#sam 001.

Lollux were odd creatures, but they were something Sam had grown up with, and the Annual Lollux Convention had always been a childhood favorite. She had even begged her parents for one, and when they told her no, Zach had surprised her. She named it Shelly, and Shelly was her best friend (besides Zach), until she found it belly up in its tank one day. Sam cried for nearly a week, and vowed that if she ever had another pet, she would love it with all of her heart just as she had loved Shelly. But it didn’t stop her and Zach from going to the convention every year.

However, this year was different. And she had almost thought about skipping, until she remembered that Zach was probably by her side anyways. She just couldn’t see him. So when she saw the table set up with Lollux available to adopt and paint, Sam decided to honor him with one. The only problem? She would be decorating her newly obtained Lollux with one hand this year, and Captain America’s shield didn’t exactly lend itself to be an easy pattern to paint with one good arm. But she would try.

Finding an open seat, Sam gently put her Lollux on the table and sat down. Settling in, she glanced over to the person sitting next to her, not realizing she knew them, “Is this your first time here?”

—

Meredith had to get out of the apartment- she knew this.  She left to go to work and the grocery store and the occasional somber walk on the beach, but she hadn’t been doing a lot lately.  She painted, she cried, she stared at the ceiling while listening to Fleetwood Mac.  She didn’t socialize, she didn’t roller skate, she wasn’t herself.  She didn’t like it, she didn’t know how to fix it.  She figured, maybe, the Lollux Convention could be a place to start.

It was all an odd affair.  An entire convention for a weird, clam thing?  She didn’t completely understand it, but perhaps it was just the strange place to do something silly and get her mind off of…life for a while.  As it turned out, there was Lollux painting available, so Meredith had slid over her cash and grabbed a chair and got to work gathering brushes and paint.  Soon enough, another body sat down next to her.  She recognized their voice.  “Sam?” she asked, turning to face her.  One look into her eyes and memories flashed through her head.  A night when Mallory was rushed to the hospital and Sam was called to sit with Mere at home, another spent hiding outside her big sister’s door frame as the two girls worked on a school project and talked about high school.  It was almost a comfort to see her. 

“You know, I think my family came to one of these when I was a kid but the clams totally freaked Mallory out,” she said with a small smile.  “I thought they were weird and cool but she said they were creepy, we didn’t stay long.”  Meredith laughed, looking back down at her shell.  She began with a white base coat to create her canvas.  “It’s been awhile, how have you been?” She looked at Sam out of the corner of her eye.  “I guess maybe not so good, considering the arm.”

—

When the person next to her spoke her name, Sam looked over to find she knew them. A familiar face she hadn’t seen in a while, “Meredith!” She could remember a much younger Meredith and her sister Mallory, who she was surprised wasn’t with her. Of course, that had been years ago, and she had lost touch with the family after a while. Life was funny like that. One minute you were a constant in someone’s life and the next you weren’t.

As she looked over to see the start Meredith had on her lollux, Sam smiled, “Do you remember my best friend, Zach? We used to come to this thing every year. It was sort of a tradition. If I had known Mallory was creeped out by them, I would have invited you to come with us.” Perhaps an even stronger friendship would’ve formed bonding over lollux every year. It was something Sam couldn’t help, but ponder briefly.

“It definitely has been a while, and I’m doing okay. It’s been a rough year.” Sam glanced down at the cast on her arm, “A few more weeks and I think this thing can come off.” A soft smile spread across her face, “What about you? How are you and Mallory and your family?” Sam looked back to her lollux and then reached out for some red paint and a brush laying nearby. Sorry Zach, Captain America is about to go grunge. No clean edges on this lollux shell. With her best effort, after managing to squeeze out some paint onto a paper plate nearby, Sam started painting a red ring roughly around the edges of the shell.

—

It was odd, Sam had always felt grown up to her.  Of course, she’d only been a few years ahead but to Meredith she was the cool older girl that hung out with her sister.  Mere’s idolization of her older sister was often transferred to her friends and acquaintances; Sam was no exception.  So there was something strange about sitting with her now, her face changed slightly by time.  “Aw yeah, I remember him.  That would’ve been fun,” she smiled.  She could remember hearing about an accident, she didn’t know any details but she knew he was gone.  At the time, she couldn’t have imagined the pain.  Now she was all too familiar.  She wanted to say something more but she didn’t know what.  It wasn’t the right time or place, so she left it.

Meredith swirled paint across the shell and quickly her ever present nerves settled.  She’d been so on edge the past months, but with a brush in her hand the world around her grew softer.  She could focus, she felt at home.  “Yeah, I get that.  I’m glad you won’t have to wear it through the summer.  That can’t be comfortable,” she finished up her base coat and reached to rinse her brush in the provided cups of water that had already become muddied by the people around her.  She watched as the white paint swirled around in the glass.  “Oh um, I’m alright,” an understatement, but she still wasn’t sure how to broach it all.  “Mallory is good, really good actually.  She’s been living in London the past few years.  She’s a child life specialist, we’re all very proud.”  She said it with a sort of goofy tone, but the sentiment was genuine.  She was proud of her sister, more than words could say; she knew her parents were too.  She’d like to think they were proud of her as well, and of course they would say they were.  They’d probably attach it to a string of words like brave and strong, but Meredith hardly felt those things.  She wondered if they’d still think so if she had two kidneys.  

“I waitress these days, down at the Codfather.  Feel free to come down if you ever want a drink.  I’m still training behind the bar, sometimes they let me mess around and give out my concoctions for free,” she smiled, grabbing a clean brush to mix together a few oranges and yellows on her paper plate palette.  “You run that comic book shop, right?  That’s so awesome, gotta be a lot of work.  I was never super into comics but I feel like I should be, I’ve always admired the artwork.  Maybe I should stop in sometime for some recommendations.” 

—

It was so strange hearing Zach be mentioned in passing. Sam knew why Mallory had done it, but it was still hard in a way. Of course, from what Sam had seen in the local news, Meredith had been facing some struggles of her own, but now was definitely not the time and place for a conversation about death. Lollux painting was supposed to be a fun time. Relaxing and a way to take your mind off of everything life had thrown at you. Otherwise, this lollux that was being painted in honor of Zach would’ve been a lot darker in content.

Sam was glad for the brief pass by though, but her arm had been a completely different story, and one she wasn’t fond of getting into either, “Yeah, I’m really hoping this thing comes off sooner rather than later. I haven’t even been able to go swimming this year, and it sucks majorly.” Swimming probably hadn’t been the best idea either, but summer time was supposed to be fun, and so far this summer was turning out to be shitty. Meredith didn’t need to know that though. And instead of elaborating, Sam continued to slowly work on the red ring around the shell of the small animal listening to her friend talk about Mallory, “Really? That’s amazing! Good for her.” She was happy for the woman. While they hadn’t been best friends, Sam had still enjoyed getting to know Mallory. She had been one of the more enjoyable people during the woman’s school experience in Wicked’s Rest, so it was nice to hear Mallory had gone on to follow her dreams.

At the mention of the Codfather, Sam paused briefly, remembering the date with Winter and how poorly it had gone, at least until they had left to go get burgers and shakes instead. She had wondered if Meredith had been working that night, but nevertheless, that was in the past, and knowing she had a friend who worked there had given her a legit reason to want to go back, “And count me in, at least for keeping you company. I’m not much of a drinker myself, but I think it could be fun watching other customers trying your new drink ideas.” She smiled warmly at her friend, “And yeah. Escape Your Fate. It can be a lot sometimes, but I love it. Stop by anytime, and I’ll be glad to give you some recommendations.” Sam finally finished with the red ring and dipped her brush into a cup of water, cleaning it as she scanned the table for the next color she needed, “So what are you painting today?”

— 

“No swimming!? Now this-” Meredith placed her hand against her chest, “-is an issue near and dear to my heart.  We need to get you back in the water.  Can we wrap it up with a garbage bag and some duct tape and sneak you out on a boogie board?” She smiled, looking over at Sam.  “I’m sure your doctor wouldn’t advise it but I always say that a bit of sunshine and salt water cures all wounds.”  Meredith began to use a bit of orange paint to map out her design on the shell.  Slowly but surely, the flames began to take form.  

“In that case, maybe I can sneak you out some calamari or something.  Plus, I need someone to test out my mocktail recipes too,” she grinned earnestly.  It was nice to just have this time to talk to an old friend.  Sam wasn’t looking at her with pity or concern, she felt like she could just chat.  It was a relief.  “I’d love that.  I think I could use a few badass female superheroes in my repertoire,” Meredith laughed.  She finished her rough outline and began to dip her brush into a bit of yellow and red to add more dimension to her painted shell.  “Oh, I’m going with Calcifer.  Have you seen Howl’s Moving Castle?  It was one of my favorites when I was younger.”  She’s had demons on her mind lately, she supposed.  There were two books from the library on her nightstand on demonology, one about cults, and a slew of bookmarks on her iPad about poltergeists and the occult.  Perhaps it’s what influenced her decision to paint the fire demon on her lollux shell.  Her mind was swirling with scary images that reappeared in her nightmares, it helped maybe to think of a more playful spirit. 

“And you?  Have a particular design planned?”  Meredith continued to try and blend paint together on her rough canvas.  “Have you done this before?  Painted a lollux, I mean.  I swear, I really only hear about these things when this convention comes to town.  I tried to Google and came up empty.  Weird, right?”  She shook her head.  Lately she was looking at the world with fresh eyes.  She scrutinized everything with suspicion.  She was worried that soon it could consume her.

—

Sam laughed at Meredith’s reaction, “If you want to make me a summer project and figure out how I can go swimming, then please, by all means, I’m open to suggestions. But you have to promise me one thing…You’ll be there too, because my track record hasn’t been the greatest lately. Case and point.” She held up her arm, before putting it back down and grabbing the white paint.

Squeezing some out on her plate, Sam looked to the shell to see if the red had dried yet. She had to give it a few more minutes. So while she waited, Sam took in all the other fun designs being painted, including Meredith’s, “Don’t at me…” She grimaced, “But I’ve never seen it before.” It was true. She hadn’t. There was a lot she had seen, but even more she hadn’t. She was willing to put it on her watch list though. “Uh, I would love you forever, because I love calamari, and mocktails, I’m your girl.” She laughed.

When she noticed her red ring had dried, she dipped the brush into the white paint and began working on the next ring on the shell, “I’m doing Captain America’s shield. He was Zach’s favorite superhero, so I thought, why not?” A smile came over her face as she thought of her friend, “And yeah. Pretty much every year. But I know what you mean. I’ve tried to find them on the beach, and I never have any luck.” Of course lollux were just the tip of the iceberg, when it came to weird in Wicked’s Rest. She didn’t know how much her friend knew, but she really didn’t want to take her down a rabbit hole. Besides, it was a fun day. Not a “ponder every weird thing in Wicked’s Rest” day. In fact, that’d probably take months if not years to do. “Are you keeping your lollux or setting it free when you’re done?”

—

“Of course I’ll be there!  Don’t threaten me with a good time.”  Meredith laughed.  It was nice to laugh, to just joke around with someone.  She swirled her brush against her palette again and rounded out the base of her design.  “Well, Calcifer here,” she began, holding up her shell, “is this sarcastic fire demon that fuels the castle.  Not sure what exactly brought him to my mind today, but I’m going with it,” she shrugged, carefully placing the lollux back on the table to add Calcifer’s face.  “Forever, huh?  Well then, it’s a date,” she teased with a small chuckle.  “Just don’t tell my boss.”

Meredith looked over at Sam’s shell as the shield began to take form. “Oh yeah, I see it now.  That’s…really sweet.”  She smiled softly, looking back down at her own work for a moment, the brush resting in her hand.  She wondered what Stevie would’ve painted.  Probably something abstract.  Meredith could picture her flicking her brush to splatter her lollux with paint and bothering the nearby artists.  She wouldn’t have cared one bit.  Mere let out a small quiet sigh and got back to work.  “I’ll have to keep my eye out next time I go for a swim.  Maybe I can catch a glimpse.  As for this one, I think they deserve to be free.  Now they’ll just have a beautiful new shell to show off and brag to all of their weird lollux friends.  I’m not sure I’m ready for motherhood,” she joked.  “I already have a stray cat I’ve been feeding.  That’s about all I can handle right now.  What about you, are you taking your new sweet angel home with you?”  She looked over at Sam and smiled.

Her artwork was coming together.  She set her brush down to let the design dry before going in to add a few finishing touches.  “So you come to this thing every year, are there any other activities I should make sure I hit before I leave?”

—

Sam smiled. She had needed this. Needed the return of an old friend. This past year had been a rough one to say the least, and just having a day of fun with someone she hadn’t really expected to reconnect with had been nice, “I’ll one up it. You figure out how I can swim, and I’ll provide ice cream afterwards.” The ultimate summer plan. A day swimming followed by a delicious cold treat afterwards. It reminded Sam of her childhood. Something she missed greatly on some days. And as she listened to Meredith explain what the character was that she was painting, Sam couldn’t help but take in this moment and the sights around her. Something she found herself doing more so after Zach had died.

“Okay, yeah. This definitely sounds like something I need to watch. Maybe a good follow-up to free calamari and mocktails.” Sam laughed and shot a wink in Meredith’s direction as she continued to finish up the remainder of the details on her lollux. She could hear Zach now making fun of her shitty one handed painted lollux, but she also knew he’d probably love it. “Thanks, and I think yours is looking pretty rad too.” The more she looked at it, the more she realized she had seen that character before. She had just never seen the movie, “Tell me if you ever see one. And, honestly, my little grunge looking lollux is going right back out to the sea with his buddies. Maybe our lollux can be friends and see the world together via the ocean.” She looked between the two as she finally finished up with its star in the middle.