Perfect with You

Chapter 22 - The Rabbit Under the Tree

At the moment she could hear voices coming from the television set from inside the house, she pondered about the possibility of finding a latter and crawl inside through the window to Chloe's room. She wanted to lie down so bad, but it could be no other than Alfred sitting on the couch inside and she had never really talked with him without Chloe leading the conversation. Maybe she could just slip by, a small greeting and she'd be on her way to Chloe's bed upstairs. Having stood right outside the house for nearly a minute she was tired of her contemplating and decided to just walk inside. She was greeted with a warm and stuffy air, but besides her shoes, there were not a lot of clothes to take off to counter the heat. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she could hear Alfred shifting on the couch to see who had stepped inside.

"Hello," Max said politely as she walked into the living room with Alfred sitting in the usual place on the faded green couch, watching what appeared to be the news.

"Oh, hi Max" Alfred greeted back before clearing his throat.
"Didn't get anything from the mall?" He asked when she saw that Max was empty handed.

Shit. We were supposed to bring him his medicine.

"No, we met some friends along the way and kinda forgot. Oh, and eh- Chloe decided to hang back with them" Max was quick to think of a lie that sounded believable.
"Is your medicine deal urgent? Like, I can go back and pick it up" She said it with an intentionally tired voice but knew it had to be done if necessary.

Alfred just scoffed and turned his body back towards the television.
"No, don't worry. I'll just pick some up tomorrow. I only asked Chloe because she wanted to go to the mall with you anyway"

Making a crooked smile, Max nodded silently and looked at the state of peace Alfred seemed to be in. It was a nice change of pace and all he was seemingly worried about right now was the empty pack of mixed nuts on the table in front of him. "Alright," She said quietly while walking through the small living room. A few quirks that Alfred had, reminded her a bit about Chloe. It was not hard to tell they had spent some time together and he did seem as a calm and understanding man from what she could gather. It made her think of how different Chloe seemed just half an hour ago. She had been on the edge for a while now, saying fewer of her regular catchphrases and making less inappropriate jokes. It had been so long since Chloe had yelled at Max and it was a crushing feeling. Digging her toes into the carpet on her next step, she came to think that there must have been something about Chloe she had missed. Something she didn't know about her well enough.
She stopped in her tracks and looked at Alfred once more, sitting carefree in the couch, watching the news.
"I don't mean to bother, but can I talk with you for a moment?" Her throat tightened, wondering where she was even going with this.

Alfred turned his head slightly with some sort of chipmunk smile on his old face. It comforted Max to some extent and she came to the conclusion that if there was something she didn't know about Chloe, Alfred might be better informed.

"Only if you gather the three jewels spread across the land, may you blessed with my wisdom" Alfred responded in all to serious voice while closely analyzing Max's face who simply was wondering if he was having a stroke or something.
"Alternatively, you can go to the kitchen and grab me some nuts? I've been out for half an hour now" He chuckled with a deep voice, stating that was partially joking. Even though it made Max slightly uncomfortable how quick he was to break the ice, she couldn't help but give off a genuine smile as she nodded. "You got it" She responded before turning around.

I wonder if it's Alfred that is similar to Chloe, or Chloe that is similar to Alfred...

As Max found herself in the kitchen, looking for nuts, she couldn't shake the thought of the two of them practicing bad jokes to each other all night, like two partners planning world domination through questionable means.