saltburnt inbox | @murphy

[wrackful]

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murphy

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[nightsung]

I’d say “the one and only,” but my understanding is that’s very much not the case.

[wrackful]

Yeah, kind of the case with everyone. You know he's in bronze too, right?

[nightsung]

Oh, I’m aware. He’s sticking to his principles and insists I give the upgrade to someone else, which I’ll slap him for later.

[wrackful]

Yeah, that tracks.

[He and Strange hadn't been close in Rubilyk, but The Slender had left the ghost of a web behind, strands of guilt and pain and responsibility between Murphy and all the people his monster had puppeteered around. He hadn't known Strange like a friend, but he'd still known him, and the one here wasn't as different as he might like to think.

Maybe that was what made it harder, just straight accepting this offer. The sense that he'd be taking more from a man that he already owed, and always would. Maybe just the sense of taking anything from anyone, old instincts kicked up by the month of bullshit: no one gives anything without wanting something in return. All of that crap churning up inside him again, like toxic sludge from the bottom of a lake, festering, making him sick.

This wasn't the answer. But it'd lessen the weight of the boot on his neck. Let him catch a breath.]

Okay. I'll take it. Thanks.