Who: Itachi and Murphy What: Random Run-In When: Early August Where: The Beach Rating/Warnings: Lowish/Talk of dream violence, but nothing graphic Status: Partner Thread | Complete
Murphy had never been particularly skilled at the whole pickpocketing business. He was really more of a ‘hold someone up in a dark alley at knife point’ kind of guy. But pickpocketing had its uses. For one, he was less likely to come face to face with one of the Network’s superpowered population.
The beach was crowded enough that he could practice his craft though. For instance, even if he was a little sloppy, he could fairly easily melt into the crowd anyone could figure out who it was they’d just felt in their purse. He’d even managed to knab a wallet from some poor sucker before turning into a less populated area of the beach. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being pursued, but before he turned his gaze back in front of him he crashed into someone. “Hey. Watch where you’re-” he started, before he managed to get a better look at the guy. It didn’t look like he’d be watching where he was going any time soon.
He'd been getting better. Not in the sense that his eyesight was coming back, no, but in that he was getting better at navigating through areas where there were a lot of people. Itachi was trying, after all, even though his mother thought he was going to end up getting himself killed if he kept going out the way he was. His father, however, insisted that he try to be more independent. Itachi was thankful for that, and he'd been going to the beach more often as a result.
He was on his way to one of the benches when someone crashed into him. He stumbled back a few steps, brows furrowing and lips turning down at the corners into a frown. He was thankful, however, that his Sharingan hadn't activated at the sudden jolt, that could've caused some issues. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to this whole being blind business." Really he should've been more careful, more alert instead of getting lost in his own thoughts.
Murphy frowned, glancing around. If the guy was just getting used to being blind, shouldn’t he have someone around to guide him around? He didn’t see anyone. “Shouldn’t you have like, a dog or something?” he asked.
"I've never really liked dogs." Itachi replied, a brow quirking up in amusement. "I have to learn to do things on my own. Eventually I'll want to be out on my own again instead of stuck inside my parent's house all day." His eyes narrowed a degree, from what he could sense now that he was fully aware of his surroundings there were many people around them. Still, he could not tell if he'd been the one to run into the other or the other way around. Being sightless sucked, "But you're right, I probably should have someone with me until I'm more acquainted with things." Or he should pay better attention as opposed to letting himself get lost in his depressing thoughts.
“I never much liked dogs myself,” Murphy said. Way too much energy, far too much slobbery affection. “I can see how that might get tiresome though. I was stuck in one place not long ago myself. What happened anyway?”
"It can be, and my mother? I didn't think she could ever be overbearing." She'd always been the type to make sure her children were independent, and she'd depended on Itachi a lot to watch Sasuke. He'd done his best to help her out, and prior to the dream bleed over he'd made sure to invite Sasuke over to spend the weekend with him. Itachi cleared his throat, "They're not entirely sure what happened. My eyesight had been going for some months, and then I woke up one morning without it." There was much more to it than that, but Itachi didn't assume that everyone in the OC was a dreamer.
“Even mothers can change when things go wrong,” Murphy said, a touch of bitterness colouring his voice. He was glad that Itachi couldn’t see the look of sadness that crossed his face for a split second though. Murphy’s own mother had changed quite a bit once his father had disappeared. Had he not watched her four year downward spiral himself, he wouldn’t have recognized the sad, angry drunk as the same vibrant, happy woman he’d grown up with.
“Sucks man. I kind of know a guy who just lost his vision too. Maybe you guys should start a club.” ‘Kind of know’ might have been an exaggeration for the ninja he’d had one conversation with over the Net, but really, Murphy didn’t usually rub elbows with people who’d recently lost their vision.
An amused laugh came from Itachi, "That might be a good idea." He had to wonder though if this man happened to be one of the few he'd spoken with on the Network about his blindness. "That conversation wouldn't have happened to have been on Valarnet would it?" He raised a brow, still wondering if this man was one of the ones he'd spoken to. That would be something wouldn't it? To run into someone else at random that was also on Valarnet out here again.
Murphy raised his eyebrows in surprise. Running into other people who used Valarnet at the Ranch wasn’t so strange, since Neal and so many of his volunteers seemed to use it, but just randomly running into one on the street seemed kind of strange. Still, Murphy was willing to chalk it up to ‘random coincidence’ for now.
“It did, actually,” Murphy said. “You’re not a ninja, are you?”
For the first time in a very long time Itachi laughed. "I would be a ninja. Well, in my dreams. Here, at this moment, I'm a little useless." He was man enough to admit that, but he hoped that with these dreams he'd been having recently that things would change in his favor. Itachi didn't want to be useless, he wanted to make sure that those he cared about were safe if something bad decided to befall the OC again. "I'm Itachi Uchiha, and you are?"
“Still, even just being a ninja in the dreams would be badass,” Murphy admitted. Sometimes he wished he had some cool powers, instead of just being someone who lived in space for 17 years before being sent down to some post-apocalyptic version of earth. “John Murphy,” he said, falling in beside Itachi. Partly because the guy was interesting, but mostly because anyone who was looking for a thief wouldn’t look twice at someone who was clearly walking around with their blind friend. “Where you headed?”
Letting out a soft laugh, Itachi gave a small inclination of his head. "Thanks." He kept hoping that maybe his blindness would pass, that things would go back to normal for him, but he wasn't sure how exactly that would happen or if it could happen. Itachi was still holding out hope though. "Nice to meet you, John." He felt the other fall into step beside him, and he lifted a shoulder. "Just out to the beach to enjoy the sun, and relax for a little bit." Mostly he had just wanted to get out of the house, and do a little bit of thinking while he could. "And you know, for a little normalcy."
“Good luck with that here,” Murphy snorted. He hadn’t had more dreams since he’d been banished from the delinquent’s camp in his dreams. He didn’t know if that meant that he was done dreaming or what, but whether he was or not, it didn’t blind him to the other strange things that went on. “What do you think? Think you’ll manage to pull a Daredevil with your ninja skills?”
"Fair enough," Itachi replied with a small grin. This place was strange, to say the very least, but Itachi found that he was adjusting to all of it. Well, the best that he could, things like the blindness were a bit of a hit. He chuckled softly and lifted a shoulder, "I probably could. I'd just have to put a lot of time into training." Which now he really had nothing but time, he wasn't working at the moment, and he wasn't planning on going back to school this upcoming semester. "I really have nothing, but time to do that at the moment either." He let out a long breath, "Have you begun to dream?"
“Training? Like, having people throw things at you until you can dodge them?” He’d sure seen enough training montages that involved people wearing blindfolds and cutting rocks in half or something. He glowered quietly for a moment. “Yeah, I’ve started to dream,” he said flatly. “They’re about as great as you’d expect.”
"Yes, well, something like that. It'd be re-training all of my other senses to pick up things." Not that it would be that hard, but he had to be careful with his chakra reserves. They were not as strong as they once were, and he could cause himself to become extremely drained if he risked too much. A half-smile tugged up one corner of his lips, "Sounds delightful." He wouldn't ask what John dreamed about, it wasn't in Itachi's nature to push that hard, but he found that sharing the dreams he had had helped him cope with everything.
“Well, if you ever need any help with that, I’ve got some time to kill.” While he hadn’t really thought about ninjas since before his father had died, as a child he’d been really interested in ninjas, and witnessing ninja training in person might have been kind of interesting.
“Oh yeah. I spent the first seventeen years of my life living in space where they’d kill someone for stealing an apple, and the last few weeks of my life on earth after a nuclear apocalypse with both grounders and the others who’d come down to earth trying to kill me.”
"I'll likely need some help, so you'll likely hear from me very soon about it." Itachi wanted to stop feeling so useless, and the only way to do that was to start putting some effort into his life in other ways. Itachi could do that, at least, he thought that he could.
Itachi's eyebrows rose slightly as he listened to Murphy speak of his dreams. That sounded like a hard life to him. He couldn't imagine anyone wanting to kill someone over an apple. "That sounds awful. On every level." He didn't know what else to say in regards to it. "I mean, I thought living in space would be pretty cool, but yeah, that doesn't sound like any fun."
“You’d think so. People aren’t meant to live in space.” There’d even been a strange almost religion where some people had all but worshiped a small bonsai tree, waiting for when they’d be able to go back home. “If I’m honest, I’d rather be on earth than in the space ship, even if it hasn’t exactly been a picnic so far.” With his banishment from the delinquent camp, maybe he’d find his own way. Or maybe he’d be killed by grounders. It seemed like it could go either way at this point.
"I see." Itachi replied with a small nod, unsure as to what the other meant, but that was neither here nor there. Perhaps, in time, he'd understand where John was coming from if they spoke more, but that was entirely up to the other. "Hopefully things in your dreams will take a turn for the better." He offered a small smile in John's direction, the sound of the waves finally meeting his ears. Itachi took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air, and he let out it out slowly. "Do you mind directing me to the closest bench?"
“I’m not going to get my hopes up,” Murphy said. Things, he found, never got better. They only ever got worse, with brief lulls where that tended to lead people into a false sense of security. “But who knows. Maybe you’ll get your sight back.” At Itachi’s request, Murphy took his elbow in his hand and carefully led him over to a bench that overlooked the beach. Maybe Itachi wouldn’t be able to see the view, but it was at the sand line and if he was so inclined he could feel it under his feet. “You alright here?”
"I don't blame you." Hope was important, but there were times when it was hard to find. Itachi could understand that reasoning all too well, he'd lost hope on getting his sight back but he still gave a small nod in Murphy's direction. "Maybe I will. I suppose we'll see." He smirked at the pun and then felt himself being led toward a bench. He was thankful for the direction, and he reached out once they stopped moving. Slowly he sat down, letting out a long breath. "Yes, I think I'll be fine here." He gave a nod, "Thank you, for the walk and the talk." He shifted slightly to get more comfortable, "I hope to speak with you again soon."
“Any time,” Murphy said, clapping Itachi on the shoulder. Really, he kind of owed Itachi as well. “I’m sure we will. You can get in touch over the Network if you wanted to get ahold of me.” And now that Itachi had helped him make him practically invisible to the people who had been looking for him, he could take his leave. “Have a good time, man.”