chosehumanity | 71 Serendipity, Thursday Late Afternoon

Mitchell got in from Baltimore sometime just past noon. He hadn't listened to the radio for a while; now he had oceans of time, and he was planning to use them to catch up. After all, you did get tired of having a sixteen-year-old accuse you of being unaware what was going on all the time.

The first thing he did when he finished was leave a voicemail. The second thing he did was - post-squirrel-checking the room - launch a diatribe over the phone to George about stupid bloody vampires who didn't know how to clean up after themselves or work the system. (He'd contemplated calling Mina despite their rusty truce, but he didn't particularly feel like helping out on this whole mad hunt by waking up any potential sleeping dragons about anyone else)

The third thing he did was flop down on the couch with a beer, cross his arms, put on a film that wasn't at all thematic for his feelings about the whole thing at large, and brood.

If he'd had any inclination of letting Fandom at large know about himself, it was firmly gone by now.

[[ ever get a post stuck in your head during your trip home? post open to anyone who'd have a reason to show up or call ]]

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Max blinked. How did--?

Oh. Mitchell was kidding. Of course.

"Oh, yeah," he forced a laugh. "Maximus. Antillar Maximus. Doesn't have quite the right ring to it..."

"It's a really stupid idea," Mitchell said, shooting him another look. "It's not your fault."

"Oh," Max sighed, "I know. But it turns out that life sucks sometimes, and fair's got very little to do with it."

He looked over and flashed a smile. "Still, it's nice to hear."

Mitchell shrugged again. "Like I said," he said, "I think I'd know."

For a fair couple more convincing reasons than 'you're my friend'. "You're allowed to fight for your right to stay here," he said, "It's not like the mobs are showing up at your doorstep yet."

"No," Max snorted. "But if this whole thing doesn't get resolves, then sticking around might just make things harder on everyone." He finished his beer in one long go. "I really like it here, but that's not worth worrying the kids about things that go bump in the night."

"There are always going to be things that go bump in the night," Mitchell said, draining half his bottle. "You can't protect them from it."

"Not all of it. But this one? Yeah. At least they won't have to be afraid of me."

Then Max snorted. "Of course, that's only if things don't get settled soon, and I rather suspect they will. I mean, it's not like they can just leave whoever it is wandering around out there, right?"

"That'd be fearing a figment of their own imagination, mate," Mitchell said, setting his bottle down. "Whoever's out there on their own, though. They can't be very organized, if they had to pin all of this on someone like you."

"Tell me about it." Max rolled his eyes. "I mean, with all the mind readers and stuff here, it's not like a story like this can stand up long."

"I don't understand why no one's done that by now at all," Mitchell said, leaning back against the couch and sneaking a look at the film on the TV. "Too excitable, I'm taking."

"I suspect no one wants to push Raven too far after her ordeal," Max shrugged. "I'd be hesitant to do it myself even if the situation was different and she wouldn't panic if she saw me."

"So inciting a witchhunt in her name is a better alternative?" Mitchell asked, shooting him a sideways look. "Beyond being human nature."

Try and talk about the people like they were yours, mm, Mitchell?

"Hey, there haven't been any pitchforks or torches yet. And no one's actually come after me."

Then Max snorted. "Well, other than Anakin, but I get the impression that he's something of a hotheaded idiot on a regular basis, so I don't think he's really representative..."

"So you decided to show up invisible at my doorstep because it looked like fun?"

Max looked just a bit sheepish at that. "You've got a point there," he admitted.

"No, really." The mocking kind of had to happen, here.

That drew a smirk. "I know. It was shocking for me to realize it too. I mean, you? Having a good point?"

"See, this is what I'm talking about," Mitchell said, shooting him a look. "All this witty repartee I'd be missing if you left the island."

"That would be sad. You might get all dour and broody or something."

"I think I'll leave that in Skywalker's corner." Liar.

"Well, he is pretty good at it. But with hard work and plenty of practice, I'm sure you could take him." Or, you know, a bad day at work...

...Considering how bad Mitchell's 'days at work' could get?

"No thanks," he said, and picked up his bottle again. "Now shut up and watch the bad film like a good boy."

"Like anyone thinks I'm a good boy," Max rolled his eyes. "Not a blood-sucking vampire, sure. But actually good?"

Mitchell shrugged one shoulder. "I think 'good' and 'bad' are relative," he said, "Although I can see how these things get mucked up when you're talking about blood-sucking vampires."

Max thought about that for a second, then shrugged. "It's not like I actually know any myself, but the movies make them out to be pretty bad. And apparently the ones at that other Fandom held true to that."