Who: Dan, Elena, Chloe What: Introducing Chloe to Elena and vice versa Where: Starbucks for neutral ground When: Sat. Warnings: should be low Status: closed/completed g-doc
Dan had to run a couple errands before he met Elena and Chloe for coffee. He wanted to start off easy with introductions. Trixie would be a battle, and she might even coax Rory to join her. He and Rory seemed to be on better ground. She treated him like an uncle, which worked fine for him.
After he raced to finish his errands he managed to arrive at Starbucks a couple of minutes ahead of time, which he found surprising. Dan decided to wait inside for the two women, but then spotted an empty table and grabbed it for the three of them.
“Hey,” he greeted the first one who entered, so she would see his table.
After what he had been through back home, Dan truly deserved to find happiness, and Chloe was glad that he had. She wasn't worried about meeting Elena. If Dan liked her, then Chloe was sure she would as well. She made her way into Starbucks and smiled when she saw Dan rise from one of the tables.
"Hey, stranger, fancy meeting you here," Chloe joked with a laugh and leaned in to give Dan a hug before taking a seat at the table. "I guess I should get something to drink." There was never a bad time for coffee, she just couldn't figure out what she wanted. A part of her had wanted to cancel, but she couldn't keep laying in bed all day doing absolutely nothing.
"I was worried I might be late, but traffic didn't seem too bad today, which is surprising."
Elena was slightly nervous. She’d never done the whole meet the ex-spouse thing before. Taking a deep breath, Elena slipped on her boots and headed down to the Starbucks. She kept her clothes casual since it was only a coffee date.
From outside the door, Elena could smell Dan and a bunch of other people inside. Obviously, one of them was Chloe. As far as her nose went, she didn’t smell anything bad. It didn’t do much to comfort her though.
Elena stepped inside and spotted Dan and Chloe at a table. She ordered a small coffee before making her way over.
“Hey,” Elena greeted them both with what she hoped was a confident smile.
Dan realized he should have ordered a coffee. Okay. Well after he introduced everyone. He could tell how upset Chloe was after Lucifer got sent home again. And, while he was trying his best to help, there wasn’t a whole lot he could manage. He gave his friend’s hand a comforting squeeze after he returned the hug.
“Thanks for coming. Really.” Dan recognized how strange it was to some that he and Chloe remained friends after their breakup. While it hadn’t always been easy, he still loved her, just not in the same way.
When Elena joined them he smiled at her, amazed as always, by how much he liked her.
“Chloe, this is Elena. Elena, this is Chloe. I’m going to order my drink now that the line is done.” He made his way to the front, ordered a slice of banana bread and a tall latte. He returned a moment later and handed the bread to Chloe. “You need to eat something.”
“Of course, it’s about time I got to meet her.” Chloe replied with a nod, and then turned her attention towards the blonde who had just approached and was introduced as Elena. The way that Dan smiled at the other woman didn’t go unnoticed, and it was easy to tell he really liked her. “It’s nice to meet you, Elena.”
She had been looking over the menu while Dan ordered his drink and had just decided to go with a simple dark roast when he returned and handed her a slice of what appeared to be banana bread. Chloe gave him a pointed look before accepting. “Thank you, Dan. I just need to get a drink to go with it. I’ll be right back.” She placed her order and returned shortly after, taking a seat at the table.
Taking a careful sip of her coffee, she looked at Elena curiously, wondering what it was like to be a human that turned into a werewolf. There were all sorts of questions that she could ask, but it didn’t seem appropriate.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
Elena claimed an empty seat while the two of them sorted out their coffee orders and Dan returned with something to eat for Chloe. Something was going on, but Elena didn’t pride herself on being the nosey type. If she had to make a guess, she figured it was Dome related since this was the first time she had met Chloe in her life. She doubted the woman had anything against her just from the first few sentences. Hopefully they would keep it that way.
Once they had coffees, Elena mirrored Chloe and took a sip from hers. She could feel the other woman’s eyes upon her. Okay, there was no way she didn’t have questions about Elena and what she could do. Elena might as well just bring it up and clear the air.
“Do you have any questions for me?” Elena offered, looking at Chloe.
Dan hated that the Dome sent Lucifer home twice. The two of them were slowly rebuilding a friendship, which obviously couldn’t happen with Lucifer back home. Dan chose to ignore the look Chloe gave him. It might be because he was making her eat, or she might think he was being too Dan like. Who knew.
He settled with his coffee, content to let the two women get to know each other. Most likely Chloe had questions about Elena’s being a werewolf. And not just a werewolf, but an Alpha. Which, quite honestly, Dad still didn’t completely understand, but he figured it was part of the whole ‘getting to know you’ aspect.
“Questions? Me? No, I don’t have any questions.” Chloe shook her head and wrapped her hands around the cup, focusing on the warmth it provided her. It felt strange, sitting there with her ex and his new girlfriend, who also happened to be a werewolf. Elena was just like any other woman, only she had a secret that the majority didn’t. Why should she be treated any differently because of it?
Her fingers tapped against the cup and she gazed down into the contents as if it would somehow tell her what to say. She had dated the world’s first murderer, who happened to also be a serial killer, and she had dated the devil. At this point, she trusted Dan’s judgement more than her own, and his acceptance as all she needed. “I just hope you’ll treat him well, because he is…so amazing, and he deserves it.” Her voice softened a bit, and she reached up to wipe away a stray tear. “Ignore me, please. It’s that time of the month and I am just overly hormonal right now,” Chloe apologized, ready to crawl under a rock.
Elena wasn’t about to push. “Well, if you have any, you can always just reach out and I’d be happy to answer them.” While she wasn’t as opposed to discussing what she was as she used to be, she was fine with not having to explain herself. Sometimes that could just lead to overwhelming people and she didn’t want to do that her first time meeting Dan’s ex-wife.
Elena’s heart went out to Chloe as she wiped away a tear. Her words resonated with Elena as she knew she would have said pretty much the same thing to anyone that ended up dating Clay. She’d just want that person to treat him right because he was a good man and deserved it.
“It’s okay,” Elena reassured her with a soft smile. “Obviously, I completely get that, but also I understand. If someone was dating anyone I used to be with, I’d say the same thing.”
Dan sipped his drink slowly. He looked at both women and thought it lucky he was still close friends with Chloe. With Lucifer leaving, again, he worried about Chloe as well. But, if she wanted to use her time of the month as an excuse, Dan didn’t plan on outing the real reason.
Instead he reached out and laid a hand lightly on Elena’s arm and smiled. “I feel the same about anyone who dates Chloe.” Of course, her track record wasn’t the best. Not that he could talk. His last girlfriend was inhibited by God’s ex-wife. Not awkward at all.
“Elena is a talented photographer.” He had to say something about her which had nothing to do with the whole werewolf thing.
Okay, photography, she could work with that. “Photography, really? Are you freelance or do you have a studio or something like that? Is that what you’ve always done, or did you have a different job back home?” It was still wild for her to think that they all came from multiple different worlds where things were similar, but definitely not the same. Much like how there was more than one Lucifer. A fact that completely blew her mind.
“Dan and I used to work together, but now I don’t even know what he does.”
“I was a photographer back home,” Elena replied. “I work at the local photo studio here. I sometimes put my work in the arts and music festival.”
She hadn’t done it in sometime. She preferred to go to the festival to watch Kate perform. She was always proud of her daughter, but seeing her perform was something special. It was just beautiful.
“He’s a bouncer,” Elena added, looking over at Dan. She wasn’t sure how much she should expand on what he did. “But he told me you two were cops back home.”
Dan looked at both women. Somehow the subject of what he did hadn’t seemed to come up in conversation, it appeared. Well he felt sheepish. “I am bouncing a couple nights a week, but my main job is at the theatre in town. I’m big into improv back home, so it seemed like a good fit. I help put on shows and run things.” Someone had to help keep Shawn in line.
“Sorry, Elena. I can’t remember how old your daughter is. Trixie is twelve and Rory is…” Dan trailed off because he knew Chloe’s younger daughter was old enough to drink? “In her early twenties?”
“Well, that sounds like a nice career.” Chloe nodded with a smile, not really sure what else to say on the subject. “If I ever need a photographer, I know who to call.” Despite living in the same house, her and Dan didn’t constantly communicate, which was through no fault of his own. They were questions that she could have easily asked, but never thought to.
“I know, I remember when you first started the whole improv thing. I have to say, I’m impressed you’ve kept at it. You’ll have to let me know about any upcoming shows.” Okay, Elena had a daughter as well, that was something she could relate to.
“Honestly, Rory is…I don’t even know. I think she’s older than what she looks like. I guess at a certain point she stopped aging, which, I have to say I am very jealous of. What’s your daughter’s name?”
Elena named the first job Dan performed that came to mind. Yes, the improv which was miles above the bouncing. Honestly, Elena admired him for being able to do acting; she definitely didn’t see herself as an actress in any scenario. Taking pictures of actors and actresses? Yes, she could see herself doing that.
“Maybe we can both go to one of his shows,” Elena offered. “It might give us a chance to get to know one another better.” They both had daughters so that was a start, right?
“Dan told me about Trixie,” Elena added. She didn’t remember him mentioning Rory, but she wasn’t opposed to meeting anyone else. “And my daughter’s name is Kate, she’s almost out of high school.”
Dan sometimes considered giving up his bouncing gig. He didn’t love the schedule and he always felt exhausted afterwards. But, the theatre? Yes, he definitely loved working at the theatre, even if he worked with Shawn who could exhaust the most patient person at times.
“Well, I’m directing the Into the Woods production we’re doing, so that would be a great opportunity.” Dan knew it worked better if he directed and Shawn acted.
“Rory is Chloe’s daughter with Lucifer. I only met her when she arrived. She’s born after I die.” Dan should speak so flippantly, but he couldn’t think of a more positive way to phrase things. “It’s weird though, because Trixie is the older sister, but Rory is older here.”
“Well there we go, we can go together to see Into the Woods, whenever that happens to be.” She was happy to see that Madison Valley was giving Dan the life he never would have had back home, and that he seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Yeah, Rory is from the future, it would seem.” The future, where Lucifer was no longer present for some reason. But, that was something she was trying not to think about. “The whole thing is weird, but so is Madison Valley as a whole, so I guess it’s just par for the course?” She added with a shrug, taking a bite of the banana bread.
“Sounds perfect,” Elena replied with a smile. She wasn’t a huge musical person, but maybe this would be the musical to change all of that for her. She was willing to give it a try, especially since Dan was directing it.
It was weird for Elena that Chloe was with the devil and now that she actually had a child with the devil, but Chloe was right. While that was weird, Madison Valley was weird anyway so it all kind of fit together.
“Yeah, you’re right about that. This place is built on weird.”
Dan realized, as they spoke about Rory, that Rory had a role in the musical. “Rory is in the musical. She got the role of Rapunzel’s prince.” He thought she did a great job in the role. “I’m the baker as well.” Personally, Dan thought maybe he shouldn’t direct and have a lead, but he felt excitement over attempting both.
He took another sip of his beverage, happy the two women were getting along well.
Chloe looked at Dan with a completely stunned expression. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me that, and I can’t believe you’re playing the baker.” It seemed like a lot of work for Dan to take on, but she was impressed. “Well, I know I haven’t been in the business since forever, but, if you need any help, I’m here for you.”
Elena didn’t know anything about acting, but she would obviously go to the show and support Dan. “I know nothing about acting, but like I said, I’ll definitely be there for the show and to support you.