Chimrea *

Chimrea Chimrea, not sure where to find Kerem, tries his room first, throwing a couple of small stones against his window like the last time.

Kerem throws open his window, glances out, and motions her in, before turning back around and slumping onto the edge of the bed.

Chimrea A minute later, Chimrea eases open the door and peeks in, slipping in and shutting it behind her once she's established that Tez is gone. "Hey," she says quietly, looking tired.

Kerem "...hey."

Kerem "I'm glad you came back."

Chimrea "Dunno what else I'd do. I'm too mixed up in all of this to get out now."

Chimrea "Please just... tell me there was a good reason. Tell me she was trying to hurt Tez or something."

Kerem "I..."

Kerem "Do you remember what I told you about my coin?"

Chimrea frowns. "It brings you good and bad luck?"

Kerem "...uh...well, yeah."

Kerem "As long as I stay...balanced."

Chimrea "Balanced? You mean you..." Chimrea shakes her head. "You killed Beliria for your coin?"

Kerem "No," Kerem says evenly. "I killed her for my life. Because if I don't stay...if I don't do enough bad things to cancel out the good things, then bad things start happening to me."

Kerem "I do the best I can."

Kerem "But I have to..."

Kerem "I want to live."

Chimrea Chimrea's shoulders sag. "I don't want you to die. There's going to be a lot of trouble; Beliria was a priestess... wait. Didn't one of you say it was Agnes' idea?"

Kerem "It was Agnes's idea to kill her specifically."

Kerem "But..."

Kerem "I mean."

Kerem "It had to be SOMEBODY."

Kerem "A beggar, maybe. A waif, or a drunkard, or something else nobody would miss."

Kerem "Don't..."

Kerem "Don't look at me like that."

Chimrea is, in fact, looking at Kerem like that. "The same Agnes who's here to help her goblin god conquer Green Lake? And she suggested you kill our most powerful priestess? Who's next? Fahd, Belnif... me?" She seems seriously afraid.

Kerem "No. Not you. Never you. I...come here." He reaches out to her.

Chimrea hesitates for only a moment, then steps forward and clings to him.

Kerem "Wait a second."

Kerem "Agnes is here to do WHAT?"

Chimrea "Ask her about it. She's in service of the High King, some sort of goblin god, who she says is going to crush Green Lake."

Kerem "But she keeps saying she's trying to figure out how to protect Green Lake..." Kerem seems abstracted for a moment, holding Chim with one arm as he scratches his head with the other hand.

Chimrea "Really? Because, you know, I'd think that killing off our high priestess was a funny way to protect us from her invading god. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to see it." Chimrea's voice is bitter.

Kerem "I...okay, well, that's not the point."

Kerem "The point is that I won't let her hurt you. No matter what."

Chimrea "Even if you can protect me from her and Tez..." Her eyes fill with tears. "They're going to destroy Green Lake. This is my home, and everything I try to do to help only makes things worse." She's crying now, and hides her face in Kerem's shoulder.

Kerem "No, Chim, Chim, wait, don't cry." He wipes away her tears. "It's going to be all right. We'll make it okay."

Kerem "I don't know how, but...we'll figure something out, and we'll stop them, or convince them, or something."

Chimrea "Convince them?" That gets a crooked smile out of Chimrea, which falters immediately. "She's getting worse, isn't she? Tez."

Kerem "...yeah."

Kerem "I just, I don't..."

Kerem "...hold me."

Chimrea "I'm sorry," Chimrea says, reaching up a hand to touch his face and holding him tighter with her other arm. "I'm sorry."

Kerem puts his hand on hers, looks at her, then leans in to kiss her again.

Chimrea "I'm scared. But I know you'll protect me," Chimrea says after the kiss, face still an inch from his. "I trust you."

Kerem begins to kiss her again and stops when she says that, opening his eyes and looking at her.

Chimrea "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Kerem "No, I..."

Kerem "You're really a wonderful person, Chimrea."

Chimrea shakes her head, smiling a bit. "That's a funny thing to say at a time like this." She leans up to kiss him again.

Kerem kisses her back, though not without a certain reserve.

Kerem "Mm-maybe...maybe you'd better get home. It's getting pretty late. I don't want you to...well, get into trouble with your grandmother or anything."

Chimrea laughs softly. "I'm grounded, actually. Oops." She tilts her head to look at him questioningly. "Why did you ask me to come back, Kerem? Do you really want me to go?"

Kerem "I..."

Kerem swallows.

Kerem "I want you to be happy. And I don't want to do anything that might hurt you."

Kerem "...what do you want?"

Chimrea "We can't always have what we want," Chimrea says sweetly, "so don't worry about it. I..." she takes a deep breath and pulls back a bit. "I guess it would be bad if they came back and found us here."

Kerem "...I guess." Kerem looks a little disappointed and a little relieved.

Chimrea "So, uh..." with a visible effort, Chimrea loosens her arms and steps back from him. "I'll go home and be good, you can wait up for Tez, and we'll all still be alive in the morning." She tries a smile, faint but workable.

Kerem "...yeah." Kerem looks up at her, a little sadly, then takes her hand and kisses it, before releasing it.

Kerem "Be careful, all right?"

Kerem "Just hang in there. Everything's going to be all right."

Chimrea smiles again, not enough of a liar to agree with him aloud, and goes. "Take care," she murmurs before slipping back out the door.

Kerem looks after her for a few moments before leaning forward, closing the door, and sprawling onto his bed. A few more moments pass, then:

Kerem "Dammit."

Chimrea *

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