fandomtownies | Walking into the local coffeeshop...

Maia sees her teacher walk in, her heart skips a beat, it always does when she sees him. She knew about Sara's past with him. Despite that she waves at him and smiles.

Grissom gives Maia a small grin. He walks over to the table, but doesn't sit down.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Maia gestures over to her iced tea. "no thank you. Would you like to sit?" Maia leans over to see Grissoms inflatable. "Or stand. which ever is more comfortable for you" Maia fights to keep a smirk off her face.

"No, I have my donut, I can sit."

Grissom gives Maia one raised, amused eyebrow, and sits down, rather awkwardly.

"So... how have you been?"

Maia finally starts to laugh a bit but quickly controls it. "I've been really well sir, how have you been." Hesitates "Besides the donut necessity."

"I've had my ass chewed out before," Grissom smiled. "I've been doing well. My classes have been very successful I think. I tend to spend a lot of time in the lab..."

Grissom takes a sip of his coffee, a bit uncomfortable talking about himself.

"I noticed that. By the way have you had a chance to grad the tests from yesterday?" Maia decides to keep things even keeled for the moment until Grissom is comfortable with her.

"Oh yes. You did very well, of course. I awarded you extra credit for your last reply, technically for the effort, but I must say I was amused. I assume you do know the difference between factor and spot, however. I may be a doctor, but I'd probably rather avoid drawing that particular diagram."

Maia laughs not expecting that from Grissom. *coughing* "Um yes I do know the difference, no diagram needed; though that might make an interesting topic in Biology." Maia smiles but then blushes quickly I am sure he knows by now about us bad choice of words Maia, bad bad choice of words

"Listen, Maia... you don't have to, be embarassed. I live next door, and contrary to what Sara may have told you, my hearing is just fine. Believe me, it will have no effect on your coursework. I have years of experience compartmentalizing."

He's trying to reassure Maia, but probably failing. Although the words aren't half bad for him, Grissom is shifting a bit and looks unsure of himself.

Maia looks stunned. "I-sh- she didn't tell me anything about your hearing, good or otherwise." Maia shifts uncomfortably in her seat, her arms cross her chest. "Thank you for that, about my work. I didn't think you would take it out on that actually but it is nice to know that you wont." Maia picks at a napkin on the table and then blushes. "You hear us? Next door I mean, when we are talk? You hear what we say?"

"No, no, my hearing isn't that good. I had a degenerative illness, that I thought Sara was unaware of, but apparently she spoke to my mother...

Well, signed to my mother, she's deaf."

Grissom takes a sip of his coffee, shocked that he finds admitting this to Maia so easy. Is it Maia's nature, or has confessing to others made him realize it should have never been a secret after all?

"This isn't to pry, but what exactly has Sara told you about me? I know you need to keep her confidence, I just want to make sure your classroom environment isn't strained."

Maia frowns. "I am sorry, about your mother." Maia hesitates "I lost my mother, my father to." Maia looks at her drink then back up at Grissom. "She said that you never took her to the body farm and that you said she was beautiful."

Maia takes a sip of her drink. "That's about it, she is not very open you know. I try not to push at her you know. I just let her know I am there for her." Maia thinks "My classroom environment isn't strained, well, when Angelus makes comments it makes me uneasy because of stuff he has done to me in the past but Sara keeps a cross on, two actually." Maia takes hers out "She gave me one, I don't take it off."

Maia bites her lip again. "Do you love her?"

Grissom is floored by Maia's question. He pushes his seat back a few inches, but makes no move to leave, trying to artfully dodge a real answer.

"She is very angry with me, for good reason. I don't believe my feelings have much influence on the situation. I am glad you are there for her, however, she deserves that."

Maia watches Grissom's reaction. "Why is she so angry at you?" Maia does not take her eyes from Grissoms, she stares into them as if they were laying all of his secrets out in front of her.

Grissom tries to shift his gaze, to no avail.

"I'm not good with people. I'm especially not good with treating Sara well. I was her supervisor in Las Vegas, there was conflict. I've tried to apologize, tried to explain, but I fear I may be too late to rectify the damage done. I've always been too late, when it comes to her."

Maia nods slightly. "She is a wonderful person. I'm sorry that things did not work out between the two of you while you were in Vegas. I do hope you and Sara can work through it and become friends" Maia puts a slight emphasis on 'friends' it was not intentional or maybe it was, it just sort of came out that way.

"Maybe we've never been capable of being friends. I thought that perhaps fate had brought us to this moment, that this was my chance to try..."

Grissom pauses. "Try and love her. I know the two of you... I'm not trying to come between you and Sara. I want her to be happy, I think it is fairly obvious I could never truly make her happy. There's a quote, "Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words" I just thought if I could give that to her... but it is impossible, at best, I see that now."

Grissom sighs, "I'm never been comfortable with being wrong, but she's my one great failure."

Maia stares down at the table top and her hands, she is breathing a sigh of relief but still inside she is at war he loves her, he still loves her. I want her happy, more then anything even if it means being with him. Maia pushes the thought away.

"She is indeed." Maia has still not looked up during this time. "Your coming to the body farm with us next week." It is a statement not a question. "You and some of your students."

"I've never been able to resist a insect-infected corpse. It may be the root of some of my problems. Body farms are fascinating for study, and quite rare. We are very lucky to be able to attend. I feel the opportunity will be good for someone of my students, especially those in Criminology and Deth and Dying. See what they are really dealing with."

Maia nods and swallows. "Sara wants to go to one of those. When she dies." Maia whispers the last part. "We were really drunk when we talked about it and it didn't mean anything to me then but now, I-I keep seeing images of her laying there, all through class I had to keep it from showing itself to me." Maia sighs heavily. "Is that normal? To think things like that? She told me I didn't have to go, that I could write a term paper. Like I was to sensitive to handle the body farm or something. Is it normal though, for me too keep seeing her laying there?"

"I don't think you are asking the right person if you are looking for a proper definition of normal. I've always planned to donate my body as well. Tombstones are for other people, people you left behind, to give them a connection to you. For me, that wouldn't be necessary.

But you shouldn't push yourself to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable. I have dreams sometimes..."

Grissom gets up suddenly. "Need sugar, for my coffee." He grabs sugar and dumps a bit into his half-empty mug of previously black coffee. "I don't think you are too sensitive."

"What do you dream?" Maia's eyes are now fully focused on him. "I've tried to see you you know, the night with Sara in the bar, you were fuzzy, I assumed it was because I was drunk." Maia stops herself. "What do you dream?"

"I... what do you mean, see me?"

Maia stares up at him. "I see things, everything." Maia bites her lip. "Things that are going to happen. So when you sit down in front of me, I know what's going to happen to you tomorrow, a year from now, until I see your death or until you go fuzzy." Maia stares at the table now. "Your fuzzy."

Maia looks back up "I-I'm sorry I thought Sara had told you..." Maia trails off "Sara hasn't told you anything about me has she?"

"Sara and I don't get very far in our conversations, and I don't think she wants to share her personal life with me. I hope you don't hold it against her. Like I said, I don't think you could even call us friends."

Grissom is still a little uncomfortable, but please he dodged the dream question.

"So, what happens... before I go "fuzzy"? Can you tell me? I'd like to know..."

Maia shifts slightly in her chair, she stares off into the distance for a moment and then frowns.

"Its a car accident. Your driving, its day time, there is a lot of traffic out. You have something in your hand, a phone or something a cup maybe. You turn the wheel and it falls. There are sirens, flashing lights. I-I don't think you hear them sir. You look up and you see them but its not enough time to stop. They are coming through the street and they hit your car. Then you go fuzzy."

Maia is very uncomfortable now. "I don't usually tell people what I see, even if they are fuzzy at the end of it." Maia is breathing hard.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just...I'm on the phone, in my car... that's, not like me. Is there anyone else there?"

"I dont know if its a phone, its in your hand and your hand is over it. I cant see what it is. No, your alone in the car."

Maia looks down and then back up. "You don't hear the sirens sir. I can tell you don't because you look so shocked that they are there in front of you."

"It's okay, I'm not upset, really. I've always known I could lose my hearing, and if it happens some day, it happens. I was just worried, that someone could have been in the car with me. I don't think I could live with that, quite frankly.

Thank you for telling me. It's a relief knowing. I always thought my life was perfectly mapped out, and with the past few months and everything that has happened... this may not make sense, but the certainty is comforting right now."

Maia looks at him blinking. "I am glad I can give you comfort then. Now, tell me what do you dream Dr. Grissom?"

"You don't know?"

Maia tilts her head. "I don't read minds Mr. Grissom, my room mate does that. I see the future, every now and then I feel a strong emotion off of someone but thats rare. So no, I don't."

Maia leans forward. "Tell me."

Grissom spills out his dream in a rather rapid, even tone.

"She comes to my office door and she's speaking, but I can't hear her. I get up to approach her but I'm frozen to the desk. She begins to frown, and I shout, but no words come out. From behind her a knife is placed against her throat, so that I can see her eyes reflected in the blade. It slides across her skin from ear to ear and her throat literally falls to the floor, but she stays standing until I watch her bleed out. I can see that she's almost dead and suddenly I'm free to move, but when I get close enough to touch her, her body falls to the floor and I'm face to face with the man who killed her. That's the dream."

Maia starts shaking as Grissom is telling her this, her hands tremble, images flash in front of her eyes dead sara. body farm sara. eyes turned glassy sara.

"I-" Maia is breathing hard. She looks into Grissoms eyes, she is still trembling. "I don't see it." She whispers finally in a chocked voice. "I told Sara I would never read her" swallows "I don't see that though." Maia reaches for water, her hands shaking violently. "I push her images away you see, I-I don't let them in or force them away when I can." Maia drinks the water, her body is still not calm. "I don't see that." Maia whispers trying to steady herself and calm herself down.

"I know that. It's just a dream. If it were real, then...

Do you need anything? I have a habit of upsetting people."

Maia is still breathing hard. "No, I- I'm ok. I know its a dream I just, after today and the body farm images in my head" Maia shakes her head to push away an image of Sara. "It, I care so much about her you know. I just it scares me to care about her so much and to think something like that, even if it is a dream, happening to her..." Maia's hands start to calm now as she takes another sip of water. "I'm ok. I'm ok. Its ok." Maia sets the water down and finally stops shaking. She sits very quietly just staring off into space. "I'm sorry. That you have that dream I mean. I think your dream is going to keep me up tonight."

"It keeps me up too, often. It's always the same, I can't even look in a mirror for hours. We all have things that haunt us; life is sometimes just a tally of losses.

I'm not helping. Christ."

Grissom rubs the bridge of his nose with a few fingers.

"I'm sorry, Maia."

Maia nods at him, with each breath she is regaining her center of calm. "Its ok. Your not used to people. Its a nightmare I know that. It is going to be one that haunts me now, but a nightmare none the less." Maia sips her water. "Life is a tally of loses Dr. Grissom I assure you that I know that. I lost everyone that I loved when I was eight. I came back and all of them were gone." Maia shakes her head "Since I have been back, with the exception of Diana, Sara has been the only person who made me feel cared for and loved."

"No, don't let it become your nightmare."

Grissom looks momentarily stricken, and knocks over a water glass onto the floor. he makes no move to pick it up.

"Maia, you can't allow that. You can't see... no."

She looked at Grissom with eyes that told momentarily of all the horrors she had ever seen. "I see everything you know. After seeing everything that is going to happen, through all that, the one thing that brings me to my knees and terrifies me, is Sara being hurt." Maia frowns.

"I guess we have more in common that meets the eye, then. I'm sorry about the loss of your family, that must have been difficult. I'm glad you've found someone to share that with. It's good...to have people to do that with, I would guess."

Grissom begins toeing the glass under the table, still allowing it to reside in a pool of water on the floor.

Maia smiles sadly at Grissom. "Yeah it is. I am glad that you talked to me though. I mean, you really dont know me at all and you shared your dream with me. I am glad you were comfortable enough to talk to me about that, disturbing as it was."

((OOC: MUN needs to go to bed, I just almost fell asleep sitting here. Been up for hours and hours now. We can continue this tomorrow if you want.))

"I'm glad you shared with me as well Maia. Thank you, for your time."

He stands up and grabs his donut, tucking it under his arm nervously. Guilt flashes through his eyes - Maia's comments on his abilities to be open leave him raw, as he has managed to avoid several issues he wanted to dodge tonight, and conceal the true nature of his dream.

"I should be going... prep work for class tomorrow. I will see you on Thursday, then."

Walking into the local coffeeshop...

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