sweetchaos (sweetchaos) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-05-06 20:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, greer, greer x max, max |
Who: Greer & Max
Where: The Marina
When: Wednesday afternoon, 6/27
It was nice knowing where everyone was, no matter how unsettling it was to be able to just think of someone and mentally pinpoint them down on a map. This mental connection definitely came in handy for a guy who liked to show up on people's doorsteps without calling first and Max drove into town leisurely, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't interrupt some wild threeway love making since Greer wasn't at the trailer. She was down at the marina and while she might still be with her men, that would be okay. It gave Max an excuse to keep this short if it got uncomfortable, which it just might. Not because of Greer but because of what he wanted to talk to her about, nothing about Greer had ever been uncomfortable to him.
She was so easy to find, even with all the people there. He couldn't have explained the feeling if asked, just that his inner radar told him where to go and he almost saw her mentally before he did physically, unsurprised when she looked up even if he was still a good distance away. Of course she knew he was coming, he doubted he could get this close to her without her noticing. If her men were at the marina with her, they weren't right there at the moment and that suited him just fine. He spread his arms with a playful smile, beckoning her into a hug.
Greer was ecstatic to see Max at the marina. She had been wandering around with her boys, enjoying the beautiful day and spotting Max in the crowd had simply been a bonus to all of it. Greer had wanted to seek him out again for a while now, but this felt like the right time. He looked happy enough and Greer smiled as she approached. The instinctive urge to hug was strong, but Greer pulled up short, sighing softly. "I can't hug you unless you want to know how you're going to die," she said apologetically.
Max stopped, arms still outstretched and a somewhat blank look on his face before he remembered. God he'd been wrapped up in his own shit, he'd forgotten everything she told him. "Well, fuck," he said as he let his arms drops down to his sides and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I don't really care right now, but you're the one who'd have to see it, so... Let's not." Well that fucking sucked, he missed hugging her. "We should get it over with sometime when you're feeling up to it," he suggested since he wanted to hug her again eventually, but that was really up to her.
"Okay, wait... you can hug me." Greer didn't reach for him, but she smiled. "We can try anyway. I saw Ty yesterday and told him everything. We did a small experiment to see if maybe it's just my hands, or arms or whatever.... I don't know. Basically I didn't hug him while he hugged me and I didn't see anything. So that either means that it works, or that I just got lucky and didn't see anything for him." Greer arched a brow and stepped in closer to Max. "So... hug me? If I see anything, I promise I won't tell you." Unless it was truly awful and something she could warn him about. Right now though, she wanted a hug from Max.
Max grinned at that and didn't leave her waiting. "You can tell me," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a warm squeeze. He wasn't sure if he hoped she wouldn't' see anything or if he hoped she would. There was some comfort in knowing when death was coming but he had no idea if he might change his fate by getting too reckless if he believed it was a set thing. "It's good to see you," he murmured and it sometimes felt like Greer was the person in his life with the least complications. Not bad for someone he'd hooked up with at a Christmas party. "How've you been? And how's our deputy doing?"
It felt good to have Max's arms around her, just like it had felt good when Ty hugged her too. She just wished she could hug them back without holding her breath. There were no visions though, no movie reel in her head of Max's last day on earth and it helped her breathe easier. "I've been doing good. Being home and with my men certainly help... they're around here somewhere." Greer glanced over her shoulder but didn't immediately spot Dev or Rost. "Ty is... well, he seems to be doing good too. He's married now, but not a deputy anymore." Greer took a chance and slipped her arm through Max's to lead him away from the crowd to a more private spot. "Actually, I'm glad you found me today. I wanted to talk to you about something... well, it's not new, but... Ty's dealing with something too, like I am. He can't feel physical pain at all."
"Oh look at deputy badass over there," Max groaned, shaking his head. "Try torturing him for info. That's... Yeah, that's messed up. You're on a hug-probation and he can't feel pain. Meanwhile, yeah, I found my thing, I just can't explain it. Been walking through walls, according to my brother. Only I don't see the walls, it's like the world gets a little mixed up sometimes. Have you felt anything like that?" If it was just his thing and the others weren't glitching then it was less likely to mean he was getting sucked out of this dimension, a thought he didn't like entertaining for more than a second at a time. At least so far he hadn't seen anything like the decaying and grotesque world they'd been stuck in for so long, he wasn't sure how he'd handle that.
Hug probation was probably the cutest way to describe what was happening to her and it brought a smile to her face, despite how serious the situation probably was. Of course, her smile turned into disbelief as Max described what had been happening to him. "Walk through walls? No, that's definitely not happened to me. When I see something, it just happens in my head, like I just instinctively know. You can really walk through walls?" That was just like some of those superhero movies, surely. Like Ty, being immune from pain. Greer's curiosity was growing, especially about the others. Surely everyone was dealing with something by now, if the three of them were as well.
"No, I mean-" Max started before stopping with a slightly frustrated look on his face. "I don't think I'm walking through walls. I think... the walls just aren't there for me. Like..." How did he explain something he didn't understand? "I think the walls aren't there. It's like I'm- if it happened right now, you might see that vendor booth over there but I might see the marina after the carnival leaves. So I'd walk through an empty lot but you'd see me walk through the booth. Does that make sense? No it doesn't, it really fucking doesn't, but do you get what I'm trying to say?" He wished he was more eloquent with words but talking about random daily stuff was one thing, explaining something so bizarre was completely different.
"I think it does make sense," Greer said. "You're not seeing things the way I do. That also makes me worry... what happens if you walk through something and the wrong person sees it?" She didn't think there were people out and about purposely looking for something strange, but she knew things could get out of hand quickly if some random person spotted Max doing something that should be impossible. At least Ty and Greer's abilities were... internal?
A big grin spread on Max's face and he shook his head. "People see what they want to see," he murmured. "If you act like nothing is out of the ordinary, they question themselves and what they saw. You can get away with a lot of weird shit if you just pretend it's normal. Besides, most people aren't even looking. They're busy focusing on their own shit - or their own phones." People seeing was the least of his worries. "I'm more worried I'll... end up stuck somewhere. I've been only hanging out in places I know. Until now." He gestured around vaguely at the area he obviously had no mental map for, the carnival was too new. "It helps to see where other people are walking."
That was a valid concern, but Greer still worried about Max being seen. Point Pleasant was full of the unusual, after all. It was easier to believe the impossible here than most places. "Being observant isn't always a bad thing. At least until you know the extent of what's happening to you and what your limits are. I think it's happening to all of us," she added, glancing over her shoulder just to make sure Dev and Rost weren't looking for her. They knew she wandered off a lot but she didn't want to worry them either. "I want to try and talk to some of the others. Ty is going to visit Miriam and Brianna up in Overlook. Are there any you could reach out to? See if they're dealing with something unusual too?"
Max hadn't exactly been making friends on the other side but he supposed he still had some connection to a few people. "I know Vex through some friends," he told her, unsure if he'd told her that before or not. "Went to school with Carson. Uhm, Jasper's my buddy's nephew. Guess I can reach out to some of them." There were people he had no interest in talking to, namely all the Overlook people, so he was glad Ty was taking care of those. His people were far more approachable and hell, he even liked Vex, as weird as he was, maybe because he was weird. "Jasper can probably talk to Elodie, they were pretty tight."
"Whoever you're comfortable talking to," Greer said. "I can always talk to the rest." She was a people person and wouldn't mind reaching out to the ones Ty or Max might feel unsure about. "Carson is back in town... I can feel that. I know he and Vex were close in that other place. I think it's just really important we all know what's going on, just in case this isn't over yet." She paused briefly and frowned. "That sounded ominous, and I didn't mean for it to. I just mean if there's a reason we're different now... we should all be on the same page. No one should have to go through this stuff alone."
"Everything about our lives is ominous," Max said with a smile that didn't really suit the topic, but he wanted to reassure her she wasn't being a downer. She was a beam of fucking sunshine in a shitty situation if anything. "I'm not even trying to understand any of it, it's like life, we're spinning around on a tiny blue dot in a vast universe, I don't even wanna try to make sense of it, I'm just here for the ride. Hopefully I can have some fun while I'm here and not go back to any more shitty places." Sure, sometimes he fell into the void of existential crisis where everything felt too real and too scary, but that usually involved drugs that weren't made by his family. Shayna Mae's highs were always sweet and non-trippy. "Guess I gotta try to find some answers for this though, my family is freaking out. Do your boys know?"
Greer understood Max’s philosophy because it was one she lived by herself. But this was something that needed to be known, even if it took them a while to get the answers. “They know,” Greer said. “I think they worry about it, but they want to be strong for me too, you know? Mostly I think they’re just happy to have me back, even if I came back with some… slight additions. Your sister is a witch, right? Have you talked to her about it?”
"Not in depth," Max replied with a pained smile. "I'm sure she's talked about me a lot though, she's fretting. Everyone's fretting." That wasn't really new, it was just bigger this year than it had been before and here Max had thought going to prison would be the ultimate low of his life. "Well, my dad doesn't know and we're keeping it that way for now." He put his finger up to his lips, as if there was any chance Greer might run into Patrick and spill the beans.
"Well, try to calm their fretting," Greer suggested. "I know they're worried about you. This could end up being something good... helpful. We just don't know yet. I know it's difficult to deal with family frettings while figuring this all out ourselves." But Greer still felt lucky enough that she had people who loved and cared about her that much. "Keeping them in the dark doesn't really help anyone and I'm sure it would drive them crazy."
"If I knew how to de-fret the family, I'd be a happy man," Max said and laughed a bit despite the topic being a major downer. "But all I can do is look for some answers. I don't even know if it's a good thing we're all dealing with shit or not. Maybe it'd be better if it was just a fluke, you know?" He sighed and glanced around, wrinkling his nose at the whole thing. "So... I'll go talk to Vex and Carson, see if Jasper will talk to me. You and Ty go talk to the rest and then we meet up and compare books?"
"Just communicate," Greer suggested, reaching out to cup his face before she registered that she probably shouldn't. Thankfully there were no death visions, so she kept her hands were they were. "We'll figure this out. Even if we can't fix it, we're going to try and get some answers. You have my phone number so keep me updated and I'll do the same." Greer smiled. "I want you to come have dinner with us some night soon, okay? We'll eat and play some cards and drink... just have a nice night together."
Max grinned at her as she cupped his face, not minding the touch at all. "That sounds really nice," he agreed and it'd probably do him good to get out of the house to somewhere that wasn't The Back Porch. "I'll eat pretty much anything so if you wanna cook for me, I'll be delighted. I'll bring some beers - or some of Shayna Mae's nice stuff." He cocked a brow and took some comfort in the fact that Greer didn't seem to be trying to hide anything right now so she probably hadn't seen anything about his death. He liked being nonchalant about those sorts of things but honestly he wasn't sure what he would do with that kind of knowledge. Especially if it wasn't anything terribly specific, like what if he just died in the shower, would every shower feel scary from then on?
All of that sounded wonderful and she knew Dev and Rost would be on board. "Let's do that," she said before pressing a kiss to his cheek. Stepping back, she lowered her hands, not wanting to push her luck with touching him. "Do you have plans now? Do you want to spend some time with us? We're just enjoying the weather for a bit. It's a lovely way to take your mind off of the bad stuff." It was so necessary to get out of the house and continue living. There were things to be done and things to worry about but not right now. Right now Greer wanted to be around the people she loved.
That did sound amazing and Max was about to agree when a tall man behind Greer lost his balance thanks to some kids running by and bumped into Greer. He apologized profusely and touched her shoulder lightly with a friendly smile but Max could easily tell something was wrong. It was all over Greer's face before she caught herself, like she'd seen a ghost. "Did you see-" he started, watching the man walk away. He vaguely recognized him from school and around town, though he couldn't remember his name. Nolan? He was a baseball player back in the day and Max was pretty sure his name was Nolan and if the look on Greer's face was any indication, she now knew how Nolan was going to die. "Are you okay?" he asked and god did he not envy her of this gift or curse she'd been given.
Greer watched the man walk away, feeling an icy ball of discomfort expand in her stomach. She had already seen death, but never so violent, or so soon. And she knew it was soon. Swallowing hard, she tried to keep her eyes on the man as he walked farther and farther away. "No, I have to..." She gestured aimlessly and began to follow. "In that tunnel of love. Someone is going to cut his throat. I can't let that happen." Whether or not Greer could stop what she saw was uncertain but Greer would have never been able to live with herself if she didn't try. It wasn't like dying of natural causes when he's eighty.
"Holy shit!" Max hissed. "What, now?" He hurried to follow her, giving only a quick glance around to see if her men were anywhere near them because it sounded like they might need the help. That sounded like a very violent and random thing to happen in broad daylight - at the tunnel of fucking love of all places. The carnival suddenly didn't seem so fun and light hearted anymore and he kind of had the creeps as they followed Nolan through the crowd, kind of wishing he wasn't heading where they thought he was heading. He wasn't going straight there at least, stopping at one of the games with the guy he was with so that gave them a minute to stop and think and plan, hopefully. "Did you see who does it? And fucking why?" Max asked as they hovered nearby. "And are you sure it's today?"
"I don't know," Greer said, weaving her way through the crowd to keep her eyes on the man. "If it's not today, then what? Maybe I can tell him to stay away from the ride, or to go home and not come back?" All she knew was that she couldn't just go about her business simply because she didn't know the specifics. Pressing her hands to her abdomen, Greer looked over at Max. "I don't know who does it. I saw an argument... that man tries to help and gets stabbed. There was so much blood, Max." She looked back into the crowd, distressed when she couldn't find the back of the man's head again. "Where did he go?"
"He's right there," Max told her with a vague gesture. "If you see the man who does it, I can get his knife off him before it goes down. No knife, no stabbing, right?" It sounded like a much better idea than trying to break up a knife-fight when it was actually happening, Max had always been better at diffusing situations in different ways than using violence. "Maybe we should go straight to the tunnel of love and see if we see the guy. You saw his face, right? Please tell me you saw his face."
"Yeah." Greer quickened her steps. "We'll go to the ride so I can look for him. He has a goatee and a baseball hat. He's with a blonde woman in a green tank top." She had seen them, but she had been shaken by the knife, and the blood. "If we see him... and you can take his knife..." That didn't mean that the argument wouldn't happen, but maybe they could stop the killing. Maybe she could convince the man in danger to go do something else and avoid it all together. She reached for Max's hand, then remembered the risk and pulled back. "Do you know who that is? The guy who bumped into me?"
"Yeah, we went to school together," Max replied. "Ages ago and he's younger than me, totally different crowd too. Think his name's Nolan. I just remember him from the sports events." He noticed the way she reached for him and pulled back and tried not to let it bother him, poor Greer didn't need more visions of deaths right now even if it was tempting to check to see if their meddling was gonna alter his fate. He was going to stand clear and make sure Greer did too, nobody needed to die today. "Did you see who he met up with? You know him too;Sage from the other side. Bet he could help if we need it." Sage was more likely to believe them at least, he might have some shit going on like the rest of them and he'd been in a different dimension for fuck's sake.
Greer knew Sage and she wondered briefly if Sage being with Nolan had anything to do with her vision. Probably not. "Maybe it would be better if we didn't involve them at all," Greer said. "If I told Nolan what I saw, he might think I'm crazy and go on the ride anyway, or... let's look for the guy with the knife. That's the important thing. If we can't find him, I'll just, I don't know, cling to Nolan's legs so he can't go anywhere until it's safe." That was a bit dramatic, but Greer was willing to be dramatic if it saved someone's life. "Keep an eye out for the goatee and baseball hat. If you see him, we need to figure out a way to get his knife. I'm not that great of a pick pocket."
Max was already looking for any possible guy like that and he smiled faintly at Greer's words. "Leave it to me," he told her. "I don't have a lot of useful skills that aren't criminal, but they can still come in handy without committing crimes." Well, technically stealing a knife from a person was a crime but he was doing it for the great good so it didn't really count. Although, if it was a nice knife he might not give it back so there was that. "Is that him?" he asked and gestured at a man standing nearby, laughing with some girl. He looked so harmless and cheerful, not like someone who was about to slit a man's throat, but he had the goatee and the baseball hat so Mad had to rule him out.
Greer nodded, trusting Max to get hold of the knife. If she needed to provide a distraction, she could. The man Max pointed out looked familiar to her and she inhaled sharply as she caught sight of the woman standing with him. "That's him," she breathed. And Nolan was in line a few feet back. Greer's stomach rolled uncomfortably. "I feel like I'm going to be sick," she murmured. "What should we do? I don't want to cause a scene... I will, but I don't want to freak people out."
Max checked out the scene quickly, then pointed to the girl in front of their target in line. "Here," he said and handed her his headphones. "No need to cause a scene, ask that girl if she dropped this, say you could have sworn you saw her drop it. Just act confused, then leave. I just need them to look at you while I work. It's forgettable and fast." He ushered her in the right direction and wished one or both of her boys were there to help. Greer was still shaken up, understandably since she'd pretty much witnessed a murder. He couldn't even imagine how horrible it was and he had no idea just how clear those visions were but the look on her face told him plenty.
Greer took the headphones and nodded. She was a social person and had no qualms about walking up to a stranger to talk to them. She did it all the time. Her skin was still pale and her hands were trembling a little but Greer was determined to do what Max asked so he could swipe the knife. All Greer could do was hope that the guy didn't feel what was happening and end up slicing Max's throat instead. That was something she would never forgive herself for. As she walked up to the girl he had pointed too, a normal Greer-like smile on her lips. Greer tried not to look at Max as she did so. "Hi," she said brightly, holding the headphones out in her hand. "Did you drop these?"
People were so easily distracted and everyone was either staring at their phone or glancing curiously at the colorful woman who'd just traipsed up to the line. It helped that the girl was friendly and didn't get weird about Greer thinking it had been her, she even chatted a bit about where they might have dropped and who else it could be who dropped them. Scanning the area around them was a nice but not terribly helpful gesture and while everyone was focused on Greer or their phones, Max found it easy to stroll along the line and do his thing. The knife was bigger than things he was used to stealing so it felt a little awkward to shove it up his sleeve but he managed and slipped away before Greer was done talking to the girl. He caught up with her when the line started moving and everyone was climbing aboard their little boats, sidling up to her and just barely catching himself before he put his arm on her. "Now we just gotta hope that's enough. It's the only weapon on him."
Gods, what if it wasn't the only knife the guy had? What if this was meant to happen, Greer and Max stealing the man's knife, but he had another? "Should we go on the ride, just in case?" she murmured, still wanting to keep her eyes on the man and Nolan. "Or can we at least wait by where the ride ends? I just want to make sure Nolan gets off the ride alive." She didn't think Max wanted to take off, but she just wanted to make sure he would stay with her. Dev and Rost may be worrying now, but she would explain everything to them later, once this whole situation was over.
"Let's wait where it happens," Max replied and it hadn't occurred to him to just wander off without seeing this through. He wanted to know if Greer's new ability was just a curse or if she could actually use it for good. Sure, that was a burden to carry, but it still seemed better than just seeing people die all the time and not being able to do a damn thing about it. He'd keep his eye on the news too for a while, make sure Nolan didn't get himself killed in some dumb way if he survived this encounter. "Just don't go rushing in if it seems to be going badly. You're not taking his death on you, you hear?"
Greer wanted desperately to grab Max's hand or arm for comfort, so she folded her arms against her chest instead. "I can't promise anything," she murmured, walking with Max while keeping her eye on the ride. "There has to be a reason why we can do these things... if it's pointless to try and help, then why would I be shown anything? It doesn't make any sense at all." Life didn't always make sense but this particular situation seemed really cruel.
"Greer," Max said slowly, just barely keeping himself from grabbing her arm. "There's no order in the universe, if there's a reason we can do this shit it's not a good one, nothing good came out of that place. I think it's just a side effect and life is fucking chaos, you know? You already did what you can to stop this and if it doesn't work then... Then it's just a fucking curse and you'll have to find a way to live with it or make it stop."
"That's not true," Greer said, turning to look at him, albeit briefly. "We came back alive, and that's good. Even if its a side effect, that doesn't mean we can create something good out of it." There were days she believed in fate and days she agreed with Max, that life was just chaos. But right now, she had to believe that nothing was set in stone, that things could be changed... that there wasn't some masterplan and they were all just game pieces. "Just wait with me," she murmured, giving in and reaching out to take his hand. "Please."
Max was a little startled by the touch but any objection to physical contact was all on her side so he didn't hesitate to grip her hand in a firm but gentle hold. "Of course," he replied and set his eyes on the tunnel, glad he had a hold on Greer because he would physically hold her back if he had to. Nolan was probably a great guy but he wasn't anyone special to Max and he wasn't about to let Greer die for him if it came to that. He tightened his hold automatically when the first boats started coming out, the argument obvious between the man whose knife was now up Max's sleeve. He couldn't make out what they were yelling, just that they were yelling and the woman with him sounded upset and surprised while the man just sounded angry. "Here we go," Max whispered under his breath steeling himself in case he was about to see what Greer already had. He had the guy's knife but he was now itching to go back up to him to make sure he didn't have other weapons on him.
They watched as the man grabbed his companion and shook her, yelling something about another man to her startled face, watched as Nolan stepped over in an obvious attempt to break this up and then the man shoved him and that... was that. He suddenly looked completely lost, looking between the woman and Nolan, shaking his head and raising his hands in a protective maneuver, like he didn't know what was going on. Nolan ignored him and talked to the woman instead and it seemed like things were simmering down at a strangely quick pace. "Did this happen?" Max whispered to Greer, turning his head toward her but keeping his eyes on the scene.
Greer didn't realize she was holding her breath until her lungs started to burn and she gripped Max even harder until the man moved away from Nolan without attempting to hurt him. "No," she breathed, the relief almost bringing her to her knees. "No, when Nolan got shoved the guy brought out the knife... that was when it was supposed to happen." And now it seemed like things were calming down. "He's okay," Greer said, looking at Max with clear relief and happiness in her expression. "He's okay... we did it."
Max had seen too many horror movies to be fully convinced this was the end of it, but it was a happy ending for now and he grinned at Greer because he could easily fake the enthusiasm for her, even if he had his own doubts and anxieties to deal with. "Look at you go," he murmured, raising her hand to kiss her knuckles. "Are you gonna be a death defying superhero now? Run around saving lives?" He would help her in a heartbeat every time if it came to it, but he also knew she already had two men who were more than willing to lay their lives on the line for her. Or at least they'd better be.
Greer shook her head, all of the fearful adrenaline slowly seeping from her body now that it was more or less over. She was exhausted and stepped in to hug Max, just wanting the reassurance and physical connection. Thankfully there were no visions interrupting her moment of peace and she sighed. "I'll do what I can, when I can... but I can't go around touching everyone to try and see if I can somehow change their fate. That doesn't mean I won't, if I'm able to..." If she could turn whatever happened to her into something good, she would. Greer chuckled. "Besides, now I've got you to walk through walls for me, right? That should make things easier if I need to break in somewhere."
"I'll work on being able to do that on command," Max promised as he hugged her back and that was a hell of a motivator. Breaking and entering was a hobby of his so he didn't technically need to be able to walk through walls but it could come in so handy if he needed a quick escape route. He could have avoided all those years in prison if he could have just slipped through walls and or even gone to another dimension for an hour. Let those cops search high and low for a man who wasn't there. He wasn't even sure that was how it worked and on some level he wasn't terribly eager to find out. This gift - or curse - had come from such a bad thing. Greer was an optimist and could more easily put a nice twist on it, but Max was a pessimist and he was almost certain there was a catch. At least this event had a happy ending, even if it might be temporary. The guy who hadn't killed Nolan was being left alone as his girl left with Nolan and Sage, still visibly upset, but he wasn't going away for murder. None of them had any idea just how close to disaster they'd all been. "I think we should go get a drink," Max told Greer. "Pretty sure we've earned one or two."
Greer nodded and glanced back to where Nolan was safely walking away from the situation. She was able to breathe again and with a smile, she turned back to Max. "We definitely need a drink. Let's go find Dev and Rost... they're probably wondering where I am." And she didn't want them to worry about her either, though they knew she had a tendency to flutter off when something or someone caught her eye. Even so, she wanted to be with her boys, and Max of course, after that particular ordeal. So taking Max's hand, she led him back into the crowd, ready to breathe again and celebrate saving a life.