~!~ cherry chan ~!~ (seresa) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-06-30 21:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [06] june, cherry chan, max mendelson |
Who: Cherry Chan and Max Mendelson
Where: The Dog Park at The Greenbelt
When: June 10, around 10PM
What: Another goodbye for Cherry Chan and her friends in the Greenbelt, albeit one that ends with a bang. (Vaguely NSFW? But ultimately ends in a FTB.)
The bonfire at the center of compound burned brightly, shooting fiery sparks up into the heavens just like any other night; except it wasn’t just any other night. It was Cherry’s last night at the Dog Park and Max was having all kinds of weird, conflicted feelings about it. He was so, unbelievably happy for her, of course; glad that she and Mina had mended fences and were embarking on a new chapter of their friendship together. And somehow, as happy for Cherry as he was, Max couldn’t help but be sad for himself. He knew it was selfish and stupid of him to feel that way but for some strange reason he just couldn’t shake the melancholy cloud. He put on a brave face, of course. He wouldn’t dream of casting a shadow on Cherry’s last night by advertising the dumb, tumultuous emotions he was feeling. Objectively, he knew that their friendship wouldn’t be any less now that she was going to live across the city instead of a few doors down from him. Even so, Max knew he’d be lying to himself if he thought things would stay the same after tonight. Everything was changing and Max had no choice but to change along with it. Max watched Cherry from afar as she mingled among the patches and prospects; he was definitely making himself more scarce than usual. Part of him didn’t want his friend to feel obligated to hang out with him simply because it was her last evening here. The other part, the lame, sad part of him, really didn’t want to have to say goodbye. Cherry deserved to do everything she wanted to do and be with anyone she wanted to be with in order to milk her last night for all it was worth. Max found himself moving to the outskirts of the crowd, distancing himself further and further away from the ruckus and merriment as the night went on. It would be so easy to simply fade into the shadows, head back to the Airstream and leave the bonfire behind. He wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Cherry at all, then. Maybe that’s what he should do. Maybe that would be for the best. A hand caught his arm then, inadvertently taking advantage of how lost he'd been in his thoughts. "Hey, wait!" It was Cherry, of course, the very person he'd been attempting to avoid, and she was beaming as she stepped forward toward him. She'd seen him moving throughout the outskirts of the bonfire -- in fact, she'd kept an eye out for him as long as she'd been out there that evening -- and once it looked like he'd been trying to leave, she'd decided it was time to talk to him. It wasn't like her leaving the Dog Park was a surprise to Max; she'd told him about it a few days before, once she'd gotten Bishop's blessing. Bunny's, too; the camera she'd been given sat on top of the things she'd packed up, ready for moving in with Mina the next morning. How strange to think that this time tomorrow night, she'd be worlds away from the place she'd learned how to call home… But it was a sacrifice she was willing to make if it meant proving to Mina how serious she was about repairing their tattered friendship. "Were you leaving?" Cherry added, doing her best to stop her face from falling as she considered the prospect. Cherry’s soft and familiar touch at his wrist stopped Max from fleeing and he turned to her, plastering a ready-made smile on his scruffy face. “Hey, it’s the lady of the hour,” he replied, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “Uh, I don’t really know where I was going just now. Just needed to get some fresh air, I think.” It wasn’t a lie. Watching Cherry mingle and flirt with the patches and prospects made him feel all sweaty and anxious and weird; putting distance them and him had seemed like a good idea at the time. Except no matter how far he walked, the gnawing ache in his gut only got worse. "We're already outside, though," she replied, teasing only slightly. She kind of knew what he meant, though, or at least she thought she did. Things got kind of crazy and crowded near the bonfire; sometimes you needed to clear out. "But, that's cool. I was just… I mean, I barely got to talk to you, tonight. Maybe we can talk now?" “Of course we can talk,” Max replied, doing a pretty good imitation of cheeriness. “Just as long as I’m not cramping your style or anything. You’re the belle of the ball. I wouldn’t want to monopolize your attentions when there’s a whole camp full of people wanting their time with you.” Though she had her reservations about the truthfulness of his statement, she couldn't help but smile at the praise. She'd miss her friends, of course, Noa and Bunny and Bishop and Art. The entire Scherbatsky family. The rest of them, though… The men would find someone else to fuck pretty quickly, and most of the bitches would be glad to see the back of her. In Cherry's eyes, they all couldn't possibly compare to the guy standing in front of her. "I'd honestly rather just talk to you tonight," she said, biting her lip as she sought eye contact. Her heels were still on, putting her a few inches up above Max's height, but she didn't mind. "Especially since, you know. I'm probably gonna miss you the most out of everyone here." There was more she wanted to say, of course, just like how ever since their kiss, she'd always had a confession on the tip of her tongue when she was around him. Instead of the rest, though, she just smiled. "And I really mean that, okay?" Max fell silent for a moment; he searched Cherry’s face, studying it, even after all this time expecting a punchline. It didn’t come...it never does. “I know you do,” Max said faintly, his gaze shifting from the endless warmth of her dark eyes, to the familiar tilt of her lips, to the rosy planes of her cheeks, as if memorizing them so he won’t forget what she looks like. “That’s just one of the gazillion great things about you. You mean what you say and you say what you mean.“ He sighed, kicking at the sliver of dusty earth between them. “Is it bad that I miss you already?” Max asked, knowing he probably sounded lame. “What am I going to do when you’re not a few doors down from me?” "I don't know." She forced a smile, but it was tempered and bittersweet. As much as Cherry was looking forward to committing to her friendship with Mina, she, too, couldn't imagine what life would be like without being so easily able to see Max whenever she wanted. "I guess we'll just have to make sure we visit all the time. Luckily, travel doesn't seem so bad anymore." Somehow, during the period of time in which they'd started talking, the hand she'd placed on his arm had wandered down to take his hand in hers. She wondered if Max had noticed; she knew she ought to drop it, but this was her last chance to be with him for a while. Emboldened by this fact, she added, "You want to, um. Dance or something? While we talk? We don't have to be at the bonfire if it's too crowded right now. I bet we could still hear the music from your Airstream." Max found himself holding Cherry’s hand before he fully realized that she had taken it. For a brief moment, Max wondered how something could feel both thrilling and yet completely natural. Except, once he started thinking about it, he felt the familiar, gloomy questioning of his own worthiness for so much as standing next to such a woman such as Cherry. The negative thoughts tried to find a foothold among the heady, fluttery feelings unfurling inside him and for once, Max wouldn’t let them. “Yeah,” Max replied, his eyes flicking down to their intertwined hands for a moment before bringing his gaze back to Cherry’s face. “I’d like that.” With Cherry’s tiny hand dwarfed in his own, Max led her to the clearing by his and Sasha’s Airstream. It was quieter here; the noise and music from around the bonfire muted by the distance and the faint chirp of summer crickets but yet the melody still somehow found them. Max didn’t think himself particularly good at a lot of things but he knew he could find a beat and move to it. Bathed in the soft glow of the distant fire and the almost full moon, Max took Cherry’s hands and placed them behind his neck, his own finding her petite waist and began to sway to the music. “You’re not scared, are you?” Max asked. “About moving?” He couldn’t bear the thought of her feeling anxious or afraid, not when he knew how great she was going to do and how happy she would be in her new life. That must be what was on her mind when she said she wanted to talk. It wasn't, but Max's words rang true all the same. "I don't know if 'scared' is really the right word… Maybe 'anxious' is it." And she was certainly full of nerves tonight now that they were alone together, the low notes of the music propelling the way they moved. They weren't as close as they had been on the night of Vic and Marina's wedding, but Cherry still felt hyper-aware of all of the places they were touching. Somehow, she still managed coherent sentences. "I know things are better now, kind of, between the Capitol and the Dog Park, and everyone I've said goodbye to doesn't hold it against me… But you guys are the only family I've ever known. I don't want anyone to think I'm turning my back on them." Max’s eyes went wide and he hastened to soothe Cherry’s worry. “No one thinks that,” he said earnestly, tightening his grip at her side, trying to reassure her. “Everyone is happy for you. We’re going to miss you like crazy, me especially...you make every room you walk into brighter just by being there. But no one is gonna begrudge you for moving on. We’re still family. A little distance could never change that.” He smiled warmly, hoping he had comforted Cherry; indeed, true to his usual form, it was impossible for her anxiety to stay put when Max was being so kind and sweet. Especially when he was smiling at her like that. Her words lapsed for a moment as her tipsiness got the best of her, her mind wandering to the generous, almost loving expression on Max's face and the way his hands felt on her body. Suddenly, looking at him felt like too much to bear. She turned around, facing away from him, and wrapped his arms around her waist as they continued to dance. "The truth is, though, I was looking for you because of something else." A deep breath, remembering how she'd told Mina to be true to herself, then: "I know you like someone else, but -- I have feelings for you. And I couldn't leave without telling you. But I know it won't work, it's okay." She laughed then, nervously, hating herself suddenly for admitting this aloud, and added, "I just needed you to know." Max slowed his swaying, thinking he misheard her. He hadn’t and when the words finally sunk in, he stopped moving completely. The nervousness and slight alarm he felt when Cherry turned around and pressed herself against him evaporated and he was left feeling so bewildered, so unbelieving that he was speechless for a few moments before he could open his mouth. ”Why?” His astonishment was an anguished, knee jerk reaction. For Max, there was no universe, alternate or otherwise, where someone like Cherry could ever be interested in someone like him. The mention of “liking someone else” came out of left field; how he felt about Dani and how he felt about Cherry had no bearing on the other and Max mentally brushed the implication aside. None of what she uttered made any sense to him. She had to be saying these things out of pity, or charity, or misplaced guilt about leaving. Even if that was the case, as much as it hurt, Max wanted to understand. “It’s just...I don’t see how you possibly could,” Max continued, his cadence bleak and his manner resigned, before Cherry could attempt to explain. He knew he should probably let go of her but was savoring the contact for as long as she’d allow it. “You’re so smart and funny and cool and beautiful I’m constantly amazed you even talk to someone like me. And yet, you treat me like I’m someone special, like I’m worth knowing and...” Max trailed off and let out a sad, defeated sigh. “You deserve someone tough and strong and brave and hot. Like, really hot. Someone like Bishop.” He hadn’t intended to mention Bishop. Max knew he and Cherry had taken to sleeping together again and even though he didn’t like to think about it or what it meant, he was happy that she was happy. Even as he said it, with Cherry’s body melted against his, the scent of her hair in his nostrils and the feel of the soft skin of his belly against his fingertips, it was hard not to picture himself in Bishop’s place. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like; what she might say as he held her close, what they could do and how it would feel. It only made him more confused and Max pulled back from Cherry slightly before his body could betray how nice he found the fantasy to be. Instead of running away, Max took a deep, calming breath and gently twirled her around in time with the distant melody so they were face to face. He smiled; a small, resigned upturn at the corner of his mouth. “You don’t know how much I wish I was the the kind of guy a girl like you deserved.” "Max." Cherry wasn't sure what she felt: some sort of mix of hope, yearning, or, surprisingly, a flicker of annoyance as she listened to him speak. She wanted to reassure him, to close the distance between them with a kiss and to comfort him with her words and actions, but she couldn't actually believe what she was hearing. It hurt to think that he could see himself in such a worthless way when to her, he was so much more. "I don't want to hear you talking about yourself like that. I mean, I will gladly tell you all the things I like about you, but --" She cut herself off, a look of anguish passing over her own face for a moment before she continued. "You're such a good person. You're so sweet and always so thoughtful... You listen to me and give good advice and you're always so supportive. You didn't have to move here, and you didn't have to do what you did to help all of us at the Dog Park for so long back then, and you are strong. What about everything that's happened over the last year or so? And despite all of that, you're still so happy and giving. You've never judged me, you're…" Cherry bit her lip, shaking her head as she tried to put all she felt into words only for them to fail her. But it was her last night in the Dog Park, and the look on Max's face was killing her. She tightened her arms around his neck, leaning forward to kiss him just as she had two months ago, inwardly crossing her fingers that this time he wouldn't push her away. This time, Max didn’t pull away. For the first time in forever, there was no confusion in his mind, no uncertainty in his heart and no hesitation in his body. He kissed Cherry with all the tender sincerity and earnest want he’d always felt and been too scared to admit, to her and to himself. Max felt as if he was falling; the wall of resistance he’d built up to protect himself from being hurt crumbled as he took Cherry in his arms. The longing that he buried and pushed away out of duty and doubt for damn long couldn’t and wouldn’t be denied any longer. Cherry’s lips were soft and insistent against his; Max tangled a hand into her long, dark hair as the other stroked the dip at the small of her back underneath her shirt, needing to be closer, wanting to touch all the beautiful parts of her. His hand roamed the warm, supple skin there as he deepened their kiss; she tasted like the sweetest moonshine. Max felt his tongue brush against hers and a jolt of intense desire coursed through him; he pulled back slightly in surprise, breathing heavy. “Oh wow,” he whispered, unable help the huge grin from spreading across his face. He brushed the pad of his thumb over her full bottom lip, moving to trace the line of her cheekbone before tipping her chin to press his smiling mouth to hers again. She returned the kiss eagerly, paying no mind to the breathlessness that only worsened the longer she allowed herself to get lost in the feeling of finally getting what she wanted. It didn't matter that they were out in the open in one of the busier corners of the Greenbelt. Cherry would've happily done anything he wanted just then, though she was of a mind to make it as easy for them to get lost in each other as she could -- and, okay, maybe the fact that she was leaning into him more than standing upright also helped. Her hands tangled in his shirt for a moment, twisting the fabric as she pulled him in closer, before she stepped back to take a seat on the picnic table, spreading her legs and looking at him expectantly. God, this was way better with someone she really liked. "Want me?" she asked, barely hearing her own voice over the sound of her pounding heartbeat. Max, stunned stupid in his desire for her, in awe of Cherry’s wanting him, gulped audibly and then nodded. He approached the picnic table, moving to stand between her legs, desperate to feel the delicious friction of her body against his. Max’s hands, poised to cup the perfect slope of her butt on the way to hitch her leg over his hip, suddenly stopped. Instead, he lowered them, fingertips skimming the top of her creamy thighs before coming to rest, palms flat, on the table next to her legs. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, trying to catch his shuddering breath and find the words he knew he needed to say even though all he wanted to do was kiss her. “I want you,” Max said, his voice shaky and rough. “So badly. You have no idea.” Max let out a small, embarrassed laugh, knowing Cherry could feel how obvious that statement was; she stifled a laugh of her own, knowing this was a vulnerable moment for him and choosing instead to move one hand up and into his hair, looking up at him patiently. “Okay, I’m pretty sure you have some idea.” Max paused then and pulled back slightly; closing his eyes and biting his lip to try and screw up the courage to tell Cherry what she should know, needed to know, before they went any further. “It’s just that, you should know that I’m a...I’ve never...” Max took a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly. “I’m a virgin. I’ve never been with anyone before in the, uh, biblical sense. I mean, I’ve gotten close. A few times. But never like this and never someone I really cared about, someone I had feelings for.” His eyes, downcast during his confession, flicked upward to meet hers. His thumbs brushed the outside of her thighs, gentle and tentative. “I know, it’s weird. I’m sorry. I just thought you should know.” She took a deep breath, one that was fraught with nerves and that heady sort of tension one felt right on the edge of toppling down into something good. All the words she wanted to say just then were jumbling into each other. Cherry wanted to reassure him that it wasn't a big deal, that she didn't mind or think it was weird at all, all while hiding the fact that she'd always sort of suspected, but when it came down to it she just kept getting stuck on something he probably hadn't even intended to emphasize: Max had feelings for her. All of this wasn't just in her head, she wanted him for more than sex and so did he. He wanted her to be the person he did this with for the first time. "Thank you for telling me." She took another deep breath and a brief pause as she summoned up every last bit of what self-control she did possess; after all, Cherry couldn't remember ever having to ignore the feeling of a man against her and postpone the inevitable. "It's not weird. And you don't have to apologize for anything. If you're comfortable with this…" She leaned up and kissed him briefly, unable to resist, before she added, "Comfortable with doing this with me, I mean." She smiled then, with only a bit of a wicked tilt to her lips. "I would be happy to do the honors." Max let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He chuckled, low and long, and nodded. Beaming, he moved his hands to frame Cherry’s beautiful, smiling face. “I think we’ve taken things pretty slow up until this point,” Max said, unable to help smiling against her mouth as he kissed her again. “But I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m ready. Really ready. Like, so ready we’re gonna need to get inside real soon or you’re gonna end up making me a man right here on this picnic table.” "Maybe we should save that for next time," Cherry replied without missing a beat, hopeful for future opportunities between them and just as eager as he was for them to pick up where they'd left off. Besides, if he was ready and she was ready, why not? In a surprisingly swift and smooth move of a much more experienced and muscular man, Max’s hands went to Cherry’s posterior, lifting her up so she could lock her legs around his waist. He carried her the short distance to the Airstream with her giggling all the while, and struggling with the door for a few, agonizing moments because they couldn’t stop kissing to see. Stumbling inside, Max paused only briefly to grab a dirty sock from the floor to hang on the doorknob. Kicking the door shut behind them, hearts beating madly, frantic hands fumbling with zippers and clasps, Max and Cherry finally fell into bed. |