Rain pattered on the windows, leaving broad wet smears on the glass as the storm worsened. Lightning split the inky darkness of the living room, cutting through and illuminating the shadows every few minutes. Distant thunder that was growing closer rumbled enough to rattle the fine china mounted on shelves, a nervous look sent to them enough to quell some worries about them falling.
"They didn't say on the news it would be getting this bad," Maxie grumbled to himself as he anxiously flipped the pages of the book in his hands, his grip tight and perhaps a bit too much so. Feeling the pages turn rapidly against the pad of his thumb, he grimaced when hearing a tear, looking down in dismay as a large tear ripped through the middle of page two hundred.
"Of all times," he hissed, getting up to find some tape to amend it.
He'd have to take it to a bookstore, see if they could probably mend it instead of with his cheap usage of tape—
His thoughts of heading down to the small bookstore down in Lavaridge was interrupted by a boom of thunder that he felt in his very bones, dropping the book and grabbing onto the edge of his armchair. Fingernails bit deep into the soft red fabric, Maxie pressed himself against the sturdy chair until the light had dimmed again and the remnants of thunder had passed.
Opening eyes he hadn't realized he had scrunched shut, with a hand faintly quivering he picked back up the book, putting it tenderly on the coffee table.
"I'll… I'll deal with it tomorrow," he murmured decidedly, nodding somewhat to himself as he turned around, looking out the sliding glass doors from his living room. The light pattering of rain had become a downpour. It was so dark outside he felt that he'd have to bring the lamp near his chair with him to see anything.
It was late, anyways, and he needed to be going to bed.
Going to the lamp in question to turn it off, he paused, his fingertips sliding lightly against the tiny knob that would turn it off.
"Wait…"
He paused, feeling that he had to remember something, turning back around to frown back at the sliding glass door.
What was he forgetting?
Brows furrowing as he tried to recall what was slipping through his mind, the next crack of thunder and lightning caused it to dawn on him, his eyes widening with the flash.
"Miltiades!"
Memory of the storm crumbled away as Maxie abandoned the lamp, struggling to put on his shoes and grab a coat before he would plunge into the darkness.
Images of the Camerupt he had let out to roam and graze in the neighboring forest blanketing the mountainside of Mt. Chimney flashed through his mind alongside far more horrific ones.
The Camerupt getting trapped in a mud slide, of being pinned beneath a tree knocked down by the violent storm.
He should have been back home by now after a long day of grazing, but what if he wandered too far?
What if the storm had prevented him from coming back to the house?
Forgetting to grab the pokeballs containing his other pokemon in the case he needed them, Maxie pushed open the door. A blast of cold wind and rain burst into the living room, the redhead shuddering as it pierced through his thin clothing. Drawing his coat tighter to himself in determination, he slammed the slider shut before pressing out into the darkness, ignoring his own shaking as lightning cut through the sky.
"I'm telling you! He's out there still and somebody needs to find him!"
Slamming her hand down on the desk, rattling the cup brimming with pencils and pens and disturbing the neat pile of paperwork, Shelly let her ruby-red lips peel back in a nasty snarl.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's only so much we can do. The search party has gone through most of Mt. Chimney and even then, how are you certain he left his home and not some other location?"
Officer Jenny raised an eye brow, looking skeptical of the frazzled woman whose brilliant orange hair was pushed up in a high ponytail, loose ends sticking out around her face and occasionally being pushed aside when getting into her eyes.
"I get that," Shelly began, this time with a forced sweetness. She bent down more, her elbows propping up on the desk, batting her eye lashes and managing a smile.
"But you didn't look hard enough. He's out there and probably dead 'cause you guys just cover only one half of the mountain."
Seeing the patience in Jenny's face begin to die, Shelly's smile, too, ebbed.
"We have done everything we can. Now, if you'll kindly leave—"
Raising a finger, the Growlithe sitting at the corner of the police officer's office stood up, marching diligently over to Shelly.
"Perhaps will begin searching other locations where Maxie has been known to go to. Have a good day, bye-bye!"
Mocking Shelly's smile, Jenny waved as the other woman was pushed back outside of the office by the large, intimidating Growlithe.
"W-wait, I'm not done with you!" Shelly bellowed, but the door was promptly slammed shut in her face and the shades drawn over the windows looking in.
Releasing a scream of outrage and striking her fist against the bullet-proof glass, Shelly brewed for a moment before tearing away, looking over at the occupants of the police department gawking at her.
"What are you all lookin' at?!" she snapped, activity kicking back into gear as eyes sharply went from her. A few traced her path back out, several people making small groans of disappointment as she knocked over piles of paperwork with her stormy departure.
"The nerve of some people," she growled to herself as she slammed the door to the department shut behind her, feeling somewhat better with how it shook faintly.
She knew that they weren't trying at all—with Maxie being a former convict, even having done his time for his acts of eco-terrorism, they were surely biased. They didn't want to find someone who had nearly forced Hoenn into a drought that would have dried up all the bodies of water available to them.
But he was a changed man.
She had seen it firsthand through the combined work of the former Team Aqua members and the former Team Magma members when they had been slowly eliminating their debt to the populace of Hoenn.
Was everyone else blind?
Grumbling obscenities under her breath and kicking a trashcan near the station, the thick toe of her heel making a satisfying 'thud' when striking it, she leered at the filthy pavement.
The police department in Mauville City was obviously not going to see things her way and despite their claims, she sincerely doubted they had tried very hard in finding Maxie. She doubted he could be very far from his home above Lavaridge, and even then, weren't they trained professionals?
It should be a piece of cake, scouring Mt. Chimney for where he might've turned up.
Bitterly looking down to check the time on her phone, digging it out of the pocket of her jeans, Shelly pursed her lips.
One p.m.
She had promised to meet Archie up at a Lilycove coffee shop to catch up in an hour—it had certainly been some time since she had a good conversation with her old boss, what with life becoming so busy.
Sighing, she jammed the phone back down into her pocket, her heels striking the pavement angrily as she went to find a ride there.
Occupants of the coffee shop looked over nervously at the woman angrily clinking her fork against her plate, shoving jam-slathered pancakes into her mouth bitterly.
"Uh, Shelly, ain't it a little late for pancakes—"
"Shuddup, Archie, I'm a grown woman."
Grimacing, Archie frowned as Shelly managed to spray pancake crumbs all over the table and not get a single one on her plate, watching her swallow the monstrosity of a mouthful before digging back into her hearty plate of pancakes.
"So, lemme run this by you again… Maxie's gone missing for a week now and the police haven't found him yet?"
Archie noted someone in the booth behind where Shelly was sitting flinch when she slammed her fork down on the plate, the woman jerking her head up like an enraged Rapidash stallion.
"Damn right!" she snarled, her knuckles turning white from gripping her fork tight. "I went up to pay him a visit—y'know, since it was Tuesday, and I always visit him on Tuesdays—and there was only one light on and when I checked, one of the sliders in the back was unlocked. You know he never leaves any light on or door unlocked when he leaves the house."
Archie couldn't honestly confirm that—it seemed like a habit of Maxie's, what with how much of a details man he could be, but he didn't know him nearly as well as Shelly.
Deciding not to chance her frustration, he nodded agreement and she bobbed her head with him, shoveling another mouthful of pancake into her face while he sipped on his coffee.
"Just doesn't make sense!" she mumbled around her food, at least better this time about spraying crumbs. "He would've messaged me if he wouldn't have been able to meet up on Tuesday and… And… It just doesn't make sense!"
Shaking her head, she polished off her plate of pancakes, Archie frowning around the rim of his cup.
He hadn't even given a second thought about Maxie ever since they had parted ways. They had worked off their debt to Hoenn together, yes, but it had always been Shelly who had chatted him up, having found a strange friendship in the man they had once seen as a mortal enemy.
Was there something wrong about forgetting so easily about someone who had once been significant?
There was a sinking feeling in his gut as he finished his coffee, watching as Shelly grabbed some napkins and made busy work with wiping up her mess.
"I'm sorry, I just… I'm so worried, y'know?"
Her softened tone was a drastic change from her shrieking—he felt a little bit deaf, too, considering she had been practically screaming since he had met her in the shop. But he could see the worry etched deep into her face as she piled up the used napkins on her plate, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm down.
Reaching out, his hand touched Shelly's own on the table, the woman looking up in surprise.
"I understand," he assured her, patting the back of her hand soothingly. "Let me know if anything comes up, okay?"
She nodded, grabbing another napkin to dab at the tears that had been slowly building up behind her eyes, sniffling faintly as she blew her nose.
"I just hope he's alright," she sniffled, gloomily staring at her plate.
Frowning, Archie just patted her hand one last time before retracting his own, nodding.
"Yeah… I hope so too."
Despite everything, Archie never got a single message from Shelly regarding Maxie being found. In fact, as the time built and grew from one week to two, her messages became frantic and worried. She was terrified that he was dead because no one had found him—trapped somewhere hoping for rescue only to slowly die due to the recovery effort being given up.
By the thirteenth day of Maxie's absence, Archie even took it upon himself to call the police department down in Mauville, who could only tell him that they had searched diligently but had been unable to find him.
Time became sluggish and from careless about every day, Archie was nigh upon chewing off his own fingernails.
Shelly's anxiety was bleeding into him, haunting him in his wake and even beginning to trickle into his dreams. Nightmares of Maxie's corpse being unearthed from some part of Mt. Chimney plagued him, though it wasn't his bloody, mangled form that made it worse.
It was the eyes fogged over with death fixed in a look of terror, a fear of the death that had eventually consumed him.
Death that could have been avoided if someone had simply found him.
By the following Sunday since Shelly had informed him of Maxie's absence, Archie was beginning to be unable to stand it. He couldn't sleep without seeing Maxie in his dreams dying in some gruesome way or another, but the look of fear on his face never changed. It was always there, as if asking why he hadn't found him, why he had left him alone.
Archie jerked upright when feeling something cold and wet rubbing against his hand, thinking it to be the hand of Maxie's corpse.
"I'm sorry—" he started rapidly in a panic, looking down to see his Mightyena peering up at him with ears perked, snout pushed up against his hand.
"… Oh. You scared me, Oceanus," he grumbled, roughly running his hand over the pokemon's head, who wagged his tail furiously, obviously getting what he had wanted.
Frowning, rubbing behind the Mightyena's ears, Archie's movements became slow with his thoughts, Oceanus pushing against him when he stopped altogether.
"You know what, Oceanus?"
Rising up from the chair he had been slumped down in, the exhaustion that had slowly been creeping into his limbs fading, Archie looked to the door.
"We're gonna go on a walk. To Mt. Chimney."
Reasonably did the pokemon look baffled by this—their home was closer to Lilycove than Mt. Chimney and that was at least a several hour journey on foot.
Plopping back down after shifting to provide Archie the room to go find his boots, the Mightyena gave him a purposefully puzzled look that faded when seeing Archie grab the pokeballs on the kitchen counter.
"Vayu will take us there," decidedly Archie announced, looking at the pokeball containing his Crobat. "You'll just have to stay in here for now."
Oceanus' whine was cut off by the beam of red light that zapped him back into his pokeball, Archie clipping it to his belt as he headed for the door.
Half-mindedly grabbing his coat first off of the back of his chair, his eyes briefly skimmed over and evaluated the messy appearance of his home before deciding how little he actually cared.
He had too many other things buzzing around his mind, the door opening and slamming behind him as he trotted down the driveway.
Thumb pushing down on the front button of Vayu's pokeball, it expanded from its smaller size and with another light touch, the ball popped open.
In a burst of red the large Crobat was there in front of him, chirruping happily while spinning in small, tight circles excitedly.
"Hello, hello," Archie cooed, his words quick and clipped. As much as he may have wanted to spend time with his pokemon, after a quick pat he stepped back.
"Lavaridge—we need to head there, and quickly. Are you feelin' up to it?"
The pokemon blinked, not certain of what had Archie looking so frantic, but with a bob of confirmation the Crobat slowly lowered itself so that Archie could get onto his back, still hovering to a point.
Not having strong enough legs to simply push off, his wings were powerful enough to maintain its airborne status even with Archie's added weight, turning around sharply and soaring off in the direction of Lavaridge, guided by the sight of Mt. Chimney's peak.
It was already late, and guiding Vayu to land in the trees just behind Lavaridge was perhaps not a bright idea with how dark it was growing. The trees made it even worse, their shadows stretching and consuming what sunlight there was as they landed. Recalling Vayu after a rewarding coo, Archie straightened up.
Shelly told him dozens of times where she knew Maxie last had been, being behind his house in the forest covering the side of Mt. Chimney.
All that he had been told was that Maxie liked to let his Camerupt wander and often he'd go back outside during her visits to call him back. She just assumed he had gone looking for Camerupt during the nasty storm that had rocked Lavaridge and must have gotten lost.
Delving into the forest, Archie grimaced at how cold it was. It was only late autumn, yet the chill resembled that of winter. He could even see hints of frost on the leaves crunching under his boots, despite this perhaps being the warmest part of Hoenn. The seasons always were strange and autumn was no different.
But he wasn't here to observe the change in climate, his eyes turning up as a small house blending into the forest caught his eye.
He had never seen Maxie's home before, but as he slowly rounded around to the back, opening a wooden gate into the backyard, he figured it was definitely his.
One of the sliding glass doors was unlocked—Shelly obviously didn't think to lock it again—and while the lamp she had spoken of was off, he could assume that had been her doing.
Fingertips smoothing against the handle of the slider, he looked back into the forest, frowning.
Maxie could be anywhere if he had just wandered out the back and into the storm-ravaged landscape. Pursing his lips, his hand falling to his belt, he snagged the pokeball containing Oceanus.
Upon being released, the Mightyena perked up, ears standing upright and tail wagging furiously.
"Come," ordered Archie briskly, opening the slider and heading into Maxie's home. The pokemon bounded after him giddily, keeping close to his heels as Archie scoured the living room.
Eyes settling on a book sitting on the coffee table, he picked it up, turning around and jamming it in front of Oceanus' nose. The pokemon jerked back somewhat in surprise, looking up at Archie in confusion when the book did not budge from his snout.
"Does this smell like Maxie? You remember him, right?"
The pokemon blinked, recalling the name for a moment before breathing in long and slow, eventually nodding a confirmation.
Relieved that he wouldn't have to dig through Maxie's possessions to find something with his scent, Archie straightened back up, setting down the book.
"I need you to help me find him. I'm pretty sure he's somewhere in the forest—but I'll be looking for ages if you don't help me sniff 'em out."
Giving a loud bark as his way of saying he was more than happy to help, the Mightyena looked back to the open sliding glass door. Pressing his snout briefly to the carpet, tail lowered and ears tipped back in concentration, Oceanus was the one who played leader this time as he bounded out of the house.
Not anticipating the quick pace, Archie had to jog to keep up, though when Oceanus suddenly burst into a run following the trail he had found, he nearly groaned.
"Slow down!"
Eventually, Oceanus did slow down. He had to, considering sniffing took quite a bit of focus, and with Archie fully reliant on him with the sunlight gone, he needed every ounce of concentration he could muster.
Deeper into Mt. Chimney's forest than he had imagined they would be, it was growing darker, and with every glance up at what little sky he could see through the clusters of trees he could see clouds brewing.
Once, he thought he heard the rumble of thunder, but no rain had yet begun to fall.
It seemed his thoughts had jinxed himself, for when peering down a slope Oceanus was just about to dive down, Archie felt a single raindrop plop down on his cheek.
"Of all days…" he began to curse, though with the Mightyena surging down the steep hillside, he had no other choice but to follow him. Leaf litter kicked up as he slid down, the raindrops growing heavier as Oceanus hit the bottom and bounced up, keeping momentum as he dove into the shadows of the trees. Archie, on the other hand, grunted as his backside hit the hard, leaf-covered earth.
Mumbling something foul and slowly rolling back to his knees, dusting off his back, Archie paused.
The sharp, distinctive howl of Oceanus split the silence, a shiver running down his spine.
Without thinking of his stinging knees and sore legs, he stumbled back onto his feet, running towards the howl that still hung in the air.
It grew louder and louder until the outline of his Mightyena came clear.
The frantic howling ceased when the pokemon saw his trainer running up, whining and panting with anxiety as he spun around in a circle.
"… I don't see nothin'," wheezed Archie, trying to catch his breath while looking around. All he saw was leaves, leaves, and even more leaves, though his Mightyena looked certainly unhappy with this statement.
Nosing around a bit, Oceanus paused before digging furiously at the leaves, unveiling a monstrosity of a hole.
From the looks of it, Archie could decide that it had not originally been there—perhaps something heavy had caused the wet soil from the storm to split apart and cave where there hadn't been much to begin with.
The current storm that was brewing was becoming worse, the rain pounding into his back and soaking his hair, absent of his usual bandanna that he used to keep it back.
Peering deeper into the hole, he saw a glimmer of light, glancing back to his Mightyena.
"Stay here," Archie ordered, Oceanus whining, but with a sharp glare he begrudgingly sat down. Looking back into the hole, not liking the looks of some of the sharp, protruding rocks that stuck out from some of the sides, he took a slow, deep breath. Resolve strengthened, he carefully began to slip down into the gaping chasm in the earth, mindful of the rocks that could easily slice open his flesh if he wasn't mindful of where he was going.
Occasionally did the soil crumble beneath his feet in his attempts of finding a good grip, slipping down and once accidentally catching his shirt on a rock.
Tenderly removing himself from it, he eventually made it to the bottom unscathed, glancing back up to see Oceanus peering down.
"Good thing this isn't that deep," he grumbled, noting how Oceanus was thankfully not just a speck against the dark sky.
Turning back around, it seemed the hole was carved out some, obviously having been hollow to begin with and just needing that extra weight on the top layer for it to be revealed.
Slowly, cautious of what may come, he went deeper to where he saw the light to begin with—the cavern just below was not that deep, though he felt his feet stop, his body going numb.
His nightmares came flooding back, somehow realized as his gaze settled upon Maxie and his Camerupt, who rumbled threateningly, lifting his head.
The light was emitting from the craters on his back, the lava bubbling up and creating warmth that Archie could feel even from his distance.
His worries were not about the vicious stare of the obviously exhausted Camerupt, but rather the bloodied man pressed against his flank.
Protectively did the Camerupt curve his neck to shield Maxie partially with his head, though it did not hide the poor attempts at bandaging covering dark red spots on Maxie's sides and legs.
What used to be a coat from what Archie could see, as he found his feet stumbling forward again, had been ripped apart and used to try and stop the bleeding that Maxie had probably suffered when being ripped into by the rocks on the sides of the hole.
With another step, the Camerupt decided it had enough of him, giving a loud, threatening bellow that gently rocked the small cavern.
Archie felt sick when Maxie didn't react to the loud noise right next to him, his eyes closed and his body limp.
"Easy, easy," Archie tried, holding up his hands. "I'm here to help. I came here to find Maxie, and you."
The Camerupt didn't look too pleased with this, but with a glance to Maxie, his head was slowly pulled back, settling back down on the ground.
Finally granted permission to actually approach, from frozen, Archie felt panic rise up into his throat as he rushed forward, falling to his knees.
"Maxie," he called softly, gently cupping the redhead's face in his hands. He was cold and his skin was incredibly pale from blood loss, Archie feeling his heart race. The nightmares of Maxie's dead eyes watching him were coming back, his stomach turning.
Swallowing down rising sickness, he shakily lifted the back of his hand to Maxie's nose.
When warm breath gently puffed out, he found himself able to breathe again as well, still shaking badly as he pulled away.
Maxie's injuries looked back just from what he could see, evaluating the poor bandaging job and the blood that had dripped down from beneath and stained the ground.
"I hope he brought your pokeball," Archie muttered, suddenly remembering that he couldn't just bring Maxie alone. He had to bring back his Camerupt, who looked ill himself from being without food and perhaps even water for nearly two weeks. Thin from starvation, Archie couldn't imagine leaving the pokemon behind.
However, with some looking into Maxie's pant pockets, he found a pokeball that was empty, holding it up.
Pressing the button with hope, relief swept over him as the Camerupt was recalled and vanished from behind Maxie.
That, however, meant the near-dead man had nothing to brace himself against, falling back.
Quick in reaction, Archie snapped out and grabbed him as carefully as he could with his wounds, not wanting to reopen them if they had managed to close over the long time he had been missing.
"Okay, okay, I got this," he hissed, slowly heaving Maxie up fully into his own arms, putting away the Camerupt's pokeball and finding Vayu's.
Easing back into where he could see the open sky and Oceanus, he carefully called out Vayu.
The Crobat did not look happy at all as he was suddenly finding himself being doused with rain, though the serious look on Archie's face—and the dead-looking man in his arms—was enough convincing that he could tolerate it.
Oceanus backed up as Vayu flew both Archie and the addition of Maxie up from the hole, the Mightyena wagging his tail excitedly as Archie got off the Crobat with a grunt. He couldn't make the pokemon take them both back to Maxie's home—they were too heavy combined—and thus recalled him back to his pokeball. He'd have to trek back there with only Oceanus.
Oceanus barked and Archie wanted to groan, but instead he managed to work out a balancing act with Maxie in his arms and patting the pokemon's head.
"Good boy," he murmured, returning his grip to Maxie. "Now you get to lead the way and make sure nothin' is blocking our way back."
Oceanus didn't seem too happy with his assignment, but a nasty glare from Archie was enough to get him moving.
Readjusting Maxie in his arms, tucking his head in towards his chest in efforts to shelter him from the rain, Archie broke into a run, struggling to keep up with the burdenless Mightyena.
Slamming open the sliding glass door he had kept unlocked, Archie breathed hard as he stepped in. Dripping all over the floor, Oceanus dove in as well, shaking himself out.
Whining lowly and pacing, the Mightyena sat down as Archie quickly went to lay Maxie carefully on the couch, not once walking as he rushed back off to find a bathroom and towels.
Slowly walking up to the still-unconscious Maxie, Oceanus nosed at his hand, getting no response.
Ears flattening, he backed away as Archie reappeared, looking frazzled and cold as he threw down some towels and wrenched open a medical kit in his hands.
"Come on Maxie, wake up," he muttered, gently rubbing the other man's cheek to see if he could stir life back into him. Getting no response, he suppressed a frustrated snarl as he instead focused on stripping away his old, filthy clothing and the poor bandages.
Far tenderer with peeling them back, he grimaced at the sight of bloody wounds that left muscle open and exposed, though there was no more bleeding.
The wound on his leg was certainly the worst of it, suffering the brunt of it all as Archie evaluated each injury. He had other small, insignificant scratches, but mostly did Archie focus on trying to patch up what he could, getting back up to get a bowl of warm water to clean up the dried blood.
Oceanus curled up against his side as Archie settled down and focused, his hands quick yet gentle as he threw aside Maxie's ruined clothing to better focus.
Thunder rumbled outside of the house, the lights he had turned on flickering off and on, and eventually, went out all together.
"Fucking fantastic," he swore, but he figured he'd just have to deal with it. He was essentially done, anyways—there was not much he could do without a visit to the hospital, though luckily nothing was too deep or wide to seem to warrant a visitation immediately. Maxie's Camerupt, on the other hand, would need to be taken to a Pokemon Center, but he refused to leave Maxie's side.
Taking out the pokeball containing the exhausted and drained Fire-type, he looked around, getting up.
Putting Maxie on hold, he pushed aside the furniture of the living room, jamming chairs into a corner and setting the coffee table aside.
With enough room made for him to be satisfied, he unleashed the large pokemon, who appeared laying down in the middle, unable to stand.
"Hey there," Archie slowly said, the Camerupt flicking his ears to acknowledge him. Reaching out, he gently rubbed the pokemon's snout, who accepted the touch, obviously too tired to fight back anyways.
"Watch them," he told Oceanus, moving away to locate Maxie's kitchen.
It was nice and spacious, smooth black granite countertops looking glossy from being recently cleaned, even if no one had been in the home for two weeks.
His mind was elsewhere as he ripped open the cabinets and dug around for pokemon food, eventually finding something that Camerupt's could eat.
Finding a bowl to fill up with cool water, he went back and set it out close so that Maxie's pokemon could eat at his leisure without having to struggle with getting up.
Slowly blinking his eyes in gratitude, the Camerupt gradually began to pick at the dry grain set out for him while Archie left again to instead rummage through Maxie's bedroom.
It wasn't too hard locating it to begin with and promptly did he return with an armful of blankets. Thunder gently rocked the house as he pulled one of the blankets he had grabbed over Maxie; still nervous over how he had yet to regain consciousness. Maybe he should have gone to a hospital instead of just heading straight back here?
There was no way he could brave this weather to go anywhere, however, so he just worked on dragging up the loveseat to pull near where he had set Maxie on the couch.
His nightmares still persisted in his mind, the remembrance of finding Maxie dead in dozens of different scenarios, the imagery burned into the inside of his skull.
Seeing the slow rise and fall of the redhead's chest was enough to quell his terrors, but to be sure he pushed the loveseat close to where he lay.
Dragging up a blanket, his eyes drifted to Maxie, then back to the black weather outside, watching rain melt the glass of the slider.
Another boom of thunder rocked the house, louder than the last, and-
While the thunder was loud, the sharp, distraught cry to his side was just loud enough to be heard, Archie twisting around.
Clutching at the side of the couch, the blanket he had drawn over him tossed aside, Maxie's unconscious state clearly was gone as the man breathed deeply, shuddering.
With another boom of thunder he was cowering, shaking weakly as he tried to find comfort in the soft fabric he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever.
Frozen, shocked to see Maxie startled into wakefulness by the savage storm outside, Archie sat there gawking until a low sob reached him.
He didn't think, just flinging aside the blanket and thumping out of the loveseat unceremoniously, his knees hitting the floor before he stumbled up.
"Shh—"
Maxie was a quivering, sniffling mess when he enveloped him in his arms, wrapping the blanket back around him as the redhead quaked as weakly as the leaves still clutching to the branches of the trees outside.
Despite his weakness, Archie expected some sort of retaliation when he put his arms around his former enemy, instead met with an intense need for comfort.
Fumbling, shaking hands clutched onto him, Maxie pressing his face against Archie's chest as he wept.
Uncertain if he was simply delirious and not realizing who he was holding onto, or perhaps even his exhaustion was causing this breakdown, Archie didn't think much of it for that long. Settling on the couch next to Maxie, he gently rocked him in his arms, trying not to touch his recently bandaged wounds as his fingers pushed through his hair, his voice cooing soft, reassuring words.
Every time lightning would flash and thunder would rock the house, Maxie would break down even worse, clutch to him harder, and Archie could only hold him a bit tighter in the darkness, as tight as he could without hurting him.
The storm did not ease up but exhaustion caught back up to Maxie, his shaking becoming nothing more than a slight shudder every once in awhile, his sobs turning to whimpers.
Eventually did Archie deem it alright to pull back away, slow and careful as he immediately cupped the redhead's face in his hands, evaluating his face the best he could in the darkness.
His face was streaked with tears and seemed sunken with exhaustion, eye lids blinking heavily as he leaned into Archie's touch wearily.
"I'm… I'm so tired," Maxie weakly muttered, squinting faintly at Archie as though trying to decide why he was there.
"I know, I know," replied Archie, gently tucking a strand of hair that was falling in his eyes back over his ear.
"You need to get something down… Stay here."
Having seemingly just accepted that Archie was in his house and that this was something normal, Maxie looked less than pleased when Archie moved away from him, going back to the kitchen.
Settling with slumping against the couch, his body aching and everything hurting and everything so tired, his eyes struggled to track Archie as he rummaged around.
His return was met with a slight alertness in comparison to his numbed look prior, eyes lifting when seeing a glass of water and package of crackers.
"I remember reading somewhere," Archie began, sitting back down next to where Maxie had curled himself up. "That you need water and salt after being stuck somewhere for awhile. Or something like that. Either way, you need to drink something and you need to eat something, so here we are."
Taking Maxie's slow blink as a, 'Yes Archie that is indeed correct', Archie held out his arm to draw him close.
He didn't even have to move him over himself—promptly did the redhead just slump up against him, letting Archie feed him crackers and help him sip at the water. He could barely move, anyways, and was essentially stuck in the position he was.
Not that it mattered.
With every boom of thunder he shied back up against Archie, a quivering mess again as his former foe murmured soothing words and combed his fingers through his tangled, soaked hair.
"How did you find me…?" eventually did Maxie find the strength to murmur, the emptied glass set on the floor, the half-depleted package of crackers set aside as well.
"Oceanus found you," Archie informed him, motioning to the snoozing Mightyena who had conked out next to Maxie's sleeping Camerupt.
"You and your Camerupt.
"That's right I… I was looking Miltiades… And I heard him…"
Maxie frowned, letting his head rest against Archie's shoulder, not wanting to bother with lifting himself up.
Somewhat coherent now, he realized his positioning—but it was far too comfortable to just simply move, and thus he remained.
"I heard his cries and I… I was almost… there… and then…"
Memories flashed behind his eyes—of slipping on the wet leaves, of plummeting down a dark pit, of pain that slashed open his body and ripped into his flesh.
Shuddering as he recalled the unimaginable agony, his screams only heard by his already distraught Camerupt, Maxie turned his face away from where he was looking.
"Shh—just rest…"
Archie's soothing words, sweet and low, seemed to be a good enough reason to give up on recalling what had happened in his journey.
His head lolled against Archie's shoulder, his eyes slowly slipping shut, eased into sleep with soft words and a gentle hand combing through his hair.
The dawn was beautiful—dewdrops sat on the grass as peacefully as if it had only been a light sprinkle rather than a savage storm that had knocked out the power in all of Lavaridge and knocked down several trees in the forest.
The sky was clear, and at ten a.m. it felt all too bright, Maxie struggling to open his eyes. The sunlight was blinding, but eventually he managed to open his eyes and look around. Shifting, he whimpered lowly in pain, his condition suddenly flashing back to him—every memory scorched into his mind doing the same.
Trying to jerk upright, he found himself barricaded by arms encircled around him, and then other memories returned, looking to the still-sleeping Archie who had managed to keep him in his arms while snoozing.
Shuddering in pain, Maxie caved and let himself slump back against him, feeling disgusting and still so very tired.
Eyes scouring the living room and everything shoved aside for his sleeping Camerupt, he was startled when the face of a Mightyena popped up into his vision.
Tail wagging and tongue hanging out, Oceanus barked hello, though the noise startled Archie into jerking awake, gripping onto Maxie tightly, protectively.
"Oh, god, Oceanus," he moaned when realizing all was well, reclining back against the couch, letting his arms loosen around Maxie.
"Oh—you're awake."
Archie's revelation that Maxie had woken up before him came almost immediately after his complaint regarding Oceanus, blinking as he evaluated Maxie's wakefulness.
He appeared a little less exhausted, but overall seemed exactly the same as the night before.
Miltiades was still sound asleep, the low snore of the Camerupt enough to confirm that thought.
"I am," Maxie answered, as if it were necessary to acknowledge that Archie was not insane and simply dreaming up his wakefulness. His next few words wanted to be along the lines of, 'And you can let me go now', but Archie still was warm and comfortable to be settled up close again.
"How are you feeling?" hurriedly Archie immediately asked, Maxie finding warm, but calloused, hands cupping his face, concerned eyes scouring his appearance for any new injuries.
"I should probably change your bandages—and breakfast, and then you need water—"
A hand pressed over his mouth, successfully muffling anything else Archie desired to ramble about, Maxie's expression not amused.
"Start with bandages," Maxie began slowly, his hand not moving from Archie's mouth. "And then everything else."
When Archie gave a confirming nod, he withdrew his hand, feeling arms slip away as Archie sidled away and off the couch.
The medical kit wasn't very far, though obviously he hadn't cleaned up his mess from last night. A bowl half-filled with water was sitting on the coffee table some distance away, a roll of gauze sitting out, and several bandaids scattered.
Picking up what he needed, Archie paused, looking at Maxie.
"You have to take off the blanket."
Realizing he was still swathed in the blanket—it was cold otherwise, what with him waking up in only his boxer briefs, which was lovely—Maxie grumbled lowly, something about wanting to at least have some new clothes rather than laying around near-naked.
But he complied, letting the blanket fall away so Archie could have access to his wounds.
"I'm going to have to go the hospital at some point," Maxie mumbled, grimacing as Archie began to undo the bandaging. The tight bandages rubbed against his wounds, making them sting, and Archie uttered a low apology.
"I was out there for so long… There might be an infection." He was also dehydrated, partially starved, and otherwise all kinds of ill. He perhaps could even have hypothermia—though his Camerupt had done well in keeping him warm.
"We'll go later," Archie informed him, his eyes focused on the work at hand, not once glancing up.
"I would've taken you last night, but it was storming bad, and you needed some time to rest up here anyways."
The old bandages removed, some new blood on them—he must've accidentally reopened one of the cuts when they were running back to the house—he worked on cleaning the injuries again to rebandage them.
"… Thank you."
Archie paused, looking up in confusion.
"For what?"
Maxie felt like going back to old habits and snapping at him, call him an idiot for not realizing what he was trying to say, but instead he just sighed.
"For saving me."
Looking a bit surprised, so much so that he stopped in his work, eventually Archie just shook his head.
"It's nothing. I—Shelly told me, you went missing."
He went back to his work, though kept talking as he refocused.
"She was so worried and I started dreaming about you—about finding you dead."
He paused, his hands faltering, the bandaging between his fingers momentarily being scrunched up in his aggravation.
"... I'm just glad I found you alive. I thought I'd been too late."
It felt so strange—a sudden surge of emotion overtook him, his hands sluggishly resuming their work even with the cloud of distress fogging his mind.
Why did he care so much, anyways?
Was it Shelly's influence that made him care about this man he had once wanted to see die?
Or perhaps had he also formed some attachment—it wasn't like they were still fiercely enemies, nor had they persisted in their hatred after the catastrophe they had caused.
"C-careful," hissed Maxie, Archie pausing, realizing he had drawn the bandage far too tight in his distraction.
"Sorry," he apologized meekly, fixing it so that it was fitted a bit more loosely, Maxie able to breathe.
Sighing lowly, much happier now that he didn't have anything painfully tight to his injuries, the redhead observed Archie as he finished up, tying a deft knot to keep the bandaging on his leg in place.
"… I do want to be able to clean up," began Maxie lowly, sounding somewhat wary as Archie started reorganizing and putting things back away into the medical kit. "But, ah…"
Purposefully, he made a motion to step down with his injured leg, putting weight on it as he shifted, grimacing in pain and shooting his foot back up from the carpet.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to walk. Or stand."
Archie seemed to already have a plan in the works, and seemingly thought it a good idea to start it right then.
"Alright," he declared after a moment of thought, reaching out for Maxie. "Let me help you up—"
Maxie did not appear especially eager as an arm braced itself against his back, the redhead yelping as he felt another slip under his legs and in one solid motion hefted up.
"That isn't helping me up!" he sputtered, staring at the floor—which now was very far away—and then back to Archie.
"Well, it kinda is," Archie tried, though when even Oceanus gave him a skeptical look he sighed.
"You'll probably just fall over if I just helped you up. This'll work fine."
Remembering the location of the bathroom due to his frantic scavenging the night before, Archie readjusted Maxie in his arms until it was a bit more comfortable—he felt incredibly sore despite the burst of adrenaline from rushing Maxie back into the house—and headed down the hall.
He paused, looking back to the two pokemon in the living room.
Maxie's Camerupt was still snoring away, probably exhausted from many sleepless nights, and Oceanus was already on his feet looking antsy.
"Stay here and watch him," he ordered, motioning to the Camerupt with his head, Oceanus not looking too excited as he gazed over at the snoozing Miltiades.
Begrudgingly, he padded over, cautiously nosing the other pokemon to see if he was still asleep. With a low snort and a slight shifting of the Camerupt enough confirmation that he was asleep, Oceanus thumped down, his eyes tracking Archie's resumed trek down the hall and to the bathroom.
"Honestly, just—I still have one functional leg, you can let me hop around and I will be able to start a bath just fine—" Maxie sputtered, hands lightly pushing against Archie's chest, his face dropping as they entered the bathroom. Using his back to flick on the light with a bit of effort, Archie evaluated the bathroom—bathtub, some cabinets, sink, toilet, the works—and gingerly set Maxie down on the edge of the bathtub.
"If I'm going to be taking care of you, then I'm gonna be taking care of you. I don't trust you not to fall over and crack your skull open anyways," Archie firmly decided, his hands fumbling with the knob above the bathtub as he tried to figure out how to turn on the water.
"This is going a little too far," pleaded Maxie, flinching back somewhat as water gushed out of the faucet, Archie looking quite pleased with himself as he managed to figure it out. Pushing up the switch that stopped the water from draining, messing with the knob to try and figure out a nice temperature, Archie rolled his eyes.
"We're both men, aren't we? I've practically seen you naked already—what with stripping you down to get to your wounds. And it'll be better to scrub you down before you go to the hospital later."
Maxie swallowed, looking antsy as he watched water fill the large bathtub, his fingers digging into the smooth, cool edge of the tub.
"I'm not a Growlithe in need of a wash," Maxie grumbled, not liking how loosely Archie was referring to him getting washed, staring intently at the door.
If he managed to get up, he could probably hop off and hide in his bedroom. He was pretty certain his bedroom door had a lock on it.
"C'mere—"
Maxie yelped, tugged back by strong arms, a hand snaking down and tugging at his boxers.
"Don't you touch me!" he hissed, looking down and noting the lack of sleeves on Archie's arms. There was also a distinctive lack of shirt, and with a quick look he saw it tossed to the side.
"Why in the world—" he tried, promptly distracted as fingers pushed beneath the fabric of his boxers, wriggling as best as he could with his injuries to try and keep Archie away.
"Don't wanna get my clothes wet," Archie grunted, his voice strained with effort as Maxie struggled and fought against him. It was a valiant effort, but a determined pull, Maxie plunged into the water.
Hands reaching and grabbing out, he seized Archie's biceps before he hit, managing to drag the other man partially in.
Snarling and sputtering, one foot still dangling outside of the tub while the remainder of him was submerged in the rapidly filling tub.
"Is privacy no longer a word in your vocabulary?" Maxie spat, pushing his damp hair out of his face as he sent a venomous stare at Archie.
"I guess this kinda defeats the purpose of putting on new bandages if we're just gonna get them soaking wet…" Archie muttered, Maxie looking offended.
"Did you even hear me?!"
Suddenly he found himself not caring whether or not Archie had heard him, seeing his former nemesis pulling his arms back out of the water and working at the belt on his pants.
"No, nope, this is not happening, stay out-!"
"Relax, jeez, I'll keep my shorts on," Archie huffed, Maxie's stress not easing as Archie wriggled out of his pants.
"This is not going to work," moaned Maxie, pushing himself to the corner of the bathtub to try and elude his newfound company stepping into the warm water, though not before turning off the steady flow.
"Look, it isn't that bad! Now, come here."
Maxie just gawked at Archie, who was now in the tub with him of all things, and kept himself in his corner.
"… No."
Archie raised an eye brow at the stubborn, single-worded response he was given, shrugging.
"Fine, then I'll come to you."
If there had been more room or even any place to flee, Maxie might have taken flight. There was, however, no escape as he found himself grabbed again and tugged close, tense and mortified by all that was occurring.
"I can take care of myself—thank you for rescuing me but I can wash myself fine," he sputtered, wanting to pull away, only to be frozen in place when feeling Archie pulling away his bandages.
"I don't think you can since, uh, you've been pretty much dead for two weeks," was the reply he got, and admittedly, Maxie found it to be true.
While his burst of adrenaline to try and flee had provided him the strength to struggle, it didn't provide him the strength to sit up properly rather than doing what he was.
Leaned up entirely against Archie, braced against his far more reliable body, Maxie couldn't really imagine himself sitting up properly on his own.
"This is incredibly uncomfortable," Maxie muttered sullenly when finding no appropriate comeback to his near-death status, shuddering slightly as water was sloshed around with Archie moving his arms.
"You'll get used to it," he was assured, tensing when feeling something cool drip onto his hair, realizing seconds after that Archie had located the shampoo.
"I don't know how to deal with all this hair, though," grumbled Archie as his fingers worked the shampoo in, careful not to let any of it drip down into Maxie's eyes as he combed through.
"Especially after two weeks of no washing it—damn, a comb would be nice…"
Aside from the slight tugging as Archie worked out tangles and the occasional pause to wash out the darkened white foam with water, it did admittedly feel rather nice.
Once or twice did Maxie find himself letting his head loll into Archie's touch, eyes eventually closing, though his own excuse for himself was that he didn't want any soap getting into his eyes.
"I know how to deal with my hair just fine, thank you," belatedly Maxie replied, his voice a low mumble as his mind drifted, feeling suddenly drowsy. He was still exhausted and felt he could surely sleep for several days if given the opportunity, sighing softly as Archie washed the soap away for perhaps a fourth time.
"I thought you said you were uncomfortable?"
Forcing his heavy eyelids back opening at Archie's mocking tone, he tried to move, promptly forced back in place.
"Kidding, kidding—stop moving, I'm not done yet."
"Then shut up and just do what you need to," growled Maxie, wanting to send back a glare but with his hair still in between his fingers, he didn't want to risk having it be pulled.
Hearing some mumble from Archie that either could have been 'fine whatever' or 'pine sweater', Maxie settled with the logical former.
His hair was pushed back delicately from his face, water squeezed out, fingers trailing down away from his hair and to the nape of his neck.
"What're you doing?" mumbled Maxie, no longer caring enough to try and clearly speak, his eyes shutting again as he felt Archie's fingers rub circles into his skin.
"You're filthy—I'm just cleaning you up."
Letting it slide for now, his head leaning back against Archie's shoulder, the warmth of the water combined with the soothing sensation of hands slowly working against his tired, aching muscles felt luxurious compared to dying in a hole for two weeks.
Gradually did Archie work down, eventually finding the soap and able to actually get the dirt and grime off, pausing once to drain the tub somewhat and fill it again with clean water.
"Not feeling any pain?"
Archie's question broke the tranquil silence that had settled and Maxie blinked, tilting his head to get a good look at his face.
"No, why?"
Archie motioned lightly to where his hands were, grazing lightly where his wounds were.
"Just tryin' to be careful that I don't hit anything tender. With all the blood gone, though, it looks like you did manage to heal some while you were in that hole."
Maxie let his eyes skim over his wounds, which had indeed gradually begun to seal themselves over time, even if the healing had been stalled by his body's deprivation of food and water.
Letting his head fall back, closing his eyes again, Maxie dismissively grunted, "Unless I'm screaming at you and pushing you away, you're fine."
What he didn't see was the amused smirk Archie had adopted, obviously pleased with how he had gotten Maxie so relaxed, trusting.
"Alright," he hummed, Maxie cracking open an eye suspiciously, Archie quickly molding his expression into something unassuming as he just worked away the dirt he hadn't been able to deal with the night before.
The process mimicked itself over and over—drain the tub of the filthy water, fill it again with fresh, scrub away all the filth and lingering blood haunting his skin.
Even with the uncomfortable situation of being flush against Archie and the fact both of them were wearing nothing but their underwear—thank god Archie hadn't forced him out of his own—Maxie could agree with himself it hadn't turned out too bad.
He felt relaxed, at ease, and even a bit disappointed that they'd soon be getting out of the warm bath.
Clean water sloshed up against him, Maxie stirring back to focus when feeling Archie shift.
"All done," he purred, Maxie feeling the urge to scold him for how satisfied he sounded, but finding himself too sleepy to do so.
Reaching out and letting the water drain, Archie somewhat regretted not setting out a towel prior. He hadn't been thinking that far ahead.
"Can't I just stay here…?" grumbled Maxie, sounding like an unhappy child as Archie rolled his eyes.
"Nope, let's go."
Being hefted back up was enough to get Maxie to stir back into wakefulness, eyes flying open and hands clutching at Archie's slick chest.
"A warning would have been nice!"
Archie grunted dismissively, trying to be more so concentrated on not slipping on the slick bathtub and also not slipping on the now-slick bathroom tile that they were now both dripping onto.
"You're fine," Archie assured him, carefully propping him back up on the bathtub's edge before he went to go dig around for towels.
Watching Archie dig around for a bit, eventually Maxie sighed, "Bottom, far left cabinet, under the sink."
Archie paused to look back at him, following Maxie's directions.
Opening up the cabinet revealed a neat pile of folded towels at the ready, Archie grabbing two, paused, and then getting a third.
He'd need to mop up the floor too.
Sitting down alongside Maxie, he dumped one towel on the floor, rubbing it briefly against the tile with his foot before focusing on themselves.
"I can dry myself off," Maxie tried, Archie's reply coming in the form of him ruffling his hair with a towel.
"And I can dry you off just fine, too," Archie hummed, hearing some muttered obscenities even as he became a bit more gentle with drying his hair, working gradually down.
"Guess I should've gotten you some spare clothes," mused Archie, reaching back and grabbing his own towel to scrub himself dry before even considering leaving the bathroom.
Letting Maxie take back his own towel and do as he wanted, Archie observed his damp boxers, which would be uncomfortable to keep on under his pants.
"Let's get your injuries bandaged up again," Archie decided, retrieving the medical kit he had put away, seeing Maxie had managed to finish up drying himself off from the bath.
The redhead sleepily grunted, sitting there patiently as Archie crouched down in front of him and worked on his leg first.
The motions were coming easily now, Archie finding a rhythm far more quickly than before.
Finishing up took no time at all, Archie soon straightening up.
"Alright, bedroom," he decided, Maxie blinking drowsily at him, only to flinch when he leaned down.
"Not again—" he whined, which did not stop Archie from scooping him back up, taking a moment to readjust so that he didn't end up dumping him back onto the floor.
"Stop whinin'. I haven't dropped you yet and I don't want you trying to walk around."
An arm this time hooked around his neck, Maxie leering up at him from his newfound position.
"You better not drop me," he growled, hanging on a bit tighter as Archie actually started moving, heading from the bathroom to where he thought his bedroom was.
"That's the guest room," Maxie stated before he would have gone right in, Archie groaning.
"Then where's your bedroom?" he asked curtly, the redhead looking to a closed door down the hall. "That room is my bedroom."
Nodding slightly to acknowledge that he had heard him, Maxie was carried to the aforementioned door whose doorknob Archie struggled with for a moment as he tried to balance Maxie and open it.
With a bit of elbow grease, it opened, Archie grinning in satisfaction as he swung them in, taking a moment to absorb the décor.
"… You need to chill out on the red," he decided after a moment, Maxie leering up at him. "I wasn't asking for your opinion of my choice in colors," he snapped back, refocusing on trying not to be dropped as Archie approached the bed.
"I'll grab you some clothes and you can change yourself while I go back and get my own clothes," Archie decided, setting Maxie carefully onto the bed.
Turning around and facing his closet, he opened the doors, eyes scouring for loose, comfortable clothing that wouldn't agitate Maxie's wounds. Finding an old, worn-looking hooded sweatshirt and with some more digging even a pair of sweatpants—knowing that the ever-immaculately dressed Maxie had lazy clothes like this felt odd—he threw them back on the bed, scrounging around his dresser for what else he might need.
"I feel somewhat uncomfortable letting you just dig through my clothes," Maxie began, grimacing as he narrowly avoided being hit in the face by a pair of socks.
"Nothin' here that I can imagine you wanting to hide. Except maybe everything that isn't fancy—I didn't even know you owned sweatpants!"
Rolling his eyes, Maxie reached out for the shirt to tug it on carefully while Archie finished finding him the necessary article of clothing to replace what he had been wearing for the past two weeks.
"I'm not going to sit around my house in anything spectacular," Maxie grumbled as he pulled the sweatshirt over his head, glancing back up at Archie.
"I can deal with myself now, go get dressed."
Archie blinked, straightening up.
"What, can't take my gorgeous body?"
Archie's teasing tone was enough to induce a flush in Maxie's cheeks, the redhead sputtering, fumbling for words until Archie waved dismissively.
"I'm goin', I'm goin'. And maybe I'll get together some breakfast while I'm out here," he mused, heading out of the bedroom to provide Maxie the room to get dressed.
Going back to the bathroom, he dried himself off a bit better than he had before slipping back into his old clothing—he almost wished he had brought a spare set, though why he would have was beyond him.
Before he would go back to Maxie, he decided that checking in the living room would be fine as well.
Peering in, he found Miltiades awake, him and Oceanus caught in a conversation with one another. Or so he could assume. He definitely didn't speak either Mightyena or Camerupt, so the low rumbling noises from Miltiades and the growling barks from Oceanus made no sense to him.
"Good boy, Oceanus," he mumbled, going up to rub the Mightyena's head, who looked up in surprise, not anticipating him.
But he gave a welcoming bark before promptly turning back to his incredibly interesting conversation with the Camerupt, who was detailing the specifics of what he and his trainer had endured.
Watching them for a moment, Archie eventually shrugged, going back to find Maxie.
"Eyy, Max, what do you want for breakfast—"
Poking his head back into the bedroom, what he didn't anticipate was Maxie to be curled up on the bed, fully dressed but looking to be passed out from exhaustion.
Blinking, he slowly walked in to check to see if Maxie wasn't just resting his eyes, peering down when he was at his bedside.
It was Archie's turn to yelp in shock when a hand seized the front of his shirt, Maxie's grip surprisingly strong despite his condition as he was pulled down.
"Get in the bed," Maxie muttered, and Archie slowly complied, crawling onto the bed and trying not to somehow rest his weight on Maxie in the process.
Somewhat settled, Archie was still stunned by just how demanding Maxie had suddenly become, the redhead pressing himself up against him.
"You're warm," he grumbled in explanation, his eyes closing again. "And it's so damn cold in this house…"
There was something strangely endearing in Maxie's behavior, and even with his prior claims of being uncomfortable with them being so close, he seemed quite at ease with it now, snuggling a bit closer, even, when apparently Archie's shifting was not satisfying enough.
"So… does this mean you don't want breakfast?"
Maxie's groan of frustration was enough of a reply, Archie smiling, shifting somewhat so that he could lean in, feeling compelled by something to press his lips to the top of Maxie's head in a kiss.
"Whatever, go to sleep."
Archie couldn't tell if Shelly's scream of delight was worth having his eardrums ruptured.
He also couldn't tell if it was worth calling her after the visit to the hospital was done and over with—Maxie was, as anticipated, severely dehydrated, starved, and all kinds of weak, but otherwise his wounds checked out fine and he was permitted to go home after a few days.
During those few days he begged Archie not to tell Shelly quite yet, knowing that he was not energetic enough to match the woman's high energy.
Thus, at the end of his hospital stay, Archie finally called the frantic and worrying Shelly to inform her that Maxie had indeed been found and was getting out of the hospital.
Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea, Archie stepping aside as Shelly lunged for Maxie.
"Hello, Shelly—" he wheezed, her arms winding tight around him, the redhead feeling suffocated as she squeezed even tighter.
"Oh god I was so scared! I thought you were dead and even the police wouldn't help me and you were GONE and the lamp was on and the door was unlocked and, and, and, it was horrible!" Shelly rapidly blubbered, eventually running out of breath as she eventually loosened her iron hold, Archie standing behind as he watched Shelly's treatment of Maxie nervously.
"He just barely got out of a wheelchair, Shelly, give 'em a break," Archie gently reminded her, and she nodded rapidly, stepping back as she looked around the hospital parking lot.
"I'm-I'm sorry, I'm just excited 'n all."
She sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands.
"I'm glad to have you back, Maxie," Shelly sighed, a smile blooming on her face, reaching out and delicately taking up his hands, holding them snugly. Maxie, finally able to breathe, smiled back, squeezing her hands lightly.
"I wouldn't just skip out on one of our Tuesday meet-ups," Maxie assured her, and she laughed lightly, though there was a twinge of sorrow to it, bitterly reminded of her distraught of finding him missing.
"Yeah, we need to pick those back up," she decided, squeezing his hands one last time before letting hers fall away.
"I'll let you go home now. Call me when you are feelin' up to hanging out again, we have a lot to catch up on, Maxie."
He nodded, murmuring a confirmation when watching in confusion as she walked over to Archie.
Hand clenching into a tight fist, Archie was not expecting the hard punch to his arm, flinching back in pain as he gawked at her.
"That's for not tellin' me he was okay!" she snarled before raising up both fists, rapidly striking his bicep with light punches.
"Ow, ow, stop that!" he squalled, swatting at her, Shelly snorting.
"That all's for if you screw up and end up getting him hurt. If I hear you got nasty with him…"
She trailed off with a tone of warning, her eyes narrowing at Archie, who held up his hands helplessly.
"That'd defeat the purpose of taking care of him in the first place, Shelly."
She didn't look too trusting of this, but when she turned back to Maxie, she brightened up.
"I'll see you soon, okay, Maxie?"
He swallowed dryly and nodded with a strained smile, watching her head back into the parking lot to find her car.
"Fuck, I didn't know she liked you that much," mumbled Archie, rubbing his now sore arm, getting a leer from Maxie.
"You could've at least told her I was alright. I just didn't want her in the hospital while I was recovering," huffed Maxie shortly, his eyes trailing back to the now distant figure of Shelly.
"H-hey!"
He was pulled away from his thoughts of her when he was dragged close, his hands flinging up and pressing against Archie's chest as he found him leaning in far too close for comfort, a grin on his face.
"Am I your favorite now? I got to be with you in the hospital and she didn't, so does that mean I get to have afternoon tea with you on Tuesday?"
Twitching, Maxie growled, preparing a fierce rebuttal when seeing Archie getting closer, the distance between them fading until a kiss silenced any sort of argumentative thought.
The first to pull away, a hint of red entering his cheeks, Maxie scowled, looking around the parking lot.
"Kissing in public is perhaps not the brightest of choices you've made," he grumbled, brought back to looking at Archie with a light hand on his jaw.
"So you're fine with kissing in private? Because I know where we can do that," Archie mused, a grin growing on his lips, Maxie giving a low groan of frustration.
"You're lucky you saved me."
Archie's grin sweetened and Maxie almost shoved him away when he leaned in again, though when he only rested his forehead against his own, he deemed it tolerable.
"I am. And I'm not gonna stop being thankful for that."
Touched, Maxie studied Archie's face for a moment as if trying to see how honest he was being, though the sincerity in his expression spoke well enough of how truthful he was.
"… Maybe I can learn to tolerate public kisses," Maxie murmured, Archie's widened grin hidden behind another pair of lips.
From afar, Shelly, peering around a car, slammed her fist against the back of it.
"I knew it!" she hissed to herself, eyes gleaming with excitement at her new finding, seeing Maxie wrap his arms around Archie and eventually the two heading somewhere else in the parking lot.
"I bet that's why Archie didn't tell me nothin'… Too busy busting a move…"
She paused, feeling watched, looking over and finding the car she was hidden behind was in fact occupied by some children and their mother looking back from the driver's seat.
Blinking, she stared back for a moment before providing a sheepish smile, delicately massaging the part of the car she had struck.
"S-sorry."