withtheoldbreed | d-day + 174 ✯ spam

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d-day + 174 ✯ spam

[Spam for Snafu]

[With Mickey's threat of breaking his teeth if he tells anyone about what just happened ringing in his ears, Gene walks back to Snaf's cabin still very, very confused about everything that happened. He's thought it over, and he still doesn't really understand how things got confused. What the hell had he said that explicitly implied to Mickey that he wanted to sleep with him? And while he's kind of bothered by what happened, it's not really as bad as it could have been. It's not like he feels violated or filthy or anything, just... genuinely really confused. And maybe kind of worried for Mickey's sake, even if he's not sure the guy would appreciate it.

(Pretty sure he wouldn't, actually, and he's not sure if this means they weren't friends at all or aren't now or whatever, but fuck, he's just so caught off guard by all this.)

So he's ready to just lie down and smoke through an entire pack of cigarettes and try not to think too much about Mickey trying to get his fucking belt off him and clarifying that they weren't going to be making out first, Christ, but there's the problem of getting in without waking Snaf up. He's been on the other side of this more than once, with Snafu wandering back into the room bragging about the night he just spent with Mira, but he's not all that sure he wants to explain where he was to his buddy for reasons that go way beyond Mickey's threat. He just doesn't know how to explain it, or what to think about it, and seriously, he just wants to not to think about it.

At least he manages to get the door open without making too much noise, but the lights in the hall are brighter than the cabin is, so hopefully he'll make it without bothering him.

Of course, considering how light a sleeper his friend is, it's very likely this isn't going to work.]

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[Snafu looks like he's still sleeping. He's on his side on the army cot, back to the door, blanket tangled around his bare chest. He doesn't move when Sledge opens the door and slips inside the cabin, even with the change in lighting...

But this isn't Gene's night. Of course he's awake. The faint glow from the ember of the lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth gets more obvious as the door swinging shut blocks out the light from the hall. If he'd just woken up with the door opening, he probably would've just rolled over and gone back to sleep but clearly he's been awake for longer than that. This really isn't Gene's night. Snaf still doesn't really move, just grunts with a little shift of his head, accent sleep-thick and voice muffled by his lips clamped around the butt of his smoke.]

Fuck did you go?

[Fuck. Gene bites back an irritated sigh - of course he couldn't get away with this, of course - and shuffles over to his (technically Jay's) cot, resolutely not looking at his foxhole buddy/roommate on the way over. He just wanted a little more time to process what happened and sort out how he feels about it, is that really too much to ask?]

Nowhere. [It comes out a tiny bit too fast, a tiny bit too edgy to get away with not getting asked further questions, but he tries to avoid it by just flopping back onto his cot, not bothering to put on pajamas or shuck off his uniform jacket. He digs in his pockets for a lighter and a cigarette, lighting it and taking a drag still without glancing over at Snafu.

Christ, this is really not his night.]

[It's that little edge in Gene's voice that dooms him to Snaf's attention, the dismissal coming just a fraction too quickly. Snaf sits up as Gene's flopping down, grimy hand coming to his mouth to take his cigarette between his fingers, eyeing his buddy in the dimness of the room. Something happened, that much is obvious even if Gene would prefer it wasn't.

He doesn't actually say anything yet though, just stares.]

[And Gene can tell. He feels Snafu's gaze on him like a physical thing, itching at him, and it makes it all the harder to just turn his mind off and go to sleep even though he does his best to ignore it. What a fucking disaster of a night.

Eventually, the discomfort and annoyance winds out over his stubborn attempts at ignoring him, and Gene lets out an annoyed huff of a breath, turning a little on the cot to scowl at him briefly before looking away again.]

Go back to sleep, Snafu.

[It's not going to be that easy, Gene. Snaf asks his question through a hint of a grin and a breath of smoke.]

Where'd you go?

Nowhere. [He's not sure if he's lying for Mickey's sake - even if he's still not bothered by the threat, it doesn't seem fair to tell everyone about what happened - or if he's lying because he just doesn't want to tell Snafu what happened. Everything's weird and unpleasant enough without Snaf laughing about it.

But at the same time, maybe he does sort of want to tell someone, and God help him, but he trusts Shelton. He does.]

Sorry I woke you.

[Snafu sniffs, takes another drag on his smoke, dismissing Gene's sorry without a word. He was awake before his foxhole buddy came back in, but that's beside the point, really.]

You're a fuckin' liar, Eugene.

[He just sounds amused.]

Maybe I just wanna drop it. [The amusement annoys him, and honestly, it should be a warning sign that he should really stop before things go further.

But he doesn't. Eugene Sledge has bad decision making skills, apparently (isn't that sort of what got him here in the first place?) and so he takes another drag on his cigarette before just- fine. Fine, maybe he does want to tell someone about it.

He hauls himself up into a sitting position, still glaring at his friend, wondering how fucking stupid he has to be to be doing this instead of just ignoring Snaf until he got bored and went back to sleep.]

You've gotta promise to keep this between us, alright? I mean it.

[Snafu just watches Gene impassively as he sits up and glares, expression hardly shifting. He doesn't spend a lot of time just sitting around browsing the network when he can't sleep so he hasn't even seen Mickey's post let alone Gene's reply to it, but Gene's clearly annoyed and agitated and there's something Snafu just finds irresistible about poking at him when he's like this. It's not really anything new: he's been doing the same thing since the first time Gene walked into this room, back in the real world. But he shrugs lazily, taking another drag.]

Who you think I'm gonna tell?

[Okay, that's a decent point. Maybe it's that point - and again, the fact that Sledge does trust him, even if he's wondering if this is a thing he's going to regret later in this specific instance - that's the final tipping point for Gene, who takes another drag on his cigarette before starting in the most logical place.]

You know Mickey?

[Snaf shrugs and nods, blowing out a long stream of smoke. He doesn't exactly know Mickey, but he does know of him. He was friends with Mira, for one thing. And the ship's too small not to at least be passingly familiar with most people onboard.]

What about him?

[Gene bites his lip, hesitating one last time before spitting it out.] He invited me over. I thought he just wanted to hang out, but then he started tryin' to take my pants off.

[And he is bracing himself for the inevitable hysterical laughter and mean joking and already wondering why did he think this was a good idea, again?]

[You know your terrible friend well, Gene. It's not exactly hysterical laughter but Snaf leans forward, a grin curling his lips slowly. There's not a lot of light in the cabin but the mean amusement spreading over his expression is just visible in the dimness. There's a long, lingering pause before he says anything.]

You lead him on or somethin', Hammer?

Edited 2015-05-17 15:11 (UTC)

No. [He doesn't think, but Mickey sure seemed to think he had, and he's still not sure why. Or how it had happened.]

Since when does offerin' to keep someone company mean that?

[Exclusively mean that, he means. He's not sheltered enough to not know that it could mean that.]

Since when does it mean anythin' different?

[There's no hint in his tone that Snaf doesn't really believe that. He just kind of sounds like he thinks Sledge is a sheltered idiot. Why is he your best buddy again, Gene?]

Knew he was queer, didn't ya?

Why would that matter? [It's slightly defensive, more because Snafu's just starting to piss him off than because he's feeling especially protective of Mickey and who he wants to sleep with, but at the same time? Maybe it's strange, but that's not the part of this that's bothering him especially. People say it's a sin, but Gene's seen men - including the one sitting across from him - do things a lot worse than that to other men. What the fuck does it matter who Mickey wants to have sex with?

But explaining that, or going into much further detail suddenly seems hard, and not worth the effort, so he just scowls again and moves to lie back down on his cot. Why the fuck hadn't he just kept his mouth shut?]

Just go to bed, Shelton. Forget I said anything.

[No, you don't get off that easy, Gene. Sorry. He shakes his head, sniffing and sitting back on his cot. His tone is still all amusement and condescension.]

Queer guy calls you up in the middle of the night askin' you to come round and you think it's gonna go anywhere but him wantin' to get his hands on your pecker? The fuck kinda world you live in, Eugene?

I said forget it, [Gene snaps, almost like the tone of voice that's only going to become more common back home, after everything that's happening just keeps stripping pieces of him off until he's left feeling hollow and brittle and angry.

He's not sure if he's more mad at his friend's reaction, or the implication that he's some naive idiot, or the fact that he'd gone over to keep a friend company, but not like that, and the world Gene comes from is very fucked up, but you look out for your buddies even if they're Yankees or Indians or yeah, maybe even if they're queer. You look out for them or you both get killed.

He doesn't shift so his back's to Snafu - that feels like letting him win, and instead just lies on his cot staring at the ceiling/roof of the shack, still buzzing with irritation at Snaf and confusion about the rest of it.]

[Snafu's in a needling mood and when this kind of mood sinks its teeth into him, it doesn't matter if you're his best friend (and, of course, at this point and in this place Gene is) because he'll keep going far beyond the point where someone not as broken and not as mean and weird and fucked up would stop. If he was someone else, maybe he'd stop.

As it is, of course he doesn't. He shakes his head, leaning back, clicking his tongue in an amused sharp kind of amazement.]

Don't know what you fuckin' expected, Sledge. I knew you were a virgin but that ain't an excuse for bein' stupid.

I couldn't give a damn who or what Mickey wants to mess around with, [Gene says to the ceiling, flat and irritated.]

But I went over there as a friend, and if you don't stop fucking talkin', I'm gonna go sleep in my own room.

[Which he generally doesn't like doing, but he's starting to feel like maybe being by himself wouldn't be a bad thing right now. If nothing else, he can just stay up reading with the lights on until his mind feels less jumbled.]

[Snafu snorts and lies down on his back, staring at the ceiling himself. There's still a sly, mocking tone to his voice.]

Sure you ain't thinkin' about goin' back to see if the offer's still open?

[Gene lets out what's possibly the most irritated sigh he's ever had the questionable pleasure of unleashing and sits up.] Shut up, Shelton.

[He reaches over to grab his belt and the corpsman's bag he still carries around with him and gets up, not exactly storming out, but not taking his time in heading out the door, either. He's tired, tonight was weird, and he just wants to get some sleep.]

Edited 2015-05-28 04:04 (UTC)

[And Snafu thinks about stopping him... but ultimately, he just lets him go with another snort of laughter as Gene heads out the door.]

[The laughter annoys him further, but he doesn't stop or hesitate, half wondering what in the hell he'd really been expecting. At least Gene doesn't slam the door behind him?

Anyway, he doesn't come back. He doesn't spend a lot of time in his own room on the ship, and like always he can't quite shake the feeling of vague discomfort when he steps inside and sees all the artifacts that belong to the kid he used to be, with a carbine propped in the closet and pictures of Ack Ack and the other guys framed on his desk, and the goddamn bear dressed like the skipper.

It means crawling into bed isn't exactly the relief he'd like it to be - the mattress feels too soft most of the time - but at least it's quiet.

... Except then it's sort of too quiet, and he's left alone to try and puzzle this all out and will himself to fall asleep and actually stay asleep tonight.]

[Snaf doesn't really think all that much of it for a while, more amused by the reaction and Gene's irritation than anything else. He lights another cigarette and smokes it down to a stub, lying on his back and listening to the silence in the shack. It's always weird, how quiet it is in here. It's easier to fall asleep when there's the quiet sound of Gene breathing in the other cot. Hell, even the whimpers he lets out sometimes when he's asleep but not really in the grip of a bad nightmare, not bad enough that Snaf has to wake him up anyway.

The minutes drag on. He finishes his smoke and lights another one, smokes it down to an ember that singes his fingers. Stares at the ceiling and decides to try sleeping. Except... He can't. He closes his eyes and lies there and nothing happens.

(It takes him a while to even realise that something about Gene's misadventures bothered him and even when he does, he can't pinpoint what it is that's nipping at him. It's not like he thinks Gene's into the kind of sex Mickey offered really. He's not, is he? He didn't seem like he had a good time. ... Would it bother Snafu if he had? People do all kinds of shit and it's not like it's any skin of his nose if they get off to guys or girls or who the fuck cares what else, is it? It ain't like Gene wanting to try out stuff like that changes that they're buddies, right?)

His thoughts go around in circles for a couple hours and he's still not sure why he's irritated and why this is itching at him so bad but finally - after most of the night's gone by in a haze of sleeplessness - he sits up on his cot, swinging his feet to the floor with a thump.]

Fuck.

[He shrugs himself into his clothes and slams out of the cabin, heading up to where he knows Gene's usually-unused cabin is to pay his friend an early morning visit.]

[Sleep doesn't really come for Gene, either. He lies awake for a long time after he left Snafu's room, staring at the ceiling and trying to puzzle through what the fuck actually happened. Was he an idiot for not realizing that's what Mickey wanted? How was he supposed to know he wanted to sleep with him? It wasn't like he'd dropped any hints before, and Gene's pretty sure he would have noticed.

(Snaf's reaction bothers him too, that he should have expected it even if he's a dumb virgin even if he's right about one thing. Gene's got almost no experience with this sort of thing with another person, hadn't even really been kissed before Snaf had crashed into him around Christmas.

Why hadn't that rattled him the same way? Even before he'd realized the mistletoe was there, it's not like he'd tried to or wanted to shove him off, even if he wasn't exactly into practically being bitten on the mouth without warning. How pathetic is that, that his first kiss as an adult came from his weird, Asiatic best friend because a magic plant had made him do it?)

So he's sort of too quietly worked up to read or sleep, and it's only an hour or so before Snaf shows up at his door that Gene finally manages to fall asleep properly. When Snaf starts hammering on the door, he's awake and alert - but pretty fucking tired - immediately, frowning at his door and dragging himself wearily out of bed to see what's going on.

He mostly just looks confused when he opens the door and sees who it is.]

What?

[Snaf didn't really plan this. And he's running on fumes when it comes to sleep. And he's all itchy inside for reasons that are frustratingly hard to identify. So he doesn't exactly have an answer that is polite or makes much sense and what he ends up saying - shoulders drawn up and posture stiff, digging in his pockets for his pack of cigarettes - is:]

Let me into the pool.

[Gene just stares at him blearily for a moment - part of him wants to say something like this couldn't have waited another two hours? - before letting out a long suffering sigh and heading back into his room to grab his Bible, because apparently even when he's exhausted and still kind of pissed off (or at least annoyed), he's bad at denying him anything. Or maybe not doing what he says. Either or.

He steps out into the hall without obvious complaint and starts heading towards the elevator.]

[By the time Gene comes back out, Snafu has a cigarette smouldering between his lips. The shadows under his eyes are darker than ever and he doesn't say anything either, just follows Gene to the elevator.

When they're in it and going up, after watching Gene for a couple of moments, he takes the lit cigarette from his mouth and offers it silently, an echo of that first smoke before the airfield.]

[There's a second or two where Gene stares at the cigarette and then glances up at his friend, but whatever hesitation is in him is probably more because he's tired than anything else. So he takes it, thinking of the airfield and how desperately he'd smoked the offered cigarette then, and how Snafu had just watched without saying anything.

(He's still thinking about the kiss, too. How Snaf's mouth had felt against his, and why hadn't he pushed him off like he did with Mickey?)

Anyway, the smoke gets passed back.]

Thanks.

[Snafu watches without saying anything now, too. There's something gnawing at him or maybe it's the other way around: something hungry inside him. It's hard to tell and he doesn't want to think about it, so he holds it unexamined inside him for the beat or two it takes for him to watch Gene take the cigarette, to bring it to his mouth, to breathe the smoke in.

When Snaf takes the cigarette back, his fingertips brush Gene's and he puts the unexamined thing out of his mind. His shoulders relax a little and he leans back against the wall, bringing the shared cigarette back to his lips, tilting his head until it hits the wall too before he blows out a stream of smoke himself.]

You sleep?

[It's weird - and stupid, because it's far from the first time they've touched each other - but Gene feels a little unexplainable thrill as their fingers brush, which gets promptly pushed aside to either forget or worry about later. The silence is fine even if it's not exactly comfortable - they've had worse and been through worse than whatever last night was - and mostly Gene just tries to ignore the itch of exhaustion in his eyes.]

Not really. [He could do with more of it, but he knows how to make do and isn't in a hurry to get this over with or go back to his room.

He doesn't really need to ask if Snaf's slept - he looks terrible - but he still glances back over at him as the elevator stops and the doors open.] You?

Edited 2015-05-28 16:41 (UTC)

Sure.

[Snafu lies easily and convincingly - except of course, he looks like total shit and he knows Gene knows it's a lie. But they've been worse places and had worse nights, too. Not sleeping isn't so bad if you're not running the risk of also getting your damn head blown to pieces too. He continues with the easy, joking lie, embellishing with details from his logging camp work.]

Like a fuckin' log. One of the big ones. They're goddamn near impossible to fuckin' shift once you get 'em cut down.

[Gene hums an acknowledgement as he steps out of the elevator and keeps heading towards the pool - he doesn't believe him, but he also doesn't really want to push him on it since he's obviously just kidding around.

He tries to match his friend's tone when he responds, but it comes out a little flat from exhaustion.]

If you fall asleep in the pool and drown on me, I'm gonna kick your ass after one of the Admiral's brings you back.

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