[ID: My character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is trying to sneak past an alpha sharpedo. It spots her and she bolts away before the Pokemon hurls itself onto dry land just to chase her down. By the end she’s climbing a ladder to a nearby rooftop, and the sharpedo is still staring up at her, trying to attack despite the long distance. /End ID]
Summary: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts fell in love as teenagers and had a kid, Maxine Stark, who would grow up to be a bio engineer. Here she was, now an adult and learning how to navigate the world she wanted to live in, as well as the one her father lived in. Enjoy these slices of life moments that happen throughout different periods of time along the MCU timeline.
Pairings: Tony Stark!Dad x OC Maxine Stark
Steve Rogers x OC Maxine Stark (romantic pairing)
A/N: hiiii friends. had most of this sitting in my google docs for a while and just got the motivation and inspo to finish it up. This is one of my favorite scenes from all the avengers movies because it’s just so nice seeing them ~live life~ lol. I love these two so FUCKING much. Like they take up such a big part of my heart. Hope you enjoy this little chapter, let me know if you’d like to be tagged!
Word Count: 3.7k words
May 2nd 2015
The party at the Avengers tower was lively and loud. Close to 200 people were invited and that meant 300 people showed up. Tony wasn’t a stranger to these types of events, but it was out of his element not having Pepper there to help coordinate. Luckily Happy and Rhodey along with some of the maintenance staff really helped pull everything together.
“Where are the ladies?” Agent Hill joked.
“Pepper is off running a billion dollar company” Tony bragged.
“Jane is in some country or other. I believe she was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize.” Thor tried to one up Tony.
“and I’m right here.” Max’s voice chimed from behind them.
“Ah! My girl!” Tony cooed and wrapped his free arm around the girl as he lifted the other one with a drink in it.
Rhodes smiled at the girl he considered a niece. “Good to have you around, Max.”
“Yes, little Stark. It is a pleasure.” Thor smirked knowingly and corrected himself. “Max.” He lifted his drink and tucked his head a little to cheers her and apologize.
“What no galas, conventions or lab research tonight?” Tony said looking at his daughter who used those excuses many times in the past.
“I’m actually wrapping up my research for a bit so I can go along with about 7 other engineers and doctors to Sokovia.” She took a sip of her own drink hoping Tony didn’t flip out.
“What’s in Sokovia?” Rhodes asked, seemingly interested.
“About 100 amputees and thousands of underserved people who could benefit from the research we’ve already conducted. We unfortunately won’t be giving them restorative or regenerated limbs just yet but some will be a part of a trial while others we plan to provide them with advanced level prosthetics. I, personally, will be conducting the trials.” She explained.
Thor’s eyes widened in astonishment along with Rhodey while Agent Hill smiled.
Tony turned to the group, “My daughter, the helper.” He smiled knowing he had out done Thor.
“I’ll be making my rounds just wanted to say hi to dad.” Max interrupted their testosterone fest. She gave a quick kiss to her father as she slipped away into the crowd, starting conversations with the next group of people on her list of rounds.
Sam and Steve were walking up the stairs to the second floor of the party having a small conversation about this and that. As they reached the railing they began looking around at the party below them. It was out of both of their elements. Sam, who just entered into this life while Steve was still adapting to life out of the 40s.
Steve’s eyes traveled the room seeing all of his friends interacting and drinking, laughing and having a good time. His glance came to a halt when he saw her. The first thing catching his attention was her laugh. That fucking laugh. It gave him goosebumps hearing it again, along with flashbacks to the night they last spent together. Followed up by the rejection she gave him, which he was understanding of, but he’d lie if he said it didn’t hurt.
The second thing he noticed was the small band of color in her hair that most would miss at a glance, but not Steve. It was a signature for her. Then his eyes moved to the all black outfit she had on. A black tank top with lace peeking through tucked into black jeans. In a sea full of women who were in dresses, men in suits, she stood out while fitting in perfectly.
“You find a place in Brooklyn yet?” Sam’s voice brought Steve back to the moment in front of him.
“I don’t know if I can afford a place in Brooklyn.” Cap laughed.
“Yea,” Sam chuckled. “But hey, home is home.”
The comment made Steve move his eyes back over to the girl. The words Sam said repeated in his head until he decided to pull himself away and join Thor with a couple of the veterans Tony invited.
They began shooting the shit, talking, and drinking. Typical party behavior. Thor brought out a flask of liquor from Asgard for him and Steve, pouring it into their cups.
“Hello boys. Saving some for me?” Max’s voice caused Steve to look back where she was standing. He thought it’d be awkward, since the last time he saw her was that night. But he should’ve known better that Max wasn’t one to make anything weird.
“This is not a drink for mortal men.” Thor boomed with a smile. “Or women.”
“I’ll try my luck.” Her confidence was bold.
Thor nodded and gave the girl a healthy amount of the drink, but not nearly the amount he gave to Steve or himself.
“So little Stark, how have you been?” Thor asked now that he was able to really converse with the girl.
“Alright, you know just working.” She shrugged.
“You’re telling me, with your young life, your Stark life, you aren’t out having any fun?” Thor rolled his eyes.
Maxine’s eyes darted to Steve with a devilish glare, and then back to Thor. “Trust me, Thor. I have my share of fun.” Her hand raised to his arm as she leaned over and placed the finished drink in front of him. “Plenty of it.”
With that, she walked away to the railing and looked out over the party, much like Steve was earlier.
“That girl is trouble.” Thor laughed, finishing his own drink. “But she’s wildly smart.” He looked over at Steve. “Apparently she’s going to Sokovia to heal their people.”
Steve looked at Thor with a frown. “I thought she was working on that regenerative health project.”
“She’s taking that research and applying it over there, or something of that sort.” Thor briefly explained before he excused himself to sit on the couch.
Steve’s eyes moved over to the rail where the girl was now hunched over, not standing straight like before. He immediately made his way over to her.
“You alright?” He quickly moved his hand around her waist to help her stand up properly.
“I don’t feel so hot.” She said, gripping her hand around his shoulder to keep her balanced and standing.
“Alright, come on, I’ll get you some water.” He said maneuvering her against him so they looked normal side by side as they walked down the stairs.
“Don’t tell Thor.” She laughed as she clung to his side. “Or Tony.” She laughed again.
Steve chuckled at her comments. “I wouldn’t dare.” He plopped her onto the bar stool as he went to go get water for the girl across the bar.
She sipped the water and it brought life back into her. “So I guess he was right that stuff isn’t meant for us average women.”
“If you were to ask me you’re anything but average.” Steve said, sipping a beer he grabbed, still standing behind the counter.
“Are you flirting with me, Captain?” Max’s eyes opened a bit wider as her lips pressed against the bottle of water and she wiggled her eyebrows.
“Just stating facts, is all.”
There was a brief silence where the two just stared at each other for a minute before Steve spoke up.
“Heard you’re going to Sokovia.”
“Word travels fast around here. Tony’s learning from Pepper’s PR skills.” Max sighed. “I leave technically tomorrow.”
“Happy for you.” Steve kept his thoughts and comments short and brief not wanting to come off too strong. He did already flirt with her.
“Yea, I can see the happiness all over your face.” Max could read Steve like a book.
“It’s not that.” Steve shook his head. “I just don’t want you to think I’m coming on too hard.”
“I haven’t heard from you in over two years, Rogers.” Max shook her head. “If that’s you coming onto me, things were really different in the 40’s.”
Before Steve could respond he was being called over to a group of people.
“I’ll be right back.” He said with sympathetic eyes.
“I’ll be right here.” She moved her arms across the table.
The minute he had his back turned the girl was leaning over the table, grabbing herself a beer without waiting for the bartender to return. The action itself earned her a very awkward and uncomfortable conversation from someone who liked her “boldness” and “not like other girls” vibe.
The man moved his hand up to touch the girl's bare arm when she jerked it away. As she jerked back, about to go off on the man, she felt another set of arms wrap over her shoulders.
“Hey Rumlow, thanks for keeping my girl company over here.” Steve was towering over the man while holding Max close. “But I got it from here. Why don’t we get out of here, Stark?” He looked down at the girl and back to Rumlow who was standing there with annoyance in his eyes until he heard the word Stark.
“Stark?” He looked at the girl. “Maxine Stark. Bio Engineer and daughter to Tony Stark.” She smiled and wrapped her other hand around Steve so she was engulfed in a hug with him.
“Excuse me.” Rumlow properly left as the two moved upstairs.
“I thought you were trying not to come on too hard.”
“I thought you didn’t feel too hot.” Steve pointed to the beer.
________
The Avengers, Agent Hill and Max were now all gathered in the upstairs lounge scattered across the multiple couches. The party had died down and it was just them relaxing and having a good night. Max was sitting on the floor leaning next to Cap’s leg, back to drinking like normal.
They began joking about Thor’s hammer, all of them claiming they would wield the weapon.
“Little Stark?” Thor pointed to the hammer. “I doubted you once today, but seemingly the liquor didn’t affect you too hard.” He frowned.
She smiled and squeezed Steve’s calf as she responded.
“What can I say, I'm not your average woman. But I think I’ll sit out the King Arthur moment, thanks.”
“Steve?” Thor questioned and the man got up. He took a couple seconds to roll up his sleeves.
“Go ahead Steve, no pressure.” Tony said sarcastically.
“Whoo, bring it home, Cap.” Max clapped as she adjusted her position.
Steve gripped hard and for a half of a half second the hammer seemed to wiggle slightly but no such luck lifting it. Steve lifted his hands in surrender and walked back to his seat where Max settled in against his leg again.
“That shit is rigged.” Tony said annoyed.
“Steve, he said a bad language word.” Agent Hill joked.
“Did you tell everyone about that?” Steve asked Tony with a hint of annoyance and humor in his tone.
“You did the bad word thing again?” Max looked up at him.
“Oh this is common behavior?” Agent Hill lifted her eyebrows.
“In D.C. he did the same thing to me when–” Max realized she let out too much information but it was too late to go back now. “When I dropped my coffee.” She lied straight out of her teeth. She felt Steve tense up underneath her and she quickly moved off of him.
A couple eyes moved to Tony as the tension filled the room. “You two hung out in D.C., huh?” He asked now standing versus sitting.
“I ran into him at Starbucks before the Biotech Convention.” Max answered calmly, trying to keep her voice level.
“Interesting.” Tony said, turning back to Bruce and Clint who he was talking with a couple seconds prior.
A loud shrieking noise that hit everyone's ears caused the conversation to come to an immediate halt. An ominous voice was heard by the doors that caused them all to settle down. A rogue robot came from the shadows, dripping oil on the ground and it’s wires sparking. Everyone stood up slowly, getting in a stance of defense.
“Stark.” Steve called out to Tony as he pushed Max behind him.
The robot started talking about it’s plan, the reason for its purpose, and how it had killed someone.
“You killed someone?” Steve stepped forward again, still keeping his hand behind him to shield Max.
“Dad.” Max called out to Tony who was frantically on his phone and remote trying to deactivate the robot.
Robots began flying out from every corner of the room. Steve quickly thinks on his feet, literally, by kicking a table at them which ended up sending him and Max backwards. He grabbed the woman in the air pulling her so she’d fall on him and just as they hit the ground he pushed her under a table and immediately jumped onto one of the robots in the air.
Max wasn’t one to sit idle while the heroes played. She crawled to one of the tiles she knew held internal wiring and smashed the glass container open, exposing them. She quickly dissected which wire did what before cutting down a couple wires with the knife she kept on her. This powered down two of the robots but it confused her why it didn’t shut down what she thought was Jarvis completely.
As she got up she was met face to face with a suit that was cut in half, it’s hand up ready to blast her through the window, which if the hit didn’t kill her, the fall down 81 floors would. The robot scanned the girl’s face and said the girl's name.
“Maxine Stark. Not a threat but related to the threat.”
Before it could finish it’s statement, Steve was taking it apart with his bare hands.
The remaining robots were put down by the Avengers, the last one standing was Ultron. Max quickly ran to her father’s side to help him up off the ground, assessing his wounds as Ultron continued talking.
“I’m fine.” Tony waved her off and made his way over to Ultron.
Max moved back over behind Cap, she hated being afraid but when you were going up against artificial intelligence, having no super powers per say made you a pretty easy target. Her arm reached up to grab Steve’s bicep as she hid behind him. It was an act of nerves but also to let him know she was there. His head turned to look, giving her a glance over before he turned his attention back to the robot.
“There is only one path to peace…The Avenger’s Extinction.”
With that, Thor’s hammer was being thrown through the air and the collision of that against the suit had clanked extremely loud, causing Max to jump and grip onto Steve even harder. His hand instinctually pushed her completely behind him and he brought his shield up to protect them both from any debris, even though he would have easily taken debris to the face to protect Max.
After the initial shock of the noise was gone, Steve was looking at Thor in disappointment almost, probably wishing he had a couple more seconds to ask a few more questions to the threatening suit.
Steve quickly turned around and looked at the girl making sure there were no marks on her, and she shook him off.
“I’m fine, Cap.” she smiled and squeezed his hand. And while that was true, it didn’t stop Steve from wiping the small amount of blood that had dripped down her face from a miniscule cut. It wasn’t a big deal, in fact, it honestly could’ve happened anywhere, anyhow. But Steve knew how it happened and that boiled his blood.
The group of them gathered in Tony’s lab. There was tension, there were arguments. All their work was gone, Ultron cleared them out. Between that, the fight, the fact Tony went behind their backs, and the chance that the evil AI could access nuclear codes, it was all just a lot to take in. Max was now in an oversized hoodie, hair up and out of her face, a butterfly bandage over the cut, which was an over exaggeration but insisted on by Tony, Cap, and Natasha. She was looking over the computers with Bruce, trying to dissect exactly what happened and what was next.
“He said he wanted us dead.” Natasha explained.
“He didn’t say dead, he said extinct.” Steve said, hands resting on his hips. A tell-tale sign that he was angry. “He also said he killed somebody.”
“There wasn’t anyone else in the building,” Agent Hill spoke up as she patched up her foot.
“Yes there was.” Tony spoke for the first time since they entered the lab, throwing up JARVIS’ AI program to the hologram.
Max gasped. It was a weird feeling, while JARVIS wasn’t a real human, he had been a part of her life for a large portion of it. He was family. And now, he was gone.
Bruce and Max stood over the hologram, Bruce more so taking it all in while Max was looking around figuring out if there was anything salvageable, anything they could do to bring any trace of JARVIS back.
“JARVIS was the first line of defense.” Cap understood as his arms crossed against his chest. “He would have shut Ultron down.”
“No, Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn’t strategy, this is rage.” Bruce answered.
“There’s gotta be a way to bring him back?” Max was now crouched down looking at the bottom trying to piece together something.
“Not worth your time.” Tony barked, causing Max to stand up, a little hurt.
Max was going to snap back to him but Thor was stomping his way into the lab and over to the older Stark, grabbing him by his neck and holding him up in the air.
A squeal left Max’s mouth and out of habit she went to help her father. While she understood Thor’s rage, she couldn’t condone it.
Steve stepped in quickly, leaving Max to tend to her dad, who brushed her off again as he stepped back up to Thor explaining how the situation was funny. A hoot even. Classic Stark way of trying to prove that they’re right and everyone else can’t see the bigger picture.
“Dad. Maybe we should cool down.” Max said.
Tony laughed and turned around. “You’re out of here. Next flight out, that’s where you are, in fact I’ll get you a Private Jet, no waiting around, you’re gone.”
Steve was quick now to defend the girl, but in his own way.
“The avengers were supposed to be different than SHEILD.” Steve stepped closer to Tony.
That was one thing that would never get old to Max, the fact that Rogers was never scared to stand up to her father. For her, for himself and for the greater good. She appreciated that.
After a few more back and forths, Steve bringing the hope to the conversation, mentioning they’ll deal with it together and they’ll lose together if it came to that, Tony walked out.
Steve approached Max, now that half the room had dispersed.
“You alright?” His hand reached up to touch the cut on her face but so lightly it almost tickled her. Max’s eyes closed as she leaned into his touch.
“I’m fine.” She hummed.
“I don’t just mean the cut, I mean you.” Steve let his hand drop as he looked down at the girl.
“That was nothing, trust me. Tony and I have a complicated father daughter relationship, and in all honesty that was one of our more calmer toe to toes.” Max explained.
Steve nodded, not believing it but not going to push her since she’d been through a lot tonight.
“So what’s your plan? You can set up in my room at the tower if you want? Get some rest, I can take one of the spare rooms, no problem.” Steve kindly offered.
Max felt her heart grow a size but was quick to make it go back to normal size.
“Thank you, really, but no.” She took a deep inhale. “I’m on a flight to Sokovia. 1AM. Technically tomorrow, remember? That was always the plan. Dad knew that but if he can throw something in my face and make it seem like his idea, he can’t miss out on that opportunity.” She chuckled and looked down at her feet.
“You’re going to go back to work?” Steve worrily asked.
“I’m a Stark, remember?” Her eyes met his, and she wiggled her eyebrows to ease the tension.
Steve wanted to argue it but he knew he wouldn’t win, so he figured he’d take the sweeter approach, “It was good to see you.”
“It was good to see you. Don’t go that long without talking to me again.” She pointed at him.
Steve laughed and nodded. “I can take you to the airport if you want?” Now he was just reaching for any excuse to elongate their goodbye, any opportunity to get one more minute with the girl.
“Max, let’s go, Happy’s downstairs, he’s got your bags packed.” Tony had reentered the lab to inform the girl and waved the tablet in the air that showed Happy waiting in the first floor lobby.
“I’m coming.” She said in a normal tone as he exited again leaving the two of them now completely alone in the room with the large amount of tension between them.
Their eyes stared at each other and Max decided to break through the wall of tension in a split second and hug the man. “Thanks for everything today.” The hug was over just as fast as it began. Steve was practically reaching out to reconnect the hug, to feel the girl in his arms again but she was already walking out of the lab.
Steve stole one more glance at her hoping to catch her smile one last time, before turning around defeated, which is exactly when Max looked back over her shoulder trying to steal one more look at him before leaving but also feeling defeated as he was already with his back to her.
That was typical for the two of them, though. Right place, wrong time. Right time, wrong place. All in all…just missing the opportunity, yet again, that potentially could have changed their lives.
Summary: Working for Emma on occasion means taking risks... like kissing your best friend as a cover-up. When Urbain finds out it was your first, though, he thinks you deserve a better one.
Author’s Note: This is about my OC, Max, but there are no visual descriptions other than that she's shorter than Urbain! Feel free to insert your own name or OC in her place.
Also, my headcanon age for Urbain is 23 (and even older than that in this fic, as it's after the events of Z-A - no spoilers though ^^). If this proves to be wrong in the future, please consider him to be aged-up for this fic!
Check it out on ao3!
Max’s day went as follows:
She and Urbain were summoned by Emma to assist with a case — they were two peas in a pod and two of her most trusted allies, so they were the perfect fill-ins whenever she grew swamped with work and needed a hand.
Their job was to stalk after a few people who she found to be highly suspicious, perhaps taking advantage of the serenity and hope following Lumiose’s recent events to brew up something just as sinister. The more info they could gather for her on their whereabouts, the better.
The pair kept a decent distance as they walked, pretending like they had somewhere to be rather than like they were observing the movements of the group not too far ahead of them.
At one point, one of the suspects appeared to, well, suspect that they were being trailed.
Urbain’s solution? Hold hands with Max. They were now just a “couple” going for a stroll. That’s all.
A few twists here, a few turns there, and the investigators ended up trailing the group right into the sewers. It was now significantly harder to pretend they were just out for a walk, but they wanted to try to keep going.
So when the two grew more certain that they were being observed just as much as they were doing the observing, Urbain moved onto Plan C.
“Do you trust me?” he murmured, careful to echo as little as possible as he ushered Max off-path, headed towards a small corridor nearby.
“Wha— Yeah, why?”
“Alright. They obviously know we’re here now, so change of plans.”
Max looked behind them, seeing a pair of wrinkled eyes on her before she turned her vision back to Urbain.
“You can back out of it anytime and I’ll try to come up with something else, no big deal.” Urbain gave Max a bit of a tug, utilizing her loss of balance to press her by the shoulders into the wall. Her breath caught in her throat. “But,” Urbain leaned over Max, his voice low and words quick while his palm rose to her face, the opposite forearm resting on the brick and mortar behind her. “I need to know that you’re okay with what I’m about to do.” His eyes had flickered down to her lips briefly while he spoke. As if everything else hadn’t made his intentions obvious enough.
Wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape, Max could hardly believe it was real. It was so stereotypical, like a buddy-cop movie turned romance. Something out of a bad manga or fanfic, even.
But if he thought it would work…
Doing her best not to overthink and knowing they were on a time limit, Max let out a nervous huff, furrowing her brows as she offered a determined nod.
Urbain breathed, “Perfect,” before tilting down and pressing a firm, heated kiss to Max’s lips.
The idea was to look urgent. Desperate. Like they were out exploring the city of love and light, grew too needy with lust, and simply couldn’t wait until they got home to do something about it.
They could even feign being tourists if need be, and claim to have followed the sketchy figures here because it would surely lead them to somewhere secluded enough for a quick canoodle.
This was Max’s first kiss, though. She never imagined this was how that moment would go.
She went along with the plan anyway, doing her best to mimic Urbain’s movements and failing miserably to not just melt into him. His palm moved further back near her nape, so she reached up, one set of fingers tangling through his hair while the other gripped at the leather covering his shoulder. When he moved his mouth, so did she, and when he gripped her chin to grant his tongue access, it took every bone in her body not to sigh and swoon.
All the while, Urbain found himself getting lost in the moment too. Sure, it was a bad cover for them. Sure, it was just for work.
But it was hot, even if they were in a sewer. It was nice.
Max heard voices growing both closer and further and was unsure of who they even belonged to. They could’ve been anyone’s, considering Gwynn is just one person she knows of who tends to visit the underground of Lumiose on a regular basis. Maybe it was even a wild pokémon whose echos morphed into something that mimicked distant human speech as they bounced through the crevices and caverns.
Who knows who — or what — could show?
Thus, a new worry flooded Max’s brain. “Mm—“ she nudged Urbain’s face back by the lips, their heavy breaths mingling as she did her best to articulate her thoughts. “If our eyes are shut and they skulk by, and they’re quiet enough about it, how—” Urbain planted another swift kiss for good measure. Just in case. Of course. Max’s lip quivered while she hurriedly buffered. “H-how will we know when it’s safe to go after them again?”
He thought for a second and kissed her once more before trailing his lips south. “I’ll go to your neck,” he explained as he moved the hand that cupped Max’s neck down, his arm wrapping around her midsection and holding her close, “and you can keep watch.” Fully aware that he was turning his accomplice to goo, he gave the corner of her jaw a nibble before asking, “Can you do that for me?”
Max bit the inside of her cheek to prevent a heady sigh from passing her lips.
She was so embarrassed.
Half-expecting Urbain to fake it from there on at the very least, she nodded and whispered, “‘Kay,” cupping the back of his neck in both hands and tilting her head more to accommodate as he went on. “If—” she was cut off by a lick that turned into a bite, and then a suck, a mouselike “Ah!” escaping her in turn.
Her eyes slammed shut and a hand flew to cover her mouth while the rest of her body stiffened.
She wanted to die.
Urbain smiled against her, seemingly proud and very clearly not faking his actions as he hummed, “Hmmm?”
“Um,” Max regrouped the best she could with a set of lips peppering all her newfound sweet spots. “I’ll, uh,” a shaky breath, “I’ll just scream if I see one of them? Like, t-to make it seem like we got caught doing, uh… you know…” She trailed off while one of her fists subconsciously tangled into the hair at Urbain’s nape. “Maybe it’ll scare themmm,” Max’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment before she forced them open, desperate to keep focus. She cleared her throat, then rapidly corrected and continued, “Scare them off us if we can just act all, uh… yeah.”
Urbain was having a blast.
“Mhm,” he answered simply. “Sounds good.”
Much to Max’s relief — or was it her chagrin? — only a few beats went by before one of the men they’d been keeping watch of showed up.
From there, everything went according to plan. Max yelped and made a show of hiding in Urbain’s chest while he was just as dramatic in hugging her close, a firm “Casse-toi!” leaving his lips. Disgusted and confused, the guy left; and noticing how much more dangerous it would be to keep going since they were certain they’d been found, Urbain and Max called it quits and reported back to Emma.
Now, hours later and bellies full of croissant curry, the two lounged on the roof. Naveen and Lida only retired to their rooms a moment prior.
Max had been quieter than usual for the majority of the day following their mission. It didn’t go unnoticed by the group, but the two who were no longer present hadn’t commented: Naveen understood and respected the want to keep things to oneself, while Lida just wasn’t sure if Max would feel ready to talk about what was so suddenly on her mind. Max was always pretty reserved — if something was going on, she’d be more likely to keep it pent up. If anything, Urbain usually turned out to be her go-to for venting.
He, unlike the rest of Team MZ, needed to know what was going on. What if this was his fault? Was she so out of it because she was upset, maybe even mad? Could he help, somehow? He liked helping…
Not entirely knowing how to break the ice, he rose from his seat near the fire pit and plopped down next to Max on the bench. It earned him a soft smile of acknowledgement before her view locked onto the cityscape again.
“What’s up?” he asked. Not wanting to beat around the bush, but wanting to keep things light and upbeat, he then asked with a teasing elbow to Max’s side, "Can't stop thinking about our scandalous rendezvous earlier?"
Max’s lips parted slightly as she looked at Urbain. It took a few moments before she could muster any sort of answer.
She was never a good liar, and she trusted Urbain. She didn't see a point in denying it.
Closing her lips, she choked back a laugh; she managed it, but couldn’t stop the goofy smile that plastered itself on her face. Then, she covered her profile with a sleeve mitten, nodding the truth against it as she turned her head the opposite way, her giggles quietly escaping.
Urbain wasn’t one to fluster easily. He’d always been a flirt. The more direct, the better, in his eyes.
So why did he feel his own cheeks tingle in the wake of her sincerity? Was there any valid reason for him to feel proud, for his belly to fill with butterfrees?
He didn’t like her — not like that at least. Did he..?
They were best buds. That was it, wasn’t it?
He thought about it.
She was often timid, but had maintained some of her street rat tendencies from Galar. He supposed the juxtaposition endeared him.
Strike one.
She could often make him laugh with few words spoken and proved to be just as much of a shoulder to lean on for him as he’d tried so hard to be with everyone in his life. She was kinder than most he’d encountered.
Strike two.
Max was adorable, to boot. Hell, if one day she decided to fling herself at him, he’d welcome the opportunity with open arms.
Strike three aaand… huh. Wow.
All these thoughts flooded Urbain over the course of a second or two before he finally breathed half a laugh, asking, “What?” His lips curled high as he turned his body further towards Max’s. She was still trying to absorb herself into her palms as Urbain prodded, leaning into her personal space, “For real?”
Max was still hiding the best she could as she lightly shoved Urbain away. “Shut up!” She finally revealed half of her rosy face again, looking at him in her periphery before drawing her vision to the ground in front of them. “It— it was my first.”
Urbain’s smile slightly fell as his eyes widened — both at the confession and the strange honor he felt to have given Max her first kiss.
“It was?”
Max nodded, and her blush reached her ears as Urbain muttered, “Damn. Could’ve fooled me.”
Fidgeting with a loose thread on her sweater, Max said his name like one would while scolding a naughty pokémon. He laughed.
She chewed her lip for a moment before adding, “I don’t mind that it was my first, it was just… sudden, I guess.”
To that, Urbain blurted out, “I can do better.”
Max met his eyes to question what he meant. ”What?”
“I can do better,” he breathed, doubling down. “That was a lot for your first kiss, it’s—“ Urbain started to vaguely gesture with his hands. “It’s supposed to be slower, sweeter, not— not like that.” That was his opinion, at least.
Ignoring the fluttering of her heart, Max joked, “Oohhh, you’re not supposed to skip straight to shoving your tongue down someone’s throat?”
“Ha! C’mon, I’m serious.” He paused, then went on, scanning her face, “Let’s redo it.”
Max blinked.
“If you want.”
Luckily, Max had more buffering time now than when they were clocked-in, so to speak. After a pause, she asked, “Why?”
Urban shrugged and smiled. “Why not?”
“Well, I mean…” Max cut herself off to figure out her wording. “Your whole thing is helping people. I don’t… I don’t want to just…” She shrugged. “I dunno, be part of your list of good deeds. I guess.”
“Max! No way!” Urbain turned, now fully facing her. “I don’t see it like that at all. I want to kiss you again.”
Max’s eyes widened again. ”Why?”
“Why wouldn’t I want to kiss a beautiful girl?”
Urbain had flirted with Max plenty before, but never so directly. Her worries flew away in the breeze. She barked out a laugh, the sound airy and nervous, before covering her face yet again.
“So forward. God.”
“Sky’s blue, water’s wet—“
“Is water wet?”
“Oh, brother, don’t even start.”
Max’s chuckle morphed into something cozier as Urbain joined in. His proposition clung to her mind all along.
Unlike Urbain, Max had known for a while that she’d been falling for him. How could she not? He was handsome, kind, brave, goofy… And similarly to his reasoning, she thought, why wouldn’t she want to kiss a beautiful guy — especially one who she feels so strongly for?
“You’re… sure?” she asked timidly as they calmed.
“I’m sure. Yeah.”
A similar determination to what she’d conveyed before agreeing to the kiss in the sewers sparkled in her eyes as she kneeled on the seat, fully facing Urbain. Then, she nodded.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Alright.” Urbain scooted closer, settling an arm across the back of the bench. The opposite hand gently tilted her face higher by the chin. His own quickening heartbeat was getting hard to ignore, especially with Max looking so flustered; so as he leaned in, he quietly reminded both himself and her, “Nice and slow this time.”
Max nodded, her chin pressing into his fingers slightly with the motion.
And just as he said, the two of them took it slow. Their lips met not with hesitance, but anticipation; their lips moved only intermittently, the pair finding themselves comfortably locked into one position or another for more than what was probably necessary.
By all means, the deed was done. Max got to experience what her and Urbain both thought her first kiss should have been like.
They didn’t stop, though.
There was a point where the two parted, Urbain cupping Max’s head in one palm and gripping the bench’s back with the other while Max’s left and right hand rested on his cheek and nape respectively. They remained nose to nose for a short few breaths before Max pressed another soft kiss to Urbain’s lips, Urbain pulling her closer for more in succession.
Not only did they take things slow to start, but they maintained that as the two grew needier. As their chests started to heave more, and their holds on one another grew tighter, their tongues began to tangle into each other’s mouths. They alternated between using the muscle and keeping things simple, but it seemed to stoke both their fires when they once more went for a tentative lick at the same time, smiling an airy laugh into each other’s mouths at the coincidence.
A few less invasive kisses later and Max let out a shaky breath, prompting Urbain to pull back. He still kept his face close and both hands on Max’s cheeks as he checked in, “All good?” with the hopes that it hadn’t become too much for her.
The concept of not shoving their tongues down each other’s throats had sailed, after all.
She nodded, a breathy “Yeah” supporting her claim. A nervous laugh came out, but it grew fuller as Urbain squished her face. “Promise?”
Another nod, this time looking at his eyes instead of his lips. “Yeah, promish.” The words came out sounding funny given the pressure on her cheeks.
Still smushing her, Urbain observed Max’s soft and malleable features before bluntly suggesting, “Let’s go on a date.”
Max’s eyes widened, but he felt pressure on his palms near his wrists as a bright smile accompanied her nod. “Ookay,” she agreed before tacking on, “Can I haf my fashe back firsht?”
A firmer squish prompted Max to groan in protest. “No.” Urbain, hardly containing his smile, proceeded to press another kiss to her puffed-out lips, then her fringe-covered forehead, then her scrunched-up nose, before just attacking her face with plenty of tiny pecks.
Once he’d sufficiently set Max into a fit of giggles, he finally freed her. She put her own hands on her cheeks to rub away the pressure and hide their color. “When?” she asked once she’d gotten comfy again, hugging her knees to her chest.
“Hmm. Maybe we can hit up a café in the morning, just the two of us?”
“A café? As in not Café Nouveau specifically?”
“I don’t think Griselle would let this slide so easily.”
“Oh.” Max could only imagine the potentially supportive but ultimately snarky comments they’d receive if they strolled up to her hand-in-hand, or got caught stealing a cheeky smooch. Not that she was hoping they would, or anything… “Yeah…”
“On that note,” Urbain rose with an overhead stretch, “I’m goin’ to bed.”
“Really? It’s so early.”
“Maybe I wanna be well-rested for my hot date tomorrow.” Urbain punctuated the sentence with a wink.
Max covered her face again, her spine hunching as the back of her hands touched her knees. “You’re having too much fun frazzling me.”
“Get used to it.” Max grumbled something akin to a mimic under her breath, then peeked up as the elevator dinged. Urbain waved as he stepped inside. “Bonne nuit, ma chère.”
I had plans to do an absolutely diabolical side-by-side piece where Max and Floette were posing this same way with an Alive(tm) AZ. Did this half in like November and lost all motivation to do the other half LMAO but I don't want this to just go to waste...
