Recent Posts

The cop knew he had difficulties creating sentences that were correct or truly reflected what he wanted to say. His french raised mind probably got in the way most of the time, but he was proud that he was doing better every year. His french accent was noticeable, mostly when he was drunk or really tired, but otherwise when he could concentrate correctly it could go invisible. However right now he was not using the best combinations of words to paint the image of Jacob's murder fantasies to Ruby. She was probably imagining something kinky because of the word 'fantasy', and really he couldn't blame her for that. He laughed with a bright smile and shook his head. "Buy the man a rabbit if you want, but in all honesty I'm too afraid to do it." he had no idea how Jacob would react to receiving a critter. Max, if he received a small rabbit, would probably be disappointed, believing it was just a useless mouth to feed off of his wallet. He had nothing against rabbits, and their soft furs were a source of relaxation most people who never petted one would never comprehend. He was surprised he never ended up getting a white rabbit for Alice. He remembered he had thought about it a few times, but there was always the fear of what would happen to the poor little animal if his father found out. As a child he was convinced his father would give it to the cook and serve it for dinner without second thought. Max realized now it was probably a ridiculous thought, but he didn't doubt his father could have served rabbit just to give them a lesson, even if it wasn't 'the' rabbit.<p>
Ruby was very right about Alice and contacting her. He should have done it ages ago, and now with the PD's source of information there was no doubt he would be able to find her. He was terrified about the idea however. What if she rejected him? Blamed him for leaving in the first place, for never calling her? The truth was that he did call on his parent's phone to talk to her and only to her. But no one ever picked up for him but the maids, and even them never talked to him. And after that he was in the streets, he had no phone, no money to use one. Following that, he was in rehab and had forgotten a lot about his past life. And then he simply didn't have the will to search anymore. Ruby was listening to him and giving him...human advice. No one had done that in years besides her and Jacob. Bunny had kept the teasing up and their talks had felt more like a rendezvous at a therapist than a talk from man to man yet, except a few times when Max really felt glad to talk with the man. He felt genuinely touched by the attention the blond woman was giving him. It was the only thing he had truly been wanting, but he only realized now that it was care and attention he truly wanted, something he had lacked his entire life. Now with both Ruby and Jacob, it felt like he was getting such care daily. It was strange to think that it was care the two gave him when they were mostly being overly protective like two predators over a prey.<p>
He closed his eyes a moment, turning his head towards Ruby's own, letting the bridge of his nose hide between the blond locks of hair while his forehead rested near the top of her scalp. He moved a hand to the one on his chest, not answering her question at all but instead giving her his gratitude through actions rather than words. When you are bad with words, find a different way to express yourself. It was a pain to have to stop it all when the phone rang and he answered it before Ruby could answer his own question about her brother. After staying immobile on the couch, staring at the ceiling while wondering how he was going to get up and push Ruby away from the embrace to leave, the silence got broken by the woman's words.<p>
She sounded angry, defiant and rebellious. Her sudden determination woke Madden up, but perhaps a little too late. He had watched her while she spoke with a surprised and confused look, understanding she didn't want him to go back to the PD but his mind wasn't calculating fast enough to understand that she was actually going to do something about it. She reached into his pocket before he could react and at first Max thought she was just putting it on silent mode. He wasn't quick enough to stop her from taking his device away. If this wasn't serious he might have done a cat joke on how fast and swift her action had been. "Ruby give me the phone." he raised himself from the couch, his hair slightly messy from being too comfortable and his cloths already wrinkled. She didn't seem ready to do give up just yet, and seemed to have another idea in mind. She quickly moved to the window and Max bolted up from the couch to catch up with her. He now saw exactly what she was hoping to accomplish. There came the long awaited retaliation from that day at the hospital where he had tossed her phone out the window.<p>
He wasn't going to let her do that however and tried to catch her by the shirt. He succeeded in a few strides, but when he pulled her to get closer he tripped and fell, taking her down with him unfortunately. He did his possible to land his arms on either side of her frame and not on her. "This is mine, thank you very much." much like he would do to someone he just arrested, he put a knee in the middle of her back and reached out for the phone in her hand, trying to get it out as best as he can. "I need that Ruby, just give it back. You can't keep me locked here for the day because you don't want me to go back to work!" his tone was solid and firm but it was all betrayed by the smile on his face. Ruby's reaction was too funny for him to be truly mad at her, even if she did manage in the end to destroy his phone. Also destroying his phone wouldn't stop him from going to work.

He decided to drop the discussion treading on the Bianchi part. It was nothing he really wanted to talk about and he was sure Ruby would agree with him on that matter. He wondered how her shoulder looked now. It was shot by some rather heavy weaponry, he understood there must have been more than simple muscle damage. Did she even have a few issues in doing certain things? Surely her father took care of paying for the bills and found the best doctors to heal her since she was sitting here next to him with nothing that showed she got shot weeks ago. He wanted to ask about it, make sure she was okay, but bringing up the subject would soon to rip apart the peaceful atmosphere ruling in the loft. "Oh I've been host at fancy balls before, I don't miss them." and there he was, telling Ruby the same thing he told Jacob before. Now they will be two to know he had been in a family awfully similar to the Bianchi, except it was French.<p>
The man chuckled. Indeed they were, all three of them, not holding up to standards of what normal meant. But that wasn't interesting, it wasn't fun, nor was it worth living for. Since the beginning of his life the cop had been the ugly duckling, the one people looked with a strange eye, the one who made others laugh but his parents frown. He was the one in his family who defied the laws and applied them, by being attracted to men and women and being a cop at the same time. Sometimes he had regretted to be who he was, making things more difficult and complicated. But how could he complain about it now. Oh there were many reasons for him to complain, but since he knew he could be in much worse of a place, his mind was set not to.<p>
"Thank god Jacob doesn't act like a bunny. Can you imagine him always coming to beg for carrots and nibbling on everything? Our pants, our fingers, our hair? Of course I can see him creeping on us at night but come on, he's more than a bunny and I'm glad it's the case." he said, purposely shedding light on the mercenary to make Ruby jealous for an instant, waiting a little before shedding light upon her as well. "Of course you are more than just a cat as well. But I'll help you see how you are still partly a cat." he was quite out of ideas right now to test his theory about cats, but right now he just felt like showing her affection. He laid against the couch's arm, pulling Ruby to lay on or next to him while he wrapped his arms around her. "To be perfectly honest you remind me so much of my sister sometimes I should be calling you rabbit and not Jacob." Alice, always the white rabbit keeping him on a straight line when he needed to tread on a dangerous path. He wondered what she had become, where she was now and how her life was fairing. Could she be married? She could, she wasn't so young anymore even though the only memory of her he had was that of a teenage girl. He didn't really regret talking about her now to Ruby. The situation was not stressful at all and the man was in the right mood not to completely crack into pieces if he were to talk a little more about his past. She already knew about what happened in New York years back, nothing else that he could tell her would be as hard to say.<p>
The cop movie on the TV seemed like a comedy and Max didn't care much for it, however he lowered the volume a little when the gunshots started to be heard. It was, in every movie, a sound that he did not appreciate very much. It simply brought too many things in him that will automatically make him tense up, and right now he didn't want that. Ruby presence so close to him help to keep his mind set in a calm motion, taking time to think and act rather than let his subconscious burst things out without his authorization.

She wasn't going to get an answer regarding what he thought of the word exclusive, and neither would he know what she thought of it. A fair bargain, even if right now he really wanted to tell her what he thought of that special word. But no he had to keep his mouth shut just for that. Quite frankly he believed exclusive was for two people who hung out with each other and showed their marks of affection only to one another without sharing it with anyone else. But they weren't officially a couple. Was it a fancy word for sleeping buddies? Max actually wasn't quite sure. She was clearly teasing him, still tying to take advantage of the situation. The question was, should he let her? How much teasing should he allow before he would return the teasing even more? He caught that quick glimpse to his lips. Was that provocation or something she didn't actually control? She'll need beast control in a minute if Max continued to pick up those small details and realized they weren't on purpose. Regarding her final answer on the matter of the word exclusive, he gave her a disappointed look, breaking their eye contact to look to the side. "You really want to let me find out? I'll probably mess up something and misunderstand you." he chuckled, smiling at her as he faced her once more.<p>
"Pff. So you don't want to bake normal cookies and just, give some? I say normal because I have no idea how you cook your cookies and for all I know you might be a terrible cook. And I don't live here. It's not my job to greet your neighbors for you." she was terrible at being social and clearly a little push wouldn't hurt. But he would rather have her not try to be social than to accidentally doing something regretful.<p>
He frowned and pouted his bottom lip, raising his upper body, pushing himself from the couch while his legs remained over the backrest to get closer to Ruby's level. He considered her words a second, squinting to try to perhaps find a second meaning to them. "If I only look inoffensive and appealing then I can stand looking Italian." he leaned back again, as if she just escaped a storm. Not a real one, more of a fake one that would contain teasing more than actual thunder to rip her apart and make her regret her words.<p>
He stared at her in confusion as she spoke a language he didn't understand. Well he felt like he caught a few things but really nothing made sense. He believed he heard german somewhere in there but not all of it was, that was for sure. Ruby surprised him by letting him know she knew several languages. That actually brought down a shiver down his spine and his mouth gaped in a disbelieved way. He turned his head from side to side before closing his eyes and opening them again a moment later. "Alright I surrender. You came, you saw and you conquered. I have nothing more to say to that." he raised his hands, surrendering to her superiority in languages.<p>
He observed her quietly as she played with his leg, coursing her fingers, continuously toying with him it seemed. In his eyes there was a kindness, a look of complete peace and trust that perhaps he didn't give to anyone in a very long time. He was still smiling, unable to shake it off for now. She looked at her own hand, as if fascinated by her own actions before darting those steel orbs back at him. His train of thoughts came to a stop, simply waiting to see what she would do next. She wasn't afraid of him or what he could do if she went to far, and that was possibly the best part in all of this. Max could be surprised.

She could call him liar all she wanted he wasn't going to talk further about what he and Andrea have been talking about. Which was not much to be honest. So he had nothing to say and Liar was probably very appropriate right now. But there was no reason that he should confirm that. Ruby didn't need to know he was lying, nobody ever needed to know how much he lied and how much it pleased him to successfully pull off a lie where the victim couldn't tell if it was indeed a lie, or the truth. He left her push his chest, but that didn't make him say anything more. This wasn't how you get information out of him.<p>
Was he disappointed that Ruby felt too proud to tell Jacob he was special, or was this a proof that she had a heart? Nevertheless it was funny to openly tell she wasn't willing to tell her feelings to the criminal, or anyone else for that matter. Was there anyone in the world she had ever told everything? A confident who understood how she felt and to whom she could always go to cry on their shoulder or laugh with truly? Maybe Andrea? Max had no idea how good friends they were, but he believed he would find out eventually. "Aww, but I'm sure bunny and his little heart would love to hear they are special to at least someone in the world. If you don't tell him, I'll tell him. And you know how I am with words. I trip a lot." he gave her a pouty face followed by a smirk. That however wasn't a lie. If Ruby didn't go tell Jacob that she believed he was special, then Max would not hesitate to do it in her stead. Everyone needs to know they are special to someone, even the murderous little bunnies running in the streets.<p>
Ruby's next words shouldn't have done anything to him, but the seductive tone, the butterfly feeling in his stomach mixed with a quick punch, all before he felt his self confidence drop down below his stomach. He squinted at that, pinching his lips, tipping his head to the side. "Nice job you almost made me shut up again. Tu veut savoir ce que ça me fait que l'on soit 'exclusifs'? Rien du tout vue que j'y croit pas." (You want to know how I feel that we are exclusive? Nothing since I don't believe it.) he smirked, trying to gain back his confidence as he leaned closer to her to whisper more french words into her ears. His tone was equally as seductive, but he had to hold back a laugh because of what he just said. She will probably believe he said something really naughty, which made his smile get even larger. He'd ask for a demonstration on how one dies from a kiss, but he decided not to get on Ruby's murderous side this time. This situation was already a little risky, it would be a fool's game to push it further.<p>
Of course Andrea would kick his ass if he went out boasting that he slept with her when it wasn't true. But he never said he had anything with her, nor did he deny it. Sometimes when things remained unanswered, the better the outcome. However maybe he should mention to rumors to the woman the next time he gets the occasion, he wouldn't want Ruby to come solve the problem in person. Heck maybe he should just find a way to get Ruby in his office, get her in and out real quick to change targets. Passing from the well known PD blond to the blond no one even knows the face. "Maybe someday you should help me out prove them all wrong?" he said, a small smile. How much provocation would that be if Ruby showed up at the PD one day, went inside his office and came out five minutes later with Stone watching? Sounded like a suicide mission.<p>
He nodded and chuckled. "Did you not see your neighbors yet? I'm surprised they haven't tried to bring you food for the newly arrived person in their building. I mean don't people do that?" he shook his shoulders as she started to ask so many questions about how he encountered her neighbors. "They just said hi and waved at me when I arrived at the building. They seemed to be going out, I guess?" this sounded like the most normal thing Max was given to say in the past few months. "I think you should just go say hi?" at those words he ran a hand into her hair as a comforting rub before falling backwards into the couch. He stayed upside down, his legs still hanging from the couch's backrest while Ruby rested her shoulder on his leg. "Be social Ruby, might save you a lot of death glares." he smiled genuinely, giving her advice he judged good for anyone new in a place. He crossed his arms, looking at her upside down.

That hint of sadness in her eyes as she assured him he wasn't being put in the enemy bucket participated in him believing her words. He wished that their situation wasn't so complicated. He wished that he wasn't a cop and her not a criminal. That like cats and dogs they weren't bound to run after each other. Of course when he had her here next to him he could make sure she wasn't killing someone at the other end of the city. Same went for Jacob. How many people were falling from his hand right now as they spoke? Max could feel himself tense at that thought, his heart speeding slightly at the sensation of panic and time flying by that he couldn't catch. There was no use in freaking out this way. The only thing he could do about it would be to lock Jacob up. But he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing today. Maybe he can find a way to calm Jacob's murdering habit. It sounded pretty impossible, but there must be a way, just like there are ways to calm a wild tiger down, without killing it or putting it in a cage.<p>
"Oh I know your best friend is Andrea. I know I'll never join the blond club even if I wanted to. By the way, why do all my friends have curly hair? I think it proves you are all crazy and not me." he only noticed that now. Jacob, Ruby, Andrea, they all had curls, but Max didn't. And he had seen his hair long enough to see if they could curl and Spoilers: They don't. Well, hairstyle was irrelevant, but it was funny to point it out. "What did you even tell poor Goldilocks about me? Did you even dare say anything." he rose a brow, curiosity sparking in his eyes. They were best friends, and that usually means that you share all of your secrets with said person. However since Andrea and Ruby weren't quite on the same life level maybe the blonds didn't share 'everything'.<p>
Why did she always find the kinky sounds in his sentences? How does one manage to do this? Surely, Ruby and Jacob in one room together wouldn't end well with blood on the pillows and someone murdered under the bed. "Great, so your true self loves to find innuendos and choke kiss people. Awesome, can't wait to find out what else the real Ruby does." he pushed himself away from the counter, raising his hands to his sides, jazz hands style. He followed her until she stopped in the doorway's frame, leaning against it in a rather elegant way. Max stopped and squint at her question about the PD. "Well they do still work on minor things. But they also like to make rumors on a blond who likes to pet a dog a lot. And of course you know how the phone game works. One thing goes in, something else comes out? Turns out some people think the blond is Andrea. I let that slide to avoid accidents like today where someone gets a keyboard to the face." he poked her stomach a few times with his fingers to make her move away from the doorway so they could both retreat to the living room.

It was always fun to see Ruby lose a bit of her confidence when she was shown affection. Did she not understand its principles? Or was she used to cold orders and very few acts of affection? Max couldn't think that Oliver wasn't actually a good man with a gold heart beneath the thug's skin. It would be interesting to see how much that thought was true. So what was he doing now? Giving Ruby what he believed she didn't often have. Dogs know when their masters feel down. It wasn't the case today, but he knew that somewhere under that tough skin, lay the memories of persecution and gun shells. Since he wasn't a doctor, he could only use those simple gestures to show he was there and not simply sit in a corner like a ghost. Would it be funny if he told her he was doing this to test if she would push him away like a cat? So far she left him do, putting her hands on his to make him stop the rubbing. He did and removed his hands. "Do I really need to answer that? I feel like some things just don't need an explanation." he smiled sheepishly, trying to seem innocent while his game went on.<p>
Since when were they friends? He felt a little disappointed by her words but could understand where her question came from. They hadn't known each other for a very long time and the first time they met she was brought in for interrogation at the PD. She strangled him, threatened him, kissed him...He shook his shoulders before the memory of the night with the Bianchi came to his mind. He wasn't mad at her anymore for condemning him to becoming a mole inside the PD for the Bianchi. But it wasn't a mole to destroy the PD, it was a mole to destroy Enigma. He felt bad for what Ruby called her family, but the PD had a hard time finding things about Enigma anyway. "I don't know. Does it matter? I mean you aren't trying to kill me and I am not trying to cuff you and throw you in a car to head to the Chicago prison. I'll stay your enemy if you feel more comfortable with that." he smirked, putting his hands between his legs on the counter and leaned slightly forward, watching Ruby like a curious beast. He was making her uncomfortable with his actions, he could tell that much. But it was funny, fascinating to see her lose balance every once in a while on her tall legs of supremacy. "Can you blame me for wanting to spend some time with someone I feel comfortable around? I could have gone to see Jacob but he never gave me his address and who knows if he would want to see me today." he gave another sheepish smile.<p>
"I'm not hungry I swear. I picked at those fries because I was curious to see how well you cooked...I'm not dead yet. Do you not get the concept of hanging out?" he asked, picking another fry and quickly stuffing it in his mouth. American food, why must you become a guilty pleasure? He jumped off from the counter. "So how are you feeling in your new home? Not too lonely when you wake up and Oliver isn't complaining about something? Did you even have an annoying roommate at the place?"