Rimwick

The Hot Springs

NUCLEAR WARFARE! NINJA AND TURTLES! BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!

Sorry. That was just to get your attention. Have a lovely day!
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"Stop glaring at me like that. You could have gone into the trees," Felix says.

"I was mad at Brooke. Besides, you would have thrown a snowball at my back."

"Probably. Sorry." Felix looks down, at the snow we're walking through, and I feel bad for giving him a hard time. His team was better than us, so they won. That's it.

"Hey," I say, holding out my hand. "Good game."

He looks at me, smiles, and grasps my cold fingers with his own. "Good game." Our hands stay connected for a moment too long, before Felix clears his throat and drops my grasp. He smiles at me, briefly. I smile back and we keep walking. My head feels weird, like the snow is dancing behind my eyes instead of in front of them, and I blink to try to clear my thoughts.

"Why did you do it like that?" I ask.

"Do...?"

"Why did you choose Brooke and Roman for your team? I mean, neither one of them can actually throw a snowball. And how did you know that we would track you?"

"Oh. Well..." Felix takes a moment, pursing his lips at the stars. Wind brushes up, suddenly violent, and I wrap my coat more tightly around myself.

"Fallon hunts," he says. "Her life revolves around getting food, and she does that by tracking. I guessed that you would most likely come after us, and since we separated so would you. It gave us enough time to hide, and you walked right into my trap."

"It was a good plan," I admit.

Felix smiles. "All those books I used to read. About knights and superheroes and villains. I learned a lot growing up, though none of it was taught to me on purpose."

"What about my first question? Why pick Roman and Brooke?" And why not me? I add silently.

Felix sighs. "I guess it's stupid, but I wanted to prove a point."

I blink. "What point?"

"Roman's really fast and strong, in both his human and wolf forms. But for things like this, and the Color Hunt, he always loses because he doesn't think stuff through."

"And he's a wolf," I point out.

"Right, there's that too," Felix agrees. "Brooke's the same way. No one ever invites her to do things with them because she's a completely nasty. But at the same time, she's just a kid, and she helped me prove my point."

"What point?"

"That the people no one likes, who no one pays attention to, the social outcasts- sometimes, they're the smartest or the bravest or the most powerful. And when they have a leader, someone to guide them, and a cause worth fighting for... they can do anything."

"Oh," I say, because I can't think of anything else. He's right. Or at least, I hope he is. Felix has a way of talking that makes me want to listen.

We walk through the woods in silence for a while until Felix speaks again.

"I don't want you to think... I mean, I wanted you on my team. But I wanted to win the game without a power like yours."

I blink. "My power?"

He runs his hands through his shaggy blond hair. "Yeah. I mean, you're words are so dawned awesome and I was worried that-"

"You think they're awesome?" I think they're stupid.