056 - Pretending Truth or Dare never happened...

[major_west]

I thought that hangover would never go away...

I feel as though I've exhausted the possibilities for recreation here. I almost wish there were another port, flood, anything to break the tedium. I can't believe I'm asking this... Does anybody have a board game?

Nevermind that. I'm not that desperate yet.

I just need... to get away something to do here before I go completely mad. Something more to strive for than 'don't try to kill anybody for X amount of days'.



What's the point of this?

Comments

Action!

[major-west.livejournal.com]

[His hackles rise, briefly, when he notices the feet-- feet-- on his sofa, but he quickly gets over it. Who does he have to impress, anyway? And now that he's trapped on the Barge, he's pretty much forced to spend time in his flat. So, he joins Billy on the sofa]

Well.

[His fingers fiddle with the glass in his hands, then he takes a sip]

I spent my last days elsewhere. Perhaps he decided I needed a reminder.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy is totally breaking some sofa based status quo here, but he gets over his small victory and takes a sip of his juice, glancing across at West. He doesn't want to be overly intrusive for this, but... at the same time, he's here to talk about this isn't he?]

A reminder of what?

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't look directly at Billy, and instead adopts that dry, clinical tone he uses when discussing the last month of his life] Of... Infection. Of everything that went wrong in those last days.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy frowns, keeping his eyes on West as his friends demeanor suddenly changes. The sudden shut off of emotion in his voice is troubling]

What happened?

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He pauses, then reluctantly continues]

We tried to survive against increasingly impossible odds. By any-- [He stops, changes tracks] In under a month, our population was reduced to a handful of survivors. Try... imagining what it's like, living under those conditions, knowing that there's nobody to return home to when it's over, no future.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy reaches forward without thinking to press his hand on West's shoulder. He can't imagine it, doesn't want too. In his next question, he's not asking for a confession, it just sounded so hopeless, he had to ask at purely face value:]

What did you do?

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He allows the hand to rest on his shoulder without his usual flinching or jerking away.]

I... [He doesn't want to say it outright, not to Billy, one of the few individuals whose opinion truly matters to him. Okay, actually, he wouldn't say it to anybody but, perhaps, Morgan, and only because she already knows]

To keep order and give them hope, I... [He tries to choose his words carefully now] I made a promise that I never thought I had to fulfill. [What he neglects to mention is the fact that, when the opportunity arose, he quite detachedly followed through on his promise-- not only that, but he went through brutal lengths to do so. Anything to protect them, to keep them sane]

I just wanted to get us all through it.

[He seems oblivious to Billy for a moment, then something seems to click in his brain and he drops the professional demeanor, frowns, then seems to shrug that off as well]

But enough about that. It's hardly the most stimulating topic.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy squeezes Henrys shoulder lightly, offers him a half smile.]

Hey, I didn't mean I expected a confession, I just meant... [he pauses, then gives a small shrug.] If I was in a situation like that, I really don't know what I'd do. Where I'd go.

[He looks down a little]

I'm glad you weren't alone at least.

[And then, in a moment of brilliant and horrible clarity, for the first time Billy almost gets it. When Jim had been here Billy had hated him for goading West, for the possibility that he might hurt one person who he cared about. He was suddenly beginning to understand that when West talked about him killing "his men", that meant that for West, Jim had slaughtered the last human beings he'd ever known, ever tried to protect.

Without thinking about it, his grip on his friends shoulder has tightened considerably, and Billy is just sort of staring off into the middle distance. It's too late to want to kill him now, he's gone. It's pointless.

He looks down.]

Right. I mean, yeah, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want too.

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[When Billy's grip tightens, West looks over at him and offers a wan smile] It's just difficult, is all. 'Home' tends to make for unpleasant conversation. I'll be-- I am fine.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy blinks, then smiles back, ever so slightly.] I understand. Just... like, I don't expect you to get all weepy and pour your heart out to me, but... you know If you ever do need to talk about it, It's cool, you know? [That was it, manly support. Manly support between men.]

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

Thank you. [He blinks, then looks down at his glass] I do appreciate it. And... as we are here to talk about where we're from, I suppose I can continue.

[He shrugs then and takes a sip] But I'd really rather hear about your home. [Finally, he grins teasingly] Where can somebody earn a PhD in Horribleness?

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

Ah. [Oh yes, that...] The university of embellishment and fibbing? [He offers West a slightly guilty smile] I needed a catch phrase, and people kept on assuming I was a medical doctor, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and...

[He trails off, this is kind of a stupid story actually.]

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He arches an eyebrow, clearly interested in the stupid story!]

And..? Is this going to end in a cliffhanger, not to be resolved until next week?

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[That earns him another grin] Actually it doesn't really have an ending, I just needed something vaguely catchy to say, and I was sick of Captain Hammer mispronouncing the word "physician" when he told me to heal myself after every single plan he foiled, so I went with "I've got a Phd in Horribleness".

[A pause]

Just... to clarify things.

[Another pause.]

My Phd is actually in Advanced electronics and engineering.

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

Oh. [He tries not to, but a little laugh slips out and he covers his mouth. It isn't that he's laughing at Billy, so much as he's laughing a little in relief that the story isn't completely depressing or insane] I'm sorry. [He stops laughing and does sound genuine when he speaks] That sounds positively infuriating.

[He's quiet for a moment]

Why is there a 'Captain Hammer' where you're from?

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Yep, that was a stupid story, Billy gives an awkward little grin and adjusts his goggles slightly as West tries not to laugh at him. Still, it's nice seeing him happy.] Oh it seriously is. there are no words for how irritating that man is...

[He pauses as West asks his question, then gives a weak shrug]

I don't know, he was just sort of born like that. To balance out the Dr Horribles of the world I guess.

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He nods as though he understands, then stops and gets an odd look on his face] Hm. We don't have super-- well, super-anythings where I'm from. It's all a bit fantastic to me, I suppose.

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[my-freeze-ray.livejournal.com]

[Billy rolls his eyes and smiles] Lucky you. They're so damn needy.

[He leans back, and realizes way too late that his hand is still on West's shoulder. He finally removes it.]

Plus, like, it sucks having people just... being born better than you.

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[major-west.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't really pay much notice to the hand on his shoulder until it's gone, then he glances over at Billy and leans back against the couch cushions as well]

I can understand. Even without superpowers, people always find a way to claim superiority.