Michael Guerin is a (miserableliar) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-05-13 08:21:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, clara oswald, michael guerin |
Who: Clara Oswald and Michael Guerin
What: Running into each other again
When: Recent
Where: TARDIS Diner
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
Michael had a few more dreams since he ran into Clara at the library. Of course it meant he was spending more time at the library trying to get answers about Roswell. But also more time drinking and distracting himself with other things. His last dream had been the worst one yet, one of the group homes he was in believed he was possessed which led to performing an exorcism on him ending with burning a cross onto his arm. Which of course carried over. It was weighing on his mind a lot. There was no amount of alcohol that could make him forget.
Which was why he went for something different after he closed up the garage. Instead of going to a bar or doing more research at the library he decided to get some food. Maybe he’d drink after, but right now he just wanted some comfort food. Mostly in the form of burgers and fries. He wasn’t about to go to Ortecho's, he’d rather avoid running into Liz or Maria or Max or Alex. Isobel wasn’t as likely to be there, but he didn’t exactly want to run into her either. So instead he was on the search for a diner as he drove through Orange County. He parked at the first one that looked interesting getting out of his truck he walked inside, dressed in a long sleeved shirt because even despite the Orange County heat he didn’t exactly want to go showing off his burn.
The things that crossed over could sometimes be the most complicated things to deal with. Sometimes not. It mostly depended on what it was and what it meant to you. Clara’s whole no heartbeat thing? That had taken some time to adjust to and she was still known to be reckless now. Maybe more so now but that was hardly the point. She was content with her life and hey, adventures were always great. Much better than waking up not knowing who she was because of being an echo of herself.
It had actually been a day of travelling the stars and Clara had landed the TARDIS and it had materialized in that day’s location only a few minutes before Michael came in. Enough in fact that she was initially confused as this wasn’t really where she had said to go or if she was going to be open that evening. But the TARDIS often had a mind of its own and decided when and where she was needed so she didn’t put too much into it beyond momentarily wondering what was going on.
Walking out of the control room/kitchen, the brunette’s eyes lit up some as she recognized the man who had walked in. Yes it had been a momentary conversation in the library but still. She was pretty good with faces after all.
“Hello again!”
Michael recognized the woman almost as soon as she spoke. Which was saying a lot. There were a number of people that came and went throughout his life. He rarely committed people to memory. Even his customers, he only remembered the ones that came back to the garage multiple times. But he remembered Clara. Hard to forget the woman the person he saw after his first night of dreams, and questioned about Roswell.
“Hey,” Michael said with a nod, the smallest of smiles forming on his face. “Clara, right?” He knew the answer but still clarified anyway. “You work here?”
Clara could be quite memorable at times. Plus how many British women were you going to run into in Orange County? Well okay, between the network and all it was probably higher than one might expect, but still. It wasn’t like she pretended to be something she wasn’t. Which made the very Americana diner all the more amusing.
“That’s me, and I do actually.” Grinned some, “Michael, right?” Just to make sure she was correct though she had a much better memory on these things even with all the people she met in the diner and her adventures.
“Yeah,” he confirmed because she had gotten his name right. Not that he was that surprised given she had recognized him when she came in, and also the whole UFO crash conversation. He had to imagine she didn’t talk to strangers about things like that often. He sure as hell didn’t at least.
“So since you work here, you got any recommendations?” Not that you could really go wrong with diner food. Michael practically lived off the stuff. But still didn’t hurt to ask.
One would be surprised at how many peculiar conversations Clara had in Orange County, even with people who weren’t on the network. Or when she would find weird things to investigate, things that sometimes didn’t amount to anything beyond overactive imaginations and then things that definitely were more in line with the Agency or travels with the Doctor.
And….okay. A recommendation request. Right. Usually the menu just seemed to fit the person looking and she went with that. Joys of a TARDIS and all. But right.
“I mean, classic burger and chips...fries...are always a good go to.”
“Exactly why they are my go to,” Michael commented small smirk on his face. “I’ll have that, and a coke.”
Before making his way to one of the booths his eyes fell to her hand. Wasn’t there a ring there before? Michael usually noticed these things, at least when it came to attractive people. He may have his fair share of random hook ups but he didn’t hit on married people. He had some morals.
“Good go to. But sure, I’ll go put the order in. Sit wherever you like.” Grinning some, the brunette headed back to the ‘kitchen’ and took a beat as if giving the order to a cook or the like before coming back out with a coke and going to where Michael had chosen to sit. “Here you go.”
And yes, there had indeed been an engagement ring on her finger when they first had met, but life had a way of working, or not working out, and that was done with no hard feelings, just two people who loved one another at different places in life where continuing a relationship wouldn’t really be fair to either. Not the easiest thing but better than the alternative.
“Thanks,” Michael said taking a sip of his drink. His eyes fell to her hand once again and there was a tan line from where a ring had been. So he hadn’t been imagining it. But he didn’t comment on it. It seemed a little rude to and while Michael could be an asshole it was usually when he was pissed off. Not to nice women who were bringing him food and indulged in conversations about UFOs with him.
“So how long have you worked here?”
And awkward conversations averted. Which was all well and good since Clara liked to avoid those if she could. There were plenty of things to discuss and she was more than happy to go with those instead. More alien conversations? Sure, that would be fun. Or random literature or...whatever really. Clara was Clara, she enjoyed any form of conversation really.
“Of course.” Grinned, as for how long she had worked there? Time was weird, “About three years now I think?”
“Never even seen this place before,” Michael said with a shrug. Granted even though he was a fan of diner he often opted for take out or delivery. Bars however, he had been to way too many of those. Mostly dive bars. But that wasn’t the point.
“My uh,” he paused not really sure how to describe Liz. She wasn’t really his friend. Michael only had two of those. “The girl my friend is dating, her parents own Ortecho's.”
Just shrugged. After all, the location changed depending on what the TARDIS felt she needed to do or where she needed to be. But that was a bit more complicated to explain. At least until she knew for certain Michael was familiar with the Dreams and the insanity of Orange County.
“Yeah? Maybe I’ll go check it out some time.” Not that she actually needed to eat or anything. Clara didn’t really get out much for that anymore. Especially now that Bucky was no longer around and was living his life in New York. Habits changed when you didn’t need to eat or the like to survive.
Michael shrugged his shoulders taking another sip of his drink. “Pretty sure you don’t need to if you already work at one.” It wasn’t all that different anyway. It was just his way to explain why he may have never noticed this place before. Though it wasn’t like he went to Ortecho's all that often either.
Nodded, “Probably not, but I like to support local businesses.” That much was true, so even if she didn’t need to eat or drink and thus she forgot to most of the time, there was still the whole supporting local business thing. If she remembered at any rate.
“So, how have you been? Any interesting books or the like since your deep dive into the Roswell crash?”
Well that was a loaded question. Of course Clara didn’t know that. ‘How have you been’ was generally a socially acceptable question to ask. And if Michael hadn’t been having dreams he probably wouldn’t have thought much about it. Still he chose to ignore her first question. It was basically a preamble anyway.
“More of that,” he replied honestly. “The more I read about it,” and the more he dreamed. “The more I kind of believe it really happened,” he shrugged his shoulders though not wanting to make it sound like he cared too much about it. “What about you? Find what you were looking for?” In the library he meant.
Anything could be a loaded question given the circumstances. Potential minefields of conversations all because someone said the wrong thing unknowingly. Especially when it came to Orange County and Dreams and how things might be innocuous in the real world but had a world of meaning in the Dreams.
It was an interesting turn of phrase, the pause between read and believing it might have actually happened. Interesting. Given her dad, and well her own tendency to downplay some things, it wasn’t that hard to pick out that Michael seemed to care more than he might claim.
“Well, anything is possible.” Hard to say, she’d never gone to the Roswell site in the Dreams or here, so who knew if it was truth here, though Clara certainly believed it could be truth in Dreams or the like.
As for her and finding what she was looking for...she hadn’t even known what she was looking for when she’d gone to the library that day. Just to see if something interesting popped out or interesting conversations happened, which they had. The broader question of it? Well, that was a bit more complicated.
“Well, can’t say I was looking for anything in particular, so I’d say sure. Had an interesting conversation about Roswell which I certainly wouldn’t have gotten had I not gone.” Winking with a grin, Clara turned and headed to the back as it seemed an appropriate amount of time for a burger and fries to be made and got the order, bringing it back out to Michael.
“Glad you thought it was interesting,” Michael smirked at her before she walked off. It was a relief though that the person he had randomly brought up his thoughts about Roswell to seemed open about it. Instead of thinking he was crazy or some conspiracy theorist.
“Thanks,” Michael said as she set the food down. He immediately popped a fry into his mouth. It was pretty damn good. “I might have to come here more often,” MIchael said with a grin before digging into his burger.
There were plenty of people who might think it odd, and Orange County was….Orange County. But Clara? She had been looking for interesting conversation and even though she wasn’t sure if Michael were a Dreamer or not which in turn made her more vague in answers, she had still gotten a conversation that she wouldn’t have otherwise. So in her book, that was a iwn.
“You’re welcome.” Leaning back against the counter, she grinned at the comment, “Always a good thing to hear.”
Michael ate the rest of his burger in silence. Mostly because devouring the thing which left little time for talking. Once he was finished he turned his attention back to Clara. “Out of all the diners in Orange County I’m glad I walked into yours,” he joked grin on his face. His arm still itched under his shirt but the food and the company had brought his mood up some. “What do I owe you?”
Clara didn’t mind the silence. It was part of working at a diner. Though she did grin some. Mostly because she knew it was more a matter of the TARDIS choosing a location than anything.
“I should make a page with different reviews and put that as one of them.”
Grinning, she had to remember what the general price for a burger, fries and soda was and gave him the price. Appearances to maintain and all.
He got out the money to pay her, leaving it on the table along with a pretty generous tip. Which was saying a lot for Michael. He wasn’t exactly rolling in dough. But it was well deserved. Not only for the food but also the conversation.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around,” he said as he stood up to leave. At the very least he’d be back for more food.