The Ties That Bind

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Obviously feeling like a burden of any sort was hard for Madeline, and owing anyone anything was always a precarious situation on its own. It wasn't insane to want to be able to pay her own way, though some would have reveled in having someone else pay the bills. Maxim was sure she had her reasons.

"It's all right," he reassured when she apologized, his voice lowering into something quiet and soft, sympathy in his eyes when he slowed to look at her. "You don't have to be sorry. I know it doesn't feel like it, but it's okay to have help every now and again." She wasn't truly asking for it, more being forced into accepting it, but she didn't need to feel bad about needing help.

Having observed enough to know she often fell on humor to deal with things, he gave her a little smile. "This is a loan, not a handout. Other officers might start calling me Sugar Daddy." If she was there, he was sure Bella would have gagged at him.
 
She turned to look at him, still feeling a bit embrassed that she hadn't been able to hide her true feelings. She'd gotten good at masking how she really felt, but her control had been slipping a little these last few days.

She blamed the incredible amount of stress she was under right now, it was dredging up things she'd buried long ago. It was also the fact that Maxim was surprisingly easy to talk to, perhaps because he was a sympathetic ear, not a pitying one.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." She replied softly, still a little surprised but appreciating the fact that he seemed to actually care how she felt.

His tasteless joke managed to get a short, soft laugh out of her. Shaking her head a little, she gave him a haughty glare but the small smile and amusement in her eyes gave her away.

"Yeah right, In your dreams special agent." She teased lightly.
 
Maxim smiled to himself when she laughed, though he was sure it was half because he'd startled her. If nothing else, he could provide a little comedic value to break up the understandable stress she was under. No matter how hard her life had been, being suddenly pulled from it into something completely new and unfamiliar was jarring.

"Not even then," he said with a chuckle when she'd recovered enough to look at him so disapprovingly. "If we were home I'd've been smacked from three different directions." Well, perhaps Marina would have just cackled, but she found it hilarious it when he or Oscar said things outside of their usual nature. Shock value was generally her thing.
 
Her amused smile widened, laughing softly at the image of that. "Well it's good to hear they keep you humble." The more she heard about their relationship, the clearer it was that they were all incredibly close. That as an alpha, he had their respect and love.

She enjoyed his sense of humour, even his truly groan worthy jokes were amusing to her, his deadpan way of delivering them helped.
 
"Oh, extremely," Maxim confirmed with a chuckle as they made their way to the registers, having collected enough of the basics for her to live off of. More seemingly unnecessary items could be gathered later on, or eventually retrieved from her own home. "If I do or say anything stupid, they are sure to never let me forget."

He let the matter go as they were checked out at the register, not so much as wincing at the total because, as he'd said, he would be at least partially reimbursed and the rest was simply the price of taking her under his wing. As it currently stood, the HED didn't consider her a valuable enough informant to pay for somewhere else for her to stay, and didn't have the resources for constant protection detail. For the foreseeable future, Maxim had taken her as his own responsibility, and money was only part of it.

"Staying in a new place with people you don't really know can be daunting," he said after he'd paid and they were on their way out with a cart full of bags. "So if you have any questions about the others, feel free to ask. If it's anything I think they wouldn't want you to know, I promise not to be shy about not answering."

Some things were private, and others he would discuss with the person in question first, but things like personalities, habits and schedules were free game. Even some light information about certain events that had brought them together was all right. He would have to use his own discretion not to give away anything anyone didn't want her to know.
 
"Well, what are friends for I guess?" She replied with amusement, though she knew they were more family than friends based on everything she knew.

Family was just as bad for that anyway, or at least that's what she'd seen, she hadn't really been able to experience much herself, what with how small her family actually had been.

Though she was glad to see his calm acceptance of the total, her reaction was a bit less enthused. Outwardly she was calm, but she winced on the inside.

"I'll keep that in mind." She replied as she helped load the back-seat with bags, "I'm not really sure what to ask about though." She shrugged a little, "I guess I just need to know what they like and dislike."

"I mean I don't want to step on any more toes than I already have, so I dont want to accidentally do anything to annoy anyone." She smiled a little, "like talk to someone before their coffee."
 
Maxim made a soft, thoughtful hum as they loaded up the car, acknowledging that he'd heard her but thinking it over for a moment. When they were done he let her shut the trunk and get in while he returned the cart to a stall, and finally joined her to get the car started again.

"Let's talk potential minefields, then," he said with a shrug, glancing in his mirrors before starting to pull out. "Oscar is easy, just don't ask about his childrens' mother. Marina gets squirrely if you mention anything about her schooling - she dropped out of high school, didn't get her GED until a year or so ago. Definitely don't talk to Bella before she's had her coffee, but more because she'll be grumpy and unintelligent than anything."

He paused for a moment, thinking again, and finally sighed. "Aether and I have talked, but he's not going to settle down for a while. Feel free to ask where things are if you need them, but don't expect any efforts at conversation unless Simon is around to scold him, not that I expect you to understand sign language anyway."

Simon himself was a different matter, generally friendly and cheerful no matter what happened, but every once in a while he had his moments. If she asked, Maxim would explain why he limped, and why he had come to live with them in the first place, but it was better she not ask their human pup about it much.
 
She would have taken the cart back herself, but he was already doing it before she had the chance so she simply sat, buckled herself in and waited.

Potential minefields was exactly what she was looking for, the last thing she wanted to do was put her foot in it and accidentally bring up something painful.

"Alright, but can I ask did she pass away?" "Or is she just not a part of their lives?" She didn't need details, she was just wondering in case the children mentioned her or something. "Regardless I won't bring her up."

"I can understand why she might feel that way, but she's got nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about." She said softly, "Believe me, I'm not going to judge her or anything."

In general she wasn't a judgemental person, and she could definitely sympathise with Marina. She had finished school, but troubles at home had made it quite a struggle.

She nodded a little when he mentioned Aether, she hadn't expected any different. "I learned a bit as a kid, I don't really remember anything but I'm sure I could pick it back up again easily enough."

She shrugged a little, "not that I expect I'll need it, if he wants me to keep my distance from him I've got no issue respecting that."
 
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