Hit the Dust

August 16th - 10:54pm

Darkness falls later than usual that night. As the sun is setting, Jet and Kobra head out on a patrol round and Fun Ghoul relishes in his couple of hours of privacy. He makes his way through to the tiny sleep space, nothing more than a broken down room in the house with their tattered blankets spread out across the sand and spare jackets and rucksacks acting as pillows.

Poison is sat on top of his blanket, a worn out sketchbook and a stick of charcoal in his hands. His figure is merely a shadow in the darkness, the only light from the small oil lamp set beside him causing his face to glow slightly. Fun Ghoul notices he isn't doing anything with the resources he's holding, he is simply staring down at the paper with a look of sorrow in his eyes. Fun Ghoul walks over and sits beside his comrade, and takes a moment to glance at the pink-haired woman on the page before he places one tattooed hand over Poison's forearm.

"You okay?" he asks lowly, and at first Poison only nods in response. He flips the book closed and tosses it beside himself, finally turning his head to look at Fun Ghoul. Neither speaks for a moment, Poison's mouth opens and closes a couple of times but words seem to have escaped him. "You're allowed to be sad, you know?"

"I know that," Poison finally says, "but I'm more sad about not being sad, I guess. Rather than thinking about the fact my friend just died, I just keep thinking, like, thank God it wasn't one of us, you know? Thank God it wasn't you," he pauses, "Does that make me a bad person?"

"Of course not," Fun Ghoul cuts in without hesitation. "It just means you look out for your own. It's part of what makes you a leader."

Poison is silent, then. He doesn't feel like a leader, nor does he want to be one. This whole thing, this mission, it was never meant to be that way, it was never meant to be an army with a leader and men who did as they were told. It was supposed to be four friends, fighting together against all the odds for the world they thought was right, amongst people who supported the same cause. He had felt determined back then, powerful. Now he just feels lost and scared. He has never been scared of this before, and Auntie Matter's demise has increased that fear.

Fun Ghoul's hand has slipped from Poison's hand and onto his own leg now, sliding upwards quickly to tuck into the pocket of his dusty jeans. He gets a good drip on the box he's reaching for and pulls it out, holding it up so the Marlboro label faces Poison.

"Maybe one of these will make you feel better," suggests Fun Ghoul, and Poison can't help the slight smile that appears on his face as he pulls one of the cigarettes from the box. Fun Ghoul simply nods as the elder questions whether they are actually legit, so they both use the flame on the lamp to light up, toking simultaneously and inhaling the smoke.

The feeling is one of bliss. Cigarettes have been rationed and near impossible to find out here for as long as Poison can remember, and it must have set his comrade back rather excessively. He doesn't really mind, though, as he remembers something he heard a long time ago. When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose. He smiles fondly as he blows a lungful of smoke into the air.

The pair sit in relative silence for a while, just enjoying their nicotine rush and each other's company. The tapping on the metal roof breaks their silence and catches their attention.

"What's that noise?" Poison whispers, looking up towards the ceiling, his heart beat having increased rapidly all of a sudden. Please don't let there be a raid, he thinks. Not now.

Fun Ghoul cautiously stands, picking up his raygun and clutching it close to himself tightly, finger on the trigger, and creeps towards the door. His breathing picks up as he stands in front of it for a moment, trying to bring himself to open it, and Poison sits in the next room, trembling slightly, hand over his gun and ready to interject at the first sign of trouble. When Fun Ghoul does open the door, however, his face lights up in a grin at the wetness on his face and he steps outside.

"Poison, come out here," he calls excitedly. "Check this out."

The sound of his voice instantly relaxes Poison, who stands and quickly speed walks to the door, finding Fun Ghoul standing with his arms spread-eagle and his head tipped back, letting the water fall onto his face and relishing in it.

"Rain," he breathes out, stepping into the stream of water and pulling Fun Ghoul into his arms. He could feel the emotion stirring in his throat at the sight and the feel of rain after such a long bout of overwhelming heat. "God, it's been months."

Fun Ghoul tips Poison's chin up to look into his eyes and presses a quick peck to his wet lips. "You think you can relax a little now?" he asks affectionately. "Maybe this is a sign of things getting better."