Max walked into the house and opened it with his house keys. He opened the unlocked door and lazily walked upstairs.

Who knew what awaited him when his mom came back?

She hadn't told him what she'd thought of him putting himself in danger. She didn't tell him what her final thoughts were.

And, of course, given what had just happened in the city, she would be looking for him.

He sighed heavily as he walked past her room and walked to his.

She would soon be there, at home, probably to take him out of school, he imagined. He hadn't really thought about it much.

She seemed to want him to go to school the next day, but she hadn't said anything about the danger he was putting himself in.

What Rose had told him that evening about being his mother being nice to her and the others had interrupted his thought process. He had decided not to worry about it then.

She wanted him to go to school, but did she want him to be in danger? That was severely unlikely.

He opened his room door and out of habit, changed his clothes, set his skateboard on the floor, and got ready to start playing Warring Dimensia 2 on his Playbox.

The thoughts continued to run in his mind. What would she say? How would she say it? Was she going to be worried, would she tell him to no longer go on missions? There was no way he could avoid this conversation now.

The anxiety had slowly begun to affect his gameplay. He missed a shot with the grapple gun and took some damage from the enemy as a result.

Max: Dang it!

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He put the game down for a moment and looked down the driveway from the window. Not a sign of her. But she would be here soon.

His phone. That was his next idea. He got it and opened his chats. There was only one text from his mom.

"I'm coming home soon."

-Mom

Max: (thinking: Great.)

A part of him was hoping he wouldn't have to have this converation just yet.

Maybe that thing keeping her busy at 7am would keep her busy for a day longer.

He sighed as he thought about it. Maybe even a week longer.

His eyes turned around the room from place to place before eventually settling on the ceiling for a moment before turning to his video game.

Another online round of Warring Dimensia 2. He played and lost his focus and lost once more.

Max: Dang it!

He almost slammed his fist against the wall before calming down and, with his Playbox and phone, going down the stairs and taking a seat at the dining table, or as he would aptly name it in this situation, the "sitdown" table.

This had happened before. His mom's "sitdowns." He knew what to expect. She was going to talk about how this was for his good and how this and that needed to happen.

She had done this many times before. Him on one chair, her on another. Her facing him.

Then would start the conversations about his safety and his wellbeing with several well thought out arguments that he had a hard time going against.

He sighed, yet another loss. Three losses in a row. That wasn't a first for him, but the way they'd happened was much faster than usual.

His mind turned to the next thought. How would she say it this time? How would she react? He had no idea. However, the anxiety was enough to keep him on the edge of his seat, twiddling his thumbs.

Maybe she would be ok with it? It is unlikely. But.... nope. He couldn't see it happening.

Fourth loss. At this point, he stopped playing the game for a second. Could he do missions in secret? No. He'd get caught eventually. He knew that much.

The next game began. His fifth.

She would probably start by trying to comfort him, he thought. She already knew how this was going to end. He already knew how this was going to end.

After comforting him, she would then tell him of her plans. And how could he say no? What argument could he come up with against her? What could he say? Your son wants to put himself in danger because he wants to have friends?

Does saying that to a mother even make sense?

He lost again. Fifth loss in a row. This time, rather than bash a wall, he simply put the game down and waited.

Clad in his home clothes, with his mom's chat open on his phone and a turned off Playbox, he waited.

No stimulation, just waiting.