Langfield making out in Vinh's office maybe? 👀 Someone walking in on them
technically didn't manage the whole thing, but I feel good about it.
(set after double exposure)
now also on ao3
--
Vinh clicks his tongue, avoiding Max’s eyes.
“Haven’t seen you the last couple days.” Max says, which says something about him. It’s been weird, these merged timelines in his head. He remembers flirting with Max, but he also remembers not giving her much more than that. He was too focused on Abraxas, on redirecting Safi’s frustration to Lucas, on his own image.
But Safi had died, once, and he had grieved her. And so had Max. She took to his shoulder and she laughed at his jokes. He saw her, haunted and wonderful.
“You uh,” Vinh starts, because Max hasn’t stepped away. “Just so you know, I changed the code on my phone. I don’t… yeah.”
Max’s smile falters, and Vinh wonders why he brought it up. She had told them all, with Moses, about the parallel timelines. She was solving Safi’s murder. Though she seemed to skate by the exact details of how Safi had been shot, she was trying to find suspects, alibis, anything to confirm one way or another who was involved.
It still hurts to think she suspected him. But she also hadn’t known him.
Does she know him now?
Does he know her?
He wants to. He wants.
“Sorry,” he says, and there’s that twitching at the front of his forehead. Moses had said it was to be expected, at least for a while, as they all sort through their memories. “I don’t know what I meant by that.”
“No, it’s okay.” Max isn’t tense, he doesn’t think. He stands up from his desk. Yasmin isn’t even in the office, still working through her recovery at the hospital. Right, he remembers again, Safi is still alive. Alive again. She never actually died, not this time. Not in this time.
He had meant to walk around Max to the couch, to put them on equal footing, but instead she’s moving in front of him and now her arms are around him and he’s frozen.
“I’m sorry,” Max says, and he’s not quite sure why she’s sorry. What had she done except help?
“Uh,” there’s the strangeness of her doing this to him, hugging him when they don’t really know each other. There’s the heart skipping in his chest side of him, however, that can’t believe they’re this close again.
He wraps his arms around her, and she’s pressed against him. Her head on his chest. He stares down at the yellow beanie at the top of her head. Thinks about placing a kiss there, but it’s a soft and tender move and they haven’t even been in bed together.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Max says, and he can hear her through his chest. “I just…”
She’s pulling away, and he can only loosen his hold and let her.
“I didn’t know… what you were feeling about, if you still…” she trails off.
Max was always confident with him before, it sort of swept him off his feet. She suggested drinks, she played it cool while he got drunk in his office, even sweetly called him baby while taking his picture at the bar.
He’s been used to her pushing them together. Vinh draws a hand to her face, and she’s cool to the touch. She blinks and he can feel her eyelash by his thumb.
“If you don’t want me to kiss you,” he says, because he needs her to stop him. “Just, rewind this now. Please.”
Max’s eyes are blue, and he leans down without thinking beyond that. She makes a quick hum, and her tongue drags along his lips.
Damn it.
“Couch?” he suggests, but instead Max is gently pushing the other direction, and he’s sinking into the chair most students or teachers take while waiting to speak with the president.
Max awkwardly stands above him. She lifts her leg, then stops. The chair is too tight for her to sit on his lap. She frowns. Vinh can’t complain when she lifts her leg, nudging his own apart and setting it right there on the cushion.
She leans forward, briefly, his lips brushing over his forehead. Then she’s tilting him up by his chin, fingers skating down his jaw.
Max Caulfied is a great kisser. It reminds him of… no. No, it doesn’t remind him of anyone. It’s her. It’s Max.
His hands move to her hips. He doesn’t know if it’s allowed, but he wants to push her coat open, to let himself trace her with less between them. He just holds instead.
Max pushes closer, her knee sliding forward and then Vinh feels himself twitch, hips jerking away in an attempt to escape only to hit the small space that was the back of his chair.
“It’s okay,” Max says, and it is. The whole campus was dealing, sorting out memories, he didn’t even need to be stationed at his desk right now. Hardly anyone in the building would be looking for him, whether as Vinh or as the administrator assistant. It was just… a place to anchor himself.
Her hands are holding him to her, and his eyes are closed for the most part. When he opens them, hers are open too. Her fingertips trace his ears. Her thumbs brush over his cheeks.
He likes this. He likes her. Shit, he likes her. He’s not used to this. He’s not used to—
“I’m trying not to run anymore,” Max says, her breath warm over him. “Please, try not to forget this.” She presses another kiss to him, and he just wants her to stay, please.
“Max?” he tries to follow her lips but she’s pulling away now, standing up and glancing around nervously. It’s then he hears the footsteps down the hall, the shuffling of other students as they walk just past his office.
“Ah, right," he says, taking a moment to collect himself before standing up. His legs feel like jelly.
Max is holding a hand out to him. When he spots it he freezes, and she’s smiling slightly. He reaches out, pauses, then starts to open his mouth—
“The catch is,” Max cuts him off, “You take my hand, we go for a walk.”
“Just a walk?” he asks, framing it as an easy joke, letting his mouth turn up into his famous smirk.
“Just a walk,” Max affirms, “Maybe I’ll be a little daring and add a polite hand squeeze at the end.”
He can’t help but chuckle. It was so easy for his heart to beat faster when he was with her.
“That is indeed a tempting offer,” Vinh says as he reaches forward, sliding his palm against hers. Her fingers thread into his. “Lead the way, Max.”
Chloe watched her from the table, through the glass window as Rachel held the lighter in her hand. Switching it from palm to palm, turning it over.
“You… want to go talk with her?” Max asked from where she sat.
“No.” Chloe said, clearly, tapping her foot. Tap tap tap tap.
“Do you want me to go talk with her?” Max asked.
“Uh, no.” Chloe stopped tapping her foot. “Maybe.”
“Do you want to come with me?”
Chloe blinked. She was still staring at Rachel.
“I mean, she stepped out to get away from me… so probably shouldn’t.”
Max stood up, walking past the back of Chloe’s chair. She looked over to where Rachel was, a flicker of fire in her hand.
“Hey,” Max swallowed as she glanced down to Chloe, who lifted her eyes up to her. Her heart thumped.
She dipped down, hands at the back of Chloe’s chair as she kissed her. Chloe stilled, and when Max pulled away Chloe’s eyes were wide.
The fire in Rachel’s hand was low, no bigger than a lighter. It was just for show of course, but Max still glanced around at nearby people as she approached the exit. No one was looking. Was it like when Max rewound, when she supposedly ‘teleported’ from one room to another? They couldn’t notice if they weren’t aware.
Rachel wasn’t even holding a cigarette for show.
There’s a few clouds in the sky, a light grey that wasn’t in a hurry to rain anytime soon. The door swung gently closed behind her, and Max sees the light in Rachel’s hand dim down over a finger before fading. Then she barely touched her hand to the lighter she’s still holding before another finger brightened, the fire surging bigger than a thumb.
Max lifted her camera, the lighting warming Rachel’s face at the edge of her jaw, not reaching farther than her lips. It’s a nice cut off, especially when the cool light of the air juxtapositions the rest of her face.
Click.
Rachel didn’t startle, as though she had expected Max there, camera in hand, the whole time.
“Can I see?” Rachel asked, once the picture had printed. Max pressed her lips together as she handed it over, and then Rachel’s hands were kept apart. One hand a firelight, small and flickering, while the other delicately holding the picture Max had taken.
Rachel’s mouth curled into a smirk. She handed it back.
“It’s weird. Being here again.” Rachel said, and Max didn’t know what to say. Rachel had been missing, and now she wasn’t.
“Chloe’s over the moon.” Max admitted, because it’s certainly obvious.
“Maybe I was there,” Rachel said, and the fire dimmed without fading. “Maybe I was the moon while I was gone. Maybe that’s why it feels like I didn’t… actually go anywhere.”
Max didn’t know what to say. Rachel turned to her, and it was more clear than ever that the lighter was just a prop, the fire held in her hand nothing more or less than hers.
The fire was beautiful. And definitely dangerous. Rachel's eyes were focused entirely on her, and Max’s lips still tingled from where she kissed Chloe.
And for a brief moment, the fire was gone. Rachel closed her hand into a fist, and she looked through the window once before leaning close, so close, and then—
Max made a sound. Her eyes fluttered shut, wondering if this was okay. Chloe liked Rachel, even though she liked Max, and Max liked—
Rachel didn’t push the kiss. It was lips held together, pressed softly into hers. No tongues or teeth involved.
It was beautiful. And definitely dangerous.
Rachel pulled back, her hands held Max still by the shoulders, palms burning through her shirt.
“Wow…ser…” Max tried to bite the word in half, face heated as it came out anyway. Rachel smiled, then laughed, and Max’s heart skipped.
She looked over to Chloe, who was watching with a dazed look in her eye, unable to decide if she was surprised or had expected this.
Rachel pulled Max close into her side, arm wrapped around her shoulder as she motioned for Chloe to join them outside.
“Think you could need me too?” She asked to Max, still watching through the window as Chloe stumbled out of her seat.
.
NEVER be afraid to send yourself the prompt you wanted desperately to fill
~~REUNION SPOILERS~~
(mostly safield, but some fayypricefield vibes)
ALSO can be read over at ao3
.
Safi was shaking, and Max hated that she’s the cause of it. But there’s a fire that’s going to destroy her home, and Chloe’s back and they’re… something.
“You saw her, and forgot all about me.”
It wasn’t true. It was completely true. She loved Chloe. She always loved her. She couldn’t stop loving her. She didn’t want to.
She loved Safi too.
“Please, you’re my best friend. You said you would wait for me. Don’t leave me alone.”
And Max opened her mouth, and she didn’t know what to say.
Safi’s brown eyes were cold, but not cruel. They were wide in fear and dark with want. She was poetry in a person’s body. Her eyes trailed over Max, as though convincing herself she wasn’t too late. She could convince her to leave.
“I’ll be good. I promise I’ll be good.” Safi’s voice was raspy and out of breath. She stepped closer to Max, hesitating. Max felt her hand twitch at her side, touching the thread of time, and saw Safi’s eyes draw down towards it.
“No, please, just…” Safi surged forward, her arms wrapping around Max. She wanted her so much. Her head buried into Max’s neck, nose feeling the thump of her pulse.
“Please, don’t.” Safi said, and Max was still in her arms. Why won’t she hug her back? Safi rubbed at Max’s shoulder with one hand, her back with the other.
“You believed in me when no one else had my back,” Safi pushed on, “You told me to go up on that stage as myself, to let people hear the truth from me, and they did. You helped rebuild me.”
She pulled back, and Max had a wetness to her eyes. She was lifting her arms up now though, catching Safi at her elbows.
“You didn’t tell my mom you saw me that day. You could’ve. I would’ve been mad at you but… you could’ve. You didn’t.”
Max’s eyes were so soft.
“Safi…” Max said her name like she meant everything. Even now, all these months later, Safi could still hear the grief in her voice, could hear the mourning Max went through when she had been dead.
“You told me how your mom managed you all your life. You’re not a project, you’re a person. And,” Max’s voice grew rougher, like she would start crying, “You deserve to be heard. Maya deserved to be heard. I just… gave you a nudge.”
“Please, come with me.” Safi asked again. With Chloe, with Diamond, with Moses. She would take them all. She just needed… Safi took a breath.
Max took a shaky breath with her. Her lips quivered.
“This is my home, Safi. I can’t—”
It was easy, too easy, and terrifying, to kiss Max Caulfield. Who told her about the fire, even with suspecting her. Who suspected her, yet still protected her. Who saved her, but looked past her for her high school sweetheart.
Max gasped into her mouth, shocked, surprised? Maybe she was angry, but her mouth was open and Safi wasn’t sure this was something she would ever experience again. Or even for the first time, if Max pulled away and took the time back.
She licked into her mouth, and she felt Max’s hands on her tighten. She was kissing her back. Maybe. Please, maybe. She wasn’t used to being the taller one doing the kissing. She liked how she had to curl downward to kiss her. She could curl around her and never let her go.
Safi could feel her tears falling down her cheeks. She shuddered as she pressed back again when Max started to pull away.
“Not yet,” Safi said, between their mouths, and Max pushed forward, her hand tightening into a fist at her jacket’s shoulder.
I love you. Safi wanted to say. I love you. Please. Let me prove it. Let me try.
Max said something, but Safi couldn’t catch it. She wanted to steal Max’s powers and pull back time. Make this moment last forever.
But then, if she did that, it wouldn’t be a moment anymore.
She wondered if she could really live with that.
Max nipped at her lip, and then the kisses turned slow and calming. Max wasn’t pulling away, and Safi wanted everything afterwards. Wanted more than right now. Wanted more than just this.
Let me try.
She tried to pull away. She didn’t want to. Max’s lips were… they were warm and soft and so nice against hers. Had she kissed Chloe’s lips today? What had Chloe’s felt like over her own?
“Don’t go, Safi.” Max said, and now she was the one shaking. Her grip on Safi had lightened, but she hadn’t let go.
She tried again.
“Come with me. It’s okay to bail. Everyone will always need you. You don’t have to be the hero.”
She watched a silent tear fall down Max’s face as she mouthed soundlessly, opening and closing. Safi wanted to bite her lips shut.
“Wait, okay. Don’t leave. Wait for me." Max was clutching her, pulling Safi back in. "I’ll stop this. I’ll fix everything. Just… this time, wait for me.” Their lips hovered in the same space, not touching, and Safi tilted her head until she was nuzzling her nose into Max’s, their foreheads resting together.
“Okay. I…I will. I'll wait.” Safi said, unsure if she was lying.
rachel is a ghost, and the fire, because she's that bitch okay. i love her so much.
gonna start pushing my rachel/chloe/max/saif agenda with a ghost rachel fic? sure why now
can be read on ao3
REUNION SPOILERS
Max remembered her. A distance force, a ghost she never met. A storm she let play out.
A deer waiting for her at the edge of the forest.
Fireflies outside a haunted house condemned with a decade-long death, flicking green dots leading the way.
There was a thought, once or twice, that it was Rachel who set off these chains of events. The tornado in Arcadia Bay, reality pulling apart at Caledon. She couldn’t get justice without giving Max more time.
She brought Chloe back to her.
She helped put a stop to Nathan and Jefferson.
And then, years later, when all was said and done… she gave Max another chance yet again, to face down destiny for Safi.
Why did Chloe need to die?
Why was Safi better off dead?
“It’s going to happen again,” Max said to Chloe, alone in a basement. “You’re going to leave again. We’re going to fail. We’re doomed.”
Chloe sat beside her, promising different. The mushrooms still had her head spinning, but Chloe’s hand was on her knee. She was so pretty, maybe even prettier than she remembered.
If she had her camera, she’d take a picture.
“I love you,” Max said, and she was in Chloe’s face, both her hands in Chloe’s hair. Chloe made a sound with her mouth closed, but it wasn’t a laugh.
Green fireflies filled the area around them. One, then three, then eight, then more.
“I love you.” Max said before kissing Chloe’s cheek. “I love you. I love you.”
She kissed the corner of Chloe’s mouth. She meant to kiss her lips. It wasn’t perfect at all, but they were doomed.
“We’re not,” Chloe said back before kissing her where she needed it most. “We’re not doomed. Fuck the universe. We’re going to be okay.”
Please, Rachel, Max sent the message to the fireflies as the air turned green around them. Please, just help me one more time.
She woke up in the planetarium, blinking from her crash out as the projected stars above gently rocked around her. It was all blue. Blue and white lights drawing her back from her hazy dreams. There were no fireflies lighting the way. After all, Rachel was just a girl that had died.
Chloe remembered her too, every day. She never deserved to die, and yet somehow it was Chloe who kept beating fate back instead.
Even now, even seeing through her own hands turning transparent, even with some whacked out girl who shared her dreams and nightmares and quantum positioning as Moses put it, even over a decade later it was Chloe who was meant to die, yet somehow made to live.
She wished Rachel was there. An anchor at her heart, even as the present stared her down, even as it tried to push her to death’s door.
Even if Rachel would met her there, she could never leave Max. Not in this timeline or the next.
And Safi? She was… something to Max, a best friend. Max didn’t have many of those. And now, for some reason, fate wanted another girl dead for the mere defiance of existing.
The Overlight was bright and empty, and the gun was set between them, pointing straight out at the center, and yet it felt like the muzzle was pressed against both of their temples at the same time.
What would Rachel say, if she were here?
What would Max think?
What would Safi care?
She looked to Safi, and she didn’t understand her. No. That wasn’t entirely true. She understood her, maybe too much.
“Is it a bad thing Max fought for us? Is it bad that I want to be here? That I want my mom here?”
Safi didn’t look convinced, and the strangeness of the Overlight weighed on Chloe’s shoulders. For the last several months she’s been entangled in this girl, who’s name she only learned the day before.
She imagined, briefly, a world where Max stood where Chloe was, facing off with Rachel. Max knew what to say to her, but would she have any clue what to say to a girl she never met?
“Is it so bad to think you deserve to live?” Chloe asked, holding out her hand. The fire had been stopped, almost completely, suspect by suspect. But then, a simple spark set it all ablaze. Maybe Rachel started the fire, just like she had done once before, all those years ago.
Maybe, this was Rachel’s way of putting it out.
Safi’s lips quivered, and the smoke was spearing through their lighthouse.
“You’re really horrible at this, you know.” Safi said without any bite and a watery smile.
Her hand slipped into Chloe’s, leading them back to the living.
And that should’ve been the end of it, as it were. A perfect closed loop. A world that decided Chloe had to die, a world that scripted Safi’s end, a world that Max fought against twice over.
Safi hadn’t known Rachel, had no reason to. Chloe said her name once, in front of her to Max and to Moses, and it felt like Maya in a way that was uncomfortable.
She knew death too well, in herself now, and in Chloe. It was strange, she felt predisposed to be aggravated with her but as time went on she… couldn’t. It was tiresome, and… she loved Max so much. And Safi loved Max. So much.
“I dream about her sometimes,” Max admitted one night to Safi. “I think she…”
“Yeah?” Safi pressed, wondering how this stranger compared to herself, or to Chloe, or to Maya.
“I think…” Max glanced to the side without turning her head. “I like to think anyway, it’s silly. But I always felt like… she’s been here this whole time. That she’s the reason… that I can…”
Max gently raised her hand by way of explaining. Safi watched the way Max didn’t notice the one tear fall down her face sideways over her nose.
“Maybe she is,” Safi said, because the thought was nice. It’s different for her, with Maya. There was so much anger when she died, and she never felt—once Maya had died there was only static where she used to be. She just felt gone.
“I’m glad,” Max said, and she placed a hand over Safi’s cheek. Did Rachel want this too? For Safi to share a bed with Max, and with Chloe? She was getting used to these days, she hoped in some senseless oddball way that Rachel didn’t mind.
And then Max was leaning in, and Safi was getting used to that too. Of leaning back, making Max whine just a bit impatiently before moving so she could hover over Safi, looking down at her before following where her eyes landed. Lips, her best friend, she loved her so much. Hand back on her cheek. Heat in her mouth.
She hadn’t known Rachel, but she did now in little ways. If she was the fire, or the storm, or the reason Max had saved her. She knew her then.
mix of safield/pricefield (im continuing to push my fayypricefield agenda, yes)
warning/notes: for ptsd and memory issues, themes of grief
Max’s hand twitched at the question. Safi asked about the photo.
Wait. How did she get here?
It was a good day all the way through. Max was happy, at a bar with her best friend. Safi had saved her life today, quite literally. First, she helped Max explore the abandoned bowling alley, and then she saved her from getting crushed under the giant nebula mobile.
And Max even got her shot. Up high, half out the glassless window of the second floor, framing the giant center piece by pressing it off center of the shot, drawing the eye to the caved in sloping roof scattered with snow and light.
Her heart was still pounding. In exhilaration. In excitement. In terror and thrill.
“Hello, earth to Max? You in there?”
Max blinked through, and Safi had a lifted brow in concern. It wasn’t the first time she’d given Max that look since they’d met, but Max was seeing it with increasing frequency the last few days.
“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m here.”
There’s a slight roll of the eyes on Safi’s end. Max looked down at her drink, thinking back to the discarded bottles at the bowling alley, wondering if this bar they’re in will end up the same twenty years from now.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask… what’s with the hair?”
Safi lifted one finger from the table, pretending to do so discreetly, as though she had to keep it hidden. Max glanced at the strand of blue hanging at her side.
“Uh, what do you mean? I like to dye my hair sometimes. You’ve helped me before.”
Safi lips pressed together, pointing one direction, then the next.
Then, she did sometime weird. Well, weird for Safi.
Her hands pressed down on the table, palms flat before she slide them all the way until her arms were stretched across. Her hands sought after Max’s, who tried to school her amusement, but only just.
“I saw the blue haired girl. In your wallet.”
Max’s opened her mouth just as Safi’s hands slide over hers, a voice seeking forgiveness through confession.
“When did—you snooped in my wallet?”
Safi’s hands squeezed once, and there’s a strained smile stretched over face. It’s only been six months since they met, and her expressions were always like this. Expressive would be the word. Conniving, Moses would say.
“Oh c’mon, can you really blame me?” Safi shot back. “You’re such a bag of mystery, capturing the world through empty spaces,” she lifted a hand to Max, fingers in air quotes “in highlighting it. Those were your words, Caulfield.”
It was still fine. Max smiled and offered a laugh that was real. That was who she was now, after all.
But Safi could see the deflection already poised on her tongue, “You can’t give me bit of Max lore? It’s the same shade of blue, you’re going to tell me that doesn’t mean anything?”
It did. And maybe Safi couldn’t get the whole story, but she could offer something.
“She was,” Max started, halting a bit over the thought of saying her name, “Y’know, someone I knew back in high school.”
Safi’s lids narrowed just a fraction, and she was practically vibrating in her seat, “And? Don’t leave a girl hanging!”
The bar wasn’t too bustling, but there are enough folks about that the ambient music and conversation to keep their own under wraps.
“She’s…” the air slowed, and Max felt the world go grey around her. The surging wind of the storm echoed like it was at her back, and there was a hand in hers holding fast as they watched it encroach through the ocean, closing in on Arcadia Bay.
Her eyes fluttered, tearless, “She’s my girlfriend,” the words stumbled a little too fast. Her hand twitched. “Ex-girlfriend, sort of,” it sounded weak and almost like lying.
Safi softened, her hands settled still in front of her. She waited, letting Max work through what she was trying to say.
“She died,” Max added, and she kept looking to Safi then back down at the table. “I mean, fuck, she’s not…”
She had to shut her eyes to the light. There’s rope and a gun shot. The one in the bathroom or the one in the bunker, she can’t tell.
“Okay, hey,” Safi’s voice lifted in worry, and she looked terrified. “Take it easy, I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry.”
Max took a moment. She looked around the bar that she had grown used to frequenting. It held a warm atmosphere, and she knew a lot of the people there, by face if not by name. She was just a resident of the school, not a real teacher, but some of the people here had been to her seminars. Several of her photographs hung in the arts department. With every bit forward, this place was becoming a home.
“Take a breath, yeah?” Safi encouraged, looking back to the bar behind her. “I’m going to get you some water,” she said with a tap to the table, “sit tight.”
Max did just that. When Safi came back she had a simple glass of water, and she took two long sips, a dribble falling down her chin.
She caught sight of Amanda at the bar, curiously looking over at them before serving another patron. Max’s heart fluttered and ached at the same time.
Safi passed her a napkin, and Max patted the water from her face, using it then as a coaster for her glass.
She could probably get away with asking for a change in topic at this point. She could see how Safi was looking at her, a little guilty, but she needed to set the record straight first.
“So, yeah,” Max said, a breathless chuckle to sound more at ease, wiping her chin with a napkin. She felt her own shoulders ease up. “Anyway, we’ve been long distance every since. I know I don’t really talk about her, but…”
Wait. Rewind. Not literally, just… what?
“I’m sorry?” Safi said, looking as confused as Max’s heart felt. People always liked to make comments about how long distant relationships never worked out. Max was tired of it, but it was her fault for never bringing it up in the first place. She shouldn’t be surprised that Safi was caught off guard.
“Uh, yeah. I know I said never anything…”
“No, wait,” Safi cut her off. Rude. “You said she was your ex. Well, first you said she died but I let that slid because I’m so easygoing and carefree.”
Her eyes crinkled as she flashed a smile.
Max felt the corners of her vision dark, a vignette feathering further than she’d suggest post-editing. It stopped drawing a focus on the camera’s subject. It wasn’t necessary.
“Are you—Jesus Christ, your nose.” Max felt another napkin shoved into her hand, and she instinctively pressed it against the offending nostril.
“Come with me, let’s go to the bathroom.”
And then Safi was leading her through the bar. She muttered something to Amanda as they passed by, and she snatched the keys off the wall.
The bathroom’s lighting was a bit sharper, and one of the bulbs was giving off a low buzzing sound.
The door clicked shut with a solid, firm clunk. Max was set by the sinks, and she ended up hoisting herself so she could sit on the tiny counter space between two of them.
“Here,” Safi pulled out a paper towel. “Do the twisty thing.”
Max nodded, then froze as she saw a speck of blood definitely land on her shirt. It was a good thing she was already wearing red.
“Oh god,” Safi stepped close, and she pulled the paper towel she had just handled to Max, “Is this a medical thing? I have Amanda on standby if we need to call for—”
Max jerked back. “W-what, no, I’m fine, I just—”
“Stop squirming,” Safi said, and she was practically breathing the same air as Max. Her hand was twisting the end of the paper towel into a small point.
“How bad is it?” Max asked, glancing upward to count the bars on the vent. Safi’s hand was on her face now, dabbing the leaking blood before plugging her nose. It was awkward, having a friend do that for her.
“You should be fine. It just… well, it surprised me. Maybe we adventured too hard?” Safi proposed.
Max tentatively touched the edge of her nose, watching Safi watch her, ready to swat her hand away if she poked around too much.
“I… used to get nosebleeds before, but it…” Max’s eyed widened, “stopped.”
She was looking past Safi into the corner of the bathroom. Safi’s eyes flicked back briefly until she turned fully around. Seeing nothing she slowly spun the full 180 back to look to Max.
“Okay, what the fuck is happening right now?”
“I thought I saw a blue, uh, a blue butterfly.”
Safi’s face settled as she took Max by the shoulders, her mouth was a flat line, brows drawn tense, eyes narrowed over a scrunched nose as she looked her over.
“Is this an anxiety attack?” Safi asked. “I need a direction, Max. Tell me how to help.”
Max thought about what she needed, and how she wasn’t there. She pressed her lips together as Safi watched, then sucked them further into her own mouth.
She took a breath, and lifted her hands up, over Safi’s hands at her shoulders.
Safi had been such a good friend to her. A best friend. She hadn’t had that in… well, Chloe was her girlfriend now. It was different.
Actually... when did she last see Chloe?
Max tugged, and Safi followed. She didn’t need more direction than that before she had her arms wrapped around Max’s shoulders. Max encircled her own around Safi’s back, pulling her further inward.
“This helping?” Safi asked at her neck. She was warm. Max was pretty sure she could go to sleep like this, even with the paper in her nose.
“Yeah, thanks,” Max said, and she felt the odd tension in Safi, the readiness to pull back once Max had her hug quota filled. She wasn’t a much of a hugger from what Max gathered. She gave an extra squeeze back in gratitude.
Max loosened her hold, and Safi pulled back slowly.
It probably wasn’t the best time to kiss her. She had no idea if Safi would want that, if she would kiss her back. God, she still had the paper jammed in her nose.
“Um…” Safi said, still so close, her brown eyes beautiful and filled with so much of what made her Safi.
“Chloe would love you.” Max said, because it was true, and it was heartbreaking, and she wondered if she would ever see her again.
Safi seemed to consider, choosing her next words carefully.
“I’d love to meet her, someday.”
And maybe, universe willing, just maybe, Max would be able to look at them together in front of her, and figure out exactly why every girl she loved was doomed.
this is uh, 3k+... uh, and there might be smut. no, there... there is. THERE IS.
safi/max/chloe, with a bit additional focus on chloe/safi
reunion spoilers.
warning: referenced self harm
read at ao3
It was hard to get to know someone in the limbo void where you both died, over and over again.
Safi didn't really care for who Chloe was. She knew who she was.
There was the hair, that was a dead giveaway. Then there was the photos, the lighthouse.
The storm that overlapped them both.
Safi stuck to carving poetry into the trees, climbing over rocks to get to the lighthouse only to be blipped out of existence and brought back to the Overlook.
Max with the camera. Max with the gun.
How had it happened, the first time? Safi had no memory of dying at the start of it, but there was a gun, in Max's hands, barrel against her chest. She was dying over and over again but it hadn't even started yet, for her.
And Chloe? She was only ever in glimpses before. It wasn't until Safi was back, after she left Diamond on the road, after the fallout with Ivy... back where she left and now hidden away from all her peers, from Max.
From her mom.
She wondered if Chloe had a mom. She could probably ask now, because suddenly the overlap was constant. Chloe was there, in Lakeport, at Caledon. She was there for Max, because apparently they were the flame to each other's moths.
Don't do this to yourself.
She needed to see. Chloe's hand was in hers, and this girl was real and warm, filled with the same blood Safi found under her own skin when the need to make sure it was there pushed upward. Can you be dead with blood still inside you?
Then Chloe's hand was on her bag, pulling it from her grip.
"Bitch, you did not just—”
And she watched the rest of her bag go into the water. She blinked, mouth opened in shock before she could think to step forward.
Then she was running, and Chloe was passing the damn mask Safi had gotten from Vinh and telling Max to bring it all back.
Pause. How did she remember that?
"Safi, you still there?"
Safi looked down at the bag in her arm, Diamond's voice in her ear.
"Y-yeah, hold on," she flipped the bag open, hand delving inside but no. No. Damn it. Chloe knew Max, and Max... did exactly what Chloe said to. She had the mask, and she had Chloe, and they were both running towards the pier now, as though they expected her right behind them.
"You won't believe what Max just pulled on me..." Safi said, because she didn't have anything else to do. Fury stormed in her stomach. She told Max she would be right back but as soon as she got was she needed (ChloesheneededChloe) she was gone. It shouldn’t hurt.
Chloe was as dead as her, no matter the timeline. That’s what Diamond seemed to suggest, though Safi still didn’t quite grasp her powers. Clairvoyance as she understood it was supposed about just perceiving the future, but it clearly extended beyond. Or maybe it was just because of Overlight that her and Chloe were anchored to, bound by each other because of a set of decisions Max made.
And just a day later the fire still happened, because Max might be divine but she can’t be everywhere. And Chloe convinced Safi not to die. And Max broke time and space because Chloe believed in her.
She was grateful to be mostly alive. Really. It was all pretty close, and it did mean something that Chloe said there was in fact a reason they were bound together.
Was it just for that one moment, though?
The news was scrambling the next day, and the day after that. The local news was 24/7 coverage of the fire, the protests, Ren’s arrest.
Max asked Safi to stay with her, and with Chloe, in the Hellerton House. Campus was going to be fully shut down by the end of the week, but Yasmin was kind enough to give Max special permission for the three of them to stay there.
Safi wondered if her mom knew. About Max.
Her powers, or how you feel about her?
Safi refused to think further on it.
The first night was weird in how weird it wasn’t. Safi went to the couch, ready to collapse, only for Chloe to pinch the back of her shirt, stopping her from going.
When Safi looked at her, she just nodded up the stairs to Max’s bedroom, and to Max.
She didn’t know how to ask what are we doing or what do you want from me? She was too worried of what answer she would give. Safi wasn’t ready.
Chloe shucked her denim jacket off, and Safi couldn’t stop blinking.
“Is there a laundry on campus I can use?” Chloe asked Max, who was openly admiring her girlfriend’s arms. She wasn’t like, jacked, but there was visible definition.
“U-uh,” Max seemed to remember where she was, glancing at Safi before looking down to the floor with a flush. “We have one, but with the fire it’s closed until they can sort out if it’s safe for them to be used. No, uh, structural damage.”
“Good thing this place is right by a lake.” Chloe said, and she’s looking over to Safi again, adding a wink her way at the end of the sentence.
“I’m so exhausted,” Max added. “I could sleep for a year.”
Safi stripped her own jacket off while Max opened up her top drawer, pulling out a few items as and gathering them in her arms.
“Hey, where’re you going?” Chloe teased as Max walked past her towards the bathroom, her hand trailing by Max’s waist as she went. Safi tried to not watch, but managed only to glance the other way before she was back to looking at them both.
“I just, uh,” Max said, “Need to get changed.”
Chloe cocked a brow. “I’m sure Safi and I are both able to handle a little Max action of you getting changing into your jammies.”
Safi started to shake her head before she could think about it, but Max was already saying, “I also need to pee.”
“Oh, well, go on then,” Chloe waved her off, and then she was directing her gaze back to Safi, rolling her eyes as though this was an inside joke the pair of them had for years.
“It’s good to be alive.” Chloe said, and she offered her hand to Safi, who handed her jacket over. Chloe simply dropped it over her own on Max’s chair.
“Do you have a preferred position?” Chloe then asked, way too casual for the thoughts suddenly running through Safi’s mind.
“I’m sorry?”
Chloe motioned to the bed, her own eyelids looking heavy as she visibly fought back a yawn.
“What side to you want?”
Safi nodded, then didn’t answer. She was looking at the bed. She was looking at the floor.
Don’t do this to me.
Chloe’s hands were at her shoulders. She was taller than Max, but a couple inches shorter than Ivy. Her hands were warm, like always, blood under her skin.
“We’re just going to sleep, Safi.” Chloe said, her voice lowered. At the edge they could both feel the flickering light of the lighthouse wanting to creep in. Together though they hide their eyes and turned away from it.
Chloe’s arm was over Safi’s shoulders, leading her to bed. She had her sit as she tugged her own boots off, then got on her knees, not just one, but both of them, as she worked Safi’s boots off as well.
Safi pushed a deep breath out through her mouth, trying not to think about Max in the bathroom, getting changed like this was normal. Not with Chloe’s hands on her, caring about her.
“We should talk tomorrow, when our brains aren’t deep fried, about what we wanna do next.” Chloe said, her voice deeper than usual, as though she had practiced that line in her head a few times before saying it aloud.
“Do?” Safi said, her own head life. Then Chloe stood up, working on her own pants before having the thoughtfulness to turn around as she worked them off.
“You know, if the school’s going to be closed for a while. I have to get back to my band soon. I don’t know if Max or you would wanna do some road tripping for a while before…”
There rest was lost on Safi, watching Chloe’s legs suddenly became bare skin in front of her. She wore fitted boxers, and her could see her shoulder blades through her tank top.
Chloe had a smile on her face when she looked back to Safi, as though she could read her mind. Safi felt the itch to hide away, to cover her face with someone else’s. But she also doesn’t want to. A day ago, a week ago, she wouldn’t imagine where she is right now.
Why?
What do you want to happen?
“Is this you trying to get me out of my pants?” Safi asked, letting that coolness she’s used to wrap over her. If she can’t change faces, she can at least change fronts. Flirting was easy for her, she did is with all her friends at one point or another. It didn’t have to mean anything.
“Well, I already got you in bed.” Chloe said, and Safi glanced away to the bathroom Max had gone into.
“At least buy me dinner first.” Safi said, and then Chloe was leaning back. She leaned with her until she realized what she was doing, licking her lips before pressing them together.
“How about breakfast in the morning?” Chloe asked, and she was crawling up the bed, pulling the covers back at the top.
“Deal.” Safi said, debating on crawling up like Chloe had. Instead she got to her feet, walking over to Max’s side of the bed. Chloe had clearly planted herself on the other side. She would want Max in the middle.
Chloe held the blanket open, beckoning her in. Safi hands reached for her pants, twitching before letting them drop and climbing in as is.
“Here, come here,” Chloe beckoned further, and Safi followed. Chloe pulled her in, arms wrapped around her, tucking her into Chloe’s chest, under her chin.
“This okay?” Chloe asked, voice soft and low. Safi blinked, unsure if she could relax. Max would come back, and then she’d have to pull back as she watched them, trying to pretend it didn’t bother her.
“Y-yeah?” Safi said, voice rising without thinking.
“Is that a question?” Chloe asked, and she adjusted her arms around her, and she was warm. It would be all too easy to let her eyes close and fall asleep.
Don’t take this away.
A door opened, and Max was stepping back into the room. Chloe’s arms gave her a squeeze. She still tensed up, trying to catch Max’s eye.
Max smiled simply at them, standing in her own pajamas. She placed her folded up clothes on the table besides both of their jackets, reaching down the floor and collecting Chloe’s pants.
“Light on, or off?” Max asked as she walked over to her side of the bed. Safi started to turn, to pull out of Chloe’s hold, but Chloe gave her a gentle squeeze again.
“Uh, off?” Safi said, and Chloe’s breath was at her cheek. She couldn’t figure out where to look. Chloe’s face was too close, but then Max was getting in bed after she flicked the lamp off, her body suddenly behind and pressing in close to Safi.
Max’s arm slide over her waist, clearly reaching over to Chloe over Safi’s body, but her arm reached against her, burning through her shirt.
She wished she took her pants off, but she couldn’t risk it now.
Somehow, someway, she was at the center of the bed with Max and Chloe holding each other around her. Her heart was beating heavy and hard in her chest, but exhaustion wouldn’t let her think too long about the implications.
Don’t let this be a dream.
There was no Overlight, no lighthouse, no gun in her dreams. Only the sight of herself from an eagle eye view, between two woman she had begged to run away with her, neither who said yes but still kept her there.
She woke under the natural light and to one body in bed with her. She wanted to stretch and had to resist the urge when she sorted that it was Max still wrapped around her.
“Mmm,” Max made the sound when Safi shifted, having thought she was barely moving enough to be noticed. Apparently not.
“Morning,” Safi said, finding herself looking over the room for signs of Chloe. Was it weird to be disappointed she wasn’t there?
“She’s downstairs,” Max said, speaking her sleepiness away. “Told me to just relax. You can too.”
Safi felt that uncomfortable need to adjust herself that rolled over when she woke up. She nudged Max briefly, who released her long enough for Safi to move to her back. Now she could look directly at Max, who’s hair was folded on one side.
Don’t run a hand through her hair.
“Hey,” Max said, and she was the one was leaning up. Safi’s heart stopped, the thought of Max kissing her the only thing on her mind. Max simply brushed the stray strands of Safi’s hair back.
“I wanted to take your ponytail out, but Chloe said not to.” Max said, but her hands were moving now. Safi titled her head to give Max better access, trying not to let her eyes flutter as Max pulled out the tie, tugging her hair as she went.
The tension at her head went away, and Safi rolled her neck. Okay, yeah, she needed that.
“Ugh, that feels so much better. Thanks.”
Max’s hand slipped to her neck, cradling her. She pressed her fingertips until Safi couldn’t look anyway else but at her.
Thumb stroking her cheek. Safi wondered if maybe she was still dreaming.
“We should wait for Chloe.” Max said, finally having the sense to look embarrassed, although her hand remained on Safi.
“Wait for…?” Safi tried to fill in the blank. She knew what she was thinking, but what in the world was Max thinking?
“Food finally delivered,” Chloe’s voice came from downstairs, the sounds of her steps already coming up the stairs. “I just got a couple coffees and some breakfast sandwiches. Didn’t want to go too crazy.”
Chloe was holding a medium sized brown bag, setting it down on the chair with her and Safi’s jackets, not really reacting to the way Max was touching her.
“I left the coffees downstairs, didn’t want to spill them.”
Chloe had looked at them, looked right at them, but she was turned back to the stairs. No, no way.
“Chloe!” Safi said, shifting up in the bed, and Max’s hand slipped. She hadn’t pulled back at all, palming her shoulder now, and Safi was way too warm for this.
“Yeah?” Chloe said, casually, but then she was watching. There was a calculated look on her face, but she didn’t look upset, exactly.
She didn’t look surprised either.
“Uh, help? You’re… uh, Max,” she stumbled, not sure if she could say girlfriend, if it was allowed right now.
Chloe laughed. Not outright, not in her face She was being teased.
She followed the way Chloe glanced to Max as she dropped a knee to the bed, then the other.
“Max isn’t mine,” Chloe said, as though that was the correction that was needed here. But she was crawling up the bed, over where Safi was.
Her knees were on either side of her body, hovering above Safi as she pressed into the space. Her eyes when over Safi’s face, leaning in.
Leaning past her.
Safi watched how Max eagerly kissed Chloe right in front of her. Not even a full foot of space separated them. The sounds of their lips sliding together were louder than Safi ever heard, not when she wasn’t the one doing the kissing.
Max’s hand was still at her shoulder, keeping it there like it was keeping her steady.
Then the pair of them stopped, lips peeling apart with nothing but a breath between them.
Safi made a pathetic sound as Chloe’s hand found her other shoulder, and they both pushed her down. She was trapped under the covers as Max dipped into her neck, while Chloe directed her face towards her own.
Chloe was kissing her. On the lips. With Max kissing into her neck and moving up. She whimpered as the pair moved over her, gentle and slow.
“Safi…” Max said, licking up her neck, over her jaw. Chloe pulled back, using her hand to turn Safi Max’s way and then Max’s tongue went over and into her mouth.
Safi’s heart thudded everywhere. She wanted this. She did.
She wanted the covers off, mostly.
Chloe seemed to sense this, and she was tugging the covers back, and Safi sighed as she sucked on Max’s tongue.
“Is… is this…” Safi tried when Max pulled back and took a shuddering breath. Max swallowed and smiled, and then she was directing Safi, and Chloe was back in front of her.
Chloe nipped at her lips, pulling at the bottom before using her tongue to draw Safi’s mouth back open. She was just hovering over Safi, and Safi reached up, hand at the strap of her tank top, and pulled.
Chloe huffed before leaning down the length of her body over Safi’s, groaning over the sighs coming from her. She reached down her body, fingers finding the edge of her jeans, the button, the zipper.
Hips arched her way, and she worked the button off in a quick flick, but another hand was over hers, and Max was threading her fingers through Chloe’s.
“Please, please,” Safi whimpered, but Max just dragged Chloe’s hand further down past the zipper.
“Here,” Max directed, and Chloe worked her palm flat over Safi’s crotch through her jeans. She rocked against the fabric, groaning as Safi kicked her heels out, dragging over the mattress.
“Max?” Safi felt dizzy. Max’s hand left her jeans, and was now working under her shirt.
“Safi?” Max said back, reaching up before she was cupping through her bra. “Did you want to eat first?”
How was that the question Max was asking her? She shook her head, maybe Safi even whined out a desperate “no” before she could help it, but she wasn’t sure. Chloe’s palm was still rocking against her.
“Fuck, Max, C-Chloe,” Safi said, blinking too much. Unsure of where to focus. Then Max’s hand squeezed, and then her hand pressed Safi’s cup upwards, and then her hand was against her bare breast and—
“You’re so pretty,” Max said in a low voice over her gasp, like it was a secret she didn’t want Chloe to overhear. Which, maybe if Chloe wasn’t right there. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I'm so glad you're here.”
It was heartfelt, and then her thumb swiped over the softness of her nipple. A few more flicks, back and forth, while Max spoke gratitude and Chloe rocked into her and her nipple was pebbling.
Chloe pressed her face into Safi’s neck, panting, her pressing fingertips over where she guessed Safi’s entrance was. She was right.
“More.” Safi said, nudging her cheek into Chloe. “Please, more.”
Chloe looked to Max. For permission, maybe, or direction? They were clearly on the same page with each other.
Chloe tugged Safi’s zipper down, reaching down with both hands dragging the fabric off her waist. The intent didn’t seem to make her pantless, just to—oh, Chloe left her jeans halfway down her thighs, her hand sliding into her panties.
“Fuck, Safi,” Chloe gasped, her fingers gliding through Safi’s folds. “Holy shit.”
Safi couldn’t deal with it. She couldn’t stretch her legs out, trapped in her jeans barely tugged down. She slide both hands into Max’s hair, drawing her to her mouth. Max was more than eager to kiss her again, devouring her in the way Safi could only dream of.
“Don’t,” Safi whimpered through Max’s mouth. “Don’t stop.”
Chloe groaned there, and she was prodding and then pushing two fingers inside her. Her movements were steady and unhurried.
Safi can’t shake the thought she was doing this wrong, somehow. She was the focus, but she was odd one out.
Shakily, she moved her leg up between where Chloe had shifted, trying to give her relief. It was an awkward angle and she wasn’t sure she could hold it. At the pressure between her legs, Chloe made a choked sound, grinding once before pushing Safi’s leg back down.
“Don’t overdo it,” Chloe offered, kissing along her jaw, grazing teeth at her ear. “Next time, okay?”
Next time. Next time.
The thought had her tumbling over the edge too quickly, and she tried to hide her face in Max’s shoulder afterwards. Max moved her lips over her, peppering kissing anywhere on her face she could reach.
“It’s okay, you’re okay.”
Chloe rubbed her shoulders, sliding behind her. She pressed into her back, arms sliding under Safi’s and drawing crossed around her chest. Warm.
“I got you, Safi,” Chloe said. “We got you. Max and I are here, okay?”
Max was rubbing a hand soothingly down Safi’s arm. She was smiling, a faint red in her cheeks. She was looking at her like she could keep going, but she just smiled and nodded.
“Let’s just… take a few minutes, okay?” Max suggested, and Safi could feel Chloe nodding into her before resting her chin at her shoulder.
“The food should still be warm. We can take a bit, than take a bite,” Chloe said, and then gently, jokingly, placed her teeth over Safi’s shoulder. Just for a moment. Safi scoffed, or laughed, she wasn’t sure. It was so strangely intimate in a way she wasn’t quite sure how to process.
Safi felt herself relax into Chloe’s hold. Max’s hand lingered at her arm, watching her. It was, well, okay. Not fully, not even completely. But enough.
I come, bearing another smut! This one is intentional! I really wanted to play with the safield dynamic with max already in a well established relationship between chloe and rachel. and THUS, here we are
this is basically set in the DE timeline, except no Safi being murdered and timeline splitting (also nonbinary max because yes)
title: comfort over chaos
preview
“It’s just that,” Max started, and Safi was sitting up and attentive. Max caught her eye and paused. “It’s nothing.
“Excuse me?” Safi slumped, shoulders falling. “Why? I mean, yeah, she’s a total catch and pretty popular with the ladies, but if you don’t shoot your shot the answer will definitely be—”
“I did. She said no.”
Huh. That was, okay, that was new. She was a little surprised, but it was just another nugget of who Max was. She asked girls out first.
“Oh,” Safi said, and Max practically chugged half her drink right then and there, as though seeing the gears moving in Safi’s head. “Is there some sort of reason she said no?”
“We uh, we don’t have to talk about this?”
added to my illusion through exposure series. as with the other two, can absolutely be read stand alone.
max is at caledon. rachel shows up. confusion ensures.
note: discussion of rachel's death and rachel's feelings on it are brought up. death in general is the focus of discussion here. read at your own discretion
