Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter Four

Felix closed up shop early. That is to say, he left Cordelia in charge with strict orders to close at closing time and not whenever she felt like it. Then he put on his cloak and followed Peter out the door.

They walked in silence for a while, which suited Felix just fine, but seemed to bore Pan. "By the way, you never did mention why you need Midnight Apples at this time of year."

Felix shouldn't want to respond, he knew. His ale was his most closely guarded secret; only Cordelia knew the ingredients, and even she didn't know the exact recipe. But somehow he found himself wanting to tell Peter everything about it, every detail of the recipe, the reason it existed in the first place, how he perfected it. He swallowed the urge down and said simply:

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Peter smirked at him, teeth shining silver at Felix in the light of the full moon. "That I would," he said, tone implying that he hadn't really expected anything different from Felix at all. "I want to know a lot about you Felix."

"You know more about me than I do about you," Felix refuted, blushing for some ungodly reason. He was glad of the darkness because it meant Peter couldn't see the embarrassing flush spread across his face and neck.

Peter hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose that's true. How about this? You can ask me whatever questions you want if I may do the same."

Of course Peter would make this a game. Felix had spent enough time with the other boy to know that this was his default, but he couldn't help being intrigued. He nodded once in agreement. "How do you know where to find Midnights in the off season like this?"

"My employer," Peter said simply. "My turn. How did you get stuck running the tavern?"

"My father," Felix retorted. He wasn't afraid to answer that one, since it was common knowledge. "Where do you disappear to every Friday?"

The grin melted off of Peter's face for the first time since Felix met him, replaced with a truly terrifying scowl that made the boy want to shrink into himself and beg for forgiveness for a crime he wasn't sure he committed. It wasn't even like when his father came at him; the look on Peter's face made his very soul quiver in an unknown fear. Or rather, a fear of the unknown danger Peter had the potential to pose. He didn't take back his question though, and after a few awkward minutes of Peter seemingly debating his answer, he spoke.

"Hell." The scowl was gone, but the grin definitely wasn't back in place. Peter seemed to be focusing very hard on the road ahead of him. "I go to my own personal hell."

Felix couldn't help but feel responsible for putting the smile back on Peter's face. After all, they were... friends... right? That's what the other boy had said. And based on Felix's limited knowledge of the subject, that meant making Peter feel better, especially when he fucked up.

"You know..." He wasn't really sure how to say this, but he had Peter's attention and there was no going back now so he decided that there couldn't be much harm in just doing it. "You're doing me a favor here, Peter. A huge one. So if there's... If you ever need anything, let me know."

Peter looked at him, curiosity and a hint of something else written all over his face. "Anything?"

Instinct shouted at Felix that it wasn't the right thing to say, but he said it anyway because instinct was also shouting at him that Peter needed to be smiling, or at least grinning. Something other than this utterly terrifying blankness or that soul-shaking scowl. "Anything."

His wish was granted when Peter smirked proudly, like Felix had lived up to his expectations. "I'll keep that in mind. For the moment, we're here."