(Untitled)

[gavemea_45]

[OOM: Memories in the dark.]

He leaves Dean sleeping in the motel room. Sam slips through the door into Milliways, then shuts it quietly behind him.

He gives the place a quick once-over, then starts across the room toward the corridor that leads to the Security officeSome time after that he's back. Sam gets a drink and takes a seat at a table

Comments

[ever_noteful]

He passed her table, on his way to his.

Meg hesitates for just a second, and then goes over.

"Hi, Sam."

[ever_noteful]

"Another few days, and I may have to consider that.

"And I like puzzles, but you can get carried away with making them challenging for the sake of making them challenging."

[gavemea_45]

"You should meet Michael. Her thing is crossword puzzles, though."

He shakes his head, looking amused for a second.

"She does them in ink."

[ever_noteful]

"Um, is this a bad time to admit 'I work crossword puzzles in ink, too'?"

Beat.

"She?"

Meg is from just a little ahead of the boys' names for girls trend.

[gavemea_45]

"... you know, somehow I'm kinda not surprised."

"And yeah, 'she.' I know how it sounds, but hey, it's her name."

[ever_noteful]

"Only kind of?" Meg asks.

Meg shrugs, easily. "Just making sure I was following."

[gavemea_45]

"Only kind of," he insists.

"And yeah, you're tracking okay. If you ever see her, you'll know her -- she'll be the one working on a crossword and wearing some kind of t-shirt with a saying on it."

[ever_noteful]

It's nice to not be completely predictable.

"I'll keep an eye out," she says.

"What about you? Do you work crosswords?"

They at least seem more transportable than jigsaws.

"And, if so, pen? Pencil?

"Crayon?"

[gavemea_45]

"Hey, now," he protests.

"Seriously, crayon?"

[ever_noteful]

"Hey, it adds to the challenge. You have to keep them sharp enough to write in the little boxes."

Not for the faint of heart.

[gavemea_45]

"I think I'll stick to pencil for now," Sam says.

Dryly.

[ever_noteful]

"You can work your way up to crayon," Meg says.

There's a slight pause.

"Sam? I'm not trying to find a polite way to leave, but if you really would rather not have to talk about things like crayons and crossword puzzles right now, just tell me. It won't hurt my feelings."

Sometimes, distraction is good.

Sometimes, it's just distraction.

[gavemea_45]

"That's the second time you've asked," he notes, a little wryly.

"Go ahead and take off, Meg. It's okay."

It's not fair to her to have to deal with his problems, after all.

[ever_noteful]

Meg raises an eyebrow.

"I think we have just hit the point in the conversation at which Laura would tell us we were being stupid. Or at least overly polite.

"Because that phrasing makes me think you're talking about what you think I want rather than what you want, which wasn't the question.

"Do you want company?"

[gavemea_45]

"I wouldn't mind it," he admits.

[ever_noteful]

"Then you've got company."

Simple as that.

"Just . . . please don't ask me to drink American beer tonight."