Random chapter of BE

Flintis was stunned.

Caspian had fled the house, and his "father" had thrown the Captain out with a muttered statement that he would have made a better son then Caspian had.

Now standing on the front porch of the grand manor, his thoughts whipped through his head faster then a Mave after fruit. He never told me.

Then; of course not, he's your enemy.

Still, Flintis knew, after seeing his own brother driven from the family after taking to bed another woman, the horrors of non-loyal family members.

He just never expected that such a horrible person would care about the old ways so much. Perhaps it was true. Family is the last thing anyone will ever have.

It didn't look like Caspian had much of a family.

It took Flintis a while to find where the man had run off too. The shores of Lake Fletch were dabbled with cloud patterns, and the soft wind from the South added a nice touch.

He was just sitting on the dock, shoes touching the water, and hands on his lap. He didn't even notice Flintis coming up behind him until the man's footsteps hit the old wooden boards.

There was a sort of choked cough, and Caspian wiped the heel of his hand across his face quickly.

Flintis hovered on his heels, over a decade of self made rules telling him to go forward, and slap that old pair of wrist cuffs on the criminal faster then he could say "Threll". A deep part of his heart - or something in that general direction, told him to run away. This was an unfair advantage over him, and Flintis had been pushing the fair thing for years now.

Something seemed to kneed into the small of his back, and Flintis found himself moving towards the younger man, and then seating himself next to him.

It was sort of nice, just sitting there, feet dangling, and the Moon's soft glow washing over them. Flintis relaxed slightly; Caspian had always honoured these moments, he didn't have to worry.

Flintis wasn't sure what shocked him more, the cold water, or Caspian's tight grip as he pulled him under the dock, and slammed him against the rocks beneath.

Something hissed painfully in his back, and the lake water tasted strangely of rust. A small clinking noise was made, followed quickly by a faint struggle, as Caspian tried to drag Flintis's wrist towards a bar a few inches above his head.

Somehow, the younger man won, and with a single click, Flintis felt his life ground to a halt. He was dead, dead, dead. Caspian had him right where he wanted him, and if his family found his corpse who knew how many years later, that was just a bonus.

"Caspian, you can't do this." The water was freezing, freezing beyond his wildest nightmares, he had never been this cold.

The man's only answer was to lean forward and plant his head on Flintis's chest. He had taken up an unusual position, kneeling to the right of the Captain, most of his body submerged and the rest leaning against the older man.

"You know... I used to come here as a boy..." His voice was quivering uncontrollably now.

"I bet it was in the summer." Stammered Flintis, the cold seeping into every part of his being. It was all just cold. So cold.

"Yes... the summer..." Caspian's head slipped slightly, and one of his hands pulled itself out of the dark lake water to rub a spot on his arm. "So pretty in the summer..."

"Caspian, get off me, let me get to my bloody keys!" Panic had joined freezing, and now it was a fight inside Flintis's body. Freeze from coldness, die from a heart failure. Which to choose...

Caspian shook in a hollow breath, and turned his head so he had completely buried his face in the Captain's wet shirt.

"'Kotan, I demand you move!" Flintis's hope that his hated nickname would knock something into him, but all Caspian did was whisper into his shirt. "No moving, no moving... don't you want to hear them, Markus? They say the Daemons bring their silver birds when two die together..."

"I don't want to die, damnit! I want to live, Caspian. What about Marian, didn't you want to marry her? What about those children you wanted!"

Something in Caspian stirred. "You spoke to her..."

Flintis nodded, though he knew Caspian couldn't see. "I met her just two months ago, I happened upon her in that market in Delmar. She told me things Caspian! Things not even you know-"

Caspian didn't even seem to change from still to in-your-face Mood, but somehow, his words were suddenly spat in the Captain's face. "Stay away from my WIFE!"

"But she's not your wife, Caspian! And she never will be if you die now! Fight Caspian, fight damnit!"

Flintis couldn't be sure if he did it on purpose or not. But Caspian slid off him, slumping onto one of the low rocks that were scattered among the shoreline.

The Captain's fingers had all but turned blue as he fuddled for the keyring.

It took a few tries, but the key finally hit the correct spot, and with a sign of relief - barely heard amongst the sound of his chattering teeth - he slid free, his wrist still locked, but now free off the bars.

Looping one arm around Caspian, he quickly tried to get out of the water as fast as he could.

Somehow, the Captain later found himself rubbing off lake slime from his trousers, locked inside his squad craft, the heat turned on full blast. He had no memory of how he had managed to get there, with Caspian in tow, and he didn't remember much more.