[for Meredith]

[missingthekeep]

It's not often that Sean comes home in this state anymore, with that old swagger in his step that comes from too much focus spent keeping it steady, but really, that's what makes the times when he does go all out all the more worth it. That's what he tells himself, anyway. The guilt that he feels when he drinks is a rather unwelcome recent

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[drownondryland]

"Where would we get a couch?" Meredith asks, looking up from her book, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she takes him in. She knows that walk, she knows the way he sounds. It's not like they haven't been doing well lately, enough so that it's not necessarily unusual for him to be in a good mood, but this is as different as it is familiar. It's with considerable effort that she keeps her tone light as she asks, "Where have you been anyway?"

[missingthekeep]

"Out an' about," Sean says with a wave of his hand, the gesture large and overly-exaggerated. She's a smart woman and she she knows him, she doesn't need him to fill in the details. "An' where does anyone get anythin'? S'pose I could try makin' one. Might take some work ta make it more comfortable'n any ol' bench, though."

[drownondryland]

"Mm, I wouldn't risk it right now." Meredith goes back to reading, or at least to looking like she's trying to. Focusing on the words on the page is difficult when she's bristling and trying to fight it. She asked him to cut back and he has, and this seems to fly in the face of that, but is it really such a crime? She never asked him to stop drinking entirely. It feels like a backwards step, but she could just be overreacting and she needs a moment to weigh it. Either way, though, she doesn't have to be pleased about it.

[missingthekeep]

Sean shoots her a quick look, but that on its own isn't enough to spoil his good mood at being home again, at least not yet, and he flashes her a smile. "I'm sure I c'n wait 'til the mornin'," he says wryly, although knowing how she'll likely react to his doing anything to take the edge off of the inevitable hangover he's going to have probably means that isn't a time he should really be looking forward to. Hardly worth dwelling on at the moment, though. "So? How was yer evenin'?" he asks a moment later, drawing the words out as he leans his head lazily against one hand and leans forward over the table.