"Why am I here again?" Chris frowned as he followed Quinn into Nobilis.
Quinn sighed. "Because I need someone to watch my back and you're the only person I can think of that won't get any ideas about it."
Chris cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at her back. It was a nice back but he didn't see why he had to watch it. "And what would watching your back entail, exactly?"
"You just need to come to shows with me and make sure no one gets too handsy or anything." Quinn explained.
Chris frowned. "And how do I do that? Stand up front and smack people's hands?"
Quinn snorted. "No, you just keep an eye on things, and if it looks like I'm about to get in trouble, pull me out of there."
"Physically or can I use my world?" Chris asked.
Quinn paused. "Depends on how serious it looks? If a guy is just a little drunk and excited, you can probably just pull him away, but if they're getting belligerent… just do what you have to do."
Chris nodded. "Got it." He paused. "So why am I here now?" He frowned. "Are you doing a show?"
"No, I need to set things up with Alana, and she needs to know who I'm bringing. Also, you need an outfit." Quinn replied.
Chris gave her a weird look. "Why do I need an outfit?"
"Well it isn't like you can just show up wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It'd be completely unprofessional!" Quinn exclaimed. "If we're going to be working together, we need to figure out our theme."
Chris grimaced. "This is starting to seem like more than just keeping an eye out for you. I'm not going to have to be a part of the show, am I?"
"No! I mean… unless you want to be? But no, it's more about making sure people know you're with me, rather than just some random guy stepping in. Unless you look like you're supposed to be protecting me, anything you do will be more likely to escalate things, rather than calm them down." Quinn explained.
Chris cocked his head. "I suppose that makes sense… but if it isn't comfortable, I'm not wearing it."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, everything Alana makes is comfortable."
"We'll see." Chris shrugged.
The two of them made their way through the city until they arrived at Alana's small, out of the way shop. "Quinn!" Alana exclaimed, rushing up to her and pulling her into a hug. "Where have you been?!? You just went completely dark! No more videos, you weren't answering your phone, I even went by your apartment and nothing! I thought you'd died!"
"Technically- oof!" Chris began, before cutting off as Quinn elbowed him in the side.
"I've been… out of town." Quinn explained. "But we can talk about that later. I need a gig and some new outfits. For me and him."
Alana raised an eyebrow at her. "A gig? But- I thought you were done with all that. Particularly after that last one…"
Quinn's expression twisted. "Things happened and my Class ended up getting reset, so I need the gigs for experience. But Chris should be enough to keep me safe."
"And Chris would be you then?" Alana turned, giving him an evaluating look.
"That would be me, yes." Chris nodded.
Alana turned back to Quinn, raising an eyebrow. "You really think this guy can keep you safe? He doesn't look that tough."
Quinn smirked. "I'm pretty sure that as long as Chris wants to keep me safe, no one will be able to even touch me."
Alana blinked, turning back to Chris with a slightly more interested look. "Oh really~" She purred.
Chris eyed her warily, leaning slightly closer to Quinn. "Why is she looking at me like that?"
Alana giggled, stepping closer and placing a hand on his chest. "Aw, is the big, strong man shy~?"
Chris frowned, glancing down at the hand on his chest, then back up at the woman eyeing him hungrily. "I don't do casual sex, so unless you want to start dating, please don't touch me."
Alana blinked, pulling her hand back. "You- want to go on a date?"
"Want? No. Willing? Sure." Chris shrugged.
"Okay, as amusing as this interaction is, can we get back to business?" Quinn interjected.
"Right." Alana nodded, eyeing Chris strangely for a moment, before turning back to Quinn. "I can set up a gig whenever you're ready, so what were you thinking for outfits? Do you want to look around or did you already have a design in mind?"
"I have some ideas, but let me take a look around first." Quinn replied, walking deeper into the store, leaving Alana and Chris standing there as she looked around.
"So… a date, huh?" Alana raised an eyebrow at him.
"If you want." Chris shrugged. "I am supposed to be looking for someone to care about. Not exactly sure where to start with that, so I might as well start with you."
Alana gave him a weird look. "How romantic." She muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, you're the one who came on to me." Chris retorted.
Alana snorted. "I was just testing you. If a little flirting can shake you, then you can't be trusted to keep Quinn safe."
"Ah, I see." Chris nodded.
They stood there awkwardly for another moment, before Alana glanced over at him again. "So why do you need to find someone to care about?"
"Because without someone to care about, I have a tendency to not invest in the World. Not exactly a problem for me, but I do try to be better than my base nature, and having someone to care about helps me with that." Chris explained.
"Uh-huh." Alana frowned at him. "And that means you want to date me?"
Chris shook his head. "Again, I don't want to date you, I'm simply willing to. I don't even know you yet. But you're apparently a close friend of Quinn's and she's a decent person, so I figure you must be pretty decent yourself, so I wouldn't mind taking some time to get to know you better. Particularly since time isn't exactly something I'm lacking."
Alana gave him a weird look. "Wait, do you want to date or not?!?"
"Yes." Chris nodded, grinning slightly. "But seriously, it's up to you. If you want to do something, I'm down, if not, I'm okay with that too."
Alana just glared at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "I'm good, thanks."
Quinn came back a few moments later, carrying a few outfits. "Okay, I think-" She looked up at the two of them, frowning slightly. "Okay, what did Chris say?"
"Why do you assume I said something?" Chris protested.
"Because you always say something." Quinn rolled her eyes.
Alana sighed. "No, it's fine. He's just… weird."
Quinn nodded. "That would be Chris, yes. Anyway, here's what I'm thinking…" The two women began a serious discussion about the various outfits while Chris leaned against a nearby wall, zoning out. He still didn't think he was doing anything productive here, but if Quinn wanted to drag him around, it wasn't like he could say he was busy or something. It took them a good half hour to figure everything out, and the two of them finally left. "So… you want to get lunch?" Quinn offered. "Alana managed to find me a gig for tonight, so we might as well hang out for a bit. Plus, I could use some time out of the base."
"Huh, that was fast." Chris muttered.
Quinn shrugged. "It's a big city and someone is always looking to celebrate something."
"Fair enough." Chris chuckled. "Sure, let's do lunch." He paused. "You have money, right?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have money. Come on, I know a good place nearby."
Quinn led the way to a small restaurant and the two of them got a table. "Oh, they have wings." Chris commented as he studied the menu. "I haven't had wings in a-" He trailed off. "Well, objectively it's been about a week, but subjectively it feels like it's been a lot longer. Man, time is weird with multiple selves."
Quinn frowned. "I can't remember the last time I had wings… I usually go for the burger."
Chris nodded. "Burgers are good, but you have to use both hands when you eat them. Too much work, plus if you leave a hand free, you can read a book or something too."
"I'm aware." Quinn snickered, before pausing. "I know a lot about you, don't I?"
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Chris nodded. "And I know a lot about you, including the fact that the last time you had wings was when you were thirteen. You didn't really like them. Disappointing."
Quinn frowned at him. "Okay, now that's just disturbing."
Chris shrugged helplessly. "I can't help the fact that I have a perfect memory."
"You can't help a lot of things." Quinn muttered.
"Can anyone? There are quite a few aspects of life that simply are, and there's nothing we can do about it." Chris pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Quinn sighed. "It's just particularly aggravating when it comes to you."
Chris frowned. "Why is that?"
"Because you have so much potential, and it's all ruined by the fact that you're completely fucking empty!" Quinn growled. "I know you can't help it, but- ugh, it's just such a waste."
Chris raised an eyebrow. "A waste of what?"
Quinn just frowned at him for a moment before shaking her head. "Let's just say I have no idea how Beth puts up with it."
Chris blinked. "Oh, you mean relationship wise?" He paused, considering that for a moment. "Yeah, I can see that. I'm not sure how she does it either."
Quinn let out a short laugh. "At least we can agree on that."
"It does make this whole 'find someone to care about' thing harder though." Chris sighed. "I'm not sure how it happened with Beth, let alone how to do it with someone else. Plus the whole issue of finding someone who's good to care about… I'm honestly just throwing darts in the dark and hoping I hit a bullseye."
Quinn frowned. "How serious about that are you? Last time I checked, you weren't even really trying."
"Well, this whole nuke thing really put it into perspective how much I actually need someone to care about. I'm honestly having trouble motivating myself to actually care about all this. I'd really prefer to just keep working on my archery and what not." Chris shook his head. "All this nuke shit just seems annoying right now, and the only solution I can think of is finding someone who cares to care about, so I'm actually motivated to do what needs to be done about these nukes, because while I'm going to do it anyway, I'd prefer to want to do it, rather than have to force myself to do it."
Quinn glared at him for a moment. "Okay, see, this is the problem with you. Do you know how rare it is to find a man who will do the right thing no matter what? But it's pointless, because you just don't care!"
"So what, you'd date me if I was more… emotional?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Quinn froze. "I- maybe? I suppose with everything I know about you… which is pretty much everything… I could do a lot worse."
Chris sat back, going over everything he knew about Quinn. "I suppose you're not so bad yourself." He nodded.
"But again, it's pointless, because I can't be with someone who doesn't actually care about me." Quinn sighed.
"Yeah, no, I could see that being a problem." Chris chuckled.
Quinn glared at him again, before letting out a groan. "Why did you have to be a monster?"
Chris shrugged. "I can't help it, it's who I am."
*
Chris frowned as he looked down at the nice blue suit Quinn had picked out for him. "This is disturbingly similar to the suit Beth picked out for me." He commented, glancing up at Quinn who was busy turning her hair blue to match her outfit.
Quinn blinked at him, before flushing slightly, realizing she might have subconsciously gone that direction because of that memory. "Well, you look good in blue."
Chris frowned. "I do?" He looked down at himself again. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now come on, put on your mask and let's go." She insisted as she strapped on a small eye-mask.
Chris grunted, putting on his own eye-mask as they left, heading to Quinn's gig. "You know, it just occurred to me, but given who I am, there's a decent chance this entire thing is going to go catastrophically wrong."
Quinn froze. "Shit!" She groaned, burying her face in her hands. "If this turns into another Ruin situation…"
"We'll handle it." Chris shrugged. "Worse case scenario, we just need to start over again."
"I don't want to start over again!" Quinn complained. "I also don't want to cause another disaster in Nobilis!"
"Oh, I don't think we could cause a disaster." Chris muttered. "No, I just think it's highly likely the night will go… poorly."
Quinn's expression twisted. "Should we just cancel? There are other ways for me to level. They'd be a lot slower, but at least they wouldn't cause any problems."
"Nah, come on. Problems are fun." Chris chuckled. "At least, that's what Greg keeps telling me."
Quinn scowled, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous about all this. Was involving Chris in all this a bad idea? It was definitely safer for her, but also more of a problem as well… she groaned in frustration. All she wanted to do was level up! Why did Chris have to make everything so complicated!?!
The two made their way to a small club which had been rented out to celebrate some dude reaching level twenty-five in his Class. "Azure?" The man at the door asked as they arrived, Quinn nodding in confirmation. "Nice." The man let out a low whistle as he gave her a look over. "The stage is set up in the back."
Quinn gritted her teeth as she resisted the urge to growl at him. "Thank you." She barely managed to smile politely as she made her way inside.
"Hold up." The man held up a hand to stop Chris as he went to follow her. "Who are you?"
"He's with me." Quinn explained. "My assistant, remember?"
The man frowned. "Didn't realize the assistant would be a dude…"
Quinn crossed her arms. "Is that a problem?"
The man hesitated, before shaking his head. "No. No problem." He replied, waving Chris in.
*Bit weird, that.* Chris sent Quinn.
"Holy-!" Quinn jumped, before flushing in embarrassment. *I-I forgot you could do that.*
*Well? Was that weird or am I just reading into things too much?* Chris repeated.
Quinn frowned, before shaking her head. *It was weird, but people are usually pretty weird about this kind of stuff. When they heard about an assistant, they probably thought more 'doubles act' and less 'bodyguard', so it's understandable that they might be a bit disappointed. I'll have Alana clarify things for next time.*
*I suppose that makes sense.* Chris nodded.
The two of them made their way to the back, past a large group of rowdy twenty somethings getting drunk off their asses, a few waitresses in skimpy outfits weaving through the tables. They quickly began to get set up, like hooking up to the sound system for music and getting the lights just right, and soon everything was ready and the show began. The moment the music started the crowd let out a whoop, gathering towards the stage as Quinn made her way out onto the stage. Chris barely paid attention to it, focusing on the crowd, looking out for anything that might become a problem. However, as the night went on… nothing. The men were drunk and rowdy, obviously, but Chris didn't even have to do anything as the club had their own people keeping them in check, the various bouncers and waitresses keeping them under control and distracted.
Quinn stepped off the stage, quickly covering herself with a robe, panting breathlessly. "That went surprisingly well." She commented, taking the drink Chris handed her and quickly downing it.
"Yeah, this place is pretty professional." Chris nodded.
"Great show!" The man from the door laughed, clapping as he came over, pausing as he saw them packing up. "Are you guys heading out already? Come on, stick around, enjoy the party! There's plenty to go around for everyone!"
Quinn shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not really a fan of hanging out with a bunch of dudes who were just slobbering over my tits. I find it takes at least a few days for them to start thinking clearly again." She gave the man a disappointed look as his eyes were clearly fixated on her chest.
"I don't do parties." Chris shrugged.
The man chuckled. "Come on, don't be like that! You can just hang out with the staff. We have a private area in the back for everyone to recharge. Very chill, and it's mostly just the girls, who would love to talk to you about the biz."
Chris turned, raising an eyebrow at Quinn. *It's your decision. I'm good with whatever you want to do.*
Quinn hesitated for a moment. It would be nice to talk to someone other than Chris and the others… She was going a bit stir crazy with nothing to do but train in an underground base. "Maybe just for a bit…"
The man grinned. "Come on, I'll take you there."
The man led them into the employee only section of the club, right to a comfortable looking sitting area where a few girls and one of the bouncers were sitting around, chatting and laughing. "Hey, Frank!" One of the girls waved at the man as he walked in, smiling brightly, before her eyes widened as she caught sight of Quinn behind her. "Oh my- you brought- Oh, you were amazing!" She gushed, jumping up and rushing over to Quinn with a squeal. "I'm Kara!"
"Azure." Quinn smiled back. "And this is Azul." She added, gesturing to Chris.
Kara turned to Chris, her eyes widening slightly as her smile turned a bit more… sultry. "Hey~"
"I'm standing right here." Frank complained.
Kara rolled her eyes. "Please, as if you weren't just drooling over Azure not five minutes ago! I can't enjoy my own eye candy?"
Chris blinked. "I'm eye candy?"
"Yes you are~" Kara purred, stepping closer and tugging at his tie. Quinn coughed, stepping closer to Chris and giving Kara a look. Kara flushed. "Ah, sorry." She apologized, stepping back.
Chris frowned, looking between the two women as he wondered what had just happened. "Okay…" He trailed off, having literally no idea what else to say.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the girls!" Kara grabbed Quinn by the arm, pulling her towards where the other women were still sitting.
"Women, eh?" Frank chuckled, nudging Chris with his elbow. "Come on, you want a beer?"
"I guess." Chris muttered, shaking his head. Frank handed him a beer and he took a sip, his expression twisting in disgust. He held the bottle up so he could glare at it. "This is awful. Why do people drink this?"
Frank blinked at him. "To get drunk? What, have you never had beer before?"
"No. Never seemed like a good time, between… everything." Chris shrugged. "Still doesn't, really… is there ever a good time to get drunk?" He frowned.
"Every night you can, as far as I'm concerned." Frank shook his head. "Honestly, I'm not sure I could handle watching my girlfriend dance like that for a bunch of horny assholes without being gorked out of my mind."
"Girlfriend?" Chris frowned. "Asure isn't my girlfriend. Though even if she was, I can't imagine having that much issue with her dancing… it's just something she needs to do to level up. I can hardly blame her for that."
"Wait, she isn't?" Frank asked, surprised. "But- huh. I could have sworn after that exchange between her and Kara…"
"I was wondering what that was about." Chris muttered.
"Seemed like a woman marking her territory to me." Frank shrugged. "But what do I know? The mind of a woman is beyond the understanding of any simple man." Chris grunted noncommittally. "So, if you two aren't together, how did you get involved in all this?"
"She's a friend of a friend, and she trusts me not to get weird about this." Chris explained. "Plus, I can keep her safe, so why wouldn't I? I'd do that for anyone if they asked. Or if it happened right in front of me."
Frank gave him a weird look. "You aren't gay, are you?"
Chris paused. "I don't think so? I've never really considered it." He cocked his head thoughtfully, imagining being with a man for a moment. There was nothing inherently offensive about it, though it didn't exactly excite him either. Maybe if he was a woman? That- seemed slightly better? "Hmmm, no, I wouldn't say I'm gay." He sighed, shaking his head. "Though I feel like that's more because I'm used to finding women attractive and it seems like it'd be annoying to change."
"You're a weird dude, aren't you?" Frank commented, frowning at him.
Chris nodded. "I am."