(If slice of life/romance chapters isn't your thing I can tell you that there should only be around 5 or 6ish chapters before the Multiverse of Madness thing. Including the wedding and the kids. So hold on tight and enjoy the cheese. It heals the soul.)
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(Pov Rimuru)
It all began with an absolutely innocent no ulterior motives whatsoever visit.
"Rimuru! I have all the reports from the students. A lot of them already have something in mind for their plans for their future." Chloe said as she walked in with a stack of papers. She was wearing a white and blue sundress, and strangely enough, a pair of white high-heels. Something I had never seen her wear before.
It had been strange for her friends when Chloe had disappeared and come back as an adult. But it got even stranger when she volunteered to be a teacher for them since she had enough free time. But all it took was time until the situation became somewhat normal.
And now that Chloe was a part-time teacher she volunteered whenever something had to be brought to me.
She walked closer to the table and just as she was about to reach it, she tripped. Spilling the papers everywhere.
"Ah! I'm sorry. My friend recommended I try wearing high heels and I still can't walk properly in them." Chloe said with an embarrassed tone as she sat on the floor next to all of the papers. However, she couldn't quite hide the expectant look in her eyes.
'Is she… Doing an I spilled my stuff all over the place scene?' I couldn't help but think as I stood up and moved closer to help her pick up the stuff. And while I could have probably used magic to sort everything out I had decided to play along to test my theory.
While we both picked the papers from the floor Chloe's hand suddenly bolted to grab the same paper as me at the same time. Placing her hand above mine by "Coincidence."
And as I turned my head to look at her I could see the small blush on her face as we locked eyes.
'Yep, she is doing the I spilled all my stuff thing.'
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(3 Pov Chloe)
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'Right, think of something that will make me blush.' Chloe thought without realizing she was already blushing from embarrassment.
But the moment their eyes locked her mind went blank.
<> She asked as she felt her heart beat faster.
"Ah, sorry-
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— — —
(Pov Rimuru)
-I didn't see you going for that paper." Chloe said with a slightly dazed expression. But instead of moving her hand, her grip became tighter.
But her eyes suddenly got some clarity on them as she embarrassedly moved her hand away.
I gave her a genuine smile as I did my best to hold back my laughter.
'She definitely didn't take acting classes with Luminous while she was in the past. But I gotta admit, even with the bad acting this is cute. No, it's the bad acting that makes it cuter.' I thought as the sudden urge to tease her emerged in my heart.
"Don't worry about it. Accidents happen all the time. This actually kind of reminds me of the sort of things that happen in books and tv shows. Don't you think?" I said as we picked up the last remaining papers.
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(3 Pov Chloe)
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"Ahahaha, right. To think that stuff like this actually happens in real life." Chloe said in a 'completely' natural voice.
The smile on Rimuru's face only grew as he answered.
"That's right. Next thing you know we might end up moving to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere only to discover the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe Leon will show up as the antagonist?" He said in a joking tone before standing up and offering a hand.
"Hahaha, yeah. I could be the small-town girl and you could be the busy businessman that quits his job by the end of the movie." Chloe said as the blush on her face grew and reached out a hand to grab his.
As she stood up, there seemed to be a slightly higher amount of force than necessary. So Instead of simply standing up, she ended up stumbling forward slightly and softly crashing against Rimuru.
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"Are you ok? Your face seems to be quite red." Rimuru asked as his face took on a more caring expression.
"Y-Yeah." Chloe answered as she began to feel her heart beating faster than it ever had.
"I actually feel great-", she said mindlessly before realizing what she had just said and closing her mouth.
"Is that so?" Rimuru said, bringing their faces closer together and touching their foreheads.
"You do feel a bit hot though? Are you sure you are ok? Maybe you have been working too hard? It is quite difficult for a hero to get sick." Rimuru said with a small mischievous glint in his eyes.
"No, no, no. I feel totally fine. You don't have to worry about me."
She tried to ask Luminous for help after explaining what had just happened but all she got was a
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"Are you sure? I have been learning how to give massages lately. Maybe it could help?"
These words only made Chloe short-circuit as the combination of his words and Luminous 'helpful' directions piled onto her already anxious and embarrassed emotions.
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(Pov Rimuru)
Ever since Chloe had awakened from the 'coffin' in Luminous castle I had discovered how fun it was to tease her. Back before she had changed to the hero form she used to be quite headstrong and direct. But well, she was a child, so I mostly ignored it.
But when she had tried doing something similar to what she used to do after we had defeated Feldway I had finally responded to her. And the result was a blushing Chloe that ended up taking a 'tactical retreat.'
Ever since then I had been teasing her most of the times we had been alone. Whether it was initiated by her trying to act like her younger self or by me it all ended pretty much the same way. With her new legendary technique, the tactical retreat.
The good ol' classic mission failed, we'll get them next time.
All of the time spent with embarrassed Chloe had actually made me grow deeper feelings for her. Her embarrassment had some strange charm that both made you want to tease her even more but also warmed your heart. But since she appeared to be far from ready for a proper relationship, with her now famous tactical retreats, I decided to respect her current boundaries and kept our relationship as it was.
But this time she had more determination than ever. As shown by her answer.
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(3 Pov Chloe)
"I- I think the massage would be nice." Chloe answered with a slightly shaky voice.
"Are you sure? This massage is quite special as it begins with a kiss." Rimuru said as he looked her in the eyes waiting to see her reaction. Creating a massage table out of thin air next to them.
Chloe's mind, who had gone into a short circuit, was not able to activate the escape technique as her body moved on her own to give a quick peck on the lips. Her very first kiss before dropping face down on the massage table.
"Chloe?" Rimuru asked but he didn't get any answer from her.
"Well, progress is progress." he said as he began to prepare for the massage.
— — —
Luminous was slightly annoyed as she sat in front of a Chloe who seemed to have achieved Nirvana.
"So, did you do it? You stopped talking to me halfway through." Luminous asked while sipping the tea in front of her.
"Yeah…. We had our first kiss…" Chloe answered while still in her state of extreme relaxation.
"First kiss? So you both didn't even-? Why are you acting like that if that's all you did?" Luminous said as she accidentally broke the cup in her hands from annoyance.
"Lumi…. You have got to try out his massages… I literally feel two thousand years worth of stress have melted away…"
With a poker face Luminous asked.
"So what about all of the rush? I thought you wanted to get with him before the wedding so that you could get married at the same time as everyone else."
"Ah… that… midway through the massage I realized… We have all the time in the world, don't we? Since he is willing to wait for me to be ready to move forward I am sure we will be together when the time is right. It's not like him getting married changes much. It just makes the relationship fully official with the rest-" Chloe answered before Luminous did a double facepalm interrupting her.
"Chloe…. Those were the exact words I used… But you said it had to happen now or else you would be left behind… and now you suddenly change your mind. Because of one massage? Not only that, but you are also taking credit for my words?" Luminous was almost speechless.
Taking a small piece of paper from her pocket Chloe handed it to her friend.
"Lumi, you are my best friend. And because I love you I cannot recommend this enough. You gotta try it out."
(Love as in the way you love your friends. Gotta clarify because I know people will ask.)
Opening the paper in her hands her eyebrow twitched as she read the words.
"Good for one free massage ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)"
"This better be as good as you make it out to be." Luminous said as she sighed and sat next to her friend. Placing the paper inside a hidden pocket of her dress.
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~A/N~
The: What is this? A hallmark movie? was originally not the title but I decided to change it last minute. Original was "Following Luminous' advice"
Once again I had no idea how the chapter was going to turn out before I wrote it. I just knew it was going to be about Chloe. But overall, I like how it turned out. No need to rush things.