cheerybomb | (no subject)

So trade the skateboard for roller skates, maybe? Or are you supposed to avoid fall-risk kinds of things? Like is it a brittle-bones situation?

[She shakes her head almost immediately upon asking] Sorry, I'm prying, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, honest, we'll still find something for you to do.

[Because focusing on finding Max a hobby will keep her from wondering what her mom actually did with her archery kit and even her uniform from back then, not that it would still fit, but she'd probably be able to salvage the badges, if it hadn't been destroyed.]

The doctors said to be extra careful because I could cause reinjury without much effort. So skateboarding's out, at least for now. And -- [She pauses, sighing a little.] Honestly, my balance isn't exactly back to normal either. [She just hasn't mentioned that to anyone before now.]

It's fine. Really.

[She reaches out and takes the book on art from Chrissy.]

What about you, though? If not archery, what do you think you might want to do?

[She nods, actually taking in what Max is saying, and managing to look serious as she goes over the points she's just been given] So what I'm hearing is that you need something low-impact, but that still needs some kind of hand-eye coordination and maybe muscle control to help with the balance.

[She shakes her head then, giving an exaggerated shrug, because the suggestion she's about to make is mostly a joke, but the kind that's still partly serious.] It sounds to me like we're both going to have to take up archery.

[That idea certainly isn't without merit. Bow and arrows might be considered ancient in the world of weapons, but they're weapons none the less. And it's not like she can legally own a gun.]

Would you teach me?

[She smiles, softer than before, but nonetheless pleased that Max is playing along if nothing else.]

I'll have to see if mom just stashed my bow somewhere or if she actually got rid of it, and I'll have to find the range I went to before, see if they're even open anymore.

[A thoughtful sound then, brow creasing a little] Or if we're doing this on weekends we can use the track field at the school. But if you'd like to, yes, I'll be happy to show you what I remember.

If she didn't, I know a place where we can get the equipment.

[She smiles, glancing at the book on painting and remembering her rather pathetic attempts at art when they were all trying to figure out the situation with Vecna. She reluctantly sets the book back on the shelf.]

And I bet Steve would let us set up in his backyard if we wanted.

[It's clear that the gears in her head are turning at that suggestion, the Harringtons are safe enough, despite everything -and despite the fact that her mother definitely has a few barbed opinions about them- but visiting Steve would be a much better excuse than anything she could come up with as far as going to the range again and she nods a moment later] That might work, actually. Don't have to figure out as many lies that way.

[An actual smile follows, looking surprisingly devious for her usually polite almost lack of expression] And if my kit isn't where I think it is, my brother owes me one. Several, actually. If it comes to that I can cash in.

Yep. First rule of lying: keep it simple.

[She might not have to lie as much these days, because Neil and Billy were both gone and her mother just didn't really care that much what she got up to.]

Awesome. [Max beams, proud.]

I'll keep that in mind, since I haven't actually had to lie to her before. Not knowing things when she asks is different.

[Like the few times she's just conveniently not known where her brother is despite knowing that he was getting high with friends.]

I'm not even a good liar anyway.

Wait, really? Not ever?

[Her eyes are wider than usual right now.]

[She shakes her head, teeth scraping at a thumbnail again before doing what she'd done the first time, just curling her fingers over it and letting her sleeve cover her hand] Not once. Obviously when I was younger it was the fear of going to hell for being a lying sinner that kept me in line, and by the time I realized that wasn't likely to happen?

[She shakes her head] By then I was already too old to start practicing, she'd definitely know, and now it's just not worth the firestorm that would follow, and the damage that it would cause anyone 'aiding in my delinquency'. [There's finger quotes, and a wrinkle of her nose, she's trying not to believe it, but it's not as easy as it should be.]

You think she'd come after your friends?

[It isn't really that foreign of a concept for Max. Billy had gone after Lucas and Steve, after all, and for similar reasons. Still. After Vecna, she doesn't have much fear of people anymore.]

Cheer practice went over time by about 45 minutes once, she called the police to report me as a missing person and the cheer coach as a potential kidnapper. [She shakes her head, grimacing faintly] Didn't bother to call the school first to see if we were still there, or even to come by, no, just straight to the police.

[She has to stop herself from gnawing on her thumbnail again] I almost had to finish out this year as homestudy, she wasn't going to let me go back, because of the 'criminal influence', but then dad reminded her it was my senior year and I should get to enjoy it with everyone else.

Jeez.

[She grimaces. She also doubts Hopper had been very happy to get that particular call.]

Okay well we definitely don't want you stuck doing home schooling for the rest of the year. [But frankly the rest of the year wasn't much longer. They'd just have to help her get through it til she could get out of her mom's house.]

It's only a few more weeks, right? [It's what she's been telling herself since spring break, eventful as it was, ended.]

After that we'll see what happens. [She knows she's not about to follow her mother's plan, but knowing what she knows now, she isn't sure she can follow through on her own plan to just buy a bus ticket to Chicago as soon as she turns 18, or after that, just as soon as she graduates.]

Right.

[She hesitates for a moment, considering.]

But...plans are good. And it helps give you something to look forward to.

Well that is true. [She agrees with an almost-solemn nod, managing to keep her expression toned down, though there's amusement in her eyes]

Really I think the hardest part is going to be convincing Steve to let us use his back yard for a range, and I don't think that's going to be so terribly difficult. [She knows where her mom stashes things in the garage, so if her archery kit isn't there, it means it's gone for good, and then it's just a case of cashing in favors her brother owes, which might be tricky, but so is everything these days.]

I can handle Steve. [She sounds very confident about this. She's absolutely certain she can convince Steve to let them use his yard for this.]

[Her brows both lift, because there's no mistaking that confidence] Really? You've got that much pull?

[There's definitely amusement in the question, though no small amount of genuine curiosity also, because while she's reasonably sure she could convince him, given half a chance, if Max is that sure, she's not going to butt in.]

[She's pretty sure about it. Whether she just asks nicely or if she has to threaten to sue him. Listen, when something works, stick with it.]

I mean, yeah, kinda? [And if he still won't give in, she'll sic Dustin on him.]

Well that's better than I've got which is 'we were kind of friends back before middle school'

[A small smile, shaking her head] Honestly I don't know if he even remembers me, except because of, well you know, everything that happened.

What was he like back then?

[Because she's genuinely curious. She's heard some stories from the others, but never really dwelt on it because she hadn't known him then. But she does now. And Steve has -- become somewhat of an older brother figure for her, in the way Billy never wanted to be.]

[She just smiles, shaking her head again] When I say 'kind of friends' I mean our families were friends, or were civil to each other anyway. At the time I was the annoying little kid he had to keep company to keep our parents happy.

[Another head shake] And I don't really know what happened, but when he was starting high school and I was still in middle school, something changed and he became a twerp, and the Harringtons weren't welcome at my parents' parties anymore. I always kind of thought that was the reason.

[She knows the rumors now, and even at the time she'd known that her mother was a judgmental bitch, but it wasn't until Chrissy was in high school herself that her mother gave her any specific warnings about staying away from Steve. Though she has no reason to do so now. Didn't really then, either.]

Oh. [Right. It was kind of like a super exclusive club that Chrissy and Steve's families had been in. Maybe were still in. Except she knows that Chrissy's mom, at least, is awful, and she's not sure Steve's parents actually reside in Hawkins at this point. As long as she's been around, she's never seen or met them, and Steve never talks about them, which, she gets. When you have a terrible family sometimes it's just easier not to talk about it. It's not like anyone can really save you from your life.]

I mean. I heard stories about his twerp days, but. I guess he outgrew that.

He did, apparently getting punched in the face just once, real good, was enough to put him back to rights.

[She shakes her head, looking down at her hands for a moment] I shouldn't say things like that, it's rude. He probably had his reasons, and it wasn't like he was a saint in middle school, either. Though he definitely wasn't as bad as some of them.