Chapter Text
As far as Max was concerned, his life started the day that he met Sam.
It was a typical day, all things considered. Not the kind where you woke up and felt as if the rest of your life was about to be irreversibly altered. In fact, up until recess, Max had merely been going through the motions- attending class, bothering the hell out of everyone around him, and overall taking several years off the lifespan of his teacher.
When his class was unleashed onto the playground, Max wandered over to his usual spot by the fence, where he’d been gradually working away at a tunnel. Call it rabbity-instinct, but having a quick way out of this boring place could come in handy someday. Besides, it was something to do.
He’d barely crouched down to crawl into the hole, however, when he heard yells behind him. Ears perking up, he turned to see what the commotion was.
It was Melon Hargraves, with that ugly grin on his face as he held something that looked like a sort of toy up in the air. The victim in question was a pudgy dog-thing. It took a few seconds of thought before Max recognized him as a kid who’d transferred to this school very recently.
The dog was growling, but it didn’t sound nearly threatening enough. Melon was only laughing hysterically now.
In this type of scenario, Max always looked the other way. If someone couldn’t defend themselves properly, that was their problem. Besides, one of the teachers would hear and come over to break it up, surely.
A minute passed, and nobody intervened. Oh, right, they didn’t really watch this end of the playground. Max leaned over to look past Melon and the other kid, trying to see if he could make eye contact with one of the teachers. Nothing. Shit, he should’ve known they were too apathetic to properly watch anyone.
The dog’s growls had faded into pathetic sounding whines. Max turned away. He’d give up in a minute. It was a learning experience. He’d be fine.
But something inside the lagomorph was urging him to help. He found himself looking back, where the kid was starting to look dangerously close to tears.
Max felt his hands curling into fists, and his wicked-sharp teeth bared.
Okay, fine. Maybe, just this once, he could play the hero.
“DEATH FROM ABOOOOOOOOOVE!” he shrieked, running forward and then throwing himself onto Hargraves.
It wasn’t enough to knock the larger kid over, but it certainly took him off guard. Max watched the toy go flying, and then the dog leaped up and caught it.
Max grinned. “Nice catch!”
The dog’s eyes widened. For a moment, Max wondered why, before he was suddenly tossed unceremoniously onto the ground.
“You’re dead meat, bunny,” Melon spat, looming over him.
Max growled, starting to get up, only to be swiftly pushed back down. Well, that was annoying. Playing the hero sucked. Why had he wanted to do this, again?
Melon made a fist and prepared to deliver a punch- only to suddenly jerk back with a yelp of pain. He quickly whirled around, giving Max a front-row view of the dog with his teeth embedded into the bully’s leg.
“Let GO, you idiot!” Melon yelled, trying to kick the other off. The dog obliged, backing off to stand next to Max.
Melon looked back and forth between them for a moment. “Whatever. You two aren’t worth my time,” he spat, then turned and limped away.
A second later, a hand was shoved in front of Max’s face. “Lemme help. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Max hesitated, then took the other’s hand, allowing himself to be helped up. “Nahhhh, I’m fine.” A grin crossed his face. “You were pretty good there! Why didn’t ya just do that in the first place?”
The dog shifted on his feet. “Well… I was afraid to,” he admitted. “I thought he’d hurt me back worse. But you leaped right on him, and then he wasn’t all that scary anymore.”
“Gee, I never thought I’d inspire anyone else. Usually I just make people run away screaming.”
“But you’re the good guy!” The other’s eyes were shining like stars.
“...ya really think so?” Max felt as if he’d swallowed a firework, and somehow it had just managed to light itself in his stomach.
“Yeah! You sure saved me!” He reached out his hand again. “My name’s Sam.”
Max accepted the handshake, his toothy grin growing even wider. “I’m Max.”
“Max.” Sam smiled. “Wanna play something?”
“Hell yeah I do!”
“Heyyy, you can’t say hell. My granny says that’s an adult word.”
“Well, my dad says-”
The two of them kept talking, but the words began drowning themselves out in Max’s mind. He kept thinking of the way Sam had looked at him, as if he was a gift dropped straight from the heavens themselves. No-one had ever seen him that way.
As they played, all he could think was that he wanted to keep that look focused on him for the rest of his life.
---
“...I think he’s unconscious now, little pal.”
Max didn’t move his gaze from the guy he was standing on top of. “How can you be sure, Sam? What if he’s pretending to be knocked out, and then when we turn our backs he’s gonna get up and start wrecking havoc again?”
“It’s wreaking havoc, Max. And he hasn’t moved in a minute. I think it’s safe to say he’s taken care of.”
Max finally hopped off the guy, rolling his eyes. “He was so boring , Sam! He didn’t even try to fight back!”
“He probably knew he was no match for your shark teeth and lack of soul,” Sam replied. Despite the grisly scene before him, his lips were drawn in a dog’s version of a smile. Max couldn’t help but return it.
Over the years, Sam had lost the idea of Max being a sort of hero. It was inevitable, really, considering Max only grew more and more violent. But despite that, Sam never liked him any less, and when Max beat someone to a pulp, his partner oftentimes still gave him that look that set off the spark all those years ago.
Right, partners. Technically, one could argue that they had been since that fateful day, but they officially became such several years back, when the two of them had bought an office, moved in together, and declared themselves as freelance police, protectors of the neighborhood and beyond.
It had been Sam’s grand idea. Max was simply down for any plan that involved working with his best friend and being needlessly violent.
Over the years, their horizons had broadened. They’d gotten in touch with a man they knew as the Commissioner, who managed to give them consistent work. They’d been to every state at least once, and unless Max was mixing up his dreams with reality again, they’d even gone to the moon. With everything they could have hoped for and more, Sam and Max had truly landed the perfect life.
And yet, Max’s brain had found a way to mess it up.
“Well, he’s probably learned his lesson. We’d better get going, little buddy. Wouldn’t want to miss our show.”
“Can we take him with us, Sam? I wanna tie him up and force-feed him cilantro!”
“You crack me up, little buddy.” It was a familiar phrase, and yet Max felt the tips of his ears heating up.
There lied his problem. Their dynamic hadn’t changed a bit, and yet nowadays, whenever Sam complimented him, or used any of his pet-names, or even just looked in Max’s general direction, the lagomorph’s body temperature suddenly spiked like a wildfire, and he felt all woozy.
He wanted to tell Sam, but the mere thought brought on a tidal wave of unbearable embarrassment. Telling him would practically be handing over blackmail material.
“You coming, Max?” Sam’s words broke Max out of his thoughts, and he realized the other had started walking towards the DeSoto, but was now looking back quizzically.
“Right behind ya, Sam! Just, uh… had a thought.”
“Oh, that’s a new one.” Sam slipped into the driver’s side. “Whatcha thinking about?”
No way in hell was Max telling the truth. “Oh, just about how I would kill for a corndog right about now.”
“I guess I better stop and get us some, then, before you wrap your scrawny little hands around my neck and send our car flying off the highway.”
“You’ve got five minutes before the hunger takes over.”
As DeSoto kicked into second gear, Max couldn’t help but look at Sam. They had the top down today, and the wind was ruffling his fur.
Suddenly realizing he was staring, he ripped his gaze away and watched the city go by instead, suppressing a sigh.
What was wrong with him? He was acting like one of the idiots in those movies Sam liked to watch. The ones with all the drama and the mushy romance and-
Oh.
Oh, god.
Feeling his entire face and ears heat up, Max barely resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands and scream.
It couldn’t be that, surely. He was Max, for god’s sake! He didn’t mess with any emotions, and he sure as hell didn’t do things like fall in love.
But everything seemed to match up with what he’d heard about the whole experience. Damn it. Why couldn’t he have caught a deadly illness instead?
Well, one thing was for certain- he couldn’t tell Sam. Ever. His partner ( work partner) had never shown an interest in him. If there was something there, he would have made it known by now.
If Sam found out, he’d be weirded out at best. Probably upset. He might even leave.
Max wouldn’t let that happen. He’d figure out a way to get rid of this feeling, and then everything would go back to normal soon enough.
How hard could it be? Love couldn’t last that long, surely.