Dog Shows
By Dimgwrthien
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY or affiliates.
"That really wasn't what I was expecting."
Stella had repeated that over and over to Mac for the entire drive back from the dog show. However, she couldn't help but grin at him.
"Variety is the spice of life," Mac answered, turning the car onto a different road.
"When you asked me out for dinner, I assumed…" Stella shrugged. "I never knew you were a dog show man."
"A dog show man?" Mac repeated. "I hate dog shows. They're noisy, smelly, and I'm not too fond of dogs themselves, nor their owners."
"But -"
"Variety is the spice of life," Mac repeated, smiling at her. "What would have been doing right now?"
"Finishing up files, obviously. Why?"
"Dog shows aren't files. See? Variety? And you saw me with no tie, which you seemed shocked to see." Mac touched his collar, then turned to look at Stella.
"Sometimes I think you were born with a tie on," Stella deadpanned.
"I don't like getting dog fur on things, you know that," Mac explained. They both smiled. "Alright. I promised you a dinner, so I'll get you one."
"Well, now I'm filled with hotdog, ironically enough."
Mac glanced out his window, thinking. "Alright…. Could I change my promise to a movie, instead?"
Stella frowned. "There's nothing good in the theater."
"Who said it had to be in the theater? We could go rent something, if you prefer. And I promise no dogs."
"I'm not the one with the grudge against dogs," Stella joked. "That sounds nice, though. I'll agree to that."
Mac smiled and turned into another street, heading in the direction of the video store. The traffic around it was heavy, but Mac managed to pull across the street, parallel parking in front of it. "I'll even let you pick the movie," he told Stella as they got out of the car.
"Bad idea. I'm famous for picking the romantic comedies and horrors." They entered the store, and Stella took stock of the sections of movies. "Which ones sounds more appealing?"
Mac remained silent for a moment, so Stella glanced at him. His eyebrows were raised at her. "I think I'd have to go with horror between the two."
"I forgot. You're obviously a documentary man, aren't you?"
"Not at all." Mac sounded amused. "Why would you think that? I'm an action man." His voice lowered to a hush as he said 'action' as though it was sacred and he laughed quietly. "I thought that you of all people would have been able to guess that."
"So the Marines man is a fan of young, sweaty men running around with big guns to save women?" Stella asked as she browsed the movies.
"When you say it like that, I'm not." Mac looked on the opposite shelves of her. "Have you seen The Shining?"
"Jack Nicholson or the new one?"
"Jack."
Stella nodded. "'Here's Johnny.' 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' Not too bad of a movie. Jack Nicholson never goes wrong with anything, does he?"
"A closet Jack Nicholson fan? You?" Mac grinned at her. "Chinatown?" Stella nodded. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?" Another nod. "You are a fan."
Stella gave him a thumbs up. "Didn't say I wasn't. Besides, three movies doesn't prove anything." She turned back to the movies, going through them again. "Stephen King makes a lot of movies, doesn't he?"
Mac nodded. "Of course. I still prefer the books."
"Which one's your favorite?"
Thinking about it for a moment, Mac answered, "Nightmares and Dreamscapes, I think. You?"
"The Stand."
Both remained silent for a moment as they flipped through more of the movies, looking at the covers. With a few, they would turn them over and read the blurbs on the back, then replace them.
"Do you prefer psycho killers or thrillers?" Stella asked. "Unless you're a monster kind of man."
Mac considered it. "Thrillers or monsters. I see enough psycho killers everyday."
Stella replaced one of the movies. "Let's go with monsters. Werewolves, vampires, or zombies?"
"I thought there were more than those."
"Anything other than those are the badly-made movies. Pick one."
"Zombies," Mac answered. "The brain-eating amuses me more than flesh-eating and blood-sucking."
Stella turned around the stared at Mac. "When was the last time you watched a movie?"
"What?"
"Seriously, Mac. Did you last watch a horror in the sixties or something? These days, it's werewolves eating flesh, vampires drinking blood, and zombies eating flesh and brains. Mainly flesh." Stella sighed. "Really, Mac. I thought you'd know that."
"Then if we get a zombie movie, get an older one. Zombies were meant to eat brains." Mac replaced the final movie. "I'm not finding anything over here."
Stella picked up one more, then put it back in place. "Neither am I. Nothing's scary enough." She glanced at Mac, considering him for a moment. "Still up for dinner?"
"Of course."