Chapter Text
"You know what I think Felix?"
He looked up at her blankly. She shuffled down the grassy hill so that she could sit next to him and laid down.
"The world's gotten boring, that's what I think," she said, patting the grass next to her.
He sighed and laid down.
"How so?"
She took a second to think.
"It's just that… I don't know, you see so many old movies where kids like us had so much… well, freedom I guess."
"We're not kids anymore Amy."
She sighed.
"You know what I mean."
"Not really. You know I don't watch the same movies as you."
She sat up and turned towards him, imagining lines joining the freckles that littered his face.
"You must have seen at least one old movie, at least one!"
He shook his head.
"Not that I can remember. You know how I am."
Felix turned to look at Amy, her sullen but beautiful face only barely illuminated in the low light. Then he looked past her, past her makeup and softly billowing hair, and up at the night sky behind her. Up at the rolling clouds and half-lit moon, and then at the scattered stars that shone faintly through the haze.
"The stars shine so much brighter out here," he said, looking back at her face now, his brow slightly knotted in thought.
She turned away from him and now they both faced the sky together. She lay back again.
"I don't think I've ever seen you look up at the stars," she said quietly.
"I don't do it often."
"And why not," she said, and now she was turned towards him again, an accusing look on her face.
Felix shrugged.
"I just don't, I can't think why."
"I look up at the stars every night," she muttered.
She shivered slightly and tucked her knees up to her face.
"What were you saying before, about the world being boring?" Felix asked as he removed his jacket from his bag and handed it to her.
"I- Thanks." She slipped on the jacket and smiled, "Nevermind about the world being boring now, I forgot you don't watch movies."
"Oh but you've peaked my curiosity now Amy!" He stood up and smiled brightly, "Come on, let's go for a walk!"
He offered his hand out to Amy, and she took it quickly. He lifted her to her feet with ease, and she wished that they could have just stood there for a moment, holding hands in the moonlight.
But no, he let go as soon as she was on her feet.
She started off quickly down the hill, trying to bury such thoughts beneath meaningless small talk.
"Just a couple decades ago Felix, you could do just about anything!"
"Like what Amy? What could you do?"
They stepped over the trickling water at the bottom of the hill that separated their hill from the next.
"They didn't have automatic doors on trains Felix, and they had handles on the sides so you could just hang on as the train carried you along!"
"I highly doubt that."
"It's the truth I'm telling you! I've seen it in movies countless times now, and all my relatives say it's true!"
"I hardly see how that's any better than having automatic doors!"
She turned to him and feigned a gasp, then laughed and ran up the hill.
"You're seriously saying that you wouldn't like to run alongside a train as it's leaving, and to swing yourself on at the last second?"
Felix thought for a second as he ran up after her.
"Okay, I must admit that does sound kind of fun. It sounds very dangerous though, you've got to remember that!"
"But danger is fun!" she gasped as she held on to him while she was catching her breath, "Why do you think roller coasters are so fun, if not for the risk that something wrong will happen!"
"I've never been on a roller coaster Amy!"
"Why am I friends with such a lost cause!" Amy cried as she fell back against the hill in the most dramatic way she could muster.
A sly grin spread across Felix's face.
"A lost cause? What do you mean by that?"
"You're just no fun is all," Amy said, once again patting at the grass beside her, "You aren't any fun at all."
Felix sat down slowly and cautiously, and watching this seemingly harmless gesture sparked annoyance in Amy's mind.
"You even sit down boring, I swear you're doing it on purpose!"
He just smiled at her, and laid back against the soft grass.
"Nobody lies back against a hill carefully Felix, nobody but you!"
"What can I say, being cautious is just in my nature."
"You'd have to be extremely unlucky to injure yourself lying back on a hill."
"I guess you're right."
Then he sat up again and moved his bag onto his lap, it's detailed black fabric completely obscured by the dim light.
"There's plenty of stuff that could go wrong on a roller coaster though," he said as he fumbled for the bag's small zip.
"But that's the whole idea!" Amy pulled herself up into a sitting position too, and made frantic gestures with her arms, "You're supposed to feel like you could die at any second!"
"That really doesn't sound that fun," Felix finally found the zip, and opened the bag, only realising it was the wrong pocket as he reached in to find it empty.
"What's your idea of fun then?" She asked, prodding him on the arm.
Felix contemplated for a second, forgetting about whatever it was he wanted to retrieve from his bag.
"I like reading I guess, and photography is pretty cool too, and…"
Amy buried her head in her hands, and Felix couldn't tell if she was trying to conceal a laugh or hide her disappointment.
"I probably have the most fun just hanging out with you to be honest."
Now Amy was hiding her face for a different reason, even though her blush wouldn't have been visible anyways.
"We need to find you better hobbies."
She put her hands in the pockets of her borrowed jacket, feeling the small metal object that was tucked in the one on the right. When she pulled it out to examine it further, her blush intensified.
"Does this compass still work?" She asked as she held it up to the light.
"As far as I'm aware. You can have it if you want, you'll probably get more use of it, what with all the train adventures you're going on."
She put the compass back in the pocket and sat up.
"You mean to tell me that you haven't gone on a single cross country expedition, even after my stern instructions?"
"I'll get to it."
They sat there in silence for several minutes, listening to the distant sounds of cars on the highway.
Felix then started rummaging in his bag again, eventually producing a parcel from it.
"Here, I saw this the other day and thought you might like it."
"Are you serious? You know it isn't my birthday or anything right?"
She took the package and smiled at the cute, hand drawn pattern on the wrapping paper. As she opened it she was careful not to tear the paper, admiring the detailed sketches of different types of leaves.
Inside was a knitted red and orange beanie, and she could tell that it wasn't store bought. She was speechless for a moment, just sitting and turning it over in her hands.
"Wait, what's this for?" She asked when she saw that there was a small hole on one of the sides.
"Hold still for a second" he replied, and leant towards her.
Then she felt a gentle pressure on her head, and was startled when she turned to see Felix's face only a foot away from hers. She looked into his eyes, then down at his lips, and leant towards him slightly.
"There you are," he said happily as he laid back against the hill again.
"I-" She felt where his hands had been and noticed that he'd put some kind of headband on her head.
"It's a head torch." He reached over and turned it on, illuminating his pale face and some of the lush grass surrounding them.
"But what about the-" she started as she held up the beanie, but stopped when Felix placed his hands on hers.
"You're a bit of a goose sometimes." Holding her hands gently, he lifted them and the beanie up and onto her head, positioning it so that the torch stuck out through the hole.
"There you are," he chuckled, and ruffled the hair at the sides of her head slightly.
It took her a couple of seconds for her to respond; she was still reeling from the sudden, almost-intimate, physical contact.
"Thank you Felix. I really like it." She reached up and idly felt the soft texture of the beanie.
"Now you can see when we go out on these night walks."
"Yeah," she smiled, and looked awkwardly down at her shoes.
A distant voice cut through the silence, a young man calling out to Amy from a couple hills away.
"That will be Cameron," she sighed, "I guess it is getting pretty late."
"I should probably head home now too," Felix said as he started zipping his bag up.
Amy hesitated for a second, but decided to take a risk. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around Felix, embracing him in a tight hug.
"Thank you again for the gifts," she said softly, leaning away from the hug slightly to look him in the eyes, "I really like them."
Then she got up and started speed walking down the hill towards her brother's voice.
"I'll see you tomorrow Felix."