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Summary: Mac and Stella have a nice, long conversation…Comedy/Romance Rating: T+ for naughty words Note: I'm like, on a sugar high from too many Frosted Flakes. So… if it doesn't come out really like them, forgive me. Because the screen is bouncing and so is the ground…
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"Sulk! I'll show him who sulks around here! No one tells me that I sulk! No one!" A yell came, echoing throughout the halls of the New York lab. Detective Mac Taylor, who was just about to take a sip of his coffee, raised his eyebrow at the noise, scanning the lab for any signs of who might be making the racket when another angry yell directed his attention straight to the sound. He watched as Stella Bonesara, the Greek Detective with a fiery attitude, pulled an elastic from her hair as she stormed through the lab, going past his office just as her hair came down in wet curls, water droplets sprinkling everywhere. He raised his eyebrow and took one long sip of coffee before putting his mug down and rolling up his sleeves, heading out his office door to see why Stella was in such a fowl mood.
He found her sitting on a stool in the lab, a pen in her hand as she furiously scribbled something on a piece of paper. He was about to enter when she started to stab the pen on the paper, making huge blobs of ink form, spreading to the edges.
"Stupid, annoying, HOARD, Egotistical, maniacal-" She started ranting, hitting the pen harder against the paper. Mac hesitated to go in, wondering if he interfered, would that pen end up lodged somewhere in his body when he finally gained the courage and pressed in, his one hand coming up in defence as he reached down and tapped Stella's shoulder.
"WHAT!" She yelled as she turned around, an angry glare on her face melting into a surprised, embarrassed look.
"…Oh! Mac… How… pleasant to see you.." She grinned, her cheeks turning red and she quickly spun back to face the table.
"Something… bothering you?" He said gently, careful to pick words that wouldn't make her fly off the handle. She let out a sigh in return, her hand coming up to press against her forehead.
"It's this jerk I've been dating. He's driving me up the wall…" She moaned. Mac was silent deciding whether he should stay or leave, when he finally decided to stay, seating himself on a chair adjacent from her,
"Do tell." He inquired. She looked at him and let out a scoff.
"Really, Mac, you don't have to listen if you don't want." She weakly smiled. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sitting down, and I want to hear. What's wrong, Stella"
She looked at him and he felt as if she was scanning his whole body for any signs that he might reflect of him actually not wanting to be there when she let out a sigh, tapping the pen against the desk.
"Roger, remember him? Well, his dog the other day, we took him out to central park. And the whole time, he kept baby talking to this stupid dog. Going 'Who's a good doggie? Who's a good doggie!' while I, mildly embarrassed and disgusted, trailed behind, enduring that dumb dog's tail slapping against my coat the whole time. I mean, do you know how dog hair just clings to fabric?" She asked him. He raised an eyebrow.
"Sadly, yes"
"Well, anyway, so he starts playing with the stupid thing, he had this toy, like a rope or something. And he was throwing it around in the park while I sat on the bench. He spent the whole time occupied on this dumb mutt, who twice fell over his own feet and almost hit a tree, and totally blew me off! The only time he actually spoke to me was to hold his scarf. Can you believe it"
Mac nodded his head and then shook it before he decided to just remain still as she continued.
"So, I got sick of sitting there and told him I was going home. And then, get this, he said 'Fine. Whatever. By the way, you might want to stop sulking. It's kind of a turn-off.'. Can you BELIEVE the nerve of him! I was not sulking at all! I could not believe he said that to me! And then, he just went straight back to that stupid dog! Argh!" She growled, cracking her knuckles, making Mac slowly bring his hands up for defence.
"What is it with men and dogs anyways? How can they be your guys best friend? They can't chat about football games, or drink beer legally, or do anything practically! How can they just automatically get more attention than a sexually fit girl"
Mac was silent, his gaze averting elsewhere at her 'sexual' comment as he let out a small cough.
"Well, you know as Winston said. 'A cat will look down on you. A Dog will look up to you. Give me a pig, who'll look you straight in the eye.'" Mac recited. Stella said nothing, but her eyebrow raised in return, making Mac blush.
"Um, what I'm trying to say is, dogs don't need anything more than a little time from a person's schedule a day to be happy. Well, then again, so do girls. Well, some girls. Maybe not you, Stella. Unless your like that. Or not." He started to babble and Stella smiled, letting out a small laugh.
"Mac, you don't have to explain. They were rhetorical questions." She smirked. He became silent, his cheeks tinting red. "You know Mac, I don't think I've ever told you that you're a great listener"
He gave her a small smile.
"Oh really"
"Yeah. You always were. That's probably why you were made for this job. Being a detective." She said, picking up the pen and quickly scribbling it on the page to make sure it worked. He rubbed eye, letting out a small laugh as he avoided her gaze.
"I guess that could be one theory"
She started doodling on the paper in front of her, making huge flowers with the flick of her wrist, drawing one with loopy petals that stretched up across the page. He watched her, her body now relaxing as she drew what appeared to be a rose in the corner of the page.
"Somehow, this always calmed me when I was growing up. Drawing these flowers on paper. During school, I'd get yelled at for drawing all over my math homework instead of actually doing it. I used to get the ruler taken and shaken in front of my face, as a threat I guess, to stop doing it. But I never kicked the habit. Even today, I find I still have to do this to relax myself." She smiled, curving one of the flower petals outward. Mac was silent, as he watched her add another petal to the lone one.
"It's funny what things people can't kick. I can't kick this habit. I've tried every anti-stress pill and home remedy there is, but nothing really seems to work for me. Those little stress balls, I always end up throwing them out the window, or at the walls in frustration. Prozac I'd always just throw them in a blender and amuse myself by watching those stupid things get cut up by the blades. Massages annoyed me because every time I got one, I'd get even more stressed out because the girls at the salon would hurt me or not even give me a satisfying massage. After the years, I found that everything people said that helped them with their stress would never work on me. Only these flower doodles would"
Mac turned his head as he watched her create a sunflower out of the lone petal, it's stem stretching over the entire page.
"I've never seen you do them before." He commented, looking up at her. She smiled.
"Of course not. No one has. I usually do them on separate pieces of paper that I sometimes smuggle in, underneath all my files. I always make sure I collect them all at the end of the day and take them home to throw away. I mean, if Danny found out I drew flowers, he'd have a field day." She grinned. Mac returned the smile and watched her stop, putting the pen down.
"Mac, what do you do to calm down?" She asked, curious. He blinked and gave her a confused look.
"I don't do anything"
"Really? Nothing? Not, a long, hot shower at the end of the day to cool off? Or one of those happy face stress balls"
He thought for a moment.
"I work"
She stared at him and then laughed, taking the pen and drawing on the paper again.
"Oh c'mon, Mac. Is it something embarrassing, like going out to strip clubs or watching hardcore porn or something"
He reddened and cleared his throat as he avoided her gaze.
"Certainly not, Stella. I don't watch.. Porn." He said, stumbling on the word. She giggled like a high school girl.
"Porn, Mac. Say it with pride. After all, that's what you do to calm down." She giggled.
"I do not!" He protested, but she was already too busy trying to stifle her laughter to notice his response. He furrowed his brows and watched her cover her mouth with her hand, her one hand still doodling on the paper.
"If you must know, I have a big green chair at my apartment. And when I feel the need to relax, I sit in it and read books, such as Heart of Darkness and Pride and Prejudice while listening to Bachman Turner Overdrive or Aerosmith"
Stella cocked a brow and stifled another laugh.
"You read Pride and Prejudice while listening to Aerosmith"
Mac reddened again.
"Well, Mac, do explain that because I really am intrigued to know"
His gaze softened as he sported a small smile at her request.
"Well, I read Pride and Prejudice because it was my mother's favourite book when she was little. Every time she had the chance, she would read it. I would always see her reading it and she told me that her mother introduced it to her, as her grandmother introduced it to her mother and so forth. She told me it was the only book she ever owned for the longest time because her family wasn't rich, but she loved it more than 100 new books. It's the one thing I can always associate with my mother." He said fondly, making Stella's giggle turn into a warm smile. "And the reason I listen to Aerosmith is because back in Chicago, when I used to live in a house, not an apartment, my father would always have them blaring when he was fixing his old blue truck or the lawnmower, or anything with an engine. He loved the music of that age, the rock and roll. Throughout the 70's and 80's, he would always listen to the new artist and go out an buy their records. I always thought it was weird but after a while, I found every time I listened to a song from back then, I always found myself thinking of my Dad fixing that old blue truck. It's sort of like, the best thing I have to remember him by"
He looked up and found Stella staring at him, her glowing as she listened to him. He became quiet and looked away, down at the table to the chip in the glass in front of him.
"That is so sweet, Mac, you know that?" She smiled, sliding off the stool to come around the table and slide onto the stool beside him. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes, his gaze still on the chip. She pulled his arm away from his body and held it in her grasp, resting her head on his shoulder, making him blush furiously.
"There's not many good guys in the world left, like you Mac." She said in a soft tone, making him look down at her, watching her as she stared out of the glass walls of the lab. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Too bad there isn't more people like you. Then maybe the world wouldn't be full of such injustice and crime"
Mac smiled and resisted the urge to lay his head against hers.
"Oh, I don't know about that. When I was three, I once stole a small car from the general store, and hid it under my pillow until the guilt drove me nuts and I ran back to the store in the middle of the night to return it." He said with a grin. She let out a laugh and squeezed his arm tightly before she let go of it, leaning up.
"Oh Mac." She said and she bit her lip before quickly leaning up and placing a soft kiss upon his cheek. He felt himself fume red and he sunk in his chair, feeling his body temperature skyrocket as she released her lips from him. She grinned and patted his arm.
"I think it's time I go do some actual work…" She murmured as she slid off the stool and headed out the door, her brown curls bouncing against her back. He blushed and touched his cheek where she kissed him, feeling his hot skin. His eyes went down to the paper that she had left and he took it, turning it so he could get a good look at her drawings. He slowly smiled and folded the paper in half, placing it in his pocket as he got off the stool and headed out of the lab, back to his office where his cold coffee now awaited him.
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