Disclaimer: I own Nada.
"Suzanne takes you down.. to her place near the river,"
Hannibal could hear the soft singing drifting close to him, like it was travelling on the chilly breeze that blew halfheartedly in the night air. He strained to hear it; the voice was so gentle and quiet, that it was almost impossible to listen, but he was intrigued. Who was on watch again? Face, was it? He heard an incoherent mumble emitting from the back, something along the lines of "Vanessa". Nope, Face wasn't on watch.
"You can hear the boats go by, you can spend the night beside her,"
He hopped out of the van and tiptoed along the bramble covered path leading to the small stream where the singing was coming from. A skinny figure was illuminated by the moon shining directly above him. He was dangling his legs on the edge of the river bank, absently, in a child-like manner. Murdock, Hannibal said to himself in his mind. The Pilot's cap was tilted on the back of his head and looked like it would fall.
"And you know that she's half crazy, but that's why you want to be there,"
The Colonel ambled forward more, but still kept his distance. He was transfixed; he never knew the Captain's voice to be so.. so... hypnotic.
"And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China,"
He'd never really heard Murdock sing- really sing. The younger man was always singing in some sort of silly or humorous way, never sincere and gentle like this. This... this was quite something.
Hannibal wanted to sit with him, to listen to him properly, but he knew if he interrupted the Captain, he'd probably refuse.
There were times Hannibal thought that H.M was the sanest man on earth. He seemed so in-touch with himself and others, that it made him think that all that "crazy" the man would put on was just an act, or some sort of defence-mechanism. He knew Murdock had war scars- heck, they all had- but his were more deeper than theirs. It was sad, thinking about it, how just one war could distort someones entire knowledge of reality and perception.
"And just when you mean to tell her that you have no love to give her, then she gets you on her wavelength and she lets the river answer, that you've always been her lover."
From where he was standing, Hannibal had a hindered view of Murdock (he was standing behind a tree after all) so he moved a couple of inches to the left, cursing when the snap of twigs underneath his feet gave him away. The Captain suddenly stopped his singing and turned his head quickly, eyeing the Colonel for a couple of seconds, and then letting his gaze wander back to the rippling water below him. At first, Hannibal thought the worst; another one of Murdock's breakdowns perhaps? Was his Pilot loosing his grip on reality again? He looked to be in such a dream-like state, almost like in a trance.
The silver-haired man felt his chest tighten slightly. Maybe he should wake up Face; he was good in these types of situations-
"Hannibal?" A small, calm voice called.
He refocused and met Murdock's stare. It was intense and dull all at the same time, he couldn't understand it.
"Come, sit." The younger man told the Colonel, patting the grassy ground beside him.
Hannibal obeyed willingly as he desperately wanted to hear Murdock's mesmerising voice of gold.
He plopped down next to the Pilot, smiling at him awkwardly. Murdock returned the smile and they both broke their gaze with each other. The older man felt guilty now; for cutting short Murdock's song. He really wanted to hear the rest of it. No, he wasn't a very touchy-feely type of guy, but he could honestly say that what he had heard touched his heart.
No, he shouldn't of sat with his Captain, he should have went back to the van, mumbling some pointless excuse about B.A and his "dammed sleepwalking", but how could he have said no?
"And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel kind, and you know that she will trust you, for you've touched her perfect body with your mind..."
Hannibal, shocked, surprised, enlightened, looked up at Murdock and watched in awe as the brown-haired man started to once again serenade the water beneath him. He kicked his legs against the riverbank absently, like he didn't even know how good he was.
It was amazing, really, how one man- one human could make such a fascinating noise like that. A noise that flowed by like the indigo river. A noise which calmed any animal, any person, even a gold-wearing at that. A noise that could make any man beg for more.
And he just... stopped, simply, abruptly, picked himself up from the ground and gave Hannibal that small, goofy smile. "I'm gonna go get some shut eye. Catch ya' later, Muchacho." He said, walking briskly back to the van on his tall, giraffe-like legs.
It left Hannibal a bit shocked, but satisfied, too.
