AN: A little middle-of-the-week update of this little series! I was pretty sure I wasn't done with these ficlets, but I haven't been struck by inspiration for a while. Watching 'Rashomama' yesterday, though, this little scene got stuck in my head, and here we are. If you're waiting for an update on my WIP 'Buddyflies', do not fear – the usual update will be posted on Friday!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI

Rashomama

"So… are you actually anti-wedding?"

Sara looks up at the hesitant question, but Grissom's back is to her and he's seemingly intently focused on the toaster, so she can't read the look on his face.

Sure, she's hungry too after their monster shift, but she's pretty sure the toast will get toasted even if he's not watching it.

"Like I said earlier – I'm not anti-wedding, I'm anti-stupid," she corrects.

"Blindly following traditions?"

"Yeah, and… the whole… handing the bride over to her new husband like some sort of property exchange. And, come on – we live in the wedding capital of the world, but how many of those marriages do you think actually last longer than the flight home?"

Finally, he turns around, a frown on his face. "I think you're being a little unfair. I don't think we can take the wedding-divorce ratio of Las Vegas weddings as an indication of the overall state of the institution of marriage – most weddings here, at least in the chapels catering to the tourists, are… holiday afterthoughts or drunken spur-of-the moment decisions."

"OK, yes, that might be true, but still… look at the divorce rates nationally. I just… I think a lot of people take it too lightly these days. They get married at the drop of a hat, without really knowing each other, and when the little differences and quirks come into the light, they turn tail and run."

"So… you don't see yourself getting married?"

She feels heat rise in her cheeks. "I didn't say that."

"So, you do want to get married… some day?"

The 'some day' feels like an afterthought, and for a moment, she can't breathe under the intensity of his gaze.

"I…" Breaking eye contact, she runs a tired hand over her face. "Can we talk about this another time when I haven't been awake for… almost forty-eight hours straight?"

She catches the amused half-smile on his face before he turns back to the toaster. "Yes, dear."