Gabriella
When the girl opened her mouth to release a steady pour of water the likes of which could never fit inside a living girl her size, Max's stomach was challenged, followed shortly by his resolve. But, oh, Dally - *Bless him* - did just as instructed, picking up the slack to speak in a voice he was working *Ever* So hard to make soft. Even when competing with the little boy's *Hollering.*

That bolstered Max's morale enough to forge ahead. To drive the point of their harmlessness home, Max lowered himself to the ground, slow and steady, taking a seat cross-legged in the dirt.

"I know you two're probably trying to get home, too. I'm sorry," Max kept talking. 

He had no sense of how much humanity still existed in things like them, but the narrative kept building in his head. Had they known each other in life? Had they died together? Or had they found each other in this in-between state and clasped hands all the same? He could not shake the basic fact that these were children. And the only real sin a child carried was the Original variety.

Water still flowed free as a faucet from the girl, but the boy shut his mouth and stared. Expressionless. Still. 

The girl stilled, too, once her companion stopped his advance. She tilted her head sharply to the side, at a funny, contorted angle. Tracing her gaze was a task, since both their eyes were inkwells... But Max ventured she had her sight set on the flowering herb bundles.

Had she once had a big brother to make daisy chains with?

Max braved a smile. 

"You like flowers? Mhm, I do too. I was just teaching my friend here a little about them today." And then... He had a thought. A realization. His heart ached all over. "These woods have been a scary place to take up residence at all of a sudden, I bet. Did that thing's been causing trouble give you a fright last night?"

They were children. They were just children. They'd been children for so long. Stuck forever as children, dripping wet and lost in the woods. And now

The monster from under the bed was out and about, too. How awful.
_ _

"Well, hey. You don't need to worry yourselves about that. Alright? You see how big and tough my buddy Dally is? I've got lots of friends like Dally, and they're gonna make sure whatever's out there quits scaring folks."

Max laid all his herbs at his feet, save for a bundle of goldenseal that he kept hold of.

"You can have those. I don't mind. You were brave to come after us and all, thinking we might be that creature. But we've gotta get on home now, like Dally said."
Julie
Honestly, it was kind of incredible how much patience Maxwell held for inhuman things. As tender as he was with the plants, his inability to kill a chicken, and the strangest level of calm in front of ghastly creatures like this... It was something to be admired, he supposed. He'd never considered it too hard, but Maxwell Morton was a good person down to his core. 

These were just kids, he supposed. And the way the little girl looked at them, how she threw a tantrum, really did remind him of Addie when she was a little kid. Angry and upset, with no other outlet than to push it on the people around them. 

Following Max in his actions, he slowly folded his long legs up and sat on the ground too. "That's right," He said, resting his elbow on his knee. "You see that there?" He pointed at the gun that lay at his side on the ground. "Me and a whole buncha people are gonna find them things and blow em to bits for ya," He promised. "Y'all ain't gotta worry about it one, alright?" 

He glanced to Max and then back to the kids. "Lookie here," He said, and the kids' heads snapped to look distinctly in his direction. He plucked up a few yellow flowers out of the grass and, with clumsy fingers far too big for the task, managed to weave them into the tiniest ring. "I ain't know much about flowers, but my little sister Addie always said these'n here would give her magic to protect her from evil." He put it down on the grass. "So when we leave, y'all can take that. And the monster won't hurt ya." He slowly pushed himself up off the ground. "Cmon Max, we best get on home now." 

Before these spirits changed their minds about them. These things, like children, were finicky and unpredictable.
Gabriella
Maxwell was a moment shy of sending Dally a warning glance at his invocation of finding this creature and 'blowing 'em to bits,' fearing that description may not land them in the good graces of the frightening ghostly children. ...But he took note of the phrasing, 'me and a whole buncha people,' which suggested that, well, maybe Dallas might cozy up to the idea of talking to Noah and joining a regular search party after all. So. Judgement withheld. 

Besides, their visitors seemed satisfied enough, their circumstances notwithstanding.

Once they'd all of them settled, Max gave a nod of acquiescence to Dallas's suggestion they high tail it. Measured, careful not to move too quick, he stood back up as well. Just as measured, he walked a wide crescent around their company, offering all involved their rightful space. 

He kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead, walking with purpose until, finally, they spilled out onto the main road. And, as soon as the deer path was behind them, the relief was so strong it hit Max in a head rush. He pushed his hair back, shook his head, looked up at the sky, and laughed in a silent way, the kind of laugh that was just an expulsion of air. 

"Good *Gracious*, Dallas Sinclair, I ain't never seen anything like that my whole life long... My *Lord*..."
Julie
They burst out upon the main road and Dallas sighed in relief. His eyes flickered to Max, and he strangely felt a sense of relief that the man had been there for all that. Perhaps it was for the calm that usually was absent from Dallas' storm— a tenderness that he didn't possess that was almost on-loan in the moment. Either way, he wasn't sure he would've come out unscathed if he was by himself. 

His hand was tight around the length of the gun, and he slipped it around himself after a moment before clapping his hand down on Max's shoulder. Maybe it was a way to steady him in the present— it had seemed, for a moment back there, that the other had been about a million miles away. 

"You never seen something like that?" He asked curiously. "I thought all you Briar Ridge locals done seen that kinda stuff." He'd heard enough stories at least. 

"When I first moved here, I swear I heard things in the woods all the damn time. Sometimes even callin' my name." He said, shaking his head before he let his hand drop from his shoulder. 

"Guess you do got some magic in them flowers," He said.
Gabriella
Dallas clapped his hand on his shoulder, and Max placed his own hand over Dally's wrist for a held moment in response. To remind himself that he was real and Dallas were real and neither of them were apparitions, at the least - thank heavens. 

"Most folks tell fish stories more than anything. Sure, we hear things. See things. But *That* Was... Well, that was altogether something else, Dally."

Max was vibratory with a paradoxical combo of relief and adrenaline. But Dally's comment about his flowers brought the softness back to his face.

"Nah, not magic. Just - I don't know what to call it, I guess. Just like how certain foods are good for you in different ways? Same difference."

He took a step back and kept walking down the path, unable to keep still. 

"Now, what day are you coming over so we can teach you how to cook? Don't think you're weaslin' out of it just because we got a little spooked back there."
Julie
It was incredible, how one moment you could be staring down an apparition of death, and the next moment, talking about having a little dinner party. He supposed Max must've been too shook up by it all and needed a change of pace. He went with the flow, nodding along. 

"I ain't weaslin' out of anything and I resent the implication," He said, nudging him again with his elbow. He never really knew how much strength he had behind his actions, how a little nudge with the elbow might send Max stumbling if he did it too hard. 

"Teach me how t' make a soup that makes ghosts stay the hell outta my way. Think you can teach me that?" He asked, a little bit of amusement in his voice. "I'm usually workin' late, but I s'pose I could make some time on a Sunday night," He rolled his shoulders back a little. 

"The only person right spooked is *You* By the way." Was he teasing him? Maybe so.