With her hands playfully on her hips as she stands in the doorway, "I barely remember it! Before you I hadn't done anything for it since I was a kid."
There's no big reason, really. Not like there is for so many other things. Maybe if you reached hard enough you could blame it on her disconnect with her younger self, but the reality is it's just never been something she cares all that much about.
Luckily for Max, his enthusiasm is always a little infectious.
"Mmhmmm," she tilts her head at him, fond amusement shaping the curve of her mouth. Then she playfully rolls her eyes and drops her hands from her hips, jerking her head towards the rest of the house, "Alright, c'mon. Not gonna let your baking go to waste. That'd be a crime."
"Yeah," Max says, beaming brightly, "It would be because you'd make me cry. I don't think you wanna risk that." It didn't work out so great for the last guy.
That said, he trots inside with the cake and sets it down on their kitchen counter. Now he's looking around, admiring her place.
Daisy laughs under her breath as she leads him through to thekitchen, at the back of the house and leans against the counter. They've done very little to change it up from how they found it except make clear paths for Erin's sake, but luckily it was a nice enough place to start with.
"Yeah. It's nice. Nothing like anywhere else I've lived." Her flat was the size of maybe half this place at best, and plainly furnished with simple modern goods. Her childhood home was a product of the 70s and 80s. "We're... alright. Still reeling a bit. Figuring out how to settle."
Better believe Max is eyeing all that luscious counter space. And trying not to think too hard about what may or may not have occurred on it by now with Daisy and Erin living under one roof. (As if he has any right to talk?)
"It's warm and comfortable. I really like it." He starts opening drawers looking for a knife to cut into the cake with.
"Yeah. It's a little bit the same with me and Valdis living together. I love it, but we are still working out our routine. I worry about, I don't know, overcrowding her sometimes. You know?"
He wouldn't be wrong about what's been happening on those counters, sorry Max. They've had a lot of energy to work through. They do clean up after themselves, at least.
"Mm. Yeah. Think Erin's the one worrying most about that with us." She almost goes to sit on the counter before instead sliding onto a stool, more for Max's kitchen sensibilities than her own. "Which. She's not wrong to. I do get... itchier, faster."
Not that Daisy doesn't worry about the reverse at all, but Erin was the first to say she couldn't live alone and Daisy's always been the... territorial, one. She never had a full-time cabinmate on the ship and she lived alone for most of her adult life, until being stuck in the Archives. Domesticity doesn't exactly come naturally.
"But— I'm handling it fine. Helps that we have our own spaces. And I can always just jump out a window and go for a run if I need to."
"If Erin feels the way I do then, then we both get it. You need more space because it's been mostly you on your own for a while, and that's okay. We know it isn't about us." Well, Max does, now. Valdis had to help him realize it.
"Heh. Hey, if you ever do need to go for some air you can always run by my place and pick up some snacks to bring home for Erin later." God knows Max will have enough of them on-hand at all times.
"Hopefully she knows that. I think she does." Erin was also quick to bring the concern up, when they first talked about it. But she also knows Erin's... to call her fragile feels unfair, but recent events mean she's struggling, in ways Daisy doesn't always know how to help with.
So that's the part she worries most about, she supposes.
She snorts. "Maybe I will. Might help stop your place getting totally overrun."
Max is looking at her with an expression on his face akin to reading, as if he's peering into her thoughts and observing them. "It's enough for her to know she isn't alone. She knows if something happens, there's one person she can always call out to for help. She knows you'll come running. I promise you, that helps." Daisy doesn't have to ask him how he can be so sure.
He lightens up again, laughing at her comment. "Yeah. No promises I still won't end up with an excess, but at least Erin has a big enough sweet tooth to make an actual dent in it. My cooking powers still work, here, by the way. Nothing I make ever spoils."
"Daisy..." Max says in sympathetic reproach. "I know you don't think you're any good at it, but you've been what I needed when I needed it so many times." Daisy held him through the pain of so many terrible moments. As far as he's concerned, he can rely on her to come help him when he's in need. He knows she'd do the same for Erin.
"Yeah. Funny how that's an adjustment we all have to make, again. I didn't have to worry about paying for anything at Erik's home, either, so it's been forever since I had to budget for groceries. It's so... normal. How does normal feel this weird?"
"It's not like I think you're. Lying, or something. But I don't get it." She doesn't feel like a reassuring person. Blunt honesty and forcibly dragging someone out their own head, sure. But she's not sure that's reassuring.
She nods her head to the side thoughtfully. "'Cause weird became our normal. Now it's all turned upside down."
"Let me... put it like this. We love you for who you are already. I know trying to comfort me felt awkward for you, but you still did it. And you made me feel better because you made me feel safe and loved. You don't have to know the exact right thing to say, okay? The effort counts." Being there mattered more than the words.
Weird became their normal. Damn. She's right. "We'll get used to it again, I guess. This time, I think I really do want to stay here. I'm even working with a few people to invent some things like... a blender, maybe."
"Mmmm. Alright. Sure." She still sounds a little uncertain, but that might be more to do with how even now she doesn't really know how to process these people genuinely loving her than anything else. "You big softy."
She snorts, softly. "Trust you to try reinventing modern cooking appliances. Guess you'll have the time. If we really stay here."
This place is going to take some getting used to, but... there's not exactly anywhere else she's eager to be.
"It's why you love me," he retorts, batting his long eyelashes at her. Max owns being a big softie.
"You know, I could probably make a fortune inventing stuff like that, but mostly I'm just really really annoyed with how slow everything is." He never thought of himself as impatient until he had to learn to churn his own butter. Like, for real.
"I do really want to stay here if we can. I know it's selfish but... I'd love it if you did too."
Her expression softens in a way only a few would recognise. "...Max. That's not being selfish. Not the bad kind."
She's not sure she'd give herself the same grace for the same desire, but that's her own damage.
"...there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Not like home's an option. And I'm. I'm tired. Of hopping around. Back and forth and off somewhere else. Rather just stay."
"Yeah. I know." His mind knows. He's still convincing his heart that it's okay to want things that are best for him first.
"Then stay." Max leans in to give her a gentle sideways hug. "We'll be a family here. Neither of us will have to be alone ever again. You'll always have someone who loves you. You'll just have to put up with me making you a birthday cake every year from now on. That's all."
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hadnoright) wrote2022-11-01 01:56 am
no subject
"How could I forget? You're family. Obviously, you get a birthday cake."
no subject
With her hands playfully on her hips as she stands in the doorway, "I barely remember it! Before you I hadn't done anything for it since I was a kid."
There's no big reason, really. Not like there is for so many other things. Maybe if you reached hard enough you could blame it on her disconnect with her younger self, but the reality is it's just never been something she cares all that much about.
Luckily for Max, his enthusiasm is always a little infectious.
no subject
"It doesn't have to be a huge deal today either. I just wanted a reason to make you a nice cake and hang out."
no subject
"Mmhmmm," she tilts her head at him, fond amusement shaping the curve of her mouth. Then she playfully rolls her eyes and drops her hands from her hips, jerking her head towards the rest of the house, "Alright, c'mon. Not gonna let your baking go to waste. That'd be a crime."
no subject
That said, he trots inside with the cake and sets it down on their kitchen counter. Now he's looking around, admiring her place.
"It's nice in here. How are you getting along?"
no subject
Daisy laughs under her breath as she leads him through to the kitchen, at the back of the house and leans against the counter. They've done very little to change it up from how they found it except make clear paths for Erin's sake, but luckily it was a nice enough place to start with.
"Yeah. It's nice. Nothing like anywhere else I've lived." Her flat was the size of maybe half this place at best, and plainly furnished with simple modern goods. Her childhood home was a product of the 70s and 80s. "We're... alright. Still reeling a bit. Figuring out how to settle."
no subject
"It's warm and comfortable. I really like it." He starts opening drawers looking for a knife to cut into the cake with.
"Yeah. It's a little bit the same with me and Valdis living together. I love it, but we are still working out our routine. I worry about, I don't know, overcrowding her sometimes. You know?"
no subject
He wouldn't be wrong about what's been happening on those counters, sorry Max. They've had a lot of energy to work through. They do clean up after themselves, at least.
"Mm. Yeah. Think Erin's the one worrying most about that with us." She almost goes to sit on the counter before instead sliding onto a stool, more for Max's kitchen sensibilities than her own. "Which. She's not wrong to. I do get... itchier, faster."
Not that Daisy doesn't worry about the reverse at all, but Erin was the first to say she couldn't live alone and Daisy's always been the... territorial, one. She never had a full-time cabinmate on the ship and she lived alone for most of her adult life, until being stuck in the Archives. Domesticity doesn't exactly come naturally.
"But— I'm handling it fine. Helps that we have our own spaces. And I can always just jump out a window and go for a run if I need to."
no subject
"Heh. Hey, if you ever do need to go for some air you can always run by my place and pick up some snacks to bring home for Erin later." God knows Max will have enough of them on-hand at all times.
no subject
"Hopefully she knows that. I think she does." Erin was also quick to bring the concern up, when they first talked about it. But she also knows Erin's... to call her fragile feels unfair, but recent events mean she's struggling, in ways Daisy doesn't always know how to help with.
So that's the part she worries most about, she supposes.
She snorts. "Maybe I will. Might help stop your place getting totally overrun."
no subject
He lightens up again, laughing at her comment. "Yeah. No promises I still won't end up with an excess, but at least Erin has a big enough sweet tooth to make an actual dent in it. My cooking powers still work, here, by the way. Nothing I make ever spoils."
no subject
"Really not used to being considered reliable. Or. No." Her brow furrows a bit. "That's not it."
She was always reliable, it was when she stopped being reliable in the right way that things between her and Basira got so strained.
She leans against the counter. "That's extra handy now that we're actually paying for food again."
no subject
"Yeah. Funny how that's an adjustment we all have to make, again. I didn't have to worry about paying for anything at Erik's home, either, so it's been forever since I had to budget for groceries. It's so... normal. How does normal feel this weird?"
no subject
"It's not like I think you're. Lying, or something. But I don't get it." She doesn't feel like a reassuring person. Blunt honesty and forcibly dragging someone out their own head, sure. But she's not sure that's reassuring.
She nods her head to the side thoughtfully. "'Cause weird became our normal. Now it's all turned upside down."
no subject
Weird became their normal. Damn. She's right. "We'll get used to it again, I guess. This time, I think I really do want to stay here. I'm even working with a few people to invent some things like... a blender, maybe."
no subject
"Mmmm. Alright. Sure." She still sounds a little uncertain, but that might be more to do with how even now she doesn't really know how to process these people genuinely loving her than anything else. "You big softy."
She snorts, softly. "Trust you to try reinventing modern cooking appliances. Guess you'll have the time. If we really stay here."
This place is going to take some getting used to, but... there's not exactly anywhere else she's eager to be.
no subject
"You know, I could probably make a fortune inventing stuff like that, but mostly I'm just really really annoyed with how slow everything is." He never thought of himself as impatient until he had to learn to churn his own butter. Like, for real.
"I do really want to stay here if we can. I know it's selfish but... I'd love it if you did too."
no subject
Her expression softens in a way only a few would recognise. "...Max. That's not being selfish. Not the bad kind."
She's not sure she'd give herself the same grace for the same desire, but that's her own damage.
"...there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Not like home's an option. And I'm. I'm tired. Of hopping around. Back and forth and off somewhere else. Rather just stay."
Good place to wrap?
"Then stay." Max leans in to give her a gentle sideways hug. "We'll be a family here. Neither of us will have to be alone ever again. You'll always have someone who loves you. You'll just have to put up with me making you a birthday cake every year from now on. That's all."
yes!
Daisy wraps an arm around his back and bumps his side with her head. "Mm. I think I can live with that."