Secret Lessons

“Oh,” Félix was still equally confused, even if she referred it to a special treat. As much as liked surprises, he wanted to clear this up before he lost himself wondering, “Then... what is the reward for?” Hopefully he didn't offend her in asking. He didn't remember her mentioning a reward before now. It never crossed Félix's mind.

A little while later, they were on the street. Félix was still holding the rabbit, a rather docile one for how well it kept in his arms. He couldn't help but think how it wouldn't live much longer. It unnerved him a little bit, but he was still quite set on carrying this out with Agnés.

She interrupted his thoughts again, and Félix jolted his head up from the rabbit to face her. It was a rather unexpected, albeit simple, question. “For... about two months now, I think,” he replied. “I haven't been here long. I've lived around Montréal my whole life.”

Since she asked him, it was only fair to give it back in turn, “What about you? Are you fairly new?”

Given she could stomach raw venison without a second though, Félix wasn't sure her assertion was completely comforting. On the other hand, he doubted she'd reward him with some strange fermented blood wine. Félix figured he was okay.

On the other hand, Félix was quite comfortable with telling Agnés about himself. He wasn't sure just how far he'd go. Should he mention how he lived? His wealth? “I lived on the island, by Mont Royal. My family has... a fair bit of land there.” He hesitated to say that they had a pretty darn large bit of land. As in, a huge chunk of the big hill itself.

“Sadly, I didn't experience much of it. I was um, I was home-schooled, and I kind of just drifted between my house and McGill.” Er, he didn't mean to admit he had already studied at a university. On the other hand, he knew Agnés well enough that he didn't think she'd think him a huge nerd, “I studied Mathematics, there.”

Agnés was a different person. Val-d'Or wasn't incredibly small, but it was nonetheless an entirely different place from Montréal. Agnés herself didn't even live there. It was just the closest 'city'.

To her fortune, Félix was still smiling at her. He didn't seem to mind at all, “So you had lots of space to hunt, I guess? Did you do anything else?” He examined the rabbit again. Félix thought it might be sleeping, the way its eyes were closed.

“N-No. I mean,” Félix certainly wasn't pleased with her reaction. He breathed in and out before continuing, “I bleed red. Just like you. But I guess my family has money. A little bit...” Félix avoided her gaze for a moment. It was pretty clear on his face that he was lying about the 'little bit' part.

“No, no, it was a whole degree. I have a Maths degree,” Félix blushed furiously, confirming Agnés' thoughts on his language. “It's just... I'm only eighteen, so I didn't want to feel out of place. I chose to study Music here, while I'm trying to better my powers here.” It was strange just how much he had to tell Agnés, despite their growing affection. A part of him hoped they were reaching their destination sooner than later.

“I hope you don't think I'm too... I don't know. Too much,” He felt like such an outlier. A genius, an heir, and potentially extraordinarily powerful. Even with all that, it seemed his grandfather's expectations of him were cosmic in scope. Perhaps literally so.

"I guess I never asked you either: what are you studying?"

“I haven't thought much about it...” He didn't realize Agnés would rather he stayed. It didn't occur to him to assure that he might. The reality was that until his grandfather either passed away or changed his mind about pushing Félix into growing his powers out of control, Félix would be here for as long as he needed to be. He'd even teach if it meant staying in the school and under protection.

“I'm sure I will work to complete this degree. I love Music. I'll play for you sometime, remind me.” Félix smiled. Playing music was his true passion, not Maths. However, he didn't mind trying to think of something interesting to demonstrate for her.

“I don't know if that would interest you...” As he tried to think, he felt his arm handled by Agnés. They were looped together now, walking in step. Félix's face was coming closer in shade to his shirt. “Th-thanks. You are... just right, too.” He cleared his throat.

“How about this? Have you ever heard of the birthday problem?” Félix tried to deflect his fluster. “If you have 23 people in a room, there's a 50% chance some pair of them share the same birthday. It sounds counter-intuitive, but because you have to consider every possible pair, of which there are over two-hundred.”

It was a small sampling of Mathematics to Félix, but it demonstrated what it could do. Lots of what one could do in Math really didn't seem interesting or magical, but that was because Math itself was more like a different perspective of nature than a different nature itself. There was nothing arcane about it, quite the opposite.

“I could see you in biology. If you're in French Literature though, maybe I can find a course to join with you,” Félix teased. Finally, he could see her home from here. It was getting tiring holding this rabbit, especially with one of his arms occupied with Agnés'. He hardly minded it, though.

“N-No, I... I shouldn't sing. I can't sing,” Félix corrected himself with a lie. “I can play piano though. It's my favourite.” Fortunately, her mind was already in gear about taking a class together. Félix didn't quite have the background for it, but he did have academic rigour. He could at least hold his own in a new kind of class. “Romantics sounds lovely,” he agreed.

They let go once they were on the narrow path. It was funny to think it just a temporary issue, rather than their link. A part of him couldn't wait to be close to her again. Or maybe all of him.

Her house was not much larger than his and Eric's dorm room. It was obviously miniscule in comparison to Félix's old home. Even his unused stables were larger. However, Félix had a sensible enough mind not to comment about it. To him, this was Agnés' home and that was a trait no other building had. It was special to him already, more than any castle could be.

He placed the rabbit on the table, and listened to Agnés' instructions. Of course, Félix frowned. Now confronted with what he had to do, it all seemed so sudden. He should have had a whole walk to reconcile with this, but he spent it all distracted. “How should I break the neck?” he asked Agnés. He wanted to kill the rabbit without any suffering.

He would kill the rabbit though. That much he promised both of them. It was just... so difficult to do once he was confronted. Stepping on a spider or some other insect was far more impersonal as bugs were practically alien to him. A rabbit was often personified, and Félix himself couldn't help but humanize it, even if he only knew the creature for a few hours.

“Sorry. Just gathering myself.” He placed his hands on the rabbit, stroking it at first and trying to keep it still. Eventually his fingers were placed where they needed to go, but before he broke its neck he tried to calm himself first. Agnés herself would feel that Félix only finally killed the rabbit once his worries were cleared away.

His fear didn't return, but his hands were shaking. Félix could still feel the sudden stop of all the rabbit's muscles, just like that. Even with his hands in the air, the sensation didn't go away from his mind nor his senses for another short while.

“I could... probably use a minute,” Félix exhaled as he looked at the knife. Cleaning the rabbit would be nothing compared to that half a minute.