Work Text:
When Maxine left Arcadia Bay, she'd thought of it as a grand adventure, like something out of one of her novels. Her parents had bought her so many books, many of them about romance and marriage and children, but she doesn't picture finding a husband. She pictures pirates, the book about Captain Avery, the wind in her hair. Of course, it's ridiculous, because Arcadia Bay is much closer to the sea than the city they move to.
She doesn't have an adventure. Her paintings improve, and her parents work hard to buy her the best (expensive) supplies. Eventually, her paintings get the attention of the wealthy, and she thinks about how Chloe would pull her out of the room and rage whenever a man wearing a suit worth more than Maxine's home buys her paintings and calls it charity.
She thinks about Chloe a lot, these days. Her long blonde hair that she would always let Maxine braid, the gentle intimacy of being so close, Chloe thanking her with a smile that took Maxine's breath away.
Like she said. She doesn't picture a husband when she talks about adventure.
Maxine continues to paint, and eventually makes enough money for a small apartment of her own. The landlord tuts at her until she namedrops one of her wealthier patrons, and then he's quiet, even helps her carry one of her suitcases upstairs.
Her paintings don't get displayed in galleries, but her rich patrons talk to other, richer men and her paintings continue to get sold. She paints the sea and wishes she had the financial freedom to paint pirate ships. She follows Anne Bonny's life in the penny papers that she can't stop herself from buying, and pictures Mary Read with long blonde hair, braided back and out of her face.
One day, someone sends her a letter offering to buy one of her paintings for enough money to support her for a year (if only oil paints weren't so expensive). She reads through the letter a few more times, noticing that he's asking to commission several more works from her, and she can't help the smile that spreads across her face.
The man--Mark Jefferson--asks for her to bring the painting in person, calls her lovely. She groans a little, but it's not as though she can turn down the money, especially if he plans on paying this much every time. She could buy her own home, start a garden, maybe even travel the seas a little. She responds yes, that she'll meet him the following week. She goes to buy a dress, because when she's alone and home and painting, she wears a simple shirt and trousers, because no one can tell her she can't.
The dress is viscerally uncomfortable, and she tries to ignore the weight of it. When she looks in the mirror to do her hair, she can't bring herself to look at the softness of her face, her long, brown hair, and wishes she could chop it off and ignore it, just go about her life without the burden of having to look presentable.
When she opens her door to go to the meeting, there's a woman outside her door, fist raised as if to knock. Maxine gasps.
"Chloe," she says.
Her old friend, wearing a blue dress that looks torn, dirty, as if she's been riding for days, drops her hand and says, "My God, it's good to see you."
The casual blasphemy is so her that Maxine can't help but laugh, pull her in for a hug. "Chloe! What are you doing here?"
"Long story," Chloe says. "Are you...alright?"
"Yes," Maxine says. "I was just going to meet a patron, Mark Jefferson--"
"Don't," Chloe says, and Maxine almost agrees just from looking at her.
"Why?" she asks instead, which isn't a no.
"I was sent here for a reason," Chloe says. "I had to be. I found your door, this...butterfly--"
"What?"
"It's not important," Chloe says. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course," Maxine says, because trusting Chloe is as much a part of her as breathing.
"Okay," Chloe says, wide, relieved smile on her face just like Maxine remembers. "Um, I didn't--really think this part out--"
They end up skipping the meeting with Jefferson, and Chloe thinks she has enough money to buy them tickets on a ship somewhere else. Chloe suggests Max dress up as her husband so they can avoid suspicion, and Maxine blushes furiously.
Chloe helps her tie her hair up and back underneath a hat she doesn't even remember owning, and Maxine looks at herself in the mirror for a long time, liking the way it looks. She's back in her shirt and trousers, the least-paintstained pair.
"You look positively handsome, Maxine," Chloe says. "Hm, wait, that won't work. What about Max?"
"Max," Maxine says, and finds she likes the feel of saying it. "I quite like that."
"Yeah," Chloe says, meeting her eyes in the mirror, hugging her from behind. "So do I."