Three's a crowd

Feliks hummed to himself as he wandered. He didn't really have a desitnation. The landscape was rather beautiful - though he would never admit it out loud - with its rugged, trees, and cliffs. He had merely been going to see what he could draw.

It was a surprise to him then, to find that he would not be alone is such a baren place, and that todays out come might be quite... different than how he had originally planned.

Roman kicked a stone in front of him, watching it make a little hole in the perfect plane of snow. He trekked along the rocky mountain path, a peaceful smile on his face. Other than the occasional squirrel crossing his path, the place was completely desolate.

He'd had enough of his parents trying to convince him that their plans were "all for the best" and how much he would grow to love Kendera because she "really was such a lovely girl." It made him want to throw up.

Instead, he left the house, got on a knight bus, and rode until he reached the edge of the country. So here he was, where no one would ever find him. At least, that's what he thought until he saw the very last person he'd wanted to see walking straight towards him.

Feliks stopped tilting his head as he looked at a tree, half fallen to the ground, capped in snow. The way the sun sparkled off of it, was just...

He reached for his sketch pad, about to start a sketch, when he caught the figure out of the corner of his eye. He didn't think much of it at first. But slowly as they got closer, and closer to him. He couldn't ignore them any longer, and looked up. Only to-

"Ritter?" he'll admit that the question came out of him more surprised then intimidating. But the part of him that he usually tried to kill when he was drawing - the part of him that he was ashamed of when he was drawing - was slowly spiking back up with the appearance of familiar face.

"Well, ain't this just... a surprise."

Roman felt a pulse of fear the second Feliks opened his mouth, but the tone coming from it was far from what he expected. Not only that, but he seemed to be holding...

"Is that a drawing pad?" He couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of it. A guy like Feliks being into art... well that was like a cat being into surfing. It just didn't happen.

But maybe he was different when he was away from school... maybe he wouldn't absolutely demolish Roman this time. His jaw still ached from the incident in the library. He didn't think he could go through something like that again.

Feliks grip tightened on his sketch pad, as his eyes widened, fear seeping into him for just a moment, before he shoved it back, and smirked.

"Drawing? Me?" he snorted and threw the thing aside, holding back a wince as it flopped into a snow. It had been a newer pad, nothing too important in it - thank god - but they were still his....

He felt an odd sort of flicker in his stomach as he glared at his work and then back at Roman, eyes flashing and lips smirking.

"Hows the jaw, Ritter," he smiled strolling up to the boy, before shoving his shoulder with enough force to knock the other boy into the snow.

Roman glared at Feliks from the ground. He stood up and brushed the snow off of himself. Why was this guy such a jerk? It's not like there was some mandate saying that he had to be a complete asshole.

"It's healing," he said, the pain substantial even when he was just talking, "How's the brain? Still damaged?" Roman smirked.

He would never get tired of torturing Feliks for being a moron, no matter how much he had to pay. It was completely true, and the kid deserved it.

Feliks' eyes glinted dangerously as he looked at the boy. He had possibly been going to leave him alone, after making a few comments. Just had to keep up his reputation so the boy was properly afriad when they were back at school and it mattered, but now...

Being called stupid was his weakness, his one true button. He wasn't stupid, and one day he was going to show people.

But for now....

Sighing, he just halded off and puched the boy again, this time going for his stomach rather than his jaw.

Roman felt the fist make contact with his stomach and stumbled backwards from the blow. His instinct was to gasp from the pain, but for some reason, his lungs weren't cooperating.

He hunched over, his throat making eerie hollow noises until he finally collapsed into the snow, supporting himself by his hands. The boy shook from both lack of oxygen, the pain in his stomach, and a horrid feeling of nausea.

He took a couple more gasping breaths before standing up to face Feliks once again. With a shaky, weak voice, Roman managed to get out a few words,

"I really, really hate you."

Feliks smirked as the boy fell into the snow. That was the thing he really loved about Roman, truely loved... his reactions to pain was just so.... perfect. He didn't mind the boys gusto either - he didn't like a complete whimp. They kind of ticked him off more than the other ones.

THought Roman's mouth was getting him into more trouble than the boy would have gotten otherwise.

Sighing, tiring of this punching game, he sighed, and picked the boy up again, looking around and grinning when he found a ledge a few feet away.

Trudging over, he glanced down at the drop... not too long.. really..

"Wow," Feliks drawled slowly, his grip on the boy firm as he moved him closer to the drop, "Will you look at that. Suck to fall down there wouldn't it? I mean.. it would hurt... but I don't think it would be leathal. What do you think Ritter? Think we should.... test it out?"

Roman's back was to the cliff, so he had no idea where he was headed until he was hanging over it. By now, he knew that he could beg, plead, threaten, bribe, or anything else and it wouldn't help him. Feliks was stronger than he was, and he hated Roman with a passion. All he could do now was accept his fate at the bottom of that drop.

But a small piece of him wasn't going to let him go down without a fight, and that piece took control of the rest of him for just a couple of seconds. Without even realizing it, Roman smirked, "Maybe you can finally learn how gravity works, huh Feliks?"

Feliks hadn't really been planning on dropping the boy. He wasn't completely sure the fall wouldn't kill him, depending on how he was dropped, and he really didn't want to be the cause of that.

He had some conscience.

Just not much.

However, that was the thing about Ritter. He. never. knew. when. to. shut. up.

He raised his eyebrow.

"Maybe I will."

And he let go.

A cloaked figure shot out of the shadows of some trees, the hood pulled low, throwing the face of the person into shadow. The cloak billowed, and she was between the two, shoving the older boy back with enough force to send him flying back more than a few feet and catching the other one just before he slipped out of reach.

Yanking Roman back onto solid ground she snarled, and turning, she grabbed the other boy off the ground, her fists curled into the collar of his shirt. She shoved him up against a tree, holding him there even with his superior height. "Are you insane?!" She growled, "You could have killed him! He's barely half your size!" She glared at him, her brown eyes boring into his. Her tone lightened considerably, and a gust of wind blew, throwing back her hood. Her eyes traced his face, and she smirked. "Pathetic." Still showing no recognition of the boy, she dropped him, back at Roman in a flash.

"Are you alright, Roman?" She asked worriedly. She realized she just may have thrown him a bit farther than intended, but that hardly mattered. At least he was no longer falling to his death.

Roman skidded against the ground, scraping his elbows and the palms of his hands against the frozen dirt. The stinging in his arms was drowned out by his utter feeling shock at seeing Karma in the middle of the Alps.

"Uhh, yeah," he replied, his eyes wide, "Can I just say, you have the best timing of anybody on the planet. Also, thank you." He managed a smile before glancing quickly at Feliks, his eyes full of caution.

Feliks felt a tiny spike of horrified as he started to watch the boy fall, however that emotion never got to go any farther than that before he was flying across the ground, and some cloak figure was pulling Ritter back up.

Where the hell had they come from! Feliks thought with a start, ignoring the slight sting in his hands from having skidded across the sharp snow. That pain was nothing.

His eyes widened slightly as he was pushed against a tree, but not at the action, but at the face. He knew that face.

"You gunna break my nose too, darling," he asked, his eyes flashing. The part of him that she had seen was locked deep inside. Feliks was back into his school mode, and there was no coming back from that mode, "Cause I certainly hope I'll whine about it less than Maksim."

He pulled himself back up from the ground, as she let go of him, brushing off the snow as she went back over the Ritter. Who he just continued to smirk at when he saw his eyes flash to him. He gave the boy a little wave, feeling dangerous. Not really careing what this girl might do to him.

Karma kept her eyes on Roman, brushing the snow out of his hair and off his shoulders like a concerned mother. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, looking down at his arms. Was she responsible for those scrapes? She hadn't really had the frame of mind to be gentle... she'd ran pretty far to get there, and her panic had been the only thing keeping her going. It had taken her minutes to get from where she'd been in Germany to here, and Roman was lucky she'd stopped at his house for Christmas.

"Having good timing is in the job description." She said, helping Roman to his feet. "You should leave." She advised. "Your parents are looking for you."

She looked back at the boy, a flash of recognition crossing through her eyes. "I'll deal with Liksie-darling." She said, gently shoving Roman in the direction of his parents. "Though, I may not break his nose like I did his brother's."

A shiver of fear ran through Roman as he struggled to take his eyes off of Feliks, but he managed a smile at Karma, "I'm certainly better than I would've been if you hadn't rescued me."

He scoffed, "I'd imagine they are. People usually look for you when you run away." His eyes strayed to Feliks once again, more curious than anything about how he was going to react to Karma.

Roman raised an eyebrow in surprise. How did she know Feliks? And when did she break his brother's nose? He didn't even know that Feliks had a brother.

Feliks just smirked as he listened to them speak. Sure, there was a part of him that both A) Regretted what he'd just done and B) feared what the girl could do.

However, he was not in the present mind set to let either of those thoughts seep through him.

"See yeah at school Ritter," he gave another grin, and waved his fingers, the friendly act managing to look intimidating on his features.

Karma growled, low in the back of her throat, but went back to looking almost pleasant when she turned back to Roman, meeting his eyes. "But you will go back to them now, won't you?" Her pupils dilated slightly, and a bit of persuasion found its way into his voice. "You'll go back to your parents, and you won't look back." The compulsion wasn't much, but it was enough.

Turning to Liks now, she stepped forward, still not showing any signs of familiarity. Her movements were fluid, animalistic in their beauty, and before she knew it, she was standing in front of him, looking into his eyes. "Hello, Liks." She purred. "What have you been up to?"

Feliks smirked down at the girl, his fear still not being rational. THere seemed to be no point. She was probably going to do whatever she will do whether he acted fearful or not.

"Oh you know," he shrugged, "THe usual. A little tormenting, avoiding siblings, pretending to do school work."

"You been practicing, Darling?"

Karma cocked her head to the side and stalked around him, trying to veiw him from all angles. "You been working out too?" She asked curiously, reaching out and gently laying a hand on his bicep. She squeesed gently, smirking. "Or does that count as hiding from your siblings?"

"Haven't had time to practice." She circled back in front of him, meeting his eyes. Calmly, she brushed the snow off him, her touch exceedingly gentle, even as she straightened his clothing. "The problem isn't you tossing people off cliffs, you know." She said with a half-grin, half-smirk. Her eyes darkened slightly, and she stepped ever closer to him, not letting him look away quite yet.

"It's who you've decided to throw." She cocked her head to the side slightly, the grin that flashed across her face hungry. "You see, Liksie... Roman belongs to me."

Feliks smirked, "Lots of things count as hiding from my siblings, Darling."

He raised an eyebrow as she began to brush snow off him as if this was a social call. His raised eyebrow increased as she stated that she owned the boy he had recently dropped off a cliff.

"Ritter? You own him huh? He must show more potential than I thought, if you're willing to waste you're time with him. Though you know, you should teach you're pets a thing or two about holding their tongues. Ritter was almost off scot free before he opened that mouth of his."

"Well, you should drop by my place if you find yourself in need of a hideout, then." She said with a shrug. "If they follow you, I'll just beat them up again." She grinned, glancing up at him through her lashes, and completely ignoring the fact that she lived absolutely nowhere.

"You need weak pets as much as you need strong ones." Karma said with a grin. "Weak ones tend to get ignored. They hear more." She shrugged easily. "None of my pets know when to shut up. I'm investing in muzzles."

"And anyway, you cause him harm again, and I may be forced to kill you." She pouted. "And if I did that, you wouldn't get your Christmas Present. I worked so hard on it too."

Feliks raised his eyebrow, "I'll keep that in mind then."

He rolled his shoulders, his smirk never leaving his face.

"I'll tell you what Black, I'll make you a deal. You invest in those muzzles of yours, make sure Ritters the first to get one, and I'll leave him alone."

He looked her over slowly.

"After all, I don't think I'm the only one here who is aware of what happens when we lose our tempers."

Karma grinned a thousand watt smile. "That's all I ask." She said, taking a step closer to him, her eyes darkening slightly.

"And what happens then?" She purred, resting her palms on his chest. "Maybe something different happens to the both of us."

He tilted his head in agreement, "Then that all I'll do."

The boy smirked at her for a long moment, looking at her hands on him, before he slowly stepped out of her grasp.

"Maybe," he agreed, wandering over to where he had dumped his sketch book, picking it up with a slightly saddened gaze. "But we can both agree that we aren't rational."

With that he gave her one last smirk and disapppeared.