Summary: It’s a special occasion, and Meister, Tessa, Maxime and Rose have a surprise for Mac
Author’s Note: A birthday present for my good friend @couldyounottalktomethanks, took a little longer to write than I had thought or hoped but I hope you love it Deer! Happy birthday from me and your fellow partners-in-crime!
“Surprise!”
Mac stood in the doorway as Michel and the other Horsewomen cheered. They stood around a table with a cake sitting on it, decorated with icing and candles.
“Oh my god.” Mac grinned as she walked forward.
“Happy birthday!” Tessa cheered. Rose and Maxime gave some impromptu jazz hands while Michel smiled, and Mac looked at all of them.
“I can’t believe you guys.”
“Oh come on it was all Meister’s idea.”
“Pfffft no it was not.” Mac scoffed.
“Nah it wasn’t it was mostly us but he willingly said yes!” Rose pointed at Michel and he chuckled before stepping forward.
“Happy birthday, Mac,” He repeated, taking her hand in his, “You look more beautiful each year.” Mac’s eyes widened and she yanked her hand away, weakly punching his arm.
“S-Shut up.” She stammered, crossing her arms as her face went red up to her ears. The others laughed before all turning their attention to the cake. They sang, of course, with Michel taking the lead, of course, and then Mac paused to think before blowing out the candles.
“Don’t tell us what you wished for or it won’t come true!” Maxime warned, handing a knife over to Mac.
“And remember, if you hit the bottom you’ll have to kiss the person to your right!” Rose added, smiling mischievously. Mac glanced to Michel, who was standing to her right, and immediately blushed again. She started cutting into the cake, very slowly, keeping her gaze on the knife the whole time. Rose smiled wider before almost leaping forward to quickly but carefully shove Mac’s hand down so the knife hit the bottom of the plate. Mac let out a squawk of surprise and had no time to react before Michel snaked a hand around her waist and kissed her.
Rose grinned and Tessa laughed, and Michel didn’t take back his arm as he smirked at Mac.
“Um…” Was the only thing she could think to say, and Rose crossed her arms smugly.
Meister lies. A lot. He tends to lie about his childhood or past events, and with his ego being larger then the gap in his teeth, he truly believes that the Horsewomen believe him.
They do not.
They know he’s lying, and give him a ‘we-aren’t-that-dumb” kinda look. But, he keeps on talking until someone speaks up and calls him out on it
Summary: After two years out of Gotham, a young Mac moves back in town for highschool, only to run into an old friend
Notes: I know, it’s not great. But I needed to write this before I ran out of motivation
“Ok, I get why we moved OUT two years ago, bit did we really need to move back? I was kinda looking forward to not living in Gotham again.” Mac tried to ask her father as they attempted to weave through traffic.
“Can I just be homeschooled? Like, It can’t be THAT har-”
“No. High school is very important for you socially, and I’d hate to take that away from you. Now, get you bag. I’m going to keep driving, you hop out of the car, ok?” They were approaching the school. True to Gotham, it looked scary as hell. She wasn’t exactly ready to return to school with her former classmates. Things were probably different now that everyone was entering their adolescence. More name calling. More rumors. Less friends.
It wasn’t too hard for Mac to navigate the hallways. She was a pretty big person. It was easy to push people out of the way to find her new locker. Even though she had never been inside the high school, it felt strangely familiar. Mac knew some of the people; hell, most of them she knew by heart. But that wasn't it. There was something there that was nostalgic. After tossing her bag into the locker, the roaming continued. Person by person, she looked. It was almost scary how she felt. Something was good. Something was familiar.
Four periods in, and Mac could feel the boredom sink in. Even looking through the window didn’t help. She started to remember why she hated Gotham so much. Her eyes were getting heavy. That was, until she overheard a conversation that stopped her heart, dead in its tracks.
“Did you hear? That kid- what was his name...M? Something like that? Anyways, he came BACK. Like, he’s actually here. TODAY.” Both of the boys were chattering away under their breath. Mac knew who they were talking about. They almost seemed afraid of what they were talking about, almost as if M could hear them. And she couldn’t blame them; He was a scary kid. Having the power to control people and their actions at such a young age creeped out the other kids.
That is, except for Mac.
Lunchrooms had the reputation of being the most threatening place in the school. Social order was in play. The best sat in the front, worst in the back. You didn’t sit at new tables. You followed the rules. When she set foot in the lunchroom, everything seemed about as normal as it could get. Most people crowded in the front, leaving empty tables in the back. Mac picked a corner seat on an empty table, and sat down. It was generally peaceful until he came in. Almost instantly, everyone went silent. He marched over to a table, and sat down. No words. Nothing. The poor souls who were at the table quietly moved away, more toward the front. The awkwardness was immense. But, after a few more seconds of shock, the talking continued, with hushed whispers added in. Mac understood everyone’s want to avoid him, but she didn’t. So, without even thinking, she picked up her stuff and mpoved over to his table. She saw people looking at her from across the room. Wasn’t the best feeling, but at that point there wa no turning back.
“Hey.” She asked, hoping for a response. Maybe he’s even look up up from his Gameboy; those stupid music note glasses created a killer glare.
“M. Dude. It’s me, Mac. Look-” He snapped his head up. It was surprising; he had almost completely changed in the two years she was gone. More ‘rebellious’ clothing, longer uncut hair, even the gap in his teeth was smaller. He just started at her, music notes unmoving.
“So? Yeah, Mac. I remember. I’m not an idiot.” His words were painfully aggressive. She should’ve expected this. They weren’t going to be friends forever. But she could at least try.
“So...Why are you sitting alone? All the popular kids are at the front.” His mouth became a snarl at her remark.
“Yeah, I know. Hey, here’s a thought- maybe I don’t want to sit with a bunch of mediocre people?” Again, the aggressiveness was blatantly clear.
“I-I was just trying to make conversation. It’s been awhile since we’ve talked.” She added, looking down at her food.
“Yeah, I get that. Your face is all red.” That set her off. Now Mac was aware of her face, which didn’t really stop the redness of it.
“I-I really like what you did with your hair. It’s interesting.” Small talk. That’s all it was. Small talk.
“Oh- thanks. No one has really said anything.”
“Probably because they're scared of you.” He looked up at her.
“And you aren’t because…”
“M, I’ve known you since third grade. You were my closest friend, and in all honesty, I trust you not do hypnotize me. I really do.” That wasn’t completely true. After two years of being apart, she was starting to understand others’ fear of him. His personality didn’t help, either. He was an arrogant, egotistical, controlling jerk who whined anytime he didn’t get things his way. Yet, Mac had become his friend through sheer willpower and a constant need for approval. And when someone as ‘popular’ and powerful as Meister is around, that need for approval skyrockets.
“So, M- if you don’t want me to sit here, I can leave. I didn’t want to bother you-”
“Why would I want you to leave? I’m gonna need someone to carry my guitar to practice in a bit.” There it was. That slightly annoying yet playful comment. The one thing she liked about him.
“Yeah, I can carry that. And quick question: What’s your next class? I have Western Lit-”
“Me too. But- wait, aren’t you a Freshman? I didn’t know you could take higher courses.”
“I tested pretty high. They said they wanted me in a harder class.” This was amazing. Same class with a friend. It was so nice to feel at home and not like a strange foreigner.
After some more banter and comments, the bell finally rung. As Mac threw away the remains of her lunch, people started to crowd around her like sharks at a fishing boat.
“Holy shit! Did he sing? Like, hypnotize you?” People were asking questions ranging from concerned Juniors to jealous Seniors.
“Look, I don’t know! He’s my friend! I-I-” She was cut off by a loud shout from across the cafeteria.
“MAC MACINGTON, WE’RE GONNA BE LATE IF YOU DON’T START WALKING UP WITH MEEEEEEE!” She could see M standing on a table, hollering at her. He wasn’t wrong; they had a short passing period to get from one side of the building to another. Ducking under people and shoving a few out of the way, she made her way over to him.
“I’m going to assume they were asking you about me?”
“Yep. It was the ol’ ‘he’s crazy’ kinda thing.”
“Well, they aren’t wrong about that.”
After two more periods of both M and Mac trying to survive boredom, they had decided that their next free period would just be a nap session. Well, until M had spotted a girl across the hall, and swooped in. On cue, he held an arm to the locker to block her. While the conversation was hard to hear, Mac could tell that she was getting annoyed. It was the music puns that were killing making the situation worse. His stupid flirtatious smile and the intimidating posture were lowering his chances of any sort of friendly interaction.
“So, baby, how about you and me-”
“I don’t think my boyfriend would be happy if he found out you said that to me. Creep.” And just like that, she swatted his hand away and marched away.
“Wow, how charming. Really, M. I’d be swooning.”
“I almost forgot how sarcastic you are.” They were back to the usual quips and insults, just like old times.
As they walked through the halls on the way to the library, Mac could barely contain how happy she was. It was a euphoric feeling to be back with an old friend, someone who did like her. It was difficult to find someone who could put up with her aggressive behavior. It was also hard to find someone who could deal with his controlling and egotistical nature. But, it worked for them. After some more terrible music puns and heavy sarcasm, M started to talk about some other things.
“You know, I kinda find it funny when your face turns red. Like, really funny.” Before Mac could react to what he just said, she was pulled into a hug. A very tight hug.
“M what the FU-”
“SILENCE! I REFUSE TO LET GO UNTIL I CAN RE-NAME YOU ‘TOMATO’!” She should have seen this coming. It was obvious he was going to embarrass her. Even he could feel how red her face was getting. People were staring. They could feel it. He kept announcing his actions loudly through the halls, trying to draw attention. After about a minute more of Mac threatening to bite his entire hand off, he finally let go.
“See, look! Now you’re ready to go into a room full of people.” She hated him. Really, she did. He knew exactly how to make her angry, and he was pushing it. But, that’s what friends do. Not normal friends, but who the hell said they were normal people?
