The frown, Maxim reminded himself. He was probably still frowning, he always was. Not exactly the best way to act natural around others. With some effort, he managed to make his facial muscles relax somewhat and his expression morphed into one that was decisively less awkward. So far, so good. He no...

He was standing directly in front of the party's host, the person who most of the attention was focused on. Maxim smelled the fetor of alcohol impregnating the air, he felt a dozen pairs of eyes penetrating his back like tiny daggers, heard the never-ending chatter around him, people giggling and la...

"Hey man, hurry your ass up! We're like, what, half an hour late already?" Maxim only sighed in response. Sure, usually, he'd have been the first one to insist that the two of them had to arrive on time, be it to their classes or one of Alex' baseball games or whatever other occasion. This...

Man, the hell had he been thinkin' trying to eat that stuff? Couldn't even eat a pepperoni without turning into Bowser, spitting flames and shit - dumb freakin' move, hunger prolly got to him. Aiden heard Junko shouting something, but he didn't really hear what it was, all of his brain was just focu...

Aiden chuckled when her felt her squirm and trying to wrestle out of his bear hug, but no chance. Being all tiny didn't mean he had nothing in his arms, no Sir. Could keep this madam on lockdown all day if he wanted, no escaping unless he released her from his grip. Which he did, right then. Any lon...

((Aiden Slattery continued from It's Raining, It's Pouring )) Easy, easy, easy, few more steps or so. Junko was right there, having a stare off with the horizon or whatever, just totally clueless. Hadn't snuck up on anybody in a while now, his baby bro had prolly been the last one. Man, it was the b...

And off he went. Without even giving him any sort of response at that. On the one hand, this at least meant Maxim had spoken the final words of their conversation; didn't have to fear some witty or hurtful retort from Ben. Part of him simply wanted to see the other boy's silence as resignation. Of c...

Maxim stopped whatever movements his hands were making and instead brought them together, creating a single short clapping sound. Ben had already made his choice, was ready to leave, wouldn't even let him finish what he had to say. Not only stubborn, but goddamn insolent at that. It was enough to ma...

Maxim felt like something was beginning to gnaw at the back of his mind. Unpleasant and annoying, he was all too familiar with it. And he knew very well what was causing it too. Ben was starting to, for a lack of better words, piss him off. He had been willing to give this guy a chance, to look past...

Well, he had accepted this. Resistance, doubts, all that. He had not provided Ben with enough arguments of his own, that much was obvious. Besides, the guy was most certainly still held back by his own inability to look past his prejudice, in some way or another. That was a bit disappointing to say ...

Maxim's facial features didn't move much as he listened to Ben's take on their situation. He still felt the ever existing urge to chew on his own lips, but he held back this time. Even when he could have cared less what the one standing in front of him thought about his peculiarities. He found himse...

It had almost slipped from his memory, the fact how much taller he was than Ben. Of course, his only memory of him had been one that was several years old, one which he had tried to repress and wipe from his mind the best he could at that. But now, now that they were both here and Ben was apparently...

Alright, maybe he had been wrong in his initial judgment, maybe his paranoia had been less than justified. Even so, hat boy standing in front of him, with that bag casually tossed over his shoulder, it was still Ben. Didn't look like much on the surface, but Maxim knew better, he knew about the bigo...

As soon as Ben started talking, Maxim slightly lifted his head, looked up at him, only to get a load of sarcasm into his face. Less than flattering image. It was Ben, not like there had been any doubt about it, but now he could at least see him with his own eyes. Bent over, hand still extended. He c...

Maxim had closed his eyes immediately upon impact. A reflex. His head felt like it was plagued by a mix of spinning and stinging ache. Being unable to see anything only made it worse, somehow. Like he didn't even have other sensations to concentrate on, only the pain; sharp goddamn pain, fuck. What ...