[ She's taken by surprise and goes down with a startled noise. For a second she just lays there, exhausted, staring at the roof. Then she looks at John. ]
My friend Tom... we shared a wall in the dormitories. [ She stops, suddenly not sure she wants to give away a memory that small and precious. What if John thinks it's stupid? ]
We would knock on the wall before bed, he started it, one day when I was mad at him. Three knocks, over and over, until I knocked back. And then we just... We kept doing it.
[ She looks back at the ceiling. ] When I go to bed I keep waiting for him to knock. [ Almost too quickly: ] It's stupid, I know it is.
No. It's not stupid. Stuff like that is what's important. What keeps you fighting for the right reasons. Those are the details you don't want to forget. I don't keep track of how many battles I've won or lost, or the people I've killed, those aren't the things I want to remember.
[John grabs the comforter, folded back at the end of the bed, and drapes it up over her. He doesn't linger, it would be too much to linger, for both of them, so he stands up and turns the lights off instead. Rodney's bed creaks in the dark as he collapses on top of it, not uncomfortable with the way that it smells like him.
Glad Rodney is still here, and it isn't all he has left of him, because sometimes that's all you have, when you lose someone.
The crackle of their voice over a radio, the scent of their sweat, or three knocks on a wall.]
Goodnight, sir. [ She curls under the blanket, running her fingers along its hem, back to him, face to the wall. And she waits. She waits until she thinks it's safe, until she thinks he's probably asleep and can't hear her do it.
Then she reaches out and very softly knocks against the wall. Under her breath: ] Goodnight, Tom.
[ Chyler turns her face toward the pillow, closes her eyes, and sleeps. ]
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My friend Tom... we shared a wall in the dormitories. [ She stops, suddenly not sure she wants to give away a memory that small and precious. What if John thinks it's stupid? ]
We would knock on the wall before bed, he started it, one day when I was mad at him. Three knocks, over and over, until I knocked back. And then we just... We kept doing it.
[ She looks back at the ceiling. ] When I go to bed I keep waiting for him to knock. [ Almost too quickly: ] It's stupid, I know it is.
no subject
[John grabs the comforter, folded back at the end of the bed, and drapes it up over her. He doesn't linger, it would be too much to linger, for both of them, so he stands up and turns the lights off instead. Rodney's bed creaks in the dark as he collapses on top of it, not uncomfortable with the way that it smells like him.
Glad Rodney is still here, and it isn't all he has left of him, because sometimes that's all you have, when you lose someone.
The crackle of their voice over a radio, the scent of their sweat, or three knocks on a wall.]
Goodnight, Chy.
no subject
Then she reaches out and very softly knocks against the wall. Under her breath: ] Goodnight, Tom.
[ Chyler turns her face toward the pillow, closes her eyes, and sleeps. ]