Interstellar → Chris Beck

S O L 1 3 7

THE ROOM WAS dark, the only light being that of the television monitor hanging on the wall. It was after hours, which meant that majority of the crew was fast asleep. The only two awake were Beck and Maia, and it had been that way for several hours now. After finishing up with Johanssen in the rec-room earlier, Maia had made her way to Beck's room as he had originally told her to do. He hadn't taken long at all to finish up Maia's experiment, just like he informed her he wouldn't, and so he was able to greet her with open arms the moment she stepped through the door.

Given the insane amount of work the crew had been given over the last several weeks, Beck and Maia hadn't been allowed much time to themselves. They couldn't exactly be with each other the way they wanted to during that particular time either, given that Commander Lewis was still very much against romantic relationships among the crew members. The two of them didn't care about her rules, though. They were still willing to bend them in order to be together, but they were only willing to bend them in their own private time. Neither one of them would deny that Commander Lewis was a rather intimidating human being, and neither one of them felt like dealing with that intimidation were she to find out about their relationship.

An old movie played on the television, one that Maia or Beck couldn't bring themselves to watch. The two of them had spent the duration of the film just talking with one another. Throughout the four years the two had known each other, they barely knew a thing about each other, despite their former status as best friends. It was hard to sit down and have a chat about life when your job title was astronaut, and training to be an astronaut was no different either. They trained, ate, and slept. There was never much time for small talk, so Maia and Beck were taking advantage of what little time they had to learn as much about each other as they could.

"Tell me this," Beck began with a small smile on his face. "What was your first impression of me?"

Maia scoffed and turned over on her stomach, propping herself up with her arms. "You know my first impression of you; I was thoroughly freaked out because you were a doctor."

"I thought that was a joke?"

"Nope," Maia shook her head and laughed, "I always knew our generation was destined to be the greatest, but I didn't think we were supposed to become the greatest at such a young age. Yeah, I may be a 33-year-old technological genius, but you. . .you're a fuckin' doctor."

Beck laughed at her. "Why is that so hard to believe, Maia?"

Maia shrugged, "It's not. Most doctors I see nowadays are like old as hell, but you're far from old, Chris."

"You're an idiot," Beck snickered.

"Maybe so," Maia huffed and plopped back onto her back. "But I hope that I'm your idiot."

Beck hummed in response and pulled Maia tightly into his arms. "You are, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it."

Maia smiled softly and wrapped her arms around Beck's body, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck. There were no words to describe the feelings he elicited inside her. Chris Beck made Maia feel things that no one else ever had, and as she thought deeply about it, she found that it scared her, though it comforted her all the same. She'd been hurt by multiple men in the past, which was why she was so particular about those she let in, but she didn't think it was an accident that Beck had slipped his way inside.

One thing Maia knew was that she could count on Beck no matter the situation. He took care of her and would continue to do so. He had proven it on numerous occasions, occasions that had taken place long before they had even left for Mars.

Maia could remember a time during training when she had misstepped while climbing a simulation ladder and sprained her ankle. She and the rest of the crew had just been provided with the spacesuits they would use during their surface time while on Mars, and Maia had taken a longer amount of time than her crew members to get used to the spacesuits. Her ankle had gotten caught between the bars, which in turn caused her to lose her balance and sent her flying backwards. Maia dangled from the ladder for about thirty seconds before Beck, who had finished his simulation training, finally showed up to assist her.