[ those older than her have been very good at saying it'll work out, without ever actually knowing if it would. and in max's experience? it almost never did. the world around them was big and scary and pretending it wasn't just made it worse.

instead, there's further relief, at not being pushed for a deeper answer than the one max had given. she's as fine as she can be, max thinks to herself. as fine as any of this is, fine in as much as wanda had given her a strange reprieve.

there's a shallow nod —] Yeah. It was. [ there's a blade of grass that max catches between her fingers, tearing at the stem because she can't keep her hands balled into fists and moving them hides their tremble.

until wanda speaks again, and it has her raising her eyes back up — a peaking sort of curiosity and surprise. ] I'm Max.

[ there's a snort, somewhat dry. ] You know, I couldn't imagine there being more than one. [ there's a beat, like she's trying to decide what to ask her, then. it's coupled with a lingering disbelief — how many red skies are there? what did that mean? was it all the upside down or — ] The guy that fished me out of that stupid pond? He said something about worlds? Like, that we're coming from a bunch of places — is that true?