There was an awkward silence as Chris and the three women arrived at the grocery store. Gretchen was trying to come to terms with the fact that the people she was steadily becoming more and more involved with had somehow destroyed a world at some point, while Val was wavering between a burning curiosity and the desire to escape as far away from these people as possible. She'd already been interested in Chris and the others due to their strange abilities, but hearing that they'd been involved in the destruction of a world… it simultaneously excited and terrified her! The things she could learn! The horrors she might unleash… not that they needed her to unleash those horrors. And if she was involved, maybe she could help guide them? But that would put her in danger… was it worth it? She shuddered slightly as she realized that the prospect was slowly becoming more and more attractive, drawing her in like a fly to honey. If she didn't get away soon, she'd be trapped… but would that be so bad?

Quinn, on the other hand, was thinking about Chris. In particular, she was realizing how much she actually did care about making sure he didn't end up with someone bad for him. A small part of her wondered if her connection with Chris's world was forcing her to care, but- her expression twisted. She'd been down that road before and it never led anywhere. It was better to just accept that she did care and figure out what to actually do about it. Which meant… her expression twisted even further. She was going to have to help Chris date. She rubbed her temple as she eyed the other two, before snorting dismissively. There was no way she could leave him to one of them, either. Gretchen was too obstinate to accept Chris for who he was, while Val… well, she didn't particularly know her all that well yet, but she got the impression her interest in him would tend more towards seeing him as some sort of curiosity piece, rather than truly respecting him. He needed someone who could understand his flaws but wouldn't look down on him for them… but who?

As for Chris, he was just wondering why everyone seemed to be thinking so hard. He didn't think anything they'd talked about was that hard to understand… though he did disagree with Quinn's insistence that he was easily manipulated. Sure, he'd do pretty much anything anyone asked as long as it didn't take too much effort, but that was because he didn't care, not because he was easily convinced. Though arguably the result wasn't much different… but it also meant that the moment he did care, he'd stop, so was it really being manipulated, or was he just being helpful? Her comment about a good person not necessarily being good for him did make him think as well. Greg had mentioned something similar when talking about Gloria, how he needed someone hard on the outside but soft on the inside… was that the idea Quinn was trying to get across? Should he be looking for someone hard on the outside but soft on the inside? He frowned. No, that was Greg's thing… What did he need? Someone like Beth, obviously, but which aspect of her? Probably not the propensity for accidental innuendos… Chris frowned as he thought, struggling to fit Beth into any sort of archetype. To him, she was just Beth, a complete package. Trying to pick that package apart felt wrong somehow.

"So, what do you need?" Chris asked Val, grabbing a cart.

"Huh? Oh! Uh…" Val looked around as she pulled out of her thoughts. "This way." She waved them towards the produce section.

The four of them slowly made their way through the store, the three girls picking out the various foods they enjoyed, while Chris kept an eye out for anything he didn't already have in his world. The girls slowly started to relax, the familiar activity providing a sense of normalcy that helped the ridiculousness of their circumstances fade into the background. That is, until they hit the frozen section. "Is that Quinn I see?" A man approached them as Quinn froze, shuddering slightly.

"Hey, Derek." Quinn greeted him with a forced smile. "How have you been?"

"Oh, you know, staying busy." Derek chuckled. "How about you? I noticed you haven't been streaming lately…"

Quinn's expression twisted. "Yeah, I've been… dealing with some things."

Chris narrowed his eyes at the new Derek, briefly going over Quinn's memories to remind himself of who he was, before tapping Quinn on the shoulder. "Don't you hate this guy?" He asked, wondering why she was being so friendly, even if it was forced.

Quinn flushed as she turned to glare at him. "Chris, not now!" She growled through gritted teeth.

Chris frowned. "But didn't this guy ruin your stream, try to get you to do straight up porn, and then cheat on you with-"

"Stop!" Quinn protested.

"Is this what you've been busy with, then?" Derek raised an eyebrow as he briefly studied Chris, before turning back to Quinn. "Wow, I must have hurt you more than I thought if you're willing to settle for someone like this." He gestured distastefully towards Chris. Chris blinked, looking down at himself. Was there something wrong with the way he looked?

Quinn turned her glare towards Derek, dropping any pretense of civility. "We aren't together, but even if we were, Chris is ten times the man you'll ever be, even with his flaws!"

"Oh really? Then what's he doing with you?" Derek sneered. "Oh right, you aren't together. Probably because he wouldn't stoop to dating some dried up whore shaking her ass for views!"

Quinn flinched. "I- he's not-"

"She's the one who won't date me." Chris stepped in, frowning at the man. "And you're the one who pushed her to make her videos more sexually appealing. How dare you judge her for it? And even if that weren't the case, who cares if she makes sexually appealing videos? She enjoys it, her viewers enjoy it, who is it hurting? Except some petty asshole who can't stand the idea that his girlfriend might be too good for him?" Chris paused. "Actually, let's be clear. She is too good for you, no might. I mean, shit, I'm a jealous guy, but at least I know the difference between what is and isn't mine. And your girlfriend's body is definitely not yours."

Derek's eye twitched as he glared at Chris. "And who the fuck are you?!? You're not dating her but you know everything about us?!? Did she friend zone you so she could safely vent about me or something? Some pathetic dope who lacks the balls to find a real woman, so you cozy up to this unattainable floozy in the hopes she'll throw you one out of pity? Have you even had sex, or are you so pathetic you're still a freaking virgin?!?"

Chris cocked his head. "What's wrong with being a virgin?"

Derek burst out laughing. "Holy fuck, are you serious?!? Oh, this is priceless!" He cackled uncontrollably, before glancing at Quinn. "Tell you what, I have a few videos I've been saving for a special occasion. You let this guy have his way with you for a night, and I might delete one of them." He smirked, turning back to Chris. "And you can't chicken out either. You treat her like the whore she is, or I'll post the videos on every porn site I know!"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You-!" Quinn began, before Chris held up a hand, stopping her.

He didn't even notice his world creeping out as he stepped closer to Derek. "You are going to delete everything you have on her, now." He growled, barely even noticing as he crushed Derek's will, connecting him to his world and implanting the order deep inside him.

Derek's eyes went wide. "Y-yes, sir!" He exclaimed, before immediately rushing off to do as he said.

Chris blinked, not entirely sure what had just happened. "Uh… I think I may have made a mistake." He coughed awkwardly, turned to the others as they stared at him in shock.

"Did you just-" Quinn began, before frowning. "I thought you didn't actually control people." She eyed him suspiciously.

Chris shrugged. "I don't think I usually do… that felt different than what normally happens." He frowned, rubbing his head. "Like I had to force him to connect, and then I had to force him to do what I said as well. Didn't know I could do that…" He cocked his head, wondering if he'd ever done it before. A few of the times he'd order Anthony around maybe? Though even if he had, it hadn't taken much effort, so he couldn't really tell.

"Every time I start to get comfortable with this shit…" Quinn grumbled, shaking her head, before letting out a sigh. She eyed Chris hesitantly for a moment, before suddenly pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Uh… you're welcome." Chris patted her back. "But we still have to deal with the dude, you know." He added. "I'm not opposed to tossing him into a star or something for a few thousand years."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "And you think Thomas has issues with proportional responses." She muttered. "No, just… I don't know, order him to stop being an asshole and fuck off?"

Chris frowned. "I'm not sure if that would work… I think I have to maintain the order, so it's a constant drain on my mental energy. Or more like part of my mental energy gets tied up in maintaining the order?" He cocked his head as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling.

"Damn." Quinn frowned as well. "I guess…" Her expression twisted. "Ugh, just do what you want with him. Not throwing him into a star, though! Just- keep him away from me." She finished with a growl.

"No problem." Chris nodded, giving her a thumbs up. Maybe the fourth prince would enjoy a hole digging buddy. Or maybe he could get Thomas to turn him into a woman and have him make a bunch of sexually explicit videos to put on the internet… no, that was probably too far.

Quinn turned to the other two, flushing slightly. "I'm- sorry you two had to see that… I didn't expect to run into Derek like that." She apologized, spitting his name distastefully.

"It's- it's okay." Val waved dismissively, still eyeing Chris warily. "If Chris hadn't- done whatever he did, I would have taken care of that worm." Her expression twisted distastefully at the thought of what that man had threatened Quinn with. How dare he do that in front of a Domain level mage! The curses she would have laid on him… though his current fate was arguably worse. At the mercy of… whatever Chris was.

"How'd you even get involved with someone like that in the first place?" Gretchen frowned.

Quinn grimaced. "He- He wasn't always like that… When we first got together, he was sweet and supportive, he made me feel like I was the center of his entire world. And then… the better I did, the worse he got. It was like- he was always pushing me to do more, and then he got pissed when it worked! And I wasn't even doing that well, anyway! I just- I don't know. He just-"

"He was an ass who wanted you to depend on him and only him." Chris interjected. "That's why he hated it when you succeeded. Any value you pulled from anyone other than him made him that much less important to you, in his eyes at least. And he kept pushing you into that stuff because he thought it'd be degrading, so you'd have to depend on him even more for your self worth."

Quinn blinked. "Did- did you go through his memories?"

"No, it's just obvious." Chris shrugged. "It's classic abusive behavior. Make someone feel special, then ruin everything else that makes them feel special and make them feel worthless, so they have to depend on you to feel special, and you can do whatever you want to them. Even more, that they deserve whatever you do to them. He didn't seem very good at it though… he should have been more patient, eased you into more and more risqué acts instead of trying to just rush you into porn. Amateur move, really."

Quinn scowled at him for a moment. "You scare me sometimes."

"Sometimes?!?" Gretchen muttered with a shudder.

Quinn sighed. "Despite his capacity for evil, he lacks the intent to pull it off, so you can't really hold it against him. It's just creepy when he throws it out there like that." She paused, glancing at Chris. "Do you really think that's what he was doing?" She asked hesitantly.

Chris nodded. "Almost definitely. I can check to make sure, if you like."

"No, you're probably right." Quinn grumbled. "Just… I can't believe he was manipulating me like that." She murmured in a quiet voice.

Val placed a hand on her shoulder. "It can happen to any of us. Some people just know all the right things to say."

"But if you can't trust the people who say all the right things, who can you trust?" Quinn shook her head.

"You can trust me and I couldn't say the right thing to save my life." Chris shrugged.

"But you can't just trust people who say all the wrong things either." Val frowned.

"I don't think it's about that… I think it's about trusting people who are sincere." Gretchen offered. "People who are just being them, and not trying to say anything."

Quinn nodded. "That does describe Chris… but what if they're faking sincerity?"

"Well, I think a good rule of thumb is that anyone who seems too perfect probably is." Gretchen replied. "Also take a look at their friends, listen to your friends, watch out for people who try to control you… and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff, but that's all I got. If all that fails, well, you're probably dealing with a master manipulator who you had no chance of catching in the first place, and you just had the bad luck to be their target."

Quinn sighed. "Fantastic. Ugh, Chris, can you send me home now? I just want to feel like crap and watch bad TV right now." She paused, grabbing a pint of ice cream. "After I buy this."

"Sure." Chris agreed with a shrug. "How about you two? Want to go home as well?"

Val nodded. "Home sounds good." She had a lot to process after all this, and she needed to take some time to consider whether getting involved with Chris was truly a good idea or not.

Gretchen hesitated. She didn't particularly want to go home, but she also didn't particularly want to hang out alone with Chris… Despite Quinn's insistence he was trustworthy, a lot of what she'd heard today made her nervous. It wasn't that she thought he might hurt her, but she didn't want to get caught up in his wake and end up hurt, particularly not without the safety net of a connection with his world. She could just see him getting involved in a mugging or something and getting them both killed, which would be fine for him, but she wasn't freaking immortal! She let out a sigh. "Yeah, I should probably go home too."

"Alright, let's just finish shopping and we'll go." Chris nodded.

"You want to watch bad TV with me?" Quinn asked Gretchen.

Gretchen blinked. "I- sure, that sounds nice." She nodded with a smile.

Quinn glanced at Chris. "I suppose you're invited too."

Chris cocked his head. "Does it have to be bad TV?"

Quinn nodded. "Absolutely."

Chris frowned for a moment, before shrugging. "Sure, why not. It's not like I have anything else to do."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "So great of you to deign to join us."

"Hey, you can't expect me to get excited about bad TV." Chris shrugged. "I mean, I don't generally get excited in the first place, but I especially don't get excited about bad TV."

Quinn snorted. "Fair enough."