Chapter 10 #2
“A man after my own heart,” she said, eyeing off the towel as she brought the coffee over. “I have to respect a guy who respects his accommodations.” Her smile turned devilish. “Well. Mostly. I don’t know if the bed is ever going to recover.”
“I guess we’ll have no choice but to run some tests,” he said mildly, trying like hell not to look like he was two seconds from sweeping everything off the table and ravaging her right then and there.
“For science,” Poppy agreed.
“Anyway,” said Max, pointing at her, “you sit down. This was supposed to be a surprise breakfast in bed – the least you can do is let me finish bringing it to you.”
“Oh, all right, if you insist,” Poppy said, smiling as she sat down.
“I do,” Max said, and brought her over her plate.
***
One of the many things that Max liked about Poppy, he had discovered, was that she didn’t talk just for the sake of talking, or do things just for the sake of doing them.
She was apparently quite content to just hold his hand and wander through the snowy woods with him, occasionally pointing out a bird or plant, or exclaiming at animal tracks in the snow.
The downside to this, however, was that when she did want to talk about something, she grabbed on to the topic like a terrier and wouldn’t let go.
Like now, for example. She had brought up the topic of her unexpected and utterly unfair unemployment situation, which still made his blood boil in fury.
Although he had made it clear to her that he cared for her whether or not she had a job, he could just tell that at least half the reason she had brought the subject up was, in fact, because she wanted an excuse to do some digging around his employment situation.
And he knew that he would have to tell her at some point that he was, in fact, the fabled Aubrey Z.
Sooner, rather than later. But he just wasn’t sure how to go about it, especially given that whole farce where he’d panicked and slandered Aubrey Z.
’s good name. She would laugh herself silly, and rightly so.
Maybe he would just have to slick back his hair, grow a pencil mustache, and put on a cravat, and leave her to connect the dots.
He sighed internally. There was no way around it – no matter how she found out, it was going to take a while for him to live it down.
Still, maybe he could build up to it. There was plenty of other weirdness in his life that she would need to know about, so maybe he could satisfy her curiosity for now by letting her know about something else.
Being a secret food critic would probably seem very mundane and uninteresting if he led with Hey, did you know my mother can turn into a lion?
Not me though, just my mother. But don’t worry, she definitely won’t eat you.
He grimaced a little.
Okay, maybe it wouldn’t be good to bring up that her potential future mother-in-law can turn into a flesh-eating queen of the jungle.
But there were other things too – Poppy might be interested in the fact that he had the ability to make himself become imperceptible when he so chose…
though she would probably have a tough time believing that one, given that his powers didn’t seem to work on her at all.
Really, she would probably think it was all very convenient – couldn’t shift, couldn’t make her forget his presence, and couldn’t even do anything to prove that he was Aubrey Z.
, and yet he’d be expecting her to take all of those things on faith.
In the end, all he could do was try. And he wasn’t sure where he was actually going to start.
“My dad left when I was four,” he said, surprising himself. And Poppy too, if her raised eyebrows were anything to go by – but then her face shifted into an expression of understanding.
He had no idea of what he was going to say next, but already there was a wave of relief sweeping over him, relaxing muscles he’d had no idea were even tense.
He’d never discussed any of this with anyone outside of his family, and the idea of having a relatively neutral party to talk to about it was outside of his experience.
Beyond all of that, though, he knew that Poppy would listen, and not judge.
Encouraged, he continued talking as they meandered through the forest, not thinking too hard about what he wanted to say. “He just walked out one day. Said that he had to leave and couldn’t explain why, but he’d make sure me and my mom were provided for.”
“‘Provided for?’” Poppy asked, looking confused.
“He left us with some money,” Max said, before clarifying. “Quite a bit of money, actually. Enough that we could get by without any trouble.”
Poppy blinked, before seeming to choose her words carefully. “He sounds like a… complex person.”
Max smiled a little, feeling lighter than he had a minute ago, even as the old pain resurfaced. “Yeah, you could say that. The only memories I have of him before he left are good memories. It makes things difficult.”
“I’ll bet.” Poppy looked thoughtful. “I’m sorry you went through that. No kid should have to deal with that sort of thing, especially when there’s no explanation.”
“It was definitely rough,” Max said. “But, spending time with you, and talking it through with you… it feels like I’ve started to move through it, you know?
Not that things are magically fixed,” he said with a laugh.
“But it’s like there’s always been this whole thing hanging over my head, weighing me down, even when I wasn’t thinking directly about it.
Now, though… I feel like I have something to look forward to in life.
Like the past isn’t going to define me anymore. Like I finally belong somewhere.”
At that moment they walked out of the trees and into an open area, and, simultaneously, the sun broke through the clouds, sending brilliant beams of light across the crystalline snow.
It would have been cheesy, Max knew, to see that as some kind of sign or metaphor…
but he wasn’t sure that he cared. Maybe he needed a bit of cheesiness in his life.
It would certainly be better than the moping and brooding he’d dedicated so much of his life to, finding joy only from writing food reviews.
Not that he had any intention of stopping the food reviews, of course – but the thought that he could just be happy without having to go seeking it out was new to him. It was going to take some getting used to.
He still didn’t think he’d ever be a particularly social person, but he was even starting to think that he’d cut back on using his powers in the future.
Having them malfunction had been an eye-opener for him, and he could see now that he’d been using them as a crutch that allowed him to go unnoticed in the world.
Time to grow up, he told himself.
And part of growing up, he supposed, would be telling Poppy the rest of his various secrets. This one had gone better than he could have possibly hoped.
Maybe she would believe him if he mentioned being half-shifter? He didn’t know how on earth he would go about proving it, given that he couldn’t actually shift… but he felt like it was important for her to know before she made any kind of long-term commitment to him.
He pondered over the question as they started to hike up the hill, watching his icy breath drift away on the breeze as he meandered slowly, lost in thought.
My mom can turn into a lion. I can’t. I just thought you might want to know?
It sounded stupid, when he thought about it that way.
But he really did think that it was only fair, if for no other reason than that he thought anyone in a relationship deserved to know if their in-laws could quite literally tear them apart, even though obviously he knew his mom would never do anything of the sort.
“Oh man, I haven’t done this in forever!” Poppy exclaimed suddenly from up ahead, throwing herself down into the soft, white snow. Apparently it was a bit deeper than she’d thought, because she practically disappeared into it with a muffled oof, followed by a burst of delighted laughter.
“Are you okay over there?” he called out, but her laughter just got louder.
He approached, to see her moving her legs back and forth as she made a snow angel. Her simple joy in the act brought a smile to his face.
“You’ve never made one of these before, have you?” she asked as he came nearer. “Are you going to let me roll around on the ground by myself, or are you going to join me?”
Max had to admit that he’d never really understood why someone might make a snow angel – but now, seeing Poppy lying there laughing in the snow, face flushed, he was starting to see the appeal.
“You’ve twisted my arm,” he called out with a grin, clambering over a tree that had fallen across the path as he caught up to her. “I’m going to make the best snow angel you’ve ever seen.”
“Oh, yeah?” she said, her tone challenging. “Well, I’m –”
A sudden crrrrack! had him whipping his head around – and up – to see a wall of snow tumbling down the hillside with an unearthly rumble, faster than he would’ve ever imagined possible.
His stomach dropped.
Avalanche.
He wouldn’t have even thought it could happen on such a small hill, but it was as if a god had scooped up all the snow and ice in the world and hurled it with all its strength, setting the ground trembling.
No matter how fast it is, he thought grimly as he sprang forward, Poppy’s terrified face filling his vision, I will be faster. I must.
He felt that burst of inhuman speed again – the one that he had felt when Poppy had fallen in the kitchen – and he threw himself headlong into the thundering wall of snow, determined to grab her and pull her out.
But the snow had him in its grasp – more powerful than he could ever have believed possible – and the last thing he saw before whiteness overtook him was her outstretched arm, her mouth calling out his name.