Work Text:
Mediocre
by Anne Marsh
"I don't know if I will be able to stay here..." Sayid's eyes slid away from Sawyer, inspecting the tiled floor.
"What? Why not? Why don't you ask for political asylum or something? You can do that, right?"
"Not really." He shook his head.
"Not really?"
He shrugged. "If our plane had landed, perhaps... all the paperwork would have been finished and the green card..."
"You can still ask for one, though, right?"
"I can. They do not have to grant it."
"That's..."
"Yes."
"They're not shipping you back, are they?"
"No. Not now. I'm allowed to vacation here. Perhaps not to immigrate, though. I hadn't really planned on doing so before... hadn't planned on much of anything. Now, though... I would like to."
"What, 'cause of me?" He grinned, that cocky half-smile that Sayid wished was a little less disarming.
"Well, you factor in, of course. There is also the fact that the US is carpet-bombing my country."
"And that's not a reason to demand asylum?"
He raised one eyebrow. "If everyone whose home the United States decided to bomb was allowed to move here, it would be a very full country, indeed."
"Touche. We are American cowboys."
"It's mostly for you." Sayid smiled, leaning over until his shoulder bumped Sawyer's.
"I knew it."
"Oh, you knew it?"
"I'm irresistable."
"Well, it's not the first time I've dealt with having bombs dropped on me."
"Yeah, that too. But I am irresistable. If you can't stay... I mean, is there any way...?"
"You can hardly come with me." He snorted.
"I know how you can get a green card."
"We don't know for certain I can't. I've applied. There's a chance either way."
"You could marry me. Well, no, not me probably. It's legal in some states, though, isn't it?"
"It's your country."
"I think it's legal in Hawaii." Sawyer made a face. "I don't want to live in Hawaii. Too hot. Too many bugs. Too much damn beach. How do you feel about Massachussets?"
"You're not serious."
Sawyer shrugged. "I might be."
Sayid looked at the floor again. "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see, I think. But in the meantime..."
He slipped his hand into Sawyer's.
"Yeah. In the meantime."
FIN (yes, it's mega uber-short)