Agent Maria Hill (by_the_book) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-04-27 11:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, ~2017 april, ~25 points, ~~methos (chivalrysstupid), ~~~maria hill (by_the_book) |
Who: Maria Hill and Methos
What: A real date
When: Monday night (backdated)
Where: TBD
Warnings: TBD
Status: Closed/gdoc to be completed in comments
Maria had a date. A real date. She remembered dates with Thor, but they were creations of the town, not actual experiences. Dates weren’t even in Peter’s vocabulary so this was something new to Maria. She thought Pepper, Steve and the others that had been encouraging her would approve, but she and Methos had decided to keep this on the down low.
Methos had said casual but nice. That could mean a lot of things, but she stuck with a pair of tight black pants, boots and a nice shirt. Her hair was left loose, but she did do a minimum of makeup. Unlike other women, she was ready when he knocked on the door.
“Casual enough?” she asked when she opened the door.
***
Maria did casual in a way that left her looking almost like she was dressed up. Methos had smiled when he saw her. He wasn’t dressed up really, khakis, a button down and loafers but that was fairly similar to what he always wore.
“You pass quite easily, and look ready for anything.” Which in tonight’s case was just dinner at some place that wasn’t Lou’s because he was going to assume it didn’t count as a date if you went to the same place you always did when it wasn’t.
***
Maria smirked as she stepped out of the house. “Considering I have no less than three knives and two pistols on me, I am.” She grinned since she knew that wasn’t what he meant, but it was still true.
“So where are we going or is it a surprise?” Her door was locked then she hitched her purse up higher on her shoulder.
***
“I was just thinking dinner. Maybe at the Key West Shrimp House.” It was nicer than going to somewhere like Hinkles but not something you needed reservations and a nice suit to go to. And sea food was something a little different than what they usually had day to day.
“Unless you’d like to do something else. I’m pretty adaptable.” Methos offered her a hand since they were leaving and they were on a date.
***
“Seafood is great,” she said. There was the slightest of hesitations before she took the offered hand. It wasn’t anything personal, just something she’d never done before. Maria had to tell herself it was something normal people did on a date. Besides, she trusted Methos.
“And fortunately for you, I don’t have expensive tastes so I won’t be ordering the Lobster Thermidor.” Maria chuckled.
***
And Methos was also observant enough he made sure to offer a hand that would let her take his with the off hand so she’d feel more comfortable about getting to her weapons. It was something he wanted to make sure she had all the comfort level about something in the beginning.
“Lobster thermidor is overrated. But don’t worry about expensive or not. Just order what you want.”
***
Maria did notice that her shooting hand was left available, but she couldn’t decide if Methos did that on purpose or not. He might have since she knew he had skills with a sword. It was a mark in his favor, accidental or not.
“Does that include a nice bottle of wine and dessert?” She grinned at him.
***
“What good is dinner without dessert?” Methos laughed for the question as he answered. “And of course a nice bottle of wine. I can’t drink beer all the time can I?” It was just a several thousand year habit. The Egyptians were marvelous beer makers after all.
“Like I said, whatever you want. There’s no sense going to dinner and not having a good time by not getting the whole experience.”
***
“It’s a good thing I’m not the type that can get spoiled,” she said with a chuckle. Mostly because this was kind of scaring the hell out of her and she was already waiting for the bubble to burst. Peter had just wanted to have a good time. Thor hadn’t been real. This was maybe a little too real.
“So...I’m really new at this,” she admitted hesitantly. “I think this is my first date ever.”
***
“Well it’s not like there’s a test at the end so don’t worry too much.” Methos could be serious but of course he tended not to be unless there wasn’t any other choice. Life was too serious as it was. “Maybe we even each other out since I could totally be spoiled.”
Yes, he did like the nicer things in life but that was because he had lived in the very not nice for such a long time. And most of his public personas hadn’t been very well off.
“But seriously, it’s just a date. There isn’t a right or wrong...which is a good thing for me probably.”
***
Maria laughed. “Is that a hint that you want to be spoiled? You are talking to the wrong woman, my friend.” She chuckled. Honestly, she wouldn’t know the first thing about spoiling someone. She barely knew how to take care of herself in a civilian way.
“Good thing for you?” She chuckled. “Maybe. My expectations are set way low if you consider my history here.” Peter. You couldn’t do worse than Peter.
***
“I wasn’t always civilized you know. And I have a bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth so yes good for me.” He didn’t count himself on Peter’s level of bad at least but Methos had almost completely lost his opportunity with Alexa because of his mouth.
“Besides, this is just like what we’ve been doing only we’re putting a label on it so no pressure right?”
***
“No labels,” she said as she turned a smile to Methos. “No pressure. No expectations.” Then she she gave him an amused but suspicious look. “I just know what you’re doing now.”
Which was still weird to her that he even wanted to do this. Maria hadn’t known him very well or for very long. They had a common interest in beer and their sparring, but she’d somehow caught his attention for more.
***
And even if she asked he probably couldn’t put into words what he saw in her. Methos was able to look at people and see things about them after his training with Sun Tzu but he couldn’t always verbalize what he was seeing. He just went with his instincts.
“Well one can’t operate in ignorance forever. It’s better if you know what I’m doing.”
***
“At least this way I can be an active participant instead of a bystander.” Maria shrugged a shoulder. “And maybe I can come up with an idea for the next one.”
She’d had time to think about this since she’d learned the movie night had been a date. The realization she’d come to was that she liked Methos. He was calm, quiet. Serious without being too dour. And he had a killer smile. Ahem.
***
“If you want to plan the next one by all means.” Methos grinned at her and put his free hand on his chest while bowing just slightly at her as they walked. He liked the idea of active participation and wondered what she would come up with as a date. It would be interesting to see.
“So are you more of a shrimp, fish or lobster person?” Since they were having seafood it was a relevant question. “Or do you go more for clams or oysters?”
***
“Shrimp,” she said with a grin. “I love those little sea bugs, and have been known to go through a pound of peel and eat.” Maria chuckled knowing that was a lot of shrimp. “But I thought I’d draw the line at being a pig. Kind of getting the impression it’s not that kind of place.”
She tilted her head which let a lock of hair fall into her face. “What about you? I see you as a sea bass kind of guy.”
***
“No, I grew up in the deserts. The first time we saw the sea the last thing we thought about was eating out of it. It was too big, too...like the deserts in a storm so I didn’t have fish for a long time. But I do like a good trout cooked over a campfire.” Not that he’d been camping in a long time either. Working in London, Paris and Seacouver didn’t make for a lot of good camping territory.
“I like shrimp but I probably won’t ever be a fan of clams and oysters. Surf and turf I believe they call it here, have a little steak and throw in some shrimp.”
***
Maria laughed a little and found herself giving their hands a little swing. Nobody better ever draw attention to that. “Thousands of years and you never expanded your palette?” She tsked as she shook her head. “At least tell me you enjoy a slice of cheesecake.”
It was almost frightening how easy she felt around Methos. Occasionally, she’d have a small panic attack, but then he’d look at her or say something and she fell right back into being comfortable.
***
Maria was good company, she listened to his stories without thinking he was being pompous...which to be fair he probably was sometimes but you couldn’t have that much history and easily talk only about the here and now. That had been the hardest thing about being a Watcher.
“I did expand my palette, just never into seafood. I definitely like a good curry. And cheesecake is nice. But I prefer chocolate.”
***
“Chocolate covered strawberries?” she asked as she eyed him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She’d learned to appreciate those around Valentines Day when they were everywhere. But she was getting ideas for next time. Curry. Indian food she could do.
***
“Sadly I tend to see that as ruining good chocolate. But then I like the chocolate to be bitter and strong...probably from when they first made it and no one thought to add sugar to it.” He considered it for a moment then grinned again. “But damn it used to wake you up like a triple shot of Espresso.” He would love to be taken for Curry. It was a thing he’d picked up in Britain, there was a curry shop on every corner.
***
“Fine,” she said in mock offense. “More for me.” Maria chuckled. She didn’t know what it was about those stupid berries, but she loved them. Meanwhile, her mind was filing away all this information for future use. Nope. She wouldn’t spoil him at all.
“So basically bakers chocolate.” She made a face.
***
“Basically. We would melt it into a drink with tea or milk and drink it.” It was also at the time in Europe a rich man’s drink but Methos had been in Central/South America and had access to the source at the time. He just carried the habit back with him when he went to other continents.
He had also made his own mental note about the strawberries and chocolate. That was good to know.
“What was your original favorite dessert?”
***
“Actually that sounds really good,” she said with a thoughtful smile. “The original hot chocolate or mocha.” It sounded like it would be thick and silky. It would still be bitter, but that was what sugar was for.
Then her expression closed down as he asked about her past, specifically her childhood. Maria did not, as a rule, like to talk about that time. “For the longest time it was cheap angel food cake with those dumb roses on it. I was allowed to go to a birthday party once, and the mom had that. It was the first and only time I had anything resembling dessert until I started going to tournaments that weren’t local.”
***
It was almost like drinking thin pudding it was so thick. Maybe they’d have to try making it at some point so she could try it. Methos was glad to see even though she’d shut down when asked about the past she’d still answered.
“Was it the type of roses they make out of the hard sugar?” He wasn’t sure if she meant the crunch roses or the icing kind. He didn’t want to shy away from her past even though he knew it was painful. And yes, that did make him a big fat hypocrite for as many times as he shut down on MacLeod when he asked him things.
***
Maria chuckled, but it held very little amusement. “Not even that good. It was the cheap icing things that looked more like colored blobs than flowers.” Her eyes were hard with tight lines at the corners. God she hated her dad.
“But I ate every bit they gave me,” she said tonelessly. “I remember knowing it was crap, but thinking just once it would be nice to have a cake like that on my birthday. I knew it would never happen, but...kid logic.”
***
He really didn’t remember kid logic. Sadly everything before his first death was so fuzzy in his memory it might as well not exist. “You make me want to buy you one of those cupcakes with the three inch tall frosting.” Methos smiled and managed to bump his shoulder lightly against hers while they were walking.
***
That was enough to jar her from her memories. Maria laughed then smiled at Methos. “No thanks,” she said then chuckled as she bumped back. “I’ve learned what good dessert is. Just about anything cheesecake or brownies with those little chocolate chips in them.” Yum!