Sunshine, Max Mayfield

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 - SPORT

"Better to deal with it with friends," Lucas shrugged, but Rosie noticed that there was a lack of punch to it, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"Ditto, man," Rosie smiled, and held out her fist, which with a childish grin, Lucas bumped, "We need to hang out more."

"Hell yeah, we do."

"Oh my god, you're insufferable!" Max suddenly yelled, and the two were snapped out of their conversation. Rosie and Lucas turned to each other, finding solidarity in their annoyance, and the both of them followed Max and Mike when they took their argument to the kitchen.

"Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" Max posed the question to the group in the kitchen, "Who do you think should decide El's limits? Mike or Eleven?"

"The way that you frame that is such bullshit!" Mike scowled.

"It's not bullshit, Mike, this is your whole problem!" Max fired, getting more and more pissed off as time went on, "And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass."

"Oh shittt, El dumped you?" Chrissy asked voice strained like she was trying to keep herself from laughing.

"Yeah, because they're conspiring against me!" Mike gestured towards Max and Rosie, "They're corrupting her."

"What, with our sapphic voodoo magic?" Max rolled her eyes so hard Rosie was afraid they'd fall out.

Mike reddened, spluttering, "No, I—!"

"The fact is, she's not yours," Max continued, voice steady, "She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions!"

"She's risking her life for no reason!" Mike stressed, and Rosie watched him warily, sensing his agitation growing.

"For no reason?" Nancy guffawed, "Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what."

"Killing, flaying..." Lucas listed.

"Transforming into monsters," Will added.

"And El's not stupid," Nancy reminded him, "She knows her abilities better than any of us."

"Exactly, thank you!" Max told her gratefully.

"And she is her own person."

"Exactly."

"With her own free will."

"Exactly."

"Mike, I get it," Rosie rested an easy hand on his shoulder, "You care a lot for her. It's sweet how much you do, really, but she has agency. It's really scary, seeing her put herself through this, but it's her decision in the end."

Mike's eyes softened, clearly grateful the Sunshine of the party had said something, but Max was quick to bite back again.

"El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her," Max scoffed, and Mike turned to her, angrier than Rosie had seen him before. She dropped her hand from his shoulder.

"You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?"

Rosie grimaced, and the entire group turned to her and her girlfriend.

"Wait, what?" Lucas frowned, eyes falling immediately to Rosie. She shrugged awkwardly.

"Oh, they didn't tell you this?" Mike called out, "They used El's powers to spy on us."

"No, no, no, we did not make her," Max defended, "It was her idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"Yeah, who cares?" Will sighed like this entire argument had aged him thirty years.