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Max was a talkative guy with a mouth that barely stopped in most situations. He'd snap and tease like it was his love language, then snark like that was the only way he was ever taught to talk to people.
Most of the time, the rest of the party could just take it on the chin and block out the noise, knowing Max would be too in his own head to realise their half-hearted responses. But in the middle of a stealth mission, it was anything but ideal.
They were waiting behind a line of trees, watching a group of violent-looking goblins trade and grunt at each other, enjoying the spoils of their most recent ambush. Ruby was already edging closer to the camp to sneak around the various boxes and bags and pickpocket what she could, her party members watching from afar.
But Max couldn't help his mouth from blurting out a few insults and judgements towards the group of goblins. Usually, it would be a source of entertainment, as his fancier accent would twist his pronunciations and sound almost royal-like for the ironically poor circus clown. But for the nature of their mission, it was only serving as an annoyance.
Broghini had already shuffled a fair few feet away to make himself unseen in case Max's voice attracted any attention. He winced at the volume and shook his head to himself, making brief eye contact with Mr Wizard.
The tall human was crouched beside Max, looking uncommonly bothered by Max's words - usually he wouldn't have paid any mind to his words, but now they were just inconvenient.
Ruby had already sent a few death glares towards the half-and-half in an attempt to make him shut up for just a single minute, but her efforts were fruitless.
Just as Max had scoffed loud enough to make himself known to one of the goblins, its ear flicking minutely, Mr Wizard had decided that that was enough.
In a quick reaction of just wanting the man to shut up, Mr Wizard grabbed ahold of Max's ribboned arms and dragged him into a firm kiss.
The noise ceased, and Broghini snickered silently from where he could see what Mr Wizard had just done. Ruby took her chance to nick a few items from the goblins, including a couple of swords and a club that would leave half of the goblins unarmed.
Max had gone still as well as silent, shocked into a dazed state as his mind tried to navigate what was going on. When Mr Wizard released him, he was happy to hear not even a peep from the other man, truly knowing that his attempt had been successful.
Max continued to stay silent as Ruby made her way back to the group, motioning for them to begin their own ambush.
Clubs, swords, axes and spells flew across the clearing for many minutes until all of the goblins had fallen into a lifeless lump, their party celebrating their quick victory.
Broghini stepped up to Ruby to thump her on the back as congratulations, complimenting her skills in battle, not that he hadn't seen them before.
Mr Wizard stood back, smiling normally in the dazed way he usually did, and looked towards Max, standing a few feet away, still holding his mace tightly in his hands.
Throughout the whole fight, Max hadn't spoken a word and had instead just attacked alongside the rest of the party, keeping to himself and purposefully avoiding any eye contact with Mr Wizard.
The silence was odd, and Mr Wizard worried that he had made the man uncomfortable. He winced slightly; that wasn't his intention, but he had seen it be done in stealth missions before and work out, so he just assumed that it would've been a good idea.
Ruby and Broghini noticed the man's distance as well, raising an eyebrow as they approached the human. "What's up with him?"
Broghini made a sound of understanding. "He didn't like your attempt at shutting him up, did he?" Ruby looked at him confused before looking back up at Mr Wizard.
"What did you even do? I was wondering why he'd gotten cut off mid sentence - not that I'm not grateful; he was about to give us away." Mr Wizard opened his mouth to respond, but Max's voice levelled out on the field, throwing his mace back over his shoulder and walking onwards.
"Come on, we need to move forward before dark falls. We don't want to get ambushed." His face never turned towards the other three, and Mr Wizard frowned, guilt settling oddly in his gut where a smidge of pride had been previously sitting. Initially, he thought his method of quietening the man had been a smart move and even had some selfish sides to it as well, but now he wasn't so sure.
Without another word, the party moved forward, Mr Wizard staying a safe distance from Max the whole time. Ruby and Broghini conversed the whole time, glancing between the two others every now and then. At some point, Broghini had told Ruby what Mr Wizard had done, and she'd almost yelled out in surprise before cutting herself off.
She had been watching Max more since then. She saw how the man's fists would clench every now and then, running hands through his long blonde hair and adjusting his clothes like they felt uncomfortable on his very skin. He didn't say a word throughout the whole trip to their next camping spot, and she suddenly felt worried for the pompous man.
She watched as Max wandered vaguely into the forest to gather firewood and contemplated.
To be honest, she'd suspected something weird between him and the wizard. The acrobat often teased the other, smirking at the names he would throw around. He'd get a certain gleam in his eye whenever Mr Wizard would laugh and shrug off the names, like it was a game.
By now, Ruby had quickly found the teasing to be the natural way of Max's language. He would never compliment them outwardly, but his teases would grate less and be more friendly than scathing. It was like he never truly spoke the truth he wanted to, and she even thought it might've been a curse of some kind - she knew better though.
With the wizard, Max would always aim his more playful teasings at him, nudging his arm and slinging his nimble body around him, even cartwheeling in an attempt to gain Mr Wizard's praising attention.
It was a selfish, narcissistic method, wanting to get compliments from him, but the way that Max would go about it felt more like a juvenile crush sometimes. Like a schoolboy tugging at a girl's braids to make her like him, even if it was a misguided attempt. Max worked similarly.
Ruby was in the middle of laying her bedroll onto the floor when she looked up at Mr Wizard, who was polishing his wooden wand and scrolling vaguely through his ragged book of spells to rekindle his energy. He looked unbothered, at least outwardly, but when Ruby looked closer, she saw the lack of energy in his ministrations. He looked guilty.
She winced, unused to being around such complicated feelings. She was someone who travelled and pickpocketed without guilt. This sort of thing was out of her depth, but any longer with this awkward energy was going to drive her mad.
She locked eyes with Broghini, who was similarly polishing his worn battle axe, glancing at Mr Wizard between swipes. He looked equally as awkward, but he sent a reassuring smile at her, though it just made her sigh.
She turned to the human, leaning on one hand casually as she knelt. "You should go talk to him. He'll be sulking for months otherwise." She said shortly, watching as he faltered before nodding. He looked so unsure, so bothered in a way that she had never seen him. He was usually so whimsical and untouchable, but now he looked as if he had chains around his joints, slowing him down and keeping him from swaying with the wind in that odd way he did.
"Wouldn't I make it worse?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically feeble. He reached a hand up to stroke at his fake beard. Broghini put his axe down, leaning forward on his stubby legs.
"Not necessarily. Maybe all he needs is to face what happened head-on. He's not going to talk first, not without a harsh prod. At least try." He comforted weakly, not knowing their half-and-half companion that well. In all honesty, Broghini had no idea how the man would react, but this awkward energy couldn't remain, not if they wanted to come out of this forest alive and sane.
Mr Wizard took a moment before steeling himself to rise. He set off in the direction he knew Max was, and Ruby and Broghini watched him leave with a sigh, going back to their duties while they waited for the two to return.
Further into the forest, not particularly far from the group, but far enough that he couldn't be seen through the twisting trees, Max meandered along, collecting piles of wood to bring back.
Usually, he would've tried convincing Mr Wizard to handle the heavy work seeing as he had that convenient levitating spell of his. However, after the stunt he had pulled earlier, every time that Max would even think of the man, his gut would twist into something sour and painful.
Max knew he was a bit much sometimes, because honestly, how could he not be aware? Especially with how often Ruby mentioned it. But he didn't think that having his feelings tossed around and played with was quite the fitting punishment.
Sure, he liked that tall wizard a bit more than he had ever expected to, and maybe he was a bit obvious with his attempts at catching Mr Wizard's attention. But the human never seemed to react outwardly, so it was safe to assume that Max's unfortunate admiration for the man was unrequited. He was fine with that. He was.
Putting all of it together, there was no way that the wizard didn't know of Max's feelings; he wasn't trying to hide it, after all, not properly. So why would the wizard decide the best course of action was to string Max along like a stray piece of thread, dragging him across the dirt and making him feel as though he was part of the ground that creatures stomped and walked all over.
It all culminated into something painful in his heart, and before long, his vision had grown blurry and shaky, because of course this was the one thing that would upset him to this degree. He furiously wiped away the wetness rolling down his cheeks and continued gathering.
But the problem with Max was that his mind never stopped working, always as in motion as his mouth and legs, desperate for movement and momentum. So whenever he tried to stop thinking about the betrayal he felt in regard to Mr Wizard, it only caused him to ponder on it more.
He hadn't even been able to look the man in the eyes once, completely avoiding his gaze in a weak attempt to hide the tears that he knew were gathering in his eyes.
He cursed underneath his breath as he tried to catch his breath, picking up another stick, damp from the earlier rain but still good enough to use once dried out.
But before he could even place the stick into his growing pile, footsteps sounded out from behind him, and of course, Max, being so besotted with one particular man, knew the steps the moment they hit his eardrums.
He scowled and blinked away the last of his tears, knowing the one thing worse than being betrayed by someone he once regarded as a friend was being seen crying by that same someone.
"Max?" The weary voice of the wizard rang out softly, close enough to know that he had stopped just at the tree a few feet away from him. Max didn't flinch, but he did grimace, hating how he felt relieved and comforted by the voice.
He steeled himself with a breath and desperately hoped that his voice didn't give away the evidence of his tears from the past few minutes. "What do you want?" Busted. His voice was nasally and stuffed like he was ill, and he knew that Mr Wizard wasn't so dense as to not understand the implications.
The human didn't respond for a few moments, and Max took the time to bend down and retrieve another stick, not even acknowledging if the stick was good enough for a fire or not. He needed to do something with his hands that didn't include slapping the wizard across the face or pulling him into another dauntingly useless kiss.
"I wanted to talk to you." Mr Wizard stated cautiously, sounding so unlike himself that it almost caught Max off guard.
"We're talking. What do you want?" Max replied shortly, back still turned. He knew his eyes were puffy and red from the sobs he'd allowed himself to relieve his body of as soon as he'd gone out of hearing range of the camp. With all his strength, he was going to resist turning and facing the man as best as possible.
"I want to apologise." But with the tone of his voice, so soft and careful, Max instantly wanted to turn and face the man, to see the bright shine in his eyes and feel the warmth of that mischievous grin.
Max blinked again, thoroughly dispelling any tears still lingering in his soppy-looking eyes. "For what? It got me to shut up, which was what I assumed that was. I don't know what else you'd be apologising for." Max knew not to pretend he didn't know what Mr Wizard wanted to talk about, but he sure as hell wasn't about to talk about it further.
"For upsetting you." Max tensed, angry at himself for being so obvious.
"You didn't upset me." He denied, feeling the lies stick their sharp claws into his spine and drag down slow enough to make him tear up again.
Mr Wizard went silent again for a few short, agonising moments. "...I think I did. If you want to deny it, then okay, but I don't want you to be hurt because of something I did!" He said, sounding almost desperate, like he actually cared about how Max felt.
What a laughable thought.
"Like I said, it's fine. The plan worked. I'll shut up in the future so you don't have to pull that stunt again." He continued, not even close to giving in to the tears steadily building up in his eyes again. Why were this man's apologies affecting him so?
Mr Wizard let out a pained noise, at a loss for what to do. "But... I- could you just look at me?" Max stopped in his tracks, letting his fingers tap mindlessly against the sticks.
"Why should I?" he asked, apathetic. Mr Wizard took an audible step closer, his robe dragging along the forest floor without complaint. Max stayed where he was, back turned and unwilling to twist.
"Because I want to see that you're not upset, like you keep insisting you aren't." Max's face heated with frustration, finding the absolute audacity grating against his ears.
"Why would it matter to you anyway? I'll say it again, the plan worked, and I'll get over it in time."
"So you are upset." Max froze, fingers pausing in their motions. His mind blanked, and suddenly he couldn't control the rage and boiling words bubbling in his mouth. The pile of sticks dropped from his hold and clattered to the ground in a burst of noise.
He twisted around with a furious gaze, tears blurring his vision once again, blocking out whatever expression the wizard was making. "Of course I'm upset! You kissed me out of nowhere and smiled it off like an idiot! Like I wasn't going to react to something as big as that! I'm certainly not trying to hide my feelings about you, and I know for a fact that you're not as dense as you make people think you are! So why use that information against me like a pawn in a chess game?!
"Why did you treat it like a little trick that could get me to bow down to your every whim and make myself look a fool?! Because that's how I feel! It was embarrassing and humiliating and frankly inappropriate to do to someone who's obviously vulnerable to that kind of thing!" He yelled, getting up in the man's face as he exploded, pacing back and forth as he communicated all of the stupid thoughts and feelings that made him want to crawl into a hole.
A sob dirtily clenched its way from his throat, and Max spun on his heel to avoid looking the man in his blurry, stupid, handsome face as he fell into his despair once again.
"Max..." Mr Wizard called out softly, barely cracking through the walls that Max had built up as soon as their lips had connected.
Max didn't let him continue, spitting out a weak, tearful admission that made his heart clench like it was about to give way. "You made me think that you might like me back..." Mr Wizard fell silent behind him and just listened as more sobs clawed their way out of Max's throat, betraying every emotion he was trying and failing to keep bottled up.
"Max." The human said firmer, and a couple more footsteps were heard crunching through the foliage. Max lifted an arm to scrub at the tears freely flowing down his cheeks, probably marking his cheeks a darker red with the force he was using.
A hand suddenly reached and made contact with his cheek, and Max had half a mind to pull away from the touch. Except it was so warm, and it made his heart unfurl from its twisted form, gentle and vulnerable and everything Max had wanted it to feel like.
Mr Wizard encouraged his head to turn, and like his neck was connected to puppet strings in the human's hands, he followed obediently, falling silent aside from the sniffles that forced their way out.
"Please, just..." Mr Wizard didn't finish his sentence, leaving it to stay a vague interpretation of whatever was going on in his own soul. Instead, his jaw clenched, and he pulled away the fake beard he had been insisting was real for the entire journey.
Max would've laughed and cheered that he was proven right if not for the fact that the wizard's lips looked so soft and inviting and he so desperately wanted to kiss them-
And suddenly he was kissing them.
Mr Wizard had pulled Max closer in the time he was admiring his friend's features, and their lips had connected in a flurry of soft emotions, all of them guarded with sharp spikes that lowered into themselves the longer their lips stayed connected.
Mr Wizard pulled away, and for a moment Max considered that the man had kissed him as some sort of pity gift, like a messed-up apology. But when Max looked into the man's eyes, he saw nothing but a spark, one he hadn't seen before but one that his soul recognised so intrinsically.
They stared at each other for a few more moments, and Mr Wizard took the time to brush away a stray tear that had trailed down Max's rounded, cherub-like face. With time, Mr Wizard leaned back in, allowing for a section of space to let Max decide the next move.
It didn't take much thinking for him to know he wanted to kiss this man silly, and also slap him across the face for his blind actions, but that was another matter.
The kiss devolved from something softer to something deeper, lips moving against one another and magnetising their arms around backs and chests against chests.
Max's heart felt aflutter when Mr Wizard's hand trailed through his golden hair, tucking a strand behind his pointed ear.
They continued on with their ministrations for the next few blissful minutes, uncaring of the time passing and of the waiting half of their party.
Eventually, they pulled apart, and Max huffed wetly. "You arse. Got me all upset for nothing at all." Mr Wizard tilted his head, animal-like, and smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry. What I did was selfish, and truly, if I could go back and do it all again differently in an effort not to make you cry, I would." He whispered back, delicate and secret, like it was something only Max would ever hear.
Max smiled softly back and felt his heart sew up in his chest, that hole left behind by their first kiss now filled with love and want and care, complete and reciprocated.
Truly, he can't imagine how he lived without this awfully silly man before.