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!

[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?"

[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]

"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]

"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...

[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.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

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

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max chuckled. "What kind do you want?" he asked as he put in the hot chocolate order.

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"Chocolate chip with M&Ms?" Elizabeth said hopefully.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"One chocolate chip M&M cookie and one hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles it is." While the waited for the hot chocolate to be made, he studied the little girl next to him, trying to figure out who's she was.

It was kind of endearing to think that he would still be involved in some of his students' lives even after they moved on from this place.

"And what have you been up to this weekend, you little minx?"

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"I've been having fun visiting Mommy and Daddy and my aunties and uncles even if they are all in the past and don't remember me because I'm not borned yet," Elizabeth said. "And I can't wait until I can go to school here, too."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Max laughed. "Sounds like fun."

He handed her the hot chocolate and the cookie. "You want to sit down and tell your Uncle Max aaaallll about it?"

[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!"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"You mean all the young children running around?" he asked with an amused smile. How was he going to explain this one, he wondered?

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"Thank you!" Elizabeth said happily, then hopped up in a chair at an empty table. "What do you want to know about? Daddy isn't the right color."

That was important.

[bootlessjane.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Jane nodded, giving a faint glance toward the window. "They're all quite precocious, aren't they? You'd think perhaps the organization might have been a bit better if they'd have communicated a little more with faculty about 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]

"Well, tell me about the most awesome thing I've done for you," Max suggested. "And then you can tell me what color your daddy is supposed to be."

He folded himself into the chair across from her and picked up his own coffee.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure that there was any organization of this one." Max smiled a bit. "Have you seen any of the students interacting with the kids?"

[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."

[empathic-fire.livejournal.com]

"You taught me how to punch someone right!" Elizabeth said, holding up a wee fist and making a point not to have her thumb tucked inside her other fingers. Her mother hadn't been happy about that at all.

"And Daddy's s'posed to be blue, silly."

[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.