Antihero (Indefinite Hiatus D: )

Chapter Five

He didn't take as long in the shower as I thought he would, but I wondered if that was because he was worried to take too long. I couldn't blame him - he didn't know me, I didn't know him, and here I was forcing him to shower and eat. When he did exit the bathroom, his skin was flushed red from the hot water and his hair was no longer completely matted to his head. 

"How long has it been since you've bathed?" I asked, gesturing for him to find a spot on one of the couches. 

My room practically had its own living room in it, with a large TV and surround sound set-up, and a whole couch suite. Christopher sat on the same one I was on, just further down. He didn't sit comfortably, instead, he perched on the edge of the seat as you would at your grandparent's house. 

I clapped twice, causing the automatic lighting to power down. Automatic lighting was nice, don't get me wrong, but not when the slightest movement could turn them on again; plus, I didn't want security to see my room light on and come to see why I was up so late. The TV kept the room lit and Christopher looked at me warily before looking back at the TV. 

"I can't remember..." he replied, trailing off as his eyes wandered across the dark walls. "It's been forever since I had warm water, though," he said honestly, his eyes making meeting mine. 

My first assumption that he had good facial foundations was correct and, now that I could see his face clearly, he was definitely a good-looking guy. If he had an extra fifteen kilograms on him and some muscle, he would have girls, guys, and maybe me, fawning over him. He was definitely Mira's type, though I wasn't sure he was mine. 

"Well, help yourself," I said, gesturing to the sandwiches and the soft drink on the coffee table in front of us. 

I turned back to the TV, flicking through the channels so that Christopher didn't feel like I was watching his every move. He grabbed a sandwich in each hand, quickly taking a bite and nearly inhaling the whole thing. I laughed and grabbed my can from the table. 

"Whoa, slow down, mate, you'll get sick," I said before I took a swig from my can and stopped flicking the channels when I noticed the news. There wasn't anything too exciting on, just everyday news about some supervillain caught by some superhero, some new government law regarding super actions, and the government's crackdown on unlicensed advanced humans. 

"It has been fifty years since the first advanced humans were born, Langley; what changes have the governments made to ensure these advanced beings don't abuse their powers and attack average humans?" The reporter asked, the camera moving from his perfectly plastered face to the wrinkly face of Langley Knightly, the Secretary in Charge of Advanced Humans Registration and Control, or ARC for short.

She was in charge of keeping advanced humans in check - her team tracks advanced humans and registers them as a hero, if they so wish, to fight advanced humans who don't register. Advanced humans who don't register usually decide to use their powers for personal greed or gain, which is why other advanced humans are used to hunt them down.

If an advanced human doesn't want to register, Langley's team will kindly place a small charge at the back of their neck, designed to explode should they use their powers in non-emergency scenarios. Don't ask me how they know whether or not the powers were used in an emergency, because I don't know. All I know is those charges didn't fuck around as I once saw a housekeeper lose her head after using her powers to try to steal something from DeMarlo's safe.

Christopher and I watched silently, and Joanna discussed the dangers to humanity if advanced humans were allowed to roam freely, without supervision. The majority of humans were still simple, normal beings, so it's understandable they don't like the idea of these humans walking around with unknown powers. DeMarlo was the same, it's why he agreed to work for, oh, I mean with, the government. Because he was afraid. 

He never told me who it was, or what happened, but he said he met an advanced human who changed his mind. Before that, he never minded them, being a supervillain himself he was actually on the side of many advanced humans using their powers for their own gain, much like he did. Once he met this advanced human, however, DeMarlo was so convinced that advanced humans were a horrible idea for humanity, he actually had Langley's team place a charge on the back of his neck. It was as though he feared himself and what he could do. 

"What do you think?" I asked, turning the TV down and trying to ignore the thoughts of impending doom and responsibility that were starting to drown my happy facade.

"Of what?" Christopher asked, his mouth full of the fourth sandwich he was gulping down.

"About that. About advanced humans," I said, nodding my head to the TV. 

It was showing a video of damage caused by an unregistered advanced human who had gone on a rampage after he found his wife cheating. Whole homes were destroyed, pillars of flames reaching high into the sky as the man stood in the street, fire bursting from his hands. Christopher stopped chewing, his mouth only moving slowly as he watched the TV before he shrugged.

"Dunno. Never really had time to think about right or wrong," he said, eyeing me carefully. "You?" He asked, and I shrugged too.

"I've thought about it, but I've never really found the right answer," I replied honestly, leaning forward to grab another sandwich from the plate. "I guess I'm not the robot machine my father always wanted." Christopher took a small sip from his drink and looked between the TV and me.

"You are different to what I expected," he said quietly, turning to look at me. 

His ankles poked out of the bottom of the sweatpants due to his height, his legs were obviously much longer than mine. However, I prided myself as I knew my legs were much more defined, but I tried not to think about the fact that this was only because he was practically starved. 

"Oh? How so?" I inquired, turning towards him and placing one of my legs on the couch, resting my head on my hand. "More charming? More beautiful? I know, the paparazzi photos don't do me justice." Christopher laughed lightly and shook his head.

"You're nicer." His blue eyes shone slightly as his face flashed different colours due to the light from the TV. "When you found me, I thought you were going to try and kill me," he said, laughing quietly. I looked at him before looking back at the TV, unsure what this funny feeling was in the pit of my stomach. Pity? Shame? Disappointment?

"To be honest," I replied, looking back at Christopher, my cold eyes meeting his warm ones, "I nearly did."