Greg studied the Captain as they followed her through the fort, taking a step back to objectively consider whether he wanted to actually pursue a relationship with this woman. It was true she was incredibly cute, to the point that he had to wonder whether she was something other than a Dwarf. A hobbit or halfling maybe? Possibly a gnome? A really short Human? But that was beside the point. Cute was definitely nice, but not exactly what Greg was interested in. What really drew him towards her was her demeanor. That no nonsense attitude that refused to put up with other people's shit, just like Tessa.
However, there was a flip side to that. Tessa was all business in public, but in private, when it was just the two of them, she was his. He could play with her, press her buttons, tease her, and she'd go right along with it. That duality was what he loved, letting him be his over the top, ridiculous self when they were alone, but keeping him in check in public, which ironically let him go even further in public, since without that touchstone, he couldn't tell if he'd overstepped or not, which kept him from doing as much as he'd really like. Knowing he could rely on her to pull him back made him feel free to be more himself, while the fact that she didn't pull him back in private let him know she truly loved him for who he was. And that was his conundrum with the Captain. He knew she could definitely keep him in check, but would she let him be himself in private? Was she all strict and disciplined, or did she have a secret, playful side that would love to relax with his goofy ass?
The Captain briefly glanced back to catch that man studying her and he shot her a wink and a grin, causing her to frown slightly. She honestly couldn't tell what to make of the man. He didn't seem like the type that simply pursued her for her size… those types quickly lost interest once she proved she wasn't interested in being their submissive little toy. He also didn't seem like the type that pursued authority figures… those wouldn't dare to be so upfront with her, or attempt to tease her in the way he did. He couldn't honestly like her, could he? She'd barely even spoken before he made it clear he was interested in her! Unless he was simply messing with her to put her off balance… she glanced back again and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Yes, that had to be it. She should simply ignore him and focus on what she was actually going to do with these… Eternals.
The Captain led them all to one of the fort's inner rooms which contained a large table and a bunch of maps. She gestured for them to sit as she took a seat at the head of the table, spreading the pamphlet out in front of her. "Here is my understanding of the situation." She began as they sat. "You are looking for a place to grow and are either unwilling or unable to enter an Academy, so you have come here to make your own way. A common enough story for those who wish to brave the dangers of the Northern Wastes. However, unlike common explorers, you have these-" she tapped the pamphlet in front of her. "-abilities at your disposal. Abilities which you seem to want to involve me and my men in. I'll be frank, I do not care one bit what you wish to involve yourselves in out in the Wastes but why should I allow you to… tempt my men and I with these offerings?"
"Well Frank, beautiful name by the way, the reason is the oldest reason there is: the benefits." Greg replied, grinning as the Captain scowled at him. "Disregarding those who wish to join the Eternal Army-" he turned to the others. "-that's our name here by the way, calling it-" he turned back to the Captain. "-simply allowing us to set up here would give you access to easy transportation from here to Nobilis through Chris's portals, and more as long as you give us time to get there. Additionally, both Chris and I can turn matter into any resource you like, once we have a blueprint to work off of, and I can also make structures and whatnot. As for those who join the Eternal Army, they'll be connected to Chris's world, making them immortal, and given access to the system, which will let them gain points that they can spend to get stronger. You can get about thirty a day, and one point will get you an attribute point, while ten will get you a skill point. So, what do you say? Want to be friends with benefits?" He winked.
The Captain steepled her fingers in front of her, considering the offer. She was still wary of this 'Eternal Army' business, particularly since he started calling it an army, yet… immortality! This system! Even she was tempted by the offer, so she knew her men would practically jump on the opportunity to join. Which meant if she did let these people stay, it was inevitable that she would lose a large portion of her men to them, since with the advantages given by their abilities, there was no way she'd be able to maintain control over the rapidly growing army. Unless she joined them and grew as well… So that was her decision. Push them away or give the entire fort over to them.
The Captain shook her head. This wasn't a decision she could make without giving it a lot of thought. Admittedly the fort wasn't the most… appreciated outpost of the Empire, but they were still part of the Unified Legion! To betray that just because- the Captain frowned. Well, immortality and rapid growth wasn't exactly a minor benefit, but still, was it worth her loyalty? No matter how she looked at it, allowing this Chris to have any influence over Legion troops would be a serious breach of duty, on a similar level as selling her troops as mercenaries to one of the Kingdoms. But if she was immortal, would she care?
The Captain grimaced. "I cannot allow any of my men to join this Eternal Army of yours. At least… not yet. However, if you'll agree to forgo recruiting until I give you permission, I welcome you to stay while you continue your activity in the Northern Wastes."
Greg turned to Thomas. "I don't think she got my innuendo."
"Different World, different word play." Thomas nodded. "I went through the same thing with Beatrice."
"Shouldn't the trait get past that though?" Greg cocked his head.
Thomas paused. "Maybe she just ignored it."
Greg gasped in mock offense. "How dare you suggest she'd ignore me!"
Andrew sighed, shaking his head as he turned to the Captain, who was clearly ignoring Greg and his antics. "Could you tell us a little bit about the Northern Wastes then? Dungeons, danger zones, unique areas, the general levels around, any people we need to watch out for or could possibly recruit, or anything else we should know?"
The Captain paused for a moment, before turning to the maps and grabbing a particularly large one and spreading it across the table. "You won't find many things below level twenty-five in the Wastes as a rule, and the deeper you go, the stronger everything gets, spiking around the danger zones." She gestured to the color coded map denoting twenty-five level jumps starting with blue which denoted the twenty-five to fifty range, then green, yellow, orange, red, violet, and black which was a hundred and seventy-five to two hundred plus. Andrew frowned as he noticed a lot of black, particularly as you went further north. "Of course, you'd be lucky to find something that was only level two hundred in some of these areas, but at that point level distinctions start to become less than helpful for indicating power."
"So avoid the 'get fucked' areas, got it." Greg nodded.
"Pretty sure we should avoid all this." Andrew muttered, gesturing to everything that wasn't blue. "At least for now. We need to level, you know? Even the blue would be risky if we didn't have all the extra stats from the system."
"Yes, levels, dangerous." Chris interjected. "How about people? If I can't get anyone here, I'm going to need to get some from somewhere. Any tribes or anything out here?"
"The Northern Wastes is primarily split between the Yeti and a variant of Trolls that had adapted to colder climates. The Yeti are noble while the Trolls are monstrous, but both races are… primitive. If we couldn't see their status, I'd doubt they were uplifted at all. You could try to recruit the Yeti, but they're as likely to kill- attempt to kill you as anything. They're also nomadic, so we can't record their location." The Captain explained.
Chris nodded slowly. "I can work with that."
"What makes the Trolls monstrous?" Andrew asked.
"They consume noble flesh to reproduce asexually." The Captain grimaced. "I don't know the full details, and I don't want to."
Andrew paused. "Fair enough."
"So, these would be the danger zones then?" Thomas asked, pointing to the colored skull symbols, as opposed to the portal symbols with numbers on them.
The Captain nodded. "Right. Though if you're having trouble with blue zones, I wouldn't recommend visiting them any time soon."
"Don't worry, we won't go with our main bodies, but that's no reason not to at least take a look." Greg waved dismissively.
The Captain blinked. "Right…"
"So that's what we need then." Greg continued, sending some smoke into the map to copy it. "What do you need? A visit to Nobilis? Resources? A new wall or two? A boyfriend?"
"Is there any limit to what you can make?" She asked, pretending she hadn't heard that last one.
"I have trouble with energy, and Chris can't do anything larger than his portal." Greg replied with a slight chuckle. "So if you need something that's large and needs to be infused with energy, we can't help you. Other than that we can do pretty much anything, right?" He turned to Chris.
"As long as they provide the mass and energy, yes." Chris shrugged.
"Of course, yes. No one is going to take your things." Greg rolled his eyes.
"Damn straight." Chris nodded firmly.
"We can provide mass, but how are we supposed to get you energy?" The Captain asked, frowning slightly.
"I just need creatures that are still alive." Chris replied. "Though that can get annoying because I have to break them first."
The Captain gave him a weird look. "Break them?"
"Forcefully connect them to my world." Chris explained. "It gives me a headache."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"You can force people to connect to your world?!?" The Captain asked incredulously.
Chris blinked. "Yes? Is that an issue?"
"I- it- it's disturbing, though not much more than the fact that you even exist." The Captain muttered, shaking her head. Willing submission was one thing, but the idea that this man could force it on her, and all it would cost him was a headache made her question the wisdom of keeping them around. Though based on this pamphlet, now that they were here, it would be practically impossible to keep them out… She shuddered as she pushed away the feeling of existential dread. "Right, well, for now, our needs revolve around heat. As you can see, we have plenty of access to rocks, but wood is scarce in the Wastes."
"Well, you'd hardly call them the Wastes if they were full of trees, now would you?" Thomas commented. "What about coal?"
"There are a few mines around, but between the Trolls, the Yeti, and the general danger of the area, it's hard to transport the coal where it needs to go, and the larger more important forts get priority." She replied with a twisted expression.
"Well, wood and coal are easy, so we can definitely do that for you." Greg assured her. "You want some warmer clothes as well? Maybe some heavy blankets? A snuggle buddy?"
"Clothes and blankets would be great." The Captain nodded.
"That's not a no." Greg grinned.
"Other than heat," the Captain continued, pointedly ignoring Greg again. "We always need more munitions as well, though those require energy. Uninfused bullets would barely scratch most of the things we face up here."
"As long as you provide the energy." Chris insisted.
"Of course." The Captain nodded.
"And is that all?" Greg asked.
The Captain considered it for a moment, before nodding again. "Yes, that should be all. Will you all need quarters, or…"
"I think all we need is a place to put a portal point." Chris explained. "Just a corner somewhere. Though be aware that I will be aware of everything that happens within a meter of that point. Which, you know, is also useful if you need to contact us."
"Or you could call me." Greg offered with a wink. "I'm more than willing to stay close at hand."
"Ugh." Quinn grunted in disgust, earning herself a raised eyebrow from Allison. "What? He's being disgusting!" She muttered.
"I'm sure we can find somewhere for you to put one of your portals." The Captain replied.
*
"So Frank-" Greg began as he formed out of smoke in the Captain's office. The Captain immediately lashed out with a blast of Energy, bursting Greg into smoke. "Kind of a twitchy trigger finger you got there, eh?" Greg chuckled as he reformed.
"What are you doing here?" The Captain growled.
"Well Frank-" Greg began again.
"My name is Gloria." She sighed.
Greg smiled. "Gloria then. As you may have noticed, I've made my interest in you rather clear." Gloria grunted in agreement. "However, I get the feeling that as long as our interactions remain 'official', you'll just keep ignoring me. Which, honestly, I respect."
"If you respect it, why do you keep doing it?" Gloria grumbled.
"Just because you can't reciprocate doesn't mean I can't make my interest clear." Greg grinned. "But there's a limit to that, obviously. Hence my presence here. I've made it clear I like you, so, now that there's nothing 'official' going on… would you be interested in going on a date with me?"
Gloria frowned. "Why?"
Greg cocked his head. "Because I'm interested in you. Why else?"
Gloria's frown deepened. "You realize this won't influence my decision to join this Eternal Army of yours, right? In fact, if we do start dating, I will have to recuse myself from any such decision due to my potential bias."
Greg chuckled, shaking his head. "That's not what this is about. I swear, the only thing inspiring my interest in you is you."
Gloria's frown deepened into a scowl. "But why!?! You barely know me!"
Greg raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, but so? That's kinda the point of the date."
"But if you don't know me, why are you interested in me!?!" Gloria snapped.
Greg paused. "I have a thing for cold-ass, no nonsense bitches?"
Gloria scowled. "So it is a fetish."
Greg frowned. "No? I mean, no more than anything you're attracted to is a fetish, I guess. I know who I am, and I know the type of person who fits best with me, and that happens to be the hard on the outside, soft on the inside type."
Gloria blinked. "You think I'm soft on the inside?"
Greg shrugged. "No idea. But again, that's the point of the date."
Gloria paused for a moment. "You've said why you are interested in me, but… why should I be interested in you?"
"You're really not getting the point of a date, now are you?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her. "Look, I'm not saying we should automatically be with each other. I know I can get a bit carried away at times, but I'm not an idiot. I get that we're still evaluating each other, and that neither of us is sure if this is actually a good idea or not. However, I don't have the patience to just sit around and wait for you to notice who I am and what makes me great. Not anymore, at least." He chuckled slightly, remembering his old self who used to do just that. "So instead I want to ask you out on a date. I want you to give me a chance to show you who I am. And if you don't like what you see, then that's that. So what'll it be? Do you want me to keep doing whatever I can to convince you to date me, or would you rather just go on the date?"
Gloria scowled at him, before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "And what would this date entail?"
Greg smirked. "Now, now. You wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise, now would you? Don't worry, it'll give us plenty of opportunities to get to know each other."
Gloria glared at him for a moment, weighing her options. If she said no, he'd keep doing things like this. If she said yes… what would a date with this man even look like?!? Her expression twisted as she imagined a night of pure insanity. However… that would be the end of it. They'd do it, and then she could get back to doing her job. "Fine. One date." She finally agreed, shaking a finger at him. "But after that, this is done, and you will leave me alone!"
"Only if you want me to." Greg winked.
*
"So are you actually serious about that woman?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow at Greg as they returned to Chris's world.
"Define serious." Greg replied with a shrug. "I mean yes, I'm seriously interested in her, but… I mean, it isn't like I suddenly fell in love with her, but I may have gotten a bit carried away trying to see if I could crack her."
"Crack her?" Andrew raised an eyebrow.
"Find any evidence of a soft, goofy side." Greg elaborated. "My preference in women is two fold. Hard, no nonsense exterior, which she clearly has, and a soft, goofy inside, which is still unknown. You gotta crack through the hard to find the soft."
Thomas blinked. "Wait, you have a preference?"
Greg frowned. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"
Thomas coughed awkwardly. "I was kinda under the impression we were a bit more… flexible than that. I mean, Cathryn and Li Jing are completely different, same with Beth and Georgia, and I- I'll pretty much go for anyone who can actually talk to me." He sighed.
"Georgia?" Chris muttered, confused.
Greg shook his head. "I think you're confusing attraction and compatibility. I'm attracted to… well, pretty much everyone, honestly." Greg chuckled. "However, based on who I am, there's a certain type of person who's actually good for me to be with. I need someone who can hold me back but loves it when I let loose. Strong enough to handle me, but soft enough to enjoy me. Too hard, and all she'll do is keep me down, which is frustrating. Too soft, and I'll walk all over her, which is dysfunctional. Gotta have that balance."
Thomas cocked his head. "So then what do I need?"
"How am I supposed to know that?" Greg gave him a weird look. "I don't know your life."
"Right." Thomas coughed awkwardly. Definitely something he'd need to think about though… before he got himself fixated on some other girl.
"Seriously, what was that about Georgia?" Chris asked.
The other three shared a look. "Well, we should probably get back to work." Thomas coughed. "Portal back to the base by Nobilis?"
"I need to practice my Energy Control more." Andrew agreed.
"And I need to plan a date." Greg added.
Chris eyed the three of the suspiciously, before shaking his head as he opened the portal for them. "Fine, whatever."
"So…" Allison began as the four went off to do whatever it was they did, turning to Quinn. "Do you like Greg?"
Quinn froze. "What? No!" She protested, shaking her head. "Why would you even think that?!?"
Allison shrugged. "The way you were acting while he flirted with the Captain… it didn't exactly come off as a disinterested party."
Quinn scowled. "So just because I don't like seeing someone flirt with another so… egregiously, I have to like him? No, I have zero interest in Greg. Or any of the others for that matter."
"So you just don't like flirting?" Allison raised an eyebrow skeptically.
Quinn sighed. "Let's just say I've been exposed to a few too many guys who will say anything to get into a girl's pants. I get, now, that Greg isn't like that, but still, seeing someone be so… icky gets my hackles up."
"Huh." Allison grunted. "So you don't like any of them? Not even Andrew?"
Quinn pulled back in disgust. "Ew, no! Andrew is like my little sibling! As for the others, Chris is some kind of empty monster, Greg can't take anything seriously to save his life, and Thomas… Well, I haven't noticed anything particularly wrong with Thomas but he's usually off doing his own thing, so I can't say I really know him all that well. Though that in and of itself is probably a bad sign…"
Allison frowned. "How so?"
"Well, if he's always focusing on his own thing, when will he take the time to focus on you?" Quinn replied. "I don't want to always come second to whatever project my partner is currently working on."
Allison considered that for a moment. "What if what they focus on is you?"
Quinn cocked her head. "Well, on that side, it seems like it'd be a bit too… intense don't you think? Do you really want to be someone's only focus? Could you handle that level of intensity?"
Allison paused. "I'm not sure… I'm usually on the other end."
Quinn blinked. "You are?"
Allison smirked slightly. "If I weren't stubborn and focused, would I even be here?"
Quinn paused, before shaking her head with a slight grin of her own. "I guess not."