[ota | multiple threads ] ☥ i know we'll make it anywhere away from here

[ageneticocktail]

Max wasn't one of the people quick to complain about a ton of incoming monsters.  Having something around whose face she could rearrange with her fist had been a nice outlet, but none of it had managed to change the inescapable fact that this place was a prison, and that this time there was no easy way to break out.

She'd been out of the loop back

Comments

Sorry, Max, he won't leave you alone.

[im_apimp]

Alec wandered into the woods because he wanted to hunt. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, and even though he was living in the land of milk and honey -- not everyone was that lucky. Jo or Murphy could probably use the meat to dry and store for later. So he wandered out, all on his own, in the dark, with nothing but his switchblade and his own special instincts.

Things didn't go as planned.

By the time he wandered into the barracks, he was covered in blood and looking more than a little annoyed. He wanted to hunt normal scared-of-their-own-shadow deer, not rabid, insane deer. His night was officially shot, and he smelled like a butcher's shop. Thankfully none of it was his. He was heading back to his own old cabin, planning on hunkering down there for the night before heading back to the castle when he caught a familiar scent. His head tipped, then up, and he sighed when he saw her.

"The life of luxury too much for one night?"

yessss 8)

[ageneticocktail]

Max was alerted by the smell of him long before he made his way underneath her perch -- including the smell of all that fresh kill. She could have took off, avoided the inevitable conversation he'd try to get rolling, but all her thoughts kept her stuck in place. As much as she hated to admit it, at least she largely knew where Alec stood, even if he was on the wrong side. It wasn't like he was going to pull out any more shitty surprises on her. She knew the worst he had to offer, and that was kind of comforting, in a weird way she didn't want to think too much about.

"Maybe I was just looking for some fresh air," she quipped, adding in a wrinkled nose as she surveyed his clothes. "So much for that."

[im_apimp]

He glanced down at the state of his clothes, before flashing a smirk back up at her, all cocky X5 pride. "You should see the other guy."

Actually, you really shouldn't. You'd probably lose your lunch.

His eyes then glanced over to the side of the cabin, before finding the proper handholds to haul himself up to the roof. Once he was actually settled on the seat next to her, he glanced back over to the wall of the barracks and sighed.

"I like the roof of the castle better. It's higher."

[ageneticocktail]

"You actually left some of him behind to see?" she retorted, not believing it for a second.

Max tried to resist the urge to let her hackles rise at the sudden invasion of her private space, but it was hard to fight instincts. She looked noticeably uncomfortable and shifted a quarter of an inch to the left to make room. The fact that she didn't straight out tell him to leave or shove him off the roof was telling though.

"Me too, but there's this thing about beggars and choosers.

I wanted to see what was goin' on down here."

[im_apimp]

Alec still wasn't used to the fact that Max was so far behind him, and they had all that ground to cover. He forgets sometimes, and while that probably wasn't a good thing -- at least in terms of his well-being -- he would prefer to think of the point in time when they were close. It was less painful that way.

"There's little pieces," Alec said innocently. "Scattered here and there." He paused for a minute as he looked around, just letting his eyes wander over the edges of the barracks. "It's a lot quieter down here."

[ageneticocktail]

"Is that why you're here?" she asked, and it was a little harsher, a little more demanding than she meant it to be. She couldn't help but shoot him a suspicious look. Did he really just want to chat?

Hm.

"Didn't really take you for the peaceful back to nature sort."

[im_apimp]

He ignored the tone and just raised an eyebrow at her. "You may have escaped when you were nine, but I was still raised in the woods, Max. It's ... comforting. In a weird way."

In a very weird way, because Manticore wasn't at all comforting. But the woods were a familiar place, where he could remember being happy -- even if these woods really creeped him out and it was a place where he didn't have the advantage he was used to.

[ageneticocktail]

Oh, right. Fun times. Not really what she wanted to talk about and/or think about right now. Alec's happy Manticore memories weren't really giving her any warm fuzzies.

"Weird is right," she said, and let that hang there for a second. Conversation with Alec was difficult, for a lot of reasons. She sighed before rallying the troops for another attempt. "So what have you been doing with all your time besides eviscerating natives?"

[im_apimp]

They weren't necessarily happy, but there were times when it was better. And ninety-five percent of the time, it was all he had. He made whatever comparisons he had to.

He shrugged. "Wandering around. Getting the feel for the place." Trying to keep you alive. "The usual. Haven't really found anything interesting, though Tempest is a lot better with mechanics than I would give her credit for."

[ageneticocktail]

"Mechanics?" Max asked, sounding more curious than she wanted to, despite herself. "What kind of mechanics are we talking about?"

Until they'd gone to the castle, she'd thought this place was about as backwoods as it got. Not that that bugged her either: she could make do anywhere, but most people here seemed used to something a little cushier than what she had back home.

[im_apimp]

"Apparently," he began slowly, looping his arms over the tops of his knees. "One of our other castle friends asked her to build him a gun. She's trying her hand at it and wants me to test it for her when she's finished."

Alec clearly wasn't seeing the potential destruction that this could offer, and was mostly focused on the ingenuity of the whole situation. That could either be a good or bad thing, as far as the rest of the wood was concerned, but he found it interesting at least.

"Sark is a bit of a dick, but there's no saying that I can't steal it from him when she's done." Even though he had a genuine one from home. He just doesn't like Sark having nice things. He enjoyed making his life hard.

[ageneticocktail]

"Sark," Max repeated, but the name wasn't ringing any bells. "Don't think I've met him. What's he want it for? And what's this 'testing it' consist of anyways?" She wouldn't really put it past Tempest, or anyone from here, to turn it into some kind of game. Or even turn them all against each other.

She rolled her eyes at his general enthusiasm. "Boys and their overcompensating toys."

[im_apimp]

"Considering he was in handcuffs when he got here, I'm assuming nothing good," Alec sighed with a nod. "But he's human. So if he causes too much trouble, I can put him in a time out. And I don't know what testing's going to consist of, but I'm going to assume it means shooting something."

[ageneticocktail]

"Or someone, maybe. Alec, don't screw around with these people. Trying to outsmart them's probably going to end with you looking even more like an idiot than usual." It wasn't concern, not really. Just a warning, given that he was the only thing close to an ally she had here.

Really.

She wasn't sure how convinced she was of her own argument, to be honest. At least he was trying to do something around here, which was more than she could say for herself. But she'd rather not face up to those thoughts, lest the guiltiness start eating her up.

[im_apimp]

"Trust me, Maxie. I know these people aren't all on the level." Alec is not an idiot. "But I'm not going to go out of my way to piss them off either. If she tries to get me to do something that's not kosher, I'll buck, but not until then."

Max just didn't need to know the full extent of what he was doing. That was only going to make things even more awkward between them, and he was liking them settling into almost normal.

[ageneticocktail]

"Fine," she replied tersely, and it might have sounded a little short, but it was just so difficult to not want to turn every conversation with Alec into a war zone.

Probably had something to do with his face, and how much it still stung every time she looked at it.

"Just don't come cryin' to me if you end up in over your head."