Maria DeLuca believes that (tequilacuresall) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2020-03-22 23:13:00 |
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Michael spent a lot of his time at Maria’s bar. It wasn’t exactly the same as back home, but with her in charge, things had started changing and were making it feel homier and homier. Minus, of course the huge contingent of racist idiots that liked to frequent the bar back home. Their absence was most certainly not a bad thing. It was around 2 in the afternoon, and Michael was sitting at the bar, slowly nursing a glass of bourbon. It wasn’t his intention to get drunk tonight, but that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t happen. He had a lot on his mind, and with the weird alternate universe Liz appearing things just got even weirder. She promised she wouldn’t tell anyone what he was...but he just didn’t like the idea of other people knowing, regardless. When Maria came closer to him he flashed her a charming smile. “How about another?” *** Maria had noticed that Michael was spending more time at the bar -- of course she had. She didn’t necessarily consider it a bad thing because it reminded her of home but it did make her worry about him. Plus there was that whole thing where the more he was around, the harder it was to keep her heart off of her sleeve. However, there was also the part of her that liked having him around. The heart was a damn annoying thing. But even for Michael drinking something so strong this early in the day was not quite the usual thing. When she passed by him on one of her rounds and he gave her his usual smile and asked for another, she couldn’t refuse him, but she did give him a look as she reached for the bottle. “Everything ok?” From her, it wasn’t prying because it was a question she would ask. *** “Sure. Everything’s awesome,” he lied with a charming smile that was very like him. He took the drink and swirled it around in the glass before taking a big sip of it. “That’s good stuff.” He wondered if he could trust Maria with his secret. It wasn’t the first time he had. He was pretty sure that he could, actually, but just saying the words were hard. Would she think he was crazy? He’d probably think he was crazy if someone told them they were an alien. Of course...Alex had believed him, and he had a strong feeling that if he trusted Alex with the knowledge that he should trust Maria too. It would feel good for someone other than Liz to know. And he really did care about Maria. But nope. He took another drink of his bourbon. “How about you?” *** Maria smiled at him. There was something off about him tonight, but this was Michael and she cared too much about him to try and use her abilities like she would on others back home to find out what they were hiding or if there was danger in the bar. Respect and caring were too much a part of her where certain people were concerned and Michael Guerin was on that very short list. “Of course that’s good stuff. I wouldn’t serve you anything but.” When he asked her the same question, she looked up from where she was wiping down the bar and gave him a thoughtful look, then shrugged and went back to her work. “Everything is going well for the most part. I’m practically the owner of a bar, I’ve got a house.” *** “I’m touched,” he grinned, winking at her. “I mean, I drink the cheap stuff too. I drink anything. Which you know.” But of course he preferred the stuff that didn’t taste like crap. “That’s awesome. You’ll do great here, I’m sure. I mean, this is your thing.” He really respected the way she could bounce even the most racist rednecks with just the strength of her personality. There was a lot he respected about her, and he really should tell her. He’d told Alec. Didn’t she deserve the same? But he wasn’t going to tell her in a bar where anyone could overhear. Of course...maybe she could notice his hand that Max had fixed. He wasn’t sure if she had yet, so he put it flat on the bar without attracting too much attention to it. *** Maria shrugged. “If you’re going to be drinking at my place you’re going to be at least drinking something that tastes good.” She was glad to see him smiling again. That weird visit from Alex had seemed to affect him badly and while she hadn’t pried, she had hated seeing him pull back again. It was nice to see them getting back to that closeness they had built up and maintained through so much and then their time here. She turned to put some things away and saw his hand. His very healed hand. Why she had never noticed it before wasn’t important at the moment. What was important and something she recognized was that Michael was making sure she saw it. Since there were too many people around them for her to ask questions, she placed her hand gently on his and squeezed it to let him know she saw and understood what she was seeing, then pulled back. “I’m not sure what else I could do, you know? I’ve helped in the Pony since I was allowed to be there and then when mom got sick, well, it was step in or we lost it. Running a bar is in my blood and brain.” *** “Yeah, sort of the same reason I have a job here at a garage, just like back home. We stick to what’s familiar, I guess, even when we’re stuck in weirdness like this.” And there was no denying that this was one of the wierdest damned things Michael had ever experienced. He squeezed her hand back, knowing they couldn’t talk here, then took his hand away and put it in his lap as he took a swig of his drink. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hold her hand, but it was all so complicated, especially since Alex had been here. Damn, everything was always so complicated, wasn’t it? “You do a good job at it, though.” *** “This place is definitely pretty weird, but it’s also pretty cool in a few ways and I know that you have other things you probably like, you just haven’t had the chance to do them because, let’s face it, Roswell is full of assholes.” She wondered if there was a way that she could tell Michael about some of her other abilities that she had kept hidden from everyone but her mom, Liz, Alex, and Rosa over the years. Granted, he knew that some people thought she could do palm readings, but she knew he didn’t think they were real, something she had never tried to prove otherwise. “”I loved singing at the last Karaoke party, though. I’d forgotten how much I loved doing that.” *** That made him grin, because he couldn’t help but remember the karaoke fun they’d had right before they’d gotten lost in the desert and lost their clothes along the way. That had been a wonderful night - much more to him than the one-night-stand he liked to pretend it was. “Yeah, you’ve got a great voice, so that doesn’t surprise me.” Him? He was okay. He could carry a tune. But he wasn’t Maria. He sighed and finished his drink. “I should probably be heading out.” He stood and threw some money on the table, more than enough to cover his drinks and a good tip. “Thanks,” he said. “For everything.” Maybe someday he’d find the nerve to tell her what he was and what he could do, but today wasn’t that day. *** “You don’t have to head out right now, Michael,” she said quietly. “We close in about a half hour and everything I would usually do after I kick everyone out is done. You can stick around and chat and then we could take a walk for you to see the new place.” She shrugged. “Or, if you have more exciting plans, you can do those, instead.” *** Michael hesitated for a moment, but then shrugged and sat back down. “Yeah, fine, I can do that.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with Maria, although he was a little uncomfortable with it because of...well, everything. “Guess I’ll need another drink if I’m doing that, though.” *** She didn’t want to focus too much on the relief she felt about him agreeing to stay for a little longer. The fact that he was staying was enough to make her smile a little brighter. “Same bourbon or something different?” She smiled. “I might even have one, as well.” *** “Bourbon works,” he said with a small smile. He didn’t know what she wanted to show him exactly, and he wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to stay, but he’d have another drink and forget all about that for right now. He enjoyed being around Maria and for the moment he wasn’t going to question it. |