Kevin was right where they'd left him, waiting for them in the inner ring. He watched silently as they tugged on their helmets and gloves, and said nothing when Aaron led the way to the home court entrance. Neil used his last key to unlock the door and then stuffed the keys into his glove for safekeeping.

After the door closed behind them, Neil looked at Nicky and asked, "Is Kevin not going to play today?"

Nicky looked surprised that he'd ask. "Kevin only tolerates our court under two conditions: alone, or with Andrew on it. He'll have to get over it this fall when Renee's in goal at games, but for now he can get away with being a snob."

"Where's Andrew?"

"He just dosed up, so he's out cold somewhere. He's going to crash and reboot into crazy mode."

"You don't think he's crazy now?"

"Crazy, nah," Nicky said. "Soulless, perhaps."

Neil looked at Aaron, waiting for him to defend his twin, but Aaron only led the way to half-court. Neil kept pace with Nicky, idly poking his fingers through the netting on his racquet. He looked at Kevin, who was still watching them through the court wall, and asked, "Kevin can't really play, can he? They said it'd be a miracle if he ever picked up a racquet again."

"His left hand's pretty much out," Nicky said. "He's playing as a rightie from now on."

Neil stared. "What?"

Nicky grinned, obviously pleased to have dropped that bombshell. "They don't call him an obsessive genius for nothing, you know."

"It's not genius," Aaron said. "It's spite."

"That too," Nicky said. "I wish I could see the look on Riko's face when he sees our first game. Rat bastard."

Kevin pounded on the wall in a demand for them to get moving.

Nicky waved a hand at him in dismissal. "We're doing this in our free time, you know!" he yelled, not that Kevin could hear him through the court walls.

"Thank you," Neil said belatedly.

"Huh? Oh, no. Don't worry about it. You can make it up to me some other time when the others aren't around."

"Can you try and get ass when I'm not standing right here?" Aaron asked.

"You could leave and let me and Neil get to know each other better."

"I'll tell Erik on you."

"Bald-faced lie. When's the last time you said a civil word to him?"

Neil didn't know any Foxes past or present with that name. "Who is Erik?"

"Oh, he's my husband," Nicky said happily. "Or will be, eventually. He was my home-stay brother for a year in Berlin and we moved in together after graduation."

Neil's heart skipped a beat. "You lived in Germany?"

He tried to do the math in his head, guessing Nicky's age against how long ago he'd been in high school. Chances were Neil had already moved on to Switzerland by the time Nicky made it to German soil, but it was such a close call Neil couldn't breathe.