Far Away From Home [Maximus]

[deuce]

Deuce had always believed herself to be rather independent. Growing up without parents and attending a military school to boot, she’d honestly believed herself capable of handling herself even in tragedies such as this where she found herself all alone in a strange place. How wrong she’d been. Even if she didn’t have any parents (aside from Arecia, who was the closest thing to a parent she’d known for the past how many years) she still had her classmates, who all took care of her in their own way. Ever since meeting them at the orphanage, she hadn’t truly been alone, and now that she was… she truly appreciated every last one of them just the slightest bit more.
Taking a few deep breaths as she wiped the sand and dust off her scraped knees and hands, the tiny brunette stepped up towards the exit of the cavern she’d found herself in some what, two… three hours ago now? Cautiously she peeked out to see if any of the monsters from before were wandering around here as well. She’d never considered herself a paranoid person, but after all the things that had happened today, from her waking up in that cavern to getting lost several times and being attacked and hunted by these mechanic monsters who really seemed to have it in for her, she was entitled to feel a little paranoid about this place. Where even was this? None of it seemed familiar to her, and her geographical knowledge of Oriens was pretty decent if she did say so herself, she obviously didn’t know as much as Queen, but then, who really did? Thinking of the older girl brought a tiny smile on her face, but it quickly faded again when she reminded herself of the fact that Queen wasn’t here with her. None of them were. She’d tried to call them, but she didn’t have a signal here… wherever here was.

After checking the area not once, but twice, the flautist finally decided the place was safe enough to enter and slowly stepped fully out of the cave and into the clearing. She still didn’t know where she was, and she still felt awful and worried about not just herself but her loved ones as well, but at least this was a nice change from the pointy brown rocks she’d been forced to deal with the past few hours. The place looked a lot prettier, but the best thing was that she didn’t see any monsters around. Another plus point; she could actually see her enemy coming here, as opposed to accidentally running into them when rounding a corner. Yes, this seemed as good a place as any for a quick rest.

With a deep sigh, she all but dropped herself down onto her knees in the soft grass by one of the springs. Her shoulders slumped, and her flute momentarily disappeared from her hands as she truly relaxed for the first time since coming here. Again she reached for her phone and just hit the first name on her list, which happened to be Nine’s. “Come on… pick up…” she whispered quietly to herself, biting her lip in anticipation as she waited for some sort of sound to indicate that her phone was at least working now. When no such sound came, the brunette slumped down even farther and just dropped her phone down next to her. This was awful, what was she gonna do now? How was she going to ever get home by herself? Sure, she could fight… but she wasn’t like Nine and Sice… her expertise didn’t lie in direct confrontation, instead, she stayed at the back of the fight and made sure the front fighters had the strength to keep going while occasionally throwing some minor attacks at the enemy herself. That she’d survived this long in a world full of dangerous creatures was already a small miracle, though she was pretty sure she would’ve been dead by now, had she not ran half the time. It felt like the coward’s way out, but what else could she possibly do?

A soft noise coming from somewhere behind her immediately got her back to her feet, and her flute once again appeared in her hands as she prepared to fight once again. “Who’s there?” she called in a tone that sounded much too scared even in her own head, “Stay back, I-I’m armed!” with a flute. Yes, she could truly wreak havoc with a flute. Who was she trying to fool here?

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Words: 758
Tagged: Maximus!
Location: Oriens
Outfit: Clicky!
Notes: I'm not too happy with this post, but I just wanted to get it up in case I forgot. >.> If you need anything changed to make his entrance easier for you, just let me know!

[Maximus Tyros]

After parting ways with Angeal, Max decided to go exploring a little more. They hadn't had a clue to where they were, and he was determined to find out more about where he was. And how to get home. The teenager had only run into the occassional monster, and had managed to keep himself alive this long. He knew he could keep going at this rate. He had to. Pushing aside some of the foliage, he continued on his way through the springs. It really was beautiful here, and he found himself stopping occassionally to simply admire his surroundings. He couldn't ever remember hearing about anything like this.

Max was startled to hear a voice come from somewhere in front of him, and automatically ducked down at the threat. Shaking slightly in fear, he furrowed his brow as he realized it was a girl speaking. Maybe she can help. Breathing quickly, he pulled a large flower aside to peek out into the clearing he was coming up on. It IS a girl! It didn't help his nerves at all, but the fact that she looked as scared as he felt helped a bit. He couldn't tell what she held in her hand though. It was awfully small, too small to be a rod or a stave of some sort. It wasn't a blade. It was intriguing though.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to announce himself. "U-umm, please...I'm not..." Oh dear, this isn't going well. Closing his eyes, he shook his head in irritation. "I'm c-coming out!" he called out, though the slight stutter gave his fear away. I've already given myself away, may as well follow through. Standing on shaky legs, he pushed his way into the clearing. "Just...don't attack." he whispered.

He hadn't even thought to draw his bow. He couldn't attack a girl, anyway. Max kept a wary eye on the weapon. He was a little surprised to find that it wasn't a weapon at all, but an instrument. THAT is how she's armed? The problem was now that he was out in the open, in front of the pretty girl, he had nothing to say. His cheeks turned bright red and he dropped his eyes as he shuffled his feet. He didn't really need to keep an eye on the 'weapon'. Unless she threw it at him, but they were so close that he wouldn't have time to dodge anyway.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he shyly lifted his eyes back to the girl in front of him. His face was still beet red, and he opened his mouth to introduce himself. "..." But nothing came out. The flush deepened and he clenched his jaw, wishing to be anybody in the world but him at that very moment. Letting out a sigh, he looked away in embarrassment. She can't help me if she doesn't know what my problem is. Too bad his main problem was communication.

[deuce]

It figured she would get attacked during her one moment of respite, after all, luck hadn’t exactly been on her side today. Not at all. Why would her luck suddenly change? Deuce furrowed her brows and clenched her jaw as she pumped herself up for battle. She didn’t like it, and perhaps she wasn’t as powerful as some of her friends, but she could fight if it was really necessary, and she had been trained as long as she could remember to keep her calm even in the face of trouble. Of course, Cinque had undergone the same classes and training she had, and the redhead was still easily intimidated, so maybe it hadn’t been as effective as Arecia and the others would have hoped. Never mind that though, she had to focus on what was to come. The voice she heard didn’t exactly sound all that intimidating, the person it belonged to actually sounded kind of scared even, and when he stepped out into the clearing, the tiny brunette instantly relaxed some. This was her attacker… or the person she thought to be her attacker anyway? He didn’t seem like the type to go around harming people, but if anyone knew looks could be deceiving, it was Deuce herself, who was frequently underestimated as well.

Though her stance relaxed noticeably, she opted to keep her weapon in hand just in case. You could never be too careful after all. The longer she stood there though, the sillier she felt for holding onto her weapon. It was obvious this guy wasn’t going to try anything, otherwise he would’ve certainly tried by now. Her own eyes glanced down to the floor for a moment when she caught a glimpse of his lips moving, but no sound escaped his throat. Uh…

Awkwardly, Deuce looked back down to her feet as well, mimicking the guy’s actions. Well then… this was certainly interesting. What… should she do now? She wasn’t all that great at introductions, especially in situations like these. It didn’t seem like he was going to speak up though, and they couldn’t exactly stand here and stare at the ground all day long… right? Right… she did like her peace and quiet though. “Um…” she started quietly, holding her flute with both hands and gently squeezing it to ease her nerves some. She’d just indirectly threatened this person… what did you say or do after you’d done that, even if you were perfectly justified in doing so? She should apologize… right? That seemed like the polite thing to do anyway. “Sorry… I thought you were one of those monsters. They... chased me for a while, so I’m a bit on edge… which you probably noticed already,” she giggled awkwardly and bit her lip as she gazed off in a random direction. She should’ve opted for silence, oh well… no way back now. “My name’s Deuce, can I have yours as well…?”

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Words: 489
Tagged: Maximus!
Location: Pulse
Outfit: Clicky!
Notes: lmao, the awkward! XD

[Maximus Tyros]

Max jumped when the girl spoke, even though it was only a sound. Taking a shaky breath, he looked up to find her flute clasped in both of her hands. He blinked at the apology, and when she giggled his lips twitched briefly. At least she's as nervous as I am. It was more than a little refreshing to find someone who wasn't full of confidence. But he still had nothing to say. Thankfully, the girl had a solution to that problem as she introduced herself as 'Deuce'. What a strange name! Licking his lips nervously, he reluctantly raised his eyes back to hers. "Max." But it was little more than a whisper.

As his face turned bright red (or at least a brighter red), he cleared his throat. "M-my name is M-Max." At least it was audible this time. He gave her another tentative smile before fully looking away, unable to keep his eye contact with her. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he clasped them tightly around his chest and twisted awkwardly to look around. He hadn't been to this clearing yet, but it looked about the same as all of the others. He was completely and utterly lost. And it sounded like Deuce was in the same situation as he was. Or at least a similar one.

""Uh...do you...um..." Oh come on, Max. Just spit it out! Changing his position, he shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Whatareyoudoinghere?" he spit out in a rush of air. Shockingly, his face flared up again and he turned his back to Deuce with embarrassment. Why can't I talk to anybody? Letting out a huff of frustration, he half turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry." he said quietly. Shoulders hunched inwards, he sighed again before turning to the side to look further down the clearing.

Max glanced over at Deuce out of the corner of his eye. She seemed just as confused as he was. He wanted to help her, but how could he help her if he couldn't even talk to her? His hands clenched into fists in his pockets, and he snuck another glance at the girl. He always had more of a problem with girls. He could normally at least get a handful of words out with other guys, but girls were different. He never talked to girls. Even when he was supposed to be, he just couldn't get it out. Now he was stuck in an unknown place with a pretty girl who was also unknown. Could my life get any more complicated?

[deuce]

This wasn’t a great situation to be in. What she lacked in confidence, this guy seemed to be twice as worse, which in turn made her more nervous and insecure and that probably made him feel worse and… having two awkward people try to make conversation in the middle of nowhere just wasn’t all that fun. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers, and at least he wasn’t some kind of monster out for blood. Looking on the bright side, things could’ve been so, so much worse. “Nice to meet you Max,” she replied quietly, offering him a sweet smile, hoping it would help ease his nerves a little. It didn’t seem her usual tactic was doing the trick here though, because it seemed like he only got more nervous as time went by. He was awkwardly looking around and away from her, which made Deuce purse her lips a little as she once again followed his lead and looked in the opposite direction. Who needed conversation anyway, maybe once either of them found some sort of path out of here, they could talk about that… maybe. Her eyes widened and her gaze snapped back to this “Max” guy when he suddenly spluttered out an entire sentence in a single breath. “Uh…” she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and looking back down for the umpteenth time today, “I-I don’t really know where ‘here’ is to be honest…” she admitted with a sheepish smile, which was mostly directed at her own shoes for her gaze hadn’t shifted back to him yet. At his apology she looked back up and shrugged her shoulders, “It’s okay… I’m pretty scared too. I don’t think anyone could blame us for… you know… being kind of weird right now?” as soon as the words had passed through her lips, she wanted to facepalm. Yes, calling someone weird was definitely going to make them feel better. Good call Deuce, good call.

“I-I don’t mean you… I mean, I-I’m personally feeling really weird. Or feeling like I’m acting really weird, you know?” another awkward giggle followed the rush of words, but before she knew it her laughter died out and she was just frowning. She didn’t want to be here, she wanted to go home. She wanted to see her friends again, because around them, she never felt this strange and awkward about herself. They made her feel comfortable enough to speak her mind and truly be herself without worrying about their opinion of her changing for the worse. Thinking about her loved ones, combined with a situation she didn’t know how to handle, the tiny flautist felt her eyes water up some out of fear and frustration. Why couldn’t Queen or Seven be with her right now? They’d know what to do. They could probably calm this guy down too, meanwhile, she was just making things worse not just for him but for herself as well. Turning away, the brunette slowly wandered over to the patch of grass she’d sat down earlier and reclaimed her spot there, pulling her legs up to her chest as she looked out into the springs. She just wanted to go home… was that really too much to ask?

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Words: 535
Tagged: Maximus!
Location: Pulse
Outfit: Clicky!
Notes: I'm so sorry this is so late. D8 You can yell at me if you want. ;P As for the post, Deuce isn't loudly sobbing or anything, so he might not have even noticed it yet. Entirely up to you!