* MAX // NEVER MAXINE!

   IT’S DIFFICULT TO HOLD IN her laughter as she watches emotions flicker across max’s face, gaze averting to signal her own embarrassment in spite of being the one to initiate this game. it isn’t that she thinks max is being funny, but downright adorable. she doesn’t want to ruin the atmosphere though, so she bites her lip to stifle herself.

  as it turns out, she doesn’t have to worry about laughing for long. whether max’s confidence is feigned or not matters little when she gets closer, standing on her tiptoes to reach her height. there’s no ignoring the blush on her cheeks anymore, eyes falling to her girlfriends lips before quickly averting. she only snaps out of it when max speaks up again, lids blinking slowly as she processes what she’s said. it’s her turn to be embarrassed, realizing her earlier attempt at looking cool && nonchalant had about this had completely failed.

      ❝ uhhhh – yeah, totally ! ‘course i knew that, max, i was just.. you know… waiting to see what you were gonna do.. ? ❞ she cringes inwardly at her lame excuse, knowing max could see right through it. it doesn’t seem like she minds though, if look she gives her is any indication. she hopes she can’t hear the way she gulps, throat suddenly dry as she takes her silent cue for what it is. taking the other end of the pocky between her teeth, she takes a small bite out of it, nervousness blooming in her chest as she waits for max to make the next move.  

          it’s odd to see chloe price, her punk, usually outspoken girlfriend become flustered. her colored cheeks don’t go unnoticed by the photographer’s eyes.  it’s a rare state to catch her in and max is glad to be one of the few chloe allows to see . . . though, she’s not one to talk given her own nervous demeanor and equally as red cheeks. she laughs lightly into her fist as chloe struggles with words ; yet another rarity! but it’s something that makes the moment all the more precious ─ even if it is just a silly game. 

❝ alright, sure thing, chloe. ❞ she teases only after hesitating, composing herself, utilizing the brief moment to boost her own confidence enough to take the next step. once the pocky is secure between chloe’s lips, max closes the distance between them, her hands taking chloe’s shoulders as she raises herself up onto her toes. her heart races though they’ve kissed before ─ the action will never cease to be a magical moment. then again . . . max isn’t sure she ever wants it to stop being so exhilarating.

she starts by biting the end of the pocky, about the same amount chloe’s taken. but it’s not long before max takes another few bites right up until her lips meet chloe’s. hands move from shoulders to cheeks as max lets the moment linger, enjoying every moment of chloe’s warm, familiar lips against her own. her earlier nerves dissipate and it isn’t long before max pulls back with a grin and giggle, finishing the stick of pocky she’d snatched from her partner.

@doefect​​ || ❤’d for a starter

[ ★ ] a photo exhibition seemed like as good a place as any to unwind after being thrown into a new world! he hadn’t been to one in so long because of his roadtrip with noct, so he pretty much felt like a kid in a candy store among the different styles of pictures and arrangements. talk about fanboy alert!

another great thing about being in galleries was seeing all the people who were as into photography as him. this time around he had his sights locked on a brunette stranger across the ways, looking just as engrossed in the art, if not more!

“oooh, my photographer senses are tingling! i can feel it… you’re just like me, aren’t you!? no denying it, buddy, i’m psychic,” he chuckled, turning toward the pictures in front of them, “nah, just messing with you. though i’m guessing based on your staring contest with these that you’re a fan! unless i’m totally off-base here and you were just zoning out, then i will awkwardly walk away and pretend this convo never happened.”

         she’s actually pretty grateful for the gallery ;; being without formal photography schooling since her arrival at the city has felt very foreign and while she has considered enrolling in the university’s classes, max doesn’t want to hurry into anything quite yet. but the photographer’s spirit doesn’t die easily so she finds herself at the soonest exhibition, marveling at all the different kinds of photography the citizens have to offer. specifically, some scenic pictures of ancient - looking locations.

her attention is soon drawn away by a very energetic boy, one looking around her age. he almost reminds her of a more energetic warren in the way he speaks and that manages to draw a small smile to max’s features. a fellow photographer, too. she’s gotta admit, it would be nice to have another photography friend. 

❝ you aren’t wrong, though. you should give yourself more credit, psychic. ❞ she tells him, following his gaze back to the pictures, ❝ i’ve always thought that it’s best to learn by example. and some of these? they look like they’re from an entirely different world. ❞ she muses, absentmindedly brushing her bangs. oh, she wishes she’d brought her camera! ❝ i mean . . . it almost looks like something  MAGICAL  took them. ❞ this city has proven magic is real, so she wouldn’t be surprised.

          ❝ love . . ? ❞

   SHE NEARLY MISSES IT; THE MUFFLED sound of her girlfriends voice calling for her over the blare of rock music from their shared bedroom. hearing her name is enough to bring a smile to her lips, excitement over her return causing her heart to beat a little faster. the magazine she’d been reading from the comfort of their bed is immediately forgotten, tossed somewhere off to the side in favor of rushing to meet her – wherever the hell she may be, but not without flipping the stereo off first.

   her brief search brings her to the kitchen, bright ceruleans landing on her partner before squinting at the thin object in her hand. curiosity quickly builds within her, fueled by the almost embarrassed expression her partner wears, but her question is answered before she even has the chance to ask it. 

  pocky day ? the name is familiar, but it takes a moment for the meaning behind it to register. when it does, her eyes widen, taken aback by how.. unlike max it is to make a such a bold move. it’s definitely appreciated. her grin radiates mischief, the twinkle in her eye both due to the situation, and max’s presence as a whole.

       ❝ so, you just happened to get some, huh ? ❞ arms fold across her chest, tone light and playful. ❝ i’m beginning to think i must be a good influence on you if you’re starting to pull stuff like this. ❞ she closes the distance between them with a few steps, nonchalantly taking one end of the pocky between her fingers and leaning down slightly, purposefully ignoring the heat rising to her cheeks.

      ❝ alright, max – you’re on. ❞

          Oh. max is suddenly hyper - aware of their closeness, her small burst of confidence dwindling as the seconds drag on. warmth blossoms, making her face tingle and she’s  SURE  there’s an embarrassing amount of red that now tints her cheeks. her eyes momentarily flicker to the side to avoid chloe’s because wowzers, she’s cute and she’s close. it’s silly, really ── they’ve exchange numerous kisses before, so why have her nerves decided to flare up now of all times? and over a silly pocky game, of all things!

you got this, max. this is chloe of all people !! 

❝ well, yeah, i can’t let you show me up on everything. ❞  she retorts, though her averted eyes and rose - tinted cheeks don’t  quite  back up feigned confidence. max draws in a breath and takes a step forward, closing even more distance between their bodies. no going back now! chloe would never let her live it down! she leans forward on her toes so she’s level with chloe, her own hand gently pushing up chloe’s hand and, by extension, the pocky, so it hovers between their lips. 

          as soon as chloe appears in the kitchen, max dangles a stick of pocky in the air. suddenly, she’s feeling a bit . . . sheepish, about being so forward, but she’s come this far and chloe definitely won’t let her live it down if she backs out now. so she won’t.

         ❝ sooo . . . it’s pocky day. ❞  she smiles a bit, a faint red coloring her cheeks,  ❝ and i just happened to get some at the store. how ‘bout it? you up for a little round of the pocky game? ❞

          harsh, sharpened words pierce her spirit, voices all familiar, none friendly. max tries to call out to them, apologize, even if she’s unaware of what she’s apologizing for, say literally anything, but she has no voice. her hands are weighed down so she can't even cover her ears to block out the voices and instead must listen to the onslaught of words. what's worse is that she can see everyone ─ they surround her. all eyes are on her. no matter where she turns, no matter how far she runs, they always find her in the end.

and then they blow away. one by one, max sees friends, family, and schoolmates taken by powerful gusts of wind and rain and she's powerless to help. perhaps she always has been, or perhaps that’s the way it should have remained. this drags on until the very last person, her cherished chloe price, is swept away. further and further she goes and max cannot even reach out to her. and then she's alone. well, at least she has regained mobility in her hands ?? no. max no longer cares, because max is isolated and everyone important is gone.

                                                                    . . . . . .

this time, when max awakens from her nightmare, she isn't alone.

➼┊ Claude had a kind heart and couldn’t simply leave someone behind if they seemed to be completely out of their element in this situation. Many people here were… to say the least, not fit for combat. Many of them have probably never been in a real fight once in their life and claude was not about to let those people walk around this place alone, especially when he has already been ambushed by bandits a few times (and they were no problem for him to take care of)

➼┊ That’s easily how he has found himself with a new companion, and she seemed nervous, as anyone would be in an unfamiliar situation. Still, he was here to try to help her

       ❛ By the looks of you, you’ve never actually been in this sort of situation, have you ? ❜ Was it insulting to assume, just by looking at her, that she has never had any sort of training in her life ? Maybe …  ❛ I have a spare bow and a spare sword, but they aren’t easy to wield ❜

Event Starter call // @doefect​

        it’s... embarrassing, to say the least, having to rely so much on a complete stranger. max genuinely feels a bit guilty ─ more specifically, she feels like a burden. surely she’s holding this person back, who clearly has experience in combat, as strange as that seems. max feels as if she’s been thrown into some RPG, except this is very real, as is the reality of her, or someone else, getting hurt. so, despite her insecurities, it’s obviously best to stick with someone who knows what they’re doing. 

... when it’s pointed out that she has absolutely no idea what she’s doing, max flushes. when she’s offered a weapon of all things, she almost wants to laugh. but he doesn’t seem like he’s joking.

“ i, uh.. ” she rubs the back of her neck, feeling more awkward than ever, “ no... honestly, i didn’t think situations like this even existed outside of movies or games. sorry... and i’ve never used anything like that before, and i’d probably end up just hurting myself, or you, to be honest... i mean, i’ve shot a gun a few times, but that’s about it. ” max admits, again feeling guilty that she has to completely rely on someone else.

@doefect liked for a starter!!

This place… reminds her of the Isle. It’s not quite as dark, dingy, and depressing, but… Many places are run down. Plenty of people are hostile. Survival meant running, thinking fast, outsmarting her opponent. It’s child’s play, almost. She should be more serious, her life’s on the line. She’s more concerned about looking for hints of her friends, of Auradon, if her mother’s behind this somehow.

She’s weaving up, over, and around some ruins, snatching anything that seems interesting. Old habits die hard. Mal is poking around for anything of interest, when she hears noises. A girl seems to be trapped by a couple of this place’s citizens. Mal can’t quite make out any words, but she knows body language. It’s similar to isle mentality. She might have ignored that behavior before, but… she’s trying to be a good guy now, right?

She calls out loudly:

“Try, but you will never harm her! Be buried under suits of armor!”

Instantly, out of thing… suits of armor fall onto the group. Yet… come nowhere close to touching Max.

          chloe, chloe, chloe! she’s gotta find chloe! what the heck is even with this place, anyway? when she decided to come here with chloe to escape arcadia bay, she never expected anything this crazy to happen ( disregarding the fact that she... can’t quite remember actually deciding on this city to move to in the first place. but, hey, that’s another crisis for another day! ). at first, max was sure she had to be dreaming. surely citizens don’t just attack other citizens like this? then again... max is no stranger to the impossible happening. unfortunately for her, she’s no fighter and in the worst - case scenario, she’s without her power ( as far as she knows ). so, her plan is simple: find chloe, and find somewhere safe.

her plan doesn’t go ... as planned. it never does! panic sets in as she’s backed into a a wall by ravenous - looking people. her heart races and her palms sweat. this isn’t like anything she’s dealt with before, ever, and if they decide to advance? max fears the worse. she parts her lips to once again try to reason with them, plea, but before she can, something even crazier happens, much to max’s disbelief. max has to rub her eyes to make sure she’s seeing things right ─ a weird chant? the threats have been encased in... armor? 

at the command of another girl? 

“ i.... woa. woa. ” surely she sounds and looks like a fool, mouth agape and eyes wide open. but, truly, she cannot find the right words to express herself in that moment. she takes a few breaths and looks to the girl who, she assumes, has just saved her life. 

          they scream at her. they tell her that it’s her fault, she did this to them. did what? max tries to cover her ears, tries to apologize for something she’s not sure of, but nothing works. she’s drowning ; drowning in their profanities and screams and, soon enough, she’s literally drowning. thunder booms ahead and lightning is her only source of light. that is, until, a hand reaches out. max grasps it and instantly, the storm clears. the words hush. chloe stands before her, much to max’s relief. but before max can speak, thank her, chloe has suddenly turned her back and the world is dark. chloe speaks few words: “ you did this, max. my dad dies and you had to go and let mom die, too. just give up, max. you’ll never save me when you keep hurting me like this. ” 

max wakes up with a start. she reaches to the other side of the bed, her heart dropping when she finds only a mess of blankets. she blinks away a few stray tears and kicks away her sheets, body enveloped in a cold sweat. just what was that nightmare ? she’s no stranger to them, but ever since she got to the city, they’re different... and her head starts to hurt when she tries to think on them too hard. it’s all just too much. being without chloe on some nights hasn’t helped, though max makes it a point to spend as much time with chloe as possible. max sighs, jumping into a pair of sweats and pulling on a jacket. with complete disregard to her sloppy looks, max slowly makes her way out of the apartment, careful to not make noise that could disturb her roommate. 

she’s pulling out her phone as she walks down the hallway and out of the apartment complex, breathing in the fresh air. right away, she pulls up chloe’s contact. she didn’t want to knock on chloe’s door as to not wake her roommate either, and calling would be useless if chloe is asleep. so, max sends a simple text accompanied with a picture of the tree she finds herself near. 

to: chloe ♥ You awake? I can’t sleep, I’m gonna be hanging around outside and thought you could join me. Up for some late night adventures again? 

@doefect​

After stepping out of the Sunflower Cafe, having his first breakfast since arriving in this city, he decided to take a walk across the city before he went back to his apartment. The environment was rather relaxing, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was just right, actually. The flowers were blooming and it was quiet at this time of the day. He wanted to enjoy it as much as he can before it got crowded near the afternoon. Just as he was in his thoughts, Shinichi caught a glance at a beautiful white and black butterfly resting on a purple chrysanthemum. It catches his interest and he moves over and goes to try to take a closer look, trying to determine what species of butterfly it could be. The second he moves himself towards it, he hears a SNAP! from a camera close by. Oh man…

…Did he get in the way of someone’s picture? Shinichi jumped and turned to see a brunette-bobbed lady that looked to be his age with a camera in her hands, he couldn’t see her face quite well with her camera in the way but he could tell she was probably irritated at him for blocking her view at the very last second. “I’m sorry…” He nervously moved a few steps to the left, “I didn’t mean to get in your way, I just wanted to see if I could remember what kind of butterfly it was-” Right as he said that, it flew away. Just his luck…

“Well-!” Shinichi sputtered, “It’ll show up again soon! I don’t think it’s a rare species or anything!”

     moments on her own have been few and far in between lately. if she’s not with chloe, she’s at home, tidying or getting to know her roommate some more. otherwise, she’s been exploring the city ─ scouting out the best cafes, parks, shopping centers... generally, wherever would be a nice place to hang out, and possibly date locations for later... 

today is one of those afternoons. max has situated herself in a park with her camera which, thankfully, isn’t too busy. she originally came to seek potential cafe spots but the lighting and scenery was too perfect, making the photography part of max itch to get some action. she’d already gotten a few good scenic shots ─ she can already picture how she’ll arrange them on her wall ─ when something caught her attention.

a butterfly.

not one she’s seen before, either. immediately, she crouches and slowly edges forward, peering through her camera’s lens. only a few more steps... and...

click! 

but the picture is not what she expected. by chance, someone else had also interest in the butterfly and their paths crossed at a rather unfortunate moment. max sighs softly as the picture prints ( yes, she still prefers her old, faithful traditional camera ) and instead of a butterfly picture, she’s captured a stranger looking at flowers. despite the slight disappointment, max can’t be mad. not when he apologizes so profusely. her disappointment doesn’t last too long. 

❝ uh, no worries. ❞ she assures, ❝ really, it’s no problem. usually it’s people mad at me for taking up the path to get a picture... ❞ she admits, trying to bring some humor into the mix. ❝ you’re right, though. it might come back. or i’ll find another. it’s just a little butterfly. ❞ max smiles, genuinely not too worried about it. she looks down at the developed picture in her hands before offering it to the stranger.