"Have a good night sir." Jimmy wipes a towel against one of the circular tables, while an older gentlemen skids his way out of the bar slowly as he waves goodbye to Jimmy. After a moment of footsteps leaving, silence fills the room, giving Jimmy a sense of calmness from the quiet atmosphere.
"Guess I 'd better lock up for the night... I'll leave the door open for Dice and the rest incase they come through the front." The bartender picks up the towel after wiping down the table. Jimmy makes his way back behind to the bar counter to set the towel next to the small sink, lowers his hand under his side of the counter afterwards, flipping a switch that shuts the lights off the entire area.
Jimmy was about to walk to the door before Dice walked in first with a motivated expression. He holds a deck of cards in his hands, shuffling them repeatedly. "Hey Jimmy, we're back just in time. They were hanging at that big casino without us."
"Yeah, he thought we were doing something else other than that." Chips walks in second, nudging Dice's arm as he the cowboy walks past him with a cheeky smile.
"No I didn't!" Dice retorts, clasping his cards together between his hands, giving Chips an annoyed expression with his eyes furrowing. "I was just asking 'what were you two been doing without me and Jimmy'!
Dice and Chips continue their bicker tournament as Wheezy walks in last. "You two have been at each other since Dice found us. Don't you two ever stop?" Wheezy scowls, averting his eyes somewhere else
"Come on Wheezy, you know them, they won't stop, even if it's all fun and games." Jimmy replied with a chuckle as he sits down on one of the stools at the edge of the bar counter. "Besides, all that matter's now is that Wheezy and Chips are here, not doing anything stupid."
"Oh yeah? Doing something stupid like what?" Chips challenges Jimmy's statement as the fire boy smirks with his reply.
"Working for someone dangerous." He rests his arm on the bar counter as Wheezy and Chips freeze in slight fear, look at each other for a solid second before Wheezy answers with a side smile and a sigh.
"Well thankfully, we're not. Having fun with each other alone is all that's important."
"Aside from that, who wants to play poker tonight upstairs?" Dice asks as waves he cards around in his hands as Jimmy tilts his head to scratch the back of his head.
"We haven't played together for a while so why not." Jimmy yawns as he feels a soft wind past him as Chips hurries excitingly to the back door.
With that, Jimmy follows everyone upstairs but not before he retrieves the small box with the candle from the kitchen. Once making it to the top, he observes the room, watching Wheezy sitting patiently. Also seeing Chips grab some drinks from the small cooler on the side of the room, and Dice shuffling his cards with his tricks.
"Damn it...hmmm. Hey Dice, we don't have whiskey- is vodka fine with you?" Chips asks, taking some small bottles out, setting each either on top of the cooler or next to him
"Yeah, I'll survive for the night." Dice answers as he deals the cards for each of them. Jimmy reaches the table, setting the box down before opening the lid to grab the candle to set on the table.
Wheezy looks up at Jimmy. "Finally getting her out hmm?"
"Hey, don't forget what this night is? I know you miss Briley too." Jimmy sits down at his chair, setting the empty box under the table aside his feet. "Besides, we all know this candle won't get brighter than this." He picks up his dealt cards to see what he has. "Two A's and three of a kind.. not a bad deal.." Jimmy sets his cards faced down on the table.
"I'm surprised you're not drunk Dice. You've drank two glasses downstairs earlier." Jimmy states as Dice sits down after dealing the cards.
"I was a little. The walk just made me more sober." Dice calmly answers while Chips sets four clanging glasses down on the table with a bottle of Vodka.
~~~
After a half hour of poker, Jimmy lays down his cards, plastering a smirk across his face, revealing a royal flush. "I win." He chuckles as Chips groan in frustration.
"Damn it, this is the third time you won! How are you doing this shit Jimmy?" Chips raised his voice slightly with his question while Dice and Wheezy chuckle at Chip's drunken attitude.
"This idiot finally got drunk after five glasses. Guess he hates vodka like you Dice." Wheezy says before sipping on his own glass looking at Dice as he waits for a reply from him.
"At least I'm more of a heavyweight than he is." Dice leans back on his chair, adjusting his leg onto the other, placing his woven hands against his lower part of his shirt. "Still, he'll drink anything, either if he hates the taste or not."
Jimmy chuckles as he studies the candle and not paying mind to anything else, but only replying with a 'mhm'. He feels Dice and Wheezy looking at him as he stares at them back. "What?"
"What makes you think she'll come back or even alive Jimmy? You as Chips are the main two that think that she'll come back to us only because of this flame." Dice asks with a calm yet a serious stern expression
"You know what the flame is, if Briley's far away, the flame dies down but it is never put out. If it's still lit, she isn't dead. We all know this information. I just..." Jimmy takes a deep breath in to calm his anxiety. "I just wish that if we could've been there earlier, she wouldn't have been kidnapped and her mother banning us from returning there."
The room fell silent with the sound of snores come from Chips passed out on his chair, slouched back, hat in his hand on his lap. With the sound being followed by Wheezy's sigh as he places his glass on the table. "You are right about that. We all feel the same guilt Jimmy, but it's been four years."
"It has yes, but this flame hasn't changed since she disappeared. Bri said that the flame is a part of her soul." Jimmy places his hand behind his head, leaning forwards as he stares down at the ground. "If this candle burns out... I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"We wouldn't either Jim." Dice starts his small speech for comfort.
Jimmy stares at the ground "Do you think it's our fault?"
"Her father reassured us that it wasn't our fault from the beginning." Wheezy starts; "If she wanted to disappear from everyone then she would've said so and leave eventually. Kids like us five at the time were dramatic and too confident on their actions."
Jimmy chuckles as she shakes his head. "Two of us are still like that."
Dice and Wheezy stare at the man, understanding what he meant.
"I think it's time to get some rest... we all had a day." Jimmy finishes as he stands up, carrying his glass downstairs.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
