Nothing Better than Ice Cream

They jumped as they heard thumping footsteps pounding down the stairs. Jenira quickly looked at Jayce, "Please don't mention this to Ralnas or Micu. I don't think they'd understand the way you do..." She stared guiltily into the ground. Jayce quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed, "I promise your secret is safe with me." He squeezed her hand and then returned to laying on the couch with blankets covering his body.

Ralnas zoomed into the room and eyed them with suspicion. "Gee Jenira it sure took you a long time to "check" on Jayce." His eyes were zooming over Jayce looking for any trace of romance. Jenira stood up with indignation. "Ral your friend was literally passed out today and you think I came down here to steal a kiss from him?" Ralnas' face flushed at the image before scowling at his sister. "I don't know! You've always been sneaky!"Jenira laughed and then walked out of the room, "Then you check on him." Ralnas watched her go before jumping on a chair next to Jayce.

"So, did you kiss my sister?" Jayce grinned at his friend, "Hell yeah dude." Ralnas punched him hard in the arm. "Don't even joke about it!" His rage was beginning to color his face. "Ral relax! I know you've had to be the adult for the both of you for a long time but I promise I'm on your side." Jayce rubbed his arm and grinned at Ralnas. "Damn well better be." The red faded from his cheeks, "So for real how are you feeling?" Jayce stretched his arms before throwing the blanket off. "Good enough to get ice cream!"

Ralnas helped his friend off the couch and then stared at his chest. "So that's the mark? Any idea where it came from?" Jayce shrugged, "Nah, it hurts though." Ralnas laughed and then touched it softly. "It's pretty sick though like you could have gotten a hello kitty mark or something. You should be grateful." Jayce rolled his eyes. "I don't think hello kitty is going to burn my insides like this has." Ralnas grinned, "You never know, I've heard some crazy stories about her from Earth." Jayce let his friend walk up the stairs a few steps. "You know you're a moron right?"

At the top of the stairs, Jenira and Micu were entertaining Jane. Jayce smiled at his mom, "Did you bring me some actual clothes to wear?" She tossed him a thin bag before returning to the conversation with the other two. Jayce stumbled into the bathroom and began to change. He heard his mom through the door. "So I usually go to this one down the street, but that doesn't feel fancy enough to celebrate winning two exams." Ralnas interjected, "Well we only tied for first today." A thunk followed that and a loud "oww!" from Ralnas. Jayce laughed to himself and finished changing before rejoining the group.

"So are you four ready?" Jane smiled at Jayce when he returned. Four excited "yes!" followed her question and the five barreled out the door into a cool night. "I'll never get used to the seasons each being four weeks long." Jane mused aloud before they walked towards the downtown area. Jayce was faster than he had been coming from the Coliseum but still was far from his normal speed and they leisurely strolled past brightly illuminated buildings laughing and chatting.

"Oh, there's the place that has all those five-star reviews!" Ralnas pointed toward a large building with a huge neon ice cream cone above it. "So what flavors can I get for the returning champions?" "Jenira and I like coffee ice cream!" "I prefer mint chocolate chip," Micu replied. "I think a milkshake would be best for me. I don't know if I can handle using a spoon right now." Jayce groaned at the thought of moving his arms. The other four laughed and pushed open the door.

"Well you kids go find us a secluded table and I'll get the ice cream." Jane walked to join the long line that wrapped around the counter. "No stairs," Jayce said pointedly. Laughter followed his statement and they found a table in the corner with five seats. Jayce sat down slowly with pained grunts as he held his friend's hands. "It's a good thing that you have two days of rest before the third exam," Micu observed. Jayce made an agreement noise before finally relaxing his grip on their hands. Jenira slid into the seat next to him just as Ralnas was about to sit. "Uh Jen, that was my seat." He said with annoyance. She smiled innocently back at him, "oh I'm sorry Ral I didn't see your name on it." He growled, "Well I wasn't actually in it, you know what? Forget it." He sat next to Micu leaving the other open chair next to Jayce open for his mom.

The four sat in silence for a while before Jayce finally spoke, "We really won our exam today?" His three friends felt grins crawling onto their faces. "No one else was going to do it, so I decided to be the hero and jump on the grenade. You guys can buy me food later as thanks." Ralnas then wiped imaginary dust off his shoulders. "Oh really? Well, how would we have survived that three on one if I hadn't slingshotted myself into an early grave?" Micu looked smug as he teased Ralnas. "Uh excuse you? If not for us two then your dumb sacrifices would have been worthless!" Jayce said while winking at Jenira. She smiled an nodded with a "he's right you know" look on her face. A friendly debate quickly formed at their table. Insults and victories from their ten years together flew freely and each teasing accusation was followed by laughter.

The heavy emotions all the events that followed the second exam had placed on them were lifted from their shoulders as their friendship renewed their spirits. A young boy and his mom approached their table nervously. "Hi, are you four the Chiron's Chosen?" Their conversation crashed to a halt and they looked at the boy stunned. "Uh yes we are, how can we help you?" Micu said as friendly as he could. The boy burst into joy. "Could you autograph my backpack!" Ralnas gasped before hopping out of his chair. "Of course! And who should I address this autograph to?"

Jenira leaned over, "He is going to be so annoying with our fans..." she whispered in Jayce's ear. He laughed and nodded watching Ralnas interact with their first fan. "There you go, dude! Want the rest of the team to sign it too?" Ralnas was beaming and had already handed the backpack to Micu. The boy nodded starstruck as his mom smiled wide. "Can you thank the nice gentleman for signing your backpack?" The boy suddenly became shy and scurried behind his mom's legs. "He gets a little shy but he's been so excited watching you four on the TV when I saw you here I had to get an autograph for him." The mom then ruffled his hair. Ralnas knelt down, "Hey little man, I promise we'll keep winning for you." He gave him a thumbs up as the backpack was handed back to him signed by all four members.

The mom thanked them profusely before she and the boy walked away quickly. The boy was clutching the backpack like it was made of gold. Ralnas sighed contently, "Well that felt good." He turned back to his friends who were watching him with bemusement. "What?" The three started laughing at him but didn't tell him why. Ralnas sulked into his seat and mumbled annoyance. Jane Good slid into the open chair not long after. "Who were those people who came over?"

Ralnas brightened right back up, "Our first fans!" Jane set down the ice cream on the table. "Oh, congrats Ral! You must be so proud!" Ralnas' chest was puffed out like a peacock at her praise. "Don't feed his ego." Micu quickly interjected before stuffing a spoon of ice cream into his mouth. Ralnas glared at him then picked up his ice cream cup. "I don't think I've ever had coffee ice cream before," Jayce smirked at Jenira, "can I try some of yours?" Jenira looked at her brother with an evil smile, "Of course Jayce!" She scooped a small amount onto her spoon and then put the spoon into Jayce's open mouth. Ralnas watched her and his jaw almost hit the floor. 'Jenira! What the hell are you doing!"

Jayce then picked up his shake and offered it to her. Bending down to reach the straw Jenira took a long sip before Jayce put the straw immediately into his mouth and winked at Ralnas. "Ms. Good, I apologize for whatever you are about to witness..." Micu said and then pushed himself as far away from the table as possible. Jane looked at them with a confused expression until she noticed how red Ralnas face had gotten. "Ralnas are you okay honey?" Jayce tapped her shoulder and shook his head, "He can't hear you." Jane was even more confused, "Is he okay?" Micu Jayce and Jenira started laughing as Ralnas stood violently and stormed off into the night.

"Actually he handled that a lot better than I thought he would," Micu said before resting his head on his hand. "I thought so too," Jayce looked over to Jenira, "think he's okay?" Jenira nodded, "but I guess I'll go check on him anyway..." She stood and handed her ice cream to Micu. "Don't eat it!" She said before walking after her brother.

Jane looked at her son. "Are you dating Jenira now?" Micu and Jayce stiffened. "Mom! Wouldn't I tell you if I got a girlfriend!" Jayce said quickly. Micu looked at Jane eyeing her son and couldn't help but smile. "You know you're pretty lucky your mom knows you well enough to see when you have a crush on someone." Jayce looked at his friend with concern. "Your parents care about you Micu! You're dad personally came to take care of me."

Micu nodded, "but they don't really know me. I'm not complaining they both save lives every day and I'm super proud of them. But we've always been clear on the fact that we won't ever be a normal family." Jane looped an arm around Micu's shoulders. "Then I guess you have two moms now." Micu was startled and didn't know how to react. "Psst, this is where you hug her," Jayce whispered. Jane started laughing and let go. "Small steps on expressing emotions then." Micu blushed and then joined in with their laughter.

...

"Ral wait up!" Jenira was beginning to get frustrated chasing her brother. Ralnas finally slowed when they were a couple blocks away from the ice cream shop. He waited for her under a street light. "Finally!" Jenira slowed as he turned to face her, "You cooled down yet?" Ralnas didn't say a word and looked at his sister with a look she couldn't decipher. "What is it?" Jenira asked hesitantly. Ralnas took a deep breath. "If you want to date Jayce I have no problem with that. I hope you know that." Jenira looked at her brother with suspicion. "Ral I don't know that at all! You freak out every time him and I are alone." Her buried frustrations were rising to the surface and she could feel her face heating up. "I can't even be alone with one of the people I trust the most in this whole simulation because you're always being so over protective!"

Ralnas' face faltered and he looked at the ground for a moment. "I'm sorry Jen, it's not that I don't trust you. Or that I don't trust him." Jenira was fuming, "How can you say that! You treat me like I'm still your baby sister. I'm grown now Ral! I can have regrets! But you have to let me make those decisions for myself!" Ralnas smiled mournfully at her, "I have regrets too Jen. Every night I see mom and dad getting erased right in front of me..." Jenira's anger evaporated in a flash. She stepped closer to her brother. "I know it was hard for you then, but this is now. It's different." Ralnas' eyes flashed with anger. "Different? How is this different! If you and Jayce end up dating and break up I'll lose another family!" Jenira didn't know what to say.

"Have you ever thought about that! Who else is going to spend time with us! Remember what it was like before Jayce took a liking to us? Remember how it would just be me and you on the playground by ourselves every day! I can't go back to only you Jenira." Tears had formed in Ralnas' eyes and he looked at his sister with his bare soul exposed. "I'm scared. Micu and Jayce are the big brothers I never had. They are the parents I watched disappear in front of me. I love you but I can't be alone with just you. I want to have birthdays with them, have them watch my kids when I have to work late! I don't get any of that if you and Jayce split up!" Jenira had never seen her brother so open about his feelings before.

She reached out to wipe a tear from his eyes. "What if I promise we'll never break up?" Ralnas let out a mocking laugh, "How can you promise that! We just got asked for our first autograph, Jen! You think that famous people don't get temptations that we can't even imagine? Because I can tell there have been countless elite teams that have had to kick people off for drugs or sex or some other crazy stuff!"

Jenira smiled at her brother, "I think this is the most sense you've made in a long time. Usually when we argue you just shout stupid stuff and storm off." Ralnas glared at her, "So that's how you're going to answer me?" Jenira shook her head no. "Ral I can't tell you why. I want to keep you safe, and I know that if we decide to follow after Jayce it's not going to be safe. He's got a one in a trillion ability and today someone tried to hurt him because of it." Ralnas listened to every word like it was the last ones he was ever going to hear.

"But I have one request. If you feel that you would follow Jayce no matter where he went and if you feel you would trust Micu with your future and if you refuse to let them out of your life then can you do one thing for me?" Jenira had also begun crying but her words were composed and clear. Ralnas nodded, "Anything Jenira." "Let me try things with Jayce. Because I would follow you into the depths of hell Ral. You're my brother and I will never do anything to hurt you."

Her words were beginning to falter as the tears increased in volume and streaked down her cheeks. Ralnas watched her and felt his own tears begin to pour once again. "You promise you won't let it end our family?" Jenira nodded confidently. "Then I won't stand in your way. I love you too much to let you be unhappy." He choked out the words in between sobs. She hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and they stood together crying as cars flew past.

After a long couple of minutes, Ralnas released his sister. "So following Jayce is going to be dangerous huh?" She smiled and rubbed her tear stained cheek, "More than you can even imagine." Ralnas laughed, "I'm pretty sure our family is cursed then." A mournful laugh escaped both of their lips as they slowly returned to their adopted family.