(Untitled)

[laloteria]

[ oom: a typical day at el palacio de los asesinos. except ... not. la lotería comes again.]Wireman had left Miss Eastlake's pack of cigarettes in the other room, so, after checking to make sure he hadn't imagined her lucidity, he'd gone to get them

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[not_his_pa]

William's getting ready to head out the front door of the Bar and almost runs into Wireman,

"Pardon me, sir, but don't think you'll be findin' her here."

[laloteria]

"Pardon me, friend, if what I'm saying don't seem right. Joe Cocker, nineteen seventy-two."

Wireman points his two fingers at the kid in the cowboy outfit, a mimed gun.

"This ain't where I'm supposed to be, muchacho."

He tells himself he just fell asleep during Oprah.

[not_his_pa]

He blinks since that didn't quite make sense to him as the way he said the name didn't seem like an introduction. The mimed gun gets a quick glare as it seems to be making fun of him,

"No, sir, this is Milliways. I ain't sure where you were meanin' to end up."

[laloteria]

"Miss Eastlake's --"

He cuts off abruptly at a thought hits him, and wheels around as if he means to head right back out the door.

Except there's just a wall where he came through.

Definitely a dream. Nevermind that he can feel the kid isn't lying. Definitely just a dream. Maybe if he plays along ...

"'This is Milliways' doesn't mean anything to me. Care to help Wireman out a little?"

[not_his_pa]

"Yes, sir. This is Milliways, the Bar at the End of the Universe. It has a way of surprisin' you the first time and sometimes other times you come here. Ain't too bad a place though its full of magic and things that seem like they should be in books,"

As he looks around, William waits, he doesn't mind giving the welcoming speech and he's hoping this man will accept it quickly. Its time for him to head home.

[laloteria]

Still with that damned sense of truth.

"A bar. At the end of the Universe."

His tone still indicates heavy disbelief, but then a new, horrible thought occurs to him.

"Are you saying I'm dead, muchacho?"

[not_his_pa]

"I don't know, sir. Do you think you might be?"

The dead do come here but William can't tell who they are. He knows his father is because he held him while he died.

[laloteria]

Wireman knows he's going to die at a point sooner than natural causes would usually dictate, but figured it'd be, well ... heralded, somehow.

But then he remembers the amazing turnaround of his headache. And how he'd felt like he was drifting off.

"Es posible," he admits reluctantly, then cocks his head. "Do the dead still get headaches? Because mine's better, but not gone."

[not_his_pa]

"I don't know, sir. I ain't dead and never asked any of the dead folks here if I do. Most of them seem to know they're dead,"

He could ask his father but he's not sure how to start asking something like that.

[laloteria]

Wireman makes a snap decision, the kind formed by necessity and willful naivety.

"I'm not dead."

Not because he doesn't want to be. But because he can't imagine leaving Miss Eastlake alone without wanting to cry.

(how would she deal with the body, all there on her lonesome?)

"But I need to be getting back. I've got business."

[not_his_pa]

"Then you need to go through your door, time stops on the other side. Its useful that way. I was just headin' back through mine when I ran into you,"

Hopefully this man can just go through his door and be on his way.

[laloteria]

He stops listening after time stops, too distracted by taking deep, calming breaths.

He does, however, catch the sense of urgency, and waves the kid on.

"Gracias, muchacho. Wireman is old enough to recognize someone in a rush."

[not_his_pa]

"It ain't a rush exactly. I've just been stayin' here for a while and watchin' out for a friend but he got his door back so went home,"

He doesn't mean to be unhelpful, he's just had some strange days lately.

[laloteria]

"So the door will come back?"

Make Wireman's day, say yes!

[not_his_pa]

"Unless you're dead, sir, it will. Though it might take a while, Bill was waitin' for about a month. There are rooms upstairs and space outside, so you won't be too tired of waitin'."

[laloteria]

He doesn't correct the boy, because he is young and has never met Miss Eastlake. Instead, he throws a two-fingered salute and a smile.

"That's a good thing to hear."