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fandomweekly2024-02-04 04:12 pm
a_little_apocalypse) wrote in fandomweekly2024-02-04 04:12 pm
Entry tags:
[#208] head above water (Alan Wake 2/Control)
Theme Prompt: #208, parallels
Title: head above water
Fandom: Alan Wake 2/Control
Rating/Warnings: PG13, language
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 992
Summary: Zane finds out about the shark incident.
Darling adjusted his glasses as he finished recounting the memory, not quite looking at Zane as he spoke.
"... As I said, it's not--... something I'm proud of. It wasn't something anybody could have predicted, you understand, but it was... regrettable."
He chanced eye contact at that point, momentarily taken aback by neither the kind of solemn agreement he might have expected, or some manner of rebuke - but a wide smile, openly fascinated. Zane laughed, a response that Darling couldn't quite understand. Choosing to interpret that reaction as, perhaps, shock, he gave a half-shrug.
"Anyway. It was a long time ago, I'm sure there aren't--... too many people left who would... remember." Falling silent for a moment, several enormities felt as if they weighed heavy on him all at once; he clapped his hands together, brightening too quickly. "How did we get to talking about that in the first place? I'm sure you've got far more interesting stories to tell--...?!" (Darling found himself surprised, then, by Zane's hands over his, lifting them up with excitement.)
"Darling, Darling... I'm so envious...!"
"I... of what?"
"Don't you see?!" Zane let go of one hand, gesturing broadly into the air. "Everything you just told me..." He then held both hands out towards Darling, as if in admiration. "That's art--!"
Zane's heightened level of praise felt incompatible against what Darling seemed to be being praised for. "I... don't think the people who were in the meeting room at the time would agree." He narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I'd agree, either. It was an accident, that's all."
"No, no, don't do yourself down like this! I wish I could have been there..." Zane closed his eyes, briefly. "I can imagine it now... the shock! The surprise! The sudden wild jeopardy - would they even have had time to react? How could you react!? Nobody expects a shark to just be there all of a sudden, do they!?"
"I'd prefer not to think too hard about it, if I'm entirely honest with you."
"The juxtaposition of expectations against reality... and nobody's having fun in a fucking meeting room, are they? I'm sure they'd be dying for something interesting to happen, anything of interest at all... and then, it did. And then, they did." Zane took one of Darling's hands once more, bringing it up to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it. "True art is dangerous, Darling. Some people simply have to learn that the hard way."
This is what I wanted though, isn't it? For as much as Zane's reaction baffled him, for as much as it unsettled Darling that anybody could react with anything other than, at best, some level of sympathy - what else could a mind that delights in such things be capable of?
"... Well, I can assure you that my intentions were purely scientific. I'd still think of that research, sometimes... but, sometimes, you inevitably become the example that sets the rule. I don't think anybody would have been approved to bring in much beyond a goldfish after that."
"But they'd all talk about it, wouldn't they? That time when that happened. The unforgettable spectacle..."
"The unforgettable clean-up job."
Smiling, sighing, Zane leant his head against Darling's shoulder, seemingly making himself comfortable. "Do you know what I think?"
"I think you're about to tell me."
"I think... we're not so different, you and I. Art, science... it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?" He nudged against Darling with his elbow, slightly too hard. "And that's what we need to work on, isn't it? So that you can see yourself differently. So you can see yourself as I see you."
Darling opened his mouth for a moment, about to make a comment along the lines of I don't think those in charge of granting my qualifications would have agreed, but thought better of it. "... Maybe."
"'Maybe,' he says. Sure. We'll find it in you, don't you worry about that. Don't you worry about a thing." A contemplative silence fell between them before Zane next spoke. "... I'd love to see that old house of yours. It sounds truly magical."
"I--... well..." The immediate reflex in Darling's mind was the need to want to counter that with I cannot stress to you enough just how diametrically opposed to 'magic' it really is, then replaced with the dread certainty of knowing that, for all of Zane's dreamy contemplations, the thought of him 'visiting' the Oldest House... the thought alone of the Federal Bureau of Control even being aware of this man who still sat with his head against Darling's shoulder - that is, if they weren't already...
You're always saying that art can't be contained, but believe me, they'd contain you. Maybe I'd be responsible for you. Held responsible for you. Perhaps I'd extend what kindness I could within our boundaries, but...
(The research. The experiments. The best-case scenario, where Zane complied. Every worst-case scenario in which he didn't. And none of that would matter to the Bureau, because what importance was personal attachment against the boundless potential breadth of knowledge that lay within their grasp? None at all, and Darling knew that. More than anybody else, he knew that.)
"You don't want me to visit your house?" Zane spoke gently, a playful note in his voice. "I'd be on my best behaviour. The perfect guest. I'll bring gifts! Whatever you want."
"Let's just--... think about getting out of here first, okay? Then we can... think about that later."
"Of course, of course. It's messy, you've got tidying-up to do, whatever. I don't mind." He shifted around, finding a more comfortable position against Darling's body. "I don't mind."
Haltingly, Darling brought one hand up to rest against Zane's shoulder - and then the other around him, holding him in a loose embrace. This caused a sound of satisfaction, and nothing else; that, in turn, satisfied Darling - a successful distraction.
Title: head above water
Fandom: Alan Wake 2/Control
Rating/Warnings: PG13, language
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 992
Summary: Zane finds out about the shark incident.
Darling adjusted his glasses as he finished recounting the memory, not quite looking at Zane as he spoke.
"... As I said, it's not--... something I'm proud of. It wasn't something anybody could have predicted, you understand, but it was... regrettable."
He chanced eye contact at that point, momentarily taken aback by neither the kind of solemn agreement he might have expected, or some manner of rebuke - but a wide smile, openly fascinated. Zane laughed, a response that Darling couldn't quite understand. Choosing to interpret that reaction as, perhaps, shock, he gave a half-shrug.
"Anyway. It was a long time ago, I'm sure there aren't--... too many people left who would... remember." Falling silent for a moment, several enormities felt as if they weighed heavy on him all at once; he clapped his hands together, brightening too quickly. "How did we get to talking about that in the first place? I'm sure you've got far more interesting stories to tell--...?!" (Darling found himself surprised, then, by Zane's hands over his, lifting them up with excitement.)
"Darling, Darling... I'm so envious...!"
"I... of what?"
"Don't you see?!" Zane let go of one hand, gesturing broadly into the air. "Everything you just told me..." He then held both hands out towards Darling, as if in admiration. "That's art--!"
Zane's heightened level of praise felt incompatible against what Darling seemed to be being praised for. "I... don't think the people who were in the meeting room at the time would agree." He narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I'd agree, either. It was an accident, that's all."
"No, no, don't do yourself down like this! I wish I could have been there..." Zane closed his eyes, briefly. "I can imagine it now... the shock! The surprise! The sudden wild jeopardy - would they even have had time to react? How could you react!? Nobody expects a shark to just be there all of a sudden, do they!?"
"I'd prefer not to think too hard about it, if I'm entirely honest with you."
"The juxtaposition of expectations against reality... and nobody's having fun in a fucking meeting room, are they? I'm sure they'd be dying for something interesting to happen, anything of interest at all... and then, it did. And then, they did." Zane took one of Darling's hands once more, bringing it up to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it. "True art is dangerous, Darling. Some people simply have to learn that the hard way."
This is what I wanted though, isn't it? For as much as Zane's reaction baffled him, for as much as it unsettled Darling that anybody could react with anything other than, at best, some level of sympathy - what else could a mind that delights in such things be capable of?
"... Well, I can assure you that my intentions were purely scientific. I'd still think of that research, sometimes... but, sometimes, you inevitably become the example that sets the rule. I don't think anybody would have been approved to bring in much beyond a goldfish after that."
"But they'd all talk about it, wouldn't they? That time when that happened. The unforgettable spectacle..."
"The unforgettable clean-up job."
Smiling, sighing, Zane leant his head against Darling's shoulder, seemingly making himself comfortable. "Do you know what I think?"
"I think you're about to tell me."
"I think... we're not so different, you and I. Art, science... it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?" He nudged against Darling with his elbow, slightly too hard. "And that's what we need to work on, isn't it? So that you can see yourself differently. So you can see yourself as I see you."
Darling opened his mouth for a moment, about to make a comment along the lines of I don't think those in charge of granting my qualifications would have agreed, but thought better of it. "... Maybe."
"'Maybe,' he says. Sure. We'll find it in you, don't you worry about that. Don't you worry about a thing." A contemplative silence fell between them before Zane next spoke. "... I'd love to see that old house of yours. It sounds truly magical."
"I--... well..." The immediate reflex in Darling's mind was the need to want to counter that with I cannot stress to you enough just how diametrically opposed to 'magic' it really is, then replaced with the dread certainty of knowing that, for all of Zane's dreamy contemplations, the thought of him 'visiting' the Oldest House... the thought alone of the Federal Bureau of Control even being aware of this man who still sat with his head against Darling's shoulder - that is, if they weren't already...
You're always saying that art can't be contained, but believe me, they'd contain you. Maybe I'd be responsible for you. Held responsible for you. Perhaps I'd extend what kindness I could within our boundaries, but...
(The research. The experiments. The best-case scenario, where Zane complied. Every worst-case scenario in which he didn't. And none of that would matter to the Bureau, because what importance was personal attachment against the boundless potential breadth of knowledge that lay within their grasp? None at all, and Darling knew that. More than anybody else, he knew that.)
"You don't want me to visit your house?" Zane spoke gently, a playful note in his voice. "I'd be on my best behaviour. The perfect guest. I'll bring gifts! Whatever you want."
"Let's just--... think about getting out of here first, okay? Then we can... think about that later."
"Of course, of course. It's messy, you've got tidying-up to do, whatever. I don't mind." He shifted around, finding a more comfortable position against Darling's body. "I don't mind."
Haltingly, Darling brought one hand up to rest against Zane's shoulder - and then the other around him, holding him in a loose embrace. This caused a sound of satisfaction, and nothing else; that, in turn, satisfied Darling - a successful distraction.
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