The Doctors (Chris Beck)(EDITING/ON HOLD)

Chapter 5

"Your turn. Hobbies, guilty pleasures, etcetera... go!" I laugh as Alfonso leaves with our order.

"I'm not that exciting of a person, though," he replies. Beck looks down in embarrassment. I think he believes that he's not an interesting person, but I couldn't be more fascinated with him. I have never known a person like Beck, so I want to know everything there is about him.

"Come on, I shared the boring story of my boring self," I encourage.

"You are anything but boring, Moran. Alright," he smiles, which causes me to blush. I've never had someone say that to me the way Beck just did. It feels special, meaningful, coming from him. "I was born and raised in Connecticut, and I was an only child. I enjoy reading medical journals, and occasionally, cooking. I, too, secretly dance to cheesy pop songs in my kitchen."

I burst out laughing at the confession, before beckoning for him to continue.

"I have an aquarium of fish at my apartment. There are about fifteen Blue Tang fish in there; those are the ones that are like Dory from Finding Nemo. It's a whole school of them."

"Aw, that's adorable," I coo.

"Definitely a Disney nerd. I have all the classics on disc," Beck laughs.

We both smile, as a silence comes over us. I haven't even known this man for a full month, and he could make me smile by saying so little. My previous boyfriends had to put in more effort to get me to laugh. Not that I was a very serious person, but the stress and demands of my work often weighed me down.

"Hey, do you want to play twenty questions?" he asks nervously, as if he's scared that I'll turn the idea down.

"Sure."

"Favorite place?"

"Definitely the Space Station," I answer immediately. "I love the view on the bridge; you can see the world in a whole different way. I love photographing the landscapes."

"Same here. It's amazing," Beck agrees.

Being on the International Space Station, 250 kilometers off of the ground, is truly an overwhelming experience. There is no gravity, so you float around with only hand-holds and foot-holds to help you. And it's a very tight squeeze when there are several other people in there with you. You sleep in a sleeping bag strapped to a wall in your quarters, and all your food is processed in some way, shape, or form. There is very little personal time every day, as NASA wants to do as much research as possible while someone with your specific skills is up there. But the sights, looking out over the Earth, are truly breathe-taking. The world looks almost untouched from 250 kilometers above.

"Favorite color?" I start.

"Smaragdine, which is an ocean green. You?"

"Xanadu. It's a green-grey."

"Last movie watched?" Beck asks me.

"It was actually X-Men: First Class," I admit. As I said, I was a fan of the Marvel franchise. I had all of my favorite Marvel films on disc, such as The Avengers series, the Captain America and Iron Man movies, and the X-Men series. However, The Italian Job will always be my favorite movie.

"I love the X-Men movies! Who's your favorite character?" he urges me.      

"Magneto. I have a soft spot for Michael Fassbender; he's very attractive," I smirk. "You?"

"I prefer Professor X. I admire his intelligence and his mutation," he comments.

I nod appreciatively, as they were both well written characters. I really appreciate the work of James McAvoy, but will always have a soft spot for Fassbender, especially his voice. His accent is to die for. And, it's Michael Fassbender. How can you not have a soft spot for him?

"Last concert you went to?" I continue the game.

"I saw U2 live, and it was amazing. I went with a few friends from the Biomedical Department; coolest concert I've ever seen," Beck smiles.

"Oh my god, I went to that concert! With some college friends that were in town. Where were you?" I exclaim. Before now, Beck and I hadn't found any musicians that we both really liked. I had shown him some of my favorite artists, and he had shown me a few of his. However, there weren't any that we were both really into.

"I love U2, so I got floor seats. You?"

"Same here. I've been following their work for as long as I can remember. My mom used to play their music all the time," I smile, remembering my mom playing U2 whenever she was cooking. It was her favorite band, and quickly became mine as well.

"As did mine," he claims. "What a coincidence... You know, next time they come through, we should go together. That is, if you'd like to?"

"Count me in."

"Alright, then. Favorite song to dance to?" Beck asks.

"It's a tie between The Sound by The 1975, and I Like It by We the Kings," I admit to him. "And you, Dr. Beck? If I remember correctly, you also dance around the kitchen to upbeat music when you're alone."

"Probably Future Starts Slow by The Kills. My dancing in the kitchen is pretty much me pretending I know how to play an instrument, and have a band to play with," Beck admits, and I start laughing. He quickly joins me, before we both catch our breaths.

"Don't worry. I do the same thing; however, I actually know how to play the bass guitar. My dad was bassist in a band back home, and I was in one in high school," I share, and Beck's face lights up.

"Really? What was the band's name?"

"The band was called DNCE. We played a lot of upbeat songs, and I always tried to put in good bass-lines, because I co-wrote most of our songs with our lead singer. We posted videos on YouTube, but I'm pretty sure the account got deleted," I try to discourage him from looking the band up. We weren't that bad, but it was one of those things from my past that I didn't really want to be remembered for. 

"I'll take a peek later," he teases, as our food comes. "And maybe you can play for me sometime."

"Maybe."

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DEAR GOODNESS, THIS TOOK FOREVER!!! It took me almost a week to write all of this, because I kept rewriting portions of it. I would write more than half a chapter, then toss it the next time I came back to it because I hated the way it flowed. Also, I know DNCE is a real band, but I'm not creative at all in the musical sense, so my character will be a member of that band for the sake of the story. On top of that, I was busy with either school or tennis team, or distracted by movies or Michael Fassbender. It's true: How can you not have a soft spot for Michael Fassbender?

More updates to come.

All my love,

TheSongBird17