"So, how are things going with Thomas?" Gretchen asked as she and Annie got breakfast.

"I have no idea." Annie groaned.

Gretchen frowned. "Well, did you actually manage to have sex yet?"

Annie sighed. "Yeah, but… it was weird. I mean, the sex was fine. Actually, it was pretty great… dude knows his way around a woman's body, if you know what I mean. But… then it was over and we just went back to hanging out. It made it all feel so… impersonal." Annie's expression twisted. "Like the sex wasn't important, it was just something to do, and once it was over, we just… moved on. I'm just- not sure how I feel about that."

Gretchen raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure? Or do you just not want to admit that you want something more than sex?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "I've had plenty of relationships that were just about the sex, and I enjoyed them just fine. This- I don't know what this is." She frowned. "I guess… maybe I'm just not used to a relationship where sex isn't the focus? So it feels weird to just move past it like that?"

Gretchen gave her a weird look. "Annie… even in relationships where sex isn't the focus, it's still special. It isn't something you just do and move on from."

Annie hesitated. "I guess… but sex isn't supposed to be a special part of our relationship? It's just supposed to be another activity we enjoy together. Trying to make it more than that feels like we'd be pushing towards making the relationship all about sex, or turning it into a serious relationship."

Gretchen raised an eyebrow at her. "But are you really okay with a relationship where sex isn't special?"

Annie frowned, thinking about it for a moment. "I'm- not sure. I mean, the sex was still great, but… I don't know." Annie sighed, shaking her head.

"Well… where do you see all this going, eventually?" Gretchen asked. "I mean, you don't just plan on spending the rest of your life like this, do you?"

"What if I do?" Annie retorted. "Would that be so bad? As long as I'm happy, then what's the problem?"

Gretchen grimaced. "Annie… it's just- I've seen you do this to yourself before. You throw yourself into these relationships, suck every bit of enjoyment you can get out of it, and then move on! Don't you want something that will actually last? So you're not constantly searching for your next man?"

"Of course I want something that will last, but what's the point in settling for something I can't fully enjoy?" Annie countered. "You say I suck out all the enjoyment I can, but at least I enjoy myself to the fullest! What's the point in a relationship without pass- oh…" Annie blinked in sudden realization. That's what was missing! Thomas was fun, interesting, and the sex was great, but there was no passion to their relationship! That's why it felt weird! "Huh. Shit, maybe this won't work." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Gretchen asked, confused.

"I just realized why it felt weird." Annie replied, smiling sadly. "It lacked passion. That hunger, that need for each other… it just wasn't there. And without it… what's the point?"

"So… Now you're just done with Thomas?" Gretchen raised an eyebrow, a hint of incredulity creeping into her tone.

"I can't be in a relationship without passion, Gretch." Annie grimaced.

"But- you can develop passion!" Gretchen protested. "Ugh, damn it Annie, this is your problem! You base passion on things like power and attraction, and you never do the work to actually develop something real! Passion should come from mutual respect and admiration, not because the idea of getting it from someone powerful makes you tingle!"

Annie scowled at her. "Well fuck you too."

Gretchen groaned. "Annie, I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help! If you actually like this man and enjoy being around him, then don't let some lack of passion ruin it for you, try to find something to be passionate about! If you can't, then fine, end it, but you haven't even tried!"

Annie frowned at her for a moment, before letting out a sigh. "I suppose I could give it a bit more time… the sex was amazing."

Gretchen shook her head. "You can't just keep doing the same thing and expect different results. If you want this to last, you need to be intentional about it. Get to know him, figure out what he likes, what he's been through, everything. You can't just luck into a good relationship, it takes work. And most of all, you need to stop this whole 'sex is just another thing we do' crap. You won't find any passion there."

Annie's frown deepened. "I'll- I'll think about it." This was sounding more and more like a romantic relationship, and she wasn't sure that was something she really wanted to pursue. Then again, it was looking more and more like the only option… Thomas already said he wasn't down for a purely sexual relationship, and this 'friends who fuck' thing wasn't working for her, so what did that leave? Romance or nothing. Of course, she was no stranger to ending relationships, and she was sure she could find someone else to be with, but… well, that hadn't exactly been working out for her, now had it? Maybe giving something different a try wouldn't be the worst idea in the world…

*Everyone come to the main common room.* Annie suddenly heard Chris's voice echo in her head.

"Come on, let's go." Annie sighed, getting to her feet.

Gretchen blinked. "Huh? But we were talking…"

Annie frowned. "Yeah, but Chris- oh right, you aren't connected to his world… You should really just do that already. Anyway, Chris wants everyone in the main common room, so come on."

Gretchen scowled, getting up to follow. "Just because I don't think they're wrong, doesn't mean I think it's a good idea to join them." She grumbled. "They're still basically a foreign force, and while you're contracted with the military, joining them is still a betrayal!"

"My contract with the military ended the moment they left me in that frozen wasteland to die!" Annie retorted.

"That isn't how it works!" Gretchen protested. "Just because some assholes abandoned you doesn't mean you can denounce the entire Legion!"

"The Legion let them abandon us!" Annie countered.

The two of them continued that back and forth, neither of them giving any ground as they made their way to the main common room, only quieting down as they got closer, not willing to argue in front of everyone else. As everyone arrived, Greg raised his hand to get everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone!" He paused, glancing at Gretchen. "Well, everyone except Gretchen."

"Hey!" Gretchen protested. "Why am I left out?!?"

"You die. They don't." Chris stated simply.

"Yeah, what he said." Greg nodded. "We're going to a level hundred and forty-four dungeon and whoever wants to join is free to come. Again, except Gretchen, because no matter how crazy we are, we aren't going to risk her dying just because she doesn't want to feel left out."

"A level hundred and forty-four dungeon?!?" One of the ex-soldiers asked incredulously. "Don't you think that's a little… premature?"

"For us alone? Definitely. However, we aren't the main force for this dungeon. A group of post-hundred adventures has approached us as… well, cannon fodder. Apparently the dungeon has a lot of really annoying traps that make clearing it a bitch, and we are rather effective trap clearers due to the fact that anything that isn't instantly lethal can be healed, and even if we do die, so what?" Greg shrugged. "Don't worry though, Chris and I will be taking care of the traps. Y'all just have to focus on surviving and maybe lucking into completing a few quests or achievements while you're there. Be warned, there is still a more than likely chance you'll die and get reset back to level one, so it's still a risk, but if you don't it could be a huge boost to your future progress. Apparently some of these achievements can increase your experience gains by exponentially, which might be a minor boost for someone over level one hundred, but it would do wonders for us."

"I wonder if they go away when we die or not." Andrew muttered. They wouldn't be based on skills or your Class, so there was a chance they might stay, but he wasn't sure.

"Either way, once I've analyzed them with the system, we can just buy them again." Thomas grinned.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"So yeah, lot's of benefits to be had, but you gotta risk death." Greg clapped. "Who's in? You don't have to tell us now, we have a few days before we'll head out, so just think about it and let us know."

As everyone dispersed, Thomas wandered over to Annie. "Hey. You want to watch more Rouges?"

Annie hesitated, glancing at Gretchen who gave her a look, before letting out a sigh. "Actually, I think we need to talk."

Thomas blinked. "We do?" He frowned. "I thought things were going well…"

"They are, it's just- ugh, can we go somewhere private?" Annie asked, not wanting an audience for this.

Thomas nodded and they headed over to his room, taking a seat on the recently added couch since Thomas thought it was a bit weird to be constantly sitting in his bed while they watched TV. "So… what's up?"

"Well, I was talking to Gretchen and I realized this whole arrangement is missing something. We lack passion, and without that… I'm not sure I can keep doing this." Annie explained.

Thomas frowned. Something had felt a bit off about their sex last night. It was good but it hadn't exactly given him the same level of satisfaction as he got from being with Beatrice. He was actually starting to wonder whether he just enjoyed being a woman more than a man, but maybe Annie was right and it was the passion that was off? "Okay, I can see that, but… I've only really felt passion in serious relationships, with people who I know I can spend the rest of my life with. Outside of that… I'm not sure I'm capable of it." Thomas sighed, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Annie asked, biting her lip. "There isn't some part of you that just needs to throw me on that bed and have your way with me?"

"Not- really, no." Thomas shook his head, his expression twisting. His excitement didn't come from base attraction, it came from… he honestly wasn't sure where it came from, but it was more emotional than physical. The idea of someone drew him in a lot more than the actual physical presence of them did. "So, is that it then? I can tell you aren't exactly comfortable with serious relationships, and that's looking like our only option if we want to continue. Though… I suppose we could still be friends, just without the fuck? I mean, I do enjoy hanging out with you, and that's- actually relatively rare for me. It's- been a while since I've had an actual friend to hang out with." He frowned as he realized he hadn't had a real friend since Declan. Unless he counted the other three, but he wouldn't exactly say they were friends… more like siblings, or something.

Annie hesitated. "I'm not- comfortable with serious relationships, but- both you and Gretchen have pointed out that I don't exactly have a good track record with the relationships I am comfortable with, so trying something new wouldn't be the worst idea." She sighed, flopping back on the couch. "Just- I'm not good at this kind of thing, so… be patient with me?"

Thomas resisted the urge to laugh as he grabbed her hand. "Annie, I suck at relationships, period. I mean, I try but… anything beyond my current focus essentially doesn't exist to me, and more often than not, my significant other is not my focus. I rely on my partner pretty much constantly reminding me they exist. I also rely on you to tell me when there's a problem, but I think that's true in any relationship… communication and all that, you know? Anyway, my point is that I'm the last person to judge someone for needing a little patience."

Annie snorted. "This is going to be a mess, isn't it?"

Thomas chuckled. "Yeah, probably, but that's what a serious relationship is. People are messy, and relationships just make them even messier."

*

"Am I lazy?" Greg asked as he and Gloria cuddled on the couch in his room. Gloria had managed to finagle herself a day off, and the two of them were making the most of it.

Gloria blinked at him. "What?"

"Do you think I'm lazy? Like, in general." Greg elaborated.

Gloria frowned. "There are a lot of things someone could accuse you of, but laziness isn't one of them, trust me."

"See, that's what I thought too, but with this whole dungeon thing… I don't know, it kinda feels like we aren't doing enough, you know?" Greg sighed. "There are so many options for getting stronger, and all we really do is sit in our base and train. Unless we're actively forced to deal with a problem, we have a tendency to just… drift. That seems lazy to me."

Gloria paused. "I guess it depends on how you define lazy? If it's not doing everything you possibly can, then yeah, you're probably a little lazy, but in terms of doing everything you need to do, then no, you're definitely not lazy."

"Okay, but don't you think we should have some kind of overarching goal or something?" Greg replied. "I don't know, we have all this power, and it just sort of feels like we're wasting it somehow. Compared to what we could be doing, we don't really do much. Though what we could be doing gets a little iffy, morally… we could at least be doing more to get stronger though, like this dungeon thing. We know we need to get stronger, and we're doing something but are we actually doing everything we can do to get stronger?"

"Well… what can you do to get stronger?" Gloria asked, frowning slightly.

"That's the thing! I'm not even sure what we can do! I haven't even taken the time to look into it!" Greg exclaimed. "I know there have to be options, ways to increase our skills, speed up our progress, all that crap, like running dungeons for quests and achievements, but… I wouldn't even know what they are, you know?"

"Okay, but… you do realize you haven't even gotten over level ten yet, right?" Gloria pointed out. "A lot of those options simply aren't available to you yet. At most you could join an Academy, or at least kidnap a few high level Instructors, but other than that, you just have to do the grind for now. Once you start getting higher in level, then yes, there are quite a few things you can do to boost your progress, but they all require you to already be at a certain standard of power, which you simply haven't reached yet. That, or you need to be incredibly lucky, but you can't really depend on luck."

"Could I depend on throwing a couple hundred bodies at it?" Greg cocked his head.

Gloria paused. "That- could be an option, but wouldn't only one of your bodies get the benefit then? And each individual benefit only counts for so much, so without stacking those benefits, they aren't that valuable. The key to power isn't one lucky break, it's break, after break, after break, and you can't pull that off by just throwing bodies at it."

Greg nodded slowly. "That makes sense… though I guess it really depends on the nature of the benefit. Like, if there's some uber dangerous Ruin with some kind of epic weapon inside it, then all we need to do is get it out and we're good. Same with knowledge actually… if we learn some kind of hidden technique, we just know the technique, no matter which body does it. Even things like traits and achievements can be copied using Thomas's system, though that would cost us points. Honestly, the only thing we really can't share is experience."

Gloria blinked. "Huh… maybe you are lazy."

"Well, in our defense, we are pretty new at this." Greg chuckled.

"It's easy to forget that sometimes…" Gloria muttered. "You all just seem so confident, like you know exactly what you want and what you should be doing."

Greg shook his head. "It isn't that we know what we should be doing, it's that we know that the consequences of not knowing what we should be doing don't really matter. Particularly when there's nothing in the World that we particularly care about, and even then, once it's all connected to Chris's world… eh? I mean, I know there are still people who can get hurt, who will suffer, who need to be saved, but they're all strangers, so it's hard to care on a personal level, you know?"

Gloria frowned at him. "Well maybe you need to get more involved so you do care on a more personal level. Do less to isolate yourselves and get out and meet people. Put those multiple bodies to work. I get why you made your base in the middle of nowhere, hidden underground, but doesn't it kind of cause the exact thing you're talking about? Yes, you're safe, but that safety comes at the cost of your attachment to the World."

Greg cocked his head. "That's- a very good point. I guess we should spread out more, huh? Meet new people… Hell, Chris went out for a night and we already have something new to do that'll help us get stronger!" He paused, as something else occurred to him. Was that why Worlds almost seemed to actively throw relationships at them? To try and ground them and make them care about the World? To give them a reason to not just check out? Greg's expression darkened as he considered the other side of that, the idea that the World gave them relationships so that it could threaten them with them. What else did they have to lose?

"Exactly." Gloria nodded, grinning proudly, before pausing. "Wow… you really are lazy, huh?"

"Again, we're new at this." Greg rolled his eyes, pushing aside his dark thoughts as he refocused on this adorable new girlfriend the World had handed him, silently promising to tear it apart if it dared to fuck with her. Only he could fuck with her. "Now… which Kingdom would you say has the hottest women?" Greg grinned, before yelping as Gloria's fingers dug into his side. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He cried, Gloria continuing to glare at him as she pulled back. "I mean, it's obviously the Elven King- Gahaha!" Greg laughed and yelped simultaneously as Gloria renewed her assault. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself!"

Gloria huffed, giving him one last pinch. "If I hear one word of you cavorting with some spindly elven floozy, I'll-"

"Gloria, I swear, in this World, you're the only girl for me." Greg cut her off, pulling her into his lap.

Gloria glared at him for a moment. "I better be." She growled, before pulling him in for a passionate kiss. He was her man.