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It was just the way they were together. The way they’d always been.
He nodded, giving his permission.
Itwastime.
Ben held his gaze for a moment longer than they really had beneath the collapsing support, and Aleksey knew this also was fitting—that Ben was giving him a last sight of the green eyes which had begun this incredible journey. Who knows what comes next and what you are permitted to take along for that final mystery? He had been told once that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and that you carry with you to the afterlife the essence of the one you have lived here on Earth. There was only one thing from this life that Aleksey wanted. He liked the idea of finally diving into cool green and never coming up. He always had.
Ben tightened his grip on the handle of his knife, preparing to cut.
Then he stretched up over his head and sliced them both free.
Too shocked to make a sound, Aleksey plummeted down.
He was stunned by the impact of the landing, his whole body jarring.
But he’d have hit the bottom almost entirely unharmed had it not been for the one hundred and eighty pounds of Ben Rider which then fell on top of him. He cried out, a sharp agonised shout, lost to shared swearing, shouting and recrimination.
Once they both realised they weren’t dead, weren’t falling more, and that they were on solid ground at the bottom of the shaft, Ben scrambled to his feet, appearing completely okay.
Clearly, he’d had a softer landing.
Aleksey waited until he felt strong enough, then risked the steadiness of his voice. “Have I told you recently how annoying you are, Benjamin?”
Ben, the faintest of outlines against the chink of light from above, was studying the climb. “Well aren’t you unlucky then that you’re stuck in a hole with me.”
“I told you to—“
“Yeah, well, you’re always telling me to do things, and I always ignore you. How deep do you think this is?”
“Why?”
“Why? Why do you think, you moron? We need to get out of here.”
Aleksey wished him luck with that plan.
“Give me your knife”
“Are you going to make another dramatic but suicidal gesture with it?”
Ben ignored his sarcasm, which, after nine years, Aleksey should have anticipated, and dug the weapon out of the side pocket of the pack where it was stowed. There was then a sound of digging and scraping. Aleksey fumbled for his cigarette lighter, but as he already knew, it was very low on gas and only emitted a feeble spark for a brief moment. He didn’t want to waste it on unimportant things like light.
“I’m going to use the knives as pitons and climb out. Move to one side just in case. So I don’t fall on you.”
“Ben…”
“Fuck off, Nikolas. You either help or keep your fucking mouth shut. Better still, get up and be more useful than you have all bloody day. If I can start on your shoulders, I might almost be there anyway. We fell about twenty feet max, and you were already about fifteen feet down, so I can do this. Come on, get up, it’s fucking freezing in here. I want to go home.”
“I can’t. Stand, that is.”
It was something of a showstopper.
Aleksey heard Ben’s neck whip around, and then he felt hands exploring him. “Where are you hurt? Shit, you’re shivering already!”
Aleksey caught and held the roving hands. “It’s just my leg, but please don’t—“
He screamed when Ben, immediately on hearing this injunction, pulled his hands free and investigated his legs. He’d screamed once or twice before in his life, but he couldn’t recall Ben ever hearing him do so.
Ben didn’t say anything, but he slid down the wall and very, very carefully tugged him so he was sitting between Ben’s open legs, Ben’s warm arms wrapped around his chest. They were quiet for a long time after that. Aleksey knew the gravity of their situation had finally hit his companion.
