“My apartment!” Chloe said, faster than she had intended. “I mean, I have a guest room, and I could use someone there to help with the rent.”

He turned to Chloe and grinned. “You also said you needed more staff and funding, right? I can do the work of three people easily for the price of one. That should help. Assuming you’ll have me.”

Chloe smiled. “I don’t know. I might have to run a background check on you first.”

“Of course,” Clarke said, accepting the joke with a soft smile.

“Good,” Chloe said. “Just one thing. You’ll have to change… this,” she said, poking him in the chest. “I can’t have people thinking I have a hobo running around the hospital.”

“Easy enough,” Clarke said. Instantly, he started to change. His damaged hair swayed back, becoming neat and tidy, slowing down behind his shoulders. His cheek bones thickened and his jaw squared. He dropped his trenchcoat on the floor and his entire attire changed, revealing jeans and an open dress shirt, showing off his impressive display of muscles. Chloe’s mouth fell open in shock and awe.

“I… that’s… uh…” she muttered.

“Better?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah.”

Clarence didn’t particularly care for Clarke’s new appearance, but he wasn’t about to denounce anything Clarke did. It would be nice having the older man around, almost like a mentor of sorts. Clarence was sure Clarke could help get him into a descent medical school.

“Well, we should… uh…” Chloe stuttered, her eyes still glued on Clarke’s chest. “I should probably show you where my apartment is. You must be tired.”

“Maybe a little,” Clarke said, buttoning his shirt up. Chloe could still see his muscles outlined underneath it though.

“My shift is over in twenty minutes. Just let me check in on one last patient. Meet me in the waiting room and we can walk there together.”

Clarke scooped up his trenchcoat and nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”

Chloe walked out, holding a chart for her patient ‘Frederick Garcia’ to her chest.

“She seems happy,” Clarence asked, leaning on his mop. “You two make a good couple.”

Clarke raised an eyebrow at Clarence. “Shouldn’t you be cleaning hallways?”

Clarence let out an aggravated sigh. “Slave driver.”

Clarke walked to the waiting room and sat, cleaning the chair with his powers. He thought of his life and where it was going. For the first time in almost one hundred years, he was truly content.

XXXXXXXX

Clarke rose from his slumber mid-afternoon in Chloe’s apartment. Chloe did have an extra room he could use, but it didn’t have a bed, or anything else in terms of furnishing. Instead, Clarke spent the night on her couch. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, but it was a step up from the on call room. There, the beds were flat and, save for a little cushioning, almost the same as sleeping on the hard floor. At least here, Clarke didn’t wake up with a terrible kink in his back.