Work Text:
“I may be a duchess, but I'm also a WOMAN!”
“We’ll be right back with the finale of The Duchess Approves after these short messages”
“You almost done in there Max!”
Sam yelled, kicking his feet onto the table in front of him and grabbing a bowl of chips, “The finale is about to start and I don't want you to ruin it by asking a ton of questions about the stuff you missed!”
It's been about 3 weeks since the “Night Of No Slumber” or whatever the papers called it, and so far things have gone back to “normal” . Not a big surprise to Sam and Max, with all the weird and wacky things that happen here another glimpse of the apocalypse felt like nothing, at least to the rest of the world it would. Max’s “tragic sacrifice” was hard for their closer friends but it was especially hard for Sam, the emptiness he felt was a pain he felt like no other.
It felt worse than the last few times Max left his side or disappeared or even when he got his brain taken, because Sam always had this gut feeling that he’d come back. That feeling never left even after Max “died”, walking down the street, expecting him to pop out of the corner only to turn it and find nothing. He was almost accepting of the fact he’d feel like this forever, this feeling of false hope, but despite everything he did come back. They then spent the past 3 weeks after fighting and solving crime, spending their time at the office and rarely at home. While everyone was happy that Sam and Max were able to get back into gear after everything that happened, their friends couldn’t help but be concerned that the two hadn’t stopped to take a decent break. This worry even spread to the commissioner, ordering them to stay home and get some rest.
“Hey Sam, come here for a second!” Max called from the kitchen, followed by the sounds of cluttering pans, pots, and a few unintelligible swears. Taking a quick glance at the tv Sam stood up, placing the bowl on the couch and made his way to the other room. Now their apartment wasn’t the cleanest, bits of trash littered the floor as well as a few stray mugs, but as Sam walked into the kitchen he could have sworn it looked like a small tornado rammed through it. *PANG!*
Sam turned his head to see Max pulling his head out of one of their lower cabinets and rubbing the top of it. “You ok Max?” Sam asked, walking over and offering his hand to help him up. Max brushed his hand away and slowly stood up. “Yeah I'm good,” Max said, smiling as he knocked his head, producing a metal clang. “Metal plate remember, it's like a weird built-in helmet for my large fragile skull.” Sam chuckled before taking another glance around the room. All the lower cabinets were wide open, pots, pans, and old oven trays sprawling out on the floor. “Whatcha looking for anyway?” He asked. “Oh, I'm looking for the bowls,” Max replied, pointing to the cabinet he was just in. “I was gonna ask if you had moved them and if you did, why?” Sam tilted his head to the side confused and pointed at an upper cabinet behind him, “Are they not in that cabinet?” Max raised an eyebrow and looked behind Sam, “Why would they be in that one?” Max asked, puzzled, to which an equally puzzled Sam asked, “Why wouldn’t they be?”
At that moment it felt like time itself stopped, the air getting sucked out of them to the point they felt queasy. Max always had problems with his memory, Sam did too, but regardless he’d remember all the times they'd laugh over forgetting small things like this, poking fun at each other. But this felt different for some reason, and Sam didn’t know why. “Look I-”
“ Sit tight, The Duchess Approves season finale will start soon after this last message!” The duo looked over to the living room and then back at each other. “Welp,” Max said, clapping his hands and yanking a bag of popcorn off the counter. “I guess we should head back before we miss anything.” Sam nodded in agreement before grabbing another bowl and handing it to Max. They stood there for a bit again, a loud ad from the tv making the silence a little less deafening. “RACE YOU TO THE COUCH!” Max excitedly shouted before bolting to the living room, only making way before getting snatched by Sam and shoved back into the kitchen.
Suddenly it felt like life had color again, and what had happened only a few moments ago was just a blip. A random record skip on the vinyl they called life, and as the two settled back down on the couch Sam breathed a sigh of relief. “ Things finally feel normal… ” he thought to himself, “ I have him back…. I have my buddy back.”