Chris took another sip of beer and grimaced again. "I don't think this 'acquired taste' thing is working."

Frank rolled his eyes. "That's because you've barely sipped half a beer. Chug a six pack or two and you'll start to love the stuff." He shook his head. "I can't believe you haven't partied before. What did you even do for your twenty-fifth? I mean, mine made this little shindig look embarrassing! Booze, babes, and I didn't have to pay just to see tits!" He paused. "Though considering the show Azure put on, maybe I should have…"

"I haven't had a twenty-fifth." Chris shrugged.

Frank blinked. "Wait, you seriously did nothing for your twenty-fifth? Dude, that's like- the biggest milestone of most people's lives! The sign that you're ready to be a fully functional member of society! How can you not celebrate it?!?"

Chris cocked his head. "I honestly don't think it'll really mean that much to me… but mainly I haven't celebrated because I haven't reached level twenty-five yet."

Frank froze, staring at Chris incredulously for a moment, before letting out a laugh. "Wow, okay, you almost got me there!"

Chris frowned at him. "Got you?"

"Okay, okay, you can stop." Frank chuckled. "Seriously, no one would buy that you're under twenty-five."

"Why not? I am under twenty-five." Chris replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "Honestly, I haven't even reached level ten yet. Though I should get there soon…"

Frank frowned, leveling a serious look at Chris. "Dude, stop. For one, you can't be under level twenty-five, and for two, you can't be under level twenty-five! No one under twenty-five can mask their status to the degree you can, and even if you somehow can, do you know how much danger you're putting Azure in if you can't back up your claims to protect her?!? Letting her depend on you without the power to back it up is a level of heinous I can't even begin to express!"

"Hey, just because I haven't hit level twenty-five doesn't mean I can't protect Azure." Chris retorted. "Honestly, if I had to depend on power to protect her, I don't think it'd be as reliable… There's always someone stronger out there."

"How can you possibly protect someone without power!?!" Frank exclaimed.

Chris paused. "I'm not supposed to say."

Frank scowled at him. "Look, kid, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but this isn't a joke. There are people out there who would love to get their hands on someone like Azure. If you can't keep her safe, you need to tell her. Now."

"I can keep her safe, don't worry." Chris assured him.

Frank narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. "Can you prove it?"

Chris considered it for a moment. "I suppose." He shrugged, snapping his fingers as Quinn suddenly appeared next to him.

"Chris, what the fuck!?!" Quinn snapped.

"He wanted proof I could protect you." Chris replied, pointing at a wide-eyed Frank. "Also, you aren't supposed to use my real name. Not that it particularly matters since I'm not in any sort of database or anything… Can't exactly look me up in the yellow pages. Phone number, no. Address, wherever I like. Stalk me if you dare."

Quinn just blinked at him. "Okay… can I go back to talking to Kara now?"

"Yeah, I think I made my point." Chris nodded, glancing at Frank. "I made my point, right?"

"How- how did you do that?" Frank muttered. "You didn't use Energy- I don't think you used Energy." He frowned. "Okay, either you're a high level mage with unparalleled masking abilities, or I don't know what the fuck is going on here. Either way, you freak me out."

"Oh you don't know the half of it." Quinn muttered, turning to frown at Chris. "What have you been telling him?"

"He asked me about my twenty-fifth, I told him I haven't reached level twenty-five yet, and he took offense to that." Chris explained.

"You haven't reached level twenty-five?!?" Kara exclaimed, wandering over to ask why and how Quinn had suddenly disappeared. "What the fuck, dude! I thought you were supposed to be protecting her!"

Chris grimaced. "I am protecting her. Fuck, I don't want to have this argument again." Chris sighed. "Can't I just give them a pamphlet?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Quinn snapped.

"Damn it." Chris grumbled.

"Pamphlet?" Kara asked, frowning at him.

"I have secrets, but I don't like explaining those secrets, so I made a pamphlet containing those secrets to just give to people. But since they are secrets, I'm not allowed to give you one." Chris replied.

Kara blinked. "You have secrets?" She narrowed her eyes. "What kind of secrets?"

Frank frowned. "Who puts their secrets in a pamphlet?"

Quinn groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Damn it, Chris."

"Personal secrets and me." Chris looked at Kara, then Frank as he answered their questions in turn. "But I don't think this is a productive line of discussion."

Kara crossed her arms with a huff. "You know, you're not the only one with secrets, and we aren't telling you ours either!" She snapped, sticking her tongue out at him.

Chris gave her a weird look. "Okay…"

Kara continued to glare at him, slowly beginning to wiggle uncomfortably before letting out a groan as she rushed up and grabbed his arm. "Please, tell me your secret? I'll tell you mine! Please, please, please, please!" She begged, widening her eyes and batting her eyelashes at him.

"Kara!" Frank exclaimed, grabbing her and pulling her away.

"Chris." Quinn growled in warning.

Chris raised an eyebrow at Quinn. "Do you really think a little begging would sway me?"

"If you decided just giving her a pamphlet was less annoying than putting up with her begging, then yes." Quinn retorted.

Chris cocked his head. "Well, that's fair. However, you're forgetting that the easiest option is to just leave. I've been ready to leave since we got here."

"You have? Then why are you still here?" Quinn frowned slightly. She knew Chris didn't have any problem just leaving when he no longer wanted to be somewhere.

Chris shrugged. "It isn't like I could just leave you, and it looked like you were having fun. I don't mind being a little bored if it makes my friends happy."

Quinn blinked. "We're friends?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't we be?" Chris replied, giving her a weird look.

"Well, I mean- we don't really- we aren't that- huh… I guess we are?" Quinn muttered, surprised by the fact that she could actually consider Chris a friend, even if he was an empty monster. "I guess we can leave if you want…"

"No, you can't!" Kara exclaimed, grabbing Quinn's arm this time. "You haven't even met everyone yet! And Diana wanted to ask you about your Class build!"

"I know, but-" Quinn began.

"Just go, don't worry about me." Chris interjected. "I'm fine hanging out while you have fun. You've been cooped up at the base more than long enough."

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, have fun." He waved her off.

Quinn smiled. "Thank you."

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"Yes!" Kara exclaimed victoriously, before dragging her back towards the other women.

Chris turned back to Frank. "So… you wanna play cards or something?"

Frank just shook his head. "You're a weird dude."

*

As the party in the club wound down, the party in the back began to ramp up as the employees slowly trickled in. The bartenders brought back more alcohol, the DJ got some music playing, and a few of the bouncers started a poker game that Chris got dragged into, despite his claims that he didn't have any money, which… quickly turned out to not be an issue. "Flush." Chris declared, laying down his cards to the groans of everyone at the table.

"Fuck your poker face!" Frank growled, throwing down his cards.

Kara giggled. "Aw, don't be a sore loser, hun." She cooed, leaning down to give him a smooch on the cheek.

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Chris. *You aren't cheating, are you?*

*Why would I cheat?* Chris frowned. Poker wasn't that hard. You know, once you figured out what hands beat what… he still didn't get why two pair didn't beat three of a kind. Four cards should beat three. It was simple logic.

"Okay, I'm done losing money." Brett, one of the bouncers, announced, throwing down his cards. "I still gotta pay rent this month."

"I mean, it's all just chips right now, and I don't need your money." Chris commented. "We can just call everything even and forget about it."

"I don't need your charity." Brett snorted, waving dismissively. "I made the bet, so I'll pay it. A few night's sober might actually do me some good."

Chris shrugged. "If you insist."

"So, if you guys are done playing… would you like to dance?" One of the waitresses who'd been watching the game asked Chris, shooting him a shy smile.

Chris cocked his head. "I suppose." He agreed, letting her drag him towards where a few others were moving to the music and immediately realizing he'd made a mistake. No one here was dancing the way he was used to, they were… gyrating. It looked more like an excuse for excessive physical contact than dancing.

The waitress smirked as she swung herself around, pressing herself against him as she rolled her hips, before frowning slightly. "Hey, what's got you so stiff?" She asked.

"Phrasing." Chris muttered instinctively at the potential innuendo. "Sorry, I just didn't realize it would be this type of dancing… I've only ever done formal dancing. I'm- not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do here, honestly."

The waitress blinked. "Oh. Well… how about I show you~?" She purred, grabbing his hands and putting them on her waist as she leaned in close, pressing herself against him. "Just follow me~" She whispered in his ear as she began to move, pushing him this way and that. Chris wasn't quite sure what to make of the experience, but it wasn't un-enjoyable. He didn't quite get the entire point of it, as unlike formal dancing, there didn't seem to be much room to talk. As far as he could tell, they just stood there and wiggled at each other.

Suddenly Chris was torn away from the waitress and spun around to face a furious looking bouncer. "The fuck do you think you're doing with my girl!?!" The man roared.

"Eh?" Chris grunted, confused.

"Fuck off, Sean!" The waitress screamed, stepping between the two. "We went on one date, that doesn't mean you own me!"

"So you dump me the moment some pretty boy shows up?!?" Sean retorted.

"Uh, we were just dancing." Chris interjected. "I don't think you need to worry about anything happening between us."

Sean blinked. "I don't?"

"He doesn't?" The waitress turned to him with a frown.

Chris cocked his head at her. "Do you want something more to happen?"

She flushed slightly. "Well, I was thinking we'd at least have some fun tonight…"

Chris frowned. "Like sex?"

"You bastard!" Sean roared, throwing a punch and sending Chris flying across the room in a spray of blood, several people screaming as they got splattered.

Suddenly a pressure descended over everyone. "Sean, what the fuck did you just do?!?" Frank growled, radiating a crushing force that sent Sean to his knees, gasping for breath as he panted in both panic and horror as he realized he'd just received experience. Had- had he killed that man?!?

"I didn't- I just- he was-" Sean gasped, unable to form a coherent thought.

Everyone suddenly froze as all the blood disappeared and Chris returned, perfectly healed, only to immediately be crushed by the pressure Frank was giving off as he'd returned right next to Sean. The body disappeared and a portal opened, Chris frowning at Frank through it. "Could you stop doing that?"

Frank blinked. "Uh… sure." He stopped exuding the ridiculous pressure and Chris stepped out.

"Thank you." Chris nodded at him as he took back the experience from both him and Sean, causing both of their eyes to go wide. Chris then turned to the waitress. "As I was about to say, I'm not opposed to hanging out with you, but I don't do sex before marriage, so that's off the table."

"O-okay?" The waitress stammered.

Chris nodded firmly, before turning to Sean. "As for you, trying to force someone to be with you when they clearly aren't interested is pathetic at best and dangerously close to an abusive mindset, which it would behoove you and your future relationships to avoid."

"Hubluh?" Sean grunted incoherently, not sure how to process anything that had just happened.

"Okay, I think I'm done here." Chris sighed walking over to Quinn who was just glaring at him, arms crossed, completely unphased by his sudden demise.

"Well you were having fun, weren't you?" She grumbled.

"I guess." Chris shrugged. "Not sure I really get this form of dancing, though. It just seems like an excuse to touch each other and get all excited, but unless you're going to- oh." Chris paused as he realized something. "All these people are going to have sex, aren't they?"

"Did you just figure that out?" Quinn frowned. "Why did you even dance with that girl then?"

"She asked me too?" Chris replied, giving her a weird look. "It wasn't like I was doing anything else. Plus, I don't do sex before marriage. You know that."

"Yeah, well, men say a lot of things but that doesn't seem to keep any of them from trying to get in my pants." Quinn muttered bitterly.

Chris blinked at her. "Sure, but… you know how many opportunities I've had to indulge. I mean, I'm pretty sure I could just pop Debra over at any point if I wanted to do something. Or literally any of the kobolds. Or Jade, though that would be very shitty of me. Or I could pull a Greg and sleep with myself… anyway, my point is I have a lot of options which I regularly not only refuse to take advantage of, but actively turn down. I don't care if you don't believe what I say, but if you can look at my track record and still not believe me, I think you have a problem."

"I- ugh, sorry, you're right." Quinn sighed. "I'm just so used to every man in my life being an asshole… guess I'm just having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I've finally met one who isn't."

Chris frowned. "I don't think Andrew is an asshole?"

Quinn snorted. "No, Andrew is a bitch."

"What about Greg and Thomas?" Chris asked.

Quinn frowned. "Greg is, but he's controlling it, which is good, while Thomas… I honestly don't know about Thomas. I haven't exactly interacted with him much. Though the Jade thing is a bad sign."

"Hm." Chris hummed thoughtfully. "Fair enough, I suppose."

They both turned as Frank made his way over after working to smooth things over and get the party going again, Kara joining them as well with a more serious look than they'd seen from her the entire night. "So… mind telling me what that was about?" Frank asked, raising an eyebrow at Chris.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. "You were there. You saw it happen."

"I saw you die. Twice." Frank held up two fingers. "What I want to know is how that is even possible."

"It's part of my secret." Chris shrugged. "Just like I assume that pressure you were giving off is part of yours. I don't see why you have to pry, though. Not much point in a secret if you immediately explain everything the moment someone notices something weird."

Frank blinked. "That- that's a good point… I guess what I want to know is if there's any cost to it. Can you die and come back as much as you want?"

Chris paused, turning to Quinn. "Can I tell him that?"

Quinn shrugged helplessly. "Probably?"

Chris considered it for a moment, before shrugging himself and turning back to Frank. "Yeah, I can die as much as I want. Why?"

"Well…" Frank hesitated. "Okay, so, there's this dungeon, and it's pretty heavy on the traps, but if we had someone to test the way for us-"

"Hold on, what?!?" Quinn interjected. "Why are we suddenly talking about dungeons?!? And if you're having trouble with it, why don't you just go for a different one!?!"

Frank coughed awkwardly. "That- isn't exactly an option. There aren't many dungeons on our level around, plus if we don't start clearing it soon, it's going to become a much bigger problem."

Quinn froze. "Oh. So… you're one of those."

"One of what?" Chris frowned, looking between the two of them.

"He's-" Quinn glanced at Kara, who nodded. "They're Cleaners."

"Cleaners?" Chris frowned, going through Quinn's memories before nodding in understanding. "Ah, got it. Dungeon Cleaners." He turned to Frank. "So you want my help taking care of some dangerous dungeon? Usually over one hundred… huh, is that why you can do that pressure thing?" Dungeon Cleaners were the people who destroyed dungeons once they became a problem, which more often than not meant the dungeon itself was over level one hundred, which meant the Dungeon Cleaners had to be over one hundred too.

"You- don't seem all that surprised." Frank frowned.

Chris cocked his head. "Why should I be? I mean, I can't say I expected some random people I met at a club to be powerful adventures over level one hundred, but I expected something to happen, and this is just about right."

Frank turned to Kara. "How is it that I can paste this dude with just my domain, and I'm the one put off?"

"I'm not getting it either." Kara shook her head, dumbfounded.

"Don't worry, Monroe doesn't know what to do with him either." Quinn sighed. "Just wait until you meet the other three."