Fireheart | Raven Reyes [O.H.]

13 | chaotic stupid

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chapter thirteen!
CHAOTIC STUPID
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ARES AND NATE sit in silence for an excruciatingly long time. The darker-skinned boy is completely still, arms wrapped around his crossed legs and hugging them slightly closer to his chest, back hunched and mouth hanging open in a gape. His eyes are glazed over as he comprehends what he's just been told. Ares is the opposite. He's sitting only because Nate is, nearly bursting with nerves, and his fingers tap restlessly against his thigh as he waits impatiently for a word. A sound. Anything. But it's like Nate's brain forgot how to make him behave like a normal person.

Finally, after three excruciatingly long minutes of this, Ares sighs and cuts through the quietness like a blade. "Cristo, can you say something? Literally anything?"

As if those words had flipped the "Act like a Human" switch on in Nate's mind, the boy shakes his head like he's coming out of a daze. He wrings his hands together and swipes his tongue across his lips in thought. The thing that comes out of his mouth is exactly what Ares expects it to be. "Shit, man."

Ares nods in agreement at this riveting response, eyebrows raised. A long exhale through his mouth puffs out his cheeks.

"Are you sure it's this Klaus Silas guy?" Nate questions, saying the name quietly like being too loud will summon the man right here in Ares' tent. "You hardly mentioned him before."

"Maybe that's why," Ares admits. He's never been great with discussing his feelings — in fact, most of the time, he'd rather pretend he doesn't have any — but rather than clamming up like his brain wants him to, he forges on, forcing his mouth to form the words that will elaborate on the point he'd made. "I think, deep down, part of me suspected him, but I was so afraid of that possibility that I buried it. I refused to see what was right in front of me."

Nate nods contemplatively, running his tongue over his teeth. His words come out level yet tinged with a new backbone of rage, a hint of a promise made in blood. "If the rest of the Ark ends up coming down here, I am personally going to kick his ass. I'll get Kiernan to help, too."

"Kiernan doesn't know about—"

"He doesn't have to. I could just say, 'Hey Kiernan, we're going to kick this guy's ass for Ares,' and he'd probably say, 'Alright, sounds good.'"

Ares has to admit that Nate has a point, there. Even though he hasn't known the blond boy for very long, Kiernan has somehow managed to worm his way through the walls surrounding Ares' heart. And considering the walls are practically a fortress made of solid rock, covered with barbed wire, and enveloped by fire-breathing dragons or some other scary shit, that's a considerable feat to accomplish.