Teach Me A Lesson

    “Well, what do you think happened? They all died.” Maxine laughed, stretched out across a shadowy section of grass. She blinked up at Cessna, waiting for an answer.
    Cessna snorted, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t say that. So Viper was your second in command? Why’d you choose him? He’s annoying.” She questioned, settling down beside the tiger with all of her legs tucked underneath her. She’d been quizzing Maxine all morning, bugging the Russian with frivolous questions.
    Maxine didn’t take nearly as long to answer as Cessna would have thought she would have. “He’s annoying as fuck, isn’t he? But he’s got a good heart and he doesn’t just leave. I knew I could trust him. Plus, if he ever got on my nerves, he was small enough to throw off a fucking cliff.” She laid a striped leg around Cessna and hauled the young fox close to groom her head. “I don’t blame you for poisoning him. Or, at least trying to.”
    “I blame myself.” Cessna mumbled, closing one eye when the tiger’s tongue rasped over her face. “I made my dad hate me.”
    Maxine pulled away from Cessna and lifted herself to her paws. “Well, dads suck. Who cares if he hates you?”
    “I care.”
    Turning her head to glance at Cessna, Max gave her a look. “You shouldn’t. You’re not defined by him. I’m the daughter of Lucifer, gatekeeper of Hell, reaper of souls and bringer of chaos, but I’m not. I’m a simple tiger out to spread the word of public property and one true ruler.” The Russian nodded as if she were confirming her point. “You can be whatever you want to be. Hell, go catch fish forever, I wouldn’t care. He shouldn’t either.”
    Cessna followed after Maxine, pondering her words. She cared. She cared a lot about what Val thought of her. Val was her greatest ally in life, wasn’t he? The one who was supposed to keep her safe and love her forever. “But I got exiled. And ruined it.”
    With a groan and a roll of her eyes, Maxine nudged Cessna with a paw. “You didn’t ruin anything, stop. You’re just like your dumb mother. Stop worrying about that! You only ruin it if you keep thinking that. When one door closes, another one opens. You’re here now. Can’t go back in time. Don’t dwell on it or else you’ll drown in sadness.”
    Cessna had thought that she had already drowned in them. “Yeah, but we were going to be a team. Him and I, taking over the world together.”
    “Okay, you want to take over the world? Done, we’ll do it.” Maxine decided without a second thought. Not uttering another word, Maxine got to her paws and padded off. Cessna started after her curiously. “Where are you going?” She asked, getting no answer back from the Siberian tiger.
    Cessna didn’t follow after Maxine, knowing better than that. The tiger was strange. Sometimes she would let Cessna follow her and other times she would send her away. Cessna decided it was better not to take any chances. Maxine always came back, so she wasn’t worried. She knew that Maxine always came looking for those she left, unlike other people she knew. Just like she had predicted, Maxine came strolling on back, something held between her jaws. It was a red ribbon with gold trim. The striped female sat down and tied it in a bow around Cessna’s neck. She wasn’t as good of a ribbon tier as Val had been, but it was good enough.
    “If you want to take over the world, we’ll take over the world.” Maxine hummed, a little smile on her face. “It’ll be a good change from what I’m doing now. We’ll call it The Union and it’ll be great.” She decided, glancing at Cessna for approval. “You, me and Walker, empty territory, start from the ground up, yes? Gotta work for it. Think you’re ready?”
    But was she? No one else thought she was any good. Jimin had gawked at her the second she had stepped foot in the Painted Brigade. The Ruins hadn’t treated her all that differently. The only one who still accepted her was Maxine. Nodding once, Cessna settled herself between Maxine’s front legs. “Of course. Together. I don’t know the first thing about running a clan.”
    “Sure, you do. What makes the whole thing go ‘round?” Max asked with a chuckle.
    “Public property?” Cessna answered, tipping her head back to stare up at Maxine. Her answer was confirmed with a nod.
    “You’re pretty smart for a Valentino baby.” She laughed.
    “There are others?” Cessna asked, furrowing her brow in annoyance.
    Maxine snorted. “Oh, you didn’t think you’re the only one, right? No, no, don’t be dumb. He’s probably got a whole pack of them out there. But you’re special to him. You’ll always be special to him. He’ll forgive you eventually. When you’re sitting on a throne, all successful, you can choose whether to let him back in or not.” She dipped her head to continue her previous grooming of Cessna’s face.
    The young fox got lost in her thoughts. She couldn’t possibly be special. That just wasn’t how it worked. No one hated something that was special. Or maybe they did? Were they scared of her? Jimin had run away pretty damn fast as soon as he laid eyes on her. Besides, if Maxine’s idea went all according to plan, why did it matter if she was special or not? She could make herself special in her own time. Settling more comfortably into Maxine’s fur, Cessna decided that perhaps things could be okay if she just stopped dwelling on them.