"You never eat lunch with us anymore." Christina said, frowning at a chipped nail.
Tris and Christina were currently making a day of hanging out in The Pit on their day off. The first activity on the list was shopping, as per Christina's request naturally. She was adamant for a new wardrobe and demanded that Tris come along to give her opinion. Though she would never voice it, Tris secretly thought that Chris only wanted her for her opinion because she knew Tris would always be unflinchingly kind – she was no Candor, after all. Truthfully, Tris only agreed to come alone on this doomed 'girls day' because she felt guilty about ignoring her friends for so long. Not only was the Apprenticeship making her really busy lately, but Eric was monopolizing her time too.
Tris thought that her and Eric's friendship was getting better every day, and she couldn't be happier about that. But, there were things about his loner status that she couldn't ignore; like the fact that she was one of his only friends. Chris, Will, Uriah and the lot wouldn't miss her much if she didn't show up for lunch one day; they were rambunctious enough without her being present too. Eric had, well, no one really. It made her feel slightly bad for him when he ate all alone. Even though she knew he was completely unbothered by sitting alone and in fact probably liked it, she still felt the need to remedy the empty chairs surrounding him. Call it the Abnegation in her.
"Sorry, Chris. The Apprenticeship is all consuming at the moment I'm afraid." Tris said, hands in her pockets and eyes roaming The Pit. This was Christina after all – one look in Tris's eyes and she could spot the lie.
"Yeah, but you're eating lunch with Eric almost every day, so you can't be too busy if you still find the time to eat with freaking Eric, but not us." Chris stopped in the middle of The Pit, much to the frustration of everyone passing by. Facing Tris, she placed her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "Don't lie to me, Tris. You know you can't anyways. What's going on with Eric?"
"I don't know why you ask. Isn't it obvious?" Tris shrugged so Chris's hands fell off her shoulders. "If you must know, we've reached an agreement of sorts."
Christina's eyes narrowed, "What kind of agreement?"
"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. We're friends, okay?" She started to move through the crowd again, Chris trailed behind
"No, that's not really okay. What happened to 'Psychopath Eric'?"
"Well," She frowned. "I've learned to look past that."
Chris laughed incredulously, "That's not really the kind of thing you look past. Can we talk about this please?"
"What's there to talk about?"
"Plenty." Chris took her elbow and steered her to the nearest coffee shop. Well, coffee shop by day, bar by night – that was the general trend with these kinds of places in Dauntless.
After sitting down and ordered a drink – Tris declined – Christina looked expectantly at the girl across from her.
"What do you want me to say? That we're secretly having sex instead of doing paperwork constantly?" It was a real tell to how much Tris has changed that she didn't blush at the thought. "Which is what we are actually doing – the paperwork, mind you."
Chris snorted. "It would actually make more sense for you two to be having an illicit affair than for you to have looked past his personality and became friends with the asshole. If you two were, ya know – doing the dirty – I think I would almost approve. Wow, Tris, I'm impressed." She mused, much too amused considering how upset she was a moment earlier.
Tris rolled her eyes. "I think you don't understand what I'm saying. We. Are. Not. Having. Sex."
"Despite your efforts, right?" Chris cheekily grinned. "If you two aren't fucking, then why? Of all the people in Dauntless to be befriend, you had to choose him."
She looked pensive for a moment, deciding how much to tell her friend. "I guess it's because nobody has before."
"So it's a charity case," Chris snorted, "I bet he loves that."
"It's not that at all and you know it." She frowned. "Honestly, we're just friends and even then, it feels like we aren't some days. He's one of the most unpredictable, infuriating people I've met, but sometimes he can be surprisingly funny and kind in his own way."
Chris accepted her steaming tea with a nod of thanks to the waiter before refocusing her attention on Tris, "Well, I don't like it. I feel like I'm validated though, seeing as he almost killed me once. But," she sighed dramatically, "if you can look past his nastiness, I supposed I can accept your weird friendship."
"Thanks for the support," Tris said sarcastically.
"You know, Eric isn't the worst looking person in Dauntless by far – certainly the hottest leader. And as a tattoo artist myself, I can really appreciated his –"
"Chris!" Tris half-gasped half-laughed, looking around for any possible witnesses. "He may be my friend but he's still my temporary boss!"
"Have you ever, you know, seen him –"
"Christina. Remember Will?"
She sighed and took a tentative sip of the hot tea. "It's going great with him, by the way. He loves his Apprenticeship so far, so I think he is going to continue with it afterwards. I'll never get tired of him. Especially not that way either," she waggled her eyebrows, "he could teach Eric a few things, if you want."
"Gah!" Tris threw her hands in air while Chris threw her head back and laughed.
"Sorry Tris. I forget sometimes that you were in Abnegation."
"It only took what, a year? Less?" Tris shrugged. "Anyways, your Apprenticeship is still going well?"
"It's going great – I love Tori. I think I'm gonna stay on in the shop. I can't believe that there is only a week and a half left of the Apprenticeships."
Tris couldn't believe that that much time had passed. She felt strangely disappointed that her time with Eric was coming to an end. Of course, she knew that it didn't really have to end, since she could always accept the position as leader after the Apprenticeship. Except it would be different – no more paperwork on the cramped space on his desk that she had claimed as hers, no more naps in his office, or just plain hanging out. She hoped that by the end of her apprenticeship with him, they would be good enough friends for her to be able to do all those things afterwards.
It suddenly struck her that they hadn't done any physical training yet. In all honesty, she hadn't learned much at all during her apprenticeship with Eric – unless learning the best techniques to prevent hand cramps counted.
"Tris!" Christina yelled, hands waving in front of her face. "What's got you looking all confused and thoughtful and shit?"
Feeling cheeky, Tris replied, "Oh nothing, just my boss and his arse."
"I didn't know you felt that way, Tris." A deep voice from behind her said. "So all those times you daydream in my office, is it always about me?"
"Naturally." She grinned up at him, not missing a beat.
"Stop. I'm blushing." He deadpanned, settling a hand on the back of her chair.
Christina's eyes flickered between the two, suspicion turning to confusion, turning to realization. She stood up abruptly, drawing the attention of the bantering pair across from her. "Listen Tris, I've got to go meet Will. I've just remembered. Don't forget – lunch with us tomorrow. See you later! Uh, bye Eric."
The pair watched as Chris practically sprinted from the shop.
"She's a terrible liar."
"She's a Candor."
"Point taken." Eric muttered, still looking out the door where Christina disappeared.
Tris saw the far-away look in his eyes that meant that he was concentrating and therefore completely unresponsive to the world. She let him come to his senses before she smiled and gestured to the recently abandoned chair across the table. "Might as well since you're here."
Eric sat down, pushing Christina's tea away from him with a grimace.
"Not a fan?" She mused.
"More of a hot chocolate man myself."
She laughed a little before an awkward silence fell between the two. Wracking her brain for a moment, she finally cleared her throat. "I've been wondering something. Only a week and a half left, and we haven't done much of . . . well, anything. Don't get me wrong, I can forge your signature better than you can do it yourself –"
"You were the one who took the time to learn it," He grumbled.
"Yeah, when you 'didn't have the time' to sign them yourself – even when the papers were due a week earlier, might I add." She glared at him, though it lacked any real malice. "Don't distract me. We haven't done anything like physical training or any kind of training really –"
"Haven't you learned by now that paperwork is the most vital thing a leader does? Or do I need to get you to do some more?" He waved down a waiter, ordering a coffee for himself before looking expectantly at Tris, to which she shook her head at the silent offer.
"Oh, I know only too well. But you haven't taught me how to negotiate with other factions or what my responsibilities will be or anything like that." She held up a hand when his expression darkened. "I'm not trying to criticise you, Er. I'm just wondering why."
"Well first of all," his grey eyes glittered, "'Er' falls a little flat, don't you think?"
She gave a little laugh, eyes dropping to the table. "Regretted it as soon as I said it."
He smirked momentarily before his expression turned serious. "To be completely honest, time has gotten away from me. I've been very busy lately, no matter what you think. Ask yourself this, Tris: do you even need training in some of those areas? You could probably negotiate better than any current leader. Myself excluded, of course."
"Of course," she gave him a small grin. "I'm glad you think that of me, but at this rate, I don't think I could pass the Leader's Exam – definitely not the physical test."
Eric looked thoughtful for a moment. "All right, here's the plan. We spend the next week going over all the stuff we've – sorry, I've – neglected to teach you, such as faction negotiations and the like. As for physical training, we can do that outside of the Apprenticeship."
"You'd be willing to help me train to pass the exam on your own free time?" She raised an eyebrow. "I know we're friends now, Eric, but that's pushing it on your kindness tolerance."
He took a long draw from his coffee, confidently leaning back in his chair. "You're right. I retract my offer."
"I never said that. Just," her eyes narrowed, "what's in it for you?"
"Nothing." He stated innocently. A little bit too innocently.
"I don't believe you."
"Good."
"You make it really hard to like you sometimes, Eric." Tris said, giving a dramatic sigh so he knew she was teasing.
He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I'll tell you a secret – it's completely natural. Surprisingly, I was born this way."
She stifled a laugh.
"Come on." Eric drained his cup, standing up and looking at Tris. "We might be able to finish some paperwork before dinner at this point."
Tris followed his example and stood up, tucking in her chair. "You mean I'll finish the paperwork while you do . . . whatever it is you do. I don't actually know. Wait – it's my day off! I don't have to go anywhere with you." She crossed her arms smugly.
"You don't have to, but you want to." He gave her an equally smug look.
After a few moments of intense staring, she relented, resigning to the fact that he was right – she did want to go with him. Though that didn't stop her from grumbling on their way out, "You're impossible."
"That's one I don't get a lot, surprisingly." Eric said as they wove their way through the thick crowd of The Pit, eventually coming to a stop before the elevators. "Asshole, idiot, ruiner-of-lives, yes; impossible, not often."
"Is that an invitation?"
He mock-glared at her. "Careful, you're still my apprentice, Tris."
"Yes, sir!" She said sternly, but grinned widely when they stood side by side to wait for the elevator to whisk them up to his office.