She didn't know where here feet were taking her, she was too deep in thought. Candors could be so stupid and cruel sometimes. They didn't think, only spoke, and took anything given to them to be truth. That was one thing that had separated Athena from other Erudite youth, she knew that not everything you read in a book was truth. She remembered reading a book on different news sources, there was a difference between getting a piece of information from the direct source and getting it from a secondary source. She knew that to be a truly intelligent person, she had to take information from several different sources and pick out the truth from there. Other Erudite would merely believe anything that came from a book that their instructor gave them, Athena took that book and would go compare it to the enormous library in the Erudite compound; even then she knew that the books the library offered were probably extremely censored, Erudite strove for the truth, but many leaders believed they didn't need the whole truth.
"What are you doing down here?" Athena heard in front of her
Snapping out of her thoughts she looked up to see Eric, he managed to put on a shirt finally, and a new pair of sweats also. The shirt tightened across his chest, and his biceps flexed as he crossed his arms.
Athena shook her head and look around her. She was in a hallway that she had never seen before, "I was just taking a walk, clearing my head before I kicked a certain Candor's ass."
"Get in a cat fight with Patricia?" He mocked smirking
Athena didn't pay the comment any attention, "No, defending a friend's name when she wasn't there to stand up for herself, and against Cal, not the she-man." She explained
Eric chuckled at the "she-man" comment, "You should probably get back-" he started to say just as Athena's stomach interrupted him.
She covered her stomach embarrassed, her cheeks reddening as she looked up at him. He chuckled again, "Did you skip dinner?" he inquired.
She nodded sheepishly. He motioned with his head to follow him, without a question she did.
"Weren't you headed somewhere?" She asked
"Was just about to take a walk myself and gather my thoughts." He looked at her with an interesting look in his eye.
They got to a metal door marked with the number 100. He took out a key and opened the door, holding it open he motioned Athena to enter first. As she slipped by, their chests skimmed each others. Once inside Athena looked around, Eric's apartment was very industrial and masculine. The apartment was more like a studio, an open concept. The living room was centered around a fireplace, bookcases lined the wall; the kitchen was the only wall that a brick wall, light bulbs hung down throughout; a large dining table sat in front of a wall of floor to ceiling windows, and French doors led out onto a balcony; the "bedroom" sat the opposite wall of the kitchen, the bed on a raised platform, and the headboard made of reclaimed wood, on either side of the bed were doors, one led to the bathroom Athena guessed, the other probably to a closet; in the corner closest to the bed and opposite of the glass wall sat a small office like area, with a computer and telephone.
"Nice bachelor pad you've got here" Athena commented after taking it all in.
"How are you sure I'm a bachelor?" Eric asked smugly coming to stand next to her
She raised and eyebrow as she looked up at him, "There is not a touch a femininity in this whole place. So unless you swing the other way I'm pretty secure in my judgment." She said with a smirk when the smug smile was wiped off his face when she suggested he was gay.
"I am not gay" he grunted, unconsciously puffing out his chest trying to look more masculine.
"Of course not" I mocked playfully, winking at him.
He muttered something quietly to himself as he turned and walked into the kitchen. He opened his refrigerator and pulled out various items of food. Fruits, bread, meats, were all spread out onto the island.
"Have at it" He said gesturing to the food
Athena walked over and sat down on a bar stool, she reached and plucked a grape from its vine and commented on his stash of food, "Did you raid the kitchens or something?" she asked.
He smirked, "No, but someone like me has to have good food around."
"Someone like you?"
"Someone who burns a lot of calories doing various activities." He said "activities" in a particular way that had Athena choking on a grape after inappropriate thoughts entered her mind.
After finally being able to swallow the grape she noticed that he was laughing at her reaction. She stared at him, almost amazed; she forgot about his suggestive. She had never heard him laugh before. It was a deep masculine laugh that sent butterflies throughout her stomach. She must have been staring at him for longer than she realized because he was soon asking her, "What?".
"It's nothing, it's just...I've never heard you laugh before." She said softly, "It's nice, you know, to see you like this."
"Like what?" He grunted stubbornly
"Not being a complete asshole who likes to assert his power over everyone. You seem...cool." Athena spilled, looking at him with soft eyes.
He looked at her like she was crazy, "Yeah, well...don't get used to it. I'm a Dauntless leader, I'm trained to be an asshole." He commented as he walked by her towards the living room.
Athena grabbed a bowl of fruit and followed him, coming up behind him as he sat on the couch, she leaned over and said into his ear, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you can be sweet."
"Sweet?" He asked incredulously
"Yup!" Athena said coming around the couch, the book cases caught her eye and she set her fruit on the coffee table and went to inspect them, "A real sweetheart" she laughed over her shoulder at him.
He just scoffed.
"Seems like someone didn't let go of all their Erudite past" Athena commented, Eric's bookcases were filled with books on war strategy, science fiction, and military history, "Wow this is some reading material you have here."
"Just because I still like to pick up a book now and then doesn't mean I'm not Dauntless. I just happen to be the few Dauntless that have a brain capable of being able to understand a vocabulary higher than a sixteen year old. How else can I escape the stupidity around me? Plus, Erudite don't believe in learning from the past, I however see true knowledge in the way the military was run before the war."
Athena was looking at him full on now. He wasn't like the Erudite, he wasn't like the Dauntless, he was just Eric. His ways always seemed to make sense in the end. Erudite don't believe in learning from the past, but Athena always thought that before the war there was so much more freedom, and that society now could learn from it.
"You're giving me that look again," He said giving her an unsure look
"I just agree with you one hundred percent. That's what I always found wrong with Erudite. They are so focused on the future, they forget that we even have a past we need to learn from." She looked back at his bookshelves. One book in particular stood out from the rest.
"Pride and Prejudice" Athena turned to look at Eric, who wouldn't look her in the eye, "Didn't take you for a romantic Eric" She joked.
"That just so happens to be one of the best literary works in human history." He defended weakly.
She took the book off the shelf and studied it, "I've never read it. My parents always thought fiction was a waste of time, that nonfiction is where the truth was." She walked over to the couch where Eric was sitting.
"Sometimes the truth of a time can be seen more in fiction than in nonfiction. In that book you can see and understand how society worked during the 1800s. If you read history books, they would only tell you of how people dressed, and the achievements of that era, but in fiction you can tell how people really acted, and the mentality of that age. Fiction doesn't lie, nonfiction does." Eric explained as Athena opened the book, "You can read it if you like" he offered.
She read the first line aloud, "'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'" She looked up at him surprised, then laughed, "I can tell what you mean now."
"It's been a while since I've read this book, keep reading," He said scooting closer to Athena, looking over her shoulder.
"'However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.'" She continued on reading.
She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but she knew that she didn't want to wake up. She was oddly comfortable, which wasn't usual, the beds initiates were given to sleep on were as stiff as boards. She nuzzled closer to her pillow, sighing in content. Suddenly, her pillow started beeping. She tried to burry her head to get rid of the noise, but when she heard a groan she realized, that her pillow wasn't as inanimate as she had thought. An arm tightened around her waist.
"Ugh...shit" She heard Eric swear, she finally opened her eyes to look up at him. He was looking at his watch, "It's way too early for this," he muttered pulling Athena closer to him and laying his head back down on the couch,
"Uhhh...Eric" She said quietly her hand on his chest
"What?" He asked annoyed
"I, uh, think I should head back to the dormitory now, someone could get the wrong impression." she explained trying to carefully untangle herself from him, their legs were intertwined.
He gazed down at her with a disappointed looked, and letting his head fall back with a heavy sigh he agreed.
She got up and made sure she looked decent, pulling down her tank top which had ridden up. Sprawled on the couch Eric smirked up at her with a toned arm behind his head.
"What?" She demanded
"You look like you've just had wild sex." He said bluntly
She gasped and he laughed as she raced to fix her hair, throwing it into a messy bun, before starting for the door.
"Be ready to wake up again in an hour." He called, "Today you're going on a field trip" and with that Athena walked out of the door.
Here's a fluffy chapter for those who love to see a sweet Eric as much as me. I love writing chapters like this! Please favorite, follow, and review! I will see you all tomorrow!