UN: MadMax

[beyourzoomer]

Has anyone seen Charlie? He wasn't at the house when I woke up this morning.

[There's grass on the shelves, but there's no other sign of him.]

Comments

[beyourzoomer]

[She's had a lesson from Hot Dog already, but she's not about to turn down more training from anyone who offers it. And it's not because of the threat from actual monsters.]

Is that an offer?

[justbeingknife]

[ He wasn't going to beat around the bush here. ]

It is. Shit's dangerous, and it ain't practical to plan on always be in a group. It's not just the Sound Eaters, either.

[beyourzoomer]

[She knows that so well. Maybe less here than at home, but still. She doesn't have to think twice.]

I'm in.

[justbeingknife]

Okay. You had any training before? Get into any fights?

[beyourzoomer]

One lesson, here. I've been in a couple fights before, yeah. [The rest can't really be called fights.]

[justbeingknife]

Right. Then lemme ask ya a couple more questions so I know what you wanna learn.

You interested in armed, or barehanded fighting? Personally, I think you could benefit from learning a weapon, but I won't push ya too hard either way.

[beyourzoomer]

[She considers that.]

I'm not opposed to learning weapons.

[She's just never used one before, really.]

[justbeingknife]

[ it's never to early to discover the joys of hitting people with inanimate objects! ]

Okay. Then gimme a couple days to get things set up.
I think ya might do pretty well with a tonfa.

[beyourzoomer]

[That certainly does have its appeal!]

Yeah, sure.

What's a tonfa?

[justbeingknife]

It's a melee weapon from Okinawa. No edges, and ya hold it close to your body. Kinda like an extension of your arm, so it's pretty intuitive to use.

Some police forces use 'em, too. You can hook the handle into a belt loop, so they're easy to carry.

[beyourzoomer]

Oh, like a baton.

[Sounds easy enough to learn. Practical. Quiet.]

Yeah that sounds like a good starting place.

[beeped]

what's a teddy

[beyourzoomer]

teddy the dog

he lives next door to us. he left us gifts on the porch steps a couple days ago.

[beeped]

whoa hold the fuck up
how did i miss the memo on this??????????????????????
oh my god
i have a need max
i need to pet the dog
was i too distracted by centaur???? the world may never know

also carrots are totally okay for him

[beyourzoomer]

well you were sleeping
it was like 3 am

[Because she's almost always awake at 3 am for some reason.]

dogs can eat carrots?

[beeped]

oh. well i guess it's acceptable for me to have missed out then!!!!
why were you awake

yeah. they can't eat all people food but they can eat some of it. they masticated [domesticated] themselves for table scraps

[beyourzoomer]

couldn't sleep so i went outside for air

[She's pretty sure masticated isn't the word he wants, but she also has no idea what word he is going for, so she shrugs it off.]

it's too bad we don't have dog treats

[justbeingknife]

Yeah, like that. Blocking's easy, and you can learn a bunch of holds and other junk, too.

[ There was something else, as well -- with only a few fights to her name, Max probably wasn't used to hitting other people. A bladed weapon would likely be a misstep. Most people naturally shied away from the idea of hurting others at all, let alone drawing blood. ]

[beeped]

oh
that happens to me sometimes too

maybe we can get some peanut butter

un: touched | private

[waystation]

_{[Yeah, about that.]}

So... I should tell you something. I'm psychic. Only a few people know. And I've been trying to reach his mind, but I can't.

_{[This probably qualifies as the most ridiculous piece of non-fiction he's ever written, buuutt no time like a crisis to admit you have psychic powers that allow you to mentally rub up against people, right?]}

[beyourzoomer]

i guess it happens to everyone, right?

[They are totally normal children and not at all traumatized. Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along.]

we can look at least

un: beyourzoomer | private

[beyourzoomer]

[For a moment, Max is so surprised by the message that she doesn't know how to respond. She recovers quickly, though.]

So he's probably been sent back then, right?

[After another pause, she adds:]

Why didn't you say anything before?

[beyourzoomer]

Cool.

[She can't help but smile a little, because the idea of being able to protect not just herself, but her friends, as well, is definitely appealing.

Max doesn't, however, want to hurt people, in general. Hurting someone for the sake of it might be her stepbrother's M.O., but it isn't hers. She'll fight when and if she has to, but deep down she'd rather not have to at all.]

[beeped]

yeah, totally
it's just something that happens for no reason except to be inconvenient

[That's a lie. He knows it's a lie, but that's not the point.]

yeah! it'll be an adventure

[beyourzoomer]

it's definitely that

[She is so, so tired. But...not too tired for an adventure.]

okay i'm game.