“ SHIT IS GLOWING green, max. i really can’t ignore it. ” tatum agrees easily. it is fascinating, as scary as it is, so they’re on the same page there. still, tatum’s unsure if her worry is justified and the entire idea of continuing to party is some fucked up mob mentality, or if she’s just being paranoid. she figures until everyone else panics, she’ll wait. “ i wasn’t being serious. ” it’s not a no. tatum didn’t come here with the intention of partying, but she has a hard time turning max down. and by ‘a hard time’, she means it rarely happens, and when it does, it’s usually beyond tatum’s control. she turns herself to face max and stares at the bottle with a sigh. “ drinking is such a process. ” she grumbles, already wincing at the faint idea of the taste of liquor. “ a game is necessary. should i start? ” she pauses in thought while max takes a swig. she’ll play anything especially if it’s only them two – no guests allowed is her type of deal. “ find your soulmate or find twenty-thousand dollars? ” she starts off with an easy one, hand outstretched for the bottle.
“ which is WHY i’m not telling you to ignore it , ” max shrugged , slight smile curling at the corner of her lips . at the not of her not being SERIOUS , max simply lifted her eyebrows and gave her a pointed look , grin only growing by the moment before tatum ultimately caved , sighing as she turned so they were facing each other . “ such a process , ” she rolled her eyes , teasingly mimicking tatum’s SWEET voice , “ but it’ll help you relax a little bit –– . . . ” moments after the suggestion left her lips , her brow furrowed and she leaned forward , “ not that that’s a coping strategy you should adopt or anything . ” because TATUM wouldn’t be able to get away with poisoning her body like that , not if max had anything to say about it ––– even if it would be hypocritical coming from her . alcohol burns the back of her throat , but it’s familiar and almost welcomed at this point . . . no flinching from her . “ money is practically insignificant here , ” she handed the bottle over , lips pursed in thought , “ but i’m also pretty sure i’ve known my soulmate for a while now . ” with a careful touch , she reached out and tapped the tip of tatum’s nose . they were so different in so many regards , but they understood each other in a way that had made them pretty much INSEPARABLE for years . max sighed and leaned back on her palms , “ so the twenty thousand , i guess . just to feel like i’ve got something going for me maybe . ” her nose scrunched as she thought of another question , tilting her head , “ okay –– . . . would you rather be able to see ten minutes into your future or be able to see ten minutes into anyone else’s future . . . except yours ? ”
he doesn’t get into the pool, he hasn’t done much than sit by and watch her, with a blunt between her fingertips. “nope, you’re definitely tripping balls, i don’t see anything.” he’s teasing her, lined with subtle hints that he was lying– which was nothing he did ever seriously. but his gaze has remained stuck on her, throughout the rest. “nah, i don’t know what’s fucking going on. i think it’s better just to not question it. like how we haven’t questioned the way the entire population besides us just vanished. or you know the–” his words cut off, and he’s standing to his feet with furrowed brows. a glowing light of green, not so much as wicked as the lightening itself, catches his eyes. “what the fuck-” blunt flicked to the ground, she slaps his chest but he ignores it and presses forward, outside the steps of the university pool, and under the intense rays of heat. in a few mere moments of silence, he’ll come back to her, leaning in closely with hands clasped together. “i haven’t seen anything like this since—” well, the color? never. but just some kind of life other than them in general? not since the hurricane. “look..” he’ll open the palms of his hands, the bug twinkles, before whisking between them again, and out into the distance.
" aren’t you even the least bit curious , though ? i mean –– green lightening . looks like something out of a shitty superhero franchise film , ” she inhaled , tilting her chin up towards the sky and wishing , for a moment , that rain had come with these clouds . that it wasn’t so fucking hot . that there wasn’t a tinge of worry behind her curiosity . fingertips twitched against the neck of the bottle in her hand , and she opened her eyes , catching a glimpse of a floating green dot and following it , subtle smile growing on her lips that only faltered as theo brushed past her and stepped out into the heat . max bit her tongue , no longer following the light but following him ; someone should’ve told that boy to stay inside . . . but it was only a few moments before he was back , lingering near the door again and leaning close . as he opened his palms , she gently grabbed his wrists , pulling them lower to get a better look . bright green –– the color was beautiful . . . and curious . “ since before the first storm . . . ” she quietly finished his thought , watching the tiny bug intently before it blinked and took off , swirling back up into the sky . “ dude –– . . . we are so fucked , ” she cracked a grin , lashes fluttering as she lost the lightening bug and looked back to him , “ guaranteed half of the population is losing their mind right now about mutated strands of dna . ” she dropped her grasp around him , but didn’t bother stepping away . “ which naturally means the end of the world is next . for the third time , ” because every time a storm hit , or a sickness swept through , that was the END of the world to some people . ––– and yet , they were still around . surviving . throwing a party in a blackout . “ what would you do –– ” she asked , tilting her head as her gaze flickered over familiar features , “ if you found out this was really it ? the end of the world happens twelve hours from now . what do you do ? ”
marni didn’t really think she was going to run into anybody outside. she figured most people would, pretty reasonably honestly, be scared to go out in the lightning storm. she could understand why. if marni wasn’t going out for her own reasons, she’d likely be back inside enjoying what was left of the festivities, or more likely, avoiding what was left of the festivities. but she very much does, have her own reason that is. with her notebook and pencil handy, she was determined to record as much information about what’s going as she could. that said, once again, she wasn’t expecting to see anybody, but she especially wasn’t expecting to see max. and what seems to be a less than sober max to boot. great. “don’t worry, i’m seeing it too, you’re not that drunk.” marni replies easily as she pulls away from max’s good natured smacking, only to flinch back sharply as a bug gets a bit too close to her face. she stumbles back a few steps with a wrinkle of her nose, steps quickening to avoid the insect as she says, “god, that or some mutated version of one likely. or maybe an entirely new species, i– okay,” marni claps at the bug following her threateningly, and it quickly buzzes away. she follows it with her eyes for a bit but as her gaze gets higher it catches on– “oh my god.” marni’s eyes are wide and round as she looks at the sea of colour in the distance, mouth gaping for a moment before she speaks. “is that… the aurora borealis?” her brows furrow. “that… cannot be the aurora borealis.”
“ who ever said i was drunk ? ” max asked , spinning to look at marni with a straight face albeit the subtle life of her eyebrows . she walked backwards , a few paces further away from the entryway of the building . “ maybe i’m just getting started , ” she lifted the bottle , giving it a halfhearted shake before letting it drop back to her side . curious gaze followed the dip and flow of a lightening bug as it flew a bit too close to to brunette , and she bit back a laugh at the way the girl flinched . “ marni , they’re harmless . just little lightening bugs , ” she bent at the waist , setting the bottle into the grass before straightening and reaching into the sky as a glowing bug flew near . just as she had a million times as a child , she carefully clasped both hands around it and pulled it close to her chest , only opening them when she felt a tiny tickle against her palm . “ well –– . . . ” she studied it carefully , brow furrowing at marni’s point . . . a new species . . . a mutation . . . and her lips pursed in thought , “ okay . maybe –– i mean , it’s been a minute since i’ve run around catching lightening bugs , i guess . have they always been so green ? ” but before she could get it any closer to marni , the tiny dot buzzed right out of her hand and up to the sky . it’s only then that her pace slows , and she moves to marni’s side , looking up at the sky . “ i mean , i’m not environmental scientist , but yeah , i’d say that’s what that is . halloway’s always been –– way too far south for that , ” she snatched up her bottle again and took a long swig before shrugging , “ think the world is finally ending ? ”
THERE’S NOT enough in her system for her to be plastered with a smile yet –- instead she sits by the pool, water only up to just above her ankles as she gnaws away the skin on the thumb. something about the air feels wrong – it’s much too hot, and tatum who never wants to swim feels the urge to get in just to cool off. the idea of it is making her anxious. “ the sky looks terrifying. ” she murmurs, eyebrows pulling into a frown. “ is it the best idea to stay out here? ” she makes no move to leave. after all, it’s not as though she’s entirely afraid to die and all that waits for her in her bed is her never ending circle of thoughts. she barely laughs, but it’s there. “ or maybe just take a page out of everyone’s book. ignore and cope with alcohol. ”
“ i’d tell you to not look at it , but –– kinda hard not to , ” max leaned back on her palms , feet dipped into water lit up only from the reflection of lightening through a glass ceiling and crackled glowsticks from the basement , long past forgotten until recently . “ t , look , ” she laid back on the concrete , feet still in the water , “ if you don’t think too hard about it . . . it’s kind’a cool . ” there’s a pause , and though they’ve been friends for most of their lives , max finds herself WONDERING . . . . what was going on in tatum’s head ? . . . and should she be . . . concerned . “ ok see , that sounds like a good plan , ” she sits back up and leans aside , snatching up a bottle and setting it between the two of them , “ we’ll . . . make a game out of it . end of the world , alternate universe , green lightening , what-the-fuck-is-happening would you rather or something ? ” she unscrewed the cap and lifted the bottle up to her lips , taking a long swig , “ only . . . no one else is invited to play . ”
dripping hair fell over her shoulders , still wet from an unexpected dip into the pool , but she was thankful for it . against bare skin , the slight cooling effect was welcomed . she’d been changing in study hall b when the lights cut out , pulling on something dry only to have everything go dark . . . until the sky illuminated an electric green . it’s too hot , they’d said , stay indoors . . . but she. had already snatched up her bottle and tied up her laces . now , she stood staring at a dark sky splintered by green lightening , wisps of color wrapping themselves over and under clouds . “ what the fuck ? ” she whispered to herself , furrowing her brow and glancing back down to the bottle , reading the label again — just in case . footsteps came from behind , but she didn’t bother to move , looking back up into the clouds instead , “ you see this shit , too , right ? ” trippy , she thought to herself , before something flew across her vision . memories of the better parts of childhood the past year practically erased jolted to life in her brain , and she grinned . smacking the person next to her , laughter laced. her words , “ was that fucking lightening bug ? ”
🔥🔥 –– have you seen [ MAXINE “MAX” DUVAL ] since the storm? some say they look like [ bridget satterlee ] but they’re [ 21 ] & go by [ THE PHOENIX ]. [ she ] lived in halloway for [ 21 years ] . before the town vanished they were studying [ mechanical engineering ] and lived at [ THE DORMS ]. most people knew the [ CISFEMALE ] as [ sharp-witted ] but i’ve heard they can also be [ - BRAZEN ]. for some reason, they feel [ relieved ] about the town’s disappearance. ( doofus, 23 (for like 2 more weeks ew), she/her, cst (the c stands for corn) ) –––––
–––– local idiot admin is back and she has a new child on the rise . pls do not call her maxine as she will not hesitate to clap back , and though she is cute and kinda little do not underestimate !! we have a true chaotic good on our hands who really just had the odds stacked against her quite a bit growing up but that is a-okay . ‘ i’ll read your rules before i break them ’ kinda bitch . ‘ act before thinking ’ kinda bitch . ‘ lead with your heart not your head ’ kinda bitch . ‘ good instincts but terrible table manners ’ kinda bitch . ANYWAY . . . you’ll see . carry on !! this intro is much lazier than my other one akdjfhas so bear w me
max was born and raised in halloway to the ‘never gonna get out of this place’ sorta people. only her mother did, shortly after she was born, in the middle of the night with no warning and no telling. of where she might go, leaving her with her father. woof.
her old man really tried. he was a good dad, but the man’s moral compass was all sorts of out of whack. he spent as much time as possible with max and took as good of care of her as possible but like honestly?? having a kid is EXPENSIVE. being alive is expensive, and the straight and narrow honest path doesn’t always get you what you need.
he ultimately fell back into old habits which meant he spent a lot of time in the city boosting cars only to bring them back to halloway to sell for parts or modify for street racing and upselling. this was a business he ran under the table at an autoshop in town that the duval family started decades prior.
max never really knew this was going on because he kept it very much separate from her. they spent a lot of time working in their garage at home together on his old beater truck and a couple of other junkers that came in through the years, but she never visited the autoshop past sundown. just figured dad was a mechanic by day and a bit dependent on alcohol most nights.
when she was around fifteen, though, a job went horribly wrong and put her father away for life. thus began max’s time in the system, three years and three different foster homes in and around the halloway area... which had her consistently frustrated because she A: knew being adopted wouldn’t happen since she was 15?? and B: had pretty much been taking care of herself her whole life so sticking her in a house seemed stupid.
duval’s autoshop was bought by a friend of her father’s who was a friend no more after the ordeal, and renamed. she got a job there when she was old enough, first running the front desk, then working under the hood. she’s a hands-on learner and caught on to anything her father didn’t teach her very quickly.
even though she was a hard worker and happily minded her own gd business... she’s her father’s daughter, and trouble always seemed to find her. sometimes it was her fault— because she’s got a temper and a knack for being fussy under heavy authority—, other times it was the preconceived judgements attached to her last name. “trouble’s in her dna” sort of thing.
18 rolls around and she’s made.... decent enough grades to get into a few schools with scholarships, but she opts to defer in order to work for a year and save up. lives out of her car for a little bit, couch surfs every now and then, stays with some very gracious hosts, and works her ass off until she’s able to go to school for mechanical engineering which is great!!!
but because she’s still in halloway, hat last name follows her, and a lot of local students kinda know who she is. know she's a bit sharp, a bit rough around the edges, from an icky background. but she did her best and kinda loved being able to actually work in labs and have friends and come back to the same dorm every now and again, even if she didn't have anywhere to go over holiday break. she was doing well fOR ONCE!!!
then the storm happened bc no one in halloway is ever allowed to be happy
it’s every man for themselves, last names and reputations be damned at first so despite initial panic she’s.. relieved, to say the least.
because her grey morality is no longer such a bad thing!! probably reveled in it for a while, hotwiring cars, picking locks, maybe took a bat to the window of an old foster home. then when she realized how serious the situation was ... she kinda ... started to promise herself that she wouldn't be the villain of this story!!!
and now?? well... like everyone else she’s just trying to survive, just trying to figure her shit out, and still takes no shit bc she is useful in this world and she will be damned if u make her feel like she’s not!!
P E R S O N A L I T Y
she may not be able to read jane austen in her free time at the speed of light, but max is sharp. she’s intuitive and knows how to take care of herself when the going gets rough. she’s quick to think on her feet and 110% a tactile learner as in... throw her into the fire and she’ll learn on the job. it’s why she’s so good with her hands and why she went into mechanical engineering.
she’s got... a lot of anger quietly bubbling under the surface bc she’s been dealt a shitty hand. but with no family, whose there to be mad at?? so she probably drinks more than she should... like father like daughter!!! because alcohol is cheaper than therapy my friends
a lil rambunctious, a lil rough around the edges. bold and a lil too fearless... never backs down from a dare even if she knows it’s a stupid one.
does not give up on herself and hates being underestimated. that said, she does have a tendency to give up on others quickly. she’s been let down a lot, and i mean, if you see a pattern and have no reason to believe someone’s going break it...
VERY loyal to the people she loves. she’d do anything for them, ethically questionable favors included, but these people are few and far between bc yikes! it’s hard to really get to know her
nice until you give her even the slightest reason not to be, and not much for second chances
looks like a cinnamon roll, could probably kill you type shit
chaotic good “i read the rules before i break them” type shit
fundamentally good
there’s a.... soft undertone to her... it’s there. it’s just rare, and it takes the right people to bring it out of her.
likes to take things apart and put them back together to see how they’re made aksdjf
also,........ has a lowkey love affair with music. she picked up guitar about a decade ago and often plays to relax herself. she’s got pretty voice and isn’t bad at the strumming game bUT YA KNOW it’s not something she ever wanted to do anything with. u wanna know what she sounds like??? of course i’ll show you even though you didn’t ask!! here ya go
she does not mind the disappearance because!! she has no one to go back to anyway. it also kinda gave her a clean slate. she’s useful here more than she is notorious. the playing field is more even. and like... the girl IS useful so !!! she’s better off here than back ‘home’, in her opinion
lil bit of selina kyle... lil bit of season 2 nancy wheeler... lil bit of raven reyes
OK THIS TURNED OUT MORE OBNOXIOUS THAN PLANNED
i’m gonna spam the dash now aksdjfh but smash the like and i’ll come to you and we can plot w max (and esme since i suck and haven’t done that either)
