When Ben and Max step through the door from Milliways back into their France hotel room, Max doesn't even try to cover up the sigh that leaves him. It's a mix of relief and sadness - his vacation is very much over, but he is, at least, back in his own world. With Ben.

(Alex will come through later, after they're back in DC. Max doesn't want to put ( Read more... )

Someone is not dancing around to and singing along with an old Temptations record in the living room, nope.

That someone certainly is not Max.

The song that's currently playing is not "Build Me Up Buttercup" and Max is not using the remote as a makeshift microphone.

He is not doing this because he is not bored and not trying to forget about the fight ( Read more... )

"Talk to her for me."

"Yeah, okay," Max mutters to himself, pacing back and forth in front of Alex's door. How is he supposed to do this? Alex might like him, but it's so difficult to keep up a conversation with her! She's so defensive and sarcastic and - teenager-y!

A sigh.

Maybe he can somehow bribe her...?

"Alex?" he calls, knocking gently on her ( Read more... )

So, Ben's going crazier with each passing day, and Max knows that he will eventually have to make a choice.

Today, though, is not that day.

Today is the day Max will spend doing everything he possibly can to keep Ben relaxed. He may not be able to put his husband's mind at ease, but he can definitely be distracting when he wants to be.

Now if only he ( Read more... )

Max has been wondering, lately, why Ben hasn't shown any signs of mental improvement since his "sessions" began all those weeks ago. Dr. Crane said he was one of the best psychiatrists in the whoooole country, and yet...

Ben is still totally unstable, and Max is suspicious.

This is why he's currently seated at a table downstairs with the good doctor ( Read more... )

There's something on Max's head that was not there a few days ago.

It's not a new hat.

It's not an angry raccoon.

It's not a lump from a certain someone's baton, no!

IT'S...

... a small patch of gray hair, settled at the bottom of his right temple.

It's also the source of Max's current freak out, just in case Ben was wondering."THIS IS NOT 

Max has, over the past few days, lost complete track of time.

This means that he TOTALLY FORGOT about Valentine's Day.

Of course, Max doesn't forget things for long.

If Ben's looking for him, he can be found in the bathroom, pacing back and forth in frantic circles and wracking his brain for Ideas.

(He's been in there for what's going on an

They're supposed to be leaving for Paris in two days.

Supposed to be, just like Ben's "supposed to be" the one who doesn't want to leave. But no - it's Max's turn to deal with that, apparently.

It's 2 o'clock in the morning, and he can't sleep. He's been tossing and turning for the past two hours, spent a little time pacing, and now he's clinging ( Read more... )

Or: HOW AND WHY IT ALL HAPPENED

(and why Max continues to deal with Ben's... Ben-ness)

Note: If you wish to avoid my rambling, I can explain this whole thing with one word that you've probably never heard before!

There is a Jungian concept known as enantiodromia. This is the word that describes what happens when a person develops extremely strong ( Read more... )

When Max posted a "PSYCHOLOGIST WANTED" sign on the noticeboard, he did not expect such a fast response.

As the man across from him rattles on about his qualifications, Max can do nothing but stare at him.

He looks like he knows what he's doing, Max thinks.

... but does he ever shut up?

That man is Dr. Frasier Crane, and no, he never shuts up.

"I'm ( Read more... )