Disclaimer: Anything familiar to you, I do not own. This is entirely a work of fan fiction for personal amusement and fulfillment. I make nothing from this and own none of it.
Chapter Fifteen: Pentheus In the Mountains
Rachel shoved the empty can in her hand into a trash bag weighed down by a few rocks. Two for me, Rachel thought, turning back to Max, who was digging another beer from the cooler in the corner. Five for her. Rachel shook her head, smiling at Max's back. Eventually the girl found purchase on a beer and held it up in offering. Carrying the bag with her, Rachel settled on a crate close to the one Max was sitting on, around a slightly shaky folding table. She accepted the drink and popped the tab, watching as Max dug her sixth out.
"Hopefully it won't take Chloe too long to get back with the others," Max said, sitting back up straight, wavering slightly. It may be cheap beer, but it's still beer, Rachel thought, amused to see the drink starting to get to Max. Hope she knows how to slow it down, soon.
"Ah, they'll be back in no time," Rachel said. "There's plenty to drink, it's just some of it will probably be warm. Not much ice." Rachel gestured briefly to a few boxes stacked in the corner, covered beneath an old tarp. "Besides, your big party is tabletop and beer in a junkyard- surprise!" Despite the slight depreciative tone in her voice, Max grinned and raised her can in toast.
"No way, this is pretty cool," Max told her. "I mean, we'd have found a way to make it awesome just the three of us, but Steph and Mikey and some gaming sounds fun." Rachel nodded. "It really does mean a lot to me." I can tell, Rachel thought, trying to suppress the slight roll of her eyes and the smile both. God damn, this girl gets sappy with a buzz. "Thanks for sharing your guys' special spot."
"Max," Rachel said. "It's kinda your spot too, you know? I think knocking out a drug dealer and saving my ass here might buy you a bit of timeshare." Incredibly, Max laughed at the reminder instead of getting upset by it. Rachel relaxed on her crate, wishing they had a few chairs. Max got up. Feeling guiltily amused Rachel watched to see if she was capable of walking a straight line. Okay, at least she's not quite that much of a lightweight, Rachel told herself as Max knelt down beside her, an arm resting across her shoulders. Rachel was going to ask what she was up to when Max brought her camera up.
"Smile." Rachel lifted her own arm and pulled Max in closer, smiling for the camera as the girl bumped against her. There was a brief flash and then Max released her and reached out to take the polaroid by a corner. "Excellent," Max exclaimed. She did not get up from her spot beside Rachel who turned, looking down to watch her as she waited for the camera to finish spitting it out. Max gave it a quick look and then sat it face down on the table without getting up.
"Got a plan for that one?" Rachel asked. Max shook her head. "Could- could I have it?" It was a friendly request, because she wanted a shot of just the two of them. Most of the photos Max took didn't really feature herself. (She apparently felt like people would judge her if she became known for taking 'selfies.') Instead of simply nodding or speaking, Max's grin grew wider and, Rachel felt embarrassed to realize, the girl's cheeks reddened. God damn it, why are you allowed to be so cute? There are laws in this country, you know.
"Sure," Max said, before she got back up. "Better let it sit like that for a few minutes," she advised. The smile didn't vanish from her face. Rachel felt her cheeks warm as she took a drink. Oh well, I guess it makes us both happy, then. "Smoke break," the photographer asked as she put her sweatshirt aside and opened her messenger bag. "You want?"
"Yes ma'am," Rachel said, hoping that a blunt (Max didn't smoke cigarettes) would distract them both from beer. It was not even ten in the morning and there was a lot of necromancer hunting ahead of them. Max pulled a rolled joint from her bag and then slid her beer aside to let her dig through her bag on the table. I actually don't have a lighter on me, Rachel thought, frowning. She usually kept one just in case Chloe or Max lost theirs. "I guess you don't really use that for general anxiety anymore?"
"Not really," Max said quietly as she pulled a lighter out. "I mean, sometimes it still gets bad. It also helps after really bad days where the school just freaks me out, though." Oh right, something about the school 'freaks her out.' That was another one of those mysteries that Max was made up of. Then again, a lot of people talked in whispers like they thought that she, Rachel, was mysterious, too. In reality, she thought, she was fairly normal and it took putting on a hard to read face and being friendly to make people whisper about you, apparently. I mean I guess that makes sense, Rachel accepted the first hit. Hot, burning smoke poured down her throat, into her chest. Max is always putting on faces… even for Chloe. Maybe she and I have more in common than I thought. The thought was unappealing, considering the day ahead of them. "I still like the stuff for fun, though."
"I noticed," Rachel exhaled, letting the smoke escape and waft up toward the sky. "Not that I can blame you." Awful skunky, she thought. She leaned forward and untied her shoes, intent on at least getting comfortable while they were in the shed. "What do you think we should do about David?" Rachel asked Max, who was still holding in her first hit. "I mean there's always the Nair tactic again." Max exhaled.
"Nah," Max told her, waving a hand dismissively before passing her the joint. "Look, first off, even if you can make sure Chloe doesn't fuck up and use the wrong shampoo, there's no promise for Joyce." Rachel scoffed but Max was right. Dammit.
"What about David's mustache?. You know he waxes that thing." Max laughed into the can at her lips. Taken by surprise a bit of beer spilled down the girl's chin.
"Shit," Max exclaimed, unable to keep from laughing. She put the can down and with her unoccupied hand wiped beer from her chin and throat. Rachel smiled at her, shaking her head. "Look, I get it, and that's a good idea and all, but Chloe has to come up with this one herself. David's her problem. It's up to her to deal with his ass." Rachel opened her mouth to protest. "Wait, listen. No, we definitely help her. Just, I think unilateral decisions would be a bad choice on that front." Max took a hit. We'll be through that thing in no time at this rate. Oh well, might as well get high as shit.
"I guess," Rachel said. "That makes sense. It's her he's giving shit to. But I am gonna keep bothering her until she comes up with something." Once she had accepted and taken yet another hit, Rachel reached out and tilted the photograph face down on the table in front of her upward. It was beginning to develop pretty well, after all.
"That should be fine," Max said, breathy as smoke escaped her. "To go in a pocket or somewhere dark for a bit." Rachel let herself examine it just briefly, starting to feel the slightest bit lightheaded. The two girls in the photo were smiling, genuinely happy and looked so comfortable beside each other. It was an odd slice of their lives, their interactions, their personalities, but no less legitimate. I think I get what Max likes about this shit, she said to herself as she slid the photo into her pocket. It's really like cutting a small chunk out of life and looking at it. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Rachel told her, smiling more brightly. "I think so." For the next few minutes they bounced ideas off of one another for ways to suggest how to handle David, but in the end it kept coming back to minor acts of vandalism which would annoy him and that wasn't what they needed. Though neither wanted to say it, Rachel figured they both had come to the same conclusion: David was a lot harder of a person to get revenge on than Nathan Prescott. He had actual power over not only them but someone they both cared a lot about. Eventually Max leaned over and retrieved her sweatshirt, as if she were cool. Rachel noted she had yet to open her seventh beer, which was probably for the best.
"Well, shit," Max looked down at what was left of the blunt, a bit of paper and ash. Discarding the remains she pulled her sweatshirt on. For a moment, the girl's tee rose up just slightly, and Rachel looked down, instantly self-aware of the reaction. She decided to finish off the beer in front of her, ready to take a break from thinking too deeply. If Chloe's gone much longer, she thought, distracting herself. I'm gonna call and make sure she hasn't had some sort of wreck.
"So uh," Rachel started, when Max was done. "You might want to make sure to grab more than one blanket tonight," she gestured to a pile of blankets stacked in one corner of the shed. "It'll probably get a bit cold out here at night." Max turned, making an appraising face at the pile.
"I dunno, the cold never bothered me anyway." For a moment, Max turned back to the table and started to raise the can to her lips, then, snorting, she sat it down. Rachel raised an eyebrow at her. Her words slurring slightly, Max spoke again, half-singing. She began to rock on the crate, turning slightly as if dancing. "Let it go, let it go! Can't hold it back anymore! Let it go, let it go!"
"What are you even singing?" Rachel asked her, shaking her head more emphatically. Goofy fucker.
"Oh," Max said, getting quiet. For a second, she looked confused, then concerned and then, snorting, she burst into laughter again. Yeah, okay, she's had plenty for the morning. Of everything. "Oops! Don't worry about it." For a moment, the photographer, her face red, her eyes sparkling, looked like she was going to finally regain control, fists literally curled against laughter. "But you're gonna love it," Max said, before her urge to sing overtook her. "Let the storm rage on! The cold never bothered me anyway!"
"What in the hell are you talking about?" Rachel asked, unable to resisting breaking into laughter as she watched Max make wide, grandiose gestures from her seat as she sang. Max waved her hand as if to say not to worry about it, yet again, but she could not keep a straight face. Rachel found she couldn't, either. In this way they fed into each other's' laughter until a voice suddenly made Rachel turn. Eyes watering still, she tried to catch her breath as she saw first Chloe and then Mikey and Steph enter their little hideout.
"Jesus, you two, I was gone for maybe half an hour!" Max laughed louder and Rachel couldn't resist. It was infectious. She did too.
"They've been in the good stuff," Steph muttered, shaking her head at them. Chloe gestured toward the cooler and Steph stepped around Max, patting the girl on the shoulder once as both Rachel and the photographer tried to cool down. Mikey sat down opposite of Rachel in a bright orange tee, bearing the phrase 'Arcadia Bae.' Somehow, even that was funny enough to cause Rachel to lose the control she had regained. Feeling lightheaded, she leaned forward, gulping a heaving breath as she heard Max lose her cool to her right.
"Dear lord," Chloe said, moving to wrap Rachel in a hug from behind. "You two are fuckin' trouble, you know that?" Chloe asked her, close to her ear. Rachel grasped Chloe's hands as they met rested just above her stomach. She did not quite stop giggling.
"Takes one to know one," Max retorted around snorts.
"Yeah, yeah," Chloe told her. "I see how it is. Steph, beer me please." Rachel eventually managed to calm down, by which point Steph was teasing Mikey, asserting he would not know "the good stuff" if he inhaled it. Mikey admitted he wouldn't, but he was fine just sticking to beer. Max was coming back to her senses, to a degree, breathing naturally when Steph finally turned to her and greeted her properly.
"Hey there, birthday girl." Even inebriated, Rachel heard the tone in Steph's voice and rolled her eyes at Chloe. I kinda hope she just gets it over with and says something to her soon, Rachel thought to herself, unsure why Steph's crush might make her uncomfortable. Max accepted a quick, one armed hug from Steph, who sat down on the other side of her. Chloe was looking curiously at Rachel when Rachel pulled her eyes away.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked her, confused by how serious Chloe's face was, suddenly.
"Nothing," Chloe said, before apparently deciding to catch up with Rachel and Max, draining her beer in one go. "Alright, fuck it," Chloe said, her mood apparently not very improved. What was that about? "Who wants to whoop some skeleton and/or necromancer behind?"
"I'm down," Rachel replied, leaning forward as Chloe slowly scooted her crate closer to her. That's a good sign, I guess. She still frowned. They both did.
"Let's do it," Mikey agreed, pushing his glasses up the ridge of his nose.
"I don't carrot all," Max said, before snorting. Rachel placed her face in her hands. Chloe sighed, loudly and asked Mikey to pass her another beer and get started on one for himself while he was at it.
"How high are you two?" Steph asked, amused but clearly a little concerned. "And do you have your dice?"
"I'm a rocket, man," Max replied. Chloe groaned, loudly.
"Wait," Rachel said as she retrieved her and Chloe's bags from a small shelf above their stash of blankets. "Why didn't I hear the truck when you all pulled up?"
"Honey," Steph responded, "You two wouldn't have heard the fucking apocalypse over each other." Rachel figured that was a fair response. Max plopped her own bag down on the table and dug out her character sheet.
"Plus," Chloe said, clearly still not over whatever was bothering her a moment before, "we parked a ways out so we walked here." Rachel nodded.
"Good idea."
"I'm aware," Chloe responded, examining her nails as she made a proud face. Rachel pecked her cheek as she sat back down.
"Then let's do this," Steph said, by way of calling them to order. It only took a moment or two for people, even those as far gone as Max still was, to pull out their most commonly used dice and open the folders they kept their character sheets in. The wind wasn't blowing too badly, so there was no risk of anything getting blown away or around. Putting aside the momentary awkwardness which she couldn't exactly identify, the day had already started out pretty well. Steph, setting aside the drink she would probably be nursing for an hour, unfolded what at first looked like just another folder. Instead it was her game master's screen, mostly to shield roles and sheets she might be looking at to keep players surprised.
Without meaning to, Rachel leaned sideways toward Chloe. She received a soft bump on her shoulder in acknowledgement as Chloe leaned in toward her. Within the walls of this little structure the rusty chaos of the junkyard wasn't visible. Considering that the little wildlife there was in the area seemed to be feeling very calm at the moment, it was peaceful. Then again, for obvious reasons, Rachel was feeling rather chill herself. She caught herself laughing at the bump. Max was squinting down at her sheet, as if trying to remember why she was down so many hitpoints. Rachel didn't want to be the one to remind her that her disastrous attempt at heroics was why they were at risk of once again once again the unwitting guests of an angry necromancer.
"Very well," Steph started after shuffling through papers behind the screen for a minute or two. "When last we left off, Che had just healed Jule, ending the round and putting him back on his feet. Unfortunately, you aren't done yet. The abandoned great hall was even less abandoned than expected." Thought so, Rachel told herself. No good reason for her not to end combat before ending last session. Rachel glanced down at her sheet, looking at a couple of small marks made in very light pencil. I've only got one combat spell left. "It starts first as the familiar clinking, cracking dragging noise."
"Please, no more armored skeletons," Mikey practically begged. "I'd rather have the shades!"
"Be careful what you wish for. Any transformations left?" Max asked him, sounding hopeful.
"One," he muttered. "Depending on how big this wave is, I might burn through it before we're done." Rachel watched Steph, as she often did during these conversations. Steph acted as if she was looking down at her notes or at a copy of the monster's manual, studying the creatures approaching them. The small smirk forming on her face told another story completely. When she had given everyone a moment or two to converse, Steph continued to describe the approach of their foes. It seems she did not have miniatures related to these particular skeletons which did suggest that that Mikey's fears were justified. He takes it a little seriously in some ways but he does get his fun out of it.
That is what they did for the next few hours, sought to get their fun out of dice, paper, numbers and their own imagination. That wasn't to discount the addition of herb and drink, of course but Rachel found those supplementary at best. She kept herself from getting to the point of overwhelming giggling and laughter but, by the time the light was too low for them to continue rolling dice she found herself a little more free with their rapidly dwindling beer supplies. The biggest downside to this setup instead of doing it at, say, Steph's, was the lack of a refrigerator.
In this way Rachel found herself holding a warm beer as she sat at Chloe's side around a campfire. Obscured from view of the road or the railroad by the ruined shells of cars and other large pieces of junk, this small fire was doing pretty well about warming them up against the cooling night. Max was still wrapped up beneath a blanket next to the fire, a bit exaggeratedly. She wasn't singing any nonsensical songs about not being annoyed by the cold anymore, though. Nor was she drinking. Rachel turned her eyes from Max to Steph, another curiosity that night.
Interspersed through their little gatherings, there were small moments in discussions when, obvious to everyone it seemed but Max, Steph dropped little hints of her interest. Other than the greeting that morning, that had been conspicuously absent all day and remained so. It wasn't that the girl was any less friendly or anything, she simply seemed to have given up. Maybe she decided Max wasn't being oblivious and just had no interest. Or maybe she's just tired of trying. I can understand it. At one point an arm came down on either Chloe or Rachel's shoulders without warning and when they each turned back, Max knelt down behind them.
"Hey," she said. Rachel grinned. "Thanks, you two, for setting all this up." Max seemed to be coming back to herself more completely. After a moment the girl stepped away from them and moved to sit beside Mikey, who was flipping through the sketchbook Chloe had dedicated specifically to designing the pieces of the sleeve she wanted done. Right, Max was wanting to get her hands on it. Rachel watched Chloe's eyes stare almost anxiously at the two of them for a few seconds, then she shook her head and turned back toward the fire. Chloe's still worried about the dreams.
"Everything's gonna be alright," she told Chloe, who looked back up. Chloe nodded in response but otherwise did not look too convinced.
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