[Week 2, Monday: Max]

[purrtagonist]

[just like last week, Akira approaches with his specially brewed coffee made out of stolen beans from Wildkat in hand! for the record, he made this ~super stealthily~ in the McDonald's bathroom so no one would see him at work and question his entry fee. just saying]

[he holds the drink out to Max and starts things off with a simple question]

Want to go see a movie?

Comments

[concertmaster]

[thats the funniest thing i ever read. max makes grabby hands for the coffee because he is a Child and he Needs It.

o rite a question]

... It's going to be kinda hard to do your whole questioning routine in the middle of a movie, isn't it?

[purrtagonist]

[please picture Joker making coffee in a McDonald's bathroom. thanks. also he should feel bad for getting a child addicted to gourmet coffee, and yet!!]

We can wait until after. [oh] I'll even sneak you into a PG12 rated film, like a good bad influence.

[concertmaster]

Yeah, as a kid living in a technologically advanced world, I've never seen any movie or show with a rating higher than my age.

[joker. please.]

[purrtagonist]

[listen, he knows, he sneaked into PG12 rated movies at age 10 too, but listen]

I'm trying to be nice and you're being snarky at me. Does that mean you don't want my recommendations?

[concertmaster]

[he illegally downloaded them, akira, be realistic,]

Recommendation for what? All Hollywood movies have the same basic formula.

[please don't let him start another #anarchy comment]

[purrtagonist]

[but he likes it when Max gets all #anarchy on him]

[but he isn't going to engage this time and is just. going to drop his recommendations anyway]

The Cake Knight Rises. A classic, heart-wrenching tale of revenge.

Alternatively, if you like explosions, Admission Impossible.

[concertmaster]

Of course I like explosions. I'm a ten year old kid with anger issues.

[a beat]

Dissatisfaction issues? Whatever. I didn't go to a therapist, alright, I just died.

[purrtagonist]

[welp, Admission Impossible it is. turning on his heel to head to the theater!]

There are so many explosions in this movie it'd but Michael Bay to shame.

[a beat]

Movies aren't therapists, but it might help anyway. An hour isn't a long enough vacation.

[concertmaster]

You're telling me.

[.... but he actually follows. i guess they'll see a movie together, fine!!!]

I helped a guy play therapist for another kid once. He got stabbed in the hand.

[this isn't the backstory you wanted]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS HIS BACKSTORY FOR THE WEEK???]

Ah. Hm.

Well, let's not do that.

At all.

[concertmaster]

I didn't stab the guy. Calm down. I did learn a valuable lesson though. Sometimes you just gotta hit a kid.

[hm.]

Hey, get some of that free overpriced popcorn.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . uuuuuh]

No. That's not a valuable lesson at all. Don't hit any kids.

[but he's obliging and grabbing some of that free overpriced popcorn, along with some free overpriced milk duds. no sodas, tho. they have coffee]

[concertmaster]

It worked, though. Totally changed that kid's entire attitude. [...] Okay, mildly changed it, but that was a fucking improvement. [Max stands on his tippy-toes to try to look over the counter at all the things] Oh, sweet. Remind me to loot this place when we're out.

[purrtagonist]

. . . obviously, the kid shouldn't have been stabbing anyone. But defaulting to violence as a means to solve problems is bad.

[handing him the box of milk duds]

Sure, but only if you steal some Sour Patch Kids for me when you do.

[concertmaster]

Yeah, that's what David kept trying to say too, but he's the one who slapped some sense into the kid. Hitting children totally worked where everything else failed. Lesson learned!

[he shoves the milk duds in his hoodie, because Of Course]

Can't you steal them yourself? Phantom Thief and all that.

[purrtagonist]

[suddenly unsure if David is the good friendly influence he thought Max needed?? heading to the Admission Impossible theater, though!![

Of course, but not after we move locations.

[a beat]

Unless you meant you wanted to raid the concession stand when the movie was over.

[I mean, in that case, Akira's totally gonna help]

[concertmaster]

[#hecouldbeworse]

Yeah, after the movie. I'm not going to wait two weeks to get the candy I want now. I am just a kid after all.

[he uses that to justify a lot of things, doesn't he.]

[purrtagonist]

You sure do use that as an excuse to justify things, don't you?

[empty theater means perfect seats, NOT TOO CLOSE AND NOT TOO FAR AWAY]

[concertmaster]

I'm permanently a kid and I already had to point that shit out to people back when I wasn't. It's shorter than saying "I'm world-weary, but inexperienced."

[another good thing from empty theaters is with no one in front of him max won't need a booster seat :/]

[purrtagonist]

[for some reason, that answer gets a weary smile from Akira. because hasn't he pegged Max as the kind of kid who was forced to grow up too quickly? and they have a few minutes until the feature starts, they're still watching advertisements and previews right now, so. . .]

When you put it like that, it's a fair excuse.

[. . .]

[shovels some popcorn into his mouth]

I was 16 when my parents shipped me off to Tokyo by myself. [ah] Older than you, but I was gone for nearly a year.

They never called.

[concertmaster]

[talking about shitty parents is max's real weakness, why would do this to him. he slouches a bit in his seat, shoving himself further in his hoodie.]

... Yeah. It sucks.

[he actually sounds like he's trying to be comforting when he next adds:]

But you had all those Phantom Thieves and that, uh, coffee guy, right? So. That's something.

[purrtagonist]

Yeah.

[it sucks. no doubt. even now, even after finding a place that actually felt like home for the first time in sixteen years, thinking back on it stings a bit. idly, he tilts the popcorn bowl towards Max in case he wants some]

So I understand "world-weary but inexperienced."

[even if Akira isn't naive and is more experienced in general, he's still a kid, too]

I was pretty lucky to fall into the Phantom Thieves. Lucky that Boss eventually warmed up to me enough to call me family. Without them, I don't know where I'd be.

[miserable and lonely, probably]

. . . I know you said you never had anything like that when you were alive. But you never told me if you found it after death.

[concertmaster]

[Max grabs some popcorn, but only play with it idly instead of eating it.]

... Not really.

[he starts tearing off bits off of one kernel without looking at Akira]

I dunno. Maybe-- maybe camp could've been that for me. It was a shitty place run by a megalomaniac that only ever cared about making money and not being caught by the feds, but. Some of the other kids weren't bad. [he chucks off the pieces into the empty seats in front of them.] David and Gwen were okay sometimes too. The counselors. [he's mentioned david before, but not gwen, so.]

After-- After... [he trails off] Well, anyway, at some point, David even spouted out bullshit like how I deserved to be happy, and he hoped I could be at camp someday. Can you believe that?

[he shrugs it off]

But then I died. So.

[purrtagonist]

[the broken pieces of popcorn bounce off the seats and onto the ground. Akira watches them, heart twisting against his ribs]

David was right. You deserve to be happy. Back then, and right now.

[mmmmm]

But if you actually thought camp could have been they place for you. . . then why did you really not take your second chance after your first Reaper's Game?

[Makoto mentioned something about Max making a mistake in his last game. this is what Akira is prodding at, because he isn't sure he buys Max's given reasons for declining it]

[concertmaster]

[his face shuts down and he shrugs]

It's fucking summer camp. It wasn't gonna last.

[but it might not be the full story, considering how quick he is to change the subject:]

Are you the kind of asshole who talks the whole movie? 'Cause we could've done that outside.