analogthis | open rp/inbox

( he's a little distracted as he queues up his dad's number — because, hello, time travel is real. )

Who wouldn't be impressed?? You're like a superhero.

( it's unfortunate how interesting this conversation is. he has so many questions for her. he wants to know everything. the prospect of something so novel feels way, way more pleasant than calling his dad and begging for money. )

So, what happens to the other me? ( he asks, raising the phone to his ear like an after thought. ) Wait, can you tell me after? Wanna get snacks and shit while I handle this— Uh, hello? Is Mr. Prescott available? It's... yeah, it's me... I can hold, I guess, yeah.

( bold of you to assume nathan's phone calls don't immediately get routed to one of sean's assistants. )

[Oh, Nathan. He's going to be so disappointed to learn she has like next to zero solid answers for those types of questions.

...wow, it's not like she needed further proof at this point that Sean Prescott was a total asshole. But still. What a dick. If he'd placed a hold on Nathan's card, he had to have known he was going to call about it, too. Feels like some toxic bullshit power move. The kind of thing one especially doesn't need to do with their own damn kid.

Okay, she's gotta turn away and focus on these snacks again. Does she go the same route or choose something else just because she can? She'll grab Chips Ahoy instead of Oreos this time, and she goes for a few different flavors of those donuts that Nathan grabbed, like the chocolate glazed and the cinnamon sugar. She's going for the graham crackers and Hershey's chocolate bars too because she hasn't forgotten her mission to introduce Nathan to a s'more.]

( meanwhile, nathan believes this will be a quick fix, so he tosses a few snacks of his own into the cart while he waits. his dad will hop on the phone, acknowledge the mistake with his accounts, and handle it.

he drops in a bag of chips and puts the phone on speaker. it's not a secret. if they're going to date, max better get a feel for what she's getting herself into. if she runs for the hills, it'd be the right decision. )

"Sean Prescott."

Dad, I'm at the store. My card's frozen. You know about that?

"Nathan, do you think I'm an idiot?"

What? No. I didn't say that.

"Actions speak louder than words, son."

...

"Well?"

Well, what?

"Excuse me??"

( he winces. what an easy, avoidable mistep. you'd think nathan hadn't spent his entire life with this guy. )

Sorry, sir...

( from the other side, there's a rattle, glasses being set down, as sean pinches the bridge of his nose. )

"If you insist on wasting my time, I'll end this call—"

No, sir, I'm just asking... like, what's happening? Why'd you freeze my account, I guess?

"Do you guess or do you know?"

( another minefield. nathan knows how his father likes his replies: sharp. and yet, he wavers. it's so hard to tell what it is his dad wants to hear. )

I—I don't know, sir.

"Nathan, as immature as ever... I had a talk with your instructor today, Mark. It was deeply enlightening."

Mr. Jefferson? Mr. Jefferson called you?

( if he'd been indignant and subservient before, hearing this makes nathan pale. there's no way jefferson could be so vindictive. and all over max? nathan got his accounts frozen because he likes a girl?

it's a dick move, but it's only be a partial truth. it has to be. jefferson can't lament to sean about the serious shit. if he had, locking up his money would be the least of nathan's worries.

sean doesn't know anything. )

"You've been out of line, he says. Honestly, I'm lucky to have him keeping an eye on you. What's this about a hospital visit?"

No, that's just... my friend—

"Victoria Chase? Feh. Another stomach pump, I presume."

No, no, Vic's fine—

"And you haven't been turning in assignments. Nathan, at least pretend to try. Being this disappointed gets tiring. Do you know how much I'd like to brag about you to my peers? James' son got accepted to Harvard. My latest investment partner, his daughter is an international liaison to the Clintons. And you? Nothing. There's nothing worth bragging about."

( not an original one, but it still hits home. nathan's crumple is easy to see, something inside of him folds like a house of cards. its only his awareness of his surroundings that stops him from doing something worse.

like, god forbid, crying. )

Dad, I am trying...

"That remains to be seen."

My account, dad. Please. There's this party. I promised... I'm bringing the snacks.

( it sounds thin to his own ears. sean's too, considering. )

"Snacks? How delightful... You make me sick."

( he hangs up. moments later, nathan's account thaws to life, and nathan rubs his temples as he shoves the phone back into his pocket.

that was a good call. his morning with jefferson was worse. he's barely even shaking. )

[The conversation she's hearing is legitimately making her angry. This guy is such a tool. But she does feel grateful that Nathan is willing to place it on speaker phone like that. It feels a little like letting Max in.

Hearing Mark Jefferson's name though startles her, reminds her of the text she'd read on Nathan's phone from him. Sticking to the script, or something along those lines? This feels like something more than Nathan's possible grades in his class... Does he act up in his class? Did he have an outburst? That still doesn't match with the text, though. Maybe she should find out who all shares that class period with Nathan... Then there's the thing that Nathan told her about him, the trouble he'd gotten into.

Unsure whether Nathan wants comfort or to be alone, Max decides to give his shoulder a quick squeeze as she walks by, tilting her head to the next aisle.]

Marshmallows are on the baking aisle, so I was going to head over there. Everything cool on the money front?

...Yeah, looks like it.

( and all he had to do was beg for snack money like a peasant. chances are sean doesn't believe that the money is for snacks. other party favors seem more likely, knowing what sean knows about his troubled son.

he gets a text, 'We'll talk about this in the morning. Expect some serious changes in this lax lifestyle of yours'.

...which means it's a problem for future nathan. )

I'll come with.

( to the baking aisle. don't leave him alone with his thoughts in the middle of target. max. it's a terrible place to be. )

[Max isn't the best at keeping up with her own studies. It's not that she's not smart, but she does have tendency to procrastinate, and get distracted, and overanalyze everything.

Still... if Nathan asked her for help in that area... She'd do it.

For now, she offers him a smile, then links her arm through his playfully.]

Then it's a date. To the baking aisle. I hope we don't need reservations or anything, I've heard it gets pretty busy over there at this time of night.

Max, you're a doofus.

( it's stupid, but it does lighten his spirits. )

You gonna push the cart? With one hand, Supermax? ...Wait, that sorta sounds like a prison.

[She is a dork, it is known. But to be fair he also oh, yeah'd her earlier so does he really have room to talk?

Max glances at the cart.]

It's two aisles away, I think the cart will be safe here. Unless you wanna chauffeur me again?

( you know how those target cart-thieves roam about at night. can't risk it. )

Your chariot, m'lady.

( if he were even an ounce more dorky, he'd tip an invisible fedora. thankfully, he's not that far gone. )

[Wouldn't want anyone stealing their bounty of snacks, god forbid.

She grins and finds her place again on the end of the cart, holding onto the sides.

She's about to ask if this means she owes him gas money, but that might be a little Too Soon, honestly. The point is to take his mind off that fiasco.

Instead Max just directs him to the aisle and area, and instead of stepping off the cart to grab the items, she grabs them from the shelf while still riding and plunks them into the cart. She shows the color changing ones to him first, though, and this time she gets to explain her thought process.]

Do you think anyone high enough would be totally gobsmacked to see their blue marshmallow turn green?

( nathan is holding up well, all things considered. maybe it's because he's used to this treatment from his father, or maybe this being his second tongue-lashing of the day has helped to soften the blow. he's got things he's looking forward to tonight, like seeing max's eyes in the moonlight. and max knows that his dad is a dick, so he's spared himself the embarrassment of discovery.

he can shake it off. watching max glide through the aisle like the queen of marshmallows does wonders for forgetting about the hot mess of his paternal relationship. )

No, because no one's been 'gobsmacked' since 1932... But we should do it. I bet the stoners would flip.

Too bad blue and green are pretty much the same color. Now going from green to, like, purple? That'd really fuck me up.

Maybe I should have said "gobstopped?"

[A freaking color-changing candy pun. Someone stop her for these crimes.]

That's true... especially at night, might be kind of hard to even tell that they've changed color. And the other one is just pink to orange? I am very disappointed in this technology, Nathan. We should write to someone about it.

[She's just opened up one of the bags of regular marshmallows to stick one in her mouth. She's on a crime spree.

She offers one to Nathan, even if he's still driving the cart.]

No one says that, either. Seriously, girl, what century are you from?

( the time travel allegations are all falling into place. if max confessed to traveling here from the 1800s, nathan wouldn't say he was surprised.

max tears open the plastic packaging, and nathan looks around. he's a bad guy and all, but this is a little far!! )

Max, you're an animal. ( someone stop her before she does something really crazy, like jaywalking. ) But I can't tell that shit apart, anyhow. It's all, like, sorta the same. You know?

( whether she knows or not, nathan opens his mouth for her to toss a marshmallow into as he pushes them towards the front of the store. he even says 'aaaaa'. )

No, I mean, like the gobstopper candy...

[Okay, well, it's less fun when she has to explain the joke, Nathan. Gosh.

She still grins though when he calls her an animal, and laughs as he opens his mouth and says "aaa" for her. This feels rather surreal, but in a good way. She's loving it.

(And wait until he learns she used to blow up Barbies with Chloe. Then he'll truly know who to thank for teaching her delinquency in her younger years.)

Closing one eye as if that's going to help her aim, she tosses a marshmallow at Nathan's open mouth.]

What's sorta the same? The colors?

( max has officially reached maximum dorkiness. she's ascended to a place where nathan can't follow, all because he hasn't had enough sweets in his life. sad face.

he slows down to make the shot less of a challenge, because he's sure throwing something from a moving cart add some kind of velocity situation. when she makes the throw, he tilts his head back and narrowly catches it.

did you know he was on the football team? )

Yeah, colors.

( as they approach the checkout, he wonders what they're meant to do about their two (2) stolen marshmallows. he decides on nothing. it's not like the cashier can get them back.

like the last time, he places item after item onto the conveyor belt, and a chatty cathy comments on all their snack choices. he frowns. )

Is this, like... familiar to you?

( the cashier gives him a kind, but quizzical look, and nathan waves it off. deja vu happens to the best of people. )

[Max would argue they didn't steal them since they came from a bag they were already planning on paying for. But... she's also not a legal expert.

Also she may or may not be silently adding "Everlasting Gobstopper" to the ever growing mental bucket list of things she wants to introduce Nathan to now.

Huh. Wait, does Nathan have some level of color-blindness? She has to wonder now if that contributes at all to his tendency towards black and white shots in photography.

She's pulled from this train of thought by Nathan speaking up about the deja vu he's apparently feeling. Well, she did just tell him she rewound... Maybe the feeling just comes from him knowing that? Curious... She might have to ask more about that later.

For now she offers the cashier a friendly smile, again, this time even more genuine because she's feeling such relief that Nathan isn't being triggered this time (not that she'd ever call it that to his face, honestly, but she does mean it in the legitimate trauma sense of the word when she uses it in her head). Nicer for Nathan, nicer for Max, and nicer for the cashier. Wins all around. Except none for Sean Prescott. Fuck that guy.

After things are rung up, Max slides the bags back into the shopping cart while Nathan pays... And sneaks one more marshmallow. They're yummy. But they'll be even better when they're all toasty and melty.]

( no incidents, no chaos, just nathan wheeling the cart out to his truck once everything is paid for, and loading the bags into the back. the plant pot, which seems more delicate, he brings into the front with them.

the drive from here to the party is a short one, but he speaks up before pulling off. )

Hey, uh... Thanks for being cool back there. About my dad and stuff. And, like... your powers.

I'm just glad I could help. And if there's ever anything else you think I can help with... Well, you're free to ask me, okay? At the risk of sounding corny, I do care about you, and I... I like to see you happy.

[She says all this mostly directed to the plant pot cradled in her lap, because she's not sure if looking at Nathan while she says it would be too much for him, make him feel too vulnerable... Even if she can't help sneak a quick glance or two anyway, overwhelmingly curious for his response.]

...

( if there was anything max could do to help him, nathan gets the feeling that she'd do it. that she means it. that she'd really try.

there's nothing she can do for him, but the sentiment alone is foreign. no one ever offers him help. everyone asks what nathan can do for them, never what they can do for nathan.

he looks away, out the window, but it's clear that something about her words has breached him. )

...It feels easy to be happy around you.

( he's not a philosopher, but moments like these make him question what happiness even is. is he happy at vortex club parties, or is he just drunk? is he happy working with jefferson, or is he just being useful?

he hasn't had to ask that with max. not in a while, at least. as far as he can tell, she's being genuine.

then again, he's not great at picking up people's motives. )

Anyway, let's go.

[Audibly, her breath catches as Nathan says "it feels easy to be happy around you." That's just... instant butterflies, really. She's almost dizzy with the rush of affection and happiness. This feeling is... a lot. Almost more than she knows what to do with, or what name to put to it.

But she's very glad he feels that way. And she hopes it only ever continues to be true. He sort of did ask for her help when he told her to rewind and fix it. She'd still been hurting at the time so it hadn't felt good, but now... It feels good knowing that maybe he'll do that again. Not specifically with her powers or anything, but just ask her for her help in general when he feels he needs it.

Ducking her head with a soft smile on her face, she nods, then buckles her seatbelt so Nathan can start the car and get them on their way.

She pays attention to where they go, so she can give some vague sense of direction to Chloe.]

max
but you don't need to come
it would seriously be better if you didn't, I think
I promise I'll text you again when I get back to blackwell :3

[Hilariously, the only text she gets immediately in response:]

chloe
NO EMOJI

( he nods too, lets the moment pass, feels glad that max doesn't try and linger.

it's not until they're on the road that nathan speaks up. )

So... What's it like? Moving through time?

[It's a good question, though Max isn't sure she knows how to put words to it to form a good answer.

She gives it a little thought.]

It doesn't feel exactly like I'm moving through it... More like... I'm pushing it around me? I have to stand still in one place while I'm doing it, and I can see everything around me moving backward.

( and it's real. that's the biggest part. max hadn't touched his phone between their time at the dinner and the department store. she couldn't have known the state of his bank accounts unless she really did see a future wherein everything gets declined.

he also looks thoughtful. )

What about that future? The other future? Are we just, like, fucking stuck there?

( does the world cease to exist when max isn't in it? is there a world where he's perpetually frozen in his worst moment, yelling at a target clerk? )

[She sighs a little.]

I don't... I don't really know. There are different theories about it, regarding time travel, but I don't have a definite answer for stuff like that. I did a lot of reading on it, but it's basically all just theoretical...

[She sounds confused about it. Which is fair, right? She's not a theoretical physicist herself. Nope, just a time traveler who never really asked for this power.

Warren's really good with physics, isn't he? Maybe she should have told him about this already. Maybe she'd get more answers if she did.

Of course, now she also has to explain everything that's going on with her and Nathan too. What a conversation that's going to be.

"Yes I lost my virginity to the guy who beat you up in the parking lot when you defended me. Also hey what do you know about time travel because turns out I have superpowers?"]

( it feels strange to hear how little she knows about what she's capable of doing, but it's not like superpowers come with an instruction manual. the movies make it look easy; they montage through the hard parts, like figuring out how it all works. )

Yeah? Well, what about—

( he's interrupted by a shriek, and it takes a few seconds for it to become clear that it's one of delight. they're barely on the property, wheels just turning onto the gravel, and peels of raucous laughter batter the window of his truck.

nathan breathes out a sigh of relief. for a second, he thought someone was getting murdered ~~again~~. )

Guess we can talk about it later.

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