Welcome to chapter 3. I apologize this took so long...

There was no denying that Blaze had a hopeless infatuation with Eric. To deny it would be lying, and Blaze could not tell a lie. Blaze found himself eyeing the intense-looking man as he trained. During training was pretty much the only time he saw the blonde. It was frustrating. Blaze had half a mind to actively seek Eric out. It wasn't as if they trained all day, so he had the time and definitely the patience.

The glare he was giving the mirror in front of him was getting him strange looks from others. He was having a bit of trouble getting his brush through his hair. Blaze really wanted to hack all of it off, but he knew he'd regret it as soon as he did it.

Also, Andrea had forbidden him from doing so.

With a frustrated huff, Blaze dropped his arms and gave up trying to brush his hair. He ran his fingers through it a few times and left the dorms. He didn't have a particular destination in mind, he just wanted to wander around a bit, see if he could find Andrea.

Blaze found himself browsing through section upon section of various clothing. He'd taken a liking to translucent shirts, shirts with no sleeves and ridiculously tight pants that were still somehow comfortable. All of this, of course, in black. He then soon found himself back in front of a mirror, tracing his eyes with eyeliner. He quirked an eyebrow at the finished result. Instead of pale, the green of his eyes was vibrant and seemed to glow. They looked like cats' eyes.

After switching out his shoes for combat boots, Blaze trekked down to the Pit and then to their training area. No one was there. Good. He approached one of the dummies they used for fighting. He looked it up and down before aiming a practiced kick to the side of its head. He let out a startled gasp when the head flew off. "Shit!" Blaze jogged to where it'd landed and rolled his eyes. "Stupid piece of shit; are you trying to get me in trouble?" He went for a scolding tone. He placed the head back on the dummy and nodded. Good as new.

Blaze sighed. In a few days it'd be Visiting Day. He wondered if his parents would come. Speaking of family, Blaze was pretty sure he had an older brother who was Dauntless. Maybe he died and that's why Blaze hadn't seen him yet; but there were a lot of people here so...

Blaze's eyes widened but he did not startle when there was suddenly a large hand in his hair. "I haven't seen natural red hair in a while," Eric said. "Around here, if someone's hair is red, it's because they dyed it." Fingers carded through Blaze's hair and then balled into a fist to pull his head back. Blaze was now staring up into Eric's face.

"Oh, hi," Blaze said smoothly, a grin sliding into place. Eric looked unamused- as usual.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh nothing really," Blaze said quickly. "Just, kicking the heads off of dummies." He paused. Eric raised an eyebrow.

"You kicked the head off of one of these?" Eric gestured to the one right in front of Blaze. Blaze nodded as best he could. Eric released his hair.

To prove his words, Blaze poked the head and it easily fell backwards. "See?" Eric looked amused.

"Fight me." Eric begins to take off his shoes and walks over to the ring.

"What?" Blaze was so confused as he followed Eric to the ring.

"Fight me. Are you deaf? Do you need a hearing aid?" Eric snapped.

"No need to get your panties in a bunch, sweetheart," Blaze retorted. He licked his lips and stepped into the ring. He noticed that Eric had the same habit as he did when it came to messing with his lip-rings.

"What is it with you Candor and your inability to shut up?" Eric demanded, clearly agitated. Blaze smirks and tilts his head.

"You make it so easy to irritate you, that I honestly," Blaze laughs because he is absolutely hilarious, "cannot resist." Eric lunges at Blaze and the redhead stumbles backward. Eric smiles wickedly, looking like a Cheshire cat. Blaze's mouth twitches into a scowl before he can stop himself.

"Rude," he managed to say that in his usual snarky inflection. With a natural precision, Blaze swung his foot which, as he suspected, Eric caught. In a quick sequence of movement, Blaze used this, plus the little momentum he still had, to lift himself off the ground in a kick that landed against Eric's temple. Eric released Blaze's foot and groaned in pain. Blaze fell to the ground and he caught himself and rolled to a stand. Eric was disoriented, his pupils not dilated correctly to fit the lighting. No doubt he had a concussion.

Of course, even with a concussion, he was going to continue the fight.

Eric moved with surprising grace as he attacked. As graceful as someone like Eric could be, anyway. He was more ruthless than pretty in his attack pattern. Like, for example, kneeing Blaze in the gut amd tossing him like he weighed nothing across the ring. What a jerk.

Blaze was hit across the face and he faltered at the blow, feeling incredibly lightheaded. Was tackling him really necessary? Blaze hit the ground, Eric on top of him, and vaguely thought he'd like to end up in a position like this again but under better circumstances. Now his head hurt.

Eric had him pinned to the ground, which was honestly so unnecessary, and he was looking at Blaze with a dazed look. Blaze really hoped he didn't choose now to pass out; he was pretty sure the blue-eyed male would not wake back up if he did. Eric began to nod, a grin spreading across his face again. Even on the verge of fainting, Eric still managed to look ridiculously sinister. "That was fun," he said. Blaze couldn't help but let out a laugh, and his smirk returned.

"Only a Dauntless would consider getting a concussion fu-" Blaze was interrupted very unexpectedly by a mouth. Said mouth was on top of his mouth, and this was called kissing, right? Well damn. Eric groaned in frustration and moved back. He appeared contemplative.

"This process was a lot easier to achieve in my mind. It seems that I did not take into account how both of us having rings on our bottom lips would effect kissing," Eric muttered, sitting up to take said lip rings out. Blaze raised an eyebrow. Eric sounded like a damn Erudite.

Before he could say a thing, Eric pulled him up into a sitting position and reconnected their lips. Blaze startled at the force of it, hands flying up to rest on Eric's shoulders as a brace. Braze abruptly found himself lying on the ground, Eric getting to his feet. Raising an eyebrow, Blaze waited for Eric to say something. Eric cleared his throat.

"You're not supposed to be in here after training hours," the blonde said calmly.

A giddy feeling settled in Blaze; boy, did he have a story to tell to Andrea later.

Andrea choked on her drink, and coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Blaze watched her warily as she cleared her throat excessively. "I'm sorry, you kissed Eric? Evil, asshole Eric?" she hissed, leaning toward Blaze. They were in the cafeteria for dinner, so they could not speak loudly of this. The redhead nodded, eyes glinting, lips spreading into a smirk. Andrea regarded him for a moment before grinning and shaking her head. "Is he a good kisser though? Tell me, was it difficult to kiss with those rings in the way?" Andrea gestured to Blaze's face.

"What do you think, Andy?" Blaze scoffed and licked his lips. He smiled slyly. "He is very dominant, very alpha male." His smile turned genuine. "And he is interested in me."

Andy regarded him for a moment. "So, did you do, ya know?" A mischievous grin formed on her face. Blaze stabbed his fork into the piece of chocolate cake. He playfully shoved her with perhaps a bit too much force.

"Modesty is dishonest and no; we did nothing besides making out. My precious virginity is still intact." Blaze pointed his fork at her. "I'll be sure that you're the first person to know."

"I better be," Andrea snorted.

...

His fists tightener in their grip on Peter's shirt as Blaze repeatedly brought his knee up into the taller boy's gut. Peter managed to grab his leg and he lifted Blaze before tossing him across the ring much like he did to Tris yesterday. Blaze growled in frustration when Peter's arms were around his throat in a chokehold. He clawed at his arms for a moment before forcing himself into a stand. Blaze brought all his weight down, bringing Peter back down with him. Peter cursed loudly and released him. There was no doubt in Blaze's mind that either Peter's mouth or lip was bleeding profusely.

Blaze spun around, his fist clenched and ready. He hit Peter right in the jaw; the taller of the two fell, but he was not done. So, Blaze landed his "signature chin kick" ( name courtesy of Andrea), a yell of "Bastard!" escaping his lips as he did so. Peter fell over, unconscious. Eric was clapping, something he did every time Blaze won a match. So far, Blaze had not lost. Blaze grinned at him and sort of curtsied. He did not miss the displeased look on Four's face as the instructor stood next to Eric.

"Always a job well done, initiate," said Eric with a glance over at Four, his expression smug.

Four was giving Blaze a strange look as the room began to empty out. As Blaze walked by, intending to catch up with Andrea, Christina and Tris, Four grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The room was now empty, except for them. "You seem to be Eric's favourite," Four said, dark eyes staring intently at Blaze. The young redhead refused to feel uncomfortable.

"And Tris seems to be yours," Blaze retorted, his hands coming to rest on his hips.

"No, see, this is different because I'm helping Tris," countered Four. "Eric is not helping you; he is ruining you. I can see it. You're not really this cruel, Blaze." Blaze scoffed and pulled his arm from Four's grip.

"I hardly call kicking Peter's ass, cruel," he laughed without humor. His pale eyes were focused on the wall behind Four.

"My point is, someone like you," Four put a strange emphasis on 'like you,' "should not get involved with him." It was now Four's turn to be held under a scrutinizing gaze, as Blaze's faded green eyes locked with his. After a few moments, Blaze turned and left without a single word.

Blaze thought about his aptitude test as he paced quickly through the hall. The Erudite who had tested him, Eleanor, had willingly entered in Dauntless as his result. His real results had been Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. He often wondered why she had not turned him in, and perhaps it was because she was Divergent herself.

"Initiate!" Blaze snapped to attention. He looked up to see Eric leaning against the wall just a few feet away. Blaze raised an eyebrow as he approached the Dauntless leader. Once he was in range, Eric's fingers were immediately btangled in the messy curls and waves of Blaze's hair. "You still have blood on your hand," Eric commented. Blaze looked down at his hand.

"Yeah," Blaze sighed. It was drying, sticking to his skin.

"Why have you not gotten showered yet? Unless, you haven't been back to the dorms..." Eric tilted his head. "Why is that?"

"I got held up by Four," Blaze responded easily.

"Really?" Eric said in an annoyed tone. He considered Blaze, fingers running absentmindedly through vermilion strands. He removed his hand from Blaze's hair and began to walk. "Follow me." Blaze kept Eric's pace.

"Where are we going, oh mighty Dauntless Leader?" he asked. Eric snorted and shot him a half-impressed, half-amused look. Blaze smirked.

"You have got a mouth on you." Eric shook his head. "Talking to me, a Dauntless Leader like that... We're going to my apartment." Blaze hummed in response. He wondered what Eric's home was like. It probably had knives hanging on the walls or something. Eric seemed to have a weird thing for knives. He was always fiddling with one in his hands.

"You don't have a knife kink I need to know about, do you?" Blaze questions casually. This elicits a laugh from Eric.

"Blaze," Eric chuckled. "Shut up."