[avm] 4.2.c - rock star quote
“I love you, man, but you’re mental. You really are.”
“And you’re just saying that because you think you’re supposed to.”
His mouth opened reflexively to protest further, but once again he was distracted, his gaze caught by the stain of fire engine red on the crisp white paper towel still wadded and pressed to his bleeding palm. If he clenched his fingers into a fist, he could still feel the bullet digging into his hand, red hot and slick with his blood…
“It’s crazy.”
“It’s real. You saw it. You’re bleeding because of it, TK.”
“I’m telling you, it’s crazy.” He insisted, hoping that if he repeated it enough he might believe it. He was praying, begging the universe to turn right side up again and bend to his will, make this whole thing not real…and even thinking it made him a little sick.
It made him sick because he knew. Something inside, some small part of him was nodding in understanding, saying yes, of course, that explains so much. It was relaxing, relieved that it no longer had to pretend to be ignorant…that he no longer had to pretend.
“If what you told us is true, Tommy, then you know this is real. You’re making yourself sick trying to convince yourself it’s not. You can’t kill hope…you’re only killing yourself.”
“Magic powers, Greek gods…it’s nuts. You’re talking about me like I’m a superhero or something. That’s not me. That’s never been me.”
“It’s not any of us, bro. We are what we are. Part of that just happens to be something that ain’t human.”
No, not human. Human skin and bones and tissue, but that was where it ended. Time and trauma would take it all away from him, but the strange and alien thing inside would live on. He could feel it, if he tried, the thing that made him comfortable around Jay and Michael and Ben. It was an energy, and not the kind people claimed to feel with each other when they got along. It was a warmth, a restlessness that settled when he was near them. It was a strength, a kinship…it was a brotherhood that friendship had nothing to do with.
He was just a vessel for power, virtue, and that quiet, shining thing that drew him to the other vessels around him.
Once again, he stared at his hand as he pulled the paper towel away. The heat of the bullet had burned, cauterized the wound made when his skin split in a line half an inch long from the force of impact. Opening his hand to show Jay had parted the skin again, making it bleed anew.
This is news. I haven’t known this my whole life, that would be insane.
Magic isn’t real.
His stomach turned, rolling, flip after nauseating flip until he stopped thinking the words. Only then did his stomach calm itself again.
Only then did he rake a hand back through his hair and lean back on the couch, head flung back to stare at the ceiling.
“I’ve…always know. That I was different, that I was...small. I always knew, I always…”
He trailed off. He could feel them waiting to hear him say it, to step across that line and into a world where nothing would ever make sense again. He was scared, but at the same time he was strangely calm.
In some still, shuttered compartment of his heart, he was ready.
Shutting his eyes, he stepped off the edge and tumbled into Wonderland.
“I’ve always believed.”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 595
“And you’re just saying that because you think you’re supposed to.”
His mouth opened reflexively to protest further, but once again he was distracted, his gaze caught by the stain of fire engine red on the crisp white paper towel still wadded and pressed to his bleeding palm. If he clenched his fingers into a fist, he could still feel the bullet digging into his hand, red hot and slick with his blood…
“It’s crazy.”
“It’s real. You saw it. You’re bleeding because of it, TK.”
“I’m telling you, it’s crazy.” He insisted, hoping that if he repeated it enough he might believe it. He was praying, begging the universe to turn right side up again and bend to his will, make this whole thing not real…and even thinking it made him a little sick.
It made him sick because he knew. Something inside, some small part of him was nodding in understanding, saying yes, of course, that explains so much. It was relaxing, relieved that it no longer had to pretend to be ignorant…that he no longer had to pretend.
“If what you told us is true, Tommy, then you know this is real. You’re making yourself sick trying to convince yourself it’s not. You can’t kill hope…you’re only killing yourself.”
“Magic powers, Greek gods…it’s nuts. You’re talking about me like I’m a superhero or something. That’s not me. That’s never been me.”
“It’s not any of us, bro. We are what we are. Part of that just happens to be something that ain’t human.”
No, not human. Human skin and bones and tissue, but that was where it ended. Time and trauma would take it all away from him, but the strange and alien thing inside would live on. He could feel it, if he tried, the thing that made him comfortable around Jay and Michael and Ben. It was an energy, and not the kind people claimed to feel with each other when they got along. It was a warmth, a restlessness that settled when he was near them. It was a strength, a kinship…it was a brotherhood that friendship had nothing to do with.
He was just a vessel for power, virtue, and that quiet, shining thing that drew him to the other vessels around him.
Once again, he stared at his hand as he pulled the paper towel away. The heat of the bullet had burned, cauterized the wound made when his skin split in a line half an inch long from the force of impact. Opening his hand to show Jay had parted the skin again, making it bleed anew.
This is news. I haven’t known this my whole life, that would be insane.
Magic isn’t real.
His stomach turned, rolling, flip after nauseating flip until he stopped thinking the words. Only then did his stomach calm itself again.
Only then did he rake a hand back through his hair and lean back on the couch, head flung back to stare at the ceiling.
“I’ve…always know. That I was different, that I was...small. I always knew, I always…”
He trailed off. He could feel them waiting to hear him say it, to step across that line and into a world where nothing would ever make sense again. He was scared, but at the same time he was strangely calm.
In some still, shuttered compartment of his heart, he was ready.
Shutting his eyes, he stepped off the edge and tumbled into Wonderland.
“I’ve always believed.”
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 595