singillatim | (closed) may catch-all

Hickey gives Billy a small little smile and a nod. He means more than Irving's opinion. That's...nice to hear. After all, home was different. Back on Terror, what mattered the most was Billy keeping the status quo, keeping everything just so and not losing his standing. But what does standing matter now? What does standing matter here? It feels so wonderful for Billy to realize that he can just throw all that away.

"Careful," Hickey lightly teases, though there's nothing serious in his tone. "Statement like that could give a man an ego."

Or, at least, more of an ego than Hickey already has.

"Can't give a man something he already possesses," Billy indeed dryly points out.

Sorry, babe, he truly likes you, but he's pretty sure no one here in town has an ego larger than yours!

"Besides, meaning more than that man's opinion is not a particularly high bar to clear." Granted, back home it had been different. But even there it hadn't been about Irving. It had never been about Irving, ever. Billy has gotten annoyed by that man's self-righteousness enough times that if Irving hadn't been one of the officers he was there to serve, he would gladly have avoided the man for the entire duration of the expedition.

Practically anything means more to Billy than Irving does. Hickey is right to think that - more meaningfully - it's the notion of standing that he's surpassed, rather than that.

"Or meaning more than that man in general, really. He is not even attractive."

Implying that a certain someone whose ego doesn't need to be inflated here is.

Of course Hickey's attractive. He is well aware that he's attractive. Still, he preens a bit at the compliment which is absolutely inflating his ego more than Billy'd like.

"He really isn't attractive," Hickey points out, with a little nod. Even if you ignored the holier-than-thou attitude and fear of anything outside his tight little morals, it's not like John Irving is cute to begin with. As far as Hickey's concerned, he's generic.

Though thinking about Irving and his station brings up another concern in Hickey's mind.

"D'you think he'll try to boss you around and go right back to the lieutenant and steward way of things? Little still hasn't shed the vestiges of Terror, Irving's going to cling to it even longer."

There's an instantaneous frown on his face the moment the other brings that up. At least the frown isn't aimed at Hickey - it seems to be half just Billy having to consider it, and then half the annoyance he feels at imagining a scenario where Irving still tries ordering him around, even here.

"Little didn't try," he first says. He hasn't really brought up his interactions with the former lieutenant, considering there have hardly been any and it never felt relevant, but.. it's only now that Billy realises Hickey might actually not know this. With the impression Little gives off, still seeming to stick so much to everything he knows from back home, Billy realises that what happened between him and Little is not exactly a natural conclusion Hickey might reach. "He fed me when I first got to town. And he immediately started speaking of how our ranks no longer exist here, and then he called me by my name."

Billy is making A Face. Are you seeing this, Hickey? It's almost kind of comical. Like half-awkward, half-looking like he just smelled a turd. What is he supposed to do, hear that man call him William and then call him Edward? When literally the only person he bothers to address by their first name is his lover? Ugh. Never. You can't make him.

".. mind you, this was even after I informed him that I hadn't been kidnapped by the mutiny as he had been assuming."

Yes, he's being very sassy right now, but that's just what talk of the lieutenants does to him, okay. You haven't dealt with them as closely for years the way he has, Hickey.

"I can't imagine Irving doing any of that though."

Then again, it's not like he would have imagined Little doing any of that either. But Irving is definitely a much, much further shot even so.

Edited 2024-06-07 21:36 (UTC)

The fact that Little fed Billy pisses Hickey off in ways that he can't really explain. Any self-examination, however, is immediately dashed when Billy mentions that Little called him by his name. Which...ew. Why would he do that? Is that supposed to be some way of making an overture of friendship? Does Little not realize that's awkward as all hell?

Hickey's perfectly fine with the sass and can't help but let out a little chuckle at Billy's dry response about being kidnapped. Yes. Kidnapped. The man who helped start this whole mutiny thing in the first place was kidnapped. People really could be blind to what they didn't want to see.

"At least with Irving, we don't have questions about the mutiny to worry about to begin with," Hickey muses. "What with it being after his time and all."

"Oh, I am certain he'd find out soon either way. I can't imagine Little won't inform him, even if it might not be right away."

Still said a little dryly, since this talk is definitely putting Billy into one of his sass moods. Though it's not like he doesn't have some more information to offer here. He may have done a little bit of snooping. Mostly because the more he knows about how Irving is deciding to live here, the easier it'll be to figure out ways to stay as far from the other as possible.

"Speaking of, it seems that the lieutenants have decided to share a house together. I imagine Irving will move in, which means they would be staying over on the Outskirts, far away enough from us." Just imagine if they somehow accidentally moved in across the road or something, Hickey. It'd be a scenario straight out of a nightmare. "The less contact we can have with our former crewmates, the better, I'd say."

The lieutenants sharing a house together. Truly, some men just can't let go of their time on Terror. Hickey has a suspicion that if Little had a choice (or at least a backbone), he'd be asking Crozier or Gibson to join in. Hickey shakes his head in disbelief before musing,

"Jopson's been spending more time in Lakeside recently. Honestly, if he can convince the rest of them to move out there, I wouldn't say no."

There's one crewmate who Hickey still has mixed feelings about (no use guessing who it is). But as for the rest of them? It'd be useful if they could fall off a cliff or something like that.

"Y'know, we're overdue someone on our side arriving here," Hickey muses, with a little shrug. "Tozer? Manson? If Hodgeson showed up, I'm sure I could sway him back to our little group."

.. well, at least he will agree that it couldn't hurt to have some people around who might be more inclined to see their side of things. Billy wouldn't necessarily be excited to see them, considering he didn't really have warm feelings for anyone in the mutineer camp other than Hickey, but they could be useful.

Though he's also considering the topic that led them to this mention in the first place. He's fairly sure Hickey didn't intentionally jump from that to this, but just in case, he has to ask: "If they did show up here, you would not let them stay in our house, right?"

Right, babe? Because Billy sure is pulling a bit of a face again at that idea. He really just wants to live as domestic of a life as one can get here with his lover, and not have to deal with any of those people walking in on them in the middle of it. Forget the Darkwalker, the true nightmare is having to share a house with the mutineer freaks group when he could just be sharing it with his husband.

"Course they're not staying in our house," Hickey says, without any hesitation. This is their house! They fuck here!

"But after we're taken care of, I wouldn't mind slipping a little game or offering up a blanket or two to our former friends." After all, the more allies they get in this place, the better. And Hickey knows a very easy way to get people's attention: food.

Thank god. That's one less fear in Billy's life. He really doesn't want Hodgson being pathetic in the background while he's trying to make out with Hickey. Absolutely not.

"I can't see a problem with that."

Especially because he knows Hickey won't skimp out on providing for himself first. It's just how he works, and Billy knows it. If the others get some scraps, then-- sure, why not.

"Are you certain they would all be willing to side with you again though?" After all, Billy isn't sure how much time has passed between his death and the last thing Hickey remembers. Anything could have happened within their mutineer crew since then, especially given how explosive any situation out there was. And Billy isn't sure if this means nothing really changed, or that Hickey is imagining situations to be far better than they actually are again.

"Manson would," Hickey says, without thinking. "Armitage as well." Both of them were so desperate, desperate for survival, hope, recognition. It would be easy enough to convince them to stay on his side.

As for the others...

"Hodgson, probably not at first. Maybe in the end, if he's hungry enough. Tozer...I'm not sure. I'd think so." But Hickey knows that he and Tozer were brought together by very specific circumstances, circumstances that he's not sure could be replicated here.

"But we could sway more to our side. People'll do anything if they're hungry enough."

There's a slight quiet moment, like maybe Billy is contemplating that last part. He does agree with the other's opinions on who is more or less likely to be swayed - though Armitage is mostly likely if Tozer is involved as well, as much as he was always chasing the marines around.

"Did something happen between you and Tozer?" He then asks. Apparently that's what he was thinking about.

Billy does think that Hickey could mean it in general, considering Tozer does seem kind of headstrong, but Billy also doesn't think of the man as being particularly bright. It probably shouldn't be too difficult for Hickey to pull the same thing off all over again. Unless it was rooted in some experience Hickey has, but Billy couldn't experience anymore. "After I.."

.. he just lets that sentence trail off, considering they both know what words would follow, instead shrugging lightly.

After he died.

There's a moment where Hickey frowns, debating what to say or how to say it. After the pause, he lands on, "We both know Tozer's been fine with the mutiny since day one. But after that attack, when that bear attacked the camp before I was about to be hung, he's been...rattled. Apparently he saw the bear suck someone's soul out."

Which honestly? Hickey believes. That thing obviously wasn't an ordinary bear. Tuunbaq, something that looks like a bear but thinks like a man. A vengeful god, taking it's anger out on all of them. Of course it could suck out a man's soul. Why wouldn't it?

"I don't know how he'd react to the Darkwalker," Hickey points out. "Considering everything related to that thing. He could be his normal self. He could be on our side. Or the moment he sees what that thing can do, the moment the Darkwalker claims another victim, he'd fall apart at the seams."

Of all things Billy expected Hickey to say, this wasn't one of them.

And no, it's not even the soul sucking comment that gets him. After everything he's seen in this place, he's completely willing to believe that creature was capable of something like that. The disbelief does not lie with the creature, it lies with the man. His eyebrows rise, clearly looking surprised.

"That got him?"

.. though the surprise comes with an instant edge of scepticism. Towards Tozer, that is. Never pass up a single opportunity to be judgemental of someone else, okay. Especially not when none of it makes any sense.

"That creature had been tearing people to pieces for ages." And yet Tozer had seemed relatively casual in the face of that. Joking about shoving people and all. "And that is where he draws the line?"

Hickey shrugs in a sort of 'mate, I don't know either' kind of gesture. Because he really doesn't know why that was the breaking point. He's not the sort of person who cares much about things like 'souls' to begin with. They might exist? But they also might not. And anyway, it's not like it matters after you're ripped apart.

"S'pose it was his breaking point," he muses. "Man can only take so much stress, after all. And everything related to the expedition was very stressful."

Even if you didn't take into account the murderous bear god, it was still a rough time.

Well, he won't deny the stressful part. That's something he also experienced a lot. But--

"I just thought Marines were supposed to be made of something tougher than that."

What good is it if they break down over something as dumb as souls, right. Because Billy can't see the importance in that specific thing when he doesn't really care about it either. Especially when the people who seem to care about them the most are often deeply religious, which is a red flag in and of itself.

"I suppose it is good to keep that in mind if he does show up here." Because-- yeah, there's definitely going to be a parallel with the Darkwalker and the way that being seems to kill people. "I can't imagine the Darkwalker would not have a similar effect on him."

"You and me both," Hickey can't help but point out. What the fuck, Tozer? Why'd you suddenly get cowardly on them like that? Someone who was perfectly willing to yell at Crozier from the gallows, losing his nerve because of something as ridiculous as souls? He could be better.

There's a moment before Hickey realizes, groaning slightly, "Christ, d'you know who's going to break down incredibly when he sees what the Darkwalker can do? Irving. The moment he looks at one of those corpses that thing leaves behind, he'll probably start proselytizing then and there."

.. huh.

It's a good point. In fact, Billy tries thinking back on it, and he doesn't think that he's heard Irving talk about the creature back home all that often. Knowing him, he was just dismissing it as a normal bear, refusing to believe that there could be anything more in the world than whatever God put on it.

It's a lot harder to dismiss the Darkwalker as something natural though, he thinks.

"Maybe we will be lucky and the sight of it will change something within him," Billy points out, though it's dry enough that it doesn't seem like he has all that much faith in it. It'd be kind of nice though. It won't change much about Irving's poor personality, but Billy could do without the constant religious talk, thanks. "I do not think a man like Irving would see much here without it breaking something within him. He refused to acknowledge a lot of things about our situation back home as well, after all. I doubt he is ready for the knowledge of a creature like that hunting us down, or people setting things on fire with their mind."

(closed) may catch-all

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