MCA #2 Friday Evening

[long_memory]

Playing nice in public was something Flint and Silver could do in their sleep. Presenting a united front, even if you wanted to strangle the other person, was how they had gotten so far with their schemes. Despite knowing this, Silver was still grateful for Flint's propriety, even if he must have been angry and confused right now.

Silver had decided it was better to have this conversation sooner rather than later, and led Flint to his apartment, locking the door behind them.

"Do you want a drink?" If not, too bad, because he was getting two glasses and the rum out.

[For myself!]

Comments

[freedominthedark]

"Not really." But he didn't seem to have much of a choice, apparently. He took a few more steps into the apartment, looking around at the odd furniture and the other items he didn't quite understand. Another time and place he might have been more curious about it.

But he couldn't stay for long, and he had a purpose here. "Tell me again. How you ended up here."

[long_memory]

Silver sighed softly, handing a glass to Flint before sitting down at the kitchen table with his own. "I told you. I fell off the ship, like you saw me do, and when I emerged I was here."

[freedominthedark]

"That must have been confusing. Terrifying, even," Flint said, looking down at his glass. "You finding yourself in a strange place, in a strange time."

Flint still wasn't really sure if he believed it, or if this was somehow some very elaborate dream he concocted to get some catharsis.

[long_memory]

"It was," Silver said, taking a sip of his drink. "But everyone here was very welcoming, and helped me along."

[freedominthedark]

"Evidently they were very welcoming as you decided to create a life here." He did not bother to hide the bitterness in his words. He was bitter, and he wanted John to know it.

[long_memory]

Silver sighed again, setting his glass on the table and looking up at Flint. "What do you want me to say?"

[freedominthedark]

"I want you to say you tried to come back." More than that, he wanted him to say how miserable he had been here. How he knew the war effort flagged in his absence, and he regretted not being able to return. That he had missed Madi, had missed him.

[long_memory]

Silver flushed slightly, and looked down at the table again. He didn't regret the decision he made, but he had felt guilt about it that he thought he had buried until now. "I didn't try to go back. Not once."

[freedominthedark]

Flint closed his eyes for a moment, and took in a deep breath. He knew that had been the answer, but he didn't expect for it to hurt so much.

"Do you care so little for us?" Flint asked. "We mourned you--the men, Madi, me. She and I together had to pick up the pieces and try to move forward, to keep going--"

[long_memory]

"--with the war," Silver finished. "Of course. You didn't care that I had died--you cared that you lost your symbol, your pirate king."

[freedominthedark]

"Don't be stupid, of course we cared that you died." If he kept saying "we" instead of "I" then maybe he wouldn't have to face any real emotional revelations here. "Don't blame us for your cowardice."

[long_memory]

"Cowardice?" Silver got up from his chair, striding over to Flint. "I wasn't afraid of death--I was afraid of losing you and her. It's an unwinnable war, James. It would have been nothing but a never ending cycle of horrors and I wasn't about to stand there and watch it happen."

[freedominthedark]

"So instead you cut ties as soon as you got the chance. Let us think you were dead so you could live on in our memories as some great hero." Flint huffed out a sad little laugh, because that was what had happened until he arrived on this island himself.

"Moved on with your life like none of it ever mattered," he continued. "Like we didn't matter."

[long_memory]

"You mattered," Silver said quietly, turning away from him again. "I just couldn't--wouldn't--watch you destroy yourselves. Not for such a futile endeavor."

Maybe he should have been recording this conversation to save time when he probably had this argument with Rey if the war went south?

[freedominthedark]

Flint's hands clenched at his sides at another mention of losing the war. Hadn't John been the one who told him nothing was inevitable? Flint had believed it at the time as well, and still did.

"So that's it then?" he asked. "You'll stay here, pretending nothing happened?"

[long_memory]

"If I must," Silver replied. "I've built a life here, James. It might not have some glorious purpose, but I'm...I'm content."

[freedominthedark]

"You'll regret not going back," Flint said. "It might not be in a month, or a year, but one day you will wake up and cast about in the dark for some proof that you mattered, and I guarantee you won't find it here."

[long_memory]

Silver hated that those words affected him so much. He hated the idea that everything had to mean something. He had prided himself on being someone who didn't need that.

And then there was Flint, voicing out his deepest fears with ease, like he always did.

"I guess I'll deal with that point when I get there," Silver finally said. "I'm sorry, James. I'm not going back."

[freedominthedark]

"Very well." He had sort of known that would have been his answer, but it didn't hurt any less. "This will be the last time you see me, John. I won't tell Madi what you've done. One of us should keep their noble memory of you intact."

[long_memory]

"I was never noble," he said, giving Flint a sad smile. "I thought that was why you kept me around."

[freedominthedark]

"I kept you around because you proved to be more than a common thief," Flint told him. "You were brilliant, you were vicious, and you were my friend."

There had been a time where privately Flint played with the thought that Silver could be more than that, too.

He turned to leave. "Goodbye, John."

[long_memory]

"James, wait--" Silver hadn't even been entirely sure what he wanted to say, half-expecting Flint to just leave.

[freedominthedark]

It was tempting. Flint had unlocked the door, and knew he should have just gone, but he stopped and turned anyway. He gave Silver an expectant look, and told himself not to hope for too much.

[long_memory]

"I--" God, that was twice today he was at a loss for words. It must've been a record. "You were my friend too."

That wasn't what he wanted to say. It in no way touched what Flint had come to mean to him over their years together. But he couldn't say more than that now, not when everything was ruined.

[freedominthedark]

Flint gave him a slight smile and nodded. It wasn't enough to keep him from leaving the apartment a moment later, but it was enough that Flint couldn't entirely regret coming here in the first place.

[long_memory]

As soon as the door closed Silver shakily sat back down at the table, draining his cup of rum. There was a few moments where he just sat there, staring blankly at the wall, wondering what he was supposed to do now.

Evidently, the answer was to shove his glass aside and bury his face in his hands. He'd pull himself together by the time he left the apartment again, like he always did, but right now he was just going to...try to process.