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The fact that Max still doesn't know how the hell he's supposed to pay for the apartment he's in— he's been ducking the landlord for over a month now— he probably shouldn't be taking a day off. But he can only do so many days in a row in his car, so he figures it's about time.

Also, it's nice out, so if he's gonna play hooky from work, there's no better day for it. So Max heads to the park, mostly walking aimlessly because he doesn't know what else to do with his day. He could visit Luce, but he knows she's probably busy at the bar. He could head to Whiplash, but mostly he's trying to forget that he technically owns it.

The compromise is finding a bench in the park, sitting on the back with his feet resting on the seat. He's reaching into the pocket of his coat for his pack of cigarettes, realizing that he's actually out, so he doesn't see it... some kid's kickball that comes careening across the park, just missing his head.

And maybe it misses him, but Max startles enough that he flips over backwards on the bench, landing flat on the grass.

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The buzz of Freddie's phone interrupts the music he's listening to and he pulls it out of his pocket, frowning a bit at the name that pops up on the screen and the message that goes with it.

U left ur undies. Ha ha. Want them back?

He unlocks his phone with a swipe of his thumb, his frown turning into a grimace of disgust when he sees the photo that accompanies the message. Those are most certainly not his pants and, even if they were, he'd not want them back now. Slowing to a stop in the middle of the path, Freddie starts typing in his reply, stilling when he sees a flash of movement out the corner of his eye.

"Christ," he mutters, noticing first, the bloke lying flat on his back in the grass and then the ball that's bouncing not so far away from him and the kid that comes running after it. His phone forgotten for the moment as he tugs the buds out of his ears. "Did you just hit him?" he asks the kid, voice incredulous as he steps closer.

The kid barely even looks at him, just speeds past to grab his ball before rejoining his friends and Freddie only huffs a breath before turning his attention on the guy in the grass. "Hey, you alright?"

"Fuck," Max groans, wincing as he turns over on his side in the grass. He used to feel like he was mostly made of rubber; he could fall, get hit and not feel a thing. But it's been a long time since Princeton, a trip halfway around the world to a jungle he nearly died in, and nowadays, he doesn't feel so unbreakable.

Or maybe he's just getting fucking old.

"Yeah," he goes on to say, though he doesn't make much of a move to get up off of the ground just yet, "Holy shit, I think the ground's gotta be frozen or something."

Freddie's lips twitch into nearly a grin then as he holds out a hand. It's only then he realizes he's seen this guy before and he cocks his head a bit, brow furrowed.

"Max, yeah?" he asks after searching his memory. They've only met a couple times and only briefly each time. The most Freddie can remember is he's a cab driver with some enormous American car. "Anything broken?"

"Just my spirit," Max says, groaning as he grabs Freddie's hand, taking the help to get to his feet, "Thanks, man. Stuff like that happens... almost makes a guy believe in karma."

He doesn't remember a lot about that long, strange trip with Doctor Robert, but he's pretty sure someone on that bus preached the virtue of karma to all of them on the way to the circus. It had all sounded like a revelation back then, but he'd been pretty high at the time.

Though there isn't much Freddie remembers about the past couple encounters, he does remember Max being more than a little irritated both times. Maybe being knocked on his arse makes a bit more pleasant.

Or maybe it's just that isn't at work and Freddie's not accidentally jumped in front of his car.

"You've done something the universe is tryin' to make you pay for?" he asks with a quirk of a grin and an arched brow as he lets his hand drop to his side. "Or are you building up on the bullshit now so you can cash in on something good soon?"