wip wednesday
(shhhhhhh it's totally still wednesday. it's definitely not thursday and i definitely didn't fall asleep last night before i could post the snippet)
anyway have a post-d5 max+maddox scene
After everything is over with, Max goes to talk to his father. Maddox is the only prisoner in the dungeons, three cardsmen at the entrance to keep an eyes on him. Max flicks his lighter. There's no fluid left in it, no flame to appear, but the repetitive click-click-click is grounding. "Come to gloat?" Maddox drawls, hair lank over his face. "The traitorous son ready to rub his success in his father's face?" "I came to make sure they were treating you okay," Max says, the click of his lighter steady background noise. "You're still my dad." Even without the apparent closeness of that other timeline, Maddox is still his father. He did his bestâ it wasn't enough, wasn't ever enough, but he tried. That's more than some parents on the Isle. Knowing what it could have been makes it hurt more, though. Max wasn't enough in this timeline. He's never quite enough. His leg aches, a different sort of background noiseâ a reminder that his father has only ever put him second. "I've still got my head," Maddox says, tilting his hat over his eyes. "And I watched what you did with those princesses. You don't get to play like you're any better than me, Max. We're both mad, mad as hatters!" he laughs, shrill and hysterical. Chloe's fractured grin flashes through his mind, the way her despair melted into hysteria from Max's little gift. He barely remembers making it, just remembers wanting to make Red pay for ruining his life. Why does she get her happy ending when Max is stuck looking at his father through prison bars, his leg crushed and his hope of happiness thrown into a magic well. He shakes his head, dispelling the memory. He's not his father. He won't ever be his father. That other Max, he may have had a better father, but he didn't have Hazel or Felix or the Smees. As much as he wants that other life, all he really wants is his father from that other life. That father is gone, now. He never existed. "I'll be back tomorrow," he says finally. "They won't keep you here forever." "Oh, I wouldn't count on it," Maddox replies. "Maybe they'll put you next door!" The leather of Max's gloves creaks as he balls his hands into fists. He doesn't react to the jab, turning and leaving the prison without another word. The steady click of his cane as he walks is not nearly as grounding as his lighter. His father's laughter follows him outside.
