Secrets in the Snow

Chapter 4

"Fuck me in the asshole, this water's freezing!"

"Much to your disappointment, I'd rather not," Shaemus tried to suppress a laugh as his friend cursed at the river's frigid temperature, "Besides, you're exceedingly too manly to be my type."

The morning song birds were chirping along to their lively tunes overhead as the two boys disrobed and entered the swift waters of the forest river. Shaemus had convinced Gryffell that they both were in desperate need of a bath, despite the frost haired boy's lack of sleep. Shaemus had managed to get a solid three hours of sleep before the noise of the gang members awakening to start their days stirred him from his peaceful slumber. His mind was still rolling from his adventures in the forest with Winnie from the previous night. He couldn't get over the fact that she sounded as if she had been waiting her whole life to figure out the truth behind her powers and why she was gifted with them. Shaemus on the other hand couldn't care less. Life was too busy to worry about why he was able to shoot snowflakes from his fingertips when he had to figure out how his band would pay for their next meal. He just buried the power down deep inside himself. He did this so well, that some days he even forgot he had powers. He was, in that moment, normal. Just like everyone else. Only except he wasn't.

"Bloody Hell, I can't even feel my nuts. I'm going to castrate myself standing in this damn river!" Gryffell exclaimed from behind Shaemus.

"And the kingdom collectively lets out a sigh of relief," Shaemus chided as he lathered his hands up with a home made shampoo.

"Piss off, Snow! Yours will suffer as much as mine!" Gryffell sneered.

Bringing his head back up from underneath the water, Shaemus couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't see his friend, as they both faced away from each other, but he could only imagine the aggravated look on his face, "So tell me, will you consider yourself more of a steer or a gelding? We'll need a term to call you and to my knowledge they have yet to come up with a name for a castrated man."

"You can call me Sargent Piss Off. Now hurry up, you old nag," Gryffell growled as he quickly exited the river, shaking his wet hair out like a dog.

Once the curly haired boy's feet collided with the soft grass, he let out a screech that was so loud and high pitched, it was almost inhuman. Shaemus felt as if all the air had been sucked out of him as he burst out in laughter. This was the hardest he had laughed in what felt like ages. That noise was the strangest thing he had ever heard leave his friend's mouth. Shaemus managed to muster up enough self control to exit the river and quickly wrap a towel around himself. When his eyes lifted, he found his friend shivering, wrapped up in a towel.

"What was that noise?!" Shaemus wheezed as he struggled to catch his breath.

"I was just so happy to be out of that water," Gryffell replied, a tiny grin appearing on his face, "I mean I am completely frozen. Just look at my hair! See the little bits of frost beginning to form on the tips? I'll look like you before it's all said and done."

Shaemus wiped away a few tears that had formed on the sides of his eyes, "You sounded like some poor beast that needed to be put out of its misery. Holy shit...."

Shaemus began to calm his laughter as he went behind a tree to dress himself. That laughing session took ten pounds of weight off of his shoulders. His sides ached from laughter instead of bruises. He needed that more than he realized. When he was done dressing, he moved out from behind the tree to meet Gryffell, who still stood shivering with wet hair, but at least he was clothed.

The walk back to the den was mostly quiet except for Gryffell's chattering teeth. Shaemus pitied him just a smidge. His friend hated the winter and refused to go outside unless it was absolutely necessary. Gryffell hated cold weather and relished in the summer. Shaemus was the exact opposite. He was never cold, so he loved the winter, but the summers were brutal. Every time the hot summer sun shone upon his skin, he felt as if he were going to burst into flames. The heat was suffocating and not even the night sky could take it all away.