The Perk [Sunday afternoon]`

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Not having kids or your own, Max was finding, made weekends like this especially amusing. Max could sit in the Perk, grab himself some coffee, watch the chaos outside, and smirk about it. Watching people flail may not have been very nice, but it was more than a little fun.

Of course it may have been foolish for him to forget the simple fact that being amused at someone else's Fandom misfortune was a great way to get some of your own, but... he'd been lucky so far this weekend, why not just assume that would hold true for the remainder?

[Open perk is open.]

Comments

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth had been totally abusing her powers to teleport to bounce around Fandom, exploring the place where she would go to school in a few years. Because where else would she go?

She popped into the Perk in a burst of black smoke and looked around to see who was there. "Uncle Max!" she squealed.

Somewhere, Raven was getting the strangest sense of oh hell no.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max blinked. On the one hand: what? On the other hand: he found that bit of enthusiasm endearing in spite of himself.

"Hello there, little one," he said a bit hesitantly. Then he tossed in a smile to show her that he was harmless. Very harmless!

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

Of course he was harmless, he was Uncle Max!

"Hi can I have a hot chocolate with whipped cream?" Elizabeth asked. "With sprinkles?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Sure thing, honey." Max stood up and walked over to the counter.

"Anything else?" What? It's not like Max had ever been able to resist a request from a cute girl. And apparently that was true even if that girl was wee. Max supposed that must make it more adorable or something...

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"A cookie!" Elizabeth said. Oh, she totally knew Max was a pushover and wasn't afraid to abuse it.

[bootlessjane.livejournal.com]

Jane certainly had noticed that there seemed to be an influx of wee little children on the island, but, being wonderfully unaware, she figured it was some sort of special event for visiting siblings that she just hadn't noticed. It did give the place a very fun sort of air, though, to her, to see such a youthful energy going about. She decided to take a little stroll and enjoy it, and to stop at the cafe for a little cup of coffee as well.

She smiled at Max and gave him a nod when she spotted him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Max," she said. "How are you today?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Miss Porter," Max declared with a pleased smile as he stood up to offer her a little bow. "My day, which was already quite nice, is much improved by your presence in it."

Over the top? Maybe.

[bootlessjane.livejournal.com]

"Why, Mr. Max," said Jane with a bit of a smirk, though she did decline her head a little to return the gesture of his bow. "I'm not sure if you were aware of the fact, but you are quite a shameless flatterer."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max widened his eyes in mock-surprise. "Do you really think so?" he asked. Too bad his little grin made it obvious that he knew that that was precisely what he was.

[bootlessjane.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps maybe just a smidgen," said Jane, wrinkling her nose as she lifted her hand to the approximation of his shamelessness, but she was probably underestimating. "But on a more serious note, Mr. Max, tell me, did you happen to hear about the students having visiting siblings this weekend? I somehow completely must have missed it!"

[venture-stock.livejournal.com]

"A triple espresso, decaf, with six creams and five Splendas," Rusty ordered. "For the kick. 'Cause I'm totally man enough to drink a grown-up drink."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max took a moment to suppress an amused snort, then nodded to the kid. "That's a mighty manly drink you've ordered there."

[venture-stock.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I know," Rusty answered. "Drinking it black is for pansies."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Precisely." Max wasn't going to let the kid know his own cup was black Columbian roast.

"What's a mover and shaker like you up to, anyway?" Because clearly Rusty was both a mover and a shaker, an important sort doing important things.

[livingasheth.livejournal.com]

Millie wasn't disappointed that Adi hadn't shown up. Of course not. It had been all confusing and awkward and... well, wonderful. All right. Maybe she was a bit disappointed. Enough that Proudfoot had all but yowled her out of the house. Perhaps some tea and a pastry would cheer her up and perhaps she'd stop into the bookstore and grab a new book on the way home.

She froze when she saw Max, then managed a reasonable looking smile and stopped by his table. "Hello there."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max turned, and then leveled a broad smile. "Millie!" He pushed himself to his feet and turned toward her. "It's good to see you again." He took a moment to see if she was accompanied, but she wasn't.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

[livingasheth.livejournal.com]

She peeked over at the rest of the table to see if there might be a small girl sitting there and had to admit to a bit of disappointment when there wasn't. Still, she smiled at him. "It's good to see you as well. How are you?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Good." He smiled, thinking back to the last time they'd... spoken.

"And you?"

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex was in need of coffee badly, and since she was in no mood to make it herself, decided the Perk was the best place for it. Especially since she'd ended up with a kid for the weekend.

"No coffee for you. Besides, hot chocolate tastes better." She was resisting the urge to facepalm right there in the middle of the coffee shop.

[feedsonchaos.livejournal.com]

Hope had not, to the best of her knowledge, ended up with a kid for the weekend. That... kind of made her sad, actually. She didn't miss the little hell-spawn boychild she'd gotten last year, but her daughter had been kind of adorable. Even if they had spent that weekend trying to kill each other.

So she was in a melancholy mood as she walked into the Perk, giving Alex a sympathetic smile at the sight of the girl looking overwhelmed by the kid with her.

[magicchaos.livejournal.com]

And that would be Hope getting said kid flying out of the coffee shop and making a beeline in her direction for a hug. Hopefully, she was ready for it.
"Mom!"

[feedsonchaos.livejournal.com]

Hope hugged the girl on instinct, but mostly she was boggling. "I'm... your mother?"

So intelligent, Hope. So intelligent.

"Remind me who you are?"

[craftydefiance.livejournal.com]

"Aunt Alex!"

Yes, that was a small person with a lack of volume control hurling herself at Alex, why did you ask?

That would also be Alice following along behind the girl, looking amused.

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Thankfully Alex hadn't picked her coffee yet, so at least her arms were free to catch the hurtling mass when she made contact.

"Hi?"

At least Alex was used to getting called an aunt by unknown kids. Actually having one of her own? That was a totally different. Seeing Alice, Alex smiled. "I'm guessing she belongs to you?"

[aliceseesthings.livejournal.com]

"You guess correctly," Alice said, still smiling. "She's... a handful."

"But you love me anyway," the girl said, still hugging Alex.

"Introduce yourself, sweetheart. Aunt Alex might not remember who you are."

"Ranira Cullen," was the prompt introduction.