14.) Felix and Ralph - "You're supposed to talk me out of this."
"You're supposed to talk me out of this…" Ralph mumbled to little handyman sitting beside him on the bleachers. He fumbled with his hands and looked around nervously as the crowd around them started to disperse, the weekly after-hours 'Street Fighter' matches having just ended.
"Why would I do that?" Felix inquired. "You know I wouldn't want to get in the way."
"I know, I know…" Ralph sighed. "I'm just nervous, Felix. What—what if he says no?"
The two of them looked just beyond the boxing ring at Zangeif. The muscular man finished wiping the sweat from his face with a towel and turned his head to the stands.
Spotting Ralph and Felix, the fighter smiled and waved, and they both waved back, Felix a little more enthusiastically than his colleague.
"Well…he knows I'm here. Guess there's no turning back now," Ralph gulped.
"Ralph!" Felix chuckled, placing a comforting hand on the wreckers arm. "Believe me, you've got nothing to worry about. Now just go on, and I'll be right here. I'm with you, a hundred percent!"
"Okay," the wrecker steeled himself, and stood. "Here I go…Nothin' to it."
As Ralph stepped off the bleachers he looked back to Felix again, who gave him two big thumbs up.
"Nothin' to it," the handyman repeated. He watched gleefully as his friend walked over to the far side of the boxing ring and engaged in conversation with Zangeif. Things appeared to be going good, and before long, Ralph was bounding back over, beaming.
"Well?" Felix asked.
"He said yes!" Ralph exclaimed. "And he also just invited me to 'Tapper's' with him and some other Street Fighters. You're welcome to join too."
"Nah, you go and have fun, Ralph, I think I'm going to turn in for the night."
"Oh, okay, if you're sure," the wrecker turned to leave, then pivoted back around. "Oh and uh—Felix…Thanks for backing me up."
"Anytime, brother," the fixer smiled as he watched both Ralph and Zangeif leave the game, hand-in-hand.
