For theatrical_muse
98 - What do you think when you look in the mirror?
The room is small, dingy and the light is flickering. The mirror is cracked, grimy in the corners and there’s a number scribbled in the corner with the words ‘call if you want to have a good time’ written above it.
Derek is nursing a split lip and a bruised eye from a small altercation with the locals, something Sayles said and somebody took it wrong. He wouldn’t have been much of a comrade-in-arms if he hadn’t backed his man up, right or wrong.
He spits blood out and watches it circle the drain, wondering if this is how it’s going to be or if it’s going to look up. He supposes that they’re allowed one night of debauchery before they crack down and get on with their mission.
Is it wrong that he doesn’t know how to act?
This is a different time, there is no war and his younger self’s only worry is if he’ll hit a homerun, nobody knows anything and Derek wonders if it’s normal to look at yourself in the mirror and not even know who you are.
He used to be sure.
His reflection is split, fractured, spread out across filthy glass. He knows it’s nothing more than an illusion, brought about by the disrepair of the facilities themselves, but he can’t help but think that maybe the mirror is saying something he should listen to.
There’s a truth in the cut slithers and the disjointed images, says something about the man clasping the sink in his hands like it might possibly be the one thing that will hold him to a world that’s rapidly spiraling out of his control.
When Derek Reese used to look into the mirror he never doubted and he never questioned who he was, not once. It’s different now. He looks at himself and he doesn’t know who he is and how he’s supposed to fit into this world, but he’ll find a way. He always does.
He pulls together the broken pieces of who he thinks he is and pushes all doubt and insecurity to one side, determined to appear strong and unyielding. He’s a soldier, he needs to be stronger than this. One last look in the mirror and Derek is himself again, cool and unflappable. He might be ruined but he’ll be damned if he lets it show as transparently as it does when he looks at himself in the mirror.
There’s no other choice, there’s work to be done.
Muse: Derek Reese
Fandom: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Word Count: 414
The room is small, dingy and the light is flickering. The mirror is cracked, grimy in the corners and there’s a number scribbled in the corner with the words ‘call if you want to have a good time’ written above it.
Derek is nursing a split lip and a bruised eye from a small altercation with the locals, something Sayles said and somebody took it wrong. He wouldn’t have been much of a comrade-in-arms if he hadn’t backed his man up, right or wrong.
He spits blood out and watches it circle the drain, wondering if this is how it’s going to be or if it’s going to look up. He supposes that they’re allowed one night of debauchery before they crack down and get on with their mission.
Is it wrong that he doesn’t know how to act?
This is a different time, there is no war and his younger self’s only worry is if he’ll hit a homerun, nobody knows anything and Derek wonders if it’s normal to look at yourself in the mirror and not even know who you are.
He used to be sure.
His reflection is split, fractured, spread out across filthy glass. He knows it’s nothing more than an illusion, brought about by the disrepair of the facilities themselves, but he can’t help but think that maybe the mirror is saying something he should listen to.
There’s a truth in the cut slithers and the disjointed images, says something about the man clasping the sink in his hands like it might possibly be the one thing that will hold him to a world that’s rapidly spiraling out of his control.
When Derek Reese used to look into the mirror he never doubted and he never questioned who he was, not once. It’s different now. He looks at himself and he doesn’t know who he is and how he’s supposed to fit into this world, but he’ll find a way. He always does.
He pulls together the broken pieces of who he thinks he is and pushes all doubt and insecurity to one side, determined to appear strong and unyielding. He’s a soldier, he needs to be stronger than this. One last look in the mirror and Derek is himself again, cool and unflappable. He might be ruined but he’ll be damned if he lets it show as transparently as it does when he looks at himself in the mirror.
There’s no other choice, there’s work to be done.
Muse: Derek Reese
Fandom: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Word Count: 414