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“B?”
“Yeah?”
“What’re you doing?”
The ex-cop glanced up at Benny from his place on the couch as if the astronaut had asked something too obvious to explain. He then raised his hand, lifting a rather large and half empty bottle of wine into the air for a moment. “Drowning myself in a good bottle of wine.”
Benny frowned in worry. “Not having a good day?”
By way of answer Bad Cop snorted and took a few swigs from his bottle.
“Wanna talk about it?” Benny asked as he rounded the couch. He wasn’t warned away so he took that as a good sign. Slowly he sank down to sit next to the other and made himself comfortable while being side eyed.
Bad Cop shrugged once he realized his company had situated himself. “Dunno what’s t’say. Got a lot on my mind right now.” He glanced away and swirled the wine in the bottle, faint splashing coming from within the glass. Benny didn’t say anything. Best to let Bad Cop speak his mind when he felt up to it.
“It’s...” Bad Cop frowned at his wine bottle, pointedly not looking at Benny. “Have you ever thought of the view from halfway down?”
Benny tilted his head curiously. “Mmm... Not sure I follow.”
A deep pull from the bottle drained the wine down quickly. “Take a fall from high up and time stands still halfway down.” He stopped to sigh deeply and slumped forward on the couch. “Supposedly it’s when y’realize things might not be as bad as y’thought. The view’s nice, makes you think. But by then it’s too late. You’re already halfway down with no way t’get back up. Figuring out that things could turn out better an’ all you can do is finish the fall.”
Wordlessly the astronaut reached over and patted the other’s shoulder gently.
Bad Cop took in a long slow breath, closed his eyes, and released that breath almost shakily. “I think I’ve had too much t’drink. But... But I feel too much. I just want t’be numb right now.”
The words ‘it will be alright’ almost left Benny’s mouth, but he bit them back. Maybe that wasn’t what his friend wanted to hear right now. His frown deepened. “I kinda get it now that you explained it to me.” Bad Cop peered up at him over the edge of his shades and Benny felt his heart tug seeing the wetness in his eyes. “After my accident that’s all I wanted for a while. A short walk and a sudden stop. And, much as it sucks to admit, I tried once or twice. But my flight was a new thing and it caught me each time I made a jump. Weirdly enough I’m glad for it now.”
There was a silence between them for a while. Then Bad Cop leaned toward his companion and flopped over, resting against Benny’s side. “I’m glad for it too, spaceman.” he nearly whispered. A moment later he reached out and set the wine bottle down on the coffee table in front of the couch with a soft clink.
Benny’s frown curled the other way slightly. Maybe things weren’t alright at that moment, but he had a feeling things would change.