready by the time Jasmine got off work. Though she figured part of the reason he had asked was that he wanted both of them there for dinner. It also meant they got some time just the two of them. A small smile played at the edge of her lips as she took another sip. Still, she suspected he might be getting restless.

She had just finished packing her things when she heard the ding of her phone. 

Julie Macleod: I am free. ??

Chloe: I was hoping you could meet me in the gym, and we could keep going from where we left off last time. If you have the time that is.

Julie Macleod: Yeah, that works. See you in 15ish minutes. remember to borrow gear.

Chloe sent a thumbs-up emoji in return before she started walking to her room to get her gym clothes and shower stuff. She would have to borrow the actual gear at the gym. Luckily, they would have plenty of it.

****************

Chloe hit the padded sparring mat hard enough to knock the air out of her. Her training sword, something she had learned was supposed to replicate an arming sword, thumped dully onto the mat next to her. 

She gasped as she forced air back into her lungs. This had been stupid; she had been training for a few weeks. Why the hell had she thought that asking Julie to not go easy on her had been a good idea? Hell, why had she agreed? True, she had managed to hold her own for a short while, but not long enough. Julie had seen an opening in her still sloppy footwork and just went for it.

Julie winced as she walked over to her and reached down a hand. “Sorry about that. Now, how about we get back to normal practice?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Chloe said slowly as she caught her breath. Her hand missed on the first attempt as she reached for Julie's hand, the protective mesh of her fencing helmet aligning at just the right angle to cloud her vision. She got it on the second go, and let Julie help her up.

“You know I never asked. How long have you been doing this for?” She gestured to her own equipment with her gauntleted hand. 

That earned her a small chuckle from her sparring partner and teacher. “Not long, I learned the basics in the military, not that I got any use of it there. No, most of my recent skill comes from sparring with Jasmine.” She reached up and pulled her helmet off her head as she leaned against one of the padded walls. Her walnut-brown hair stuck to her sweat-covered forehead where strands had escaped the bun tied at the back of her head. “It would be better to say I have been getting my ass beat; sparring would imply I am even close to holding my own.”

Chloe leaned over and picked up her sword. “That bad?”

“You have no idea. You should try it some time, see how long it takes before you can get up afterward.” She winked at her. “But seriously, there isn't that much left for me to teach you. Sure, we can practice, and we both would benefit from repetition. But soon you need a better teacher. The noctians, at least the pure bloods and the ones that moved here from Scandinavia, do know their shit when it comes to combat. Hell, the older ones have practical combat experience.”

Shit. Chloe sighed. She had expected that she would have to ask Jasmine eventually. However, it already felt like she was asking… Not too much, but a lot from her co-girlfriend? It had been far easier to just ask Julie. She hadn't known Jasmine's assistant well. But they did have the same job. That had to count for something, right? More importantly. Julie was human, pure baseline human. Quite frankly, her hands always shook slightly at the idea of sparring with the noctians or homunculi. Both of whom, if they trained a little, were as strong as Eddie Hall. They might not have the same mass, but she had no doubt it would hurt like a bitch either way.

“Yeah, ok. Then I'll have to reach out to her eventually.”

Julie gestured to her with her sword. “You can always join Jasmine and me when we train. I am fairly certain we can beat her if we work together. Maybe we can train with one of those dart guns.”

Chloe nodded. “HA! I doubt we could take her even working together. But I would really appreciate that. I'll talk to Jasmine about it.”

Julie got up and walked over to where their stuff lay against the wall by the door. Picking up both water bottles while holding her sword under one arm. Chloe barely managed to catch her bottle as Julie sent it flying at her. She pulled off her helmet and drank deeply. The cool water provided some alleviation from the heat her gambeson was trapping against her body, making everything feel like a sauna. I am so glad I don't have to wash these things. After all, the gym had people for that.

“So why did you suddenly want to learn all this stuff anyway?” Julie said as she took another sip of her bottle.

Chloe took another long sip, buying herself time to think of an answer. It all boiled down to the same reason she had approached Jasmine weeks ago. When the strike team had breached Jason's house, she had been petrified, and more so, powerless to do anything to protect herself or even react properly. She had felt even more powerless when she had stumbled upon Jason leaning against the house wall while Jasmine did her best to save his life. That empty feeling, as if she was in freefall. She never wanted to feel it again.

Granted, she had no illusions that she would be able to protect herself or anyone else from an entire platoon of spec ops goons. But with some training, at least she could help in other situations that weren't as… extreme. It might even help her with her assertiveness, the very thing that had stopped her from going after Jason for years. Though given that she thought sparring without Julie really holding back was a good idea, maybe overconfidence was a bigger risk.

Her mind's eye flashed back to the small ornate vial of crimson liquid currently stored in the back of her small room's mini-fridge. The gift Jasmine had given her. It wouldn't turn her into a noctian, but it would give her abilities she didn't have. It would make her harder to injure, make her stronger, and give her far better stamina. Hell, harder to injure was the understatement of the century; she'd probably be able to walk away from getting shot in the chest with a handgun with only some bruising. She wasn't sure if she would actually use it, but she benefitted from these skills either way.

“Chloe, you there?” Julie's voice snapped her back to reality. 

Chloe shook her head slightly. “Yeah, I am sorry about that. Mostly, it's just that with everything going on, I wanted some training.” She leaned in theatrically. “In case one of the fledglings in my hallway goes feral.”

Julie laughed once. “I don't think either of us is good enough to handle a feral noctian, but that's fair enough.”

“Hey, how's Sam doing btw?” Chloe asked as she watched Julie readjust one of the straps on her gambeson, like protective gear. She always did that when they were about to start another round. Even another half minute would be a godsend.

“He's doing well enough. Having to move again, even if temporarily, threw things off, though. But needs must, I guess. Jason is watching him now. The little brat was ecstatic about getting to see him again.” She said as she double-checked another set of straps. Her plan wasn't working. Damn it.

“Wait, Jason's watching him alone?” Chloe asked cocking her head to one side.

Julie shook her head. “In his condition, no, he isn't. Richard, one of the other thralls, came over to help him. Though I can tell you Sam was not happy for there to be a stranger there.” She took her sword out from under her arm. “Now, come on, let's get in another few rounds before you have to go be all lovey-dovey. Remember, watch your footwork.” 

Chloe threw Julie her bottle, which the woman snatched flawlessly out of midair before setting it down by the wall. She affixed her helmet and held up her sword. 

“Ready?” Julie asked

“Ready.”

“En garde.” Julie said as her sword moved into position. 

Julie exploded forward, the point of her sword aimed at Chloe's shoulder. Without thinking, Chloe's sword moved to parry the strike. 

 As they started the rhythm of circling, followed by blitzes of parry and repost, she only hoped that she wouldn't be too sore by the time she got over to Jason's.