Vengeance
“Welcome to Casa de Chloe!”
Max glanced around.
It was… a junkyard. That was about all there was to say about it. Trash was littered on the tables, empty bottles rolled across the ground, abandoned vehicles stacked up in barren locations. Etc.
There was a slight nip in the air. Max turned the collar of her plaid jacket up.
“It’s… nice?”
Chloe snickered.
“No, it isn’t - but it’s remote! So I call it a win.”
Chloe hopped up on the hood of a very old, very rusty car, and flopped back dramatically.
“It kinda became my home away from home, after Dad died. Then I met Rachel - so it kinda became our home away from home.”
...And I’m intruding.
“And now we’ve added you to the friend squad! So it’s a three-person home away from home.”
Chloe hopped up and trotted over to her again - ripping what looked like a long stake out of the ground. It was metal - so it had to be cold as hell. But Chloe wasn’t even wearing a jacket - the cold must not have bothered her.
She hiked over to Max, and held out the stake like a sword.
Paused.
“Max, you’ve gotta be kneeling for this part.”
“Oh. Right.” She muttered - and shuffled to her knees.
There is nothing sexual about this.
There is nothing sexual about this.
There is nothing sexual about this.
After three repeats, the phrase started to stick in her head - and she could kinda pay attention again.
“I hereby pronounce you, Max Caulfield - a member of the knights of chaos!”
Chloe tapped her on each shoulder with the stake - and then held it out with both hands.
“Wear this label with pride, young knight.”
Max snorted, shuffling to her feet again - and, reluctantly, taking the metal stake.
She’d been right. It was ice-cold, wherever Chloe’s hands hadn’t touched it.
“I am honored to be at your service, Knight Chloe.” Max murmured with a tiny smile, bowing her head.
Chloe bowed back - albeit, much more extravagantly.
“And I am honoured to have your servitude.”
There was a pause.
And then Chloe picked up a stick from the ground, and brandished it like a sword.
“En garde!”
Max gave her a flat look.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m dead serious, Max.” Chloe said - and, indeed, she sounded very serious.
“I’m not going to sword-fight you.”
“Alrighty then - it’ll be one-sided!”
And then Chloe poked her.
“Argh! Chloe! That thing’s sharp!”
“Fight me, squire!” Chloe called back, in a vaguely european accent. “Or be subjected to my pokes!”
Chloe poked her again.
She squirmed.
“Chloe - really, this is dumb, I’m not gonna - ahrgh!”
Poke.
Chloe was grinning very, very widely now - and as much as Max would’ve loved the sight of it any other time, it was kinda grating on her nerves right now.
Poke.
“Duel me, Sir Maxxie - or else.”
Poke.
She’d been at her wit’s end for days.
Poke.
Her nerves were frayed. Her temper was gone.
Poke.
She snapped.
“Fine!”
She brandished her stake - and shifted herself to a fencer’s position. Knees bent above her toes, right foot forward, left foot back and shifted.
“En garde.” She muttered - and her voice came out very dangerous.
She could see the oh, I fucked up dawn on Chloe’s face.
It was very satisfying.
She lunged.
“Y’know - when you said you were a fencer in our texts, I thought you were kidding.”
Max twirled her stake, feeling very smug for the first time in… months at least. Probably years.
“Took it as an elective. I was nearly top of my class - there was this one british kid who had me beat, but he’d been training since he was, like, six.”
Max walked forward, and offered the thoroughly defeated - and currently on the ground - Chloe a hand.
“Here - you’ll get a disease, laying down there.”
Of course, she hadn’t accounted for Chloe’s need to mess with her.
So, Chloe took the hand - and yanked her down.
She let out a very embarrassing sound, and landed on the ground in a flurry of limbs and general panic.
In the meantime, Chloe had the good grace and courtesy to laugh at her misfortune.
Like the punk she was.
“You - ugh - are the worst.” She muttered, wiping dirt and what looked like either rust or dried blood off her jacket.
“And you-” Chloe said, rolling on her side to peer at her and raise an eyebrow, “are the cutest.”
She flushed to her collar, and hid her face in her hands.
She took a deep breath in. Made sure her hands were firmly over her mouth.
And screamed.
It felt, all things considered, remarkably good.
“Woah! Uh… are you… alright? Did I actually piss you off? ‘Cause, if I did - sorry.”
She rubbed her eyes hard enough for spots to flicker across them, and looked up.
“No, it… wasn’t you.” She muttered. “You’re helping, if anything. Just… everything.”
Chloe blinked.
“That’s… vague.”
Max snickered weakly.
“Yeah, it is. Just… everything seems to kinda be going pretty bad for me right now. Everything but you.” She amended quickly, sitting up and draping her wrists on her knees.
“Well - I’ll tell you what always makes me feel better.”
“What?” Max muttered, drawing a butterfly into the dirt below her - and not even really paying attention.
“A hug.”
She saw it coming a moment too late.
Before she could even turn fully - or muster a thought besides uh oh - Chloe was tackling her.
“Vengeance!!!” She called dramatically - though Max could hardly make it out, what with being tackled.
“Argh! - Chloe, you-”
But Chloe never got to figure out what she was - because she was busy squeezing the breath out of Max, and cracking a few ribs while she was at it.
“Chloe - please - you’re killing me-”
“WIth kindness!” Chloe chirped easily, giving her another extra-tight squeeze - she let out thin, pained groan.
“Can’t… breathe…”
“Oh, fine.” Chloe muttered, letting Max go - who instantly let in a massive breath, and stumbled back.
“Buzzkill.” Chloe muttered. Max giggled.
“Punk.” She fired back.
“Dork.”
“Delinquent.”
“Geek.”
“Rapscallion.” Max shifted a little bit closer.
“Dweeb.” Chloe just kept grinning.
“Miscreant.”
Max leaned in a little further.
“Brainiac.” And she couldn’t help but notice that Chloe’s breaths were getting a little shallow.
You should’ve never crossed me, Chloe Price.
“Ruffian.”
She was sure Chloe could feel her breath against her face. She noticed a hair, dangling in the punk’s eyes.
“Einstein.” And Chloe’s voice came out nearly choked, her pupils dilating.
Max leaned in just that little bit closer.
Their noses brushed.
She put a delicate hand on Chloe’s pulse point - and she could feel Chloe’s breath hitch.
“Scamp.” She muttered, with a grin just starting to touch her lips - and it came out with an odd purr she’d never heard in her voice before.
Chloe’s eyes darted to her lips - and she wasn’t breathing anymore.
She said nothing.
Max leaned away.
“Hah!” She called - while Chloe’s eyes re-focused, and she could see the girl stumbling out of a trance.
“I win.” She said, very simply - standing up and walking a circle around Chloe.
Just to dig it in.
But, the moment Chloe seemed to realize where she was - she just grinned.
“Alright, Caulfield.” She said, raising an eyebrow.
“One to one.”
Max rolled her eyes.
“Alright - get up here, you.” She said, offering a hand. “And no pulling.”
Chloe let out an exaggerated huff - but took Max’s hand. Pulling herself up, this time.
“Alright - well, as fun as that was…”
Chloe grinned, very suddenly.
“Wanna have a different contest?”
Max blinked.
But let it be known, that - even when it was very dumb - Max Caulfield was not one to back down from a challenge.
“Whaddya got in mind, Price?”
“Find me ten empty bottles, and I’ll tell you.” Chloe dropped the grin very suddenly, and said, with mock-sincerity - “besides, we’ll be helping with the littering problem around here.”
“...It’s a junkyard, Chloe.”
“My point stands, Maxxie.”
Max tried to stop herself from snickering.
And failed.