Max was sprawled across the fluffy dark grey carpet in the living room the next day. Sure, he had a sofa, but the carpet was just so much nicer. Remembering the drive home with River made him cringe. Neither man had said anything, and when it was time for Max to get out, they...
They shook hands...
How awkward! Max moaned aloud just thinking about it. And what was worse was when he remembered how warm River's hand was. Just a stupid, awkward little hand shake and Max was already... what was he doing? Fawning over Kyle River? He couldn't be. They'd known each other for all of two weeks and neither man had even referred to each other by their first names. This couldn't be happening.
Another groan, and then Max jumped up for a change of scenery, meaning: back garden porch. The open space, yet to be filled by things like a pool or a washing line, made Max's problems a little less urgent - especially since it was just a little issue, and not an unsolvable paradigm.
"Aargh!" He groaned, dropping down on the cushion's he'd left outside, "how can I have a crush already?" The soft voice barely made a ripple in the air, but Max sat up in surprise.
A very familiar scent reached him. Was River here? He couldn't be. Max would've heard the truck coming up the gravel driveway if River was here. Then where that smell coming from?
Searching the forest for signs of movement, Max found a pair of eyes staring right at him. Before he could even think of standing, the creature disappeared into the darkness. The scent, however, lingered for a while before fading, meaning whatever it was had stayed for a few minutes. It was gone now, though - and the scent much less potent.
Max had to wonder, though, how long it - whatever it was - had been crouched in the bushes. The only reason Max had noticed at all was because the wind had changed direction, as light as it was, and put Max downwind.
For a while, Max considered following the scent trail, finding the eyes that were watching him. But doing that could cause trouble, especially if the creature turned out to be a runner. If it ran whilst Max was in jaguar form, he would chase without even a second thought. And if that chase led into town... well, what would a jaguar be doing in the USA outside of a zoo? It would cause a kind of trouble that Max was certain he didn't want.
Dismissing the idea, Max turned from the forest and returned to the carpet in the living room. And for a while, he was distracted from his thoughts. That didn't last long though. Not even ten minutes in, River was already back in Max's head and, with a groan, Max succumbed to the grossly awkward memory of the car ride home.
Until, that is, the doorbell rang.
A glance at his home told him immediately that it wasn't a good idea to let them inside, seeing as he had cushions and pillows and blankets strewn all over the floor in spaces uncovered by carpet. In fact, the only rooms that weren't drowning in soft stuff were the kitchen and the bathroom - the kitchen would be a fire hazard if that happened and who just sits in the bathroom for no reason?
Needless to say, Max was not expecting company and didn't move from the doorway as he answered the doorbell. Lara stood on the other side wearing a grin that looked like it would split her cheeks.
"Hey handsome!" She sang.
Max raised a brow. "Didn't I see you yesterday?"
Lara rolled her eyes and smoothly slid past Max's hulking figure into the house. And then whistled. "Somebody likes to get comfy."
With the front door shut, Max strolled away from the mess in the living room and turned on the kettle. "Tea?" He offered. "Please take off your shoes before you step on anything."
She snorted, but dumped her trainers by the door anyway. "Do you have coffee?" Max nodded. "Cream, no sugar please." Max exchanged the cream for milk with her consent since he didn't buy cream.
Of course, the coffee was instant and made Lara cringe a little, but was apparently decent enough for her to deem it drinkable and sit down - on the actual sofa, not the array of cushions on the floor, unlike Max. There was only one sofa, and although there was enough space on it for three, he preferred to sit on the floor with his cup of tea on the other side of the coffee table.
Leaning back on the sofa, her blonde locks tumbled over the back and glinted with the sunlight as she took sips of her coffee.
"So?" Max prompted.
She flashed him a grin. "Well, I'm not sure about you, but I really would like to do something interesting today."
He couldn't help the eye roll. "Like what?"
Rather dramatically, Lara stood, grinning down at Max with what could only be described as an idiot smile. Really, could her mouth get any bigger? He didn't stand with her, being both too lazy and too unimpressed to even bother. 'Something Interesting' to Lara was most likely 'Something I Don't Want To Do' to Max.
"Go put some pants on," the girl ordered, "we're going paint balling."
"I'd rather not." Was Max's immediate reply, trying his best not to show any emotion on his face.
If he was being honest, he would've have told her it sounded like a great idea. As it was, though, Max hadn't been able to do anything relating to guns in the civilian world without slipping into flashbacks or setting off his PTSD. Even laser tag was too much for him at the moment. Once or twice, he'd even shifted unbidden in a reaction to perceived threats. Games like Call of Duty and Halo were certainly out. And since paintball actually hurt, that was a definite no.
Of course, he wouldn't be telling Lara any of this - mostly because it was none of her business. But also because talking about it put him in a dark mood that was unpleasant for everyone to deal with.
"Aw come on." She pleaded.
"No."
"Why no?"
Max blinked, irritation beginning to bubble in the pit of his stomach. "Am I not allowed to not want to play paintball?"
"But it's so fun. You'll be missing out."
"No." Max's voice was a lot more guttural than he'd intended, but it got the point across. He didn't want to play.
After another two minutes of Lara suggesting annoying things to do, they finally settled on taking a tour around town.
It wasn't very big, but Max knew that already. Evergree(n?) was a kind of rest point for people who got lost too far from the main motorway, according to Lara. The field they held the founding of the town festival at was where they held pretty much all town festivals, or just where most people went to hang out. Near it was a lake that was lovely in the summer and froze over during winter. There was also a diner and a couple of bars, along with a restaurant that Lara said made the best burgers.
Back at his house, Max finally dug up the courage to ask Lara about River. He'd been trying to avoid thoughts of the other man all day, but apparently it just wasn't happening, so there was only one option left: embrace it.
"Lara," he called, interrupting the girl's ramblings, which he hadn't actually been listening to. "What... what can you tell me about River?" Max knew he was normally soft-spoken anyway, but his tone now was definitely in the range of being bashful and shy.
She flashed a wicked smile. "Why do you wanna know?"
This was going to be painful. "It's... I..." he grumbled under his breath. "I think he's... interesting." Yup, definitely painful.
"Is that what you call having a crush?" Lara giggled. Max chose to ignore the comment. "That's sweet, so I'll take pity on you just this once. What do you wanna know?"
"Anything." Max didn't really have anything specific in mind. He just wanted to know about River.
She grumbled. "God you're difficult." And then, with a sigh, flopped back to lie on the sofa. "His family has been living here for at least four generations. His dad's a busy guy, owns a company and everything so he's out of town sometimes. Kyle occasionally goes with his dad, but I hear the business is more likely ta be passed onto Carter."
"Is... is," Max cleared his throat, staring at the floor, "is River taken?"
Lara giggled. "Finally at the heart of the matter. No, he's not got a partner, luckily for lil ol' you."
At that, Max felt his face set fire, and knew instantly that she and Marie-Anne would make great friends. Why did he always befriend the weird girls?