There is a chilling silence in the room; the window is forced open by a strong wind which raises the curtains slightly.
Ben and Ares are as still as mannequins, paying no attention to the gaping window beside them.
The awkward silence continues; Ben gives up, bowing his head in defeat, strands of hair fall to his face covering his forehead and eyes.
The silence is broken shortly by a screeching sound as Ares drags out a chair from under the table and sits.
"So, tell me, why are you here?"
Ben hesitates and before replying "I have a case, a very important case."
"Important enough to make you ucome back here?" Ares asks rhetorically looking up at Ben.
"A girl is missing and I think my family has got something to do with it"
"If your family is actually involved in it, why come when you know she'd already be dead by now?" Ares says as he looks up at Ben.
"I don't think she is, and I think my family doesn't know about her yet ...or I hope"
"That doesn't make any sense"
"If she's somehow involved with your family, or has done something to make herself a person of interest then there's no chance she'd still be alive"
"You of all people should know that"
"Yeah...but I don't think she was taken. I think she knew she was in danger, so she left"
"It doesn't matter; you still won't be able to find her"
"I promised her mum I'll find her"
"Well, you shouldn't have. Don't go about making promises you can't keep"
"Who says I can't?"
"Who says you can?" Ares says, raising a brow and staring at Ben.
"Just give up and leave Ben"
"I can't," he replies with a desperate look on his face.
Ares sighs, he gets out of the chair, leans on the table next to him and crosses his arms.
"Stop feeling responsible for your family's crap. Whatever happens to that girl won't be your fault so cut it!"
"Well…. I can't just sit around Ares, you know that"
"Yeah... remind me again where aggravating your family landed you?" Ares replies sarcastically.
Ben remained silent, not moving a single muscle in his face almost as if he was ignoring Ares' remarks.
"Whatever, it's your funeral" Ares says, rolling his eyes and looking away.
"So where will you be staying in the meantime?"
"Umm… I was thinking maybe… here?"
"Oh, hell no! That's not gonna happen" Ares exclaims as he turns around to look at Ben.
"Well, it's a bit too late for that; I've already settled in quite nicely" Ben says as he puts both hands on his waist and wiggles them forward with a silly gesture and a smug look on his face.
Ares folds his eyes in suspicion.
"Where's your bag?"
"In your room of course"
"What, when did you- ?" Ares asked looking confused
Ben smirks, chuckling silently.
"And there goes my privacy" Ares says, unravelling his arms and dropping them in disappointment.
"Oh, come on! You don't even need the room... or the bed. Don't you sleep on walls or something?"
"The fuck...?" Ares furls his brows and pulls back in confusion.
They both laugh.
"How long are you going to be here for?" Ares asks.
"I don't know, as long as the case takes. Maybe a month" Ben replied indecisively.
"a month?!" Ares yells.
"What? It's not that long. Besides, this place is mine as well. I was the one who paid for it"
"Yeah, 15 years ago with the money I gave you; and who do you think has been taking care of it ever since?"
Ben, speechless, has no defence whatsoever scratches his head and smiles nervously. Seeing this, Ares nods and lets out a light chuckle.
There is another wave of silence. Ben walks toward the fallen bag of groceries, picks it up and raises it towards Ares.
"Looking for this?"
There is show of relief on Ares' face
Waving the bag in his face, Ben asks."So, are you gonna make dinner or what?"
Ares roughly snatches the bag from Ben, turns and smiles as he walks toward the kitchen.