Chapter Text
Luis moved his knight across the board and tried to not be too smug. He was almost certain tonight would be the night he finally beat Max at chess. It had been his own personal summer challenge. Well, the challenge was really to beat Max at any game where strength didn't matter.
Strength based games felt like cheating, even if Luis didn't have super strength like his mama used to. Max still believed he did, and Luis had still spent most of his life working out in some way shape or form.
Although now he was starting to think Max had super brains or something.
"You're gonna lose again if you focus on strategy." Luis looked across the room and saw his cousin, Florencia, leaning in the doorway and watching him and Max. No one actually called her Florencia, except for her mama and their bisabuela. Everyone else called her Camilla, since she was basically a gender-swapped clone of her mama's cousin Camillo. She even had a gift!
Gifts were rare in the family now, only five out of Luis' seventeen cousins had any. Camilla's was telepathy, she spoke inside people's heads. She'd found it great fun to mess with Max when he showed up at the start of summer.
Max hadn't been as thrilled, but had seemed to settle into it over the two months. "Leave me alone, Camilla."
Max smirked across the chess table, clearly knowing something was up even though he hadn't heard anything. "What's she telling you now?"
"If you put your hand on his cheek or arm he'd lose," she pushed, her voice echoing in Luis' head.
"Nothing important," he told Max, out loud, hoping Camilla got the point. Max had moved one of his pawns. He'd captured about two thirds of Luis' pieces, whereas Luis had only managed to get two or three.
Luis moved his Bishop and Camilla stepped further into the room. It was one of the smaller rooms, smudged between the kitchen and the garden. "It's not really cheating if he's your boyfriend, is it?"
Luis hesitated. Because he always hesitated when Camilla said stuff like that. Max raised an eyebrow but Luis waved him off.
Truth was, he wasn't entirely sure what he and Max were. They'd started the year as enemies and reluctant roommates - Principal Uma refused to move either of them because 'it'd be good for them'. Over the year, they didn't exactly grow close, but grew familiar. They just got used to each other. They still fought, because of course they would. The fighting just became more…boring? It went from vicious insults and occasionally throwing punches, to taunts and teasing and Max smirking and winking and Luis not entirely sure how to feel about it.
Then, Max had nowhere to go over summer.
That wasn't strictly true. He planned to go hang out in his old home on the Isle for two months. Hazel and the Smees were apparently going on a Neverland Adventure with Principal Uma and Vice Principal Harry. Felix was going on a family trip to New Orleans to 'learn the tricks of the trade'.
Luis had told his mama about it, about how confused he felt about Max being alone for two months. His mama had invited Max over for the summer. He wouldn't be the first of Luis' friends to stay over. Robbie had spent most of their school breaks at the Madrigals since his family could show up whenever. The idea of inviting Max over felt weird, though. Like it was different from Robbie staying over.
Of course it was different, him and Max were enemies.
Over the two months, though, Max hadn't been villainous. Annoying? All the time. He'd taught some of Luis' younger cousins how to play poker and had pulled minor pranks on the people in the village. But nothing for anyone to truly get mad over. In fact, people liked him.
Max charmed his family during dinners and managed to help cook a few meals. He seemingly understood how to keep the little ones entertained (though he wasn't allowed to use cards around them anymore).
Luis' older cousin, Martha, who went to the local school, had asked if Max was single during the second week. Luis had acted disgusted, and told Martha she could do better.
Camilla had watched the whole thing, and had started calling Max his boyfriend. Only ever in Luis' head though. That's what she'd promised, at least.
Luis wasn't sure when the shift happened, but somehow they'd ended up spending more time together. Luis showed Max the village, and all his favourite spots, and Max actually seemed to care. He learnt what little of Max's childhood he'd willingly share, how he met Hazel when they were eight and how she was the first person to be kind to him.
They hadn't kissed. At most they'd cuddled. And not so much cuddled, but woke up wrapped around each other. It wasn't strange to share a bed, he'd shared with Robbie whenever he'd stayed over. There were limited beds, after all.
It was different than sharing with Robbie, though.
They hadn't kissed, but Max kept flirting, kept winking and smirking and laughing every time Luis stumbled or hesitated. He'd never pictured himself with a guy before, that had never even been on the table.
Of course, when he pictured his future partner, it was always a vague blob, barely an outline. Someone nice. Someone funny. Someone who understood him like all the couples around him. Someone who'd stay and fitted in with his family. Someone better than his own dad.
Now the blob was slowly starting to look like a boy with dark hair, a long coat and a hat.
They hadn't kissed, but Luis wanted to.
"Check," Max grinned, moving one of his pieces in front of Luis' queen. "When are you going to learn, Madrigal? No one can beat me."
Luis looked down at the chessboard. Had he been starring at Max? Had it been obvious? He chose a random move, accepting his defeat already.
Max cackled victoriously as he took the queen, proudly declaring; "Checkmate!"
"God, you're both so boring," Camilla lamented, out loud. "Every game between you two is the same."
"Stop eavesdropping on our games, then?" Luis suggested. Camilla was only thirteen, and had always attached herself to Luis whenever he came home. But this summer it felt too suffocating. He'd had to sneak out of the house if he'd wanted to hang out with just Max.
"She's alright," Max replied. Because Luis was pretty sure nothing was strange for Max. He was pretty sure this was just a summer spent at someone's house. He was pretty sure Max wasn't trying to stay calm and cool while rethinking his entire life and personhood over the fact he might be into guys.
Camilla walked over to the small table and flopped onto the empty third chair. "What's the plan for the rest of the day?" she asked.
"Relaxing until dinner," Luis said. "We're heading back to Auradon tomorrow, remember?"
"Take me with you!" she begged, turning between Luis and Max. Both of them had to hold back their laughter.
"You know we can't," Luis said. "When you're old enough and if Tia Isabella agrees. I'll do my best to hype up the school for you."
Camilla still pouted, but mercifully changed topics. "Are you excited to go back to school? To see your other friends?"
Max shrugged, already putting the chess pieces away. Luis quickly jumped to help him. "We'll sink back into old times," he said. "Like we never left. How it's always been."
"Why aren't you with them?"
"Camilla," Luis warned.
"Relax, Madrigal," Max said. "Not the worst thing she could've said." He turned to Camilla. "They're off with their families, having adventures of their own."
"Why aren't you with your family?"
"I think I hear Tia Isabella," Luis announced, standing up and grabbing Camilla by the arm. She protested as she got dragged out of the room. "Sorry about her," he said, once Camilla was finally gone.
Max shrugged again. "She was just curious." He put the lid back on the box of chess pieces. "Hey, Madrigal, I just, uh…I wanted to say thanks. For inviting me. It's been, uh, nice. Not having everyone question me."
Max wasn't looking at him, and Luis wasn't sure he wanted Max to look at him. Besides the nagging at the back of his mind that always wanted Max's attention on him. "No problem," Luis said, awkwardly putting a hand on Max's shoulder and giving a small squeeze.
Max yelped and grabbed his shoulder. Luis dropped his hand instantly. "Oh, uh, I didn't mean to—"
Luis cut himself off at Max's laughter. "God, you are so gullible."
"And you're awful," Luis said, but didn't mean it. "Oh, since we're leaving tomorrow, tio abuelo Bruno wants to give you a prophecy. It's a tradition."
Max turned to look at Luis. "What do you mean prophecy?"
"Nothing bad," Luis reassured. "It'll be stuff like 'you'll get good grades' or 'you'll find a new love' or 'you'll go bald'." Luis awkwardly laughed, trying to wipe the second suggestion from his own memory.
Max smirked. "Going bald wouldn't be horrible."
"But your hair's nice," Luis said, gently tugging on a few strands of purple dye underneath Max's hat. At least, he assumed it was purple dye. "It's…"
Max looked up at him with a soft but unreadable expression. "It's what?"
He coughed and pulled his hand back. "Cool. Having the dyed tips."
"No, no, no," Max said, grabbing Luis' hand to stop his leaving. "You were gonna say something else."
Luis tried to look anywhere but at Max, he knew he'd slip up if Max kept looking at him like that. Except, Max clearly had other plans. He took Luis' chin and gently guided Luis to look at him.
Max was just…soft. His light brown eyes were open and warm, his smirk was smooth around the edges, dipping into an actual smile.
Luis somehow was completely exposed and the safest he'd ever been. His heart wouldn't stop racing. He was almost certain he was about to have a heart attack or something.
"Luis?" Max prompted, even his voice was soft. How the hell could anyone mistake someone like him for a villain? "You were saying something about my hair?"
"I want to kiss you."
Oh god he'd actually said it. Oh god Max had heard. Maybe if he ran fast enough, he'd never face Max again? Maybe he could hide in the walls of the house like Bruno did. It seemed to work out well for him. Yeah, he'd fake his death and hide in the walls of his house for the rest of his—
And then Max Hatter was kissing him.
He'd dropped his hand from Luis' chin and had moved it to the back of Luis' neck. Max's lips were dry, and his breath was warm against Luis' lips when he pulled away ever so slightly. But even that inch was too far, and Luis was pulling Max back against him before he'd even realised what was happening.
"Time for dinner!"
Luis wasn't sure who called out, just that he stumbled back so suddenly he hit his back on the wall. Max was already at his side when he opened his eyes again. "Don't fall for me too hard," he whispered, before stepping back and heading towards the dinning room.
Luis scrambled to catch up.
~~~~
Dinner, or really any meal, at the Madrigal house was a chaotic mess. There were at least five conversations happening at once, someone stealing from your plate and the great-grandma was criticising someone for something minor.
This time it was no different. Max had grown used to it all, but it still made something in his chest ache.
In some ways it was like eating with the Hook's and Uma and Gil. Laughing loudly and messing with each other. The outside world didn't matter, who you're 'real' family was didn't matter. All that mattered was being there and making sure everyone ate.
In other ways, it was the exact opposite of every family meal Max had ever experienced. Even the few he remembered with his mum and dad, they had been far quieter. Everyone was in on one conversation, usually about machines or mechanics or some sciencey topic.
Luis nudged him gently under the table. "You okay?"
Max nodded and took another bite. At first he wasn't sure what Madrigal's play was when he invited him over for the summer. Honestly, he assumed Madrigal was just being polite and expected Max to decline the offer, so figured spending the summer annoying Madrigal was better than nothing.
The fact he liked Luis' face and smile and voice and being around him was just a benefit.
"So, Max," one of Luis' aunts said, the one with round glasses and a mischievous smile. "Excited to go back to school? It must've been hard being away from your friends and family."
Luis went to speak but Max beat him to it. "I wouldn't say 'excited'," he joked. "And I see my friends all the time at school, they're basically my family."
"Family is the most important thing in the world," the eldest at the table said, the great grandma.
"Not everyone has a family like ours, abuela," Luis' mum said, putting a reassuring hand on her wrist. "Besides, we haven't always been this great, either."
The older woman huffed and clearly wanted the topic to change. "What classes are you doing next year?" the first woman, Mirabel if Max remembered correctly, said.
"Mostly tech stuff," Max said. "There's this potions class I'm taking that looks interesting."
"Tell Luis about it so he can tell the rest of us," one of Luis' cousins said. She was about a year older than him and Luis, with similar hair to Hazel, and a flirty smile. She really needed to get off this mountain if she thought Max was worth anything. "It sounds so cool."
"Martha," Luis said in a warning tone.
"What? I'm being honest."
"Well, before anyone goes back to school," Bruno said, the oldest man at the table with a salt and pepper hair that made his head look even rounder. "You have a prophecy. Family tradition, free of charge."
"How accurate are your prophecies?" Max asked, pretending to be sceptical. Honestly, he was a bit sceptical. Felix and Celia had both told him his future in the cards, but it was always either vague enough for it to be anything, or complete lies.
The entire table went silent for a split second, before erupting in noise again; everyone had a story about how true Bruno's prophecies were. 'He predicted I'd finally break out of being perfect, and he was right. Also my powers would grow…until they disappeared, at least' or 'He knew I'd find the love of my life' or 'He predicted I'd graduate top of my class'.
Bruno chuckled as it all died down. "Come to my room after dinner. Alone. And bring water."
Max turned to Luis, who just nodded gravely. "There's so many stairs."
So, once dinner had finished up, Max was give a large bottle of water and sent on his way. He assumed everyone had been exaggerating about the stairs.
He was wrong.
The entire room, which seemed almost as big as the mountain itself despite still being in the house, was either sand, sandstone or stairs. When he finally reached the top, there was a rickety wooden bridge leading to a dark tunnel. "How big is this room?"
Luis' room was small, at least in comparison. It was a bed, a set of drawers, a closet and a desk with a window overlooking the nature side of the mountain.
Max continued walking, because there wasn't much else to do. He'd already drank all the water, and now was just carrying the empty bottle in his hand.
The tunnel had faces carved into the sandstone, and old clay vases lining it. The wind echoed through it, like it was whispering to him. He'd had just about enough of this house and hearing voices. He'd almost had a panic attack when Camilla first started talking in his head. He didn't need the wind to do it too.
Bruno was standing in the middle of the next room. Sand covered the floor, and giant stone pillars shot up from the ground all around them both. "Welcome." Bruno had a hood covering his face, his regular dark green poncho covering his body.
"Where do you sleep?" Max asked, looking around. He hadn't seen a bed or any furniture the whole time he'd been in Bruno's room.
Bruno took the hood off and grinned. His eyes were already a bright, acidic green. "I have a separate room guests can't see. It's great when someone's trying to wake everyone up." Max bit back a laugh. "Now, ready?"
"Just something small, yeah?" Max asked, hesitantly holding out his hands to Bruno.
Bruno took his hands, he was warm. All the Madrigals were warm, from what Max had found, at least. "I can't really control what I see, I'm afraid. Now, hold on tight."
The sand around them lifted up in a whirlwind, spinning faster and faster around them until it created a sphere all around them. It pulsed with green magic, before the green sand started dancing together and creating images.
The first one was him, Hazel, Felix and the Smees laughing and messing with some freshmen. Okay, not a great look, but pretty normal.
The sand twisted again until it became Hazel and Luis fighting in a forest Max barely recognised. It was clearly heated, with Hazel brandishing her hook over his throat and Luis looking three seconds from screaming in anger.
Then, his father was brandishing the Queen of Hearts playing cards, with the Queen herself trapped behind vines. His father was laughing manically, head thrown back and that glint in his eyes that never really left.
Max went cold. But he stopped breathing at the fourth image.
His mother. Older, with her blonde hair tied back, sat at a long table, all alone.
And finally, Max, holding a pocket watch, with the same glint in his eye his father had.
The sand collapsed around them and Max yanked his hands free. "Hey, kid, it's not always like that," Bruno said, clearly trying to be comforting. "The future is malleable. Nothing you've seen is guaranteed."
"Everyone says your prophecies come true," he snapped. He took a deep breath. "I need to go wash the sand out of my hair."
Luis was waiting for him outside. Max tried his best not to flinch. "How did it go?"
Luis walked by Max's side as they headed…honestly Max wasn't sure. "Fine," he pushed out. "Just…fine."
Luis led them outside, to the front of the house. The stars were out now, shinning in the inky blackness. They sat in the grass, by one of the front windows, but the house closed the shutters by itself. Hesitantly, Luis held Max's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "So, back to school tomorrow…"
Usually, Max would hate the whole conversation. He'd talk about anything else just to make Luis stop. But after those visions, he needed something normal. He needed to be normal for just one night.
Max squeezed back. "Are we going to hate each other again?"
"No," Luis said, as if the idea itself was insane. "I…I'd like to be friends. I'd like to be more, actually."
Max had never actually dated anyone before. He'd had crushes. He'd thought about dating before. It all seemed pretty pointless. The only romance that had ever lasted in Max's life was Uma, Harry and Gil. And they never really acted like a typical couple, or throuple.
Luis said something in Spanish and Max vaguely understood it was some sort of curse. "Wow, am I corrupting you?" he teased.
"I don't know what to say," Luis admitted, running one hand through his hair. "I mean, I'm not exactly the…I don't know, dating type? Not in an asshole kinda way, just…I'm doing this all wrong."
Max squeezed his hand. "I've never dated anyone either."
"I always figured it had to be big romantic gestures," Luis said quietly. "Saving a princess from a tower, or true love's kiss or something like that."
"We're not even sixteen," Max reassured him. "I don't think anyone's expecting you to rescue a damsel from distress just yet."
Luis didn't talk for a moment, just watching the stars through the treeline. "When we go back to school…" he began. "Are we going to stay like this? Whatever this is?"
"It'd be weird for a VK and HK to hang out," Max said. "But no weirder than anything else from Wonderland."
"You hate being associated with Wonderland."
Max shrugged. "Maybe some parts aren't so bad." Hesitantly, Max rested his head on Luis' shoulder, expecting to be shrugged off. Instead, Luis rested his head on top of Max's.