for philosophy_20: parallel
Aug. 24th, 2008 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heroslayerSylar doesn't sleep much after they kill the kid in Hollywood. It's a side effect of his power. His body absorbs ambient light like a plant, metabolizes it into a near limitless supply of energy, and now that Sylar has his power, his body does the same. It's a little annoying, especially in the first week, when he lays down next to Suresh at the end of the day and just knows he won't be sleeping any time soon, but he learns to live with.
He learns to plan in the wee hours of the night, the geneticist's limbs tangled around his own. He learns to love watching him sleep. The latter, he's doing now.
Suresh makes a small noise, still unconscious, curls a little tighter around him, and he can't help but wonder what he's thinking. What he's dreaming. He wishes for not the first time, that it was safe to go back to New York, so he could kill the cop for his power. That way, he'd never have to wonder again. But despite the fact that the Indian is as power mad as he is now, he hesitates to suggest it, every time. He's not sure how Suresh feels about his family anymore, as they never discuss it, and he doesn't want to risk Mohinder turning all that glorious power on him - not when they've come as far as they have. So, he keeps his mouth shut. There's plenty of other game to hunt, and besides, he thinks that hearing Suresh ask him to go back to New York for Matt's ability would better than his asking. He can wait.
And so, instead of bemoaning his lack of telepathy further, he reaches out to trace the scar on Mohinder's shoulder, lightly. Shadows flood dark skin, light stripped away as he uses the kid's power on a whim, and for a moment, Suresh's shoulder is cloaked in darkness, snapping and snarling at the light to keep it away. He drops his hand away, and the ambient light of the room leaps back in so suddenly the other man's skin seems to glow for a minute.
He can't help but wonder, suddenly, if that isn't a metaphor for something bigger.
Suresh is just as insane as he is, now. He's not sure what caused it, entirely, but he's fairly sure it wasn't him. Sad but true, as Suresh had been perfectly fine if a little angry when the Company had recaptured him, after he'd gotten his abilities back. But then a week later, when the Indian had come to spring him from his cell as per their agreement - his freedom for Molly's life when he escaped, because oh, would he escape with or without Mohinder - something had changed. He looked like a man on the edge. Like Sylar himself had when Chandra had told him that maybe he just wasn't special, after all. He was haunted. Cagey. And when he'd shot that first Company agent, when they'd made their escape, the shadows had poured into his eyes just as suddenly as it shaded his skin at Sylar's command just a moment ago.
It's the perfect parallel, really. He knows what Mohinder's going through, because he went through it himself. Chandra's betrayal. That heart-stilling violence that powdered the remains of small, sweet Gabriel. It's so striking, so much like him, that he can't help but wonder if he shouldn't let Suresh find a name of his own. Christen himself with something fit for the strength of clarity his loss of sanity has brought.
But more importantly, sitting here in the near-dark of their cheap motel room, he can't help but wonder what will finish his metaphor. What's that one thing that will make the light come back and put them at odds again? For once, he doesn't know, and for the first time in a long time, he's afraid. Afraid of losing his equal. His parallel.
Muse: Gabriel Gray (Sylar)
Fandom: Heroes
Verse: Corruption
Word Count: 661
He learns to plan in the wee hours of the night, the geneticist's limbs tangled around his own. He learns to love watching him sleep. The latter, he's doing now.
Suresh makes a small noise, still unconscious, curls a little tighter around him, and he can't help but wonder what he's thinking. What he's dreaming. He wishes for not the first time, that it was safe to go back to New York, so he could kill the cop for his power. That way, he'd never have to wonder again. But despite the fact that the Indian is as power mad as he is now, he hesitates to suggest it, every time. He's not sure how Suresh feels about his family anymore, as they never discuss it, and he doesn't want to risk Mohinder turning all that glorious power on him - not when they've come as far as they have. So, he keeps his mouth shut. There's plenty of other game to hunt, and besides, he thinks that hearing Suresh ask him to go back to New York for Matt's ability would better than his asking. He can wait.
And so, instead of bemoaning his lack of telepathy further, he reaches out to trace the scar on Mohinder's shoulder, lightly. Shadows flood dark skin, light stripped away as he uses the kid's power on a whim, and for a moment, Suresh's shoulder is cloaked in darkness, snapping and snarling at the light to keep it away. He drops his hand away, and the ambient light of the room leaps back in so suddenly the other man's skin seems to glow for a minute.
He can't help but wonder, suddenly, if that isn't a metaphor for something bigger.
Suresh is just as insane as he is, now. He's not sure what caused it, entirely, but he's fairly sure it wasn't him. Sad but true, as Suresh had been perfectly fine if a little angry when the Company had recaptured him, after he'd gotten his abilities back. But then a week later, when the Indian had come to spring him from his cell as per their agreement - his freedom for Molly's life when he escaped, because oh, would he escape with or without Mohinder - something had changed. He looked like a man on the edge. Like Sylar himself had when Chandra had told him that maybe he just wasn't special, after all. He was haunted. Cagey. And when he'd shot that first Company agent, when they'd made their escape, the shadows had poured into his eyes just as suddenly as it shaded his skin at Sylar's command just a moment ago.
It's the perfect parallel, really. He knows what Mohinder's going through, because he went through it himself. Chandra's betrayal. That heart-stilling violence that powdered the remains of small, sweet Gabriel. It's so striking, so much like him, that he can't help but wonder if he shouldn't let Suresh find a name of his own. Christen himself with something fit for the strength of clarity his loss of sanity has brought.
But more importantly, sitting here in the near-dark of their cheap motel room, he can't help but wonder what will finish his metaphor. What's that one thing that will make the light come back and put them at odds again? For once, he doesn't know, and for the first time in a long time, he's afraid. Afraid of losing his equal. His parallel.
Muse: Gabriel Gray (Sylar)
Fandom: Heroes
Verse: Corruption
Word Count: 661
