the truth so loud you can't ignore [max]

It was a cool October night in London. The sky was clear of clouds but it glowed a deep golden and sapphire as the sun shone its last light, the only a sliver of white overhead. Tara Kingsley, dressed in her usual racing gear of tight black pants, a jacket that was warm but hugged her curves tightly in an effort to reduce drag, and a black ball cap pulled lower over her green eyes, a single spade on her hat. She hadn't remembered what had come first, her nickname 'Ace' or the cap, but whichever it was didn't matter much. As Ace she had proved to everyone that she was one to watch in these races.

And maybe that's why she was so surprised and eager to show up her friend Max on the field. She told him where to meet her and finally seeing his broad shoulders through the usual crowd that had gathered made her raise a hand in greeting, giving him a nod, watching as they closed the distance between them. Crowhurst and her had known each other since their Hogwarts days, always in the same circle of friends. Normally Tara wouldn't have told a Ministry lackey about her secret hobby, for good reason. If any of the guys found out that she had brought an auror into the mix, it wouldn't be good for her. In more than one way.

But Tara had already threatened Max not to say anything or come in looking all Auror-y or else she'd personally kick his ass. Crowhurst was smarter than she gave him credit for sometimes though. Ballsy too. "You ready to lose?" she threw up at him in greeting, grinning up at him from underneath her ball cap. "Want me to get the ice ready now so that you can nurse your pride when I cross that finish line before you even figure out how to kick off?"

Tara had never been the sweet and sugar type of girl. She was a winner and she didn't plan on changing any of that tonight. The thrill of the race was already running through her veins and she couldn't wait to get started.

@Maximillion Crowhurst

In the last few weeks, Max's life seemed to have taken an oddly weird turn. An internal turn, mostly, but even so, one that made him contemplate the deepest, darkest desires of himself. Carnal energies spoke as he debated this, and even as he took the final drag of his cigarette, he knew he was in for a fun ride. Not just today, as he met Tara Kingsley and most likely doing illegal things he shouldn't be doing (because, remember, on the inside, Max was a true, prime-and-proper auror). Then again, he didn't particularly care. Today was his day off, and he would let things unfold as they happened. Max was that type of guy to just let things slide off his shoulders. He stuffed the butt of his cigarette against the top of the rubbish bin before he tossed it in and pushed pass a throng of people. So many wizards and witches were crowded around, and for a minute, Max thought he was in the wrong spot. Something like speed racing wasn't much of a sport in comparison to quidditch (fan-wise, as Max thought), but apparently he was wrong. Weird. He shook his head and glanced at the sky before he let himself push through even more of a crowd.

Once he got there, he was greeted by an old Hogwarts schoolmate, Tara. She waved him over and rose an eyebrow at her as she, cocky as ever, brought up that he was going to lose. "Uh huh," he replied a bit more nonchalant than anything. He looked her over before giving a weird wide sweep of his hand up and down, "Nice get up. Especially this," he teased and reached over to tap the brim of the baseball cap. Max had always found caps outside of beanies strange and uncomfortable, so seeing them on others was equally as weird. He gave a grin before he waved off her second statement, "No ice needed. As much of a loser I am, my ego isn't the one that's going to take a bruising. I didn't bring a broom, mostly because since graduation, I don't really travel via broomstick," he pointed out with a slight shrug of his shoulders. But even that was true; he preferred apparition and floo network over the more aged broomstick riding, and even when he played pickup games with family members, they always had spares. It was one of those beautiful things that made Max, well, Max.

Tara glared a warning as he tapped the brim of her cap and stepped back out of his reach. "Don't. Touch. The hat," she told him with a warning flashing in her eyes, reflexively reaching up to straighten her ballcap even though it wasn't really needed. Superstitious? Maybe a little. But it was routine, something she couldn't break, not if it would help her win. "You're just jealous you can't look as good as alllll this," she said saucily, that devilish spark returning to her eyes as she turned on her heel and popped her hip as if in demonstration.

She started walking toward her little claim of space where she kept her gear, glancing over her shoulder and nodding for Max to follow her, turning her head toward him as they chatted. "You sure about that?" she questioned with a squint of her eyes and a grin and then laughed outright at his next admission. "Crowhurst, you didn't even bring a broom. How could you expect to win a broom racing contest without a broom?" She threw her head back and laughed, the sound of it chiming in the night air around them.

She nodded to Jimmy, a friend who mostly resembled a mountain, and who was currently guarding her gear from tampering, something unfortunately common in these circles she flew in. "You're in luck though," she added with a melodramatic sigh. "It's a good thing I'm such a nice friend because you can use my spare broom. She's finicky but reliable. If you're a sucky rider though, she won't let you ride her. She has good judgement like that," he told him with a quick wink and a smile.

"Ooh, feisty," Max teased as he held up his hands in defense to Tara's glare. He teased those he felt comfortable around, but he also knew that sometimes, things went too far. Tara retorted to his comment with virtually no issues, pointing out that he could never look as good as her, and he winked, "Maybe if I suddenly grew breasts and lost the appendage between my legs I could," he added with a thought. He had seen cousins who turned out extremely gorgeous with just the Crowhurst genes, and to be honest, Max wasn't a bad looking man himself. It could be worse, he figured. He hummed as he followed Tara though, chuckling as she pointed out that he could never win a speed race without one of the key items: a broom. He shrugged his shoulders as she pointed out that she had a spare, and he gave a grin, "Don't you always?" he asked, allowing himself to sway gently on his feet, "I don't actually own a broom. It would never get used at my job, unless I was in a different department," he added. He was quiet when he spoke, because he knew how paranoid Tara could get about the fact that he was an auror, so he didn't openly say it. He hummed as she spoke, giving a nod.

"I'll do fine with any broom, because in the long run, it's a broom," Max pointed out, giving her a wide grin, "but then again, if I need to have a rematch and I need to bring my own broom, we can arrange that, too. Either way, I won't be too disappointed no matter who wins or loses," he gave a wink, obviously trying to boost her ego because he was that type of guy, "then again, don't come whining to me if you eat my dust and end up losing, Miss Kingsley," he teased, giving a hearty chuckle. He slipped his hands into his pant pockets and looked around the area before looking at her, "Shall we get ready and get going, or is there some sort of special ritual that we have to do beforehand?"

She gave him a once over, from toes to the top of his head, and then shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably not even then," she retorted, her eyes glittering with her amusement. It wasn't like a guy like Crowhurst needed to be told he was good looking. Probably could do with a few girls not fawning all over him. Tara didn't mind being in that minority.

His admission made her throw an incredulous look over her shoulder. "You don't even own one? Damn, Crowhurst. Do they keep you locked up in the office all the time?" she teased lightly, her thoughts turning to what he did for a job and questioning herself for what felt like the umpteenth time on whether or not it had been smart to invite an auror here. Whatever, what's done is done. If he was going to pull anything, she'd get Jimmy to pound his face in before she got him with a memory charm. And then a punch to the dick just for good measure.

Tara mock gasped as his broom talk and shook her head in admonishment. "Don't let her hear you talk about her that way,' she warned with a smirk. And then she laughed outright in his face, the sound tinkling on the air as she pushed her long, dark tresses over her shoulder. "We'll just see who comes to the finish line whining, won't we?" she told him sweetly, the competitiveness in her coming out in full force.

"Get your broom and let's go, you git," she said to him as she grabbed her own broom and fingerless gloves, bumping fists with Jimmy before she turned on her heel, expecting Max to follow. "The route is pretty simple. We start there at the corner," she said pointing with a quick finger where a bunch of people were already gathered. "Go down around James Street, cut across Queen, and then back up Vine. Have to keep your disillusionment charm up the whole time. No hexes, no jinxes, no short cuts. Anything else goes. First across the line wins. Winner takes all." She rattled off the speech and then glanced at him, a slow grin turning up her lips.

"You ready?"

"Mmm. I bet you'd be wrong," Max pointed out, giving Tara a cheeky wink. The auror had an ego, but it was subtle and gentle, and definitely knew that even though he wasn't a girl, he was damn hot. To a lot of people. Men and women. He pondered about the most recent few people he was with and hummed happily. He made no attempt to point out that Tara was weird to not find him at least a tad bit attractive, but then again, Max found everyone attractive. It was really a personal decision, and he wasn't going to insult her for that, "Moving on, not about how hot either of us are," he teased, giving her a wink, "I feel like maybe I should've dressed a little less casual and a little more... me? I know you said not to dress like I am, but this is very... not me?" he tugged at the dark blue windbreaker he wore, which was very much different than the leather jacket that he often wore. He felt like he was naked in a way, and it was very... uncomfortable.

He shrugged at her comment about how he didn't own a broom, and shook his head, "No. I prefer alternate ways of travel outside of broomsticks. Apparation, for example, is five hundred times faster than a broom. As is Floo Network. But brooms are good if you don't prefer either of those," he pointed out with a slight nod of his head. He shrugged his shoulders as he followed her. He was a slightly bit hesitant grabbing the broom but he took little mind in that as the warning Tara gave him earlier. He figured it was what it was. He'd improvise as they went.

Tara explained their rules, and he rose an eyebrow, "So we just do that? It really doesn't sound that hard at all," he replied giving a shrug of his shoulders. He was as ready as he could be. He shuffled his feet ever so slightly before he gave her a grin. "As ready as I will ever be. Let's go."

Tara just stared at him impassively and shook her head. If Crowhurst was looking for compliments, he needed to fish somewhere else. It didn't matter if she personally thought he was devilishly handsome and her roommate Max probably would have given him a 11 out of 10. His ego was big enough already without her adding fuel to the fire. As he mentioned his clothes, Tara took a good look at him, her eyes skating up and down before a grin settled on her lips. "I didn't tell you to dress like a jogger," she said on a laugh, agreeing that his get up was not very 'him'. "If you earn yourself an invite back, you can wear that ratty old leather jacket you live in," she told him over her shoulder.

She waved her hand dismissively at his long list of alternative flight methods. Yada yada yada. She got the point. But any self-respecting rider still owned a broom in her book. She was probably a little biased considering she worked with brooms for a living, but hey, brooms were still a standard item all witches and wizards should have in their cupboards.

At his summation of the route and rules, Tara scoffed and rose a brow in return. "Not that hard?" she echoed with an incredulous look. She clapped her hand on his arm and shook her head. "Whatever you say, mate." And that was when she decided that she was going to pull out all the stops, not take it easy on him even if that was something that she was capable of.

"Marco, will count us down," Tara called out, her voice ringing through the crowd as a tallish man with long blonde hair nodded back to her, raising his wand as racers approached the line. Tara swung up onto her broom and pulled her hat low over her eyes. She steadied her breathing, focused her attention on the tip of Marco's wand, and then at the first sight of blue sparks, she kicked off and rose into the air, swift and speedily.

Darting ahead, Tara took a quick lead that didn't last long. She had quick reflexes, her broom optimized for speed, but there were others that were almost as good as she was. Almost, but not quite. Slung low over her broom, wind rushed over her as she sped through the route in a blur. The first corner was coming up and she knew it was a tight turn. Seeing Max on her left, she grinned and swerved at him just before the turn, purposefully trying to throw him off track. Her glittering laugh trailed behind her as she righted herself and took the turn onto Queen.

Maximillion Crowhurst hummed. He was in too good of a mood for Tara's silly words to get to him. He simply grinned and followed, ready for the action. "I guess that is if you invite me back at all," Max pointed out. He basically preened at the idea of Tara losing, although he didn't openly admit that. Anything could happen, frankly, and Max figured Tara would win. In reality. Because in reality, she had more experience on a broom, and she did this more often, and Max was just... Max. He followed quietly and hummed to himself as he nodded, "Not hard at all," he teased. He wanted to push her buttons, make her mad. He never really got into this type of stuff as a younger wizard, but Max was far from the perfect auror. Between boys and girls, and sometimes the badder things in life, Max was up for new challenges, "you never know. Maybe I will lose terribly and never want to show my face again." He knew sometimes he was a sore loser, but in the end, it was what it was. Nobody could be perfect at everything. He gave a grin.

Standing at the start line was honestly a little nerve wrecking. Max didn't mind flying; just... doing five hundred things at once seemed a bit dangerous. This was definitely a sport geared towards adrenaline junkies and speed demons. He mounted his broom and felt it give a little push (whether or not that was a good thing was beyond the former Ravenclaw's judgement), and waited for the count off. His feet shifted on the ground and he leaned forwards a little, ready to go as soon as the countdown ended. Three. Two. One. Go.

They were off. He was a little hesitant about actually getting off the ground, but soon he zoomed alongside the tail enders. Soon, though, he was in the mix with the rest of them, neck in neck with Tara. She was gunna play dirty, though; Max expected it. She swerved towards him and Max pulled up, but didn't stop. He kept going. He nearly missed the turn and pulled hard, a move that would make him feel a little bit dizzy. He steadied himself and headed straight towards her. He didn't expect this to be as fun, but wow, was he having a thrill.

"Gotta try harder than that, Kingsley!" he teased as he returned to her, just slightly behind. He waited until their next turn to really push ahead, purposely pulling around the corner much too sharp, and hoping to throw her off with the distraction.

"You're as dumb as you look," Tara tossed back at him with a grin and a shake of her head. She knew he was probably just yanking her chain, but she also secretly hoped that he wasn't putting as much stock into this as he should. She liked to win and win big. Even against mates who weren't as experienced as she was in the street racing ring. She laughed at his prediction that he would fail terribly, but sent him a wink and a "you said it, not me" quip.

Tara laughed again as he reacted quickly to her attempt at messing with him mid-air. He must have been expecting. Maybe not as dumb as he looks, folks. Still, she threw a look over her shoulder at him, watching as he took the corner. She didn't know which half had been bigger: wanting him to totally eat it around the corner or wanting him to make it so the pay off when she won was that much greater. She was competitive and she wanted to win, but she didn't want to win easy.

The only thing now was that her sightseeing moment had slowed her pace. She felt the wind against her, signalling a few other racers had passed her and the distance between her and Max was closing quickly. His teasing call to her and the fact that his voice carried over the wind closer than she would have liked made her knuckle down and hug her broom tighter.

The next turn onto Vine was coming up quickly and Tara hazarded a glance over her shoulder to see how close Max was. She eyed the dark night in front of her and quickly mapped out the path she wanted to take around the corner. She couldn't help but notice that Max was cutting it sharp. Rookie mistake. She turned the corner with a good edge, but Max was still too close for comfort for the last straightaway.

"C'mon Crowhurst, put a little effort into this!" she called back to him as she zoomed toward the finish line.

"Please."

Max could hear Tara's jab over the wind. Sure, his last turn was a little too close for comfort (he could even reach out and touch the sides of the buildings it had been that close), but he was learning. Honestly, Max was having fun, and while he knew he'd be a brat should he not win, he wasn't doing half as bad as he expected to. He wasn't in last like he figured he'd be, but he was definitely not in first, either. He was in the middle, one behind Tara. She could give him shit about how bad he did all she wanted, but honestly, he was glad he could hold his ground. He buckled himself down closer to the handle of the broom. The wind whipped through his hair, pushing it up awkwardly in the front and the sides; by the time they would be done, his hair would be stuck up in a weird way, and he'd have to comb it to get the tangles out. He huffed quietly as he watched Tara round the corner, heading towards the finish line.

And then Max himself was at the corner. He pulled sharp on the front of his broom, almost missing the turn. Too wide, he thought, as he felt himself leaning way too close to the buildings. Had he not been quick to catch his mistake, he would've barreled head first into the steel and concrete of the muggle world. He could just see that story in the newspapers in the morning: mysterious human-sized hole created in a building on Vine, sources have no idea if this was a hit and run, but authorities are trying to solve the matter. He snorted at his thoughts as he straightened out and headed towards the finish line, too. There was now even more distance between himself and Tara, but thankfully, nobody behind him had passed him. They were getting close, though, so he leaned down and gave it his all.

The finish line was coming up, but he knew that he'd never be able to beat Tara with the lead she had on him.

The finish line was close and she could already feel the victory zinging through her veins. Blue sparks from the refs wand shot out as she crossed the finish line first and she pumped her first in the air, her white teeth gleaming in the dark as the adrenaline high from the race blazed through her. She steered her broom in a wide circle, watching as Max finished close behind her. Later than her, but surprisingly closer than she might have guessed for a rookie.

"Whattaya have to say now, Crowhurst?" she asked him with a grin as she pulled alongside of him. There was something in the Auror's eyes that she recognized and she liked it, whether that be the yearn for the thrill or the midnight adrenaline or the excitement that the night held. She didn't really care exactly what it was. All she knew was that the world was at her fingertips, hers for the taking.

"Let's go," she nodded to the side toward where her stuff had been. "Let's put these brooms down and then you can buy me a victory drink." She winked from under the brim of her black ace hat and then sidled away into the night.

((out. feel free to post again if you want though?))

Max wasn't too sad as he crossed the finish line right after Tara, although he was a little miffed. He was always a bad loser, so this was honestly one of those surprising things that he had to keep down. "Eh," he shrugged his shoulders, and then nudged Tara with his shoulder, pushing her and her broom slightly off to the side, "I think for the first time broom racing I did pretty good. You have to admit that, Kingsley," he pointed out, a grin crossing his face. He dropped himself from the broom he borrowed and held it between his chest and arm as he dug through his pockets. Out came a pack of cigarettes and his wand, flicking the tip of it to light the end of the cigarette. Mmm. Delicious.

"Yeah, yeah," he mused as he walked away with her, laughing, "drinks it is, although, you should buy me a drink, too. I didn't do too bad," he grinned. And, he, too, was off in the cover of night, the last glow of his cigarette the end of where he was. He made sure to put his broom away and to tuck his wand away, but he wasn't too far from Tara's own step that he lost her. He'd go wherever she wanted for her drink. He was okay with it.

[[end]]