Louder than Words, a mighty max fanfic

Hi all!

I am SUPER excited to announce that this is my 100th STORY! It is both the 100th story I finished (as of stories I started when I began my life of writing in 2004; stuff earlier than that doesn't count for anything) and it is the 100th story I am posting online (by counting on AO3: FF has a smaller number of stories due to the fact that stories which are otherwise distinct entities have been lumped into multi-chapter anthologies because you can't designate series on this site). My 100th story, you guys!

When I finished the 99th (The Hidden Seal), I knew that the 100th story had to be Mighty Max. It HAD to be. And here it is. Picking up straight off the end of All These Things That I've Done, here is the start of a life where Norman and Virgil are Mighty Max's housemates and everybody has to learn to deal with it.

Thank you to EVERYBODY who has seen me all the way to this amazing milestone.

Enjoy!

Once Max levied the offer for Virgil and Norman to leave their hidden home in the wilds and move into the house, it took only a week for all that had been familiar and normal to become strange and often hilarious; it wasn't easy to incorporate two pairs of individuals who had lived comfortably alone for so long, after all, and it was worse when one duo was comprised of a feathered Lemurian and, well, Norman. But over time, everyone got used to the quirks of the combined arrangement.

For example, Max's mother learned to accept that Norman would not use a normal shower given any other alternative and regularly made use of the little, supposedly decorative pond in the backyard; Norman in turn learned not to wander around either before or after a bath without at least a towel on lest he risk the kind lady's loudest shriek followed by hurled implements aimed very accurately at his head.

Max learned that it was virtually impossible to keep secrets with Virgil around all the time, and so was subsequently guilted into actually cleaning his room on time, not using the internet to get his homework done faster, and stopping his video games and going to bed rather than stuffing a towel under the door and continuing to play long into the night; Virgil, however, learned that the Mighty One could tolerate no more than one lecture exceeding three minutes in length per day, and any attempt beyond that on his part would be met with some creative form of resistance that, as often as not, left the Lemurian speechless, fuming, and sometimes in need of a bath of his own.

But as weeks turned into months and what had been strange and unnatural became normal and even comfortable, new habits appeared. And chief amongst those was the means of communication the four began to share outside of face-to-face interactions.

When it had only been Max and his mom living in the house together, they had maintained some rather simple means of communicating with one another for all those times they were not actually able to talk in person. Because Max's mom was often out on excursions or research and teaching gigs, the answering machine long outlived its normal lifespan as a way for the pair to leave messages for one another that could be retrieved remotely.

But when Norman and Virgil moved in, it became necessary to find a new method after Norman accidentally put his thumb through the poor machine's casing the very first day of living there. Which was also fine with Max, as he routinely called the answering machine 'the oldest fossil mom ever kept!'

With Virgil and Norman at the house full-time, Max's mom was more and more able to travel with her work leaving Max behind; she knew he was better protected than some presidents and royalty, and she felt relief knowing he was not facing that big, empty house alone. Additionally, with the upgrade of Max's cell phone and Virgil obtaining one for himself and Norman as well, they were easy to reach no matter how remote her location. So she got into the habit of leaving voicemails for everyone - a habit that remained even when she was in town and her boys were only running an errand or out exercising rather than saving the world.

Virgil took to his technology with a haughty superiority, but Max did not miss the fact that the Lemurian was the first to get a newer phone whenever an upgraded model was available - though what he did with it, exactly, Max didn't really want to know. In spite of that, while Virgil was perfectly capable of leaving voicemails and texts and even emails of his own, Virgil could not quite bring himself to be quite so prosaic. Therefore, his primary means of communicating with Max (but also sometimes Norman and Max's mother) bore a striking similarity to his previous method of communicating with the Mighty One - namely impossibly placed messages in improbable locations.

Norman, less verbose than any of the other three with whom he now shared space, struggled the longest to find ways to leave his own notes for the others. At first, and particularly before he was used to his new phone, he tended to write on napkins and leave them lying about; this was not because of any particular affinity for napkins, but because as the Viking found himself living in a house full of potted plants and vases of flowers in water and a full kitchen of liquids, he found himself tipping things over and creating a lot of spills which required clean-up. Norman took to carrying a whole wad of napkins in his belt just to be prepared for whatever mess he would make at any given time.

However, once he truly got used to his phone and found it was actually rather fun and came with all sorts of games to keep him entertained, he took increasingly to texting. That said, Norman had no patience whatsoever for typing on his phone, so he instead utilized emoticons and emoji almost exclusively. The downside was that how Norman used the little symbols often bore little resemblance to how anyone else used them, leaving his housemates to do some creative translating on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, as the only kid in the house and the object of now three sets of protective tendencies, Max found himself being communicated with far more often than he initiated the contact. However, when he did have something to tell one of the others that wasn't in response to an incoming voicemail or text or some strange embossed bookmark stuck in his math notebook, he tended to leave bright green sticky notes around the house. When asked why green instead of any other color, Max had just shrugged and pointed out that the vibrant green was pretty hard to miss even in their crazy, multicultural, multigenerational, multieverything household.

And so the time Max spent between world-saving adventures became an entirely different sort of adventure...

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Virgil: Virgil, hi, it's me. I'll be running late today because my plane back from Venezuela was delayed. Can you please make sure Max eats something besides chips and salsa for dinner tonight? And don't you dare let him convince you with that 'but tomatoes are a fruit' line again. You're supposed to be smarter than that. Thanks!

-==OOO==-

Text to Max: *Levitating Business Man* *Saxophone* *Hamburger* *Windchime*

Reply to Norman: If you can find my helmet, I will totally go skateboarding with you this weekend!

Reply to Max: *Gemstone* *Cactus* *Dancing Person* *Hamburger*

Reply to Norman: Challenge accepted.

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note inside the freezer: I know who has been stealing my peanut-butter chocolate swirl ice cream and it isn't Virgil because he can't reach it. I have a Guardian who has vowed to defend my ice cream. Hands off, Mom!

-==OOO==-

On the fourth paper towel from the end of the roll: Norman - Please mow the lawn per the instruction booklet I left on top of the mower for your use. Neither swinging your sword nor stomping on the grass counts towards completion of your appointed weekly chore.

-==OOO==-

Text to Virgil: *Orange flag* *Hamburger* *Spouting whale* *Hammer* *Wine Glass*

Reply to Norman: I am going to have the Mighty One lock your phone such that you can only communicate in actual words. I do not have the patience to decode your gibberish.

Reply to Virgil: *Angry Face* *Angry Face* *Angry Face* *Hamburger* *Turkey* *Angry Face*

Reply to Norman: Oh, very well. I will add your ridiculous flavored water to the shopping list.

Reply to Virgil: *Snowflake* *Chicken* *Hamburger*

Reply to Norman: Fowl, actually.

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Max: Hi honey! I hope the test went well today! Moscow is cold, so I'm glad I brought my extra hat. Or is it your hat? I can't remember. It's brown and a little lopsided, but at least it's warm! Anyway. I just wanted to remind you that you have a dentist appointment on Tuesday after school. Take Norman with you if you can. I'm not sure anyone's looked at his teeth since they used a sharp blow over the head for anesthetic. I'd ask you take Virgil, too, but I'm still not sure how he brushes his beak and I think we might traumatize poor Doctor Kansal. Oh, and speaking of which, if you could get Norman to stop spitting his mouthwash into the flowerbed, that would be great. I'm pretty sure the daisies don't like being minty fresh. Love you!

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note stuck to the back door: Don't come in this way today. Bea and I are trying to make a cake for Felix's birthday. It's getting messy. But if you hear yelling, grab a fire extinguisher!

-==OOO==-

Laced amidst the threads of a tapestry in Istanbul at a shop a certain mother always visited when in Turkey: Please do remember to acquire more of that furniture polish. It works wonders in removing scuff marks from Norman's boots on the tile and wood floors.

-==OOO==-

On a napkin in the walk-in closet attached to Max's mother's room: Sorry about the caterpillars.

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Norman: Norman, there are still caterpillars in my luggage! I don't care what you have to do, but by the time I get home tomorrow I expect every single living thing in that closet to be dead and gone! And I want everything else in that closet to remain intact! I know it's a tall order, but you're a tall guy. If you can battle your way through legions of Romans, you can handle some fumigating. My next call is to Virgil and I will be telling him to keep an eye on you. If you don't get rid of the caterpillars, it better be because you're saving my son from something that ranks at least as high as Skullmaster on the evil scale!

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note on Virgil's preferred armchair: Mom's coming home tomorrow. You better finish molting - and vacuuming - by then.

-==OOO==-

On a billboard visible from Max's afternoon literature class: Mighty One - meet us by the portal to Tacoma after school. Carnivorous worms await!

-==OOO==-

Text to Max: *Rolling-Eyes Face* *Broken Heart* *Up Down Arrow* *Hamburger* *Statue of Liberty* *Unicorn*

Reply to Norman: Uh...you want to get out of the house because you're bored?

Reply to Max: *Hamburger* *Outbox Tray*

Reply to Norman: I'll buy the tickets if you get the popcorn. Think Virg likes roller coasters?

Reply to Max: *Imp Face* *Hamburger* *Baseball*

Reply to Norman: *Winky Face*

-==OOO==-

Written by ants marching a pattern over a stone at a dig site: Beware the bananas - they are not ripe.

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note inside the half-full dishwasher: Virg, the TV remotes are NOT dishwasher safe!

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Max: Hey sweetie! I'm just out running errands and I wondered if we need any more veggies. Can you take a look in the fridge and call me back? I'd ask Virgil but I understand he's trying to teach Norman to weed the garden and I don't want to interrupt. Maybe we can get them to grow us some veggies so I can stop buying them. Do you think Norman would eat rutabaga?

-==OOO==-

Scrawled on a napkin shoved under Virgil's bedroom door: Sorry about the blanket. I don't think the tar will come out of it.

-==OOO==-

Riddle in the computer game Max was playing at Felix's house: What time does the Mighty One have to return to his abode? Twenty minutes from the most recent destruction of a mountain troll. You are late, Mighty Max.

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Norman: Hi Norman! Just a quick little thing. Are you any good at resealing driveways? Let me know. Thanks!

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note on the mailbox: Already brought in the mail for you. Except for the newspaper because it was full of spiders. Not even making it up this time. Sorry!

-==OOO==-

Text to Max's mom: *Okay Hand Sign* *Hamburger* *Rowboat* *Magnifying Glass*

Reply to Norman: See you all when you get back. I'm glad you're all safe.

Reply to Max's mom: *Hamburger* *Wrench*

Reply to Norman: Yes, I know. I'll have the laundry machine ready for you.

-==OOO==-

Voicemail to Virgil: It's me, Virg. Say, have you seen my hiking boots anywhere? I used to keep them in the closet in the spare room that's now yours, but I don't know where I put them. I'm hoping that famous memory of yours...or is it math? Whatever. I'm hoping you know. I've got a trip to Kilimanjaro coming up and I'd really rather not do it in sandals. And if your answer has anything to do with my son quote-unquote needing my boots for any purpose, you can tell him they're coming out of his allowance. See you soon!

-==OOO==-

Singing telegram delivered directly to the backyard to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine":

You are a Viking, yes you're a Viking.

I know you maim things when you get bored.

But the poor sofa wasn't guilty.

Please don't vent your feelings with your sword.

-==OOO==-

On a green sticky note stuck on the downstairs bathroom mirror: You plug the toilet, you unplug it. I'm not kidding this time. That was GROSS.