Frozen Flame

Chapter 57: The Five of Them

A pause. Jared shook his head. "Larcens, we are not living in some story or painting or anything. We ran forward because we needed to catch up with Ceecee."

Nodding with raised eyebrows, Larcens looked past his opposite. "Well, we're kinda going to need to do it again..."

Jared's head flicked round. "Dang." He looked back at the smiling boy. "When this is all over, I think I'm actually going to kill you."

"We'll see about that."

Jared gritted his teeth, raising a pointed finger. "We are not having this conversation right now."

Larcens merely nodded, running after the trio ahead. "I'll beat you there!"

He scoffed. "Yeah, right."

***

A vast space stood before them, smooth and empty with walls towering high above them in the distance. Everywhere they looked was covered with slated Ice, smooth, thin, transparent. So, their movements were silent against the ice, nothing but skated footsteps and noiseless gliding.

They moved in a group, although spread out, as a pod moving forward. Jared and Ceecee headed the group, standing half a metre apart in silent communication, refusing to look at each other. Larcens stood shortly behind them, creating small bubbles of ice out of the air and watching them drop to the ground behind him before joining them together to form a long line behind him. Meanwhilse, Benjamin and Lucas stood off to the side, amid a conversation to themselves.

As Benjamin spoke, replying to some obscure question his friend had asked, his eyes flicked between his conversationalist's eyes and small blue bun in the back of his head. Finally, he paused, holding up a hand to indicate a moment of peace. "Can I borrow a hair tie... please? My hair's bugging me a little and I want to put it up..."

Lucas sighed, passing him a tie off his wrist. "Sure, here you are."

Benjamin smiled back at him. "Thanks. I'm thinking of cutting it sometime in the future, what do you think?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do whatever you want. I'm not going to tell you one way or the other."

A scoff. "Of course, just like always. Oh, and for the record, I think you should cut yours too. It's honestly a bit disconcerting to see you with long hair. Like long, long hair. I mean, shoulder length would look fine, but down the back like mine? Nup. It just feels weird."

Lucas' eyebrows went up as he nodded slightly. "Right, and you wait until now to tell me... Of course, you do, what did I expect?"

Benjamin smiled. "You're welcome."

A sigh came from Lucas' direction. "But seriously, tell me, did you actually remember to tell your girlfriend you were leaving? Or did you forget like last time?"

Silence broke through the conversation as Benjamin looked down, refusing to meet his friend's eyes, hands thrown into pockets. "No, I just left. It's fine. Besides, she has James to keep preoccupied with – she probably wouldn't even notice I'd left."

Lucas' gaze grew hard as realisation crossed his vision. "Wait, did she cheat on you again?"

He smiled softly. "Yeah."

Lucas moved closer, slipping his hands into his pockets, copying his opposite's movements. "Benny, this is the eighteenth time."

"Nineteenth – the one in the Redies."

"Right, nineteenth. This is just getting too far... Why are you still with her?" He frowned, concerned and annoyed at his friend's blindness.

Benjamin looked up at him, distancing himself slightly as he felt the rage rising in his friend's aura. "Well, she's a nice person... Kind... She's really very lovely and sweet and... and I love her, so of course I'm not going to leave her." Noticing his friend's raised eyebrow, he quickly changed his reasoning, attempting to consolidate his continual stay with the woman. "And I've cheated too, so it's really not that big of a deal."

"Only twice."

"Number doesn't matter."

"It wasn't even your fault."

"But it still happened." He shrugged. "So, I can't really confront her about it."

A pause as they continued to walk in silence, their movements ripe with tension. Finally, Lucas spoke up. "You're an idiot for lying to yourself."

Benjamin smiled at him. "Yes, I well may be."

Another pause as Lucas looked away. He bit his lip before turning back. "You know, I wasn't going to tell you this, I really wasn't, because I thought it'd be better if I left it to you to figure out. But with all the stupid things you're doing, you've left me little choice in the matter." He took a deep breath. "The only reason she started dating you is because she thought you were Ceecee's... you were what Larcens thought when he first saw us. And she wanted in on that, because if you were good enough for Ceecee, then you would sure make her happy... In her words..."

Benjamin's face was in shock, a putrid look of utter discomfort. "That is... Oh, that's so gross. Seriously?"

Lucas looked pointedly down at his friend. "Yep."

Nodding, Benjamin turned away. "Well, that's a weight off my chest. I suspected as much, so thanks for clearing it up for me."

Anger overflowed in him as he gritted his teeth and turned. "You suspected and you still went along with it!? What on earth!? Look, at this point you have convinced me – your stupidity had officially reached a new level, Ben. It is all the way, far up there."

Noticing the duo's directed spite at each other, Larcens propelled himself over, arriving next to them in an instant with a massive grin on his face. "So, what are we talking about? What has gotten you two all wrapped in a pickle? Come on, it's gotta be juicy."

Glancing at each other, the two crossed their arms, pursing their lips and walking faster as they ignored the other's presence. "Nothing."

Noticing their obvious avoidance of the questions, Larcens froze the air underneath him, propelling himself upwards on a cloud of ice before using it to propel himself over the two and land in front of them, re-joining their small group.

"May I just say," he started. "Now that you two are out of those clothes, your manliness is a lot more obvious."

His eyes scanned over the two of them. Benjamin in a baggy, short-sleeved shirt, tucked meticulously into his skinny jeans, wisps of pink hair curling down his neck and forehead whilst his white lashes blinked together occasionally, an elegant white bow arched firmly above his left eye. Lucas appeared to be in a similar get-up, however, his long, baggy shirt reached out down his arms, flowing steadily over the skinny jeans beneath him, a tighter tie on his blue hair whilst his dark brows crouched, staring intensely over Larcens' form.

As Larcens' eyes wandered over the two, their unusual eyes once again stood out – one pair pink-ish red whilst the other pair held a strange dark blue pigmentation on the white of the eyes. His eyes creased as his mind ticked, attempting to understand them.

"So, you've got me curious. What's the story behind the..." his finger circled his eyes, "you know, the eyes...?"

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Hey guys!

So, with all the stuff going around, I decided to make a more fun chapter in order to lighten the mood. I mean, yes, I can never truly escape my dark brain, but at least it was a lot lighter than the previous two chapters and, anyway, even if you don't find it especially light, it's still a fantasy and takes you from the world. ;D

And remember, wash your hands and stay indoors - cleanliness! 

Don't Forget to vote, comment and share! It really helps!

Next chapter will be a continuation of exactly where we left off in this chapter. Get excited! Of course, tell me about this chapter and how you think it went in the comment section. Did anything surprise you? (Not that there really was much to surprise you. But next chapter... a little bit more. ;D)

Btw, you're welcome for the music. ;) (Hope that cheered you up too! And yes, jazz is one of my 'feel good' musics ;D.)

Hope you all have/had a fabulous day! xxoo

*Let light thrive within you*

- Sylvia Shadow