When Maxima came back from her first… well, not date, I guess. After she ditched the bar with Rowan. “Date” to me implies a prearranged thing, but whatever. They met at the bar, then went to a second location, so maybe that counts. Anyway, when she got back from that, she asked Dabbler to fix up the choker so her skin would feel less “weirdly silky and slippery,” so it’s obvious the second phase of that encounter went pretty well. It’s also possible that Max’s teammates are right and she’s a little pent up because she doesn’t seem like the kind of woman that would wind up making out with a guy after meeting him at a bar and only knowing him for… let’s say two hours? Doesn’t mean Rowan immediately got to second base, but even some kissing with his hands grabbing on to her waist under her shirt, he still could have been like, “Wow, uh, what kind of skin cream do you use?” Changing how Max feels to the touch is well outside the scope of what that choker was originally intended for, but Dabbler is super invested in getting Max laid, so she put some extra magical elbow grease into it.
What we’re seeing on this page is a previously unrevealed outing, since her trip to the fire station was cut short. I’m not sure when it took place… I think it’d have to be after the firehouse… yeah, maybe the day before they left on this trip? They were trying to keep to a tight schedule to minimize Max and Sydney’s “thousands of light years from Earth” time. Cora mentioned the tournament with about a week before she knew they’d have to leave for it, since she knew there’d be some hemming and hawing and possibly even some bureaucracy involved, but Max and Faulk made up their minds pretty quickly, giving them a few days to prepare.
Max is definitely not a “boobs to the face in public” kind of gal usually, but being in disguise can be fairly emboldening. And that park is weirdly bereft of other picnicers, extreme Frisbeers, kite flyers, and other couples sneaking in some second base time. Also, I think she really likes Rowan, and I assume if you’re a gal who likes a guy, at some point, maybe you want to smoosh your boobs in his face? Especially if he’s been missing more subtle signals. I’m just saying, it’s a potential weapon in the arsenal. But also in a general “I like you, so please enjoy this boob” sort of way.
In any case, despite their continued awkwardness, they might be rapidly approaching the point where Max will have to sit him down and have that dreaded discussion about chokers and why she’s always wearing one.
Finally, here we go! I took the suggestion that I just use an existing panel for a starting point, thinking it would save time… I guess it technically did, but a 5 character vote incentive just isn’t the way to go.
Patreon, of course, has actual topless version.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
![The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by [Jack Campbell]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51p-qaYLuvL.jpg)
