(Untitled)

[grahamcommawill]

Who: Will & Richie
What: Saying goodbyes and possibly inspirational parting words.
Where: Richie's cabin.
When: Early evening.
Notes: None I can think of! Swearing. That's an obvious one.

Comments

[notafuckingnut]

After Lua's strange disappearance, Richie had effectively holed himself up in his room, not so much by intention as circumstance. He'd considered dropping by Will's cabin, if for no other reason than someone to rant at about how ridiculous and unfair it was, but instead he'd dug out all the comics he'd managed to amass and started them all from the beginning.

At the moment, escape seemed like the better option.

But then there came the knock. He groaned in annoyance at the interruption, blurted out his usual "WHAT," and quickly followed it with the equally-customary-by-now declaration that he could have just come in.

The comic, currently "Astonishing X-Men issue number 4", didn't even lower. Aside from the usual entrance routine Richie didn't even seem to notice Will was there.

[grahamcommawill]

Customary, routine, ritual-all the same thing. The same thing he did each time, no different than John getting a glass of water from Will's kitchen before saying anything.

So, Will entered and sat down at his usual spot. He was used to being ignored, only the cause of it this time was surprising. Huh. X-Men. He could almost swear they'd had a few on the Barge. The blue and fuzzy one, maybe. It was difficult to remember.

"I can see why you've been quiet lately," he said with a nod toward the comics. Small talk for now.

[notafuckingnut]

A page flipped; he wasn't at the good part yet, the Final Showdown, but the set-up was there, everything aligning. He knew the ending was bullshit, a fluke meeting with a guy who just so happened to have the ability to undo everything and it would turn out the whole thing never happened, but he wasn't there yet, there were still infinite possibilities.

Will was still there. Sitting there, just...watching. He sighed in irritation and lowered the book fractionally, enough so he could peer over the top at his warden.

"What d'you want? I'm busy."

[grahamcommawill]

Will scoffed a little. Okay, so small talk was out. That's fine. He drummed his fingers on his knee, then sat up a bit straighter.

"I just stopped by to tell you I'm leaving. I mean for good. Not a vacation, or anything like that."

[notafuckingnut]

And that got what part of his attention hadn't been snared the first time around. The flimsy pages dropped, fingers releasing them in surprise as he straightened in his own seat, eyes narrowing.

"Bull-fucking-shit. You can't do that."

[grahamcommawill]

"Actually... yeah, we can. The deal with the Admiral isn't a binding contract. A warden just has to want something bad enough to stay. And I never really had a deal to begin with."

He was getting off track, though. Trying to be too personal.

"So... I guess why I'm here is to tell you that it's not anything you did, or didn't do. Nothing like that."

[notafuckingnut]

"Oh, so now it's a 'Dear John' letter. 'It's not you, it's me'. Thanks, that really fucking helps. Listen, I may not give much of a shit about you, but you don't get to just leave because you feel like it if I still gotta be stuck in this fucking hellhole."

He wasn't sure which he was more annoyed about, the fact that Will was operating on a different arrangement or the fact that he was leaving. Sure, they butted heads more than they didn't, and sure, he gave him grief whenever possible, but he was at least a constant, a routine. He didn't like things getting shaken up, especially when he wasn't even given a reason for it.

[grahamcommawill]

Will let him vent. Hell, he probably deserved it.

"I've been here too long. A year doesn't seem like it, not really, but with everything that happens here, it all adds up. Trust me. I hate to just leave you like this, but I haven't been a good warden for a while now. If I stayed, you'd be here a lot longer than you probably deserve to be."

[notafuckingnut]

He scoffed.

"What, so I can get stuck with some fuckass pig who's gonna hassle me all the time? How the hell is that an improvement?"

He was sounding like a child. He knew that. He'd bitched and moaned the whole time Will had been around, and now he was stomping around like some snot-nosed brat because he was leaving. It was stupid and pathetic, and he really didn't need this.

After a few minutes of more glaring, as if he could make Will burst into flames if he just kept at it long enough, he rolled his eyes and stood, as if he planned to leave the room. Maybe he would, find something else to do. Somebody else to take the brunt of his annoyance.

"Fine. Whatever. Maybe I won't get another one for a while and I'll actually get to have some fun without a lecture for once. Do what you want, I don't give a shit."

[grahamcommawill]

Will stood as well, mostly out of habit, partly out of he knew it was time to leave. Not the best exit, but what did he expect?

"I didn't lecture that often. At least, I tried not to."

Moving towards the door, but keeping a respectful distance.

"But you're wrong. You do care. At least a little. And that's a good thing. Sure, it won't seem like it now, but just know that if you want any chance of getting out of here? You should start to give a shit about something. " Shrug. "A good starting point as any, at least."

He paused by the door. "Anything I can do for you before I go?"

[notafuckingnut]

"That's it? That's your big nugget of wisdom, 'give a shit'?" He shook his head, scowling in annoyance. Didn't he get it?

"No. I give plenty of shits. Just not about this place. People show up, they disappear without so much as a...a warning, you drop into a fucking coma at the drop of a hat 'cause...I dunno, somebody finds it funny or something...Sorry if I'm not really ready to get invested or whatever."