Jonathan
He's just outside the facility, with his violin case. He waited until Nishi wasn't there to grab it- he didn't want to have to answer questions about it. Ares is right. It's too emotionally charged, and he needs to get rid of it. 

He lets a door slam shut behind him, not bothering, standing in the grass. 

He opens the case with baited breath. A wave of nausea floods over him as he stares at the dreaded thing. It's followed him everywhere. He can't *Fucking escape-*

He picks up the bow first, taking a deep breath...

And snaps it over his knee. That felt- good. It felt *Right.* It wasn't so hard. In his excitement from that, he grabs the violin by the neck like he's trying to strangle it, raising it over his head and-

He pauses. 

*I can't.*

*I can't do it.*

He feels his eyes filling with tears, he feels frozen, violin raised. He tries to blink back the feelings, but it doesn't work. He feels... He feels stuck. So he stands in that position for a few moments, unthinking, unmoving. 

Why did he think he could do this? How could he think he could escape from this?
Jamie
Maxwell is just passing by.

He's *Almost* Accustomed to the strange people at Newton's Cradle. Accustomed enough, at least, that when he sees a boy with long, green hair in the middle of the yard, the first thing he notices is not the flowing, brightly colored hair, but rather the violin raised above his head.

But not accustomed enough that the next thing he notices, as he walks up to investigate, isn't the hair.

Only by the time he's a few feet away does Maxwell notice the tears in this person's eyes. Without so much as a word, he grabs the neck of the violin and carefully guides it down from the raised position.

"Hey, man. Is everything okay?"
Jonathan
He didn't notice Maxwell at first, but when he reaches for the violin, he does. 

Oh great. Another person taller than him. 
*And not by much either.*
Why his mind goes there, he doesn't know. Escapism, maybe. 

He lets the violin be guided down. 

"I-" 
He quickly wipes at his eyes. God, how *Embarrassing.* 
"I'm fine. I just- was going to dispose of uhm. This." He motions to the instrument.
Jamie
"I'll t—"

Maxwell doesn't get to finish his thought before he notices the bow, snapped in half like a twig on the ground.

"Oh."

So this wasn't the "I don't need it anymore" Kind of disposal, then.

"Is something wrong with it?"

He already had a gut feeling that the answer was no. Something told him that people don't generally react to a violin being broken by smashing it. But he asked anyway.

Maybe, if it still worked, he could take it.
Jonathan
"Uh-" He pauses, having to think about how to answer this. 

"Kind of. It uhm- doesn't play how it used to. So." Is it true? He's unsure. He hasn't touched it in over a year, other than to shove it out of sight. It's as good an excuse as anything, though. 

"I was just... Taking it out." Not technically a lie. An odd thing to say, though. Moru is at a loss here. He's not about to dive into the story with this random stranger. 

The violin itself doesn't look cheap. Used and a bit old, yes, but decently high quality.
Jamie
"Hm." Maxwell gently takes it out of Moru's hands and plucks at the strings for a bit.

"It's just out of tune." From a long period of deliberate neglect, but Maxwell doesn't know that. "Should be an easy fix. I could probably take care of it, but..."

He gestures awkwardly at the bow, broken in half on the ground.

"...I'm guessing you don't really want the violin either?"
Jonathan
He tries not to cringe too hard at the noise. But he does cringe a little. *God I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I*

"Yeah uhm... Yeah. You don't have to like, fix it. It's fine. I don't want it anyways. So." He wants to grab it back, but doesn't make a move to. It'd be suspicious. He doesn't want it to keep, he wants it to dispose. 

Maybe he could ask Fin for a match.
Jamie
Maxwell isn't the most conscientious person. But he can tell something's up with Moru's weird facial expression at the plucking of the strings. And his reactions. And the broken bow, and the fact that he had been raising the violin over his head.

But Maxwell doesn't know how to broach the subject. How do you casually mention "I think you're feeling really bad about this right now"? You don't.

Maxwell looks at the violin, then at Moru. Then at the violin again. What a terribly pretty thing to just break.

He could probably start playing again. 

"Nothing's wrong with it. If you don't want it, I'll be happy to take it." Well, apart from the fact that something is very clearly wrong with Moru's reaction to it, but that doesn't detract from a perfectly good violin.

"Would you mind if I just kept it?"
Jonathan
He is going to pretend like he doesn't know Max is onto him. 

"Uhm.. Well. I- I don't know. I mean. I've had it for a long time and... It's sort of difficult to.. I don't know." But he doesn't reach for the violin, he can't reach for it. He doesn't want to touch it.

"I mean... No offense either and not to sound, like, you know... Rude. I don't really know how I feel about giving it away for free. It's... Definitely not worth much anymore, but still." That is a lie and he knows it. He could sell it for a lot. He just never wanted to.
Jamie
Maxwell shrugs. "If that's all it is, I'll pay for it." He knows that's not the only reason Moru doesn't want to let it go, but he's willing to believe that being paid for it would be persuasive enough. "I *Was* Wondering why you were throwing away a perfectly good violin, but... I get not wanting to just give it away without getting anything for it."

He pauses briefly.

"I think, if it were me, I'd be worried that I would be tempted to try to get it back later if I just gave it away for free. So I get it." He reaches into his pockets and produces a few bills. It's not much for a violin, but it's far from nothing. "Is this enough?"
Jonathan
*Say no. Just say no. Just decline.* 
But he doesn't. He can't. 

His throat feels really dry. 

"I... Okay." 
That is *The opposite of no*. But... Maxwell offered money. Mamoru could use money. Plus, if he gets money for the violin, he'd definitely be getting something out of it. It's not enough for the years of pain but..

He takes the money.

"Yeah. Deal. It's.. Fine. It's worthless to me anyways." 
The money feels dirty. He feels dirty. Ares gave him perfectly good advice and Moru turned his back on it.
Jamie
Maxwell is concerned, still. He looks at Moru for a few moments. He rests the violin on the bench, then bends down to pick up the broken bow. He would have liked the bow too, but he got there too late. Just a little bit too late.

Doesn't matter. He takes a deep breath, and sighs heavily.

"Look. I gotta ask. If you don't wanna answer, it's fine, you don't have to, but I gotta ask. I can tell something's wrong. What's up?"
Jonathan
"..." He considers it. Considers what to say in response. How much is safe to say? How much wouldn't destroy him?

"It's.. Complicated. I've had that thing for about... Seven years? Maybe? Or... Five? I can't remember- I've had a few different ones uh.. I've been playing since I was, like, six. But I hate it. And I need it gone. It's like a skeleton in my closet, you know? It's always there- I can *Feel* It, even if I can't see it." 
He shrugs, like it's no big deal. 

It is but... Hey. Pretending is cool.
Jamie
"...I'm guessing you didn't ask your mommy and daddy for a violin when you were six." Maxwell frowns sympathetically. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

Maxwell feels the tiniest twinge of guilt over having manipulated Moru into parting with the thing instead of smashing it. Smashing it probably would have been good for the poor man. But it would still have been a waste of a violin, all things considered.

"You still gonna play? Or is this your way of putting it all behind you?"
Jonathan
He looks at Maxwell sharply at that first comment, before convincing himself Max didn't mean anything by it, sighing and looking away again. "Yeah. You could say that. And honestly? I think I'd rather break my own arm than play violin again."

"Who are you anyways?" That sounded rude. "I mean, like, what's your name?" There we go.
Jamie
Maxwell nods quietly. "It's, uh... Max. Nice to meet you." 

He feels awkward. Especially with Moru having glared at him.

"I'm not sure it came out right just now, so. Like." He clears his throat to correct himself. "I'm guessing your parents made you play? Mine did the same thing. It sucks. I'm really sorry you had to put up with that." It still doesn't feel quite right saying that. But it feels slightly better than not.

"Maybe I'm getting too personal. Sorry. How about you? What's your name?"
Jonathan
"Yeah.. I'm uh.. Moru."
Oh *That's* Max. Uh oh. Moru still feels bad about participating in a bit of mockery about Max when he first got here. 

He glances away again. 
"...Something like that, yeah. I mean, I liked it when I was little, but it got old fast. But you can't just put down the one thing you're good at, so..." He does not want to vent right now. Especially since Max looks.. He's unsure how old Max looks, but he looks younger than Moru.

"It's fine. It's whatever. I'm okay. I'm... Glad to be rid of it. Do whatever you want with it." 

This is just a tad bit awkward!!
Jamie
"Yeah. I get it." Max doesn't really want to be vented *At* Either. He'd put up with it, God knows Moru would need it, but frankly it's not at the top of his list of priorities.

He decides it's probably best to leave, and grabs the violin. "Sorry about the trouble and nice meeting you and all that. I'll get this thing out of your sight."
Jonathan
"Yeah. I get it." Max doesn't really want to be vented *At* Either. He'd put up with it, God knows Moru would need it, but frank...

 "...Yeah." He nods. 
"It's- fine. You didn't do anything wrong. Thanks, actually, for buying it off of me. I got something out of it. Uhm.. Yeah. I'll probably see you online later."

He fidgets with his fingers after pocketing the cash. Oough he doesn't feel too good.