Manuel and Danielle - Good Friends With Benefits

[x-empath.livejournal.com]

Danielle comes to Manny looking for someone to help her through all of the restless ghosts stirred up by Madelyn and Hank's announcement. Manuel's all too willing to help in whatever way he can. They go out to a field to minimize danger to others, then once she's feeling more stable they go get a bite to eat and hit the clubs. Danielle overindulges in the demon alcohol and gives Manuel an early birthday gift he won't soon forget. Backdated to 18th of November.



"Let's go," Dani said, walking into Manuel's room without bothering to knock. She stood there looking as if she were in control instead of how she felt which was the opposite. Her typical poncho-style jacket had been replaced by a functional black one that was slightly too large but with it unbuttoned the low cut black shirt was easily visible as well as her red dress pants. She'd even worn some low-heeled shoes and her hair was unbraided.

Manuel turned to look at Danielle. "You'll have to give me a minute." he said, as he had just put on his slacks and was bare from the waist up. "I need to find my maroon button-down." he muttered as he flipped through the nearly-endless procession of shirts in his closet.

Dani wilted slightly at being made to wait, even if it was to capitulate to her wishes. "We gotta go to the store before we go...where are we going?"

Manuel ah'ed as he found the shirt he wanted. He put it on and buttoned it up, then disappeared into his bathroom to finish his getting-ready process. "You feel like hammered shit, so a little time out would do you a world of good." he said. "Figure some music, some beautiful people, perk you right up."

"I feel like hammered shit," she admitted, trying not to fiddle with her hair in the dresser mirror, it was nearly to her waist, "I should cut my hair."

Manuel emerged from his bathroom and swatted Dani on her bottom. "Come on, let's go have some fun! It's been too serious in here lately." he said, and escorted the Cheyenne girl down to the garage, where he checked out a car for use.

"Right. Fun," she agreed, climbing into the car. Manuel always chose small sports cars or the closest thing to that availible for student use. Dani always chose one of the old beat-up trucks. The cars reflected their various personalities and tonight, Manuel was in charge. Anything so she didn't have to think.

Manuel didn't take her to a club right away. Instead, he drove for about a half-hour until they were well into the less-than-urban parts of the state. He pulled off the road and then drove into a nearby field. "Come on." he said, getting out of the car and then opening her door for her. "You need to let some of what's eating you out before we go out among humans."

Dani glared at Manuel even as she climbed out of the car - without his help. He may have forgiven her, but he was not about to take any chances touching her yet. "You didn't see Dr. Bartlet's post?" she asked in a calmer voice than she felt. "I just want to forget. For a little while."

"I saw it. In the state you're in, if I take you out to a club or even to get a bite to eat it's going to be puddle-of-piss time for some poor sucker. So I figure if I take you out here, you can scream, cry, beat on me, whatever you need to do to get some of your anger and grief out. This is primal shit we're talking about here, stuff I don't want to touch unless I have to."

"Then go," Dani shrugged, buttoning her coat up in an effort to control herself. "Everyone else does. You know that. They always leave."

Manuel tugged her out further into the field. "That's right. Ultimately, the only one you can rely on is you. Men lie, women lie, babies get taken away by their adoptive parents - a song your people are familiar with, if the books you shoved at me are true. You need to use that pain as a goad - to get out there, build something with your life, get into a place where you can get your baby back, or have other babies and raise them in the ways of your people. I _KNOW_ what Family means, Danielle. I know it better than just about anyone. You don't have to hide around me."

"I didn't want to give him up," Dani admitted in a small voice, sniffling, "but I had to. It was the right thing. And he didn't go...he was still around. And every time I saw him, my heart broke. I tried to ignore it, ignore him, but you can't. It's too small. And now Dr. McCoy is taking him away for good. I can't even pretend or dream. I don't know which is worse either. Having Billy around or having him go," she hadn't meant to babble, but once she started to expain, she couldn't stop. Manuel did understand.

Manuel held her tightly, letting her babble and work through the issue as she tended to do - with a lot of tears and some snot. "I know you didn't. But you really didn't have much of a choice." he told her as he stroked her hair. "Your baby is being raised Anglo, but you can write to him. Videotape your dances, how to speak his mother's tongue, write him letters. Give him something to hold onto. And McCoy - he's good people. So is Madelyn. They won't let your baby grow up wrong."

"I know that," Dani sniffed loudly and rummaged in a pocket for a tissue and finding none, it figured that she wouldn't have one, "And that makes it worse. They ARE better parents. They got options and money and they're smart. And I got nothin' but stories no one cares about and a dead language and culture. And I can scare poeple half to death. All the boys will come a runnin'."

Manuel used her hair for leverage to stare her into the eyes. "Don't _ever_ talk like that again." he said in a low, dangerous voice. "You care about your stories. If they live on in you, they're not dead and the white man hasn't won completely yet." he said, rich in the awareness that he as a Spaniard was a large part of the initial cause of the problem. "Sing your songs, dance your dances. You can't make Billy understand any more than you can make Forge understand." he said. "But you owe it to him and yourself to _try_."

She wasn't sure if it was his empathy or if he actually understood but he was making sense. Angrily, she shrugged away from Manuel and picked up a pinecone from the ground, hurling it into the darkness. "It's not fair! It ain't fair! Why us?" she asked sobbing, "Why can't we ever get a break?"

Manuel shrugged. "I can't answer that." he said. "Heritage is important to you. Where you came from marks who you are. Your people - from everything I've seen, they've been beaten down for a long time. It's too big for you on your own - but maybe you can make it your life's work. Like that guy who passed recently - he meant a lot to you." he said quietly. "Use that anger, that despair. Don't turn it inwords, turn it outwards."

Dani found a rock and hurled it, hitting a tree. It made a resounding 'thunk' noise which was reassuring, "I wasn't expecting an answer...I get stuck on your reading about Indin's. I never thought you would do that. Thank you."

Manuel shrugged eloquently. "You're a friend." he said, with only a slight wince as the hole inside him ached. He then moved up behind her to wrap his arms around her midsection for a tight but brief hug. "I was curious, and it was too important to you." he elaborated. "Your desire became my desire."

*** LATER ***

"So, what's for dinner?" she asked, half joking. She sniffed loudly once and wiped her eyes with her jacket. This probably would not be the last time she cried over losing Billy, but it would be the last for the evening. She wanted to get out and away from everything for a little while, not get out and dwell on them some more.

Manuel looked at her and searched her feelings. "Comfort food." he said. "You want comfort food." he said. "I have no idea what you consider comfort food."

Danielle laughed at his appearent helplessness. The great and powerful empath who pretended to know everything, reduced to asking her preference, "Why don't you pick the place. Anywhere. Comfort ain't always in food," she looked him in the eyes, "it can be about the company too."

Manuel nodded. "OK. How about Italian?" he said, heading back to the car with a grin. Her mood had picked up, which was really the goal of the exercise. He didn't care for mopey women - he'd had his fill of that with Amanda. "I know a great place not too far from the clubs."

"Sounds good," she agreed, checking to make sure her eyes were not too red. She didn't own any makeup to put on so she wasn't concerned with mascara running down her face or her makeup being ruined. At least there was a perq to her tom-boyishness.

Manuel drove like his usual man possessed in a hurry to put out a fire and redeem a winning lottery ticket style. The restaurant was a little hole-in-the-wall, and when he stepped across the threshold he couldn't help but wince. This was one of the places he and Amanda liked to go to tank up on carbs before dancing the night away.

As soon as they entered, Dani took his arm lightly as she noticed a change in his mood. "They play the grape escape song!" she commented, pleased. Every Italian resturant should play it and have plastic red plaid table cloths. "Two, please," she said to the hostess.

Manuel was in serious danger of getting lost in his own memories, his own emotions. He had a lot of himself tied up in this little place, and the ache inside was threatening to swallow him whole. Must like, he thought with hysterical mental laughter, Amanda did under the table on one memorable night. He'd returned the favor the next time, of course, but ...

"Manuel," Dani stopped suddenly as he wasn't following the hostess to their table, "Manuel," she repeated trying to get his attention. "We can eat somewhere else. We said comfort food, and you are not comforable."

"No, we're good." he said, dragging himself away from the pit with a bloody mental struggle. "The linguine here is top-notch." he said. "And she _hated_ it, so it's got a vibe that works for me right now."

"Sheldon loved fried chicken and okra. I can't seem to eat it anymore." Dani opened her menu and glanced through it briefly before deciding what she wanted.

"I won't even tell you the horrors that that woman used to put in her mouth." he said with a leer. "Bubbles and squeak?"

"What?" Dani looked at him flabbergasted, "you okay?

Manuel grinned. "Better." he said. "Sometimes it gets a little rambunctious in here." he said, tapping his forehead. "It's hard to believe she's gone sometimes."

Nodding. Dani gave her order to the waiter. "I understand." There was nothing more to be said to that.

Manuel smiled at the lack of prying, and when their food was ordered and arrived he set-to with a vengeance. Somewhere along the line he'd rediscovered his appetite.

"You have...sauce, on your nose," Dani said gesturing with her fork and trying not to laugh. Watching Manuel eat was similar to watching an animal afraid his food was going to be taken away if he didn't eat it fast enough.

Manuel paused, remembered his manners, and then wiped the sauce off of his nose. "Sorry." he said with just a touch of color in his face. "It's good, though, don't you think?" he said, gesturing with his fork towards Dani's plate.

"Very," her own much more tame lasagna was nearly half gone, "This is very good."

Manuel grinned. "Discovered this place a few months ago." he said. "Been keeping it to myself ever since. And now I share it with you."

"Lucky me," Dani teased, finishing her dinner, "So...we've, well, I had a breakdown and we've had dinner. Where are the 'clubs' you mentioned?"

"Just down the road a ways." he said with a wolfish grin. "If you're ready, we can go any time."

*** IN DA CLUB ***

The bass reverberated throughout the dim nightclub and Dani stood just out of the doorway trying to get used to it. She had realized that they probably didn't play country music, but she hadn't realized that there would be so many people, the noise or the neon lights dancing around. Suddenly, this was a bad idea.

Manuel, however, was in his element. He looked more relaxed, more in-control than he had all night. "Come on!" he told the skeptical Indian. "Loosen up!" he laughed, making his way to the bar.

"What if I..." she had to scream to be heard over the music, "What if I lose control?" she hissed in his ear, trying not to touch anyone despite the crowds. "This was a bad idea..." she turned to leave and found herself blocked by a couple of guys also trying to get drinks.

"You won't." he said confidently. "And if you do, I'll take care of it." he said confidently. "Just relax. Try to have some fun. Find someone cute and flirt with them."

Nodding, Dani accepted the drink he handed her and drank it without question. Gagging on the strong liquid was not a good first impression, "You stay close..." she cautioned, still afraid of causing problems, but she squared her shoulders and headed out to the edges of the dance floor.

Manuel did as requested, sticking next to her. He also spent a great deal of time watching her tenatively work her body in rhythm to the music, and just remembering the needful rush they got in the last time they got together brought the blood rushing to all the right areas. "So - are you a vodka girl or a rum girl?" he asked into her ear, nibbling on it playfully. "Because your drink is empty."

Dani made a face at the mention of alcohol, "I'm a non-alcoholic girl," she replied, annoyed slightly that he'd ask. "I don't drink!"

"Didn't stop you from tossing back that screwdriver I handed you." he said with a laugh.

No sense in locking the barn after the horse has been stolen, she reasoned even as she could hear her grandfather lecturing her on the dangers of alcohol. "I got myself in enough trouble without alcohol, I can't do much more," she muttered, tonight was about forgetting. "I guess I"m a screwdriver girl!"

Manuel laughed. "That's my girl!" he said, and went off to get her another drink. As the night went on, he kept her A) dancing and B) with a drink in her hand.

Dancing without abandon was fun and as the night went on Dani managed to migrate from the edges of the dance floor to the middle, writhing and moving to the beat with random guys and a few girls as well. Manuel had even done his part, keeping her supplied with drinks and staying close, sometimes very close, just in case. "Mannie?" she asked, slurring her words slightly as she stumbled off the dance floor in need of a break. It was nearly closing time.

Manuel was still fresh, as he had to drive. "Yes?" he said, patting his hair back into place. The last number was a song he liked, and he got a little exuberant with it.

"I think I'm tired," is what she had intended to say, but it came out sounding more like "Mmm tarred."

"Yep. Time to go home, I think. Tell the nice boy who has been trying to feel you up all night that it's time to go home with me." he laughed. The boy in question flushed angrily, but a warning look from Manuel, with _maybe_ just a little psionic English on it, served to get him to back down.

"He can come too," Dani pronounced happily, ignoring all reasons why he shouldn't, starting with not knowing his last name. "Lots of space."

Manuel shook his head. She was _gone_, which should make later tonight very interesting indeed. "Nooo, he can't come with us." he said. "Let's go outside - the cool air will feel -very- good." Especially since, given a casual glance at the girl, she was unbelievably horny. He draped an arm across her shoulders and led her across the club to the doors.

Dani was quite ammenable to going outside once she had given the other boy a relatively quick good-bye kiss. In the parking lot she danced a little more to the music in her head and called to Manuel in Cheyenne since he was trailing behind her with the coats.

Manuel didn't speak Cheyenne, but he could tell she was talking to him. "Come on, Miss Wiggle, let's get you into your coat and go home." he said, holding out her jacket for her to shrug into.

Shooting Manuel a dirty look, she put the jacket on obediantly, before informing him solemnly, "Énonótovâše'še."(1) Dani nodded as if confiding a deep, meaningful secret and giggled. She was not normally a giggler.

"No speakee Injun." he told her with a laugh, his empathic gift at least was giving him clues as to what she was on about. "If you can find your feet, the car's this way." he said, shepharding her by draping his arm over her shoulders, not coincidentally putting her chest right into gropage range. "Do you feel better now?" he asked her as he led her to the car.

Dani nodded, "Everything is good!" she proclaimed, arms wide. "This was fun!"

"Clubbing. The cure for what ails you." he said with a grin. "But I'll have to make sure you drink plenty of water before bedtime." he said. "Otherwise you'll wish you'd joined your ancestors in death come tomorrow morning."

That was sobering. "I'm drunk," she repeated in English, moaning, "I promised I'd never get drunk! My grandfather will kill me!"

"He's already dead." he reminded Dani uncharitably. "Besides, you were having a _great_ time back there. One night is not going to turn you into the twenty-five-going-on-sixty squaw on the front porch with three teeth, alternating between smoking a pipe and doing shots of T-bird." he said. "If I must, I'll make sure of that."

"With friends like you," Dani snorted in derision, "You just described my granfdmother you know. Without the T-bird. It's warm in here," instead of turning the head down in the car she wriggled out of her coat.

"Charming." he said, and then started the car. But he couldn't help himself - he had to watch the extremely drunk and uncoordinated Danielle try to wiggle out of her jacket. It was very, very entertaining. "So - you ready to call this night over, or do you still have some energy left?"

"Whatcha have in mind?" she slurred, running on hand lightly over his knee and up his leg a little, his pants were softer than they looked. "My husband won't mind."

"Your husband?" he asked curiously, and then grinned at Danielle. "And I think I know where your brain just went. But won't your Knight Protector get all offended if the evil Spanish mercenary gets his maiden fair drunk as a skunk and then fucks her until she screams all night long?" he asked with a smirk.

Dani blinked at him owlishly trying to parse the nicknames. "you're the great empath, what do you think I think? Forge can get over it, ain't his decision." she paused, adding, "My husband cheated on me."

Manuel shrugged. "People do that." he said blandly. "Both of my parents had a very healthy stable of bits on the side." he admitted. "They were fine until I stuck my brain into it. But enough of that. You want it, I'm certainly up for giving it, and you can tell Forge to go invent himself his own girl to moon after." he said nastily. "Besides, my birthday is coming up."

"Whatcha want?" she asked, playing with his hair now that he was driving. Even she could reason that a wreck would be a bad thing.

"For my birthday? Surprise me." he said with an evil grin, reaching over and futzing with her leg as he drove. "Something special."

Dani purred at his touch, wishing they were back already, "I know what you want," She sang lightly, "and you can have it!"

"And what's my greatest desire?" he asked her teasingly. They were almost back to the Mansion already ... and Manny's hand was ranging northwards into very interesting territory indeed. "What do you think I want?"

"Well," Dani pondered this not expecting to be put on the spot, "I don't think it's your greatest desire, but I think you want your way," she nodded, "And maybe a new shirt."

Manuel grinned. "I figured that was going to happen anyway." he said, pulling the car into the garage and reluctantly pulling his hand away before he could _really_ get her motor running with it. He parked the car, killed the engine, and then turned to look at Danielle head-on. "You know what I'd really like from you as a gift? I want you to _let go_. To forget embarrassment, forget fear, forget shame. I want you to be the lusty little bitch I know you are underneath it all." he said. "THAT would be a marvelous birthday gift."

Dani giggled, stumbling out of the car, one hand clutching her jacket and the other holding Manuel, "You think anyone's awake?" she whispered, even though they were in the garage.

Manuel paused for a second to scan. "Nobody's around." he said with a grin. "Couple folks awake in the school, but nobody by the garage."

Dani reached under her shirt, taking her bra off, "Then let's go!" she took his arm again and headed purposefully, albeit drunkenly, towards Manuel's room. "Tonight, I let go."

Manuel laughed. "Happy Birthday to me..." he sang as he followed along behind Danielle.

(1) "I'm drunk."