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TEST DRIVE MEME #10
a. that's where we both belong
[you wake up.
it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.
the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:
Dear Passenger(s),
As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.
At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!
See You Real Soon!
Sincerely,
Gal Friday
you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.
you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]
Welcome aboard! I'm so happy you could join us!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.
after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]
b. and there's plenty of that down by the sea
[it’s strange to think about, isn’t it? how all those new passengers, the ones grumbling or shouting their way through the forced muster drill, have absolutely no idea what happened just last month. no idea about the labyrinth. no concept of why anyone around them would be a bit more hesitant around shadows.
they’ll learn.
sometimes a shadow is darker than it’s supposed to be. very rarely does anything come of that; just a vague sense that someone is watching you, and little more. sometimes, though, the shadows move. sometimes they grab at your ankles as you walk. sometimes they give you a shove as you go down the stairs. sometimes they pull your hair, or pinch your arm.
sometimes you feel something sharp cut into your lower leg.
that’s not a shadow, though. that’s a fiddler crab. you see the crab, sometimes. the cut isn’t from its claws, which don’t look very intimating; it’s not a very large crab. the cut is from the large kitchen knife crudely taped onto its back. it’s probably fine. it's not chasing you. there isn't evil in its heart. probably.]
c. think I'll go back to the Keys
[one day, in the atrium, two pedestals suddenly appear. on each is a large button: one green, and one blue. pressing the blue button gives you a little treat, popping out of thin air next to you. pressing the green button sends a small electric shock through your body. weird, but, hey, pretty avoidable, right?
except, it seems to be spreading. to every other button on board.
in the elevator. on the soda machine. the arcade. your phone. the bell on Friday’s desk.]
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The color drains from Crichton's face faster than the drink from his glass. There's a significant amount of white showing around his bloodshot blue eyes--noticeable now that his gaze is suddenly darting from Parker to the exit and back.
The date he could have dismissed as a coincidence. The line of work, too. But not the name. Not the bruises. The talk of a friend killing him in a bad moment... God have mercy, this is Arthur's Parker isn't it? Frell. Fuck. FUCK. Arthur is going to kill again.
"...S-sorry," he stammers, still in a state of shock trying to process how the hell his luck could possibly get worse?? "I think I'm gonna hurl." That might not even be a lie. Feels like every word he's ever spoken to Arthur is trying to crawl up the back of his throat right this very minute.
He darts from behind the bar, too panicked to think of anything except that he needs out of this conversation immediately. He hasn't considered what he'll do once he makes it out the door but one problem at a time, here.
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Crichton doesn't make it to the door, because as soon as he runs, so does Parker, and Parker slams into him at the bar's opening so he can pin him against the wall with an elbow jammed against his throat.
"Woah there, Spaceman," he snarls through that beaming smile. "We were havin' a fucking conversation! You mind telling me what's got a fire under your ass all of a fuckin' sudden?"
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He glares into that smile, hating how familiar it looks. That one bead of sweat on his forehead from before is joined by many.
"Yeah, I do mind. Get your hands off of me!"
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"Believe it or not, it isn't about you." Crichton grips Parker's forearm to try and keep him from putting on more pressure. "You still ain't gonna like it."
There's another long pause during which Crichton's face contorts through all five stages of grief like a spinning roulette wheel until, finally, landing on depression.
"Arthur's my frelling roommate."
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"...what, you think I give a shit if he's a fuckin' nance?" he snarls. "You think I lived with him for goddamn years and didn't fuckin' figure that part out?"
He shifts his elbow but only so he can grab two fistfuls of the taller man's vest and bunch those up under his throat instead. "Or are you just a fuckin' heartbreaker, huh? You fucking hurting my partner?"
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F U C K
He sags in Parker's hold, the leather of his vest creaking as it takes on the weight. If Parker lets go Crichton's going to slide to the ground on his ass.
"Yeah. That's why I'm running. I broke his heart and now we're split up. And I'm a little afraid he'll kill me a second time if he finds out I was making nice with you."
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So he shifts his weight, so he can let Crichton drop, gently, to the floor, and stays crouched in front of him. There's no smile now, but it means his genuine concern is shining through.
"Hey, you don't gotta worry about me. Arthur in his right mind, he ain't ever gonna hurt me." His death was an exception, that fucking book that he told Arthur not to touch. But right now, he's got a rock-bottom bastard trying to pickle himself, so scared of Arthur that he'd rather run than hash it out.
"You said Arthur killed you," he prompts gently. Not a push - a coax. An offered hand. A shoulder to lean on.
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He comes to a rest on the floor with his hands splayed palm up in his lap and looks into Parker's face with bleary eyes. He can see what Arthur saw in this man, he really can. That gentle tone makes him ache to reach out. He can't. He... can't.
"It's complicated. He... I...I had it coming. Don't blame him for it. I had it coming..."
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"Spaceman, I've known Arthur for years. And the kinds a' men that he thinks got it coming to them? They're pretty good at not giving a rat's left ass-cheek who they gotta hurt to get their way. They don't make it sound like it's the worst thing they ever did."
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"It was the worst thing I've ever done. And that's... saying more than you know."
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His eyes flick up and down Crichton. "I'm not gonna ask. That ain't how this works. But," he gives that knee a last warm pat, and uses it to lightly push himself to his feet. "I think we should call the bar closed for a while, huh Crichton? We'll deal with the tab later."
And he offers a hand to help Crichton up.
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"I'm sure you've seen plenty... maybe some of it even had tentacles..." The words hang heavy in defeat. He's been wallowing in self-hatred for so many days. Here comes this man like the ghost of Christmas past to reach out a hand and lift him up from the darkness.
He does spare one last reluctant look at the bar. This scuffle has sobered him and already the edges are getting sharper. Then he lets the sour air out of his lungs and nods.
"It's an all-included cruise. We pay the tab a different way here." And God knows Crichton has been paying double these days.
With a grunt of effort, he hauls himself up off the floor clinging hard to Parker's warm, caloused hand. Now that he's on his feet, he stands there awkwardly fidgeting because he doesn't know where to go from here. Back to a cabin he hasn't seen in days? To the brig he's been sleeping in? Should they...go get sushi?
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"So, what are a couple of wet smacks supposed to do for fun round here?" he offers brightly. "I know hooch is the real American pastime but there's gotta be more happening, right?"
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"We got a bowling alley?"