Interstellar → Chris Beck

S O L 4 2

MARTINEZ SMIRKED AS his gaze fell upon Beck at the opposite side of the room, his question itching for a way out. "Beck, would you rather be stuck on Mars with Maia or stuck on Mars with Johanssen?" Martinez questioned the flight surgeon.

A smirk then fell upon Maia's face and she looked over at a now-flushed Dr. Beck, awaiting his answer to Martinez's question.

The three crew members were knee-deep in a very intense game of Would You Rather, which had originally been Martinez's idea. Maia had woken up feeling particularly somber, and Martinez wanted to do something that he believed would make her feel better or at least distract her from her negative emotions. Maia had only complied to stop his incessant begging, and Beck had only complied because of Maia. It was only now that the flight surgeon wished he hadn't.

Maia wasn't so sure that playing such a childish game would do much of anything to help her, but it had done more than she thought, and this thrilled her. It was an excellent distraction, but she found that it was only because of Martinez's and Beck's idiotic answers. The game had become sort of a war between the three of them over the course of time, and intense bantering also grew to be a crucial aspect to the game as well.

"Why ask me a question you already know the answer to, Martinez?" Beck sighed as he began nervously playing with his fingers.

Maia frowned as she looked at him. "I don't know the answer."

Beck glanced over at her, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "It honestly shouldn't be that hard to figure out, Maia. At least in my opinion it shouldn't be. You know better than I do who I'd choose; you just don't want to admit it."

Maia seemed to choke on the oxygen in her lungs at the sound of his words, though she was still slightly confused as to what he meant. He had a habit of wording things to an incomprehensible extent.

"He's saying that he'd rather be stuck on Mars with you rather than Johanssen," Martinez told Maia when he noticed the confused expression on her face. "Goodness, you are so oblivious, Maia Watney."

"Oblivious to what?" Maia exclaimed.

It was only a week ago that Johanssen had said those same words to her, but she had been talking about. . .

"Oh," Maia said as she was met with the startling realization.

Maia blinked in surprise, unsure of how she should further react to the implication Martinez was making. This was yet another incident hellbent on confirming Beck's feelings, the feelings that every last one of her crew-mates (aside from Commander Lewis, Vogel, and Beck himself) were trying to convince her was in fact a reality. Beck's lack of objection to the matter only helped further convince Maia that it was true, and she didn't mind it, but she couldn't figure out whether or not the possibility of it was a good or bad thing for her. She was still so overwhelmed with the emotions that stemmed from her brother's death that it was difficult for her to grasp onto the fact that someone so close to her could possibly share such feelings for her. 

Instead of further thinking about the issue, though, Maia decided the best thing to do would be to change the subject. It was now her turn in the game anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity to remove both she and Beck from the awkward situation Martinez had so rudely subject them to.

"Okay, moving on. Would you rather be Iron Man or Captain America for a day?" Maia asked the two of them as she pulled her feet onto the couch with her.

"That's easy," Beck said. "Captain America all the way."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Captain America, too," Martinez followed.