"They have seen but half the universe who never have been shown the house of pain." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ed stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to wrap his aching brain around the fact that this was actually happening. An animal in a fucking zoo. He rubbed a hand roughly across his face and took another swig from the beer on the counter.

His bloodshot eyes and pounding head were a reminder that all he'd had to do the past few days was drink and think about the fact that his entire life was now confined to these rooms. The irony of it was just staggering – he'd finally gotten a ship of his own, been out exploring the universe, and now that ship was gone, along with everything else in his life.

Everything except his ex-wife. There went the irony again.

He sighed, picked up the beer, and headed out to the living room.

Kelly was sitting at the table, eating breakfast and playing solitaire with her back to the window. Ed walked to the couch, moved his dinner plate from last night, and sat down. His mood darkened when the first thing he noticed was a Calavon male staring in through the window opening. The man barely glanced at him before moving off, which somehow made him feel worse.

He heard Kelly's spoon clinking in her bowl, and the sheer normalcy of it sent him over the edge. From the first day that they had realized their situation, Ed and Kelly had had completely opposite reactions to the situation. Ed couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they were on display. Maybe it was because he still slept on the couch. Even when he laid down for bed, he couldn't pretend that he was just at home by himself. He found himself staring and scowling at every Calavon who walked by. He'd yelled at a couple of them, flicked off several, and even threw a beer bottle at the window once after Kelly had gone to bed.

Kelly, on the other hand, was actively trying to ignore their entire predicament. She kept her back to the window or stayed in the bedroom, doing all the things she would normally do on a day off or a vacation.

It was beyond irritating, and the cereal was the last straw.

"Hey," he called back at her, annoyed, "you wanna not do that, please?"

"What?" She snapped back at him, telling him that maybe she wasn't having as much success ignoring the situation as he had thought.

Annoyance and a lingering hangover won out. "We lived together long enough, you know I do not like listening to people eat cereal."

"It's morning. I'm eating breakfast," Kelly snipped. She turned back to the table, but continued as she picked up her coffee, "You know, you should try eating in the morning instead of drinking. It's neat."

Ed's temper flared. So far, the only thing he'd found that gave him any kind of escape from this stupid prison was drinking. So that's what he did. He'd be damned if Kelly was gonna try to take that away, too. And anyway, it's not like he was drunk… "I'm having a beer."

"Yeah, at 9AM. Which, in case you don't remember is something that I do not like."

Oh, he remembered. They'd had this argument more than once, but he was just riled up enough to keep going. "I'm doing something that the Germans have been…"

"…The Germans have been doing for centuries." She cut him off, rolling her eyes at him, "Yes, you love that one don't you. Well guess what, you're not German!"

He stared at her, his hungover brain unable to come up with a witty retort. Finally he settled on "…Well, you're not Frankenberry, so shut up."

Not his best work. But apparently it was enough to push Kelly's buttons.

She slapped a card down on the table and stood up to face him. "You know what, it is all coming back to me now."

What, like this was Ed's fault?! "Oh, what, Kel? What is all coming back to you now?"

They were both standing now, voices raising, as Kelly continued, "Us. Living together. All the things that sucked about it."

So first he was completely wrong and now she was saying he was right? His frayed nerves couldn't take it. "Yes! This is exactly what I was saying on the shuttle, do you remember, and you said no. I said we were a bad match. Ok? I am just as miserable with you as you are with me."

"Well great, finally some common ground." Kelly was definitely angry now, too, and the two of them shouted over each other, sneering and mocking.

"Some common ground between the two of us!"

"Some common ground! Thank god!"

Ed glared at her. Of all the people to be stuck here with, it had to be Kelly Grayson. He scowled at her and said "I cannot believe that I finally get divorced and move on, and now I'm going to be stuck here with YOU for the rest of our lives!"

To his surprise, Kelly blinked and faltered. The angry expression fell away. It took a moment for Ed's impaired brain to figure out what he was seeing on her face.

"The rest of our lives," she repeated softly. He'd said it out loud, the thing they had both been avoiding in their own ways. The thing they both knew was likely true. They were stuck here, probably for the rest of their lives. Together.

All the air went out of the room then, leaving just a feeling of hopelessness.

Ed looked down at his beer, and back up at Kelly. He met her eyes, sighed, and said simply, "Yeah." Then he turned away, sat back down on the couch, and deliberately took another drink from the bottle.

He waited to see if Kelly would push the argument. He resolutely kept his eyes focused on the hallway beyond their window. After a moment, Kelly quietly returned to the table. He heard her pick up the cards again…but she didn't finish the cereal.

Ed closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a Calavon child was making faces at him. He scowled, sunk lower on the couch, and took a long drink from the bottle.