"Wow..."

"And those are just the good situations!" she laughed.

"I don't think I want to hear the bad ones," Claude admitted sheepishly.

"No, probably not," Rue agreed. "But you really only need to worry about that if you play deep in the woods or something. Probably. Being a vampire would probably deter a lot of problems as well... fae typically target mortals."

"Well... not to change the subject, but, do you know where the grocery store in town is?"

"Um, not specifically, no. I was just going to walk to town and wander around."

"That's pretty far, especially to walk back home with groceries," Claude pointed out. Rue shrugged. She didn't have a car, so there wasn't really another option.
"I could take you. I got nothing going on today, and I should probably pick up a few things myself."

"What does a vampire need with groceries?" Rue asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I don't live exclusively off of blood you know!" Claude laughed. "I like drinks and snacks sometimes. Plus, I get other things from the grocery store, like tissues, toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, et cetera!"

"I guess that makes sense," Rue said with a wry laugh.

"Come on, then. I'll take you."

"Oh, but... I already owe you so much!" she blurted out.

Claude, who'd stood up and started towards his car in the driveway, stopped and turned to look at Rue quizzically.

"Huh? You don't owe me anything," he protested.

Rue sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples. Stupid generous humans. I mean, sure, they aren't human anymore, but they still act like it.
"I know you don't see it that way, but I do owe you for your help yesterday. It's a fae thing. I'll feel really uncomfortable if I can't pay you back. It'll hang over our friendship. Is there anything you want?"

Claude hesitated, his eyes flicking over Rue, lingering briefly on her throat. At least, she thought it did, but she might've been imagining it, because he shook his head firmly.
"I'm not kind to you to get something out of you. I would... really prefer if our friendship wasn't so... transactional," he said, sounding uncomfortable.

Rue frowned. She supposed she could understand seeing it that way, but that's not exactly how she saw it.
"That's not... what I meant," she said slowly, trying to figure out how to explain it. "I just... feel the imbalance between myself and others in situations like this. It's uncomfortable... like a weight on my shoulders. Fae always repay their debts."

"What about when you do something for someone else then?" Claude asked, matching her confused frown. Rue let out a short sigh.

"It depends, honestly," she admitted. "The pressure is one-sided though. If I do you a favor, I don't feel pressed to get you to repay me. I only feel the weight of my own debt. But that doesn't mean I can't get a sense of the 'value', so to speak, of what I'm doing for them. And I can get a sense of whether they have or can do something I want that I can ask for as payment. But I've never actually done that."

"And it doesn't matter if I say you're absolved of the debt to me?" Claude asked, sounding doubtful.

"Unfortunately not," Rue said with a small smile, "but it's nice of you to ask that. You don't have to come up with something you want from me right now! But I'm not keen to add more debt. Lucas just requested a meal," she added, hoping it would give him an idea.

"You're... going on a date with Lucas?" Claude asked, his voice and expression sounding a bit strange, maybe slightly troubled? Rue tilted her head, puzzled.

"Well we didn't call it that, but I suppose in the strict sense of the definition of a date, it might count? I didn't really get the feeling that he was flirting with me or asking me out that way though," Rue said, feeling oddly like she needed to explain or justify the circumstances to Claude. She wasn't sure she liked that feeling.

"If it's not a date, then... can I join you?"

"Um, I'm fine with that, but... I feel pretty sure you can't eat a whole meal."

"No, that's true, that much food would make me sick," Claude agreed. "But you could buy me something light, and, uh, drinks? Sometimes drinks cost more than a meal anyway."

"Alright, sure," Rue said with a confused chuckle.

"Good. Since that's settled, shall I take you to town?"

Rue rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Claude grinned and resumed going to his car. Rue trailed along behind him, feeling strange about how the conversation had just gone.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Rue glanced over at Claude, curiosity bright in her amber eyes.

"So, not that I'm complaining since it looks good on you, and is also partially my own esthetic, but uh, what's with the goth look?" she asked bluntly. "I mean, it's a teensy cliché for a vampire, isn't it?"

Claude let out a startled laugh and glanced at her briefly.
"Well, I actually started dressing goth when I reached sixth grade," he admitted. "I just simply didn't change my esthetic after being turned. And honestly, it's a good cover. Plenty of human goths dress like they're vampires, sometimes even with fake teeth. The humans that actually do notice the pale skin, unnatural eyes, and pointy teeth tend to just assume they're makeup and contacts as part of my look."

"I see. I was probably not much older than that when I started favoring the goth look. But I never got that deep into it. I would say my wardrobe is as much boho as it is goth."

"So you're a flower child with an edgy side?" Claude teased. "No, no, that makes perfect sense! Both faerie and psychopomp, so yeah! I would say you're just as cliché as me!"

"Aha, I guess you got me," Rue admitted, well, ruefully. "I can't say I consciously chose my style for those reasons though, I just like them. I guess it was destiny!"

Claude laughed lightly as he pulled into a parking space at the local grocery store. It wasn't a chain that Rue recognized. It had a very mom n' pop feel.

"This is Cornucopia, a local grocery chain. There's, like, maybe ten stores in total," Claude said, almost as if he read her mind. Rue looked at him sideways. He didn't notice. "They're actually owned by a unicorn couple, and they cater to some of the, uh, special needs, of supernaturals in the area. They sell some unusual herbs for making potions and stuff, and you can even buy blood here if you have a S.P.A. ID card. They disguise it as some kind of special alcohol and tell people they need a special ID for it. Half true," he grinned.