It was, perhaps, a touch foolish to go back to Blackwell to sleep, especially with Lilith in tow. But the girls were feeling destructive and bold and lighthearted. So Chloe crashed with Max, Kate crashed with Victoria, and Lilith was given free access to Kate's room (since she pretty much already had it). That next morning, Max and Chloe gathered up a pile of food for everyone from the Two Whales and they all convened at the junkyard.
Victoria was obviously the most unhappy of the bunch, dressed head-to-toe in as much skin-covering clothing as she could bring together, including a hoodie and oversized sunglasses. She unceremoniously rubbed her eye underneath the glasses and groaned as she leaned up against a junked car hood. "I thought the plan was to come here tonight, not at the asscrack of dawn, sweetie. Just because it's only a myth that sunlight kills vampires doesn't mean it doesn't irritate the shit out of me."
Of course, even Kate was still working on waking up, and she gave a rather impressive yawn of her own. Only Lilith was aggravatingly chipper, because apparently she didn't need sleep nor was she particularly interested in it.
"We need all the time we can get to prepare. Victoria, if it's any consolation, you and Chloe get to spar and take out your aggression on each other. Max, Lilith, and I are going to work out what the hell we can do. I'd like to help Max avoid nosebleeds if we can help it, and Lilith is a bunch of drift compatible consciousnesses piloting a Jeager of stitched-up women. If we weren't on a time crunch, I'd want a few more days of preparation, but we have what we have..." Max sleepily gnawed on a bagel in one hand, raising the other in the air. "Yes, I realize you have time powers, but it would be a little redundant to use them just so we have more time to figure them out."
The werewolf and the vampire were both feeling less than enthusiastic and decided to rest in the shade of the 'club house'. Kate couldn't blame them, and it wasn't as if she could force anyone to do anything. Over the last few days, if she'd learned anything, it was that she wasn't able to do everything herself. It seemed as though everyone had taken the lead on making decisions at some point. So she would let the two powerhouses sort it out while the rest of them did... well... whatever they were going to do.
"So, black magic woman, what's the master plan? How do you keep the time traveler from having an aneurysm?" It was hard to get used to the newest member of their ridiculous little team. She was smart and snarky and had a great many beautiful features, but the inconsistency of her look made it hard to think when you were looking right at her. And still you could hear a touch of both Rachel and Stella in there. Never mind that she ended up borrowing clothing from Max, Victoria, and herself just to find something that fit. She was inconsistency incarnate.
Kate finally just left Lilith there to provide the color commentary, and brought her focus over to Max. "Well, I guess first things first, how... do you do it exactly?"
Perhaps unsurprisingly they were one question in and already Max was looking slightly bewildered. "How do I do it? Um, I don't really know, Kate, I just kinda..." Max slowly extended her right hand, and already Kate had like five new questions. For all intents and purposes, she had been inside Max's head, but she still knew almost nothing. Perhaps because Max didn't either. Where had the powers come from? What were the limits? What about that vision Kate had from the other universe, with the photograph? What other twists were still left to be found out?
"Have you tried it with the other hand?" The question popped up so casually from Lilith that for a moment the other two turned and stared at her dumbfounded. "Or like... both hands? A foot?" Kate looked back at Max and was offered little more than a bewildered shrug. Her right hand dropped, her left hand rose, and for a split second she was gone, then popped back into reality. Like an afterimage, Kate had seen just a haze there while Max disappeared, but otherwise it was like she left or... "Go figure, that's the fast forward button. Now that's handy!"
"Yeah, but it's just as much of a pain to make happen..."
Kate stepped toward her a little more. "Max, other than your hand, I mean, there must be something else you do. Like... a muscle you flex or a thought or something?" Theoretically, her friend had control over her powers, and that meant that something had to initiate them, even if it wasn't initially clear.
Again the awkwardness returned, and for a split second Kate understood her girlfriend's frustration with Max's twee hipster thing. She was a freaking time wizard but she didn't seem to comprehend exactly what that meant. Powers like that should have given her more confidence, but she was still so nervous all the time! "I guess I um... I like... flex my brain kinda? Does that make sense?"
She rested a hand against poor Max's shoulder and squeezed gently. "It does, it makes perfect sense. That means when shit starts going wacky, you're overworking yourself, you're forcing your brain so hard it's hurting you. So your goal today is to stop flexing so goddamn hard." She brought her hand down from her shoulder and stood just a little distance from her. "Close your eyes for a moment."
Max was understandably concerned about where this was going, but she did as she was asked, and even Lilith had stopped her commentary, curious about what the witch's plan was here. Hell, even Kate wasn't totally sure, but she had a captive audience, so she had to say something.
"Time is a dimension and a force, Max. Like anything, we have learned to understand it and measure it to the atomic level. We have theories about how it acts in relation to other forces. It is likely constant, unchangeable in most terms. When you do whatever it is you do, your brain tells you that you're fucking with the universe, ruining everything, doing something that should not be." Kate's hand tightened into a fist as she found her rhythm. The sound of Chloe and Victoria finally getting their fight underway could be heard in the distance. Trains passed but were little more than a dull rumble in the moment.
"But that's bullshit. You have this power now, and anything you do with it has an explanation, a reason, an understanding, something. Throwing a stone into a pond causes ripples, and shifts the water around it. But eventually it settles again and the water level rises almost imperceptibly. The universe is ageless and will balance out eventually. If I fold a piece of paper or crush an empty can I have not irreversibly altered it, I've just rearranged it. That's all your doing, folding time, adding a rock to a pond, learning to direct yourself in the river's flow. Own it, use it, be a badass, Max Caulfield."
Things shifted, and Kate was no longer able to see Max, or even a hazy afterimage for that matter. Max was completely gone in the folds of time, and whatever sensitivity she'd developed could no longer pick up on her activity. She turned around a bit, panicking slightly, suddenly feeling arms enfold her from behind, hugging her tight. "...Kate... Thank you..."
The fluffy witch blushed heavily, more so when she saw Lilith hugging her from the front. "That was really pretty. You're good at this stuff. You should do me next..." Her tone made it tough to tell when she was being sincere, but Kate heard her sniffle and allowed herself a little private smile. No innuendo intended, and she wouldn't ruin the moment by pointing it out.