Ish? Sometimes. More than most, because I don't really like a lot of American food, and this being as small a town as it is there aren't a lot of options.
[Considering she's from Tokyo, though, most things are small.]
[Inside the basket is a couple of containers of the soup, those little clear plastic take-out tubs, filled. and also a foil wrapped loaf of banana bread, and two thermoses, one labeled tea and the other labeled more tea.]
Honestly I haven't asked Chloe about her family much. It seems like there's some trouble there, and I really don't want to ask her things that'll bring up painful memories.
[Tea is excellent, Max misses having a tea buddy very much. You can bet that's the first thing she goes for.
And the soup.
...And the bread too.
Everything is the first thing she goes for.]
Uh. Yeah. It's... not the best family dynamic, I guess. It used to be.
[But things change often. And sometimes violently.
Max finds herself wanting to talk about it more than she should.]
She has a step-dad who's just... terrible at being a dad. He tries, but...
[She shrugs.]
Saved my life, though. Way back. And I know how much he loves Chloe and her mom. Like he, uh- he...
[He killed someone when he found out what happened to Chloe. Why is she talking so much? God. She stuffs her mouth full of bread before she can say more.]
[Rei takes the other tea thermos and pours herself a cup into the lid while she listens to Max, just letting her go and say whatever it is she needs to say. Chloe had talked about her step-dad already, and the impression Rei got was that he was inept, but unable to connect well with her. Maybe that would change.
Or maybe not and Rei's general opinion of men would be validated. Who knows.
Max's final statement earns a raised eyebrow, and Rei takes a sip of her tea before saying anything.]
[Rei slides a little closer, setting her cup down and reaching out, her palm resting on Max's shoulder.]
He did the right thing.
[And, Rei's voice hardens, her jaw tightening. There's a certain quality to her voice that isn't usually there. Anger, steel, and a special kind of zeal...]
And if someone tries to hurt Chloe when I'm near, I'll make sure the Authority doesn't have anything left to find.
[The distressing thing is she'd been just a hair's breadth away from catching Reaper before the cats got him.]
[If pressed, yes. She would, could, and has. But angry as she might be at Reaper, she has enough control over herself to rein in her temper. She meets Max's stare, the edges in her expression softening a little.]
I am not entirely what I seem, from the outside. Some people know, here, people I trust. I...have powers, gifts, and I'm supposed to protect people who can't defend themselves.
[A pause, and she looks away]
And I'm sorry, I haven't done a terribly good job at protecting Chloe.
[Even as Rei's expression softens, Max continues to stare. Thinking. If Max chose differently back home, a lot of people would have died to save Chloe. And that's what she'd choose now, if she could do it all over again, right?
So Max would kill for Chloe, too.
It bothers her once it's phrased that way in her mind.]
No... don't apologize. [Max is obviously bothered by the turn this conversation has taken. She stares at the food.] I don't blame anyone but Reaper for what happened. [Though she wants to, very much.]
[Max belatedly registers Rei's admission of having powers.] Gifts?
[Rei doesn't say anything. She just holds out an arm, deliberately pointed far away from Max, and wills power into it. A small but very tangible and real ball of flame flickers to life above her palm, growing and twisting into the form of a snake, a bird, a heart, and finally back to a ball.
After a moment, she finally says something in a quiet, nervous voice.]
I'm a pyrokinetic. And an empath. I can feel people's emotions, and control fire.
[And there's so, so much more to her than that, but right now isn't the time. Sharing this bit of herself with Max is absolutely something she can and should do, though.]
[The staring only continues, this time at the flame, even after it settles back into a ball. Max leans away slightly, taken very much by surprise. Rei's admission of being an empath is enough for Max to look directly at the other girl, however.]
You can... feel emotions? Like... now?
[She wonders how much of her own emotions - her constant worry and mild heartbreak over Chloe, her anger at Reaper, her loss and grief and uselessness all rolled into one - Rei can feel.
Max shakes her head. It's a lot to take in. To think Rei was hiding all of this...]
I can feel emotions. Like...smelling, or breathing. It's not something I can stop myself from doing any more than you can stop smelling. It has it's ups and downs...but...it's part of who I am.
[She crushes out the flame then, wisps of smoke curling up around it.]
I know a lot of people don't like that. But I can't read your mind, just...feel what you feel. Sorry.
[Max trails off and shrugs. She takes a sip of her tea once more, seeming to mull everything over. She can't say she's happy about it, but she's also never considered how she feels about an empath reading her emotions before.]
...Is Chloe happy? [The question just kind of drops out of her. She sets her tea down and talks quickly as though trying to explain.] You said you're friends, so I'm sure you guys talk, which means that you know how she feels. Right?
[Well she can't say she didn't expect that question, at least on some level. To her credit, she doesn't balk, instead just looking back at Max with a steady, quiet gaze. Sipping her own tea, she mulls over the question before shaking her head.]
I'm not really the best person to ask that question. You should be asking Chloe. But if you want to know what I've felt?
[Rei takes a breath, trying to think of the right way to explain this.]
With the understanding that I cannot see beyond the surface, what she's feeling at the time? She's the same as you, and the same as me. There are things that make her very happy, like watching movies or playing D&D. And there are times where she's a jumbled mess, and she isn't happy. Like when something reminds her of her father, or when she's lonely.
I feel like she's improving, she's certainly more open than when we met, but she's working through a lot.
[She has asked Chloe... in a lot of different ways. Most of the time in very tangential, not-at-all straightforward ways. And she usually gets an answer that's... not a-okay.
She listens carefully to Rei's explanation, nodding.]
Yeah, she... she's... I guess lonely is a good word. And I'm trying to help with that, it's just...
[Her hands curl up into fists on the table.]
She's already dealing with so much, and then some asshole just decides to...
[She can't quite bring herself to say "kill her", so the sentence hangs unfinished.]
I don't know what to do. What to say if she comes back. I just... want her to be happy.
[Rei stares down at her tea, fingers wrapped around the cup. This is something she was worried about happening, honestly. She didn't want to leave Max without some sort of comfort, but it seemed like this wasn't just because she was dead. There was a kind of tiredness to her that Rei had seen in other people who had been through too much. She'd seen it in her friends from time to time, after a particularly brutal confrontation and it always made her thoughts slam to a screeching halt.
But, she was getting better at peopling, and recovered a little more quickly. She shook her head, and reached a hand out, covering one one Max's fists.]
She will come back. And you being here has been like a ray of sunshine for her. I can feel that, too.
[She looks at Rei's hand on hers. It's a comforting gesture. Or it should be, anyway, and she knows it's made with that intent... but it doesn't really make her feel better.]
You don't know she'll be back. I mean... you don't know it.
[In Wonderland, when Alex died, he never returned like he was supposed to. He left her a completely... inadequate letter. And that was that.
Her closest friend, gone.
But then, there is no good way for a best friend to die on you, is there?
Or to disappear on you, for that matter.
She pulls her hand out from under Rei's and pushes it against her forehead.]
I'm sorry. I'm just upset... and being selfish. [She heaves a sigh.] Has Chloe told you about Arcadia Bay at all?
[Rei makes sure that when she continues to speak, she's absolutely locked her eyes onto Max's so that her conviction carries through. Her violet gaze sparks, a kind of light shining just behind the surface of her iris, and her tone is absolutely confident. She's telling Max only a half truth, but it's one she believes firmly.]
I'm gifted in one other way. I can see glimpses of the future. Chloe will return.
[The tone of her voice and the look she gives Max seems to stick. She looks back for a moment before the corner of her mouth lifts in a tiny but sincere smile.
She doesn't know if she believes Rei. That sounds a little too good to be true. But the huge weight of worrying about Chloe lifts slightly.
She nods and reaches once more for her tea, looking away.]
It's terrible for her. [She sighs.] She needs to be here.
[Because this is the only place where she still is.]
[Oh. Ohhh. There's no real probing behind Rei's line of questioning, Max just assumed there was. And now she's given it away. But... it won't hurt to just talk about Arcadia Bay, right? Not necessarily tell Rei anything big.
And Max told Chloe about a month ago that she'd try to rewind less, so she'll see how this conversation goes before resorting to that.]
...Okay. But I don't even know where to start. [She shrugs. There's still that lingering look of surprise and worry on her face.] It's a seaside town, and quiet most of the time. Just a lot of boats and trucks... a bunch of artsy students up at Blackwell Academy. I studied there for a while.
[She'd appreciate a lack of rewinding, generally, yes. Better to have a conversation in good faith.
Especially something as innocent as this. Naturally ideas have sprouted, but she's sensitive enough to other people's feelings to know when not to pry.]
Blackwell Academy...is a private school? [Chloe hadn't mentioned her schooling, but then Rei didn't really ask.]
She went for art or something, didn't she? And what about you?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2019-01-06 10:10 pm (UTC)Ish? Sometimes. More than most, because I don't really like a lot of American food, and this being as small a town as it is there aren't a lot of options.
[Considering she's from Tokyo, though, most things are small.]
You?
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Date: 2019-01-07 02:52 pm (UTC)[Which is a big difference from actually cooking well. Chloe was much better in that regard.
...The implication being that no, Max hasn't been eating that well.
She finishes setting the table, then sits and starts picking out the best looking stuff from the basket.]
...Did you know Chloe's mom is a cook? She worked at a diner. Best food in town.
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Date: 2019-01-08 04:23 am (UTC)[Inside the basket is a couple of containers of the soup, those little clear plastic take-out tubs, filled. and also a foil wrapped loaf of banana bread, and two thermoses, one labeled tea and the other labeled more tea.]
Honestly I haven't asked Chloe about her family much. It seems like there's some trouble there, and I really don't want to ask her things that'll bring up painful memories.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-08 02:45 pm (UTC)And the soup.
...And the bread too.
Everything is the first thing she goes for.]
Uh. Yeah. It's... not the best family dynamic, I guess. It used to be.
[But things change often. And sometimes violently.
Max finds herself wanting to talk about it more than she should.]
She has a step-dad who's just... terrible at being a dad. He tries, but...
[She shrugs.]
Saved my life, though. Way back. And I know how much he loves Chloe and her mom. Like he, uh- he...
[He killed someone when he found out what happened to Chloe. Why is she talking so much? God. She stuffs her mouth full of bread before she can say more.]
no subject
Date: 2019-01-08 05:24 pm (UTC)Or maybe not and Rei's general opinion of men would be validated. Who knows.
Max's final statement earns a raised eyebrow, and Rei takes a sip of her tea before saying anything.]
He did what?
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Date: 2019-01-09 02:46 pm (UTC)...He shot someone that hurt Chloe.
[Hurt is too small a word, but it will do. Max doesn't look at Rei, instead lifting a cup of tea and drinking it too quickly, burning her tongue.
Then she shakes her head, eyes watering from the heat or something else.]
People are always trying to hurt Chloe.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-10 04:23 am (UTC)He did the right thing.
[And, Rei's voice hardens, her jaw tightening. There's a certain quality to her voice that isn't usually there. Anger, steel, and a special kind of zeal...]
And if someone tries to hurt Chloe when I'm near, I'll make sure the Authority doesn't have anything left to find.
[The distressing thing is she'd been just a hair's breadth away from catching Reaper before the cats got him.]
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Date: 2019-01-10 02:57 pm (UTC)But he... he killed the person.
[She continues to stare at Rei, a little bit scared, a little bit dumbstruck. That's exactly what she's saying, isn't it? She'd kill too.]
How would you...?
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Date: 2019-01-10 03:24 pm (UTC)I am not entirely what I seem, from the outside. Some people know, here, people I trust. I...have powers, gifts, and I'm supposed to protect people who can't defend themselves.
[A pause, and she looks away]
And I'm sorry, I haven't done a terribly good job at protecting Chloe.
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Date: 2019-01-13 02:43 pm (UTC)So Max would kill for Chloe, too.
It bothers her once it's phrased that way in her mind.]
No... don't apologize. [Max is obviously bothered by the turn this conversation has taken. She stares at the food.] I don't blame anyone but Reaper for what happened. [Though she wants to, very much.]
[Max belatedly registers Rei's admission of having powers.] Gifts?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-13 10:11 pm (UTC)After a moment, she finally says something in a quiet, nervous voice.]
I'm a pyrokinetic. And an empath. I can feel people's emotions, and control fire.
[And there's so, so much more to her than that, but right now isn't the time. Sharing this bit of herself with Max is absolutely something she can and should do, though.]
no subject
Date: 2019-01-14 09:59 am (UTC)You can... feel emotions? Like... now?
[She wonders how much of her own emotions - her constant worry and mild heartbreak over Chloe, her anger at Reaper, her loss and grief and uselessness all rolled into one - Rei can feel.
Max shakes her head. It's a lot to take in. To think Rei was hiding all of this...]
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Date: 2019-01-14 10:21 am (UTC)[That gets Rei to look away, suddenly worried.]
I can feel emotions. Like...smelling, or breathing. It's not something I can stop myself from doing any more than you can stop smelling. It has it's ups and downs...but...it's part of who I am.
[She crushes out the flame then, wisps of smoke curling up around it.]
I know a lot of people don't like that. But I can't read your mind, just...feel what you feel. Sorry.
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Date: 2019-01-16 04:44 pm (UTC)[Max trails off and shrugs. She takes a sip of her tea once more, seeming to mull everything over. She can't say she's happy about it, but she's also never considered how she feels about an empath reading her emotions before.]
...Is Chloe happy? [The question just kind of drops out of her. She sets her tea down and talks quickly as though trying to explain.] You said you're friends, so I'm sure you guys talk, which means that you know how she feels. Right?
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Date: 2019-01-16 11:09 pm (UTC)I'm not really the best person to ask that question. You should be asking Chloe. But if you want to know what I've felt?
[Rei takes a breath, trying to think of the right way to explain this.]
With the understanding that I cannot see beyond the surface, what she's feeling at the time? She's the same as you, and the same as me. There are things that make her very happy, like watching movies or playing D&D. And there are times where she's a jumbled mess, and she isn't happy. Like when something reminds her of her father, or when she's lonely.
I feel like she's improving, she's certainly more open than when we met, but she's working through a lot.
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Date: 2019-01-19 03:07 pm (UTC)She listens carefully to Rei's explanation, nodding.]
Yeah, she... she's... I guess lonely is a good word. And I'm trying to help with that, it's just...
[Her hands curl up into fists on the table.]
She's already dealing with so much, and then some asshole just decides to...
[She can't quite bring herself to say "kill her", so the sentence hangs unfinished.]
I don't know what to do. What to say if she comes back. I just... want her to be happy.
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Date: 2019-01-19 04:51 pm (UTC)[Rei stares down at her tea, fingers wrapped around the cup. This is something she was worried about happening, honestly. She didn't want to leave Max without some sort of comfort, but it seemed like this wasn't just because she was dead. There was a kind of tiredness to her that Rei had seen in other people who had been through too much. She'd seen it in her friends from time to time, after a particularly brutal confrontation and it always made her thoughts slam to a screeching halt.
But, she was getting better at peopling, and recovered a little more quickly. She shook her head, and reached a hand out, covering one one Max's fists.]
She will come back. And you being here has been like a ray of sunshine for her. I can feel that, too.
[She sighs.]
All you need to do is just be there for her.
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Date: 2019-01-22 11:19 am (UTC)You don't know she'll be back. I mean... you don't know it.
[In Wonderland, when Alex died, he never returned like he was supposed to. He left her a completely... inadequate letter. And that was that.
Her closest friend, gone.
But then, there is no good way for a best friend to die on you, is there?
Or to disappear on you, for that matter.
She pulls her hand out from under Rei's and pushes it against her forehead.]
I'm sorry. I'm just upset... and being selfish. [She heaves a sigh.] Has Chloe told you about Arcadia Bay at all?
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Date: 2019-01-22 09:54 pm (UTC)[Rei makes sure that when she continues to speak, she's absolutely locked her eyes onto Max's so that her conviction carries through. Her violet gaze sparks, a kind of light shining just behind the surface of her iris, and her tone is absolutely confident. She's telling Max only a half truth, but it's one she believes firmly.]
I'm gifted in one other way. I can see glimpses of the future. Chloe will return.
[As she has foreseen it]
And no, not really. I don't think you're being selfish, just...upset. You have every right.
[Pausing, she shakes her head one more time.]
And no, not really. Other than it's in Oregon, and it gets cold.
you are a huge repository of wonderful gifs/videos... except on fridays
Date: 2019-01-24 12:22 pm (UTC)She doesn't know if she believes Rei. That sounds a little too good to be true. But the huge weight of worrying about Chloe lifts slightly.
She nods and reaches once more for her tea, looking away.]
It's terrible for her. [She sighs.] She needs to be here.
[Because this is the only place where she still is.]
...Please don't tell her I said that.
Guess what tomorrow is?
Date: 2019-01-25 04:59 am (UTC)[Rei rather emphatically taps the table. Chloe's said stuff about the storm...]
She absolutely does.
[And...Rei leans in a little closer.]
And I promise, I won't tell. If you tell me about Arcadia Bay.
son of a
Date: 2019-01-25 01:10 pm (UTC)Wh-what?
[Is Rei being serious? Max stares at her, searching.]
Why?
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Date: 2019-01-25 02:29 pm (UTC)[Jesus...that's not the response she expected.]
Max, if that isn't an innocent enough question...then I'm missing something big. And I won't seriously tell Chloe anything, but...humor me?
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Date: 2019-01-27 04:00 pm (UTC)And Max told Chloe about a month ago that she'd try to rewind less, so she'll see how this conversation goes before resorting to that.]
...Okay. But I don't even know where to start. [She shrugs. There's still that lingering look of surprise and worry on her face.] It's a seaside town, and quiet most of the time. Just a lot of boats and trucks... a bunch of artsy students up at Blackwell Academy. I studied there for a while.
[Years and years ago. She pauses.]
Chloe did too, actually.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-28 01:28 am (UTC)Especially something as innocent as this. Naturally ideas have sprouted, but she's sensitive enough to other people's feelings to know when not to pry.]
Blackwell Academy...is a private school? [Chloe hadn't mentioned her schooling, but then Rei didn't really ask.]
She went for art or something, didn't she? And what about you?
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