The Park, Friday Afternoon

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Contrary to what anyone might think, Chuck didn't actually live at the gym. Or the salle. Just... most of the time. And when he got out, he didn't waste all his time drinking (he wasn't Uncle Scott), either. No, in fact, the best part of his day - not that he'd ever be enough of a sap to admit it - was this: out in the park, walking Max, enjoying the quiet.

And the dog. (Sometimes it shat or pissed on something, and Chuck was still, somewhere under that tough exterior, a fifteen-year-old boy.)

In fact, by the time he was about ten minutes into his walk, Chuck was almost smiling. His expression was peaceful, and even his body language was a bit less over-the-top macho than it usually was. Walkies were the best times-- on that, both he and Max were agreed.

[[ expecting one, but open! ]]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Raven, on the other hand, mostly just used the park to cut across town when she went window shopping.

She paused a moment when she spotted her roommate, and couldn't hold back a comment.

"Wow. You almost look like you're actually enjoying something."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

That 'you are not funny' look was probably a bit more familiar. "I like stretching my legs," he said. "Is that odd?"

You better not say yes.

[tigerundercover]

"Not at all," Raven said, waving the idea off with a flick of her hand. "But you should be careful. You might accidentally find yourself starting to like it here."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

That got a roll of the eyes, because really. "I don't think I'm in any danger of that," Chuck drawled. Max dashed away from him happily to give Raven an enthusiastic greeting. "Shithole like this..."

[tigerundercover]

Max was clearly the superior roommate.

"Oh, yeah, it's terrible here," Raven said, crouching down to give Max a good scritch behind the ears. "What with all that lovely architecture and the zero percent chance of getting hit by a car when you go out to stretch your legs."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"It's tiny, it's cramped, it's full of lazy arses and it's got no decent training facilities," Chuck countered. Because that was the stuff that really mattered, all in all.

Max didn't care. Max made extremely satisfied noises as he leaned firmly into the scritching. Best. Person. Ever.

[tigerundercover]

"Baltimore is practically next door," Raven pointed out. "I'm sure they have a 'crossfit' gym, or whatever it is you're looking for, training-wise."

Raven's expression was definitely throwing a bit of shade at that, though. The gym had free weights, and there was a giant preserve full of varied terrain. What else did he want for "training"?

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Giant robots. A Kwoon training room. Equally dedicated cadets. People who actually knew what kaiju were.

... people who actually knew what kaiju were who weren't Isabelle. Or Raleigh. Or his father.

"I don't think so," said Chuck. "The academy is a bit more specialized than this heap of old rock."

[tigerundercover]

"Yes, and for some reason, you don't get to go there, anymore." Raven had her suspicions on that one. "I suppose if you're looking for a challenge, we could spar, sometime."

She really shouldn't offer that. While she was learning how to fight properly in Bond's class, she wasn't exactly a ninja yet.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"If you have any idea of what you're doing," Chuck sniped, because... because he was Chuck, really. "Then sure. Meet me in the salle next week."

[tigerundercover]

"I know a trick or two." For instance, one's opponent tended to get really confused when you transformed into them in the middle of a fight.

Oh, she maybe couldn't use that one, could she?

"Most boys just say 'I don't fight girls.'" Her boy voice was uncanny. "I'm actually a little impressed."

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Considering there were a fair share of lady Rangers he'd grown up with, the thought hadn't even crossed Chuck's mind. "Can't find your match if you try that one," he said.

[tigerundercover]

Yeah, he lost her on that one. "Your match?"

[jaegerbombdad]

Was he looking for Max? Because Max was looking for him, because for some reason the old man kept Max all the time now and he only got to see Chuck once a week, and that was for the birds, as far as Max was concerned. So he'd decided to fix it, like he would have in the Shatterdome, and go find his dad on his own, if the old man wasn't going to be more on the ball.

And look, now he'd found Chuck, and here he was! Hiiiii, Dad!

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"Max? You've gotten fast--"

Oh, no, wait. His Max was still over by that tree over there, enthusiastically pissing all over it. Chuck glanced back down. Other Max-- Older Max-- whatever, it made his brain hurt.

Puppy.

He squatted down. "Get tired of the old man, did you?" he asked, reaching to scritch the bulldog behind the ears. "Can't blame you."

[jaegerbombdad]

If Max could have talked he would have been happy to tell Chuck that the old man was great and all, he gave Max loads of treats--especially lately--but a lot of the time he smelled like booze and sad and he wasn't Chuck.

But he was so ecstatic to have Chuck scritching his ears he probably wouldn't have been able to say anything even if he could talk.

He did want to know what was up with the little him, though. Chuck hadn't replaced him, had he?

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"There's a good boy," Chuck said. He was smiling in earnest now - something about Max's face just... put him in that sort of mood. He employed his other hand to scritch behind Max's remaining ear. "Yeah, you are. Best dog."

[jaegerbombdad]

Max was! He was a good dog! Everyone said so.

Well, except for when he peed on Striker Eureka's foot, but he hadn't even had an opportunity to do that in ages.

He rolled over to show Chuck his belly. Didn't you want to give Max belly rubs, Chuck? Didn't you?

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Of course Chuck did! He grinned as he rubbed Max's belly vigorously. "Yeah, you've got a good time of it, don't you? Old man better be looking after you right or I'm gonna come find him and kick his arse, I promise..."

[jaegerbombdad]

Max would be just busy enjoying those belly rubs. Chuck gave the best belly rubs, he swore. The best.

Meanwhile, the old man in question was wandering up to the edge of the park, looking concerned and holding a leash. "Max!" he called. "Ma--oh."

Somehow he felt he should have seen this coming.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Younger Max finally realized something odd was going on. He trundled up to Chuck and flopped down, staring at him balefully. Didn't he love Max anymore?

Chuck rolled his eyes good-naturedly and reached out to scritch younger Max behind the ears, too.

And who'd notice Herc with these two lying around?

[jaegerbombdad]

Fair enough. It wasn't like Herc wasn't used to Max being preferable, after all.

Standing here and just watching Chuck be a happy kid with two bulldogs demanding his attention for a second wasn't creepy, right?

Max, meanwhile, was ecstatic.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

"I wonder which one of you two is the faster runner," Chuck mused aloud. "You two game for some friendly competition, ey?"

He patted older Max's cheek. "See if you've still got the fighting spirit."

[jaegerbombdad]

Chuck. Chuck. Max was a bulldog. Running was not really one of his favorite things.

Still, you seemed to want something, so Max sat up and barked for you.

[jaegerborn.livejournal.com]

Chuck picked up a stick and waved it ... in front of both Maxes.

His own sat up promptly. "C'mon, then."