Lavellan

"Hmph." Max huffed, but found himself leaning into the hug after such a high emotional close call. He didn't often get hugs back home. His own jaded attitude mixed with his desire to be seen as just another grown up kept him from experiencing them. But here, in an empty bathroom stall, he felt he could give in just a bit.

Max's face fell into a glare as he tucked himself back into his underwear and pulled his pants up once more. "I'm not a baby. You're just mean."

"I am a big boy," Max weakly defended himself as his stream tapered off. "It's your fault I almost had an accident." He blamed Kyle.

Max wanted so badly to force Kyle from from the stall. But it was either tell Kyle off and piss himself. Or not. Shoving his pants down his hips, he barely had enough time to pull himself from his underwear and aim for the toilet before his bladder was giving out. A forceful stream hit the porcelain bowl and Max sighed at the immediate relief.

Max couldn't help but whine. "Can't hold it long!" He shuffled from foot-to-foot, shoving his feet into the slides despite their childish appearance. He didn't care.

Max gasped as the tickling stopped leaving him no distraction for his now immediate need to go to the bathroom. But he didn't feel like arguing terminology. "Yes, please!" He reached out to grab Kyle's offered hand, using it to pull himself to the end of the bed despite his clenched muscles.

"I am!" Max whimpered weakly. "I'm ticklish! I'm- I'm-" his brain knew the words to say even as his shame tried to fight for his last bit of dignity. But, pretty soon his shame wasn't enough. "I'm your ticklish little boy!" He blurted, eyes clenching shut as his hands darted between his legs to hold himself.

"No, no, no!" Max shrieked between laughter. He kicked weakly, toes curling in vain to ward away the tickles. "No more!" Tears sprung to his eyes without his control and a fluttering desperation started to build in his bladder.

Against his will, a small giggle broke from his mouth and he jerked back from The tickling fingers. "N-No!" He forced the smile away. "No tickles!"

"...Fine." Max pouted as he thought about the dangers of walking barefoot outside. "But I don't want to." He made sure to specify.

Max's face turned bright red as he looked at the shoes. "But those are for babies! I can't wear those in public!"

"Because I'm a big boy." Max defended himself. "I may be small, but I'm mature!"

Max's face looked pretty displeased as he looked over the clothes. "If he's such a big boy why are you calling me a little boy?" He grumbled. In vain, he tried filing through the clothes for something not so- kid like. But there was nothing. "It's pretty dumb if you ask me."

"Nothing too babyish, please." Max begged. "How old was your brother?"

"To...to listen and obey." Max repeated the rule, a displeased look upon his face.

"Mmm...No? Please?" He tried asking nicely, but knew Kyle could get rid of Max's clothes if he wanted to. "Or maybe just in this room?"

Max felt dread fill his stomach at the sight of the bag. "Uh...thanks but no thanks..." He tried to politely refuse. "I think I'm good with what I have."

Max hopped down from his bed and walked over to his boxes. There was a small shoe box that had his figures that he put on his bed, but as for his clothes, they were shoved, unfolded, into a box with his textbooks. He pulled them out and started to throw them onto the bed in a pile. His collection looked to consist of about a weeks worth of clothes. "This was all I figured I'd need. I wasn't planning on going anywhere but class and I can always just wash them." What he didn't mention was that most of his clothes at home were hand me downs from his younger siblings as they grew out of their clothes. The clothes were admittedly very childish and he refused to wear them unless he had nothing else. "Other then that I have my textbooks, my class stuff, and some regular books. What else was there to bring?" He shrugs.

Max was certain that he would not be sleeping come 8:30 or any earlier. "Sure. Go ahead." He shrugged.

Maybe it was good that Max had younger brothers. Because now, a devious thought was entering his mind. "Okay. Fine." He agreed with his usual huff. "8:30."

Max genuinely pouted, but didn't have the energy to argue anymore. It was at this point he decided to take his battles one obstacle at a time. If he tried fighting off everything, he would only tire himself out. "What else?"

"I'm not a little boy." Max huffed, but slowly removed the blanket from his face. "I'm older than you and I'm older than my brothers." Max rubbed the tears of frustration from his eyes. "Just tell me the rest of your dumb rules."

Max slumped back onto the bed. Pulling at his blankets, he turned to face the wall. "You called my mom." He sniffled. The blankets were moved to cover his face. Effectively hiding from Kyle.

"We tried to encourage a bed time of 10pm, but often times we were ignored. You see, we had 3 younger boys to attend to. We couldn't often give him the private time he needed. But he could benefit from a good schedule. And Kyle? We really appreciate you taking care of our boy." The smile in her voice was obvious. "You have my number now. Call me if you have any questions or need anything, alright?"

"Hello?" A kind sounding woman answers the phone. "Oh?" She responded as Kyle introduced himself. She couldn't help but coo as Kyle said he'd be taking care of Max. "That's very sweet of you to do, Kyle. He's very small. Easily overlooked, you know. He could do well with a friend willing to take care of him." Meanwhile, Max's jaw dropped. "You called my mom?!" He whispered urgently. "I'd recommend making sure he eats enough. Poor thing is very picky and will forget meals unless you bring them to him." She lectures. "And if you can manage, no phone time after dinner or he'll never sleep!"