It's not often she has relationships that last for anything, but keeping tabs on Max was one shred of her former life she couldn't quite quit. At the word of his injury she spares a moment to slip into his recovery room, dozing in a chair next to him until he wakes, tablet askew in her lap.
It was a fitful sleep that Max had fallen into, drugs and exhaustion, but not a comfortable sleep by any means. He wakes with a start, a gasp of air and his gaze fixes on the only other person in the room. "Adele?"
SHe twitches, jerking awake and turning to blink at Max before leaning over to smooth her hands through his hair. "Max. Max, darling-"
It's strange to hear her own name. Has been strange for the past three years but- it's Max. If anyone has a right to it, he does. "Who did this? I want names."
He closes his eyes again when she runs her hands against his hair, relaxing because it is here. There's a small smile on his lips and he feels safer knowing she's here.
He sighs heavily. Part of him would love to give them all up, but there's part of him that still clings to the idea that you just don't give up your clade, your people in D1, even if they'd made it pretty clear where he stood. "Don't. They're- if you go after them, it's jut going to confirm everything D1 thinks about this new system, that they're being persecuted and that you're their enemy."
"They hurt you, Max." And that- that is intolerable. No one hurts someone she actually cares about and walks away freely. No one makes Max bleed and just- vanishes without consequence. It's not done. She won't stand for it. Her hand tightens in his hair for a fraction of a second, not enough to hurt or pull- swift and reflexive. "I'm not going to shoot them, darling. I'm going to sue them. ANd you're going to press charges."
"I've been hurt before," Max says. "And the doctors here said it looks worse than it is." The bruises will heal, the marks on his arm, well, there's always skin grafts, or a new tattoo if he decides on a design. The point is that it can be hidden.
He gives her a startled look when she talks of pressing charges. He hadn't really thought that far ahead. "They are... were, friends. I can't just hand them over."
He pauses for a moment and then looks at her. "You're going to find them even if I don't tell you, aren't you?"
"Not like this." She murmurs, resting a hand lightly against the mended skin of his arm. it wasn't right. It wasn't right by a long shot and she hates that she cannot do to these men what she truly wishes to do. Max is- family. More so than her own blood. "Yes you can, yes you should. It is self defense, Max. What if they take it the next step? What if they actively attempt to kill you?"
Her other hand goes tight against his scalp again before she pulls it away. He's hurt enough. "Of course I am. Whyever would I not?"
No, not like this. Scuffles as a teenager had never done so much damage.
"They wouldn't. They- they wouldn't try to kill me." Right? They wouldn't go that far, would they? Then again, he hadn't thought that they'd do this to him either. He'd blithely continued like he was untouchable. It had been stupid of him.
He winces, just a little, when her fingers tighten in his hair, and then it's gone and he looks up at her. "I just... don't want to make things more difficult than they are right now."
"For you they won't be. I'm hiring you a bodyguard." No one from Bauldur's, of course, but she'll find someone. Someone she can trust with him. After another dep breath she resumes petting his hair and his hand, soft, soothing gestures. More for herself than for him, at this point. "Life should be made more difficult for them. They betrayed you. They do not deserve mercy."
"What? I don't need a bodyguard!" Someone following him around all day like he was incapable of taking care of himself. Which, okay he hadn't done a fabulous job of it this time but it seemed a bit extreme.
He relaxed a little when she started stroking his hair again, slumping back on the bed. Betrayed. It seemed like such a harsh word. But he knew that if it had happened to anyone else, he would have been up at arms to punish them. And Adele would do what she liked, even if Max didn't help. And that was before family heard about this and got involved.
"Alright. I'll give you their names but... but if we're gonna destroy them, let's make it worthwhile okay? Let's make it work for us."
"Yes you do. Until this is resolved? You do." She'll insist. She does insist. No one hurts who she's taken as hers, not now, not ever. She will not stand for this. Not when they should know better- times like this she wishes she could let him know exactly how badly they would be hurt for this. But he doesn't know that shade of her and she cannot tell.
"So I'm not to contact a very unpleasant person to break their kneecaps?" She'd love to do it on her own. "....However you wish to do this. But they do not walk away unscathed. We ruin them. We end them. And then we take you somewhere lovely for a massage."
There's a stubborn set to his jaw when she says that, but finally he nods. He'll pick his battles because if he fights this, everything that comes afterwards is going to be that much more of a struggle. He can deal with a bodyguard for a few days. Just while this blows over.
He smirks a little at that. "I'd love to say yes. But I'm thinking more... turning the whole of D1 against them? Or at least enough that the rest will take it up out of fear of looking bad. Does that sound reasonable?"
She's more familiar with this than he is, better at it, and he values her opinion.
"And the massage is one thing I'm not going to argue about."
"...I knew you learned something from me." She huffs a soft laugh, tension easing out just a bit. He can handle this his way and she, she'll support him as best she's able. She lifts his hand to her lips, kissing the back.
"That will work wonderfully. Set them to the wolves. After all no one cares whta you do so long as you do not get caught. When you are caught..."
"That's my boy." She murmurs, turning his hand to press another kiss to his skin. "I'll find you an appropriate guard. It'll be someone unobtrusive and very, very pretty. I promise."
He has to laugh at that, his cheeks colouring faintly at the kiss. She is one of the few people able to make him feel entirely inelegant and awkward. "Oh you do know what to say to persuade me," he replies. "Pretty people who could kick my arse."
"It's why you always loved watching the Militia boys train, mm?" And the occasional lady, but boys were so very pretty when they were sweating and grunting.
"You are welcome for all the erections, darling." She kisses his hand again, glad for him to be a little more himself and a little less- well. An injured man in trauma.
He laughs a little at that, and lets out a soft sigh. "Thanks Adele. For- for coming to see me. It means a lot. I don't have that many friends these days it seems."
"I think it's because I have good people watching over me." People who were sometimes willing to be less kind. It makes him a little sad honestly. "I just feel like I should have grown up."
"Being kind does not make you childish, Max." To hell with it. She slips out of her chair and curls up against him, arm looped loosely around his waist, cheek on top of his head. "It makes you kind. We need more of that under the dome."
He looks surprised when she climbs onto the bed next to him, but it makes it easier for him to relax, curled close against her. It's comforting. "I don't want to get anyone hurt because I was too naive to see the truth."
"The only person you've gotten hurt is you. And so long as I find you a proper guard, that won't be a problem." She'll find him the best. The quickest, the cleverest, the strongest. Her fingers smooth through his hair in soft, soothing passes. "I'll take care of it, max. Don't I always?"
"I have done that pretty spectacularly," he replies with a wry smile. It feels nice when she does that. A warm and friendly gesture. Nothing manipulative of expectant about it. "You do," he says, and maybe he's too trusting, but he's not been given any reason not to trust her. "You always take care of me."
"You're too pretty for me to ignore." The usual excuse and at one point? That had been all it was. But he's clever, is Max. Clever and kind and there's far, far too few people like that in her life. He grounds her. Reminds her that all the remaining world isn't like Monet. She sighs and tangles their legs, glad for the contact. For him. "I do not have so many friends that I would lose you gladly. I'm selfish that way."
Max snickers at that. He doesn't feel pretty right now, but it's a salve to his ego to hear it. "I am. I am absolutely the prettiest Onekid." Even with the bruises and cracked ribs.
He tilts his head, looks over at her. "That's not selfish, Adele. That's just being human. We need friends. We cling to them because they make us real."
"Shh." It hits a little too close to home, that. Enough to have her murmuring soft, sweet nothings as she strokes his cheek. "Rest. Mm? I'll be here when you wake up."
Address and gear in hand, Caine hoists his bag higher on his shoulder after checking his coordinates to be sure he was going the right way. He'd gotten turned around a little, but despite the strange looks he'd finally made it to Max's place.
He knocks on the door and takes a step back, waiting for him to answer the door.
His apartment in D1 hasn't been used since the attack, but he can't avoid it forever. He needs clothes and his books and everything that he'd left behind. And it had seemed a better place to meet this bodyguard that Juliett had insisted on hiring for him. He's not happy about the arrangement, but he knows better than to fight this one. She'd had that look in her eyes.
He freezes when there's a knock on the door, pausing in the middle of packing some of his stuff up.
He checks the security before he opens the door, giving the man a suspicious look. "Yeah?"
Not surprising, that suspicious look. At least Max was cautious, Caine had seen quite a few Entitled who acted like they didn't have a care in the world when multiple hunters were after them. He held out his hand.
"I'm guessing you're Max Woodville. I'm Caine Wise, Callsign Juliett sent me."
Max eyes him for a moment before taking his outstretched hand and giving it a firm shake. "Yeah, she mentioned she'd be sending someone over. Pleased to meet you."
So they were both on the same page, thankfully. He didn't have to explain why he was there or any of that-- made getting right to things much easier. Caine nods back and gestures awkwardly to the apartment. "Is this where you plan on posting up?" Caine leans in the door a little and sniffs. Definitely Max's primary residence, from the smell of things. "Or do you have a secondary residence you're planning on going to?"
There's an awkward moment before Max steps aside and lets the other man in. He looks... unusual. An Immune he guesses. Thinks Juliett had said something about that, being able to be more certain that they weren't working for Bifrons. "No. This is the place I'm leaving," he says. There's still a lot of stuff to move. "I have a place. But mostly I'm taking things to my lab."
Caine bows his head as he enters the apartment, and he immediately starts going from room to room, looking at things. Now he sees the packed boxes, and he nods as he takes them in. "I don't think it's such a good idea to move things when it's dark outside. If you want, I can help you pack things, and we can move them in the morning."
"Uh..." Does he normally just wander around people's houses like this? It's a little disconcerting. He hasn't had many people around here since his accident so it feels like a bigger deal than it is.
"I'm not- not planning to move things now but... I just needed to get started." He needed something concrete to do to keep his mind off things.
Yes, Caine usually just wanders around places he's been contracted to fortify. But of course, if Max asked him not to, he'd stop. He'd be confused, but he'd stop.
He nods, taking this in. "So... you don't want help?"
Max hesitated at that, shrugged and looked down at the books he'd been shoving into a box. "I don't really want to move. I like this apartment. But t's not safe and... I should be closer to work." It was easier to move, it was just hard to give up the vestiges of his past life, even if the apartment had been more like a prison at times, when he'd been at his lowest.
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Day 204, Action, Evening
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
It's strange to hear her own name. Has been strange for the past three years but- it's Max. If anyone has a right to it, he does. "Who did this? I want names."
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
He sighs heavily. Part of him would love to give them all up, but there's part of him that still clings to the idea that you just don't give up your clade, your people in D1, even if they'd made it pretty clear where he stood. "Don't. They're- if you go after them, it's jut going to confirm everything D1 thinks about this new system, that they're being persecuted and that you're their enemy."
He takes a breath. "They said I was a warning."
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
He gives her a startled look when she talks of pressing charges. He hadn't really thought that far ahead. "They are... were, friends. I can't just hand them over."
He pauses for a moment and then looks at her. "You're going to find them even if I don't tell you, aren't you?"
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
Her other hand goes tight against his scalp again before she pulls it away. He's hurt enough. "Of course I am. Whyever would I not?"
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
"They wouldn't. They- they wouldn't try to kill me." Right? They wouldn't go that far, would they? Then again, he hadn't thought that they'd do this to him either. He'd blithely continued like he was untouchable. It had been stupid of him.
He winces, just a little, when her fingers tighten in his hair, and then it's gone and he looks up at her. "I just... don't want to make things more difficult than they are right now."
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
He relaxed a little when she started stroking his hair again, slumping back on the bed. Betrayed. It seemed like such a harsh word. But he knew that if it had happened to anyone else, he would have been up at arms to punish them. And Adele would do what she liked, even if Max didn't help. And that was before family heard about this and got involved.
"Alright. I'll give you their names but... but if we're gonna destroy them, let's make it worthwhile okay? Let's make it work for us."
Day 204, Action, Evening
"So I'm not to contact a very unpleasant person to break their kneecaps?" She'd love to do it on her own. "....However you wish to do this. But they do not walk away unscathed. We ruin them. We end them. And then we take you somewhere lovely for a massage."
Re: Day 204, Action, Evening
He smirks a little at that. "I'd love to say yes. But I'm thinking more... turning the whole of D1 against them? Or at least enough that the rest will take it up out of fear of looking bad. Does that sound reasonable?"
She's more familiar with this than he is, better at it, and he values her opinion.
"And the massage is one thing I'm not going to argue about."
Day 204, Action, Evening
"That will work wonderfully. Set them to the wolves. After all no one cares whta you do so long as you do not get caught. When you are caught..."
Day 204, Action, Evening
"When you're caught, it doesn't matter if you get out of it if everyone you know has already made up their mind about you."
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
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Day 204, Action, Evening
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Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
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Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
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Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
He tilts his head, looks over at her. "That's not selfish, Adele. That's just being human. We need friends. We cling to them because they make us real."
Day 204, Action, Evening
Day 204, Action, Evening
Hs up against her, closing his eyes.
Night 210 - Action
He knocks on the door and takes a step back, waiting for him to answer the door.
Night 210 - Action
He freezes when there's a knock on the door, pausing in the middle of packing some of his stuff up.
He checks the security before he opens the door, giving the man a suspicious look. "Yeah?"
Night 210 - Action
"I'm guessing you're Max Woodville. I'm Caine Wise, Callsign Juliett sent me."
Night 210 - Action
Night 210 - Action
Night 210 - Action
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Night 210 - Action
"I'm not- not planning to move things now but... I just needed to get started." He needed something concrete to do to keep his mind off things.
Night 210 - Action
He nods, taking this in. "So... you don't want help?"
Night 210 - Action