((OOC: After talking with Philip))
Chloe was terribly anxious after her conversation with Lieutenant Pemberley. She made haste to the river and removed her boots and her socks and her pants in a rhythmic trance, and she walked into the water calf-deep, then let out a relieved sigh as she felt the chilled water running over her skin.
Truthfully, she still hadn't even fully processed what Nathan had told her, and it started to come rushing back in now. He was going to go back to the goddess. Chloe brought her hands up to her face and started to cry. She would miss him terribly, and worry for him. He'd seemed legitimately sure that he wanted to go, but Chloe supposed she almost didn't want to believe it. After all, it meant leaving her.
Or at least, being willing to.
Chloe sniffed and steadied herself, wrapping her arms around her as she blinked down to the flowing water. Her cheeks burned a little with the absurdity of even entertaining the idea of going with Nathan. Nevermind how Lieutenant Pemberley and Captain Bronwen would look at her--not that Chloe didn't care about that, but there was also all the other soldiers who'd be ogling and telling tales. And would Captain Rutliff even want her? Would the goddess, for that matter? Chloe couldn't say that she was terribly interested in the stories most men told. But, surely there was more to the goddess than that? The girl closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting the memory of the shimmer play across her mind's eye and send a glorious shiver down her spine.
But then, the memory settled, and Chloe felt alone in this void with nothing but the river. She sighed, and opened her eyes again.
Even if she wanted to go, lurid gossip and skeptical companions be damned... could she really abandon her lieutenant, and the rest of her friends and her retinue?
Something cold took hold of Chloe's heart, and brought her attention back to the fact that Nathan--probably her best friend--was prepared to leave her. It started drawing up memories of times she'd been excluded, whispered about, made fun of in ways that people thought she wouldn't catch. Why should she pass up the chance at divinity for such friends as those?
But, if Chloe were to go to the goddess, it shouldn't be with a heart like that. In a quick bid for something--anything--to warm her up, the girl turned and ran out of the water, straight into a cartwheel up the hill, and another, and another, and then she collapsed down in the grass, not exactly warm, but at least light and feeling free. She watched the sky spin a little as her inner-ear caught up with her position, and she heaved a few heavy, satisfying breaths to congratulate herself on her brief exertion.
She lay like that for some time, watching clouds drift by and listening to her heart beat pleasantly in her ears. At last, cold started to prick at her skin, and she gathered herself up to go put the rest of her clothes back on. Then, she decided to seek out Nathan again. Hopefully Philip had gone to talk to him by now... and maybe Chloe could get a better handle on the situation, and how she should even be thinking about it.
((OOC: Undecided where in the river this is, other than probably an area more in the field than the forest. This might well have been in full view of other people hanging out by the river lol. I don't think Chloe cares, or at least, not enough to stop her from doing this.))