Max laughed as if she were a super villain from a pre-Pulse cartoon. "I'm not in the least bit tired, thanks to my far superior genetics. Are you ready to surrender?"
"This would normally be the point where I tell you no." Logan said, his head popping up from behind the couch. "But we've been at this for two hours and I'm only human, so yes, I do surrender."
Max frowned and dropped the pillow she was holding on the floor. "But that's no fun. It's not the way it goes."
"Well, if you like, I could just lay on the floor here and you can pelt me with pillows until you tire of it."
"How sweet of you to offer." She smiled. For a moment Logan thought she was going to take him up on that, but she just grabbed the pillow from the floor and set it on the couch where it belonged. "So, what do we do now?"
Before Logan could suggest anything, there was a knock on the door. He sat up and was just about to pull himself to his feet when Max raised a hand to stop him.
"You stay there and pant like a fat kid who chased an ice cream truck around the block, and I'll answer it." She grinned widely and began to walk out of the room. "I hope it's Peter. I've been wanting to talk to him."
Logan shrugged, then grabbed a pillow off the couch and tossed it on the floor, then laid back down. He stared at the ceiling, contemplating all the things he could whip up for a late lunch for Max and himself. He guessed she would probably be in again for dinner after she strolled into work five minutes before the day ended, just like she told him she always did. Chicken? Chicken's always good, and -
"Logan!"
He recognized that voice. That voice was never good. That voice -
"LOGAN!"
- Belonged to a vicious woman in a cream pantsuit who was currently standing over him with a furious expression on her face.
"Aunt Margot." Logan tried to smile, but he felt more like crying. "What - What are you doing here?"
She turned to look - and glare - at Max, who had just walked into the room, then turned back to Logan. "I'm making my rounds, inviting all the Cales to Jonas' annual birthday party. I wasn't aware you had... company."
Max walked up behind Margot and pointed to Margot, then made a choking hand motion that made Logan a little nervous. "Well, we weren't exactly expecting company ourselves."
"Logan?" Margot questioned.
"Um..." He sat up and tried to think of something to say. "Um, I was... just about to make Max and myself a quick lunch."
"Is she a... friend of yours, Logan?"
"Yeah, am I a friend Logan?" Max raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. Perfect way to get a clue as to what the hell is going on between us.
Logan chuckled nervously. "It's a funny thing. Max and I... we're... uh..."
"Are you... involved?" Margot asked, not bothering to mask the horror in her face.
"Yeah, are we involved Logan?"
"Heh, well, you know how these things are." He licked his lips. "Uh... um..."
"Well, I'm going to expect you at the party." Margot snapped. "If you'll excuse me, I don't feel much like visiting right now and I've got other Cales to visit. Good-bye."
They watched her go, then Max turned to Logan. "You didn't answer me."
"Uh... huh?"
"Okay." She said icily. "Well, you know, I don't really feel like visiting myself anymore right now, so I'm going to take a cue from that oh-so-ever-pleasant woman and leave."
"Wait!"
"I've got work to do." She told him and left.
He sat for a moment, damning Margot and wondering what had just happened with Max. He was considering crawling back into bed and spending the rest of the day hidden under the covers when he heard the door open again. Hoping that Max had forgotten something and had come back, he got up quickly and rushed to the door... only to find himself disappointed.
"What'd you do?" Peter asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I just met Max in the parking garage." He shook his head. "She gave me an actual smile and was generally nice to me, which makes me think you did something stupid."
"And how do you draw that conclusion?"
"Usually she saves that Suzy Sunshine crap for you, but obviously something happened and she had to get that charm out of her system somehow." He smirked. "A woman like that isn't usually overflowing with bubbly cheer."
"You're good." Logan said. He paused, then added, "And that's why I hate you."