CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Almost Normal

"I'm Dren."

"That's a stupid name."

"Yeah, well, Snake Eyes ain't that spectacular either."

Snake Eyes frowned at the presence of the black-haired boy sitting beside him, unafraid of showing his displeasure as the Hard Master hovered behind them. Snake Eyes was deep into his meditation exercises when he heard someone walk up and sit beside him. It hadn't been very bad at first but as Snake Eyes was seated in front of a quiet stream, the unfamiliar person started absently flicking water up into his face. The first time was annoying enough, fifty flicks later and Snake Eyes was inches away from strangling the stranger.

As if picking up that thought, Dren leaned over and nudged Snake Eyes's shoulder playfully as if he wasn't being the world's most obvious pest. The blond ninja clenched his fists and opened both eyes, turning very slowly towards Dren and rising to his feet; he took several deliberate steps away from the river and rolled his shoulders. Dren raised an eyebrow in mock surprise and stood up as well, carefully moving in front of Snake Eyes and cracking his knuckles.

"Snake Eyes," the Hard Master warned, "he is not an enemy."

The blond ninja curled his lips back into a sneer and shifted into an offensive stance, and Dren followed suit with an arrogant smirk on his face. Snake Eyes was aware his next actions would be considered foolish as ninja should be immune to even the smallest of annoyances, but he hadn't had a satisfying fight in a while – not since Tomi quit sparring with him.

Casting his gaze skyward, the Hard Master sighed deeply and backed up a few steps, sitting on a large stone amongst the impressive stone garden built outside the Arashikage compound. He retrieved a long pipe from within his robes, lit the end, and started smoking. Snake Eyes briskly unsheathed the swords from his back and crossing them in front of his chest, narrowing his eyes and exhaling slowly. Dren did not draw any weapons and merely held his hands loosely in front of his chest; there was no signs of any definable style being used and Snake Eyes raised an eyebrow, almost impressed but he immediately pushed the thought out of his mind.

"Do not kill each other," the Hard Master said exasperatedly, as if scolding young children instead of seventeen year old shinobi.

"Is "fatally injure" still an option?" questioned the weaponless boy.

"You will be responsible for tending to your own wounds; if you happen to commit to such violence, you will have to suffer the consequences." The master replied cheerlessly, the smoke winding out of the pipe like a snake or wingless dragon.

Dren grinned at the Hard Master, opening his mouth for a retort just as Snake Eyes pitched himself forward and brought both swords down on his head. Dren danced backwards, dropping onto his hands and throwing his feet past Snake Eyes's defense and right into his face. The other boy reeled backwards, shaking his head clear and rubbing his jaw with a mildly surprised look on his face.

"Sorry, should I have warned you first?" Dren teased, earning an unimpressed look from the Hard Master. Snake Eyes growled and regained his footing, throwing himself into an array of elegant strokes aimed at his attacker.

Evasion was easily Dren's forte along with being a professional nuisance, adding in mocking remarks as he twirled and ducked out of range; Snake Eyes guessed he was a dancer by the swiftness of his feet and preciseness of his movements, both being a mighty pain in the ninja's backside. The two teens continued their game of cat-and-mouse until Snake Eyes forced Dren up against the trunk of a large tree, sliding his swords in a "X" formation under his chin.

"OK, so you're good," Dren grunted. "But we aren't done here."

Snake Eyes cocked his head and hissed as Dren lifted one hand and blew black dust into his face. A foot flew into Snake Eyes's stomach and he lost his grip on his swords, gasping as he was lifted clean off his feet and tossed into the river. What an ass, Snake Eyes thought, his face breaking through the surface of the water as Dren put on another annoying smirk. More importantly, he'd been tossed a few feet into the river itself…

Snake Eyes glowered up at Dren and sloshed angrily towards the shore, breaking into a run and tackling the other boy to the ground. He pulled out a knife from his belt and slammed it down into the dirt beside Dren's face, hoping it would scare him – but Dren only snorted at the attempt. Snake Eyes yanked the blade out of the grass and rammed it down again as Dren lifted his arms up as a shield. The knife burst through to the other side of Dren's arm, jumping up against his mouth and leaving a jagged scar through both of his lips.

"And a hardy fuck you too, asshole." Dren grunted and smashed his head against Snake Eyes's forehead, kicking the other boy off and tumbling onto his side.

The knife was still lodged in his arm and he couldn't risk taking it out without gaining more damage, he spied one of Snake Eyes's discarded swords and ran for it. Wrapping his hand around the hilt, he swung around and blocked another attack from Snake Eyes, the blades squealing in process. They jumped backwards, readied themselves for another row, and dashed towards each other again only to fly backwards.

"-next thing I know, I'm waking up in bed with a massive headache and Shizu over here is telling me we've got to scrub the entire dojo down, twice. We didn't speak again for a week and by that time, I was calling him "Shizuka" because it means quiet." Dren said, spooning some lasagna into his mouth.

"Apparently, he took another dive in the river and boy, do I wish I was awake to see that."

Thalia tried imagining a younger Snake Eyes rocketing backwards into a river, muffling her laughter in a bottle of water and patting her roommate comfortingly. She and Dren each occupied a bed with Snake Eyes taking up the floor space between them. The diner's owner, Bill, had supplied them with food in return for dealing with the bikers and Dren had already sold several of the bikes for parts, raising some extra money for repairs.

Snake Eyes had his back up against the bed, one of Thalia's legs was tossed haphazardly over his shoulder. In any other setting, this whole night might've been normal, and Thalia could imagine several other instances from a long time ago where this same scenario had happened. She avoided thinking about it for too long, focusing on her limited vision of Snake Eyes. She could tell that he pulled the mask off and Dren was eyeing his old friend's face with veiled concern.

Both men were relatively unscathed save for some light bruising but Thalia felt a different energy in the air now that everything had settled down. Clearly it had been some time since they'd seen each other judging by the look on Dren's face.

"And your arm?" she wondered.

"Nothing fatal but I can't tell you how it healed, clan secrets and whatnot." Dren lifted up his arm and showed the thin white scar, leaning forward so Thalia could look at his face and the cut over his lips – now, his eyes weren't nearly so threatening.

"So…you're an Arashikage ninja then?" Thalia asked quietly, dropping her eyes to the still unresponsive Snake Eyes.

Dren stared at her, and though she couldn't see, gave Snake Eyes a kind of questioning look. Snake Eyes continued absently eating his soup, and Dren groaned before placing his container of food on the bed.

"No," he said firmly, causing Thalia to look up. "Never have been, never really was. I actively sought out the clan for extra training and once they taught me all they were allowed to, I left. I'm a mercenary now, I needed to learn different styles of combat if I intended to survive."

"Certainly an interesting job." Thalia said softly, taking another sip of water.

Dren shrugged and lifted his container, stirring the contents and finding nothing much else worth eating. He got up from the bed and grabbing the rest of the empty containers scattered around the room, he made a point and kicked Snake Eyes on his way into the kitchen. Snake Eyes pulled his mask back on and lightly tapped Thalia's leg, she groaned and flopped onto her side as the ninja stood up. He poked her side and blinked as she giggled and rolled off the one bed and back to the one she'd claimed as hers. Snake Eyes shuffled over after Dren as the other man was dumping dishes into the sink, casting a look back at Thalia as she rolled onto her stomach, he nudged Dren's shoulder.

"What?" Snake Eyes signed quickly.

Dren offered him a flat look. "You know what, Snake Eyes."

Dren jerked his head back at Thalia as she lazily pulled off Snake Eyes's sweater and used it as a makeshift blanket. Snake Eyes turned and leaned against the sink, observing the cluster of burn marks starting at the base of Thalia's neck before disappearing beneath her shirt. Snake Eyes walked back towards the bed and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, listening to her steady breathing. He picked up the sweater and dropped it on the other bed, carefully turning her over and moving the blankets out from underneath her body. Once she was properly in bed, he pivoted and found Dren sitting on the other mattress with a blank look on his face.

"She's not OK." Dren signed bluntly. "Leave her here, I'll look after her."

Snake Eyes bristled and grabbed Dren's shoulder, yanking him off the bed and dragging him outside the room. The two of them pushed angrily into Dren's private room where Snake Eyes gravitated towards one wall blanketed by mug shots and a spider web of news clippings stuck in a map. Snake Eyes gave Dren a pointed look and gestured to the wall.

"Stay here with you? You must be joking."

"Do you see any Cobra operatives here?" Dren growled.

"The people you hunt down are still dangerous." Snake Eyes argued, tracing one red thread from the US to Australia, something started with a "Z".

"Oh, fuck you, Snake Eyes. At least I know who I'm hunting down, you have the entire US government on your ass and a criminal organization that has infiltrated the White House. Need I go into detail concerning all the Joes that have died in the past couple of days?"

Snake Eyes hissed and turned away sharply, clenching his fists and teeth. He looked over at the single bed within the room and the picture lying face down on it. He strode over and lifted the frame up, staring into the soft brown eyes of a woman with long brown hair and dimples. Two years later…had anything really changed for the better?

Dren gently took the picture back, staring at it for a while before placing it face down on the small bedside table. His hand lingered on the frame for a while before he looked over and grimaced.

"I'm fine. And she will be too, I swear."

"I trust you…and I know she's not alright, but I want to be there when she's ready to talk."

Dren shook his head and put his hands up in defeat, shuffling backwards towards the door.

"I just hope she's not as stubborn as you are, so my offer still stands."

"I appreciate it and yes…she is very stubborn."

"Well, you'll finally get a taste of your own medicine."

Dren tipped his head back to grin and found Snake Eyes right behind him, taking the whack to the back of his head with a resigned expression.

"Ass."

"What you say is what you are, D."

I'm finding that writing fluff is definitely one of my strong points...

And I'm just planting some seeds here for future chapters. You guys are almost caught up to me :)