Crap! She hadn't thought that far ahead! All she'd decided on so far was that Fakey McBoyfriend existed, but she didn't have any idea what he should be like.

"Well," she began, "He's part of the Church... and..."

That was a really bad thing to say. The Church of Everlasting Life had a lot of weird ideas about Kaitlyn. They considered her a goddess, and many of them knew her from that time after the apocalypse before she'd joined the Amazons. She used to be a hero, protecting the Church from the almost inhumanly vicious raiders of post-apocalyptic New York. Now, many of them believed she was being mind-controlled by one of the Amazons, and that she was being forced to work with them. Even though, as the story went, she was sometimes able to break free from that compulsion and do things to help the Church. What would all of this say about her relationship with Fakey McBoyfriend? She needed to buy some time, to straighten this out in her head.

"Uh... before I say any more, can you promise to keep this a secret? 'Cause I don't think the others would take it very well..."

That… did not sound good. The Church and the Amazons didn’t particularly get along… though, really, the Amazons didn’t particularly get along with anyone but Celeste’s and Zephyr’s neither of which included many boys near Lady Kaitlyn’s age. Either of her ages. And it wasn’t particularly hard for Allison to imagine a boy, even after the destruction days, getting a thrill out of dating an Amazon. They did have a bit of a reputation.

So. Technically, bad thing to do. On the other hand, technically something basically everyone either had done at one point, or would as soon as they got the chance. The destruction hadn’t deterred anyone Allison knew from their search for or idolization of love; she supposed she couldn’t really blame Lady Kaitlyn for wanting her own personal fairy tale.

“...Queen Maxine and Aura,” Allison decided after a moment. She couldn’t not tell the Queen, after all; if nothing else the Amazons would need to plan retaliation should the boy ever do something wrong. And Allison always ended up telling Aura, anyway, even if she didn’t intend to. She’d given up on keeping secrets from her, though she hadn’t tried particularly hard either. “I won’t tell anyone else.”

Kaitlyn frowned. She didn't want Allison to tell anyone. She wanted this problem to go away as cleanly as possible. A few moments of silence and frowning dragged by, and Kaitlyn was still blanking on useful details about her fake boyfriend. She needed more time.

"Why do they have to know?" she asked. "...I mean, I guess Aura's okay. But Maxine used to say embarassing stuff about people as her job. What if she tells everyone else? What if..." Kaitlyn had absolutely no idea where that last 'what if' was going, so she let her voice trail off. "I just don't want to get him in trouble," she added.

There was no telling how the other Amazons would feel about her having a boyfriend, or what they would do about it. Would they show up at his home and try to intimidate him? Would they hurt him if he tried to break up with her? Would they disapprove of their relationship completely and kill him outright? These would be legitimate concerns if Kaitlyn's boyfriend was a real person.

Maybe, if Kaitlyn played her cards right, she could manage to get out of this mess without even having to make up more stuff about her fake boyfriend. At least, she hoped so.

Really? ‘Used to’? That wasn’t a reason anymore, that was just a kid wanting to keep secrets. “Queen Maxine,” the emphasis on the first word was slight, but there, “used to be a new reporter. Just like I used to be a college student. Do you expect me to start reading every textbook I come across?” Besides, the Queen was the Queen. If she decided to tell everyone, that was her right. Such logic rarely worked on kids in love, though.

And as for ‘getting him in trouble…’ well, Allison hadn’t yet known any twelve year olds or fifteen year olds whose relationships had actually lasted forever. For several years, sure, but not forever. That opinion was probably going to be reversing soon, and certainly sometime.

Hm. The Church was a potential danger for the Amazons. Religious fanatics were always dangerous enemies. Perhaps when Lady Kaitlyn broke up with her boy, they could use that as a reason to attack the Church. They probably couldn’t destroy it in one attack, but they could do some damage. Repeat that a couple times, and the Church should weaken steadily; not many people were willing to live with persecution and death looming over them just for a religion.

Particularly one that they’d only joined out of fear of death to begin with.

That could be a good strategy. Always better to get rid of threats before they attacked you first, after all. But that was for later; for now, best to reassure Kaitlyn.

“I promise I’ll make sure he’s safe as long as you want him to be.”

He almost sighed. When put on the spot Kaitlyn wasn't providing anything close to a decent reason for Allison to ignore her presence here. From what he could tell Allison knew that too. Styx made a judgement call and began picking a careful and moreover quiet route closer to the two ladies. If something were to go down between the two of them, or Allison should simply decide to tell the rest of the Amazons, then it would be better if he were closer at hand to swiftly intervene. Styx avoided as much of the debris underfoot as he could while he moved cautiously forward.

There were plenty of well hidden spots nearby that afforded him a better response time. It would be better if it didn't come to that. Styx wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to make a decision between the two in a swift enough fashion. Rationally he knew that it would be better to side with Kaitlyn against Allison.

But Drew missed the storm funerals, apple gods, and unwilling trips to art fairs.

Queen Maxine. Of course. She was their dear leader. Saying anything more against her would make this whole 'boyfriend' issue look pretty serious. Therefore, Kaitlyn decided to keep pressing the issue on not-telling-Maxine. She shook her head at Allison and took a few steps back, giving her a look of finely-simulated fear and worry.

"No... you can't promise anything," she said. "You're not the Queen. Maxine is. If she knows, she might wanna do something about him."

Kaitlyn's only goal at this point was to convince Allison that her boyfriend was a real person. If Kaitlyn could make herself look truly concerned for his safety, her story would seem all the more legitimate.

"And what does that even mean, 'as long as I want him to be?' Does that mean he'll be a target or something when he breaks up with me?" Kaitlyn sobbed. "I mean, I still look the way I did when I was twelve! And when I was twelve, I was so short people thought I was ten! Do you think I'd blame him for wanting a break-up?" She was on the verge of weeping, now. While, technically speaking, she was faking it, it didn't hurt that the little immortal had been angsting about this kind of thing for over a year. Tapping into that made her sadness look sincere. Heck, it even felt sincere.