I move the stars for no one. [Siver!]

[SAM HADLEY]

It had been a rather quiet few months. River Fontaine had gone to classes, fought with Glinda, art-fagged around the city, and generally just lived. But she never really talked to anyone. The last real conversation she had had with another live human being was with that poor suicidal boy who lived two doors down. And while it was a lovely conversation, and he was rather cute, and she did want to snug him until he stopped feeling so bad, she had been so far unable to actually speak to him again. Perhaps her neighbor had seen some sense and dropped her Papi Chulo for what River could see as the obvious choice. Maybe he rejected her. Maybe that was why she left, and now Seth felt bad about it, and was just pining after his lost Rose. Maybe River had just frightened him away by catching him on the brink. For whatever reason, on the few occasions she saw him in the halls, they never said more than a friendly hello to each other.

She sat in her threadbare apartment, flipping though channels absentmindedly, resting on a rerun of Top Gear on BBC America. Things had been quiet next door for a few months. No nightly wildcat sex. She never thought she'd miss it, but it was kind of odd to hear something all the time, and then have it drop off for no reason. It made her curious. But that would be weird to knock on the door of her next-next-door-neighbor and say something like 'So, no more Sex Olympics?' Especially if things weren't so kosher for everyone. It wasn't her place. She only knew one person in the building, and he was basically acting as though she didn't exist.

She probably shouldn't have offered him a place to stay.

Glinda was quiet too, probably just rubbing in the loneliness, making River just feel absolutely awful. She sat in the corner, flicking lazily through a Cosmo, pointedly ignoring River. Rolling her eyes, the firey redhead stalked to the kitchen and made herself a bowl of crunch berries. She sighed, and took a bite, slumping back to her living room. She watched the Telly without really seeing while thumbing a hole in her fishy pyjamas. Of course it was silly of her to like Seth. She had only met him once, and he had confessed to being in love with River's most loathed neighbor. And he had ignored her for how many months now? And yet, she could still hear him pitter-pattering about Miss Rose's apartment like some kind of anal retentive ghost, cleaning, and vacuuming. It was sick, his devotion to her.

Twinging with jealousy, she stabbed at her cereal. Just as they were about to reveal the lap time for the 458 Italia, a gunshot rang out. She almost dropped her cereal, almost rushed out the door, almost went to help. But her general giving of absolutely no fucks made her roll her eyes, and relax back into her couch, and take another bite of her cereal.

Nonchalantly, she raised the volume on her television. Nobody was barging through her front door, so she didn't really care that much.

[SETH FOXWORTH]

Seth couldn't stand watching them anymore. Like everything was fine. Smiling through their teeth. The perfect family. Everything was all set with them, wasn't it? Everything was all perfect. Nothing for them to worry about, right? Until the next disaster happens. Until Rose got cold feet, AGAIN, or Guillermo decided he needed to be all noble and break her heart, AGAIN. But, no, for now they were peachy motherfucking keen. And where did that leave Seth? To watch? Watch them pretend life was perfect? Fuck that down the block, over to the coffee shop, stopping for doughnuts, and back with a nibble out of each.

So he marched out.

Of course it was only then that he remembered that he had no fucking friends. Well, except the idiots in his apartment, but... yeah. No. Again. Fuck that. So, where to now? To his parents? Shit, no. He could try to look up Stinky and No-Good... but he was on that whole parole deal, and nothing good ever came from being around those two.

He looked around, seeing the door on the other side of Rose's.

Murphy's.

Shit, he hadn't seen her in a bit, had he. After they met, he had gone to his parents. Then Jeny came begging for him to sort emo'd Guillermo out. Then him trying to patch up Rose and Guillermo. Well, that had gone fabulously. Then Rose vanished, and Guillermo had been... off. Enough so to concern Seth.

Fuck. He had been so involved with his fucking friend's life, he hadn't really paid much attention to his own life. So much so, that he hadn't even gone over to properly thank the one person who had bothered to help him. Shit, he was such a dickhole. Going over, Seth shifted anxiously, before finally knocking on the door.

In the few seconds Seth had waited, he saw Guillermo's door open. Fuckingshitprickhell. Without thinking, Seth turned the doorknob, hopping in the apartment. You know, that one that wasn't his. That one that belonged to a girl he had spoken to once, while contemplating sliding off the roof of a building. Awesome. Still, Seth hadn't really put that one together yet. His heart was good, but his brain...

Well, suffice it to say that if braincells were knives, he'd have some pretty fucking dull cutlery.

Watching through the peek hole, he saw Rose's figure look around for him, before vanishing back out of sight. Sighing, Seth rested his forehead on the door, relieved he hadn't been... whatever. Caught?

Then he remembered.

Oh yeah. Not his apartment.

Turning around, he saw the cute little ginger foreign girl, partially pleased that she hadn't moved away. That would have made this SUPER awkward. "Uh. Hows it, Murph?" Seth spoke, a sense of familiarity twinging his awkward voice. "Suppose your wonderin what I'm doing... barging into your apartment and what not..." Shoving his hands in his pocket, he felt the soft plastic baggy of smoke he had resting in there.

Something to keep the edge off.

Seth bounced on his heels, shifting a little. "Hey... Crunch berry." He pulled out the bag, grinning guiltily. "I'll share mine, if you share yours..." Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak. Please don't freak.

[SAM HADLEY]

River stared blankly at the telly, her dark eyes not really blinking, her spoon lackadaisically travelling from her Olympic-swimming-pool-sized tupperware container full of Crunch Berries to her mouth. Glinda was slightly worried about the gunshot from earlier, but River was hardly concerned. It had been quite a while, so either it was an accident, a domestic dispute, or a successful suici-

Her heart stopped.

Why hadn't that clicked before? Rose was gone, yet Seth was still cleaning her apartment. Sad Seth, Suicidal Seth lived in the apartment from whence the gunshot seemed to ring. It had been almost half an hour, WHY hadn't she bothered to think about anything? Once her breathing had restarted, she leaped to her feet, not even thinking to put down her cereal. Suddenly, she heard a tapping. It was Glinda's turn to jump up. River stood stock still in her pyjamas, staring at the door, not sure if she should answer. "H-hello?" she called out meekly, hardly hearing herself. Oh, the door was unlocked. That was safe. In New York.

Suddenly, who bursts in her unlocked door but Mr. I-hate-everything-and-want-to-die himself? She was shocked. She couldn't move. Glinda was behind her, also stunned to silence. That was a first. He spun around to check through her peephole, and suddenly the possibility was very real that Rose had come back, and Seth was none too happy about her arrival. That gunshot earlier was just long enough ago for someone sensible to call the cops, who might now be looking for Seth. River tried to see him as the murdering type, and was just about to start screaming when he turned around.

It had been a few months. His hair was longer, shaggier. He was leaner, more fit. He seemed...hardened somehow. Although his eyes still had that lonely quality in them. Her brows knitted together. "Uh. Hows it, Murph? Suppose your wonderin what I'm doing... barging into your apartment and what not..." River stared at him, and could literally think of nothing to say to him save for, "All right?" It was a dumb question, because he was obviously running from something.

"Hey... Crunch berry." She wondered if he was giving her another nickname when she realized that he was staring at her cereal she was still holding. She set it down on the counter that separated the Kitchen from the Sitting Room. She crossed her arms over her bare abdomen, wishing that he had picked a day to randomly drop in when she wasn't wearing a pair of pj's that she'd owned since she was 7. He reached into his pocket, and she stiffened, until she recognized a little baggie filled with a certain oregano-like looking herb. "I'll share mine, if you share yours..."

She eyed him warily, and walked forward disjointedly. Without speaking to him, she wrapped him up suddenly in a powerful hug, nestling her head into the crook of his shoulder. Then, without warning, she pulled away and swatted him roughly on the arm. "You complete arse! I don't see you for months, and then all of a sudden you just barge into my house like you own the place? And you think you can offer me weed and ask me for my cereal? And what on Earth was that gunshot earlier? Do you have any idea what I thought? I thought you had finished the job what with me not around to tell you not to!"[/b] During her diatribe, she spun around and tore through her apartment, into her bedroom, yelling the whole way. She grabbed her little blue and red piece and, slightly calmer, went back to her doorway, where she leaned against the frame. She took a deep breath, and stared at Seth, who she had left by the door. "Well? she said expectantly, an indulgent smile on her face. "Now that that's over and done with, are we gonna smoke or not?"

[SETH FOXWORTH]

Girls were queer little things.

Honestly.

Seth couldn't make fucking heads or tails of them, half the time.

First, she hugged him. She didn't scream, or yell, or accuse him of being a pervert for breaking and entering. Murphy just... just hugged him. After getting past his initial shock, he hugged her back, arms wrapping around her narrow shoulders. She smelled good. Flowery. And she was warm, and soft. He wondered if he used lotion. Well, that just lead to a series of male orientated thoughts that he'd just stash in his back pocket til later...

Then she pulled away, and he offered a small grin. Okay, this seemed friendly.

Ohwait, no. Because she was a girl, she was going to do a one eighty and freak out on Seth. Awesome. First with the hitting. It didn't hurt, barely even stung. Still, he rubbed his arm, blushing a sheepish little blush while she chastised him. "You complete arse! I don't see you for months, and then all of a sudden you just barge into my house like you own the place?" He opened his mouth to interject, but she continued. "And you think you can offer me weed and ask me for my cereal?" Well, he could hardly say that wasn't the case now, could he?

He watched as she vanished down the hall, wondering if he should go. Murphy seemed rather pissed at him... "And what on Earth was that gunshot earlier? Do you have any idea what I thought? I thought you had finished the job what with me not around to tell you not to!" Seth's eyes widened guiltily, ashamed he had not been over sooner to tell her he was alright.

She had been worried about him.

He looked at her, touched. She had met him once, and had been sincerely worried about him. Well? Now that that's over and done with, are we gonna smoke or not?" Giving a small laugh, he approached her, wrapping his arms around her again. It was weird. They weren't friends, after all. Or, close ones. But she had been concerned for him when his real friends hadn't. Not that he faulted his real friends but...

"I'm sorry, Murphy. I- I meant to come soon." He said into her hair. "The gun wasn't me... It was my idiot roommate. I just. I dunno. You should hit me again. It'd be okay." He pulled back, smiling his crooked grin. "Pop me one in the kisser? Better yet! Surprise me. Sneak attack, you know, ninja." Chuckling, Seth took the piece from her, moving over to the couch and coffee table.

As he started to sort the seeds and stems from his bag, he spoke in a softer, graver, voice. "Thanks though, for worrying. It feels kinda nice, to be worried about for a change." Looking up, he shot Murphy a gently gaze.

She was cool, Murphy was.

[SAM HADLEY]

He walked towards her, his face the very picture of remorse. She met him in front of the couch, where he swept her into a hug. It was surprising, and she didn't really know what to do. She had grown up in a house with three brothers, PDA was not really on her comfort list. The earlier hug had been a silent thanks to God that he was alright, but this one was just confusing. She held her hands out behind him awkwardly, before tentatively resting them on his back. He smelled like mens body wash and cologne. A sort of clean smell, that would be unpleasant if it were any stronger. It was comforting.

He explained the gunshot, his breath warm against her head. For a moment, she worried about the fate of his roommate, but he pulled back and grinned at her, and she couldn't help but grin back. "I don't think you'd like it if I really hit you."

[/b] She warned playfully. That was a girly smack of indignation. It wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. But if you insist, I'll save one up. But know this, it will be unexpected, and it will hurt."[/b] Her eyes glittered mischievously.

He sat down, and picked through his bag o' treats. She hopped on the counch next to him, one leg tucked underneath her, and the other bent so she could rest her chin on her knee. She nudged him playfully. "You might think about paying me, worrying about you is a full time job."[/b] She chuckled, and stared at the little baggie. Now was time for the hard part. "Been busy these last few months then? Could I know what spurned this visit? Maybe if I know the cause, I can use it for emergencies...and birthdays."[/b] Her voice was light, but there was a twinge of sadness to it. She had missed the poor boy.[/blockquote]