Re: Cass & Alex: the (bad) diner
"Well hey Cass," Alex said and let a friendly little smile touch his lips. Because this was how introductions worked, he guessed. He thought he remembered the name, though he didn't know the face. Shadows and the glare of streetlights on plastic hiding a longer name that lurked on the name badge, just outside of perception.
He took another drag as he thought on it. Alex didn't consider himself especially smart - and maybe he wasn't - but his days in captivity had trained his memory fairly well. Except, of course, for the pieces that seemed to be snatched away by whatever Great Beyond was determined to keep bringing him back. Ix. How did he ever forget that she used to call him that? But no, he'd remembered as soon as she said it.
Then it clicked, and he drew up the words from his memory, like reaching into a pail of M&Ms and picking out the color he wanted (red - they were best). "You the same Cass who said you once visited a town a' ghosts?"