Tintin x Reader

Chapter 19

You thought about the week's recent events. Your ransacked apartment. The fight with Rancher. Now Max being told to follow Tintin onto the Djebel Amilah. Something didn't add up, and everything seemed off to you. You just couldn't put your finger on it.

The answer to that was childishly simple, though you couldn't figure out that just yet. Neither did Tintin, for he was focused on today's events to even concentrate about it.

You shrugged it off. Perhaps you were just deprived of sleep. You ushered everyone out of your cabin, claiming to want some more sleep. But Max said,

"I-I don't have a cabin. I may have... stolen away."

You facepalmed. But he did claim to have brought his own personal stuff, however the cabin part... you just made it clear to the boys you had no plans of sharing cabins.

"You males sort out the situation yourselves. I've had enough for today, and I'm hitting the sack now."

Tintin looked shocked. "In the early afternoon? But (y/n) – "

Too late. The door was shut in front of their faces.

While you were sleeping soundly in your cabin, Max was chosen to move in with Tintin, with them being around the same age and so. And, with Snowy around, Max wouldn't even dare try anything that would alert the terrier. For despite the dog's size, it had quite the warning bark.

It was in the late afternoon that you woke up from your slumber. Not knowing if the others were doing anything, you decided to take a walk around the friont deck. You were surprised, for the the boat's rocking didn't affect you much as before, so you took advantage of it. Exiting the hallway, you saw some passengers just lounging around. There were some with shades, hats, although it wasn't that particularly sunny. You took no notice of them and walked to the nearest railing.

You felt at peace – the wind brushing past your face, the sound of the lapping sea waves, and –

"Hey," a voice said. You turned, seeing Max standing a few feet behind you. You gave him a small nod, as if acknowledging his presence.

"I'm sorry for knocking you down a few hours earlier," he said, positioning himself on the space beside you. "And for trying to steal the book."

You smiled to yourself; this guy maybe wasn't a jerk after all. You were about to reply with an 'It's okay', but you were cut off by Max.

"Although you should've watched where you were going."

You rolled your eyes. "Jerk," you mumbled.

Max leaned in. "What was that?" he asked. You shook your head, waving it off as nothing. You stared off into the distant space of the ocean in front of you, dwelling in your deep thoughts until –

"My sister and I were orphans." You identified it as Max's voice. You cocked your head to look at him. Your eyebrows were slightly pinned down, being confused on what on earth could possibly make him say something so personal to you.

"And you're telling me this because...?" you trailed off, waiting expectantly for an answer. He shrugged. "You guys were bound to ask me questions about my past anyway." You nodded slowly, it being particularly true. It was sort of necessary to know about Max's background soon.

Max continued, "So, I decided to save you three the hassle of asking questions repeatedly, proven that it will help in saving my sister and your relatives of sorts." A corner of your lip quirked into a smile. "It most definitely will." You paused.

"So... your background?" you prodded.

Max stared at the crashing waters below. "Right. So... after both of our parents died in a car accident-"

"I'm sorry," you suddenly interrupted. "about your parents." He gave you a soft smile. "It's alright. That... that was a long time ago." He shrugged once more. "We were took in the care of our uncle – who was clearly not fit to be taking care of children, due to his excessive wants of riches and wealth, with gambling as a habit – and before we knew it, he disappeared without the slightest trace."

You listened intently.

"He disappeared after a few months of hardly taking care of us, yet he still got to know our routines. And the day he disappeared was somewhat a year ago."

Though you found his backstory confusing, it seemed like a coincidence that the time his unnamed uncle disappeared was around when your parents were threatened and kidnapped by Mr. Notus.

You wanted to clear up some questions, to know if the descriptions of his uncle matched the ones of the crime lord. "Do you know his name? Appearance maybe?"

He shook his head. He told you that their uncle never bothered to even tell them, and his uncle's appearance was still hazy in his head, after a year and a few months on living the hard life with his sister.

Okay, your suspicions may be a too far-fetched, but you just needed to get more evidences. However, you knew it wasn't your top priority now. You thanked him for the backstory narration, and you were about to excuse yourself until Max bombarded you with another question – one that you least expected.

 Another chapter, finally! Sorry for not updating in quite a while, but thanks for reading!