letting the days go by, into silent water [open]

[yardbird]

CHARACTERS: Murphy Pendleton and you.
LOCATION: Anywhere. This is pretty much a free-for-all of CR.
WARNINGS: Insert the usual Silent Hill disclaimer here.
SUMMARY: Insomnia hits. Friendly neighborhood convict takes a little stroll.

---

He couldn't sleep.

Granted, this was nothing new and exciting. If nothing else, it was fucking tedious. His brief spell of excessive sleeping habits died real fast after the jump wired Murphy up all over again.

It wasn't always this bad. In fact, he used to sleep a fair bit. There wasn't much else to do during his alone time in prison, so it had been the only resort next to going stir-crazy with boredom.

Even with Anne in the same room these days, Murphy still felt the nagging urge to escape the closing walls of his cell bedroom. Unlike Ryall, he could at least work off his restlessness by stretching his legs. There were still places that he hadn't yet seen, grounds that he hadn't yet covered. He could scratch this itch. He could.

So he just wandered for awhile. Aimlessly, as usual. He almost felt dazed. But it was good to be out. Not free, not safe, though close enough to settle on the fact that his present situation proved to be more favorable than where he had been coming from, in ways.

That was just sad.

Murphy, this is your life right now. Take a good long look at it.

Comments

[yardbird]

The glass swished around as Murphy looked ahead in thought.

"Actually, space hasn't been so bad." He scoffed at himself. Something told him that he should probably work on amending that sentiment: "I mean, so far I've dealt with people on some kinda fear gas--" Which involved having a gun pointed at his head (twice) and headlocking a kid to keep from hurting himself. "--space disease--" Yeah, he's giving Soysauce a look at that one. "--and... that outpost. No, it isn't been perfect, and I just about lost my shit when I first got here, but... I have a lot more now than I did before I showed up."

Wow, chalk one up for optimism. Totally not Murphy's style to try and look on the bright side of things, but for once he... couldn't help but look on the bright side. At home, he had no one -- no friends or family. But here? There were people he felt he was actually connected to. People that he would be willing to fight for. If that wasn't something nicer, he didn't know...

He glanced over at Soysauce when he began to hear the creak of a chair. Murphy decided to keep his attention focused out the corner of his eye, just in case. Soysauce looked like he could manage his own, but his equilibrium was failing pretty fast.

Murphy smirked slightly at the mention of stealing. "Nah, I think my roommate would gimme an earful if I ever tried to pull somethin' like that again. Stole a bunch of shit off of Strela and never heard the end of it."

Finishing his shot, Murphy reached for the bottle to pour his own glass. No use in letting Soysauce slip again and waste perfectly good whiskey.

"Although... It wouldn't be so bad if I could just... buy a boat, go out someplace far, and never look back."

[shoyu]

A meek little blink as Murphy reeled through the list of catastrophes that had struck the Tranquility, then a demure look away at the mention of space disease -- giving a small cough and draining his glass to avoid that judging stare.

Still, there's something undeniably refreshing about someone else showing a more optimistic view about life on the ship. Sure, it's been hard and there's been a lot of trouble, but nothing absolutely devastating, yes? Besides, it wasn't all just gloom and doom!

"Definitely, sir!"

It might have been a little startling. He'd been listening quietly to Murphy's words up until the very last moment, where he responded with a loud, boisterous, and clearly drunken declaration. "Too many people see this shit as nothing but a death sentence or some manner of awful punishment, but there are always silver linings!"

A stern nod before he threw his glass back, draining his drink, then placed it solidly back on the table with a puffing exhale. "And I'm very -- very glad to hear if this place has been treating you well, Mister Pendleton!" Turning to look at Murphy, Soysauce stared at Murphy for a few moments, his features crinkled in intense thought. Then, a bright beaming smile as he announced, "I very much hope -- ah, no. I know you'll get to have your boat someday. A new start. That sounds nice. You seem like you've been through a lot of difficult things, and you'd deserve a nice vacation, sir!"

Seemingly satisfied by his tipsy rant, Soysauce gave another solid nod before reaching over the table to fetch the whiskey bottle back. And he almost got his fingers around the bottle's neck, too, before his balance finally crumbled and he toppled off his chair with a quiet oof.

[yardbird]

Murphy just listened, shaking his head with a slight twitch of his lip while Soysauce prattled off. He was different from the usual gloomy company that he oftentimes found himself in. While Murphy wasn't one to talk, it was also an odd change of pace from what he was used to.

Just then, as Soysauce made to grab the bottle, Murphy went to take it first. But before he could do anything with it, he realized that he was one drinking buddy short sitting in the chair right next to him.

Maybe his sense of perception was off right then. He blinked at the empty space, and then his eyes lowered down at the drunk gentleman that suddenly poured onto the floor.

Feeling like he had enough shots himself, Murphy placed the cap over the bottle. "Alright, I think that's enough for you. You already got a head start, anyway."

Of course, Murphy wasn't that much better off in terms of sobriety. He demonstrated this poorly when he moved to stand up, realizing that he had to grab the table in order to sustain his balance. He blinked harder this time, trying to make sure that Soysauce stayed in one place so he could walk around the seats.

"C'mon, I'll take you back to your room." Murphy may be slightly sloshed by then, but that wasn't going to stop him. He held out his hand for Soysauce to take, hoping that he was still capable of even that.

[shoyu]

How confusing. One moment, Soysauce was just about to reach over and grasp at the whiskey bottle to take another long swig -- and the next, he found himself staring up at the ceiling, draped across the floor with one leg tangled in the footrest of his stool. What a sudden transition.

It took Soysauce a few long moments to organize his scattered thoughts -- blinking owlishly as he slowly rolled onto his side, untangling himself from the barstool -- before he managed to sit up. One hand gingerly rubbing at his shoulder where he'd bumped it across the floor, Soysauce looked up at Murphy with wide eyes. Rather like he, too, was confused about what had just happened.

And then his usual cheerful grin was back, albeit slightly lopsided with cheeks flushed bright. "-- aha. I kinda slipped for a moment there. I'm fine, though! 'M perfectly fine."

Despite what he was saying, though, Soysauce was clearly a lot more drunk than he was letting off. Quite obvious from the way he grabbed at thin air once, twice, before managing to clasp Murphy's hand in his, wobbling very obviously on his feet as he was hauled back upright. "Ah, thank you, Mister Pendleton. You're too kind. Still got a bit more life left in me, though! Not drunk!"

It was a valiant effort he made to appear sober, rather undermined by the way he stumbled over and slumped against Murphy heavily, cheekbone resting against his shoulder as he mumbled, "-- not that drunk."

this isn't late! i don't know what you're talking about!

[yardbird]

If this wasn't Soysauce and had been some random guy, Murphy would have been quick to let the fucker drop like a hot pan. Seriously, he did not care much for people getting close to him sometimes, and the way he was right now was no exception. Maybe years in prison, being surrounded by infinitely more belligerent former members of society, had a lot to do with Murphy's wariness.

But he didn't do any of those things in this case, because this wasn't some random guy or an inmate. He didn't know Soysauce too well, but he didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd slit your throat with a shiv in the prison showers.

...Right.

Instead, Murphy braced himself against the stool. He reached up and patted Soysauce on his upper arm before grabbing and pushing him back. "Uh, sure you aren't." Somebody obviously wasn't believing your filth and lies, good man. "C'mon, I'll take you to your room. You can... sleep it off."

At least Murphy didn't get himself personally shitfaced to the point where he was incapable of carrying out such a simple task. Besides, he'd been on the receiving end of this kind of thing before. Seemed fair enough, right?

YOU ARE NEVER TOO LATE

[shoyu]

It was a good thing Murphy was nice enough not to immediately shove him away, because Soysauce would have hit the ground like a sack of rocks. As it was, he was docile as a sleepy dog, unconsciously nuzzling Murphy's shoulder for a moment at how nice and warm it felt. Gosh, he really hadn't gotten this drunk in a while -- but it had just been too long since he'd had any good whiskey. How could he resist?

Stumbling back when Murphy pushed him away, Soysauce swayed on his feet for a moment before flopping to sit back down on the closest flat surface -- something that looked like a coffee table. Some soft, drowsy noise escaped his lips as he scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"-- s'not a problem, I can walk for m'self."

And it was a valiant attempt he made, really, as he got back on his feet and looked blearily towards the door. Managing to walk about three steps in a straight line before stumbling over his feet and whapping into a nearby wall.

"Jus' need a moment!" Turning to lean against the wall, Soysauce gave Murphy a cheerful, if utterly drunken, beaming smile. "'ppreciate your offer, but you shouldn't -- shouldn't hafta trouble yourself!"