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Max only slipped once while climbing up the trellis to Buddy's room on the second floor of Mordred Manor. In the dark, no less. And a little high, although that wasn't why his hands were shaking. If he hadn't been as distracted as he was, he'd have been pretty proud of himself. On second thought, he supposed he probably could have used an Ascendant Step to just float up to the window, but something about having to use physical force to pull himself up the trellis made him feel better. A bit more grounded, despite each step taking him further away from the ground. On third thought, he figured he also could've just knocked on the front door. But that would've involved talking to people, and he didn't need Jawbone trying to give him an impromptu therapy session or Fig asking for stories about the craziest battles of the adventure. He just wanted to see Buddy, safe and whole. Fucking hell, he'd hated those spores. He was glad the memory of it didn't feel quite as vivid after the fern.
Blessedly, the window was unlocked. He slid it open, and promptly knocked something off the desk on his way in.
“Max?” Buddy asked, surprised. “Lord, you startled me.”
Max pulled his shoes off without looking at his feet. It was okay. Everything was okay. Buddy was right here, real and safe and whole, sitting in his bed with a book.
“Are you okay, honey?” Gods, he loved the way Buddy's accent curled around the words. In lieu of an answer, he crossed the room and dropped on top of Buddy like a ragdoll.
“Bad quest?”
Max just nodded. He didn't trust himself not to cry if he tried to speak, and over his cold, dead body was he pulling his face away from the crook of Buddy's neck and shoulder enough to be understood. All he wanted to think about was the leaden sensation pulling his body down over Buddy's like a weighted blanket. Buddy's hand settled into his hair, his fingers working through his curls and scratching gently in a way that seemed to physically wrench a shaky sigh from his lungs.
"You didn't drive over here high, did you?" Buddy asked, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb in little circles over Max's scalp. The concern in his voice felt... he didn't know how to feel about it. He'd spent the last week being so afraid for Buddy that hearing Buddy be casually concerned for him over something as trivial as driving across town a little blazed was jarring.
"Mm-mm," he mumbled. He turned his head so that his words wouldn't be completely muffled by Buddy's pajama shirt, but still didn't lift his head. "Gorgug drove me. He was over dropping off some shit for Corey's car. I didn't- I dunno, I just didn't want Corey to see me being weird. He'd... I'd never hear the end of it."
"Alright. I'm glad you're bein' safe." Buddy hummed. He paused for a moment, then said, “Do you wanna… talk about it?”
Max didn't respond right away.
“It got… psychological.”
“How so?”
“Whole mountain had bad vibes. Whole area around it, too. We were already having bad dreams before it got bad for real.”
“Hold on, darlin’, lemme just-” Buddy shifted them further down the bed and pulled the pillows down from where they'd been cushioning the headboard so that they could lay down properly. “Alright. What kinda bad dreams? Were they anything to do with the quest, or just… scary?”
“Fuckin’ scary. Couldn't've been quest-related, ‘cause it was mostly about you.”
“Me?”
“Mm.” Just recalling it enough to recount it to Buddy was… bad. He tightened his grip on Buddy without thinking as the sound of bones snapping echoed through his brain. He felt a little sick. “I've told you how trance dreams work, right?”
“I think so.”
“You don't really see it like you do with a sleep dream. It's more like… auditory hallucinations, and the visuals are up to your imagination.”
“Mhm, I remember that.” The way Buddy's voice hummed through his chest was soothing.
“And you know how a lotta horror movies rely on suspense and mystery so much, ‘cause your own imagination will come up with something way scarier to you than they could ever come up with?”
“I do.”
Max let out a shaky sigh. “My brain sure is fuckin’ good at coming up with stuff that's gonna scare me.”
“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, hon,” Buddy said.
“No, it's… it's fine. I just… like, I've seen you covered in blood before, I know you've got combat scars and shit, I know you can take a hit, but I…” It felt like a monumental effort to keep his wavering voice from breaking. “... I never wanna hear you scream like that again.”
Buddy's arms tightened around him and he felt the pressure of a kiss on the side of his head, near his temple. Max kept going.
“I was already hearing it in the dreams, and then those fucking fear spores just made it worse because then the hallucinations were visual too, and there was so much blood, and you were just fucking breaking in front of me and I couldn't do anything-” his voice broke, and he gave up trying to explain it any further.
“I'm right here, sweetheart,” Buddy hushed into Max's hair. “I'm okay. You're okay. Everything's okay.” He wasn't casting anything specific, but Max could feel the thrum of sun-bright abjuration magic running through Buddy's arms around him. He'd never been more glad that Buddy had taken up abjuration wizardry. It suited him. Plus, he kind of loved the more protective side of Buddy that had come out over the course of the school year. It was sweet. Made him feel… important.
“I love you so much, sunshine,” Max mumbled, burying his face in Buddy's shirt again. He smelled like something clean and woodsy. Cedar, maybe?
“I love you too, Max.”
"You smell nice." Nice was quite possibly an understatement, or at least the adjective itself undersold the extent of its effects. It cut through the fog in his head, dispersing it into something clear and quiet. He could feel his heartbeat calming and the adrenaline starting to slowly drain from his limbs with each breath.
He felt more than heard the half-chuckle Buddy gave. "Well I did just shower, so that'll do it." Buddy's hand nestled itself back into his hair, and Max let his eyes fall shut. He could probably lay here forever, finally letting his brain turn off, letting his tense muscles and aching bones just melt into the heat Buddy radiated beneath him.
"How're you so warm?" he mumbled into Buddy's pajama shirt.
"Probably 'cause I actually produce my own body heat, starlight," Buddy responded teasingly. "You, on the other hand, are about as warm-blooded as a lizard in January."
“True. Lemme under the blankets.”
“As you wish,” Buddy sighed, pretending to be exasperated as he pulled the comforter over the both of them. His bright eyes and not-quite-stifled smile gave him away completely. “Princess Buttercup.”
For the first time since the nightmares hit, Max felt himself smile as he settled in underneath the covers and wrapped himself around Buddy again. “You know I'm your Westley.”
Buddy rolled his eyes fondly. “That's true. You did drive all the way across town in the middle of the night just to see me. Notably while I was presumed dead. Real Westley thing to do.”
“I've done it before, I'm doing it now, and I'll do it again,” Max declared loftily. He lifted his head to kiss the corner of Buddy's mouth, but Buddy turned and caught him in a real kiss before he could even think.
“‘M glad you're home safe,” he mumbled against Max's lips between kisses.
“Me too, but shush,” Max said, pulling him back in.
It was barely a minute before his crystal buzzed in his pocket. He groaned and pulled it out reluctantly.
[12:31 am] oracle oshaughnessey🔮🐸: Was that you that Gorgug dropped off?
[12:33 am] oracle oshaughnessey🔮🐸: Why are you climbing up the garden trellis?? We have a front door, you know
[12:48 am] oracle oshaughnessey🔮🐸: Close the blinds, you heathens
“Can you mage hand the curtains?” Max laughed before tossing his crystal onto the nightstand next to Buddy's. “I think Adaine can see us from her tower. Like Kristen and Fig don't get up to worse shit with their girlfriends.”
Buddy sent a spectral yellow hand to pull the curtains shut. It clicked off the bedside lamp on its way back.
“You are stayin’ the night, right?” Buddy checked.
“No, I'm leaving to walk two miles home all alone at one in the morning,” Max said, closing his eyes.
“Ah, well, have fun,” said Buddy as his hand found its way back into Max's hair.
“‘Night,” Max sighed, already halfway gone.
“Sweet dreams, starlight.”