Who: Michael Guerin and Will Gorski What: Michael has some drinks with the officer who occasionally throws him in jail When: Early April Where: A bar Rating/warning: Low/none Status: Complete
Will didn’t have a drink after every one of his shifts, and it was even more rare that he came in by himself to have one. But felt like he probably deserved it after this shift. His new partner was a real piece of work, and Will had spent more time on the streets today trying to smooth over confrontations his partner had tried to start instead of actually doing some good, honest police work.
He walked into the bar, and made a beeline for the bar stools. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized who else was sitting there. He sighed heavily, slid onto a stool to the man’s right, making sure to leave an empty one between them, and ordered a beer.
“I’m not going to have to drag you in again today, am I, Guerin?” Will asked, not turning his head toward the other man but looking at him from the corner of his eye.
Michael on the other hand usually ended his shifts with a drink. Sometimes he was accompanied by Gaby, sometimes he was alone. Tonight he was alone.
Michael sat at the bar with his second beer considering whether or not he wanted something stronger when he heard a familiar voice. “Well if it isn’t Officer Gorski,” Michael replied giving the man a slap on the back in a friendly greeting. Not in a this cop has hauled my ass to jail too many times and I hate him way. “Didn’t know you actually had fun.”
“Every once in a blue moon,” Will said, shooting him a grin. “Not the kind of fun that’ll get me thrown behind bars, mind you.” His beer came, and he lifted it in Michael’s direction. “How’ve you been lately? Seems like it’s been a while since the last time you stayed at Hotel Lockup.”
“What can I say?” Michael replied taking a sip of his beer. “I’ve been tryna keep out of trouble. I guess what you told me really stuck.” A small smirk appeared on his face. “You miss me?”
“With all my heart,” Will said, grinning. “But hey, good for you. It’s not often people actually take my advice. Normally they just spit on me when I try.” But hey, that was just one of the ‘perks’ of the job. “What have you been getting up to, now that you’ve been skipping out on all our dates.”
“You giving me ideas for next time. Gorski?” Michael asked with a grin. Because yeah he had been trying to stay out of trouble lately. But someone was bound to piss him off badly enough at some point or another. Michael was pretty sure there would eventually be a next time. It was just who he was.
“Same as usual,” Michael replied. “Working and drinking.” And Alex. That wasn’t exactly usual. But that situation was… complicated. And certainly no one else’s business.
“Sounds like you need some new hobbies,” Will said, grinning a little. Not that Will had a lot in the way of hobbies. Outside of work, working out, and occasionally attempting to surf, or listening to records to drown out the sound of the train he lived next to, he didn’t have much going on either.
“Yeah?” Michael asked with a raised brow as he took a sip of his beer. “You got any suggestions?” Michael didn’t particularly think he needed hobbies. Fixing cars was both a career and a hobby. And drinking, that was a damn good hobby if you asked him.
“I think we already established that I don’t go out and have fun very often,” Will said, straight-faced. He took another drink from his beer. “I hear golf is very popular out here though.”
If Michael had been in the middle of a sip he would have spit it out. “Golf?” he replied the look of amusement clear on his face. “Do you really think I’m the kinda guy that would play golf?”
“Yeah, why not?” Will said, and this time he couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face even if he was trying. “It seems very you. Plus, I hear it’s just an excuse to drink beer all day.”
“Believe it or not, Gorski. I actually don’t need an excuse to drink beer all day.” He cracked a grin at the guy. Who would have thought he’d be sitting here drinking with the cop who had dragged his ass to jail on a few occasions. “Maybe you should pick up golf. Could help with your stress or some shit.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Will snorted. He didn’t know Michael that well, but he knew him well enough for that. “That’s what the gym’s for. I can’t exactly afford golf on a cop’s salary.”
The gym? Michael tried to keep a look of disgust off his face. That was the last place where he would want to spend time. “Or,” Michael said picking up his beer. “You can just drink your stress away.” He took a long swallow from the bottle to prove his point.
Will smiled a little. “I’ve seen where that leads, and I think for now at least, I’ll stick with the gym.” His father had been an alcoholic almost all of his life, and while that wasn’t what had lost him his job or his health - that was the result of a bullet - it certainly hadn’t improved matters. The last thing Will wanted to do was follow the same path of his father, even if he had followed him into the uniform.
“Suit yourself,” Michael said with a shrug. With that he finished off his beer and waved the bartender over. Ordering another round not just for himself but for Will as well.
“Thanks,” Will said to Michael as he ordered the beer, and finished off the rest of his in a couple of hearty swallows so that he’d be ready for it. “Got to say, this isn’t how I saw myself spending my afternoon.”
“Drinking?” Michael questioned with a brow raise. “Or drinking with your favorite person to lock up?” He had a feeling it was the latter. After all Will had walked into a bar. Kind of an indicator that he planned on drinking.
“Oh, you’re far from my favourite,” Will joked. “But I didn’t think that I would be spending the afternoon with you of all people. Not that that’s a necessarily a bad thing.” Michael, at least, seemed have taken the whole getting locked up thing with grace. A lot of the people Will had become acquainted with through his work probably wouldn’t been okay with Will drinking with them.
“Way to crush a guy’s dreams, Gorski,” Michael joked as the bartender brought over their next round. Michael immediately took a sip.
Michael didn’t really hold grudges or have hard feelings. Not when he deserved what he got at least. All the shit that happened to him growing up though? He had a lot of hard feelings about that. But he couldn’t exactly be mad at the guy that put him in the drunk tank when he was indeed drunk and getting into fights. “Beats playing golf,” Michael finally replied with a large grin on his face.
Will snorted, knowing full well that being Will’s favourite pseudocriminal probably wasn’t high on Michael’s list of life goals.
“I’ll say,” Will said, raising his beer glass to Michael. “I mean, there’s not much that wouldn’t beat golf, but this definitely does it.”