[ It's embarrassing. Shameful. Max feels like she's drowning again, or— what was almost drowning, leaving her disoriented and sick, like it's her first winter in Hawkins again and she's stuck in bed with a fever.
(Lucas had wanted to come over, hadn't he, when she didn't come to school, thankfully he'd used her window, and it was how she got a walkie-talkie so they could keep in touch, her real induction into the Party—)
Max blinks away the memory swimming behind her eyes as Basil's little paws pull her up. Her shoulders shake with heavy breathing, autopilot from memories of being sick in bed and not something she actually needs. Leftover water in her lungs has it sound like wheezing. Like there's a little babbling brook inside her. Basil's assumption is very correct, as Max's attempts to push onto her knees only draw out more disgusting sloppy moss and an involuntary little whine. What this means is she's practically leaning on Basil. It's hard to look at him, and when he sits up she slumps against his side. ]
What? [ It's not what she's expecting. But she nods, antler brushing against Basil's arm. ] Y-yeah. I do.
cw: drowning mentions, internalized ableism
(Lucas had wanted to come over, hadn't he, when she didn't come to school, thankfully he'd used her window, and it was how she got a walkie-talkie so they could keep in touch, her real induction into the Party—)
Max blinks away the memory swimming behind her eyes as Basil's little paws pull her up. Her shoulders shake with heavy breathing, autopilot from memories of being sick in bed and not something she actually needs. Leftover water in her lungs has it sound like wheezing. Like there's a little babbling brook inside her. Basil's assumption is very correct, as Max's attempts to push onto her knees only draw out more disgusting sloppy moss and an involuntary little whine. What this means is she's practically leaning on Basil. It's hard to look at him, and when he sits up she slumps against his side. ]
What? [ It's not what she's expecting. But she nods, antler brushing against Basil's arm. ] Y-yeah. I do.