The tension rolled in thick and heavy as a summer storm. Even Max could feel it, though her intuition had always been more tenacious than her blissful ignorance. It made her [i]good[/i] at people, it made her love people. It also made her impulsive and spontaneous, and probably a little too sensitive to those few threats she did perceive. 

There were rumors older than her brothers that Iikka had sort of a violent streak. She'd never given much credence to them. She made it a point to avoid gossip, especially the kind that could hurt someone's feelings. That, and she was never really included in most gossip. But she knew it could hurt, and if she were the type to be easily put down by people, instead of just fascinated by them, she might have even been resentful. Instead, she did her best to duck either side of a potentially vicious cycle and ignore rumors, whether they were about Iikka, her, or someone else entirely. 

Still. Iikka hadn't seemed so joke-y in his otherwise pedantic taunting of Mario. Making up a scavenger hunt when you knew there was nothing to be scavenging seemed sort of cruel, and Mario's avoidance of the situation didn't come across as wet blanket-y so much as pragmatic in a way Max could never be. There wasn't really any need to call names, except that maybe Iikka had been caught in his joke/lie and was being sort of mean about it now. 

She glanced sidelong at Mario, then back to Iikka, the faintest beginnings of a frown flitting across her face. She didn't take offense to much -- your could hit her with an SUV and she'd laugh it off as long as everyone walked away in one piece -- but she [i]really[/i] didn't like bullies. 

But Iikka was already walking away, and she was more or less content to let him go, though she was faintly curious what would make a person want to lie about a scavenger hunt in the first place. She wondered if maybe he was lonely, and made a mental note for herself to find him at lunch one day. She had a few comic books she thought he might like. 

For now, though, she smiled brightly at Jason before he could leave. "I think I'll try that, thanks. They really liked Kirby in all those Super Smash Something games. Um...also, good luck with you pants."