Of The Sea : John Murphy

Dinglehopper

"And we should be receiving some new shipments within the next day or two, so the walls need to be ready before then." Karl, my head of deliveries laid out his plans to the small council. "On the way to Ton DC, we will drop half of our people at the new land we acquired and begin building."

Everyone nodded in unison and mumbles of agreement were exchanged.

"Any final decisions, chief?" Thore asked.

I shook my head and smiled weakly, lowering my son from my lap to the ground. "That's all."

We stood and departed the hall.

It seemed everything we did was in that room. We had meetings, it was my 'Throne room' as Edith called it but without a throne and most importantly where we all gathered to eat.

I pulled my coat back on as I stepped out, the cold chills greeting my wild hair.

I looked up at the deeply clouded skies and let out a heavy sigh. "Storm..."

I asked Sanna to watch Bo for a moment while I went to get cleaned up.

I strolled into my hut and grabbed a large cloth and dagger.

I soon found myself in the secluded cove, of course looking about to make sure I was alone.

I removed my boots and pants and kneeled by the water, cupping some in my hands and splashing it into my face. The salt stung my cheek but I shrugged it off, pulling my hair around the front of both sides.

Running my fingers through my highly knotted hair, I pulled off the attachments of beads and coloured cloth.

The dreads in my hair were never intentional, they just never got sorted out and once in a while I had to cut it off before I ripped half my scalp out from something hooking on to it. I've seen it happen before and I don't fancy that torture being handed to my precious scalp.

I ran my fingers through my pale blonde hair, digging out the knots and craziness. I heaved in frustration knowing it would just make matters worse. Grabbing the small dagger, I pressed it outwards, into my hair.

A highly dreaded lock fell from my hand, falling limp into the shallow water.

Thank goodness for hair that was way too long to begin with, I couldn't live with short hair. It made me look like a ponce.

I pulled the dagger across some more hair, causing it to fall on to my shoulders and float to the water's surface.

"There you are." A voice broke the silence I had closed myself into.

I spun around to see Murphy climbing down the short, root infested cliff.

"How did you find me?" I wondered aloud. I realised how guilty I sounded then cleared my throat subtly, cocking a brow. "Following me, are you?"

He scoffed and approached me, the infamous smirk plastered on his lips. "Please... I only seek out the presence of people I like." He glanced around the area then back at me, acting surprised upon the sight of me. "Oh hey there. Well I'll say, I've been looking all over for you."

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes, a smile creeping its way on to my face.

"Real smooth aren't I." He grinned and plonked himself down beside me.

"Very..." I chuckled lightly, continuing to shorten my hair so that it would now sit comfortably at my chest instead of my stomach.

He gave me a once over, his eyebrows coming together. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" I asked, taking off another lock.

"It looks like you're trying to murder yourself slowly." He drawled with sarcasm. "When was the last time you put a comb through your hair?"

I frowned and tilted my head towards him. "Comb?"

"You know, things you use to brush your hair, to get rid of the knots and what looks to be dreads." He gestured to my unattended hair.

"I learn something new every encounter with you, John Murphy." I smiled. "How do I craft one of these... combs..."

Strange.

I read so many books but they never teach you of the simple things in life, such as how to care for things as useless as hair.

"Uh... I don't know... but if I find one one day, I'll give it to you, think of it as a gift from me to you." He scratched the back of his head and looked out into the ocean.

I smiled once more with excitement and lazily took off the rest of the hair that needed hacking away.

I untied my piece of clothing laced to my abdomen and tossed it aside, leaving me in a loose short sleeved shirt and underwear.

"Woah there, I know you like me and all but this is too much for a man to handle in one day." Murphy remarked, his eyes like ice watching me intently as I dipped my toe into the chilled ocean.

"You flatter me, Murphy." I fanned myself dramatically as I smirked back at him, wading further into the water. "So tell me, about your old life in space. I'm fascinated."

He stayed silent for what seemed like a long while, shifting his fingers between each other.

"You don't..." I started but he shook his head, a small smile appearing.

"It's fine, at least you're asking nicely right?" He chuckled. "Space sucked. The only real colour we ever saw was from earth through a giant window. But then I got locked up and I pretty much never saw any more colour until I came down. So yeah, Space was boring as hell and if you broke one small rule, they would float you for it."

I watched him intently, it seemed he had a passionate hatred towards his old home.

"Float?" I frowned, not understanding what he meant.

"Execution."

"Oh." I nodded understandingly. "Well, then you came down to earth and all was good."

"No..." He corrected, "Then I got sent down to earth against my will and a little girl framed me for a murder. I guess you didn't catch the part where I went psycho and tried to kill her, you wouldn't have taken me in if you had seen that."

I snorted and leaned back into the water, letting my hair soak in it. "I see your attempted child murder and raise you a bashing in of a man's head for talking back to me."

His eyebrows came together as he listened, a ton must be going through his mind.

"You're not that bad here, Murphy." I stood, the water trickling down my body. "Compared to the lot of us, you're probably one of the purest."

I stepped out of the water and wiped myself down. "What was it that you wanted with me anyways."

His eyes darted up at me then back down. "Oh yeah, Edith needed you for the storm preparations."

I pulled on my pants and threw my remaining clothes over my shoulder. "Let's get a move on then shall we?"

He nodded and followed after me.

I caught a glimpse of his eyes on me once more and smiled over my shoulder. "What are you looking at?"

His eyes widened for a split second but he played it off cooly by looking ahead and a playful smile dancing on his soft features.

"You're pretty badass aren't you."

I chuckled and turned my attention away from him, a heat rising in my cheeks. "I suppose I am."