Melted: A MaxTul AU story

Twelve: Debriefing

That evening after he dropped off Tul, Max went over two projects in his mind as he made dinner. He needed to talk to his uncle, and tomorrow was his interview with Tul's stepbrother. He couldn't decide which was going to be the most difficult.

His uncle was the most important, so he thought he should probably call him that evening. He knew he had to keep planning his approach about the move carefully. Despite Pongpat's reputation for being an old fuddy duddy at work with a soft spot for children and the people he has mentored, Max knew his uncle wasn't an easy mark. Unlike Aunt Clara and to a greater degree Kuhn Bagnet, who uncovered lies like missile detector systems and then squashed you like a bug while smiling, Uncle Pong would use the lie to manipulate it to his own advantage before you even realized that he knew you were lying.

Max remembered one time, he and Itty were trying to get their curfew extended to impress two girls. They didn't get the extension but told each sets of guardians that they were sleeping over at the other's house. Uncle Pong had figured it out, but instead of telling on them, he set a trap for the sprinkler switch to come on when anyone passed by a wire trigger he created. He'd been obsessed about some new plants and had wanted to water at night, anyway, but Clara did not want him getting up in the middle of the night to follow some weird watering regimen. However, because of the trap, he got those plants watered in the middle of the night anyway. When Max tried to sneak into the house, he tripped the wire. He got soaked, the flowers got soaked, and he got caught. Score for Uncle Pong.

Max laughed at the memory. He had deserved that. However, now he couldn't imagine what Uncle Pong might have up his sleeve if he convinced him to stay with Tul. There were obvious benefits to living with Tul, but Max was sure that the benefits he would be selling to his uncle would not be the only things the older man would be considering in the move. However, for Pong's sake, he was willing to get soaked again.

When he sat down to eat dinner, he decided to make the phone call. It was still early, and he could check to make sure his Uncle was eating and ask him about his call with Tantӓ Clara.

When Max called, Pongpat picked up fairly quickly. They chatted a bit about Rhamida and Ohm. Max told him about the going away dinner for Chalida, leaving out the fact that he had seen Tul there. He even asked his uncle about Plustor Pakorn since he had the interview coming up.

It was his uncle who got to the main point first. "Max, we both know this isn't why you called. I've talked to Clara about moving into the apartment, but I don't feel good about it."

"What's not to feel good about?" Max responded, already a little frustrated even though they just started. "You've seen the pictures! You'd be like a character in a lakorn! Maid service. You'd be able to buy and store real groceries. When was the last time you were able to actually cook a regular meal?"

Pongpat sighed. "This is all true. But it'll be weird living with my boss, and won't he feel uncomfortable living with me?"

"I asked the same thing, but that's why he showed me his place. The only times that you might see each other is if you are both cooking breakfast or making coffee before work. I don't think Tul eats dinner when you eat dinner, and on weekends, you could probably work out a schedule. The place is big enough that you would be at separate sides of the apartment. You could probably go for days not seeing each other. I got the feeling when I was there that Tul rarely spends time in the living room. He's either in his office or in the media room."

"Hmm." Pongpat still wasn't satisfied. He knew his answer was yes, but he still wanted to get some more information from Max about Tul. "Why is he doing this though? I always thought he was softer than the other Pakorns, but this goes beyond what you'd expect even from a close friend. He says he doesn't want to charge me anything either."