Another chapter, with probably more to come
I do not own Life is Strange, nor any of its Affiliates
It was as though the storm between Max and Victoria had finally dispersed; there was no threat of rain, nor sleet or hail, only the rare comment in passing (and even those seemed more good-natured). Taylor had noticed, though she hadn't said anything. She still viewed Max with a sort of muted disdain, but no longer did she humor Victoria with her own disparaging remarks. Some of Blackwell's more popular students had even acknowledged the flighty 'hipster' with transient Hellos and Yo's as she left the girls' dormitory on a fresh Wednesday morning.
Everything's coming up Millhouse, Max thought as she made her way towards the academy proper. She passed Kate with a polite, "Good morning," and the blonde gave a nice, christianly smile and returned the greeting. The ground beneath Max's pendulating feet seemed softer somehow, and she felt open and pleasant as the clear blue sky above. Her thoughts roamed from Chloe's distant troubles, to Warren's most recent, persistent advances, before settling on the night she had shared with Victoria Chase.
Discounting the peck she landed on Chloe, the kiss she shared with Victoria had been her first real foray into discovering more about her sexuality. She imagined Warren in Victoria's position, and shuddered a bit at the prospect; never had she entertained, even in passing, that romantic avenue. But the cat had been leased from the metaphorical bag, and Max Caulfield knew that she would have to do some serious self-exploration in the days and weeks to come.
As Max rounded the corner, she found herself, unexpectedly, looking at the back of Victoria Chase's head as the older girl made her way toward her early classes; she was, perhaps, twenty to thirty feet away, coffee in hand as she moved along, unwitting of Max's voyeuristic presence. With some hesitation, Max's eyes shifted from her classmate's hair, to her shoulders, to her back, to her hips, watching the space between them with something approaching mild interest. She hadn't had an opportunity to really have a heart-to-heart with Victoria since the night of the Vortex Club party; did she consider it to be a drunken mistake? Or was she attracted to Max, something she had hidden that came to light when her inhibitions were loosened. It was all so confusing. Nursing a small headache, Max decided to file the question away for later inspection.
"Hey, Victoria!" the words came unbidden before Max had even thought to say them. Victoria rotated in place, walking backwards. Her features from such a distance were unreadable, but Max thought she read hints of something before the blonde brought her coffee cup to her heart-shaped lips. A bit surprisingly, she stopped in place. Max had half-expected her to turn and continue walking, but she was pleased she hadn't. Bridging the gap between them, Max arrived, finally, in front of the older girl, and removed her camera from her bag. Leveling it with her face, she took a picture of Victoria's displeased expression.
"Shouldn't you be aiming that at yourself?" she snidely remarked. "Anyway, don't jill yourself too much to that picture, wouldn't want it getting soggy." Her hand found her hip as she balanced her weight on one leg, casting an expectant look at Max who blanched at the comment, blinking.
"Good to see you too," Max replied, "You look nice."
And she did, wearing a crimson sweater vest, pinstripe red dress shirt, tight khakis, and a pearl necklace. She was better dressed than Max, who donned a grey hoodie overtop a light blue shirt emblazoned with three small chicklets. Max shook the polaroid in her hand, waiting for it to develop. When the colors coagulated and the picture corporealized, Victoria sidled up to Max, looking over her shoulder. She could feel the blonde's breath on her neck; it was a nice sensation, one that Max savoured. For just a moment too long, they stood like that, neither daring to speak. And then Victoria broke the silence as she moved away.
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Max felt heat rise to her cheeks, dusted with the softest shade of pink.
"You know the project Mr. Jefferson assigned us? The one about capturing an aspect of another person? Well, you know how he has that creepy innocence fetish right? - how he's always going on and on about capturing vulnerability in its purest form, and all that? Well, taking into consideration all the blown up pics of his scattered around campus - you know, the ones with vulnerable girls in various states of undress - I thought I'd do something similar. And count yourself fucking honored, because I want to do you," Victoria stammered, "Ph-photograph you."
"You want to take pictures of me?"
"Then we can count ourselves even, seeing that you snapped that non consensual pic of me earlier. Just say yes, selfie hoe, maybe you can take pictures of me too if you can think up an aspect you'd like me to realize."
Max had played with the idea of doing Mr. Jefferson's project with Victoria, but now that the opportunity had fallen straight into her lap - to not only complete said project, but have time alone with the other girl - she knew her answer was a resounding:
"Absolutely."
"I knew you'd say yes. Meet me after class, at around, say, four o'clock? In my dorm, not yours. If your dress sense is anything to go by, your room must be a mess. Later," Victoria said, a cattish smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. And just like that, she was gone, walking off in the direction of Blackwell's main buildings. Max did a silent fist pump, grinning wildly at nothing in particular.
Max's classes felt their agonizing length, each passing one after the other as the clock approached four o'clock. She knew that glancing at its hands would only serve to slow them but she couldn't help herself: she was just too damn excited. It surprised her slightly; despite Victoria's inherent disrespect for her, she wanted to hear the other girl's voice again. Now that she knew that the blonde's attitude towards her was just a defense mechanism (or so she believed), Max contented herself with letting the comments slide.
The final class let out with a chiming bell, as students made their way single and double file through the open door. Max gathered her things and left down the hallway, a spring in her sprightly step. She wondered, briefly, what aspect she should have Victoria display. Disgust immediately came to mind, but she considered it rude to bring up. Surprise, perhaps? Or anger? Anger seemed befitting the blonde.
As Max cut a swathe across campus, she spotted Warren out of the corner of her eye; he simultaneously noticed her. With an inward groan, she continued to walk, disregarding his approach. It was only when he chimed a spirited "Maxine!" did she give him any attention at all, still walking. "Hey Max, how'd your day go?" The question was simple enough to warrant a simple answer:
"It went well, how about yours?"
"My day was tops. Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you about something. I downloaded a whole bunch of spaghetti westerns, the Clint Eastwood collection: really solid stuff. Ennio Morricone is a great conductor. Anyway, I wanted to know if you'd like the USB? And if you'd maybe," Warren laughed, "Want to watch one with me? Are you busy tonight?"
It was all Max could do from not scowling, but she replied, "I actually am doing something, sorry. I'm working on a project for photography class with Victoria."
"- Chase? That Victoria?"
"That Victoria."
Warren seemed more than a bit taken aback, but eventually conceded with a nod. He gave a half-hearted, "Later," and walked in his own direction, leaving Max to enjoy his absence as she continued towards the girl's dormitory. She entered, went up the stairwell, and out into the hallway; it was empty, save for herself. Max turned towards her room, noting her marked whiteboard, which read: "Don't forget: 4 o'clock." She smiled a bit, opening her door. Victoria was right, the inside of her room was a mess. Regardless, she found and changed into a thin white tank top and grey sweatpants: her evening attire.
The clock on her bedside table blinked out 3:54 as she went out into the hallway again, walking a bit before arriving at Victoria's room. She leveled her closed fist to her chest, went to knock, and stopped. Wary over her own hesitation, her mind began to wander anew. Was this project Victoria's way of getting them alone together? Or was it without motive? Steeling her resolve, Max knocked twice, knock knock, and waited.
A moment passed sheepishly by, and just as Max was about to knock again, the door swung softly open to reveal Victoria; she had ditched her sweater vest and necklace, and had unbuttoned the top three buttons of her dress shirt, its sleeves rolled back to reveal a silver bracelet. She scanned Max from top to bottom, before she stated:
"You look adequate. Come in."
Max could take 'adequate', and obliged Victoria, entering her room; it was exactly as she remembered it being: clean, and all the more spacious for it. Mykonos by the Fleet Foxes played over an unseen stereo, and Max fondly followed the words, humming. And you will go to Mykonos, with a vision of a gentle coast, and a sun to maybe dissipate, shadows of the mess you made. It created a relaxed atmosphere Max could appreciate.
"So, uh, how was your day?" Victoria began. Max guessed that she wasn't fond of smalltalk, and received confirmation. "Actually nevermind, let's just get to work. The aspect of you I'd like to capture is your innocence, though you may have already guessed as much. There's something pure about you, like you're still a little girl and not yet a woman, no offense."
Max had never imagined Victoria would say the words, "No offense."
"I want to take a picture of you on the bed and-"
"Hold up, before we begin, I want to hear you say that you have no intentions of blackmailing me with any of the pictures you're about to take," Max interjected. "They're solely for the project we're working on, and nothing else." The thought had occurred to her that Victoria planned to use the picture's she'd take as some brand of leverage, and was not about to continue without verbal confirmation to the contrary.
"I solemnly swear that I'm not up to no good."
"That's all I wanted to hear," Max replied, smiling.
"Now get on the bed." Victoria paused, "Actually…" Moving toward the bed itself, she pushed up the pillows and tore back the comforter, revealing the sheets beneath. "If you wouldn't mind getting underneath, that'd be super. I want a, 'just-woke-up' kind of look to the shot, like you're disconnected from the rest of the world."
Max humored Victoria, appealing to the blonde as she sat on her bed and lifted her feet, digging them beneath the sheets, which she pulled up against her midriff. Victoria moved forward, catching Max off guard as she ran a hand through the younger girl's brown hair to muss it up. Wanting to help her 'friend' reach her artistic vision, Max complied, ever so slightly pressing herself against Victoria's open palm. Her hand lingered a moment, then was withdrawn and placed on the body of an expensive looking digital camera.
With one fluid movement, Victoria raised said camera, and SNAP, a flash of light illuminated Max's face. She briefly wondered why Victoria hadn't taken more time to frame the shot. Maybe that wasn't her style of doing things? The blonde sighed, shaking her head, then said in a displeased tone of voice:
"No, that's not good enough. Turn that way," Victoria prompted, motioning towards the closed door. Max did as she was bid, turning 'that way'. "Good." Another SNAP, then another. SNAP SNAP. "You're pretty photogenic Max, I can see why you love the selfie so much." SNAP. "But there's something missing. Something important. And I know exactly what it is." Victoria knelt on the side of the bed, letting her camera fall to her side as she pinched the strap of Max's tank top, drawing it down to lay limp over her bare shoulder. Victoria righted herself, then took one last photograph. SNAP.
"You're blushing," Victoria grinned.
"You're blushing," Max replied, avoiding the blonde's gaze. Victoria sat on the bed beside Max, taking the tank top strap between her fingers. Instead of replacing it on her shoulder, she played with the fabric between her fingers. Max studied the wall, her blush blooming. A Bright Eyes song, Poison Oak, began to play. "You have good taste in music," Max was planning to say, before she felt a pair of lips against the crook of her bared neck. The words turned to a sigh in her mouth, the sensation alarming and oh so… so… right.
Victoria nipped and bit, breathed her hot breath against Max's pale skin. She planted tender kisses down to her shoulder, then returned to her neck again, focusing her ministrations on one tender area. Max turned her head, wanting the moment to be trapped in amber, forever. The sensation of Victoria tugging at her body - the feel of her incisors drawing small pink trails - was too good to last as she pulled away, grinning.
"You really are innocent," Victoria whispered, taking Max's chin and, very softly, pulling it right, to face her. Max's blue eyes met Victoria's as the latter leaned forwards, not quite kissing her. They were millimeters away, savoring each other's exhalations. Victoria reached up, running a hand through Max's hair again, before clenching her fist and pulling back. Max gasped as Victoria buried herself in Max's neck again, biting just hard enough to elicit another, more ragged, gasp.
"Ah!" Max yelped, half in pain, half in pleasure. Victoria withdrew.
"To mark you as my property," she explained.
Max felt the place Victoria had bitten, right over her pulse point. She had no doubt the spot would turn red and bruise purple, leaving a terrible hickey. For once, using her rewind powers didn't occur to her at all. She inwardly cursed Victoria, than outwardly cursed her, or was going to until her lips were otherwise occupied by the blonde's. Victoria withdrew once more and - a lessening thread of saliva between them - shoved Max backwards as she climbed on top of the younger girl.
"Let's make one thing clear, Max. You're mine. If I see you getting too friendly with that blue-haired druggie what's-her-name, I'll leave more than just a mark next time."
Max could tell by her tone that she meant it. A thrill ran up her spine and she quivered beneath Victoria, giving an imperceptible nod. She hadn't expected the blonde to be so possessive, but she decided that she kind of liked it. Submission came easily to Max, and dominance to Victoria. Their sexual compatibility thrummed, electric between them. Victoria dismounted Max, then pointed to the door.
"Now get the fuck out of my room."
Hope you enjoyed this last chapter! There's more to come! Reviews are very, very appreciated ;)