Bricks in the Wall, Chapter 45: Money Matters

[game_byrd]

Title: Money Matters
Characters: Sylar, Peter Petrelli
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word count: 2,800
Setting: The Wall
Summary: Sylar stumbles onto an unexpected area of knowledge for Peter.
Notes: I woke up thinking about how Sylar and Peter were like salt (salt of the earth, very practical) and pepper (spicy and preservative), their initials being S

Comments

[means2bhuman]

Salt and pepper! That's so cute! (I assume Sylar would be salt and Peter pepper? I don't know how pepper/Peter is preservative as I thought salt was a preservative, at least for storing meats in old days).

I love that "Uh..." it's funny for some reason, because it encompasses a lot of reactions.

Nathan not knowing about money: I think that's spot on, but I'd never really thought about it. I guess it's assumed that someone with money knows how they got it and knows what to do with it. But Nathan really got the silver spoon. And Sylar making that differentiation, "I'm not Nathan. Money matters. What's a stock?"

I like and appreciate Sylar's ignorance and simple questions. I like that he's not digging for dirt, just looking for basic, normal questions about life. There's no hidden subtext or goal because money doesn't matter in the Wall world and it probably doesn't matter much to Sylar who can steal and make gold in the real world. It's a very peer-to-peer conversation/Q&A.

This was also totally educational. I feel dumb that I've never heard of the S&P before. I dunno, the stocks have always confused me because it's an occupation that isn't an occupation. Like, technically, there's no need for the stocks/stock exchange to exist (as far as I know) - but yet it exists and money changes hands with speed for (as I see it) little reason. It's an unfounded industry. It's like buying happiness - it's not income, it shouldn't really be for 'sale' (except to give money to a company) and it doesn't physically exist because it's just a concept. I equate it to buying someone's imaginary purple dragon-friend with Monopoly money. It sounds crazy. I appreciate that Peter brought up/saw the shadiness of it in how sort of undocumented it is. It really puts in perspective the idea of a 'get rich quick' scheme, wow.

"Money's like a power, Sylar, an ability. And it was one I had. I wanted to know how to use it to make a difference.” -- That's so true, of Peter and the world. Peter's honest about it. I like Arthur's sort of 'loophole' in raising his boys, that they weren't educated about money. I wonder if that was a control thing? (In your fanon, and a bit in canon, Arthur has blackmailed/coerced/controlled Peter at least using money and I got the feeling Nathan had to chose money over things/people he wanted because of Arthur, too).

Sylar's last thoughts about how the information applies to him is sweet, the implication that Peter would be accepting of watchmaking over power-stealing/power-abuse and even better, not siding with Virgina's 'be a banker' idea. It's very hopeful.

Thanks for sharing this! I realize it's probably an "odd" topic but it struck your muse and if nothing else its very educational! I liked it a lot. It really sucked me in for how normal and paced it was.

[game_byrd]

An example of 'show, don't tell': Peter glared at him, nose wrinkling slightly as his fingers curled into fists. Notice how I never said he was angry. I did say that Sylar was confused in the next sentence and I'm sure there was a better way to have said it but that was what I went with.

My parents have been virtually destitute their whole wage-earning lives and the more savvy they got about money matters, the less money they made personally. However, they are the sole owners of a handful of companies which own a great many things, including vehicles, land, and houses. These companies also pay their salaries, which is very low because if it were high, then they'd have to pay income tax on it. This is all perfectly legitimate under the law and it's the way most private businesses operate.

But something about it irks my sense of morality and fairness.

Back to Heroes - In canon, S1, "Six Months Ago", Peter tells his mother that he got his nursing degree without his father's help or money. To me, that indicates that his father at the very least refused to pay for Peter's education. My fanon is an elaboration on that, saying that Arthur tried to use money to coerce Peter into the educational/career path he wanted. Peter chose to go his own way and yeah, Nathan chose to go his father's. But for Nathan (again, my fanon), Nathan did what his father directed not out of any carefully considered choice of options, but because that's what he felt he had to do.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! It was one of those conversations I thought the guys would have at some point, just hanging out and talking, getting to know each other in a non-threatening, non-world-shaking way.