Reyna Marie

Reyna means queen, treat me as such.

[queenlexington]

“Okay, whoa, I wasn’t, like, calling you a dumb frat boy or insulting your intelligence! I just meant, you know, that it must be a nice little break to find a dick joke amongst all the serious angstiness of Shakespeare’s stuff.” Max says with a small shrug, feeling utterly mortified at the prospect of accidentally insulting Reyna.

“You think I’m charming?” Max asks, a playful grin curling onto her lips to cover up her genuine surprise. Reyna thinks she’s charming… her crush thinks she’s charming. “Oh, don’t worry about that! I don’t know nearly enough about politics to have an in depth discussion with anyone.” She says with a small laugh.

“Well, it sounds like Miss J.K got one thing right… This Snape dude sounds like your typical straight, white male.” Max muses with a small smile. “But, I mean, at least Lily found a good egg amongst all the fuckboys, right? Her last name is Potter, not Snape so…” She shrugs.

Reyna lets out a small sigh as Max backtracks, and she shakes her head. “No, I know you weren’t! I’m just--god I’m so stressed out over fucking Shakespeare, you know? I’m sorry for snapping at you, ugh.”

She stuffs a mouthful of food into her mouth when Max asks if she thinks she’s charming, just so she doesn’t have to answer, because she most definitely had not meant to say it, and the grin on Max’s face was enough to make her regret it. “You can be.” Reyna mutters when she’s done with her mouthful. “Okay good, because I don’t wanna watch my dad fight you because of politics. It’ll be like war.” She adds with a small smile.

Her smile only grows as Max compliments Lily and James, glad that she was finally understanding. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a chore to teach her roommate about the franchise. “I mean James could definitely be a fuckboy, he had a whole squad of them, but he actually cared about her, and loved her. Not obsession.” She explains, shrugging slightly at her (fake) girlfriend.

[queenlexington]

“Aw, come on, it can’t be that bad!” Max says with a small shake of her head. “I mean, Shakespeare is full of dick jokes right? That’s gotta be kinda fun right?” She asks, before breathing out a small sigh. “Yeah, I feel you on that one. The amount of essays I have to do…” She shakes her head. “Okay, if you’re sure. Any advice on how to win your Dad over? Apart from passing his incredibly hard Harry Potter quiz, that is.”

Max gapes a little at Reyna’s passionate speech, but before she can even think about a response, there’s a knock at the door. “Oh!” She jumps up from her bed. “I’ll get that.” She says with a smile, rifling around in her bag for some cash and answering the door. “Keep the change,” She tells the delivery guy with a small smile as she accepts the food.

“So, uh, Potter’s Mom must’ve been quite the woman, huh?” Max jokes as she places the food onto her desk. “Sounds like this Snape dude is a real piece of work, worse than the bald guy with no nose.” She says with a small chuckle as she sorts through the containers of food. “Uh, I’m pretty sure this is yours?”

“Yeah, he did write a lot of dick jokes but I’m supposed to be a little more advanced than just dick jokes, Max, this isn’t high school.” Reyna almost snaps, before she shakes her head, agreeing with Max on how the amount of essays was killing her. “Uh, no. Just be nice and your usual charming self should be okay. And try not to talk about politics.” 

As soon as Max pays the delivery driver, Reyna reaches for her purse, ready to pay the amount that her food had cost, wanting to pay for her own food. “Lily Potter was incredible. and she deserved better than a wizard who called her slurs and still wanted to get laid by her. Voldemort may have been the villain, but Snape was the real monster.” She explains, before taking her food from Max. 

“Thank you.”

[queenlexington]

“English Lit? That’s poetry and Shakespeare, right?” Max asks with a small frown. “I don’t know a lot, but it can’t be too hard. I mean, music is all about rhythm and so is poetry and Shakespeare, I’m sure I’d be able to figure it out somehow.” She says with a grin. “Well that’s because you’ve scared me, Lexington! I’m a parent person, okay? I want your family to like me even though we’re not actually dating.”

Max winces a little in the face of Reyna’s outrage. “I didn’t know his name, okay?” She says, raising her hands in surrender. “And that’s the only other thing I’ve seen him in!” She frowns in confusion at Reyna’s anger at the very brief bit of Potter knowledge she had at her disposal. “Oh… Is the ‘always’ thing like, uh, peanut butter? Some people love it, some hate it?”

Reyna nods as Max works out what her major was, and she scoffs slightly when Max says it can’t be too hard, spoken in a way that could only be someone who had no idea how hard Lit could be when it wanted to. “Shakespeare, and a bunch of other shit that hurts my head. I should have chosen an easier major.” She huffs, before she lets out a breathy laugh at Max’s distress. “Trust me, Max, they’ll all love you. My dad may take a while to come around, but he’s not too bad.” She assures the brunette, smiling softly.

“No, it’s not-- maybe it is, actually. All I know is that it’s bullshit. Severus Snape was a terrible person, and he scared a student so much that he was their biggest fear in life, not wizard terrorists, but his own teacher! And he bullied the fuck outta everyone not in Slytherin, but all of that shit is erased because it turns out he had a hard on for Potter’s mom!” She’s breathing relatively heavily by the time she’s finished, and her cheeks tinge pink. She hadn’t meant to go on a rant like that, but she was so passionate about the Snape Thing that she couldn’t help it, and she’s relieved when there’s a knock at the door, signalling the arrival of dinner.

[queenlexington]

“Well, I mean, I don’t feel super confident about them. But I study a lot so, hopefully?” Max says with a grin. “If you don’t feel too good about it I could always try and help you study, if you wanted?” She shrugs. “Wait. I thought you were going to teach me about Potter! Those run down videos can’t possibly cover everything! I need the fan rundown!” She protests.

“Snape?” Max frowns for a moment as she tried to recall the limited amount of Potter knowledge she had at her disposal. “That’s the guy from Die Hard, right? The guy who made ‘always’ a really big thing?” She asks uncertainly. “You know, thinking about it… he kinda looks like the guy who plays Kylo.” She muses with a small smile.

“Oh yeah, same. I’m usually really bad at choosing things to watch.” Max chuckles. “Guess we’re just on the same wavelength today, huh?”

Reyna smiles as Max says that she’s hopeful about finals, understanding exactly what she meant. Reyna had a tiny bit of hope for finals, but not nearly as much as she had expected to, as much as she wanted to. “Oh yeah? How much do you know about english lit?” She questions, before laughing at Max’s apparent distress. “You seem a little desperate there, Clarke.”

Reyna’s eyes widen when Max works out who Snape was, and she feels a slight amount of anger rise as she stares, open mouthed at her roommate. “Yeah, okay, tell me I imagined that, because you did not just refer to Alan Rickman as that guy from Die Hard.” She says, shock coating her words, and, as if by her magic, her anger rises as soon as Max mentions the word that apparently erased all the wrong Snape did.

“Yeah, the one that made always a big deal, and I really want to rant to you about why that pisses me off so much, but we’ll save that for your lessons, because I know for a fact that you’ll be quizzed on it.”

“Well you know what they say, great mind think alike, right?” She says in reply to the comment about being on the same wavelength, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

[queenlexington]

“Yeah,” Max chuckles. “It sounds like it. At least I feel kind of confident about my finals, this though.” She whistles and shakes her head. “No chance.”

“Oh,” Max flushes as she realises Reyna had absolutely no clue what she was talking about. “Uh, he’s a Star Wars character, one of the new ones. Kylo Ren. He’s kinda like Darth Vader… Uh, you know, the scary masked bad guy. Though, there’s not really anything scary about Kylo. He’s an emo little pissbaby.” She says with a small shrug, more than a little worried that her rambling would throw Reyna off once again.

“Nah, it’s all good, don’t apologise.” Max says with a small wave of her hand. “Ordinarily I’d wanna wait until the food came, but I’ve seen this a billion times, so it’s cool if the food interrupts it.” She grins.

“Oh, that makes one of us who feels good about finals.” She mutters, frowning slightly, before nodding when Max says she has no chance pleasing her family with her lack of Potter knowledge, Reyna does her best not to laugh at just how right she was. “You could always watch those brief rundown things they do on youtube?” She offers in suggestion, knowing how daunting it could be for people.

She listens intently as Max explains exactly what, or more who, Kylo was, and she nods in understanding when she calls him an emo little pissbaby. She knew enough of those in both real life and in fiction. “So he’s like the Star Wars version of Snape?” She asks, hoping that Max knew who that was, at least, the same way she had a vague idea of who Darth Vader was.

“That makes sense. I’m still surprised we managed to pick something before the food got here, usually it takes me ages to find something and my food is cold by the time I do.” Reyna comments with a small smile.

[queenlexington]

“Shit.” Max breathes, raking a hand through her hair. “This is serious business, huh? I never thought Potter knowledge would be a requirement for dating someone.” She says with a small chuckle. “So, like, instead of the typical vaguely threatening conversation with your Dad he’ll just test my Potter knowledge?” She jokes. “That’s intense. I didn’t realise I’d need to study in order to be your fake girlfriend.”

Max wrinkles her nose. “Well… I mean, not all of them are great. The originals are way better than the prequels. And the Kylo and Rey thing is really gross.” She shudders a little at that. “I think the outrage is just because the originals are classics you know? Like Back to the Future. It’s just something you have to watch for the sake of the culture.” She shrugs, feeling the heat in her cheeks intensify after such a nerdy ramble. “But… I totally get it.” She says after clearing her throat. “The hype around Potter is why I’m hesitant to watch or read it.”

“No worries,” Max says with a soft smile as she settles back onto her bed. “You wanna start the movie while we wait?”

Reyna can’t help but laugh as Max jokes about the Potter quiz taking the place of the stern talking to she was definitely going to get from the Lexington patriarch, though she can't find it in herself to tell the other just how intense her father was bound to be. “Well, if you’re going to study for anything this year, make sure it’s this. This is way more important than finals.” She shoots back, her words joking, her eyes shining with mirth.

Reyna nods in understanding when Max comments on how much better the originals were than the prequels, because oh boy did she understand exactly what the other meant. Not in the case of Star Wars, of course, but she and Beth had been so disgusted at the way Fantastic Beasts was ruining the Harry Potter legacy, they’d walked out halfway through the movie.

Her expression, however, shifts to one of confusion as Max goes off on a Star Wars related tangent, though she waits for the other to fall completely silent before she airs her question. “Yeah, real quick, what in the goddamn fuck is a Kylo?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.

As Max suggests playing the movie while they wait for food, Reyna feels the heat rush to her cheeks in embarrassment. “Yeah, of course, sorry.”

[queenlexington]

“Ah, that’s all right then.” Max says, huffing out a small sigh of relief. “That’s more manageable. And I mean, if they’re only fans because of you, the Potter Pop Quiz I’m gonna be given shouldn’t be too hard right?” She asks with a small smile before her mouth drops open in surprise. “You’ve never– but they’re classics!” She splutters, before her cheeks flush and she ducks her head at the realisation she’d just demonstrated the exact reaction Reyna had been talking about. “Sorry. I just… Well I mean I guess it makes sense if you’re a huge Potter fan. People are normally only really love one of the big movie franchises. But still… you probably get that a lot, I’m sorry.” She says, offering the blonde a small, apologetic smile.

“Great minds.” Max says with a wink. “Food should be here in fifteen.” She tells the blonde as she moves back over to her bed and flops onto it, preparing to get comfortable for the movie and their dinner.

“Well, they’ve quizzed enough people to make it hard by now.” She comments, and then Reyna’s face shifts into one of boredom as Max perfectly portrays the exact reaction Reyna had been hinting at, and she resists the urge to roll her eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as Max goes red with the realisation. “It’s not that I’m even the huge Harry Potter fan, like, objectively, I know Star Wars has to be good right, if all these people get so angry when I say I haven’t seen it, but that’s the exact reason I’ll never watch them.” Reyna explains quietly, shrugging. She was used to the reaction by now, she had received it enough times, it was almost funny.

“Awesome, thanks for ordering it.”

[queenlexington]

“Wow.” Max breathes. “So I’m walking into a whole family of Potter fans, that’s scary.” She says with a small laugh. “Out of curiosity… what would happen if you told them I’d never seen it?” She asks, only a little terrified at the answer she’d receive.

“Um…” Max eyes the two movies thoughtfully before shrugging halfheartedly. “Spy works for me.” She tells the blonde before pulling out her phone. “I’ll order the food while you sort that out.” She says with a smile as she dials the familiar number and proceeds to place their usual orders.

“It’s not really the whole family, it’s mostly me, but because of me the others have gotten there too.” Reyna assures with a small smile, enjoying the conversation. “You’d probably get the same reaction I get from people when I tell them I’ve never seen a single star wars film.” She finishes with a shrug, assuming the other would know exactly the reaction she was talking about.

As Max chooses Spy, Reyna’s smile grows slightly wider, and she opens the dvd case. “Awesome, I was hoping you would choose Spy.” She admits, placing the dvd in the player as Max recited the food orders down the phone.

[queenlexington]

Max flushes slightly at Reyna’s words and ducks her head. “Thanks, that’s really sweet of you.” She mumbles.

She scratches the back of her neck awkwardly at the way Reyna’s eyes widen at her words, before her lips curl up into a cheeky grin. “So Harry Potter is literally the make or break of your relationships? Wow.” She says, a breathy laugh escaping her. “Do you think they’re gonna quiz me on my Potter knowledge? She asks, genuinely concerned. “Uh… maybe just a comedy?” She suggests, thinking that maybe staying away from anything romantic will be more effective at cheering the blonde up.

Reyna doesn’t respond to the thanks with more than a quiet hum, still focusing on the task at hand, finding the perfect movie for them to watch.

“Yes, Harry Potter most definitely is the make or break, and knowing my family, they will test you on your Harry Potter knowledge, unless I tell them that you haven’t seen them, which could be, ah, interesting.” She explains, shaking her head slightly. Max suggests a regular comedy, and Reyna moves over to the section of the shelves dedicated to that genre, infinitely glad they’d organised the films by genre, and pulls two cases out of the selection, holding them up for the other. “Which one?”

[queenlexington]

“You mean you’ve been pacing for over four hours?” Max chuckles. “You should have had a stress nap, those always help me out.” She says with a small shrug.

“Got it,” Max says with a soft smile as Reyna moves over to the shelves. “Uh,” She wrinkles her nose as she weighs up the pros and cons of breaking her abstinence from watching or reading anything to do with the boy wizard. “Not particularly…” She says slowly. “But, uh, if it’s gonna cheer you up I guess I could make an exception this one time.” She shrugs. “And I mean… it could be helpful for this fake dating thing. I’m sure your family wouldn’t believe you, the giant Potterhead you are, is dating a girl who’s never seen or read the books. Talk about blasphemy.” She chuckles.

Reyna nods slightly in response to Max’s surprise, not responding at first, knowing how pathetic she would sound if she tried to justify it. “Yeah, I was considering one but I didn’t want to be asleep when you got back in case you wanted to talk or anything.”

Reyna’s eyes widen as Max genuinely considers watching a Harry Potter movie just to make her feel better, and she feels her heart flutter, a reaction that often happened when Max did something caring aimed at her, and she suppresses a smile. “Okay, well, I’m not gonna make you sit through a Harry Potter because I know you don’t like it, I’ll just teach you some stuff about it so you pass at thanksgiving.” She replies, running her hand along the cases of the movies. “Do you want a comedy, or a rom-com?” She adds, giving Max more choice.

[queenlexington]

“Ah yes, I’m sure that skipping classes was very taxing for you.” Max drawls with a small, fond shake of her head. “I would, but you’ve already made the effort to get the menu.” She says with a small shrug, a cheeky grin curling onto her lips.

“Shit.” Max murmurs. “I’m sorry, Reyna. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She shakes her head sadly. “I really don’t understand how anyone can cheat. That’s the lowest of the low. I’m really sorry that happened to you, Reyna. You deserve so much better than that.” She says softly, slipping off her bed and crossing the room to stand beside the blonde.

“Look,” Max says, gently placing a hand on Reyna’s shoulder. “I’ll order the food, why don’t you pick out a movie for us to watch with it?” She gives the blonde’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You normally have the Hong Kong sweet and sour chicken thing right?”

“Skipping class wasn’t, but spending over four hours worrying about thanksgiving was. I’m fucking exhausted, like you don’t even know.” She replies, the childish part of her wanting to poke her tongue out to add to her point.

Reyna nods slightly as Max apologises, trying her hardest not to let the sadness weighing on her chest overtake her and make her cry like she usually did when she remembered some of the hurtful things that had been said.

“Yeah, and the veggie rice,” Reyna starts, before moving to the shelves of movies. “You’re not gonna want to watch Harry Potter are you?”

[queenlexington]

“Yeah, he seems it.” Max agrees with a small grimace. “You don’t have the number to the Chinese place saved? You amateur.” She scoffs, grinning at the blonde to let her know she was only joking.

Max flushes a little under Reyna’s gaze, dropping her eyes to the floor at the scrutiny, before glancing up with a frown at what the blonde says. “Well… if it’s any consolation, I didn’t hear about whatever happened between you and your ex.” She says softly. “Was it really that bad? Shit. Sorry, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She shakes her head a little at her own stupidity for prying. “Well, hopefully my parent charming skills work on grandparents too.”

“Don’t get smart with me, Max, I’ve had a stressful day, okay, I’m allowed this.” Reyna snaps back, though there is no venom in the words, just a slightly defensive tone, because she knew the other was only joking. “Maybe you can order it then, if you’re so skilled.”

Reyna’s eyes widen slightly in disbelief when Max denies knowing anything about her breakup, though she doesn’t mind it. It made a change from people looking at her from the corner of their eyes, judging her. “It was really bad. I, uh, I found her in bed with one of our friends and then we had a screaming match in the courtyard.” Her voice drops to no more than a whisper as she explains, a small amount of sadness settling into her chest. “I hope so.”

[queenlexington]

Max crinkles her nose as she starts to unpack her bag, tossing her kit into the laundry hamper and her textbooks onto her bed. “Disampa? Yeah I don’t blame you for skipping his class, I’ve seen him around campus, he gives me the creeps.” She says with a small shudder. “You can, but I get the same thing every time.” She chuckles.

“So, uh,” Max begins once her bag is empty and she’s lounged comfortably on her bed once again. “Why exactly do you need a fake girlfriend for thanksgiving? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

Reyna grins as Max agrees with her for skipping class and she nods slightly, agreeing with her. “Trust me, if I had known how creepy Disampa was, I would not have taken that class. My friends literally call him Creepy Prof, like, he’s disgusting, you know?” She comments, pulling a face, before crossing the room to grab the Chinese menu. “Yeah I know, but I don’t know the number and I don’t have it saved.”

Reyna looks at the way Max is lounging on her bed and shakes her head slightly, wishing she could do that, even though she knew that if she did, she would pass out. “Well, I told my gramma that I would be bringing my girlfriend to Thanksgiving, but, I, uh, well, I think everyone knows how that relationship ended. And I can’t break my gramma’s heart, you know?”

[queenlexington]

Max feels relief run through her at the fact that Reyna hadn’t questioned her choice to act as her girlfriend for thanksgiving, that she hadn’t commented on how just quickly Max had jumped at the chance to be her girlfriend, even if it was only pretend.

“Oh wow, yeah, that must be super scary for you guys.” Max says softly with a small nod of her head. “My step-dad’s a paramedic. It’s how he met my Mom actually.” She tells Reyna, a fond smile curling onto her lips.

“Yeah, I know.” Max chuckles with a small shake of her head. “It’s a good thing we’re being fake girlfriends for your family. My Mom definitely would not approve of a class skipper.” She teases. “Um, hells yes!” She beams at the suggestion of takeout. “You angel! I’ve been craving Chinese food since I hit the locker room!”

Max smiles as she mentions how her mom and step dad met, and Reyna makes a mental note to ask her later, when she wasn’t hyper focused on the fact that she had found a solution to her problem, and she slides her phone from her pocket to send her sister a quick text, though she keeps her eyes fixed on Max as not to seem rude. 

(my roomie is officially the best. ya girl got a fake bae. DO NOT TELL MOM!!!! ilu)

“I will have you know, I hardly ever skip class. But honestly, it’s not like I missed anything important, not with Mr Disampa teaching us, he’s useless.” Reyna says, defending herself with a grin. “Awesome. Shall I grab the menu?” She adds, ignoring the slight rush of heat to her cheeks when Max called her an angel.

[queenlexington]

Max’s eyes widen a fraction as Reyna explains her current predicament and her heart thunders wildly in her chest. A fake girlfriend? She could do that. Parents loved Max. The lying part is kind of an issue… but then again, how much of it would be lying considering the raging crush she has on the blonde?

“I could do that.” She blurts, sounding the complete opposite to Reyna’s cool nonchalance. “I mean…” Max clears her throat awkwardly. “My family aren’t really doing thanksgiving this year… my brother is still in Europe, and Allison just got a big promotion, and you know, the holidays are kind of a big deal for the emergency services so my step-dad is gonna be swamped…” She trails off as she realises this information is not at all relevant to Reyna. “Anyway… that means I’m free, and I’ve been told that I’m like a parent magnet so– and plus we’re roommates so I already know a lot about you!” She quickly adds for good measure before another ramble can start.

Reyna’s laugh tugs a smile onto her lips and she shakes her head at the blonde’s words. “After a practice like that there’s no way in hell I could forget how to play.” She chuckles. “Maybe he’s worried thanksgiving will make us fat and lazy.” She muses. “Sounds like you had a better day than I did… apart from the pacing.” She says with a small smile.

Reyna almost couldn’t believe her ears when Max all but jumped at the chance to be her fake girlfriend, which was something that she hadn’t expected in a million years, and a wide smile breaks across her face, and, as discreetly as possible, she pinches the skin on her arm, checking that the worry of thanksgiving hadn’t sent her into a stress induced coma and that it was real, that Max was going to be her fake girlfriend. 

She nods in understanding when Max mentions the busy period for the emergency services, she knew far too much about that already from personal experience. “I know what you mean, my dad is a cop, and my mom hates it, she’s scared for him you know? What does your step dad do, in the emergency services, that is?” She asks, genuinely curious, and also to file it away for a later date.

“Yeah, well I actually bailed on my classes today, because I just, ugh, you know?” Reyna admits with a small smile. “Speaking of fat and lazy, do you wanna order a take out?”

[queenlexington]

“Um… okay.” Max says, frowning at her frazzled roommate as she steps properly into their room. “What’s up? You sure I can’t help at all? I don’t mind.” She says, sending Reyna a reassuring smile.

“Oh no, don’t worry about that.” Max scoffs as she throws herself onto her bed. “You know, the usual.” She says with a sigh. “There’s something about the holidays coming up that turns coaches into drill sergeants. What about you? How was your day? Apart from, you know, whatever’s got you pacing.”

Reyna feels a small part of her panic rinse away when Max smiles at her and she smiles back, just for a moment and she takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say. “Not unless you or someone you know wants to pretend to be my girlfriend for thanksgiving.” She says it as nonchalantly as she possibly can, watching Max closely for her reaction.

Surprisingly, she lets out a laugh as Max compares her coach to a drill sergeant, because she could definitely relate. “I don’t know why, it’s not like you’re gonna forget how to play, right?” She asks, raising a brow. “Eh, nothing special. Did some homework and then had the call that started the pacing.”

[queenlexington]

Max was exhausted. Her classes had dragged, and instead of letting them off easy in their last training session before the holidays, Coach Copeland had pushed the girl’s soccer team harder than ever, reminding them that the holidays and winter season was not an excuse to slack off.

Stifling a yawn (she still had a buttload of assignments to finish, sleep would have to wait), she briefly weighs up the pros and cons of Chinese takeout over a freshly cooked meal as she waves her key card at the lock and pushes inside her dorm. She promptly jars to a halt at the sight of her roommate pacing and muttering to herself.

“Um…” Max awkwardly clears her throat from her position in the doorway. “Can I help with anything?”

Reyna spins on her heel at the sound of her roommates voice, idly wondering how crazy she seemed, how much of a mess she looked and she shakes her head quickly.

“I, uh, I don’t think so, not unless-- no. No, you can’t.” She doesn’t even allow herself a moment to entertain the idea that had appeared in her brain, and she shakes her head again, running a hand through her hair for what had to be the hundredth time since she’d gotten off the phone with her sister.

“No, sorry. I’ll keep it down,” she starts, before she takes a closer look at her (exhausted looking) roommate. “How was practice?”