Let's spend some time with Beth.

Joseph yawned. He suddenly realized he was exhausted. Between the stress of his ethical panic and his ongoing arousal, he felt completely burnt out.

"Guys, I appreciate what you're doing here, but I think I need some time alone."

Kate and Kat nodded in unison. They moved to gather their clothes. Beth, meanwhile, sidled up to him conspiratorially. She took his hand in hers.

"Joe, honey, I wanna be here for you. I get that you're exhausted from dealing with all of this, but wouldn't you like to just spend some quality time with your girlfriend?" She pecked him on the cheek sweetly.

She was right. He was exhausted from all of the crazy sex and mind-warping but a nice night with Beth sounded like it would help him recharge. He nodded and she giggled, delighted. Meanwhile, Kate and Kat were about to leave.

"Let us know if you need anything. Seriously, you know we'll drop everything for you," Kate told him. Kat just winked and they left.

Alone with his new girlfriend at last, Joseph fell back onto the couch. Beth sat next to him and gently stroked his forearm. "What do you want to-"

He interrupted her. "I'm so tired, Beth. Can we just forget about my power and do normal date stuff?" He didn't notice a brief look of confusion cross her face.

"Sure!" she said cheerfully. "Wanna grab a bite to eat? Or just get takeout?"

"Takeout sounds good. Maybe a movie?" he asked. She nodded and smiled, gently touching his arm. They agreed to get Chinese delivery and watch a movie.

As Joseph scrolled through different streaming apps looking for a good movie, Beth tentatively rested her head on his shoulder. They settled on an action movie and she cuddled up against him as it began.

At the second act break, Beth took his hand in hers and sighed contentedly. "This is nice," she said as the heroes fled to their hideout. "I can't believe we waited this long to get together."

"What?" Joseph turned to her, incredulous. "We didn't wait. This weird fucking thing happened to me. You never would have dated me otherwise."

She stiffened up with worry, movie forgotten. "Weird thing? What weird thing? Joseph, are you ok?"

It took a few seconds for him to respond. "Are... are you fucking with me?"

She looked genuinely hurt. "No! Why would you think that? Seriously, are you ok, babe? What happened to you?"

Looking into her eyes, he realized that she truly had no idea what he was talking about. As he mentally replayed their conversation, Joseph recalled that he said he wanted to forget about his power. Could she have taken that literally?

She was looking really concerned now. "You're worrying me. Is everything alright?"

He could make her forget about all of this. He could make her act like a normal girlfriend! Joseph felt guilty for even thinking about messing with her like that, but it was tempting. A break from all of this weird meta shit would be like a breath of fresh air right now.