Sinking 08/10 - Oz: Beecher/Murphy
Feb. 22nd, 2017 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drsquidloveSinking
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@livejournal.com
Beecher didn't fuck up his parole buying drugs for Bonnie. Yay, everything is awesome! Only... he's maybe not handling his parole as well as other people think he is. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy's been pining after Tim McManus for too damned long. Even so, the two of them hooking up for a blow job is about the worst idea possible.
Beecher/Murphy, with sidelines in Beecher/Keller and McManus/Murphy
Rated R for considerable amounts of fucking.
Wordcount this chapter: 2055
Total wordcount: 29 000-ish
Oz and all its characters are the property of Tom Fontana and HBO. I make no profit, and intend as little infringement as I possibly can.
It's really beyond my comprehension how I did this post-every-third-day thing with Someone Like You, with longer chapters, substantially more re-writing and kept it up for freakin' months. Not unless days are changing lengths, or something.
Sinking 8/10
by Dr Squidlove
In chapter 7 Sean did a little snooping to figure out which of Oz's deaths was a Toby-lover murdered by Chris, but... holy hell, a lot of men have died in custody in Oz. Sean resisted the urge to jump Tim (in a good way) and jump Schillinger (in a bad way). He visited Sister Pete for a 'So I've got this friend who has a problem,' talk. She told Sean he was Toby's best friend, which isn't what Sean wanted to hear.
Sean visited Keller in the hole. He tried to keep his brain off the physical comparisons and on the verbal sparring (lucky he's had so much practise with Toby). Sean ripped off all Toby's lies and dumped him at Keller's feet to fix. Sean visited Toby, told him Keller was waiting, and displayed newfound powers of sexual willpower, by leaving with his pants on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Toby had visited twice now.
Sean had stayed far away both times, talking rosters with Tim or running paperwork up to Glynn. He left it to D'Agnasti to read the visitors list so he wouldn't be tempted to watch Keller's face, or follow him down to visiting. Sean had done his deed, and Toby was back in Keller's tender care. By some miracle Sean had sailed through without any major disasters and now it was time to go back to yearning for his straight best friend, the stupid teenage cliche he'd never grown out of.
He'd kept his evenings busy with a couple of extra overtime shifts, and lingering after work to use the gym equipment or shoot hoops with Tim. Keeping out of trouble.
Shooting hoops with Tim used to be what got him into trouble, back when they were kids. Seeing Tim all hot and sweaty and competitive, crowing whenever he scored a three pointer. Sprawling on a bench together afterwards, chugging water and getting their breath back. Days when Tim forgot all about the girl of the week and there was nothing but the two of them.
D'Agnasti was on break, so Sean was walking the floor. He passed Keller and O'Reily playing cards, calm and inscrutable. Sean guessed today's visit had gone well. Or maybe Keller had sat there just like this, like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, after he killed whoever it was Toby had sex with.
Sean kept walking.
Sean had skimmed the list of Oswald's dead a few more times, still hadn't narrowed the list of Keller's potential victims, but for damned sure he didn't want to be on it. Whoever it was, it was done now, and there was nothing Sean could do about it except ruin his career and put his own life in danger. He'd made peace with keeping his yap shut.
"Murphy."
Ice trickled down Sean's spine. He'd avoided getting within hearing distance of Keller for all he was worth this past week. Of course, it had to end sometime. "What is it, Keller?"
Keller's eyes darted back and forth, checking there was no one else close. "I need you to do something for me."
"No. You don't." Sean started to move off, but Keller stepped after him.
"You gotta check on Toby."
Sean had dreaded exactly this. "I ain't doin' it."
Keller bounced in front of him, being careful not to look aggressive, to draw the other hacks, but blocking Sean's path all the same. "You were right, okay? He's been lying to me." Sean stepped left and Keller stuck close. "You're the one who told me I had to watch out for him. I can't do it from in here. I'll give you his address. Toby needs to know someone could drop in on him any time."
"What, you can't control your boyfriend?"
A flash of murder in his eyes. "Toby ain't nobody's bitch, you fuckin' hack."
Sean's stomach fluttered in fear. This was the fire he'd been playing with. "I ain't your guy, Keller. Why don't you ask Sister Pete?"
"She'd cut me out. Look, there's some reason Toby got you in here, and-"
"The answer is no." Sean would have been amused to see Chris begging, if he hadn't known he was provoking a snake. "Beecher asked me to pass on a message, not make myself a bit-part in your sorry drama. I'm done. Now get your ass out of here before I start feeling like you're invadin' my personal space."
Sean held out under the simmering glare, waited for Keller to growl and stalk off before he pulled a full breath down into his lungs. Like Sean needed the reminder that Keller was as dangerous as any guy in here. Truth was, every night Sean talked himself out of going to check on Toby. He'd lay bets that Keller spent most of their visits badgering or charming or guilting Toby into sobriety, but Toby had fooled Keller before. Would he get away with it again, now Keller had been put on his case? Sean didn't know. He didn't need to know. Hell, he needed to be completely ignorant and a hundred miles away from Toby, whatever the guy was doing with his life.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On Sunday he found himself at Toby's door. Sean was such a goddammed softcock.
Toby had cut his hair to something more mild-mannered lawyer. It probably looked good on him when it wasn't matted with sweat. The rest of him wasn't looking so hot either. He hunched against the door, face unshaven and grey, shirt soaked through. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
Sean could smell him across the threshold. He could stop worrying that this visit would slide into seduction. "Yeah, well. Just stopped by to check you're sober."
"Yeah. I'm sober."
And going through hell for it. Looked like Keller had finally persuaded or bullied Toby onto the wagon. Sean didn't want to imagine how it felt getting all that crap out of your system. "I'm guessing you didn't go to work today."
"I quit."
"You quit?"
"Well, I haven't shown up in three days, so I'm guessing I'm fired."
"You been looking for something else?"
"Yeah, I'm applying to be a warden. Or maybe an astronaut." His voice was rough, like he'd spent the last couple of days fronting a heavy metal band. Or puking his guts out.
Sean heaved a sigh. "Keller asked me to check in on you. You ain't gonna go back to bullshitting him."
"So you're his bitch now?"
"No. I'm your friend." No, he wasn't. Goddammit. Sean jammed his mouth shut.
"Well, that's beautiful. I've got a tear in my eye."
"Don't seem like you got many friends, so maybe you shouldn't fuck it up," snapped Sean.
"You want to come in?" As Toby pushed the door wider, the smell made Sean's stomach turn. It was the stench of sweat and feet and sick, stale body. He hoped Toby's kids weren't going to be walking into this.
"No. No, I was just checking in."
"Because Keller told you to."
"Sure. Are you sure you're okay? You ain't lookin' too good."
A soft snort. "I ache down to my fucking bones. I almost broke my neck hurtling down the stairs to beat the living hell out of the garbage truck yesterday. In the few hours sleep I get I'm having the worst nightmares I've had since my first year in Oz. I haven't had a drink or a shit in four days, and the clearer my head gets the more I remember I started drinking because I can't stand my own company."
Right. "Do you need me to get you anything?" Sean had seen enough guys detox to know it sucked, but he wasn't going to stick around to play nursemaid.
"I could use a speedball or a blow job."
Sean gagged a little at the idea of putting his mouth on Toby the way he smelled right now. "Afraid I'm all out of both."
"Then I guess you can fuck off."
Sean gave him a nod, nice and normal like he'd never seen the guy naked, in lust or in prison. "Good luck to you, Beecher. And take my advice: get out of there for a while. Take a walk around the block or something. Get some air." Maybe if Toby tasted the outdoors and then walked back into this, he'd be inspired to do some laundry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the morning Sean picked up a paper and sat in the car to circle jobs. it didn't take long to figure out why Toby was so disheartened. Once Sean ruled out everything he figured wouldn't even look at an ex-con, the options were depressing even by Sean's standards, and he'd never had a six-figure salary to compare. He stared out the window at the morning commuters and considered. Sure Toby had done time, but maybe someone out there could see a drunk driver wasn't a security risk. Someone with a Harvard-or-whatever education and a desperate need for something stable ought to be a boon to plenty of office jobs. Sean went back and circled a few more, and then he dropped the paper off on Toby's doorstep on the way to work.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few days later Toby was on the visitors list again, and as usual, Sean stayed far away, working the control station. He'd done his part, didn't know if it was the right thing or not, but he was out of it now.
On the downside, staying at the station meant he was right there when Keller wandered back into Em City and looked straight up at him. Sean's asshole puckered up as Keller climbed the stairs and leaned on the rail, but there was nowhere to run. Sean kept one eye on his clipboard. If Toby fucked him over... "Whatever you want, Keller, I ain't interested."
"Toby's bitchin' at me for sending you after him."
"I know how he feels." Sean relaxed, just barely. If Keller had harped at Toby to find out what he had on Sean, Toby obviously hadn't given it up. Not yet.
"He was sober?"
"He was going through it, but he was hanging in there."
Keller nodded. "That's good." He moved to head downstairs, paused, and asked back over his shoulder, quietly, "Was he okay? When you saw him?"
Sean blinked. "Yeah. Yeah, Keller, he looked okay."
Sean didn't let himself watch Keller saunter away. He already got himself into this ridiculous mess; he didn't need to make it worse picturing Toby's fantasy of squeezing his whole hand up that ass. He kept his eyes on Alvarez dealing himself a hand of solitaire, and Pancamo holding court with the Italians. It was good he'd put a stop to this before he started trusting Toby, or Keller got some kind of notion he had a hack in his pocket. He'd been thinking with his dick, no better than all these animals. This was the kind of shit that got COs killed.
He was so busy watching everyone who wasn't Keller that he didn't hear someone drop into the seat beside him, jolting his heart into a goddamn arrhythmia.
"So what's going on between you and Keller?" asked Tim.
Sean froze, and then his voice sounded weirdly high when he asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Come on, I've seen the two of you getting chummy. It's not like you."
"We've had a couple of conversations, that's all."
"Fine, don't tell me." Tim shuffled papers, pouting.
He wasn't going to let Tim make him feel guilty on top of the rest of it. "What do you need?"
Tim pushed the papers closer. "Could you do me a favour? Run these up to the infirmary?"
"Not like you to skip an excuse to..." Sean almost sighed aloud. "You slept with Beth, didn't you?"
"She's called me three times today. It was a good date, but-"
"For Christ's sake, can't the women in this place get a full week in before you start pawing 'em?"
Wounded surprise splashed across Tim's face. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
It meant Tim didn't want to hear about how unprofessional it was for a senior administrator to plough his way through every female under fifty in the prison and Sean didn't have the patience to give a sympathetic ear to Tim's latest attempt to fill the void in his life. Tim wasn't ever gonna change, so Sean was just gonna shut his mouth and get back to work.
"Sean?"
"You screwed up. So instead of hiding in here, why don't you take her out to dinner and explain that it's nothing to do with her. You're just letting your dick lead you around until you fall into some kind of adult relationship."
"Jesus, Sean! What the hell's got into you?"
Eyes all over the floor were turning their way now. The dinks couldn't hear but they could see Tim in a flurry and Sean putting him there and staff personal shit beat even Miss Sally's tits for prime-time entertainment. They were all watching, Keller included. Sean didn't need Keller's attention. "Just give me the damn paperwork, Tim." Goddamn drama queen. Sean took it for himself, and jogged down the stairs before Tim could argue.
-----
end 8
by Dr Squidlove
drsquidlove@livejournal.com
Beecher didn't fuck up his parole buying drugs for Bonnie. Yay, everything is awesome! Only... he's maybe not handling his parole as well as other people think he is. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy's been pining after Tim McManus for too damned long. Even so, the two of them hooking up for a blow job is about the worst idea possible.
Beecher/Murphy, with sidelines in Beecher/Keller and McManus/Murphy
Rated R for considerable amounts of fucking.
Wordcount this chapter: 2055
Total wordcount: 29 000-ish
Oz and all its characters are the property of Tom Fontana and HBO. I make no profit, and intend as little infringement as I possibly can.
It's really beyond my comprehension how I did this post-every-third-day thing with Someone Like You, with longer chapters, substantially more re-writing and kept it up for freakin' months. Not unless days are changing lengths, or something.
Sinking 8/10
by Dr Squidlove
In chapter 7 Sean did a little snooping to figure out which of Oz's deaths was a Toby-lover murdered by Chris, but... holy hell, a lot of men have died in custody in Oz. Sean resisted the urge to jump Tim (in a good way) and jump Schillinger (in a bad way). He visited Sister Pete for a 'So I've got this friend who has a problem,' talk. She told Sean he was Toby's best friend, which isn't what Sean wanted to hear.
Sean visited Keller in the hole. He tried to keep his brain off the physical comparisons and on the verbal sparring (lucky he's had so much practise with Toby). Sean ripped off all Toby's lies and dumped him at Keller's feet to fix. Sean visited Toby, told him Keller was waiting, and displayed newfound powers of sexual willpower, by leaving with his pants on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Toby had visited twice now.
Sean had stayed far away both times, talking rosters with Tim or running paperwork up to Glynn. He left it to D'Agnasti to read the visitors list so he wouldn't be tempted to watch Keller's face, or follow him down to visiting. Sean had done his deed, and Toby was back in Keller's tender care. By some miracle Sean had sailed through without any major disasters and now it was time to go back to yearning for his straight best friend, the stupid teenage cliche he'd never grown out of.
He'd kept his evenings busy with a couple of extra overtime shifts, and lingering after work to use the gym equipment or shoot hoops with Tim. Keeping out of trouble.
Shooting hoops with Tim used to be what got him into trouble, back when they were kids. Seeing Tim all hot and sweaty and competitive, crowing whenever he scored a three pointer. Sprawling on a bench together afterwards, chugging water and getting their breath back. Days when Tim forgot all about the girl of the week and there was nothing but the two of them.
D'Agnasti was on break, so Sean was walking the floor. He passed Keller and O'Reily playing cards, calm and inscrutable. Sean guessed today's visit had gone well. Or maybe Keller had sat there just like this, like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, after he killed whoever it was Toby had sex with.
Sean kept walking.
Sean had skimmed the list of Oswald's dead a few more times, still hadn't narrowed the list of Keller's potential victims, but for damned sure he didn't want to be on it. Whoever it was, it was done now, and there was nothing Sean could do about it except ruin his career and put his own life in danger. He'd made peace with keeping his yap shut.
"Murphy."
Ice trickled down Sean's spine. He'd avoided getting within hearing distance of Keller for all he was worth this past week. Of course, it had to end sometime. "What is it, Keller?"
Keller's eyes darted back and forth, checking there was no one else close. "I need you to do something for me."
"No. You don't." Sean started to move off, but Keller stepped after him.
"You gotta check on Toby."
Sean had dreaded exactly this. "I ain't doin' it."
Keller bounced in front of him, being careful not to look aggressive, to draw the other hacks, but blocking Sean's path all the same. "You were right, okay? He's been lying to me." Sean stepped left and Keller stuck close. "You're the one who told me I had to watch out for him. I can't do it from in here. I'll give you his address. Toby needs to know someone could drop in on him any time."
"What, you can't control your boyfriend?"
A flash of murder in his eyes. "Toby ain't nobody's bitch, you fuckin' hack."
Sean's stomach fluttered in fear. This was the fire he'd been playing with. "I ain't your guy, Keller. Why don't you ask Sister Pete?"
"She'd cut me out. Look, there's some reason Toby got you in here, and-"
"The answer is no." Sean would have been amused to see Chris begging, if he hadn't known he was provoking a snake. "Beecher asked me to pass on a message, not make myself a bit-part in your sorry drama. I'm done. Now get your ass out of here before I start feeling like you're invadin' my personal space."
Sean held out under the simmering glare, waited for Keller to growl and stalk off before he pulled a full breath down into his lungs. Like Sean needed the reminder that Keller was as dangerous as any guy in here. Truth was, every night Sean talked himself out of going to check on Toby. He'd lay bets that Keller spent most of their visits badgering or charming or guilting Toby into sobriety, but Toby had fooled Keller before. Would he get away with it again, now Keller had been put on his case? Sean didn't know. He didn't need to know. Hell, he needed to be completely ignorant and a hundred miles away from Toby, whatever the guy was doing with his life.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On Sunday he found himself at Toby's door. Sean was such a goddammed softcock.
Toby had cut his hair to something more mild-mannered lawyer. It probably looked good on him when it wasn't matted with sweat. The rest of him wasn't looking so hot either. He hunched against the door, face unshaven and grey, shirt soaked through. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
Sean could smell him across the threshold. He could stop worrying that this visit would slide into seduction. "Yeah, well. Just stopped by to check you're sober."
"Yeah. I'm sober."
And going through hell for it. Looked like Keller had finally persuaded or bullied Toby onto the wagon. Sean didn't want to imagine how it felt getting all that crap out of your system. "I'm guessing you didn't go to work today."
"I quit."
"You quit?"
"Well, I haven't shown up in three days, so I'm guessing I'm fired."
"You been looking for something else?"
"Yeah, I'm applying to be a warden. Or maybe an astronaut." His voice was rough, like he'd spent the last couple of days fronting a heavy metal band. Or puking his guts out.
Sean heaved a sigh. "Keller asked me to check in on you. You ain't gonna go back to bullshitting him."
"So you're his bitch now?"
"No. I'm your friend." No, he wasn't. Goddammit. Sean jammed his mouth shut.
"Well, that's beautiful. I've got a tear in my eye."
"Don't seem like you got many friends, so maybe you shouldn't fuck it up," snapped Sean.
"You want to come in?" As Toby pushed the door wider, the smell made Sean's stomach turn. It was the stench of sweat and feet and sick, stale body. He hoped Toby's kids weren't going to be walking into this.
"No. No, I was just checking in."
"Because Keller told you to."
"Sure. Are you sure you're okay? You ain't lookin' too good."
A soft snort. "I ache down to my fucking bones. I almost broke my neck hurtling down the stairs to beat the living hell out of the garbage truck yesterday. In the few hours sleep I get I'm having the worst nightmares I've had since my first year in Oz. I haven't had a drink or a shit in four days, and the clearer my head gets the more I remember I started drinking because I can't stand my own company."
Right. "Do you need me to get you anything?" Sean had seen enough guys detox to know it sucked, but he wasn't going to stick around to play nursemaid.
"I could use a speedball or a blow job."
Sean gagged a little at the idea of putting his mouth on Toby the way he smelled right now. "Afraid I'm all out of both."
"Then I guess you can fuck off."
Sean gave him a nod, nice and normal like he'd never seen the guy naked, in lust or in prison. "Good luck to you, Beecher. And take my advice: get out of there for a while. Take a walk around the block or something. Get some air." Maybe if Toby tasted the outdoors and then walked back into this, he'd be inspired to do some laundry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the morning Sean picked up a paper and sat in the car to circle jobs. it didn't take long to figure out why Toby was so disheartened. Once Sean ruled out everything he figured wouldn't even look at an ex-con, the options were depressing even by Sean's standards, and he'd never had a six-figure salary to compare. He stared out the window at the morning commuters and considered. Sure Toby had done time, but maybe someone out there could see a drunk driver wasn't a security risk. Someone with a Harvard-or-whatever education and a desperate need for something stable ought to be a boon to plenty of office jobs. Sean went back and circled a few more, and then he dropped the paper off on Toby's doorstep on the way to work.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A few days later Toby was on the visitors list again, and as usual, Sean stayed far away, working the control station. He'd done his part, didn't know if it was the right thing or not, but he was out of it now.
On the downside, staying at the station meant he was right there when Keller wandered back into Em City and looked straight up at him. Sean's asshole puckered up as Keller climbed the stairs and leaned on the rail, but there was nowhere to run. Sean kept one eye on his clipboard. If Toby fucked him over... "Whatever you want, Keller, I ain't interested."
"Toby's bitchin' at me for sending you after him."
"I know how he feels." Sean relaxed, just barely. If Keller had harped at Toby to find out what he had on Sean, Toby obviously hadn't given it up. Not yet.
"He was sober?"
"He was going through it, but he was hanging in there."
Keller nodded. "That's good." He moved to head downstairs, paused, and asked back over his shoulder, quietly, "Was he okay? When you saw him?"
Sean blinked. "Yeah. Yeah, Keller, he looked okay."
Sean didn't let himself watch Keller saunter away. He already got himself into this ridiculous mess; he didn't need to make it worse picturing Toby's fantasy of squeezing his whole hand up that ass. He kept his eyes on Alvarez dealing himself a hand of solitaire, and Pancamo holding court with the Italians. It was good he'd put a stop to this before he started trusting Toby, or Keller got some kind of notion he had a hack in his pocket. He'd been thinking with his dick, no better than all these animals. This was the kind of shit that got COs killed.
He was so busy watching everyone who wasn't Keller that he didn't hear someone drop into the seat beside him, jolting his heart into a goddamn arrhythmia.
"So what's going on between you and Keller?" asked Tim.
Sean froze, and then his voice sounded weirdly high when he asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Come on, I've seen the two of you getting chummy. It's not like you."
"We've had a couple of conversations, that's all."
"Fine, don't tell me." Tim shuffled papers, pouting.
He wasn't going to let Tim make him feel guilty on top of the rest of it. "What do you need?"
Tim pushed the papers closer. "Could you do me a favour? Run these up to the infirmary?"
"Not like you to skip an excuse to..." Sean almost sighed aloud. "You slept with Beth, didn't you?"
"She's called me three times today. It was a good date, but-"
"For Christ's sake, can't the women in this place get a full week in before you start pawing 'em?"
Wounded surprise splashed across Tim's face. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
It meant Tim didn't want to hear about how unprofessional it was for a senior administrator to plough his way through every female under fifty in the prison and Sean didn't have the patience to give a sympathetic ear to Tim's latest attempt to fill the void in his life. Tim wasn't ever gonna change, so Sean was just gonna shut his mouth and get back to work.
"Sean?"
"You screwed up. So instead of hiding in here, why don't you take her out to dinner and explain that it's nothing to do with her. You're just letting your dick lead you around until you fall into some kind of adult relationship."
"Jesus, Sean! What the hell's got into you?"
Eyes all over the floor were turning their way now. The dinks couldn't hear but they could see Tim in a flurry and Sean putting him there and staff personal shit beat even Miss Sally's tits for prime-time entertainment. They were all watching, Keller included. Sean didn't need Keller's attention. "Just give me the damn paperwork, Tim." Goddamn drama queen. Sean took it for himself, and jogged down the stairs before Tim could argue.
-----
end 8
