TEST 4: A DATE WITH MARKIPLI- I MEAN THE AMAZING ONE
It was a perfect day, because of course it was. Casey would have threatened the sky if it meant clearing the clouds. But luckily there was no need. They sit in a local coffee shop, dressed way too nicely for just hanging out. But they got too excited and wanted to impress Max. So much so that they showed up an hour early to make sure everything was perfect. And weirdly enough, most everyone has left except for the workers. Casey now sits, leg bouncing, waiting for Max to arrive.
Max slams open the door, rushing in, the bell ringing loudly above the door and startling Casey. He frantically looks around before spotting Casey and making an effort to slowly walk over like a normal member of society. Keyword: effort. “Hi, i'm so so so sorry i'm late, I was helping out a friend with a favor and I lost track of time and I really didn’t get any sleep last night and-”
Considering Casey is the only customer currently in the shop, Max does not pull off the cool transition well. He tries to take a deep breath to stop breathing so damn fast. He’s a bit out of shape. “And I’m really sorry I wasted your time like that” Max is really only 20 minutes late, but to him it feels like 2 hours. “How um, how are you?”
Although he was late, it didn't bother Casey as much as they thought that it should, and they gave him a wide smile. "No need to apologize!" They (not so subtly) show off the fancy dress they wore for the evening. "It's nice of you to help out a friend, and you weren't too late, I was only just getting bored."
They responded with a giggle, "I'm great. Especially now that you're here."
Casey is full flung head over heels at the sight of Max.
“Awwww, that’s so sweet of you to say!” Max’s face flushes. “I have to say, you look absolutely magnificent. I especially love the stitching and embroidery at the hem. I’ve never seen you wear a dress like that before but it looks almost like it was made for you.”
The dress was made for them. They had their tailor make something just for today.
“Where did you buy i- uhh, I mean… uh… never mind, I’m sure you don’t want to discuss fashion with a guy like me” Max laughs nervously.
"Oh- uhm I bought it at…Claire's?" It was a lie. They got it from their personal tailor. "Thank you so much for the compliments! I know it's a little fancy for a cafe but I wanted to impress you."
Max very well knows that dresses aren’t sold at Claire’s. “Um, Claire’s, huh. Well you’re very lucky… Was it like a promotion or something?”
Casey has no clue what to say as they have little knowledge on what Claire’s actually sells. The safe answer would be ‘Yes, something like that,’ but then again, this is Casey Briar. Completely unpredictable and incredible at embarrassing themself. Hide your washing machines.
“I’ll stop asking about the dress, I'm being kinda weird” Max rubs the back of his neck.
"No! No, you're fine! I honestly like being able to talk to someone about dresses, no one I know really cares about fashion." Casey looks at their hands in their lap.
Max stammers. “I, ha, I mean, I don’t…um”
"Are you not into fashion?" Casey frowned.
“Ah, um. I mean, “ Max hears a slight ringing in their ear. They should really open up to Casey, they only mean the best. “Yes, I’m into fashion,” he takes a deep breath. The ringing stops. “At least sort of, I mean, I don’t really care about…Well, any of the modern stuff I suppose. it’s all kinda… sweatshop-y? No one does their stitching right and it bothers me because like, I can see it right? Like it’s right in front of my eyeballs. I can see the effects of slave labour and just, it feels like no one ever cares to pay attention to it? I mean, everyone has like 40 print tees with dumb brands on them, and yet if you destroy one of their beloved graphic tees, half the time they wouldn’t even notice? I mean hell, half of it ends up in the landfill anyway. But the worst part is the clothes aren’t even good at being clothes, like. They fall apart in days, and they almost never darn nicely, and just. It sucks.” Max realizes. “Um… I’m rambling aren’t I, I’m sorry. I can shut up, I feel like I haven’t given you a chance to speak at all”
"No, I actually like listening to you. You know a lot." They tucked a stray strand of hair behind their ear. "And with such standards it makes me even more happy you complimented my dress earlier.."
Max smiles, relieved. “Aww, I mean, I feel like it’s the basics of ethical wear, but, sorry I keep putting my foot in my mouth. Yes, I really mean it about the dress, it’s magnificent. What do you think about fashion if I may ask?”
A blush made its way to Casey’s cheeks. "Uhm, I've never made clothes myself and most of mine are made by my tailor, but I really enjoy cute clothes. The ones that show off my waist, and fit well with my jewelry. I sometimes watch my tailor when he sews and I've tried it out once! I pricked my finger and he said I wouldn't be allowed to touch the needles again but it was so fun to see the dresses he made come together." They ended up rambling. "Ah, sorry, now I'm the one talking your ear off."
“Don’t worry about it, I think it’s super cool you hired a tailor. I did the same back when I was learning. It’s pretty easy once you know all the stitches, but you know, that takes a while.” Max relaxes a bit in his chair. “Hey, If ever you want help with an outfit and your tailor’s busy, feel free to give me a shout. I’m a bit of an amateur, but I know enough of the basics I’m sure I could lend a hand!”
While the two chat, the workers behind the counter whisper among themselves before one finally walks around to the table. He nervously smiles and asks “Would you two like to order anything?”
"Yes please!" Casey started their very long and specific order that they order every time they come to this cafe. The workers already know their order but they still say it out loud every single time to their annoyance, 'just in case' they forget, even though they absolutely could just say 'my usual' and they'd get the same order. "Did you get all that? I can repeat it if needed." The waiter shakes his head and finishes drawing a squid in his notepad, because he knows if he doesn’t ‘write it down’ then Casey will repeat it, but he doesn’t mind. Helps him practice drawing. “Yup! Got it all down. Your usual!”
Casey looks over. "What would you like, Max?"
“I’m really sorry, I uh, don’t know what the drinks on this menu are… Um, do you guys have frozen drinks? Like a frappe?”
“Well, yes we do, but we don’t call them frappe’s. Well no, we’re not supposed to call them frappe’s. They’re called…” the waiter sighs “Réveil Glacé…”
“Can I have a large er ‘Ruhvale Glass eh’?”
“We don’t have large’s we have Cup, Mug, and Vase. A large is a vase.”The waiter looks more and more miserable as he explains the shop's poor wording.
“A um, a ‘vaws’ of that previous drink then?” Max says, very sure he butchered the pronunciation.
“It’s- it’s just Vase. Like- something you put flowers in. It’s not French.”
“Oh um,” Max blushes. “Right. That then.”
The waiter nods and heads back behind the counter to make the drinks.
Casey tries to contain their laughter, failing, as they try to soothe Max. "It's okay hun, your pronunciation was amazing. I'm so proud of you." Max clearly looks EXHAUSTED from that exchange.
“Fr- f- French is really hard Casey. It- it’s my worst subject…” He frowns.
"That's okay, it doesn't make you any less amazing." Casey is fluent in French, their mother made them learn it because it was a ‘dignified language’. They’re being kind to Max right now.
“We’ve only been studying it 4 years, it’s no fair they want me to understand whole entire sentences.” It’s completely fair for the school to expect them to understand full sentences, in fact it’s a miracle Max made it to French 4.
Casey almost laughed at that, but they held themself together. "It's okay, do you want me to tutor you? I'm. Pretty decent at French."
Max smiles. “That would be nice. I don’t know if it’s ahead of your learning, but if you can help me with passay ant-earier, I might be able to start on my assignment.”
"... I'm sure I can help you, don't worry." Casey had absolutely no clue what he was attempting to say in French. The narrator doesn’t know either. It also seems Max doesn’t.
The waiter walks back again two drinks in hand. One that looks to be a mountain of treats on top of coffee and the other, a usual frappe. He sets them down and asks “Would you two like anything else?”
"Yes, can we have a few cookies?" Casey asks, clasping their hands together.
“Sure! We have chocolate chip, sugar, raisin, double chocolate, vanilla, macaroons, macadamia nut, almond, and honey crisp.”
"Are you allergic to nuts, Max?"
“Just peanuts, the rest are fine, if you know there is no peanut oil or anything”
"Uh." Casey turns to the waiter, "Can we have all of them except for the ones with peanut oil?"
The waiter nods. “Sounds good! One of each or two?”
He smiles and says “coming up!” And quickly heads to the cookie display. The waiter comes back with a large plate of cookies and says “Enjoy!” Before heading back to the counter
“Hey Um. Thanks for all this.” Max fidgets with his hands. “I wouldn’t have ever thought to do something nice like this on my own and it’s really nice to be able to take a break from all the messiness in my life. Well, most of the messiness anyway.” He smiles. “You’re a really good person, Casey. I mean I’m sure you get that all the time but, I still think it needs to be said.” Despite being told that every day, for once it’s obvious that Max truly means it.
"Actually, I don't hear it that much.." Casey’s face goes red. "You're the first to, like, actually say I'm a nice person and not say it just cuz there's something to gain from being friends with me." This time, they looked from their hands and smiled at Max. "Thank you so much. If you ever need a break, you have my number, I'll always make time for you. Even if it's the end of the world."
Max blushes. “That’s really sweet. Though, the end of the world may come sooner than we think. Whole lot of capes these days and their powers can be anything. I heard one guy can freeze everything for half a mile around… All I’m saying is- you mean a lot to me, so take care of yourself, okay?”
The way he talked about capes caused them to pause, not sure how to respond. They just said, "Thank you. You too, Max. You mean a lot to me too."
The sky starts to turn red as the sun goes down. “We will close soon, just so you know.” the waiter calls out.
"Oh! Time flew by, huh? Well, I'm sure you have other things to do so we can call it a day?"
“Oh, yeah! Maybe text me sometime, again and um, I’ll, uh. Um.”
Casey giggles, "I'll text you." Then, they leaned over and pressed a small kiss on Max’s cheek. "See you, Maxie. This was fun!"
The narrator screams. Max is completely speechless.
Casey’s phone rings and after checking it, it appears to be their mother. Their wonderful time just got crushed, their mom was wanting to know where they were and why they weren't home. As they read the texts their face fell, it appeared she had been texting for hours at this point and they hadn't checked. There was no way they were getting off easy when they got home. They whispered under their breath. “Fuck.” The phone falls silent as the call finally stops. Right after it starts to ring again. Casey knows she won’t call a third time.
They quickly rushed out the door, waving goodbye to Max. As the door swings shut, Casey looks back to meet Max’s eye. Their eyes are full of tears, and their face is pale. Then the door shuts and the waiter looks to Max. “Don’t worry about paying, they prepaid and what not. I hope you had a lovely day!”
Casey takes the call. "Yes, mother?"
“Where are you?” The voice is cold.
"I'm on my way home, I'm sorry, I didn't see the texts until now."
“I don’t want to have to wait for you. Either fly home or tell the driver where you are, we have dinner in 30 minutes and you will not be late. We are having very important guests over.”
"I'm sorry, I'll be home." They kept their voice from breaking mid sentence.
Casey’s mother hangs up, and the driver soon texts “Where may I pick you up?”
Casey sends the address to their driver and waits, their dress was now wet from their tears and it made them even more frustrated. Even though they wanted this date to end well, nothing does for them, they wonder why they got their hopes up from the beginning. The driver soon arrives, and when seeing the sight of Casey as they climb into the car she looks a little sad. She says quietly
“There are tissues in the door, dear. And….your mother requested you change into the outfit she chose. It should be on the seat next to you.”
"Thank you." They whispered to the driver and wiped the tear stains from their face. They were glad they wore water-proof makeup or else their dress would be even more ruined. The dress their mother chose wasn't ugly, it was a fancy dress that they knew she made to suit her child, but they hated it because it didn't feel like theirs. It made them frustrated. They put it on anyway, knowing that they'd get in trouble if they didn't.
They arrive at the entrance of the Briar residence, Casey’s mother waiting impatiently. “You look lovely, dear.”
