The blind date with Chloebear my beloveds? au or canon, either works
Okay, so this is in canon verse but not technically canon. This is a 'what if' the stuff in Book 3 didn't happen which only Bels knows so for everyone else, it's just a snippet for you to enjoy.
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Chloebear: 21. Blind date set up by friends
“I don’t have time for this.” Teddy’s sharp tone didn’t affect Ash, who hummed while he cleaned off the top of the bar. The noise and bustle of Test your Luck wasn’t abnormal, but the lack of patience in his short-tempered mind made the ambiance scratch at the inside of his eardrums Tapping his fingers against his mug, Teddy looked around again before hunching his shoulders and lowering his head with a grunt. “Why the hell would you even think—”
“That you need social contact with someone that you don’t want to run a blade through?” Ash peered up at him with a charm that urged Teddy to throw his drink at the bar owner. “Because your personality makes a hellhound look like a kitten and you’re scaring my customers away.”
“Then just tell me to leave.”
“But I like you, and if I did that, you’d be alone forever.”
“I have my missions with the others; if I never had to see your stupid wolf again, I’d be perfectly fine.” Teddy’s answer earned an eye roll from Ash, who moved to fix a drink for the approaching swamp gnome.
After the smaller creature snatched the beverage and stormed away, Ash turned his attention to Teddy. “It’s okay to admit you’re nervous; if I remembered my first date, I’m sure I could relate. Then again, for a stud like me, you stop keeping count after the first hundred.”
“You’re disgusting,” Teddy said, glaring at his laugh. “And for the last time, I don’t need to date someone. Sex feels the same with a stranger as it does with an ally. Why do I need to add emotions into that?”
“I can’t explain it, but there’s a difference.” Ash walked past him, patting Teddy’s head until he knocked away Ash's hand. He took the rebuff in stride, leaning on the back wall of the bar. “You need a night away from all the doom and gloom of your hunter life.”
“What if I’m needed for a job?”
“That’s why I asked Leon and Belle to hang around the bar; if anyone needs some help, they’ll take the task on until you get back.” Ash’s answer tugged at Teddy’s scowl, arms crossed over his chest.
“And what about Chloe and her idiotic friends?” Teddy asked, eye twitching at the leering glint in Ash’s smirk. “They’re beacons for trouble, and the turned wolf just pours gasoline on the fire. Chloe and Elizabeth don’t listen to Ben, and if you’ve got Leon here at the bar, they’ll find something to get kidnapped by or an object that tears the universe apart. I ain’t looking to deal with another world ending problem because you want me to waste time with an airhead I’ll never see again.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m just amazing, huh?”
Before Teddy could ask for an explanation, Chloe’s voice echoed outside the bar. “Ash! Take the charm off the door so I can come in. I’d threaten to kick it down, but these heels are way too expensive to break.”
“Keep yelling at me like that, and I’ll let an orc greet you instead.”
Teddy glared over to Ash rounding the bartop, spine turning to steel. “Why the hell is she here?”
“Like I said, I’m amazing.” Ash’s jovial gait when taking down the spell for Chloe to enter soured Teddy’s mood, defensive at the first glimpse of blue eyes and crooked glasses. The lack of fear in Chloe’s smile while greeting Ash with a hug left a scratch in Teddy’s throat, tongue running against the back of his clenched teeth when following her movements through the bar. Chloe’s wandering toward the table of Dryads narrowed his stare on the hybrids, only relaxing when Ash slipped between them and pushed Chloe toward the bar.
“Hey there, Teddybear.” The bright blossoming of excitement across her face hid nothing, exposing her emotions to anyone watching. Chloe’s white dress swished by her knees, her sleeves hanging off her shoulders with a blue belt wrapped around her lean waist. Her hair, pulled into a high ponytail, poured down her neck with curls that tickled the open back of her outfit. The click of her heels across the wood made Teddy’s stomach flip, hands balling into fists on his lap to fight a conflicting emotion he couldn’t name.
“I told you not to call me that.”
“That’s not how you talk to your date,” Chloe said, wagging her finger at him. “You’re supposed to compliment my outfit and entice me with yummy food or scary movies.”
“Excuse me?” Quickly, he shifted back to Ash. “She’s my date?”
“Yup.” The pop in the word paired with Ash’s nod, bumping his hip against Chloe’s. “You’re an acquired taste, so pairing you with anyone less brave would have turned you off from dating forever. Plus, what’s the point when your brain would be stuck on Chloe the whole time? You already set up your whole day around her, so I figured we should just make it official.”
“That’s not your business! Stop playing stupid games like this. It isn't amusing, just a waste of my time,” He snapped out, his desire to drag Ash out of the bar and hit him only being stopped by a warm hand on his bicep.
Chloe’s dimmer hue flooded Teddy’s senses with overwhelming information, picking up on her slower heartbeat and the tinge of sadness in her vanilla scent. “Hey, don’t lose your head over this. I can just hang out with Sam at the bar or challenge Belle to darts. We can just forget Ash’s plan, no worries. I wasn't even looking forward to this! Dating's too complicated when you can end the world. Let's just...just forget it, okay?”
Even without his senses, Teddy could pick up on her lie in the wobbly smile and avoidant eyes, painted nails pushing her glasses up tighter to her face. His earlier frustration deflated, trying to swallow the guilt he’d only learned to feel since meeting the woman squirming beside him. Chloe’s feeble laugh when waving Ash’s worried look away pricked the center of his chest, eating away with each heartbeat until it burned with regret.
“I don't know where you’d want to go with me.” Teddy’s gripe paused the bickering between the two, Chloe furrowing her brows when looking over. Nose twitching as he swished uncomfortable words in his mouth, Teddy pried it open to spill his uncomfortable truth. “Dating isn’t a thing for instinct hunters. We just have kids when there’s a compatible partner around and we can afford to lose a fighter for a year. But going out, getting dressed up, we don’t—I’m not gonna know what the fuck to do with you. You'd get bored, probably, so it's a dumb idea.”
“Oh.” Chloe blinked before she shrugged. Wandering to the stool beside Teddy, she dusted the seat with her sleeve before climbing up. He jumped when her heels plopped to the floor, smooth legs finding a home across his thighs. Leaning against the back of the stool, Chloe settled in the Teddy’s proximity, a genuine joy lifting her face again. “So we’ll stay here. Its a safe place for both of us, and you won't have to act like anything but your grouchy self. You can buy me a drink and we’ll just talk. Ash, can I have a martini with a bunch of olives?”
“Anything for your pretty face.”
Chloe giggled at Ash’s overt wink, then refocused on Teddy. “My first rule; No discussions about training or past missions, or I will use my toothpick to stab your eye out. A girl doesn’t enjoy discussing work on a first date.”
“Then what the hell do we talk about?” He asked.
“Us. You interests, my dreams, who we wanted to be when we grew up.” Chloe bent her legs to wiggle her toes against his pant leg. “If you get me drunk, we’ll choose what color we want our house to be and why we will get multiple animals to keep your murderous mental state at bay.”
He rolled his eyes before flicking her ankle, her heel digging into him in retaliation. The hem of her dress slipped higher on her thigh, his eye following the motion before flattening her legs to thwart gravity. “Stop moving around.”
“Why, is my beauty distracting you?”
“No, but the dryads have been drooling over you."
"Really?" She asked, eyes wide with wonder.
Teddy scoffed at her ignorant excitement. "Yeah, they use human thigh meat for their youth potions.”
“Excuse me?! What do they think this is, a fast food drive thru? I did not dress up for their grubby little hands to—”
Chloe’s rant while yanking at her dress and glaring at the table leering at her made Teddy chuckle. He hated admitting the spark of amusement watching her shake her fist at the mischievous hybrids held no annoyance or ire which once shadowed his vision of the woman flailing around in her seat. Teddy’s gaze dropped down to the hand he’d wrapped around her outer calf to keep her steady during her shouting, wondering why he didn’t mind the intrusion into his personal space.
“You’re welcome.” Ash hummed when placing Chloe’s drink beside his own, the grin he wore full of pride. Teddy frowned, but any protest or insult he planned to spew dripped from his mind when Chloe turned back to him and huffed.
“Forget Fido, we’re planning how to overthrow the Dryads. Ash, get me a pen; those jerks are gonna learn pain when I choke them with said thighs!”
And if his blind date wasn’t any different than a normal night with Chloe, Teddy couldn’t find a reason to complain.
