Later. Much later that night.
Maria paced about her room her bare feet tapping against the plush carpet while her flannel pants whooshed around with every speedy step she took. Flexing her arms around, Maria was edgy. She wasn't sure why, but she was restless. Sighing Maria stopped brushing her hair and put the brush down on her desk and looked over at her window. "Evans, you have got to calm down." Maria told herself then walked over to her almost over spilling tabletop full of oils. She needed something relaxing.
Picking up her Capri and Jasmine oils, Maria carefully dripped their contents into her oil burner. Not wanting to burn a flame while she went to sleep, Maria just put her hand over the burner. Her hand working as heater and changing the molecular structure of the clay so it acted as a hot blanket, getting so hot that it caused to oil to start boiling and bubbling.
Pulling her hand away, she blew on her fingertips as though they were a smoking gun. Being an alien, most certainly had some perks to it, she wouldn't lie about that. The relaxing odors filling the air, and relaxing her tense muscles and nerves, Maria felt quite happy to go to bed at that moment.
Once in bed though, she wasn't so much sleepy as she was bored. There was just so much entertainment that could be extracted from watching her ceiling in the dark. Groaning, Maria reached out her arm and opened the light on her night table, that was muffled out by the long purple veil she had draped over it.
Looking about her room, Maria most certainly was not in the mood for reading a book, or magazine or listening to any music for that matter. So she decided to do one of her more favorite past time activities. Reaching under her bed, Maria pulled out her high school yearbook.
All three of them were aliens, Maria, Michael and Max.
And each one of them had their own special gift.
Max could heal. With a single touch, Max could heal you. Even when the wound was fatale, he did do that for Liz after all, after she was shot. He was exploring other powers too, such as erecting a force filed that nothing could penetrate with a single thought. But still his main gift was healing.
Michael's talents were still raw, but they were powerful non-the less. His main concentration at the moment was to manipulate his powers to make things explode. He could blow up things, big and small or just send powerful, yet invisible blasts.
Maria was the tamer of three. Especially in comparison with both males. As much as she dabbled and explored with her powers, no less then the other guys, Maria enjoyed her favorite game, which was also her strongest power. She could enter people's minds, especially their dreams and spy on them. Maria could just enter your dream and watch it unfold. And right now, that is what she felt like doing.
"Who should I visit tonight?" Maria wondered, as she opened the book, flipping through the pages. Looking for the perfect person to 'drop in' on, when a picture fell out of the book. Wrinkling her forehead in dismay, Maria laid the book down and picked the picture up turning it over.
It was a photograph of her, Max and Michael from last year's camping trip. Looking at it, Maria smiled remembering the fond memories. Passing the tips of her fingers over the photograph, Maria smiled at the memory of all the fun they had.
A sneaky grin then pulled at her lip gloss covered lips. "Let's see what really goes on in that brain of yours, Guerin." Maria whispered, placing the year book down on the floor, and settling back in bed, lightly passing her fingers over Michael's picture and slowly fell asleep, descending at the same time into Michael's dream.
* * *
Michael's dream.
Maria opened her eyes and looked around in shock. "Alright, insert Twilight Zone music here." Maria muttered as she looked around the great hall, that looked like something out of a palace. Draped with thick plush velvet reds, long swooping rolls of purple gauze like material, and gold splattered everywhere. Bad taste another thing splattered everywhere for that matter. Maria stared around in dumbfounded disgust, her lower lip dropping slightly, shaping her mouth in a disbelieving 'o' shape. "Wow." Maria said her voice dripping of sarcasm. "I have entered a whore house Aladdin style..." Maria whispered then noticed someone. Narrowing her eyes, Maria focused and. Her eyes widened in pure astonishment. "Wait, is that... me?" Maria asked her jaw dropping.
Michael sneaked up behind her and glared down at her. Even though the glare was dark, there was some warmth hiding behind the eyes. "Are you dream walking again?" Michael asked deciding to play this out. After all, why not have a little fun with her if you could?
"Me? No. I am... a part of your dream." Maria thought quickly and said it even faster. Trying to come up with some excuse, that would also be her escape route. Make Michael think this was all a dream. Well, it was, but still. Maria never used her powers on Max or Michael, it was dumb thinking they would act like others and not notice her being there. Dammit. Maria cursed to herself.
"No, you're not." Michael corrected her, now his cold hard intense glare turning mocking and playful. It was fun getting Maria flustered. Even more getting her mad. It was a fun enough past time. Nothing illegal about it either and you got a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment out of it. Michael grinned to himself, he could be a commercial for 'why you should annoy Maria'.
"Why would you say that?" Maria asked, not catching onto the naughty glint in his dark brown eyes. Too concentrated was she on convincing him that she is just another figment of his imagination. Looking around she corrected herself, over active imagination.
"I'm already dreaming about you, see that belly dancer?" Michael asked motioning towards the exotic dancer, with a wide proud grin on his face.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him, and pursed her lips together, trying to hold in the nasty comments that she wanted to make. "Well, you are fantasizing about two Maria's." Maria told him, then added closing her eyes before opening again to look at him coolly. "I am not in charge of your psychic damage." She pointed out.
Michael's face hardened again, but the amusement stayed in his eyes. "See, now I KNOW you're dream walking. The Maria in my dream doesn't talk back." Michael told her smugly, then dropped the smile and glared at her coldly, the same kind of a look that would cause anyone to back off. "Get out of here, Maria." Michael ordered her rather then asked of her.
"How dare you!" Maria yelled at him.
"What?!" Michael demanded with equally loud volume.
"Not only did you just insult me, and lower me to the level of-" Maria stopped in the middle and looked behind her, her hair flying over her shoulder before cascading down and settling on her chest and back. Frustrated at what she saw, Maria screamed out of aggravation, she was so frustrated with him. "Have you heard NOTHING about the sexual revolution?" Maria demanded of him.
"Care to teach me?" Michael asked, an inviting playful grin playing over his teasing features.
"You are impossible." Maria said matter-of-factly, giving up on Michael Guerin. He was so hopeless.
"Yeah and you are spying on my dreams." Michael retorted, sitting down on the over stuffed couches lining the hall of his dream.
"Thank god I did! Otherwise... GOD, Michael, you would have defiled me!" Maria said then shook her head, correcting herself and trying to fix all the confusion from this very disgusting and disturbing situation. "Her!" Maria said waving at the replica of her dressed in a Jeannie outfit and dancing on a table seductively. "Belly dancer girl over there." Maria explained then turned a frosty cold glare full of daggers at him. "And you have a very low opinion of my stomach if I might add- it's a lot flatter than that."
"Maria," Michael began with mock tenderness. "I don't know how to tell you this," Michael said knowing well enough to avert his eyes from her before telling her about the defiling part. "Did it already." Michael said, not being able to hide the full of himself grin plastered on his face.
"You are sick." Maria told him disgustedly.
"And you're still here." Michael tossed right back at her. After all, one good turn deserves a next, right?
Maria looked down at him with cool reserve, before sitting down on one of the seats opposite of him. A cool dignified look about her, as she stuck her chin up defiantly. "I have to watch out for the interests of my imaginary figure."
Michael stared. "You-what?!" Michael asked now being the one to grow frsutrated with the situation.
"You heard me." Maria said proudly then pursed her lips and blew him a light kiss. "Mikey-G." Maria teased.
Talk about fun being ruined, Michael grumbled to himself. "Fine. Stay." Michael mouthed out shortly. "But as long as you do, lets share dreams, shall we?" Michael asked leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and grinning wickedly at her, then ordered the many servants around to bring them some beverages and snacks to nibble on.
"You made yourself sultan?" Maria asked in dismay, finding the idea amusing, as well as disturbing beyond belief at the same time.
"Yep." Michael answered proudly, as he leaned back into the plush welcoming pillows and relaxed while the servants scurried around him filling out his orders.
Maria almost balled. "God, can you ever hear me above your over inflated ego?" Maria asked rolling her eyes.
If there was one thing about Michael, it was that he wouldn't sit back and be insulted. "Look, you trespassed onto my dream turf-"
"Since when do dreams have borders?" Maria responded coolly.
Michael's glare deepened and he could feel the blood in his veins begin to boil. "You don't see me walking in on you and finding-" Michael ranted just to be cut off by Maria.
"Nothing!" Maria yelled at him, a little too quickly in her defense.
"Well, still you don't find me doing that." Michael shot back just as quickly, driving at his point.
Maria's hot headedness cooled and she smiled at him all too pleasantly. "That's because you can't." Maria pointed out to him simply.
"Hypothetically I could." Michael muttered in his own defense.
Maria looked at him, with big puppy dog eyes sympathetically, before her harsh personality and tart returned to her voice. "Michael, hypotheticals and you are an oxymoron." Maria informed him flatly.
"Maria, you are still here nibbling on my dream grapes." Michael pointed out, ignoring her previous jab, and deciding it would just be best to get rid of her and be mean and blunt- As usual.
"Michael, you are still ordering dream Maria to strip." Maria said simply, her voice slicing at him again and her eyes darting between 'dream Maria' and Michael, expecting him to order her to stop, or do something, she knew he didn't know the meaning of chivalry but how about common decency?
"You want to instead?" Michael offered grinning like the scoundrel he was, and popping a grape into his mouth, chewing it with a smug full of himself grin never once fading away from his face.
"You're a pig." Maria told him with a disgusted sneer.
Michael grinned triumphantly. "And yet you are still here." Michael pointed out, enjoying the flustered look Maria was wearing. It suited her and made him feel good seeing that he got to her. "Now Maria, as for that 'pig' comment. Compliments will get you everywhere, you know that, try to control yourself around me-" Michael continued not being able to stop, he wanted to see just how many buttons he could press on her before she exploded.
"Try to control myself?!" Maria yelled at him, not letting him talk. "Michael Guerin! Because you couldn't have the real me, your warped psyche made you in charge of me and ordered me to do things with you! Because no way, with my own free will would I ever-" Now it was Maria's turn to be cut off abruptly by Michael.
"Eraser room." Michael corrected her nonchalantly, tossing another grape into his mouth.
"Lapse of sanity." Maria counter acted, sitting with her arms folded over her chest and throwing him looks that could kill.
"It would never hold up in court." Michael said, leaning back more comfortably against the cushions, now she was trapped and he was the one in charge of the playing field.
"Are we in court?" Maria asked rhetorically, giving Michael a chilling look.
"We could be. This is my dream after all." Michael told her looking around at the interesting reality his subconscious had conjured around him. Maybe Maria did have a point before, he really did have an over active imagination, he really should stop reading Arabian Nights Tales.
"Aren't people suppose to angelic when they sleep?" Maria snapped, disgruntled that his subconscious was just as bad as he ever was.
"Only on the outside." Michael explained simply.
"That Michael, you can be a poster child for. I can see it now: Don't believe the outside looks, inside I am a bastard!" Maria said in a raised voice, throwing her hands up in exasperation. He was impossible. Simple.
"Maria, shut up." Michael snapped at her, dumping the empty vine of grapes into the golden platter before him.
Maria rolled her eyes, and averted her sight to look away from Michael taking in their surroundings- it was different. That was for sure, Maria only wanted what porn movie this all came out of. Maria almost choked on what she saw. Maria actually rubbed her eyes because she was sure they were fooling her and pulling tricks on her. "LIZ?! LIZ?!? Liz is in your dream too!??" Maria demanded, shouting loud enough to cause one of the imagery slaves to drop the golden dishes he was carrying. "What?" Michael demanded of her not seeing what bothering about this was. Her imaginary image had her best friend there to keep her company. What was the problem?
"Well, wow, Michael," Maria said looking somewhere between pissed off and hurt as she looked from the guilty party to the non-existing one.
Now Michael was beginning to catch on. And oddly enough, he felt his chest constricting and a weird urge to explain himself. "Hey look, it's not what you think." Michael tried to explained sitting back up.
"Yeah?" Maria snapped, not asking as much as throwing at him. "I think you have a thing for my brothers girlfriend who isn't your species..." Maria began, remembering all of Michael's arguments against the two's relationship quite clearly.
"No! It's not that. she... Maria, Liz is hot." Michael excused and remembered, Maria isn't a guy, and she wouldn't get it, so he decided he had to make up for it quickly before any more damage was done. "But note, you are the staring role in my dream." Michael pointed out to her, complimentary.
"HA! So you admit it!" Maria squeaked happily, jumping up and down and pointing at Michael triumphantly.
"Admit what?!" Michael demanded, standing up as well, his face mirroring just how much he didn't understand the situation and wasn't following Maria's line of thought in the least.
"That you are obsessive about me." Maria told him smugly, standing up to him. Raising her chin proudly, and narrowing her eyes at Michael. Touché! She won. This was a simple checkmate no question asked.
"Evans, You have lost your mind." Michael said in disgust, ignoring the maybe truth behind Maria's words and turning away from her smug look, his whole face in a deep scowl.
"I lost my mind?" Maria demanded from him, how daft was he?! "You are the one dreaming that Liz is undressing me- okay, you know what? Order them to stop. Right now! NOW Michael! Michael!" Maria began screaming her voice rising and waving her hands frantically towards the overly sexed up male dream scene.
"Or what?" Michael shot back, grinning proudly. Now he was in control again and he liked it. Plus, it was too much fun seeing Maria get so flustered. He really did wonder when he would learn his lesson and stop antagonizing her.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him. Time to show him just how conniving and cruel the female gender, be it whatever species could be. "Do you really want to find out?" Maria demanded with chilling coldness and calm. "I can enter dreams Michael, who is to say i can't manipulate them and from now on, you'll only dream about... Alex naked." Maria warned pressing her lips together in a tight line and watching Michael from under heavily lidded eyes. Her poker face not revealing any emotions or expression.
"You're bluffing." Michael shot quickly, not trusting her in the least. She was lying. And Maria wouldn't dare, even if she could, which he was sure she really couldn't. Maria wouldn't dare do that to him, because he. Michael was actually worried somewhere deep inside, but you couldn't tell that from the cool put off look about him, that flowed around him. Michael looked very heartless, and tall and dark about him, as he loomed over her, just waiting for her to break. He knew she would. Maria sucked at poker.
"Try me." Maria offered, folding her arms across her chest, and bending her knee a bit, her bare foot tapping against the marble floor, her hard features never softening once as she continued to challenge him. He better call Liz off of dream Maria, or Maria was going to butt in.
Michael and Maria had a stand off of stares that seemed to last forever. Neither pulling away nor blinking even once as the glared intensified and deepened between the two.
Michael was oddly enough, actually the first one to crack. Michael actually began laughing and he shrugged his shoulders back, his laugh still continuing. Finally getting the somewhat bitter laugh under control, Michael stopped laughing and turned to look back down at Maria with a full of himself grin.
Maria was infuriated. "Get that smug smile off of your face Guerin." Maria hissed, dropping her arms to the sides and clenching her hands into tight fists.
Michael stepped closer and looked down at her teasingly. "I can't help it. You bring it out in me." Michael told her his voice full of confidence and his grin smug.
Maria was fuming. She was sure she must've had smoke or at least steam flowing out of her ears, she could feel the blood beginning to rush to her cheeks. Maria took a step closer, so that she stepped right in front of Michael. "The smug over grown overly inflated ego? Well, gee thanks, that makes me feel just great." Maria hissed then punched him on the shoulder.
Michael's grin fell away and he looked at her sincerely, his dark brown eyes warm. It almost looked as though Michael for the first time allowed facades to shed away and reveal his true self. "No, the smile." Michael told her softly.
Maria stopped mid-punch and her lower lip dropped, as her eyes widened with surprise. "What?" Maria asked softly, sure that she either heard him wrong or that he was plotting something. Michael would never admit something like that or be so nice.
Michael didn't answer her, he just stepped closer and encircled her in his arms before lowering his head and kissing her tenderly. As his arms wrapped around her closer, the rich colors around them began to pour, twist and milt into each other, until they lost of any color and turned into a soft mist rising up around them and swirling about their feet.
Maria paced about her room her bare feet tapping against the plush carpet while her flannel pants whooshed around with every speedy step she took. Flexing her arms around, Maria was edgy. She wasn't sure why, but she was restless. Sighing Maria stopped brushing her hair and put the brush down on her desk and looked over at her window. "Evans, you have got to calm down." Maria told herself then walked over to her almost over spilling tabletop full of oils. She needed something relaxing.
Picking up her Capri and Jasmine oils, Maria carefully dripped their contents into her oil burner. Not wanting to burn a flame while she went to sleep, Maria just put her hand over the burner. Her hand working as heater and changing the molecular structure of the clay so it acted as a hot blanket, getting so hot that it caused to oil to start boiling and bubbling.
Pulling her hand away, she blew on her fingertips as though they were a smoking gun. Being an alien, most certainly had some perks to it, she wouldn't lie about that. The relaxing odors filling the air, and relaxing her tense muscles and nerves, Maria felt quite happy to go to bed at that moment.
Once in bed though, she wasn't so much sleepy as she was bored. There was just so much entertainment that could be extracted from watching her ceiling in the dark. Groaning, Maria reached out her arm and opened the light on her night table, that was muffled out by the long purple veil she had draped over it.
Looking about her room, Maria most certainly was not in the mood for reading a book, or magazine or listening to any music for that matter. So she decided to do one of her more favorite past time activities. Reaching under her bed, Maria pulled out her high school yearbook.
All three of them were aliens, Maria, Michael and Max.
And each one of them had their own special gift.
Max could heal. With a single touch, Max could heal you. Even when the wound was fatale, he did do that for Liz after all, after she was shot. He was exploring other powers too, such as erecting a force filed that nothing could penetrate with a single thought. But still his main gift was healing.
Michael's talents were still raw, but they were powerful non-the less. His main concentration at the moment was to manipulate his powers to make things explode. He could blow up things, big and small or just send powerful, yet invisible blasts.
Maria was the tamer of three. Especially in comparison with both males. As much as she dabbled and explored with her powers, no less then the other guys, Maria enjoyed her favorite game, which was also her strongest power. She could enter people's minds, especially their dreams and spy on them. Maria could just enter your dream and watch it unfold. And right now, that is what she felt like doing.
"Who should I visit tonight?" Maria wondered, as she opened the book, flipping through the pages. Looking for the perfect person to 'drop in' on, when a picture fell out of the book. Wrinkling her forehead in dismay, Maria laid the book down and picked the picture up turning it over.
It was a photograph of her, Max and Michael from last year's camping trip. Looking at it, Maria smiled remembering the fond memories. Passing the tips of her fingers over the photograph, Maria smiled at the memory of all the fun they had.
A sneaky grin then pulled at her lip gloss covered lips. "Let's see what really goes on in that brain of yours, Guerin." Maria whispered, placing the year book down on the floor, and settling back in bed, lightly passing her fingers over Michael's picture and slowly fell asleep, descending at the same time into Michael's dream.
* * *
Michael's dream.
Maria opened her eyes and looked around in shock. "Alright, insert Twilight Zone music here." Maria muttered as she looked around the great hall, that looked like something out of a palace. Draped with thick plush velvet reds, long swooping rolls of purple gauze like material, and gold splattered everywhere. Bad taste another thing splattered everywhere for that matter. Maria stared around in dumbfounded disgust, her lower lip dropping slightly, shaping her mouth in a disbelieving 'o' shape. "Wow." Maria said her voice dripping of sarcasm. "I have entered a whore house Aladdin style..." Maria whispered then noticed someone. Narrowing her eyes, Maria focused and. Her eyes widened in pure astonishment. "Wait, is that... me?" Maria asked her jaw dropping.
Michael sneaked up behind her and glared down at her. Even though the glare was dark, there was some warmth hiding behind the eyes. "Are you dream walking again?" Michael asked deciding to play this out. After all, why not have a little fun with her if you could?
"Me? No. I am... a part of your dream." Maria thought quickly and said it even faster. Trying to come up with some excuse, that would also be her escape route. Make Michael think this was all a dream. Well, it was, but still. Maria never used her powers on Max or Michael, it was dumb thinking they would act like others and not notice her being there. Dammit. Maria cursed to herself.
"No, you're not." Michael corrected her, now his cold hard intense glare turning mocking and playful. It was fun getting Maria flustered. Even more getting her mad. It was a fun enough past time. Nothing illegal about it either and you got a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment out of it. Michael grinned to himself, he could be a commercial for 'why you should annoy Maria'.
"Why would you say that?" Maria asked, not catching onto the naughty glint in his dark brown eyes. Too concentrated was she on convincing him that she is just another figment of his imagination. Looking around she corrected herself, over active imagination.
"I'm already dreaming about you, see that belly dancer?" Michael asked motioning towards the exotic dancer, with a wide proud grin on his face.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him, and pursed her lips together, trying to hold in the nasty comments that she wanted to make. "Well, you are fantasizing about two Maria's." Maria told him, then added closing her eyes before opening again to look at him coolly. "I am not in charge of your psychic damage." She pointed out.
Michael's face hardened again, but the amusement stayed in his eyes. "See, now I KNOW you're dream walking. The Maria in my dream doesn't talk back." Michael told her smugly, then dropped the smile and glared at her coldly, the same kind of a look that would cause anyone to back off. "Get out of here, Maria." Michael ordered her rather then asked of her.
"How dare you!" Maria yelled at him.
"What?!" Michael demanded with equally loud volume.
"Not only did you just insult me, and lower me to the level of-" Maria stopped in the middle and looked behind her, her hair flying over her shoulder before cascading down and settling on her chest and back. Frustrated at what she saw, Maria screamed out of aggravation, she was so frustrated with him. "Have you heard NOTHING about the sexual revolution?" Maria demanded of him.
"Care to teach me?" Michael asked, an inviting playful grin playing over his teasing features.
"You are impossible." Maria said matter-of-factly, giving up on Michael Guerin. He was so hopeless.
"Yeah and you are spying on my dreams." Michael retorted, sitting down on the over stuffed couches lining the hall of his dream.
"Thank god I did! Otherwise... GOD, Michael, you would have defiled me!" Maria said then shook her head, correcting herself and trying to fix all the confusion from this very disgusting and disturbing situation. "Her!" Maria said waving at the replica of her dressed in a Jeannie outfit and dancing on a table seductively. "Belly dancer girl over there." Maria explained then turned a frosty cold glare full of daggers at him. "And you have a very low opinion of my stomach if I might add- it's a lot flatter than that."
"Maria," Michael began with mock tenderness. "I don't know how to tell you this," Michael said knowing well enough to avert his eyes from her before telling her about the defiling part. "Did it already." Michael said, not being able to hide the full of himself grin plastered on his face.
"You are sick." Maria told him disgustedly.
"And you're still here." Michael tossed right back at her. After all, one good turn deserves a next, right?
Maria looked down at him with cool reserve, before sitting down on one of the seats opposite of him. A cool dignified look about her, as she stuck her chin up defiantly. "I have to watch out for the interests of my imaginary figure."
Michael stared. "You-what?!" Michael asked now being the one to grow frsutrated with the situation.
"You heard me." Maria said proudly then pursed her lips and blew him a light kiss. "Mikey-G." Maria teased.
Talk about fun being ruined, Michael grumbled to himself. "Fine. Stay." Michael mouthed out shortly. "But as long as you do, lets share dreams, shall we?" Michael asked leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and grinning wickedly at her, then ordered the many servants around to bring them some beverages and snacks to nibble on.
"You made yourself sultan?" Maria asked in dismay, finding the idea amusing, as well as disturbing beyond belief at the same time.
"Yep." Michael answered proudly, as he leaned back into the plush welcoming pillows and relaxed while the servants scurried around him filling out his orders.
Maria almost balled. "God, can you ever hear me above your over inflated ego?" Maria asked rolling her eyes.
If there was one thing about Michael, it was that he wouldn't sit back and be insulted. "Look, you trespassed onto my dream turf-"
"Since when do dreams have borders?" Maria responded coolly.
Michael's glare deepened and he could feel the blood in his veins begin to boil. "You don't see me walking in on you and finding-" Michael ranted just to be cut off by Maria.
"Nothing!" Maria yelled at him, a little too quickly in her defense.
"Well, still you don't find me doing that." Michael shot back just as quickly, driving at his point.
Maria's hot headedness cooled and she smiled at him all too pleasantly. "That's because you can't." Maria pointed out to him simply.
"Hypothetically I could." Michael muttered in his own defense.
Maria looked at him, with big puppy dog eyes sympathetically, before her harsh personality and tart returned to her voice. "Michael, hypotheticals and you are an oxymoron." Maria informed him flatly.
"Maria, you are still here nibbling on my dream grapes." Michael pointed out, ignoring her previous jab, and deciding it would just be best to get rid of her and be mean and blunt- As usual.
"Michael, you are still ordering dream Maria to strip." Maria said simply, her voice slicing at him again and her eyes darting between 'dream Maria' and Michael, expecting him to order her to stop, or do something, she knew he didn't know the meaning of chivalry but how about common decency?
"You want to instead?" Michael offered grinning like the scoundrel he was, and popping a grape into his mouth, chewing it with a smug full of himself grin never once fading away from his face.
"You're a pig." Maria told him with a disgusted sneer.
Michael grinned triumphantly. "And yet you are still here." Michael pointed out, enjoying the flustered look Maria was wearing. It suited her and made him feel good seeing that he got to her. "Now Maria, as for that 'pig' comment. Compliments will get you everywhere, you know that, try to control yourself around me-" Michael continued not being able to stop, he wanted to see just how many buttons he could press on her before she exploded.
"Try to control myself?!" Maria yelled at him, not letting him talk. "Michael Guerin! Because you couldn't have the real me, your warped psyche made you in charge of me and ordered me to do things with you! Because no way, with my own free will would I ever-" Now it was Maria's turn to be cut off abruptly by Michael.
"Eraser room." Michael corrected her nonchalantly, tossing another grape into his mouth.
"Lapse of sanity." Maria counter acted, sitting with her arms folded over her chest and throwing him looks that could kill.
"It would never hold up in court." Michael said, leaning back more comfortably against the cushions, now she was trapped and he was the one in charge of the playing field.
"Are we in court?" Maria asked rhetorically, giving Michael a chilling look.
"We could be. This is my dream after all." Michael told her looking around at the interesting reality his subconscious had conjured around him. Maybe Maria did have a point before, he really did have an over active imagination, he really should stop reading Arabian Nights Tales.
"Aren't people suppose to angelic when they sleep?" Maria snapped, disgruntled that his subconscious was just as bad as he ever was.
"Only on the outside." Michael explained simply.
"That Michael, you can be a poster child for. I can see it now: Don't believe the outside looks, inside I am a bastard!" Maria said in a raised voice, throwing her hands up in exasperation. He was impossible. Simple.
"Maria, shut up." Michael snapped at her, dumping the empty vine of grapes into the golden platter before him.
Maria rolled her eyes, and averted her sight to look away from Michael taking in their surroundings- it was different. That was for sure, Maria only wanted what porn movie this all came out of. Maria almost choked on what she saw. Maria actually rubbed her eyes because she was sure they were fooling her and pulling tricks on her. "LIZ?! LIZ?!? Liz is in your dream too!??" Maria demanded, shouting loud enough to cause one of the imagery slaves to drop the golden dishes he was carrying. "What?" Michael demanded of her not seeing what bothering about this was. Her imaginary image had her best friend there to keep her company. What was the problem?
"Well, wow, Michael," Maria said looking somewhere between pissed off and hurt as she looked from the guilty party to the non-existing one.
Now Michael was beginning to catch on. And oddly enough, he felt his chest constricting and a weird urge to explain himself. "Hey look, it's not what you think." Michael tried to explained sitting back up.
"Yeah?" Maria snapped, not asking as much as throwing at him. "I think you have a thing for my brothers girlfriend who isn't your species..." Maria began, remembering all of Michael's arguments against the two's relationship quite clearly.
"No! It's not that. she... Maria, Liz is hot." Michael excused and remembered, Maria isn't a guy, and she wouldn't get it, so he decided he had to make up for it quickly before any more damage was done. "But note, you are the staring role in my dream." Michael pointed out to her, complimentary.
"HA! So you admit it!" Maria squeaked happily, jumping up and down and pointing at Michael triumphantly.
"Admit what?!" Michael demanded, standing up as well, his face mirroring just how much he didn't understand the situation and wasn't following Maria's line of thought in the least.
"That you are obsessive about me." Maria told him smugly, standing up to him. Raising her chin proudly, and narrowing her eyes at Michael. Touché! She won. This was a simple checkmate no question asked.
"Evans, You have lost your mind." Michael said in disgust, ignoring the maybe truth behind Maria's words and turning away from her smug look, his whole face in a deep scowl.
"I lost my mind?" Maria demanded from him, how daft was he?! "You are the one dreaming that Liz is undressing me- okay, you know what? Order them to stop. Right now! NOW Michael! Michael!" Maria began screaming her voice rising and waving her hands frantically towards the overly sexed up male dream scene.
"Or what?" Michael shot back, grinning proudly. Now he was in control again and he liked it. Plus, it was too much fun seeing Maria get so flustered. He really did wonder when he would learn his lesson and stop antagonizing her.
Maria narrowed her eyes at him. Time to show him just how conniving and cruel the female gender, be it whatever species could be. "Do you really want to find out?" Maria demanded with chilling coldness and calm. "I can enter dreams Michael, who is to say i can't manipulate them and from now on, you'll only dream about... Alex naked." Maria warned pressing her lips together in a tight line and watching Michael from under heavily lidded eyes. Her poker face not revealing any emotions or expression.
"You're bluffing." Michael shot quickly, not trusting her in the least. She was lying. And Maria wouldn't dare, even if she could, which he was sure she really couldn't. Maria wouldn't dare do that to him, because he. Michael was actually worried somewhere deep inside, but you couldn't tell that from the cool put off look about him, that flowed around him. Michael looked very heartless, and tall and dark about him, as he loomed over her, just waiting for her to break. He knew she would. Maria sucked at poker.
"Try me." Maria offered, folding her arms across her chest, and bending her knee a bit, her bare foot tapping against the marble floor, her hard features never softening once as she continued to challenge him. He better call Liz off of dream Maria, or Maria was going to butt in.
Michael and Maria had a stand off of stares that seemed to last forever. Neither pulling away nor blinking even once as the glared intensified and deepened between the two.
Michael was oddly enough, actually the first one to crack. Michael actually began laughing and he shrugged his shoulders back, his laugh still continuing. Finally getting the somewhat bitter laugh under control, Michael stopped laughing and turned to look back down at Maria with a full of himself grin.
Maria was infuriated. "Get that smug smile off of your face Guerin." Maria hissed, dropping her arms to the sides and clenching her hands into tight fists.
Michael stepped closer and looked down at her teasingly. "I can't help it. You bring it out in me." Michael told her his voice full of confidence and his grin smug.
Maria was fuming. She was sure she must've had smoke or at least steam flowing out of her ears, she could feel the blood beginning to rush to her cheeks. Maria took a step closer, so that she stepped right in front of Michael. "The smug over grown overly inflated ego? Well, gee thanks, that makes me feel just great." Maria hissed then punched him on the shoulder.
Michael's grin fell away and he looked at her sincerely, his dark brown eyes warm. It almost looked as though Michael for the first time allowed facades to shed away and reveal his true self. "No, the smile." Michael told her softly.
Maria stopped mid-punch and her lower lip dropped, as her eyes widened with surprise. "What?" Maria asked softly, sure that she either heard him wrong or that he was plotting something. Michael would never admit something like that or be so nice.
Michael didn't answer her, he just stepped closer and encircled her in his arms before lowering his head and kissing her tenderly. As his arms wrapped around her closer, the rich colors around them began to pour, twist and milt into each other, until they lost of any color and turned into a soft mist rising up around them and swirling about their feet.