Path to the Apocalypse

"So you have a date?" Derek asked. It was the following afternoon and he and Chris were getting lunch.

"Yeah, we're meeting up tonight. I'm not sure what we're going to do though… I mean, last night we went to a damn Ball! Where do I go from there? Bowling?" Chris asked, rubbing his temple.

"See, that just sounds like more balls to me." Derek replied with a grin, chuckling to himself.

"Dude, I'm serious. I actually like this girl. I don't want to fuck this up." Chris retorted with a frown.

"Okay, okay." Derek waved his hands placatingly. "Look, you're over thinking this. She has already willingly decided to spend long periods of time hanging out with you, alone. As long as you don't do something terrible, you'll be good. Bowling is a good idea, make sure you get dinner, and just focus on her. Remember, this is a date now, not a hang out. You need to ask questions about her, not just talk about dumb shit like usual."

Chris paused. "That's good advice. I would not think to ask personal questions."

Derek sighed. "I know. Honestly, your biggest advantage is that she knows you, so it's actually going to be fairly difficult for you to fuck this up."

"Yeah, it's honestly a miracle she agreed to this in the first place." Chris muttered.

"As long as you know." Derek nodded.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you're not still considering joining the Scouts, are you?"

"Of course I am. I already talked with a recruiter. They're going to be testing my ability and fitness next week." Derek replied.

Chris paused. "A recruiter? I don't need to do that, do I?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure your girlfriend is taking care of all that." Derek commented.

"Maybe… I'll need to ask." Chris muttered with a frown. "Still, I think this is a bad idea. You don't even know if we'll get assigned to the same squad!"

"I can put in a request. Even if we aren't in the same squad initially, I'm sure we'll end up together eventually." Derek retorted.

Chris sighed. "I just don't get why you're doing this."

"Honestly, why not? The benefits are good, I get to work with my best friend, and I actually get to use my ability. That's the problem with regular jobs. All this power we've built up to survive the Trial suddenly becomes meaningless. It's like we wasted years of effort!" Derek explained.

Chris gave him a weird look. "I'm pretty sure most people just want to forget it all. You know, because of all the death and whatnot."

"Yeah, I guess, but that just sounds boring to me." Derek sighed. "I was looking for something exciting to do, and the Scouts are perfect for that! What's more exciting than exploring the Maze?"

Chris shook his head. "Outstanding. Wonderful reasoning."

"Thank you." Derek winked back at him.

*

Later that evening, Chris waited by the lifts on the third floor once again, waiting for Beth to arrive. Not much later, the limo arrived, and Beth stepped out, walking over to Chris with a slight flush. "Hey." She greeted him, oddly shyly.

"Hey.” Chris replied with a grin.

The two stood there awkwardly for a moment. “So… what are we doing?” Beth eventually asked.

"Well, I looked around, and there's only museums and high-end restaurants around here, so I was thinking we'd get dinner here, before heading down to the seventh floor for bowling, and finally hitting the lake on the ninth for either swimming or just hanging out on the beach." Chris replied.

"That… sounds nice. Where are we eating then?" Beth asked, her expression brightening. Chris took Beth to a nice seafood restaurant nearby where he'd made reservations, and they were quickly seated. "You know, I've never been here before." Beth commented as she looked around.

"I get the feeling you haven't gotten out a lot." Chris replied, grinning slightly.

Beth flushed. "Kinda… see, my ability is a bit high maintenance, so I had to spend a lot of time training. It took all my time other than school and the social events we had to attend. It was like learning to use an entirely different set of muscles, and slowly building them up to high-tier."

Chris cocked his head. "Huh. Are you done yet?”

Beth frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Have you reached your peak.” Chris elaborated. “Like, if you've been building up your ability, then can you take it further, or are you done?”

“Oh! Uh, kinda? I mean, like any muscle or skill, you can always train it further, but it would take a lot of work to improve my ability in any significant way.” Beth explained.

Chris nodded. “Gotcha.”

Beth narrowed her eyes at him. “You're thinking about the centipedes again, aren't you.”

Chris coughed. “Maybe a little.”

Beth let out a frustrated growl. “I'm not weak! Any high-tier can be taken by surprise! A powerful ability doesn't make you invincible!”

“I know, I know.” Chris agreed, raising a hand. “I just- worry about you, I guess. If you could be stronger, you could be safer. Cause I gotta be honest, the idea of finding you lying in a pool of blood again… well it doesn't give me nightmares, but it definitely doesn't make me happy.”

Beth blinked. “I- didn't realize it'd bothered you that much.”

Chris frowned. “Why wouldn't it bother me? I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone dying, but you in particular are someone I think I might be able to build a life with, something that won't happen if you die.”

“I- I'm sorry, it's just- I don't know, sometimes it feels like nothing could ever bother you.” Beth muttered. “I mean, you barely cared about your own death!”

Chris shook his head. “It isn't that I didn't care, it's that there was no point in getting worked up over it. I absolutely wanted to live and did everything I could to give myself the best chance possible, but once I did, worrying about it would just stress me out, so I didn't. And now I want to give you the best chance to live, so I think about it, and I plan.” He paused, before letting out a sigh. “And now I have to think about Derek too. Bastard.”

“Derek?” Beth asked, frowning slightly. She had to meet this guy at some point, given how often Chris mentioned him.

“Yeah, he heard I was joining the Scouts and decided that obviously it meant that he should too.” Chris grumbled. “So now I have to figure out how to keep both of you alive.”

Beth smirked. “Don't worry, I'll talk to my dad. It shouldn't be too hard to make sure we end up in the same squad with him.”

“Thank you.” Chris nodded.

Beth hesitated for a moment. “It's- nice. To know you actually do care. About the important things, at least.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. “I'm beginning to wonder why you agreed to go out with me if you really thought I was that uncaring.”

Beth flushed. “Well, you're still a great guy? I mean- ugh, I never thought you didn't care, I just- I don't know. It's like I can tell you have this responsibility about you, like you're always going to do the right thing. It just never seemed to have anything to do with you caring.”

Chris blinked at her. “I'm not following.”

Beth sighed. “I don't think I am either. Ugh, it's just hard to figure you out, okay? You never get flustered or anything! You're always just- calm. Which I love, but it makes it hard to tell whether you're actually invested in anything.”

Chris nodded slowly. “Okay, I can see that.”

Beth snorted. “And that's exactly what I'm talking about.”

Chris shrugged, smirking slightly. “Eh, it's who I am. No point in getting worked up over it.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “You're ridiculous.” The conversation paused as the server came by and took their order. After the server left, Beth turned back to Chris. "So, what was your childhood like?" She asked, trying to get back to a normal conversation.

"Pretty normal, I guess." Chris replied. "Since I didn't have an ability, there wasn't much I could do, training wise. I mean, I worked out, and I learned how to fight, but there's only so much you can do in a day before it becomes counterproductive. School wasn't that difficult, so I didn't have to spend all that much time on homework or studying, which meant I usually had quite a bit of free time. Occasionally I'd hang out with Derek, or Penny and Thad, but since they had to work on their abilities, I'd usually end up by myself. I played a lot of games, read a lot of books, watched a lot of TV, anything that could waste some time. I suppose I could have been more productive, but… well, even if I worked my ass off, learning all sorts of skills, it'd only increase my survival chances by an infinitesimal amount, and honestly? I'd rather enjoy the time I had."

Beth's expression twisted. “Everytime you talk about your childhood, it makes me want to wrap you in a blanket and give you a warm drink.”

Chris frowned. “What would that even do?”

Beth sighed. “It's supposed to be comforting.”

Chris paused. “But I don't like warm drinks… like any of them. Drinks should be cold.”

Beth fought hard to suppress a laugh, failing as she burst out in a giggle. “That is just so- so- you!”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Chris asked.

“It's a great thing.” Beth smiled, before hesitating for a moment. “I just- I wish there was something I actually could do to comfort you.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. “I like hugs.”

Beth blinked. “You- do? But you didn't- ugh, you are so hard to read!”

Chris shook his head. “Beth, my issue with you hugging me back in the Maze wasn't that I didn't like hugs, it was because you kept trying to comfort me over things I didn't need comforting for. Like being an orphan.”

Beth glared at him. “Is there anything you need comforting for?”

Chris paused. “Not at the moment. Life is pretty great right now. But then, it's hard to complain about anything when you expected to be dead by now.”

Beth grimaced. “Damn it, stop saying things like that if you don't want to be comforted!”

Chris gave her a weird look. “Beth, not being dead is a good thing. Why would I need to be comforted because of it?”

Beth groaned. “Not for that, for the years you spent expecting to die! I just- I don't understand how you can just be okay with that!”

Chris scratched his head. “Cause there wasn't anything I could do about it? It just seems pointless to make yourself miserable over things you can't change. I recognize that it sucked, but ultimately I'd rather enjoy the good things in life, than obsess over the bad.”

Beth frowned. “But how can you just do that?”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “You just do?”

Beth sighed. “I hope you're just really good at processing your emotions and not just suppressing them.”

Chris paused. “Honestly? Me too.” He shook his head. “But I think we've spent too much time talking about me. What was your childhood like? I can't imagine it was all training.”

“You'd be surprised.” Beth replied. “My dad is a big fan of turning everything into a training opportunity, so all my hobbies were just another way to stretch my ability.”

Chris let out a slight chuckle, only to get a weird look from Beth. “What? You didn't mean to make a pun there?”

“What pun?” Beth frowned.

“Stretch your ability?” Chris pointed out.

“What- oh! Because my ability is to stretch!” Beth giggled as she got it.

Chris shook his head. “You're just terrible at word play, aren't you?”

Beth stuck her tongue out at him. “You love it.” She hesitated. “Right?”

Chris chuckled. “Yeah, I do. Now tell me about these hobbies. Which ones were your favorite?”

Beth considered it for a moment. “The piano and tennis.”

“You play the piano?” Chris cocked his head. “Actually, I probably should have guessed that…”

Beth nodded. “I also play the violin, saxophone, and drums.”

“Huh.” Chris grunted. “That must have taken some work. I tried to learn how to play piano myself, but I just couldn't put enough time into it.”

Beth blinked. “I- never had someone comment on my work before… Usually people just compliment my talent.”

“Well, you didn't say you were good with- Ow, hey!” Chris yelped as Beth started kicking him under the table. “I'm kidding! But yeah, I never got why people always focus on talent. I mean, the point of talent is that it's inborn, right? What's so great about that? Just having it doesn't mean anything, what matters is the work you put into it and what you do with it. Perfect example: our abilities. Mine could be amazing, but I've put no work into it and done almost nothing with it, so who knows? You on the other hand have worked and developed your ability into something powerful. Pretty clear which one of us is better in that regard, huh?”

“You didn't know you had an ability and you saved my life with it. I wouldn't say it's all that clear who's better.” Beth pointed out. “But… yeah, I can see your point when you put it that way. So many high-tiers just coast by with their overpowered abilities, never putting in the work to get truly good with them. I have no respect for them at all.”

Chris nodded. “So, what do you enjoy about the piano?”

“I think I enjoy the fact that I can put all of myself into it.” Beth replied after a moment of thought. “There are ways to train my ability using the other instruments, but it doesn't really benefit the music. With the piano, having a wider finger span can let you do some pretty interesting things, and my finger span covers the entire instrument! It's just nice to be able to use everything I am to create something beautiful.”

“I'll have to hear you play sometime.” Chris commented. “It sounds amazing.”

Beth flushed slightly. “I'd like that.”

They continued to talk like that throughout the rest of the date, slowly deepening their knowledge of one another. From their time in the Maze, they knew a lot of each other, but they didn't know a lot about each other, since they both tended to avoid personal topics. Chris because it usually just ended up with someone looking at him weird, usually with pity, and Beth because the people she grew up around talked about themselves and pried into the lives of others every chance they got, so the idea of having to actually ask or volunteer information like that never really occurred to her. They'd both become experts at keeping conversations going without ever touching on anything related to them, because it was too dangerous or annoying to do otherwise.

“Chris, I don't know how you did it, but I think this might have been the perfect first date.” Beth muttered, curled up next to him as they sat on a small hill overlooking the lake.

“Well, I got some advice from Derek.” Chris explained. “Go places we can talk, ask questions about you, stuff like that.”

Beth huffed, slightly annoyed. “I really have to meet this Derek. But it wasn't perfect because of what we did, it's- it's because of you. Because after tonight, I- I'm excited to be your girlfriend.” She smiled, squeezing closer to him.

“Oh.” Chris nodded. “Cool.”

Beth snorted. “Not that there aren't still a few things that irritate me.”

“Right. Let me fix that.” Chris muttered as he leaned in to kiss her, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close. Slowly, their lips parted, and their tongues began to hesitantly touch and explore, slowly becoming bolder and bolder, until Beth literally wrapped her tongue around Chris's, gently squeezing and massaging it as she slowly pulled it back, and Chris pulled away from the kiss, flushing heavily.

"Was that not good?" Beth asked nervously, thinking he didn't like it.

"No, no, that was- that was good. Uh, I just… need to calm down." Chris muttered, trying to ignore a certain member of his anatomy.

"But I like when you're passionate." Beth retorted. "I want you to let yourself go a little… it helps me understand that you care." She elaborated, climbing into his lap, leaning in to continue their kiss.

"Wait, Beth-" Chris began to warn her before she sat down, but it was too late.

As Beth pressed herself against him, she felt something hard poke her. She looked down, confused, before her eyes widened and she jumped out of his lap with a yelp, flushing furiously. "Why- what are you-" Beth stammered, gesturing towards the offending area.

Chris sighed helplessly. "It's just what happens when guys get excited. Especially after that tongue thing…" Chris trailed off, a dull look in his eyes as his thoughts drifted towards unsavory areas.

"Tongue thing? What's so-" Beth frowned in confusion, before her gaze landed on a certain place again and she flushed even deeper. "Oh."

Chris frowned. "Oh? That's it? I was expecting to get hit or something. Probably get called disgusting while we're at it."

Beth fiddled with her fingers, refusing to look at Chris. "I- well it's just- if- if we are going to be together… I- I shouldn't be surprised if you look at me in a… sexual light. I'm just- I'm not ready for that yet."

"Oh, no, I agree. I don't believe in having sex until you're ready to deal with the consequences." Chris shook his head. "I just, you know, can't help my biology."

Beth looked up in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, there are certain things a body can't help but do when sti-" Chris began.

"Not that! The consequences thing!" Beth rolled her eyes.

"Oh, that. Well, you know I grew up in an orphanage, right?" Chris asked and Beth nodded. "Well, a good portion of the kids there are there because someone had a one night stand, got pregnant, and abandoned the kid. I get that they aren't prepared to deal with the kid, and if they kept them it'd be a huge burden on their life, but… they knew that before they had sex! They know sex makes kids! Is that small bit of pleasure really more important than risking ruining your own child's life? I'm not knocking the orphanage, it's a psychological thing. When you know you're there, not because your parents died, but because they didn't want you… it does something to you, and it's hard for some people to get over it. I just don't get why you'd risk something like that over a little bit of fun."

"I never really thought of it that way…" Beth muttered. "I've always focused on the emotional aspect. I've seen a lot of my friends get way too physical way too fast, and it pretty much guarantees the relationship is going to blow up. There are so many emotions involved that they're completely irrational, and even people who seemed like they should have been a good match become each other's worst enemies. I've never considered the consequences of something going wrong and all of the sudden these two people have a child together."

"Yeah, that's a whole other sort of mess you don't want to deal with." Chris nodded. "Honestly, it's just best to leave sex until after you're married. I mean, if you aren't ready to marry someone, you definitely aren't ready to have a kid with them."

Beth gave Chris a weird look, before shaking her head. "I can't get over how we always end up on the same page, despite being so different."

"Well, to be fair, we're right, so it kinda makes sense to be on the same page." Chris pointed out.

Beth snorted. "It isn't all about right and wrong. I mean, look at the elitism in the upper ranks. We know catering to strength will improve our society. That isn't wrong. It also isn't wrong to believe that you shouldn't disregard people just because they're weak. It's just a matter of opinion, but we're on the same side."

"I dunno, bullying people just because they're weaker than you still seems wrong to me." Chris retorted with a frown.

"Well, yes, but that isn't the part I'm talking about. I'm talking about the part that puts more significance on certain people just because they're strong." Beth elaborated.

"Ah… okay, yeah, I can see that. It isn't wrong, per se, we just don't agree with it. Gotcha." Chris nodded.

"Right, and we do that a lot! I just… it's a little weird, you know?" Beth commented.

"I guess… but maybe that's why we're so compatible. Even though we grew up differently, think differently, act differently, we share the same values. We're both working from the same foundation, so even though we've branched out differently, we can still fit together at our cores." Chris theorized thoughtfully.

Beth smiled, scooting closer and resting her head on his shoulder. "I like the way we fit together."

Chris grinned back, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. "Me too."