Rated T for talking about sex, but no actual sex shown and I don't think there's any swearing. I like it when Johnny, Paige and Mike hang out. Such a fun dynamic. Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews recently. I've been ego tripping all weekend. Wrote this one quickly when I should have been doing housework.
Do any other writers find when they write for Mike, they have to fight the urge to use song lyrics from musicals? This story came so close to having "Guess you caught me now the game is done, you must admit I gave you quite the run" it's not even funny. Amour almost had "I'm not trying to make you a wife here, I'm not trying to tie you down, I'm just saying there might be a life here" An earlier draft of SDDC had "I'll freak and we'll fight and you'll hate me." …No? Just me? Theater geek.
Breakfast Conversations
Mike returns from his morning run sweaty, hot and still shaken. As he take out his earbuds he hears voices in the kitchen. Paige's laugh floats above it all like a siren call to him. Instead of heading straight to the shower as planned, he decides to detour through the kitchen to grab some juice.
He sees Paige sitting on a stool talking to Johnny. Her hair is tossed up in a messy bun and she's wearing an oversized denim shirt open over a bikini. She looks normal. Tired, but smiling. Mike isn't sure why he was expecting her to look different after last night. He supposes he expected the whole world to look different; and yet when he had woken to the same empty bed this morning, it was like nothing had changed. He's starting to worry it had just been a dream.
But the change is there. It's subtle, but it's there in her eyes. Paige looks up at him with an almost shy expression as he enters the kitchen. Mike has never seen Paige shy before. He resists the urge to walk over and kiss her good morning. Johnny is here after all.
"Levi! A word please." Johnny declares upon seeing Mike enter the room.
"Hey Johnny, what's up?" Mike asks distractedly, having trouble tearing his eyes away from Paige. "Morning." He addresses her simply, but the single word holds a thousand hidden meanings.
"Something you want to confess?" Johnny asks giving Mike a pointed look. Mike casts a panicked look to Paige, but she just avoids his eyes, concentrating on her oatmeal.
"I don't know what you mean." Mike stutters, being caught off guard.
"Well it seems to me, someone has been breaking the rules around here."
Mike's mind instantly flashes to the thousand of rules he's broken since coming to Graceland. Spying on Briggs, drinking Jakes's milk, pulling a gun on Charlie, letting Johnny near the stove, and of course as of last night, bedding one of his roommates.
The last one wasn't a stated rule per se, but he was pretty sure it was frowned upon. Not that Paige had complained.
"What are you implying?" Mike asks, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Oh, I think you know."
"No, I really don't."
"Rules of a sexual nature?" Well that narrowed it down at least. Out of the corner of his eye, Paige still seems abnormally interested in her breakfast, choosing to stay out of the conversation.
"Ok, now I really don't know what you're talking about." Mike chooses the deny-deny-deny strategy.
"I heard you." Johnny says simply.
"When?"
"Last night."
"I had a stressful day. I was just... taking care of things." This is humiliating. Paige couldn't find a way to help him out here?
At least it wasn't a complete lie. Yesterday had been rough. Paige had almost been killed on the job. Mike had interfered, saving her life but blowing the case. They'd fought all day about whether he did the right thing, straight up until the moment she had stormed into his room to tell him off, and they had somehow ended up in bed together.
"Oh, but see I think you weren't alone. I'm not proud to admit it, but the walls are thin dude. I know what it sounds like when you're loving yourself..."
"Johnny, you listen in on Mike polishing his piece? That's kind of hot." Paige interjects, giving Johnny a flirtatious look. Mike's proud of Paige going on the offensive.
"Hey the walls are thin! There are no secrets in this house." Johnny says defensively, "Last night was different."
"I don't know what you're talking about Johnny." Mike shifts uncomfortably opening the refrigerator and rooting around for something innocent looking.
"Oh really? First off, the bed creaking patterns were different. Second, you lasted about ten times longer than normal. Third..." Johnny starts listing off his evidence. Upon hearing the second, Paige shoots Mike an impressed glance, and he starts to turn red.
"This hardly seems like a solid case…"
"Mike." Johnny lets out a breathy gasp, in a disturbingly good impression of Paige the night before. "Oh, Mike. Yes! Mike. Harder Mike. Just like that."
"Is it weird I'm turned on by this?" Paige deadpans to the room, still trying to play it light. Like they weren't totally screwed.
"I sometimes like to say my own name. I'm that good. What of it?" Mike winces. The explanation sounds weak even to his own ears.
"Oh and your voice just happens to get two octaves higher as well?"
"Sometimes. Can we drop the interrogation?"
"So your voice drops back down to your normal octave when you say 'I need to be inside you now'?"
"I..." There is nothing for Mike left to say. They were caught.
Johnny, sensing his victory yells at Mike, "No guests upstairs dude! I told you that first day here. Take it to Abby's house."
Paige chokes on her oatmeal.
"Yeah, Mike. What's wrong with Abby's house?" Paige joins in Johnny's teasing with a mischievous grin. Mike glares at her. Well some things certainly didn't change. Those two would always gang up on him.
"I... I guess you caught me?" Mike says, almost in question form.
"Yeah, well don't let it happen again. That being said. How was it though? Is she good? She sounded good." Johnny pesters Mike for details.
"Oh, I don't think we should talk about this." Mike avoids Paige's penetrating stare.
"Oh come on man, we're all friends here. It's roommate code. Spill." Johnny begs.
"There are ladies present."
"Who? Paige? Pshhh. She doesn't care about that. She loves this stuff. You should hear this girl talk about sex man. Dirtiest mouth ever. I've learned half my moves from hearing her stories."
"Really." Mike casts Paige a cocky glance now that the tables are turned, and she is the one under the microscope. "Well I haven't heard any. Tell you what, I'll share a detail for every detail she shares."
"Paige! Tell him about what happened in Brazil!"
"Yes Paige, what happened in Brazil?" Mike goads.
"Can we please just have one person in this house who has not heard about Brazil?" Paige demands, not seeming pleased with the direction the conversation has taken.
"P! Come on. Tell the story. Mikey, you have to hear this. It'll blow your mind, man."
"Oh, you want to start sharing stories Johnny? So Mike, did you know that Johnny once accidentally got arrested by the wrong officers who didn't know he was undercover, and had to spend a night in county before he was released?"
"Well it would have gotten cleared up sooner if my 'one phone call' hadn't gone skinny dipping with her phone on her. You know, I still don't understand exactly how that happened by the way. Explain it again, P. Who goes swimming with their phone but without their clothes?"
"I told you, there was an unexpectedly high tide. So like I was saying, by the time I got there in the morning, Johnny had a strapping new boyfriend."
"Hey. Carlos turned out to be a good guy. I still use him as a CI sometimes."
"On particularly lonely nights?" Paige teases.
"Nothing happened Mike. Ok, we cuddled. He was very tender."
"Wow Johnny. This explains a lot…" Mike is super impressed by Paige's ability to steer the conversation away from the events of last night.
"Paige, got arrested for prostitution!" Johnny yells out.
"WHAT?!"
"I was undercover! It wasn't a real arrest!" Paige quickly interjects.
"Ok, well was it a real arrest the blue margarita night?" Johnny counters.
"Oh, look at the time! I think it's time we go!" Paige declares, standing up quickly.
"I promised her I'd help with her case. She needs me. She's helpless without me. It's sad really." Johnny tells Mike as Paige shoves him to his feet and towards the door.
"Um, I'm the one doing you a favor by letting you in on this case. You owe me my friend."
Johnny laughs and runs ahead to grab his shoes. As Paige walks by Mike, he takes her arm to pause her.
"So what happened in Brazil?" He asks quietly to make sure Johnny doesn't hear.
"I'll show you later." Paige mutters under her breath. After making sure Johnny's out of eyesight, she gives Mike a quick peck on the lips and then a wink. "You might want to do some stretches first."
"Stretches for what?" Johnny asks, popping back into the room.
"Mike pulled a muscle on his run this morning." Paige lies without missing a beat. Mike finds it unsettling how easily she does that.
"Dude, you're never going to beat my time. Just give up already. You're going to hurt yourself."
"Yo T! We could use some of that legendary speed right now. Let's go! Arriba! Ándele!"
Mike watches Paige laugh as she shoves Johnny out the door leaving Mike alone in the kitchen. He sighs. Johnny's right. He is probably going to get hurt, but he's nowhere near ready to give up.