Dragoncrest Cliffs you live in my dream state

when max ran away from home, she never expected to hear the rhythmic tune of waves or smell its salty aroma but lo and behold fate has bought her back to the ocean. and she wasn’t to happy about that. it was already bad enough that she was skeptical about coming here, now it constantly reminded her of the past.

she tried to walk around that day, to soothe herself and forget. but the atmosphere made hard to forget about her brother, and her dad, and feline, and duke, and... and...

her mom.

it had been a long time since she thought about that tragic day and that memory bought a whole wave of emotions onto her. max stopped in her tracks and curled up next to a tree, trying her best to stifle sobs. fuck, why couldn’t drageda be in a field or forest? it just had to be the ocean.

more or less, she's gotten used to furi -- to mallaidh being back. even if it isn't the same as it used to be, that's okay -- actually, maybe it's better. her happiness before had been at mallaidh's cost and the last thing blixen wants is for that pattern to re-emerge.

still, having saarthal and max here too is -- is a little strange, only because blix keeps expecting to feel jealous and she doesn't, like there's something wrong with her for not caring, except not caring is what she's supposed to do, so like, why does she feel weird about the whole thing?

ugh. feelings? dumb. the young commander focuses on her patrol, cutting a path toward the redwood forest. her stride is interrupted by first the scent of max nearby. oh, blix thinks, i should catch up with her -- and then she hears the stifled noises as she draws closer. becoming alarmed she comes to a halt near max's curled up shape, awkwardly clearing her throat and saying, "max?"

her breath hitched in her throat when she heard a familiar voice. she unraveled to see blixen standing over her. fuck, this is embarrassing. crying where anyone can see you? great plan. gold star for you.

max awkwardly stumbled to her feet and put on a smile to pretend that everything was ok. she opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was, “i- um... sorry.” god max, why are you such a mess?

srry this is short !!

max quickly stumbles to her feet -- and apologises, making blix furrow her brows. "why?" she asks plainly, taking a seat. 

she tilts her head. "i mean, why are you sorry -- but also what's up?"

was it too late to run away? she didn’t know how to respond. she didn’t want to respond. every bone in her body was telling her to run, but it was too late now.

”because- i- it’s.” she shuffled in the dirt, trying to think of something to say. “i don’t want anyone to see me like this. i don’t know.”


max was reluctant to answer to the second question. “it’s nothing,” she started, “just feeling under the weather.”

oh. "i get that," blix says, feeling a little guilty for intruding on her after all. boy she is not great at comforting people in literally any situation, huh? the answer max gives, though, is obviously a lie, at least to blix. under the weather doesn't make one sob. like, usually, anyway. 

"um," she says, and stops, wincing at her own fumbling. "i mean. if you don't wanna talk about it that's fine, i get it. but in my experience not talking to anyone usually ends pretty badly." see: various explosive fights with furi and rose. she peers at max, a little emboldened, and adds, "i like you, max, so like, you know. you can share stuff with me if you want."