"Let's make pool interesting, shall we?" Murphy smirked across the pool table at Ila, leaning over the table with one hand.
"I'm not going to let you win, if that's what you're asking," Ila chuckled, teasing.
"No no no. I mean let's change the game up a little bit to make it more interesting. When one of us gets a ball in, they get to ask the other a really personal question," Murphy replied, slightly frustrated.
Ila looked at him in consideration, shrugged, and pulled back and broke the triangle. Her hit was a little weak, but she managed to get a ball in.
"Looks like I get the first question," Ila smiled in satisfaction. Murphy leaned on his stick, already defeated.
"What are you most afraid of?"
"Pain," Murphy replied quickly.
"Boring," Ila mumbled as she watched Murphy reach across the table to take his shot. One in.
"What did you want to be when you grew up?"
"Probably a teacher like my mom," Ila responded.
"I didn't know your mom was a teacher…What did she teach?" Murphy asked, puzzled.
"Ah! You already got your question!" Ila scolded jokingly. Murphy pouted as Ila made to take another shot.
"She taught history, by the way," Ila answered him as she got two balls in. She leaned back and thought for a moment.
"Why are you so hell-bent on revenge?" Ila was a little more serious now.
"I couldn't just let them get away with it, now could I? Sometimes I have to take the justice system into my own hands," Murphy answered, frowning.
"Revenge isn't justice. Murder isn't justified."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…next question," Murphy waved her off.
"Alright…What do you want to do when we get out of here?"
Murphy needed to mull the question over for a bit to consider his options.
"I definitely would like to take a swing at Jaha. After that…just be free I guess," Murphy replied.
"I couldn't agree with you more. You're turn." Ila took a step back as Murphy took his shot, but missed. Ila took her turned and missed as well.
"Well, this might take all day," Murphy sighed.
"I'm pretty sure we have time," Ila replied unenthusiastically. Murphy made to take a second shot and got one in.
"Where did you learn how to dance?" Murphy asked.
Ila stared at him for a little bit, her expression turned sad – almost hurt.
"My mother…" Ila replied softly, "She was a big history nut but really liked reading about ballet. She thinks that the evolution and history of ballet was magical and studied it on her own time. She started teaching me how to dance when I caught her trying to attempt it. She was terrible."
Ila laughed – teary eyed. Murphy brushed his fingers against her hand and she looked up at him. Tears fell down her face and she quickly wiped them away.
"You're turn," Murphy smiled at her. Ila heaved a heavy sigh and made her move – missed. Murphy got his move next and struck two in.
"Why did you attack Pike the last day of Earth Skills?"
The tears had disappeared from Ila's eyes at this point, but the redness in her cheeks remained.
"You had already taken two hits and you weren't fighting back. I couldn't let someone abuse their power of authority…again."
Murphy broke his eye contact with her, looking thoughtful as he remembered what had happened between her and Royson. He desperately tried to think up another question as quickly as he cold to change the subject. He thought of Kwon, who was also at Arkadia.
"Have you and Kwon ever…?"
"No!" Ila laughed in exasperation. "Of course not! No!"
Murphy secretly sighed in relief.
"Kwon and I have been friends since we were kids. Neither of us has ever thought of each other that way," Ila explained.
"Are you sure about that?" Murphy questioned.
"Absolutely!" Ila laughed again – this time more nervously as though she didn't believe the words. She could not surely speak for Kwon, but for her, he was practically a brother, and they've always been comfortable that way. Murphy looked at her sideways, still unconvinced.
"Murphy, you're the only guy I've been with…well, that and…" Ila's eyes trailed away along with her words.
"Nope, just me," Murphy replied smugly, "Only me."
Ila looked back up at him and smiled sweetly. Murphy looked back at her, returning the smile.
"Who's turn is it?"
"I believe it's mine," Ila replied, leaning over the table once more. She took the shot and got three balls in.
"Awesome!" Ila beamed. Murphy sighed reluctantly.
"Okay…Why did you offer me your tent when we first landed?"
Murphy raised a curious eyebrow.
"Maybe I just wanted a cute girl to come back to my tent," Murphy smirked evilly.
"Cupcake, you are no Bellamy," Ila laughed.
"Whatever," Murphy spat.
"Seriously, though. Why?"
"You're tent had just been destroyed…I felt bad," Murphy gave in.
"Okay then, next question…why were you crying that night when I first slept in your tent?"
Murphy went quiet, thinking back to that night. He couldn't quite remember crying, but remembered the nightmare that he had been having.
"I was dreaming about my parents…what they would think if they knew I had made it to the ground," Murphy's eyes began to tear up.
"What were they like?" Ila asked cautiously.
A small smile tugged at the side of Murphy's lips, but quickly swallowed up in the sorrow.
"My dad was really great…he, um – he'd do anything for me. He spent a lot of time with me while my mom worked a lot. She wanted us to have nice things, so she worked a ton of hours. I didn't really get to see her much until my dad died. She didn't really care about having nice things at that point…she didn't really think she deserved them," Murphy stopped, his voice quavering. Ila rushed around the table to hug him and gently kissed him on the cheek. Murphy lifted his arms weakly so that they wrapped around Ila's waist, letting his head rest on her shoulder as he continued to cry. He then proceeded to pull slowly away from her and wipe the tears from his eyes.
"My turn," he faked a smiled. It took him a while to line up his shot. Ila's eyes watched him warily with tears. He almost looked like he was about to break. She couldn't ask questions like that again. She hated to see him hurting like this. He finally took his shot and got a ball in. He considered his question very carefully before asking.
"Why did you save me from the pitfall when we went to save Jasper?"
Ila was taken slightly aback by the question. She didn't really like the honest answer to this one.
"Instinct, I guess," Ila grumbled.
"Oh," Murphy replied, disappointed, "You're turn, then."
Ila took her turn and got another ball in. She ran a hand through her hair in search of a question and seems she had fished one out.
"What did you and that Emori girl talk about back in the Dead Zone?" Ila asked with increasing curiosity. Murphy's face turned slightly pink in embarrassment.
"Nothing! I mean…I didn't really tell her anything because I didn't want to make a bad impression-"
"So you wanted to impress her?" Ila teased, but Murphy took her seriously and became flustered.
"Not like that! I was just trying to make friends," Murphy struggled to explain himself. Ila enjoyed watching him get like this. It was entertainment. Murphy quickly went into his shot to recover the situation, moving on with the game. Ila couldn't contain her smiling. Murphy got two more balls in, leaving only one left.
"Have you…" Murphy paused to think, "Have you ever thought about what would happen to the other if one of us died?" Murphy stared at her intently.
Ila shifted her weight uneasily from one foot to the other, thinking.
"It's not something I like to think about, but it's definitely crossed my mind…"
"And?"
"I think we'd probably go crazy without the other…especially in here," Ila answered.
"I think you'd be alright…you'd probably move on," Murphy sniffed, rubbing his nose onto the back of his sleeve.
"I bet anything you'd go for Bellamy," Murphy teased.
"Like you wouldn't go for Emori?" Ila snapped back at him. They smiled flirtatiously at one another.
"No…it would probably take some time…" Ila continued, sadly.
"Yeah…" Murphy agreed, dropping his head.
"One more question," Ila reminded him. Murphy thought very carefully, assuming Ila would most certainly grab the last shot. He wanted his last question to count. He wanted to ask something that has been aching in the pit of his stomach for a while now.
"Why didn't you tell anyone you were pregnant?" The words were cautious as they left Murphy's lips. His eyes looked into hers deeply – so serious.
"Because…I didn't want to believe it was happening…I would have had to explain the situation and I didn't want to at the time," Ila explained with a solemn tone.
"We could have taken care of you-"
"That's the thing! I didn't want to be taken care of!" Ila interrupted him, "When we first landed, I didn't even want to be near anyone. Had I the choice, I would've ran away…so in a way…you did take care of me." Ila's thoughts trailed off.
Murphy made to say one last thing, but decided not to – swallowing his words. Had she told us, she wouldn't have had the miscarriage, he thought. Ila decided to end the conversation by taking her turn, getting the last ball in. She bit her lip.
"Why haven't you asked about Royson? This whole game you had the perfect opportunity to ask about what happened and you didn't," Ila asked, frowning. Murphy moved around the table to her, placing a gentle hand on her hip.
"I didn't think we needed to bring that stuff up again. If you wanted to tell me about it…you would have already," Murphy spoke softly.
"I saw your face that day when you met Royson…you wanted to kill him."
"You're damn right. No one should ever get away with what he did!"
"But revenge isn't justice, Murphy," Ila reminded him.
"Yeah,yeah." Murphy rolled his eyes.
"Besides…I have you now." Ila smiled at him, eyes flirtatious with a small sparkle. Murphy leaned in to kiss her in the lips.