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And onwards

(People had warned him about this; that the doors could have this sort of mind of their own in that they could grab you, like a door could kidnap a person and change their history. Chase sort of hadn't bought that, until...)

The door behind him slammed shut and it had an air of finality to it. Everything here was too quiet ever since the wall had been torn down and the news that everyone who was still contributing to the mission was to move on to Hong Kong. Sydney Shatterdome was shutting down, with all its personnel. Chase didn't exactly know whether he wanted to move on, given the fact that they probably already had their fair share of doctors there and it wasn't like he was a pilot or anything. He patched them up when they came back and yeah, he knows that's important work, but there's plenty of doctors.

Sighing, he heads up to the control centre and collapses in one of the ancient chairs that'll probably be left behind. He's not sure what's going to happen to everything, but he can't imagine it'll stay long. People might try and move further inland, in the desperate hopes that the Outback might stop the kaiju, but how long is that going to last?

Poking and prodding at a few of the now-defunct buttons, Chase reaches forward to grab one of the small toy-kaijus they'd always kept up here of Scissure, like they needed to remember why half of Sydney wasn't standing like it used to be.

So now it was stay here and wait or move on to Hong Kong.

Before he could take the time to process that decision, though, he heard the telltale scrape of a door that told Chase that someone else was lurking around -- to pillage or salvage or finish off work, he didn't know, but it made him feel somewhat relieved to know he wasn't the only one having trouble moving forward.

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He shakes his head. "Most people I knew went to the Atlantic side of the US," he admits. "Or London. Unless there's some kaiju coming up from the ocean on that side, it seems fairly safe." He could even get a flight out, going from Dubai to London, he figures, but that reeks of running away. Chase just wishes it didn't feel so easy and right, didn't pull at him. "Maybe that's the best thing to do. If the world's going to end, it'll end, but at least we won't worry about how."

"I'd feel guilty, I think," Ben said. He had thought about it before, taking what money he had and putting into some grand escape to some place far from the Pacific Rim but in the end, he was a fighter and not a runner. He wanted to make a difference for everyone and not just himself.

"I'll probably end up in Hong Kong trying to fight them off after we're decommissioned. I just...I feel awful about just throwing it in."

"You're good at that stuff," Chase said, raising his glass to Ben and giving him all the credit he's due. "And besides, your end of the ticket is a lot more specialized than mine. I'm sure they're already calling you like crazy trying to get you to Hong Kong. What've you got, five missed messages?" he teases.

Ben whipped out his phone to check. "Six, actually, because I'm a lot more desirable than you think I am. I've got to get back to them but...not right now."

Right now, he wanted to drown his sorrows for a minute and regroup.

"So, basically, let's get rip-roaring drunk and fuck the world?" Chase suggested, having come from a line of alcoholics who made poor decisions. This was practically up his alley to make a bad decision and completely be an idiot. "I'm all for that plan."

"It's been a while since I was truly drunk. Not a good idea to drift while intoxicated," Ben pointed out. "I think it actually makes your drift partner drunk too...not that I have tried it personally. I've just heard the horror stories."

"I wouldn't know. It's not like any of my family members really survived past the drinking to ever make it to the drift with me." And besides that, Chase had way, way too many issues to even be considering drifting. He couldn't put those levels of crap on anyone else and he knew that. "You planning on fighting any kaiju soon or something?"

"Right now? No," Ben said with a quick chuckle. "Right now, I intend to drink until I go practically blind and then stumble home with the first available person. Hopefully my judgment won't be too impaired. Sometimes you regret who you wake up with."

"I can make sure you leave here with your virtue intact, if that's what you want," Chase says, because sometimes people want the experience of leaving and not really going home with the right person. "It is the end of the world, though, and you're an attractive man. I'm sure you could pull anyone you like."

"Yeah? Want to make bets on who I can pull?" That sounded marginally more interesting than being maudlin about the end of humanity as he knew it and Ben thought it would be a fun distraction. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to be distracted.

"Don't think you'd have trouble pulling any yourself, to be honest."

Chase can't help his laugh of surprise when Ben brings it up. Sure, he'd only been teasing, but now that it's actually on the table, he sort of feels like he might as well roll with it. He shrugs, wildly, and laughs. "Sure," he says. "How about..." He grins and points to one of the kaiju-type groupies, sitting in the corner with his drink.

"Now that should just be easy for you."

Ben laughed a little. "Been a while since I've pulled a man. I might not know exactly how to go about it anymore." He wasn't entirely sure that was something you could forget but, again, it had been a while.

"I guess I just walk right up and start talking game about the last kaiju I downed, right?"

"I'm pretty sure when you've got your looks, you sort of just have to ask 'wanna get out of here'," Chase admits, though it's not like he's been pulling very regularly lately. Still, when he does want things to go according to his plans, that's pretty much where he starts.

Chase settles back in his chair with his drink and a smug smirk on his face. "Unless you're saying you're not sure you can do it?"

"I did not say that," Ben said, pushing up out of his chair and heading over. He started in with the usual niceties before settling in the booth opposite the other man. It was a more difficult pull than usual, sure, but he was also out of practice. After a few minutes, he came back with a scrap of paper.

"I've got his number. Told him I didn't think it was fair to just leave my friend all alone and promised I'd ring later."

Chase keeps his smile hidden behind his glass, unable to help the joy of the utterly strange situation. Here they are, possibly sitting at the end of the world, and he's daring Ben to get phone numbers. "I think I owe you a drink for that," he admits, laughing wryly as he gestures for the bartender. "Name your poison. You've earned it."

"Scotch, neat," Ben said quickly enough. There was only one drink for the end of the world, in his opinion, and it was most certainly single-malt scotch. He had no idea what the quality of it would be in this particular bar but it didn't matter. He was drunk enough on success not to care.

"Just one, though? That was a hard pull."

"What, do you think I'm made of money?" Chase replies, affronted and as if he's absolutely and totally scarred by the implication. He does have the inheritance at his disposal, seeing as his father didn't manage to completely screw him with that one last signature. He lifts his fingers to signal for another when the first is done. "Don't let it get to your head," he warns. "It's an end-of-the-world drink, not a congratulations-you're-hot drink."

"What kind of drink do I get for congratulations, I'm hot? I thought scotch was the drink of choice there," Ben said, finishing his drink and tilting his head a little to punctuate the point.

"Hmm?"

Chase licks his lower lip, curious when Ben goes for that option. He hadn't meant it completely flippantly, always keeping his cards on the table and his options open. Still, it's definitely a curious thing and he grins. "Tequila," he clarifies. "Matches the level of attractiveness, a hint of danger, maybe even a hint of a bad idea."

"Tequila it is. Two of them, yeah?" Ben asked, signaling the bartender and holding up two fingers. "This one can be on me, since I solicited it. It's only fair I don't put you on the hook for what is surely about to be the first round of many."

"Oh, we're drinking heavily tonight, is it?" Chase replies, but it's with the right amount of wry acceptance. He might have one hell of a headache tomorrow, but you only live once and in this case, you might only live for the next few days if the kaiju have anything to say about it. When the shots are pushed across the bar, he lifts one up and mumbles a 'cheers', waiting for Ben to join along.

Ben added his own cheers in reply and downed the shot, letting it burn down his throat. You only live once and for them, they don't really have many more days to live. Even if they don't die in a jaeger, the kaiju are going to destroy the world anyway. Might as well live in the moment.

"Two more, then get out of here?"

"I'm right down the road," he says, with a lot of meaning in those few words (or at least he hopes, because with the amount of liquor they're going through and the end of the world on the horizon, Chase really feels like he could use a good something to get him to whatever comes next). "Tequila again?"

"Proximity is best," Ben agreed. He would be going home with Chase tonight, for better or worse, and he might as well enjoy it in case he never had another chance.

"Less likely I'll get lost on the way home, right?"

"You? Lost?" Chase snorts and gives Ben a dubious look. "I mean, I'm not saying you're perfect or anything, but I never thought one of your flaws would be direction. You always seemed pretty sure of yourself," he points out, finishing the second round of tequila that gets brought to them, this one not burning as much as the last.

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