They took River's car for the half hour journey to the cherry farm. Lara appeared incapable of shutting up, while Max was very close to dozing off - despite Lara's irritation.
Max was woken up in a odd way. His body swayed and jolted gently, and opening his hazed eyes, a slightly blurry stubbled chin appeared above him. Was he... River was carrying him? He smelled good. River smelled really good. And was so warm. Max should be protesting, trying to stand up in his own but... why not enjoy himself just a little longer? As all cats, Max was a creature of comfort, and right now, the comfiest spot was in River's arms.
"Is he... is he snuggling you?" Lara's voice filtered through, but Max still couldn't work up the will to move, even as he listened to them.
River hummed. "I don't mind." A moment of silence. "He's kinda cute."
Max buried his face further into the crook of River's arm, if only to try to hide whatever blush might be rising.
"Ohh? What was that you said, River?" From Lara's tone of voice, she knew exactly what River said.
He didn't seem to notice. "I... I said... he's cute."
Max didn't hear anymore. He stopped listening and found himself drifting off once again. When he woke up again, he was face down on the ground in slight pain.
"What... the fuck...?" He asked as he pushed himself up off the packed dirt trail.
"You opened your eyes and then tried to punch me." River told him. "Do you do that a lot?"
Max blinked. And then felt heat rise in his face. "I... sorry. It's a side effect of being a marine." Giving the barest of smiles, he tacked on, "You start moving before you actually wake up."
River held a hand out instead of commenting. Max let the other man help him up and they continued to walk to the cherry farm.
"Well this is awkward." Lara giggled. "Cherry picking is supposed to be fun guys. Cheer up."
"I'm always like this," Max raised an eyebrow, turning to River. "What's your excuse?"
River looked surprised that Max had called him out. And then he frowned. "I..." he shrugged, running fingers through his hair. "I don't know."
That was a lie. Max knew that was a lie. It was written all over the nervous gestures. Of course, Max didn't want to push. Pushing would, once again, mean he'd have to admit to noticing every time those beautifully strong hands carded through that thick dark hair.
No Max... he couldn't think about that. He already knew he was fond of River but if he started pining over the man...
That would be pathetic.
Max continued walking. In an effort to alleviate the awkwardness, Lara started humming a song. It was one Max knew, so he joined in, singing the lyrics with a voice that was a little out of tune. He didn't really care.
The walk was over in just three minutes and they were greeted by what looked like a small cottage. The doors were wide, with a sign in the window proclaiming they were open. A grizzly old man sat at the counter, greeting the three of them with a glad smile.
"Welcome, y'all are here at prime cherry pickin' season." He grinned, a single canine missing. "One basket, as many as you can fit in it, fifteen bucks."
They each walked out with a basket. Lara was quick to go off on her own, telling the two men she would meet them back at the cottage in three hours. River stuck with Max, oddly enough.
"Why do I make you nervous?" Max wanted to ask. "Why are you always so uncomfortable around me? Why don't you smile with your eyes?" He didn't ask.
Max crouched down, the clear plastic gloves on his fingers crinkling as he picked the first wild cherry. He refrained from snorting, having reminded himself of the movie, and dropped another in the basket.
"I'm sorry," River said suddenly, eyes intent on the cherries.
Max raised a brow, and then turned back to the bush. "Sorry for what?"
"For the whole sleep thing earlier."
Max snorted. River didn't need to apologise for that. It wasn't anything Max wasn't already aware of. He'd accidentally gone to punch Marie-Anne more than a couple times before he was fully awake. Luckily for both of them, Marie-Anne was a cheetah shifter with faster reflexes than Max could ever hope to have.
"Didn't I punch you?"
"Almost," River nodded. "But it was my fault. I was carrying you from the car. It probably wouldn't have happened if I'd just woken you up."
Max was already shaking his head. "You would have made yourself an easier target."
"Whatever, just forgive me already."
Ah, there was the brash River that Max had first met. It hadn't made an appearance since that first encounter.
"Well, when you put it like that."
River sighed. "Sorry, I just-"
"You do a whole lot of apologising." Max noted in his usual, soft voice.
"Your accent really comes out on the word 'whole'." River said.
Max smirked. "Your smile never really reaches your eyes."
"Your way of getting comfy at home is weird."
"Your eyes make me nervous."
"You smell so good, all the time."
That stopped Max's next observation. River thought he smelled good. River thought he smelled good? Heat, that irritating obvious heat that always appeared when River was around rose in Max's cheeks yet again.
"You..." Max turned to away, heart tripping rather than racing. Too caught off guard to be running at full speed. "You smell good too." He managed.
They didn't speak after that. Max wasn't psychic, he couldn't see River's thoughts, and he didn't particularly want to continue a conversation that left him feeling awkward and with more heat in his cheeks than he'd prefer. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to move away from River as they continued to pick cherries. The silence followed them as they went, but neither man went far, each time gravitating back to each other.
Max noticed. At first he thought it was just him. But then he got up to go to a different patch and River went with him. And from there, they stayed quite close. Close enough for Max to feel the warmth coming off the other man, for River's scent to wash over him. A pleased rolling chuff almost left his chest as he got caught up in it.
In its place, a quiet whine. Hopefully too quite for River to notice, to give him that surprised glance, to stop with a handful of cherries halfway to the basket. Max couldn't stop the blush - he seemed to be doing that a lot today - that revealed his embarrassment as River's eyes continued to linger on him. He felt it. River's intimidating bottomless brown eyes had a weight to them that bore into Max.
"Kitten," River whispered.
"W-what?" Max cried, surprisingly loud.
River's own eyes widened as he turned away from Max. "N-nothing."
"What are you two doing?" Lara's voice sent both men scrambling to their feet in an odd panic.
"Nothing." River declared, nervousness lacing his voice.
Max rolled his eyes. For a guy that seemed to keep a lot to himself, he was really bad at hiding things. "Picking cherries." Max calmly told Lara. "What else would we be doing?"
"Oh I dunno," she smirked, "making out?"
They blinked. Neither said anything to that. Then River chuckled, beginning to appear calm once more even as he ran his fingers through that thick hair. Max just rolled his eyes. Was it worth replying to the crazy lady?
He sighed. "Yes, Lara. We were definitely making out in the middle of a cherry farm. You interrupted before we could get any further."
"I'm really not appreciating the sarcasm, Mr Waters." She pouted.
River shrugged. "You did bring it up." He smiled gently to lessen the blow. "Weren't we supposed to meet at the cottage?"
Lara huffed. "Whatever, you guys were late, so I came looking for you, only to find both of you blushing like crazy."
Again, both men were quiet in response. With another irritated sigh, and a secretive smile that Max did see, they left with their pickings.