I'm just a notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song
01. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
02. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
03. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!
04. Do ten of these, then post them
I started around midnight, so mind that I'm tired and they might be special, but I had fun. Some of these are impressively long for five minutes, because I didn't have to come up with an idea ^_^;;
Could maybe imply Matt/Mohinder, but probably only if you wanted it to. The only other overt pairings are canon (not that Matt/Mohinder isn't totally canon anyway). Also, spoilers for S2. G-PG13.
And for once, I followed step one.
------------------
01. Sympathy for the Devil - the Rolling Stones
pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game
There's something different about Nathan. You haven't known him personally for very long, but you're certain there's been a change from the man who ushered you into his office, tired and broken and terrified that he'd lost his brother in the explosion. A change from the man who turned to you with determined eyes and said, "Never again," in a voice that left no room for doubt.
Nathan is no longer the man you decided to follow no matter what the cost.
You ask Matthew about it, but his answer is cold and distant. Things haven't been the same since Molly went underground - a mutual decision to allow her a normal life, or at least as close to one as the two of you could find for her. Those brief days in that small apartment are treasured memories, and any interaction with Matthew now is a painful reminder of all that could have been.
So you try to observe the president on your own. Try to pinpoint the differences from the Nathan you knew to the Nathan you now know. You watch him pull away from his family and throw himself into his work. You watch him sentence others of his kind to cruelty you'd never imagined him capable of. More than once, you have to remind him of his own abilities. Remind him that when you say "them," he's included under the umbrella term. He never reacts favourably.
It's after one such row that he takes your arm as you rise to leave, fingers digging into your skin in a manner that's almost painful. "Thank you for reminding me who I am," he says in a low voice that sends tremors down your spine with its familiarity. He gives you a quirky smile that doesn't quite seem to fit his face before releasing you, and you flee from the room, more convinced than ever.
--------------------
02. Thrash Unreal - Against Me!
sometimes your body takes you places that you didn't really plan on going
She doesn't do it for the money. Peter's met Bob, and even if he hadn't, he'd swallow his pride and ask Nathan for help if they really needed it. She doesn't know what caused him to break away from his brother. She doesn't ask and he doesn't tell.
He's always there when she dances. She can never see him, but he's always there. An empty chair near the front, a conspicuous empty space to the side, a seemingly abandoned drink on the bar. She enjoys the control. She enjoys knowing he can't take his eyes off her.
It's how she survived stripping on the Internet when things had started to get bad, but hadn't yet hit rock bottom. She'd close her eyes and imagine it was D.L. using the pseudonym. Imagine it was D.L. who couldn't tear his eyes off the screen and begged for more when the time was up. Even if it was someone else watching, it was D.L. she was moving for. D.L. she took her clothes off for.
Now, when she dances, she dances for Peter. And he seems to appreciate it every inch as much as she'd imagined D.L. would have.
-------------------
03. The Bitter End - Placebo
every step we take that's synchronized, every broken bone
You leave Ando until last. Picking a ribbon and carefully weaving him in amongst the rest of the timeline. A brief meeting with Peter, an encounter with Niki. His line runs close to yours for most of its journey, then you tie it around the black string you chose for Sylar far too soon.
And then you stop and you stare. The scissors are in your hands. Ando's been dead for years. It shouldn't be this hard to cut the ribbon, but it feels like giving a piece of him up.
Ando's line was the easiest. Would have been far easier in the beginning than, say, Nathan Petrelli, who you only met once or twice and had to research. But you still left him until last. Ando who wasn't special, but remarkable.
You let the ribbon dangle and put the scissors on the table in defeat.
----------------
04. Faces - Orgy
you're slipping in and out of time, who are you to decide which one of us winds up broken for a lifetime?
Of course you'd considered it. You'd thought about going back in time. You'd thought about meeting yourself before you'd saved Claire. Meeting yourself before you'd become invincible and stopping the bomb the best way you could think of: at the source.
But considering it and doing it were two vastly different things. You've read about the butterfly effect and how changing the smallest thing can have the largest, most unexpected impact on the world. And how could you go back in time and stop yourself if you had died in the past? Time was tricky, and you didn't want to mess with it. You couldn't live with yourself if you made it worse. You can barely live with yourself as it is.
But of all people it's Hiro - grief-stricken, guiltless Hiro - who couldn't stop himself. Couldn't keep himself from trying to get back what's been lost. All these years and he's still trying to be a hero.
And for a moment you're angry with him. For being so reckless. For possibly making things worse. For possibly making things better.
You're angry because at some point you stopped being the hero, though you're not the villian quite yet. There's still time for a change of heart.
---------------
05. Funplex - the B-52s
I'm your daytime waitress at the Taco Tiki Hut. I'm your daytime waitress, here's your stupid 7-Up
She's not looking for romance. She's staying low. Under the radar. She's in hiding. She's not checking out the chef. And he's not checking her out in return. It just isn't happening.
She tries not to look at him. She tries to concentrate on her customers. "Coffee?" She smiles and goes through the motions of her new job. "Can I get you anything else?" She pretends she can't feel his eyes on her like a physical touch. "Thank you, have a great day, y'all." She pretends he's not coming up behind her. Pretends he's not asking her to the movies. Pretends she's not saying yes.
She's thrilled. She's terrified. She's feeling daring in way she hasn't felt since the days when Zach would tape her tryng to kill herself.
Her father's going to pitch a fit.
---------------
06. Unconditional - the Bravery
I just want, I just want love. I just want something for nothing.
She didn't think she'd find someone else after she lost her family. After D.L. disappeared and Micah died. She likes Peter, though. He's a good person, under the layers of anger and hate and guilt that she doesn't know the reasons for, but understands all too well. She's a good person too, under the bitterness and loss and violence.
And she is violent sometimes. She doesn't mean to be, but sometimes everything that's happened to her just builds up until she can do nothing but lash out. And it was okay when they had her. When she was locked up in that cage that could take everything she'd throw at it and no one was coming to let her out.
Until Peter came and literally broke down the door.
Peter can take it, though. She remembers the first terrifying time when she'd shoved him in the chest in anger and he'd flown through the wall ("All these years and you'd think you'd learn some control, Niki," she could almost hear Jessica say) but he pulled himself to his feet, scowl on his face and growl in his voice. In time, she realized that she could hit Peter with everything she had and still he'd get up and come back to her for more.
Maybe that's why she can love him, even after all she's lost: he always comes back.
----------------------
07. Never There - Cake
first you say that you're too busy, I wonder if you even miss me
It starts slowly. "Not now, Pete. I'm busy." And he is busy. Your brother's going to be the next president. Everyone knows it, everyone talks about it. Nathan Petrelli is going to be top dog.
You don't want to get left in the dust, but there's only so much you can do. Only so close you can get when the world is terrified of Sylar (meaning you) and people like Sylar (also you) and you don't even trust yourself to be in control around the Haitian. You don't exactly have a track record of control. Point zero seven percent of the world population can attest to that. Could attest to that.
So you stay out of the way. You keep your distance. You leave messages when he doesn't answer his phone (he never answers his phone). You watch his victories on TV, with Heidi standing by his side and Mohinder pulled into a one-armed hug that would have been yours. Should have been yours. Is rightfully yours.
By the time it all calms down and you get close to him again, it's too late. Your brother has turned into a stranger. And you leave his office feeling sick to your stomach because you've lost him, the one person you'd thought you couldn't lose.
Mohinder tries to say something to you as you leave. Tries to tell you that Nathan's changed, but you don't want to hear it. You don't need his pity.
-------------------
08. St. Anger (radio single) - Metallica
I'm madly in anger with you
It's the psychological contract that comes with your job.
You attack the people like you. You rip through their minds and find the locations of their loved ones. Of other "special people." You arrest the confused. You kill the innocent. It's not quite how you'd imagined your future as a police officer.
You sell yourself to the government (a government run by a person like you, funnily enough) and the government doesn't touch your families. It doesn't touch Janice or her son (not your son, you know, but still her son). It doesn't touch Molly. Bennet sees to that, and you turn a blind eye to Bennet.
You keep the dangerous ones contained, and Mohinder doesn't have to go too far. Doesn't have to cross those invisible ethical lines that he tries so hard to stay on the right side of. You keep the dangerous ones contained and Nathan won't push Mohinder to take more drastic measures. Because Nathan will if he thinks he has to, you have no doubt about that.
You get dirty so they can stay safe and he can stay clean. It seems like a fair trade to you.
Until Bennet gives Molly's location to one Hiro and Nathan orders Mohinder to "put down" the other. Then the contract's broken and anything's fair game.
---------------------
09. Complicated - Avril Lavigne
you're watching your back like you can't relax
There's something strange about Sandra. Well, there's always been something a little strange about her, but you like that. She's quirky and it makes things interesting. But something's different today. Off. Ever since the creepy guy with the glasses came in.
"Let's elope!"
You look at her like she's mad as she rushes into a description of how wonderful it would be and you realize she's serious. You can see the desperation in her eyes. Feel her fingers gripping your shirt a little too tight. For a moment, you wonder if maybe you've asked a serial killer to marry you and the cops have finally caught up to her.
But that's crazy talk, 'cause this is Sandra and she's always been the sweetest thing. You wouldn't spend your life with just any girl. So you go out on a limb and you agree. It's crazy, but you agree.
Because even if she is a serial killer, you guess you're still in love.
--------------------
10. When You Were Young - the Killers
but you can dip your feet, every once and a little while
You haven't tried to find anyone in a long time. The last time you tried, Matt had Bennet find you a new family to live with. Because it was "too dangerous." You've gotten used to this new family. Attached. So you haven't found anyone in a long time because you haven't been looking.
But Bennet brings these men, so it must be okay with Matt and Mohinder. Anyone they trust, you trust. Because they're your heroes, even now.
The one of them is small and scary, but the tall one is nice, and asks you to try to find his friend. He seems sincere, and you think you would like him, given the chance. You close your eyes and look and you find him and you feel better than you have in a long time. You'd missed using your power. Missed helping people in your small way.
When they leave, you think it would be okay to use your power again, just for a minute. Since you were already allowed to use it today, another minute can't hurt. You look first for Mohinder, then for Matt. Matt will know you were looking, so you hope he isn't too mad. Bennet said it was all right, after all, and you just wanted to know if they were safe.
02. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
03. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!
04. Do ten of these, then post them
I started around midnight, so mind that I'm tired and they might be special, but I had fun. Some of these are impressively long for five minutes, because I didn't have to come up with an idea ^_^;;
Could maybe imply Matt/Mohinder, but probably only if you wanted it to. The only other overt pairings are canon (not that Matt/Mohinder isn't totally canon anyway). Also, spoilers for S2. G-PG13.
And for once, I followed step one.
------------------
01. Sympathy for the Devil - the Rolling Stones
pleased to meet you, hope you've guessed my name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game
There's something different about Nathan. You haven't known him personally for very long, but you're certain there's been a change from the man who ushered you into his office, tired and broken and terrified that he'd lost his brother in the explosion. A change from the man who turned to you with determined eyes and said, "Never again," in a voice that left no room for doubt.
Nathan is no longer the man you decided to follow no matter what the cost.
You ask Matthew about it, but his answer is cold and distant. Things haven't been the same since Molly went underground - a mutual decision to allow her a normal life, or at least as close to one as the two of you could find for her. Those brief days in that small apartment are treasured memories, and any interaction with Matthew now is a painful reminder of all that could have been.
So you try to observe the president on your own. Try to pinpoint the differences from the Nathan you knew to the Nathan you now know. You watch him pull away from his family and throw himself into his work. You watch him sentence others of his kind to cruelty you'd never imagined him capable of. More than once, you have to remind him of his own abilities. Remind him that when you say "them," he's included under the umbrella term. He never reacts favourably.
It's after one such row that he takes your arm as you rise to leave, fingers digging into your skin in a manner that's almost painful. "Thank you for reminding me who I am," he says in a low voice that sends tremors down your spine with its familiarity. He gives you a quirky smile that doesn't quite seem to fit his face before releasing you, and you flee from the room, more convinced than ever.
--------------------
02. Thrash Unreal - Against Me!
sometimes your body takes you places that you didn't really plan on going
She doesn't do it for the money. Peter's met Bob, and even if he hadn't, he'd swallow his pride and ask Nathan for help if they really needed it. She doesn't know what caused him to break away from his brother. She doesn't ask and he doesn't tell.
He's always there when she dances. She can never see him, but he's always there. An empty chair near the front, a conspicuous empty space to the side, a seemingly abandoned drink on the bar. She enjoys the control. She enjoys knowing he can't take his eyes off her.
It's how she survived stripping on the Internet when things had started to get bad, but hadn't yet hit rock bottom. She'd close her eyes and imagine it was D.L. using the pseudonym. Imagine it was D.L. who couldn't tear his eyes off the screen and begged for more when the time was up. Even if it was someone else watching, it was D.L. she was moving for. D.L. she took her clothes off for.
Now, when she dances, she dances for Peter. And he seems to appreciate it every inch as much as she'd imagined D.L. would have.
-------------------
03. The Bitter End - Placebo
every step we take that's synchronized, every broken bone
You leave Ando until last. Picking a ribbon and carefully weaving him in amongst the rest of the timeline. A brief meeting with Peter, an encounter with Niki. His line runs close to yours for most of its journey, then you tie it around the black string you chose for Sylar far too soon.
And then you stop and you stare. The scissors are in your hands. Ando's been dead for years. It shouldn't be this hard to cut the ribbon, but it feels like giving a piece of him up.
Ando's line was the easiest. Would have been far easier in the beginning than, say, Nathan Petrelli, who you only met once or twice and had to research. But you still left him until last. Ando who wasn't special, but remarkable.
You let the ribbon dangle and put the scissors on the table in defeat.
----------------
04. Faces - Orgy
you're slipping in and out of time, who are you to decide which one of us winds up broken for a lifetime?
Of course you'd considered it. You'd thought about going back in time. You'd thought about meeting yourself before you'd saved Claire. Meeting yourself before you'd become invincible and stopping the bomb the best way you could think of: at the source.
But considering it and doing it were two vastly different things. You've read about the butterfly effect and how changing the smallest thing can have the largest, most unexpected impact on the world. And how could you go back in time and stop yourself if you had died in the past? Time was tricky, and you didn't want to mess with it. You couldn't live with yourself if you made it worse. You can barely live with yourself as it is.
But of all people it's Hiro - grief-stricken, guiltless Hiro - who couldn't stop himself. Couldn't keep himself from trying to get back what's been lost. All these years and he's still trying to be a hero.
And for a moment you're angry with him. For being so reckless. For possibly making things worse. For possibly making things better.
You're angry because at some point you stopped being the hero, though you're not the villian quite yet. There's still time for a change of heart.
---------------
05. Funplex - the B-52s
I'm your daytime waitress at the Taco Tiki Hut. I'm your daytime waitress, here's your stupid 7-Up
She's not looking for romance. She's staying low. Under the radar. She's in hiding. She's not checking out the chef. And he's not checking her out in return. It just isn't happening.
She tries not to look at him. She tries to concentrate on her customers. "Coffee?" She smiles and goes through the motions of her new job. "Can I get you anything else?" She pretends she can't feel his eyes on her like a physical touch. "Thank you, have a great day, y'all." She pretends he's not coming up behind her. Pretends he's not asking her to the movies. Pretends she's not saying yes.
She's thrilled. She's terrified. She's feeling daring in way she hasn't felt since the days when Zach would tape her tryng to kill herself.
Her father's going to pitch a fit.
---------------
06. Unconditional - the Bravery
I just want, I just want love. I just want something for nothing.
She didn't think she'd find someone else after she lost her family. After D.L. disappeared and Micah died. She likes Peter, though. He's a good person, under the layers of anger and hate and guilt that she doesn't know the reasons for, but understands all too well. She's a good person too, under the bitterness and loss and violence.
And she is violent sometimes. She doesn't mean to be, but sometimes everything that's happened to her just builds up until she can do nothing but lash out. And it was okay when they had her. When she was locked up in that cage that could take everything she'd throw at it and no one was coming to let her out.
Until Peter came and literally broke down the door.
Peter can take it, though. She remembers the first terrifying time when she'd shoved him in the chest in anger and he'd flown through the wall ("All these years and you'd think you'd learn some control, Niki," she could almost hear Jessica say) but he pulled himself to his feet, scowl on his face and growl in his voice. In time, she realized that she could hit Peter with everything she had and still he'd get up and come back to her for more.
Maybe that's why she can love him, even after all she's lost: he always comes back.
----------------------
07. Never There - Cake
first you say that you're too busy, I wonder if you even miss me
It starts slowly. "Not now, Pete. I'm busy." And he is busy. Your brother's going to be the next president. Everyone knows it, everyone talks about it. Nathan Petrelli is going to be top dog.
You don't want to get left in the dust, but there's only so much you can do. Only so close you can get when the world is terrified of Sylar (meaning you) and people like Sylar (also you) and you don't even trust yourself to be in control around the Haitian. You don't exactly have a track record of control. Point zero seven percent of the world population can attest to that. Could attest to that.
So you stay out of the way. You keep your distance. You leave messages when he doesn't answer his phone (he never answers his phone). You watch his victories on TV, with Heidi standing by his side and Mohinder pulled into a one-armed hug that would have been yours. Should have been yours. Is rightfully yours.
By the time it all calms down and you get close to him again, it's too late. Your brother has turned into a stranger. And you leave his office feeling sick to your stomach because you've lost him, the one person you'd thought you couldn't lose.
Mohinder tries to say something to you as you leave. Tries to tell you that Nathan's changed, but you don't want to hear it. You don't need his pity.
-------------------
08. St. Anger (radio single) - Metallica
I'm madly in anger with you
It's the psychological contract that comes with your job.
You attack the people like you. You rip through their minds and find the locations of their loved ones. Of other "special people." You arrest the confused. You kill the innocent. It's not quite how you'd imagined your future as a police officer.
You sell yourself to the government (a government run by a person like you, funnily enough) and the government doesn't touch your families. It doesn't touch Janice or her son (not your son, you know, but still her son). It doesn't touch Molly. Bennet sees to that, and you turn a blind eye to Bennet.
You keep the dangerous ones contained, and Mohinder doesn't have to go too far. Doesn't have to cross those invisible ethical lines that he tries so hard to stay on the right side of. You keep the dangerous ones contained and Nathan won't push Mohinder to take more drastic measures. Because Nathan will if he thinks he has to, you have no doubt about that.
You get dirty so they can stay safe and he can stay clean. It seems like a fair trade to you.
Until Bennet gives Molly's location to one Hiro and Nathan orders Mohinder to "put down" the other. Then the contract's broken and anything's fair game.
---------------------
09. Complicated - Avril Lavigne
you're watching your back like you can't relax
There's something strange about Sandra. Well, there's always been something a little strange about her, but you like that. She's quirky and it makes things interesting. But something's different today. Off. Ever since the creepy guy with the glasses came in.
"Let's elope!"
You look at her like she's mad as she rushes into a description of how wonderful it would be and you realize she's serious. You can see the desperation in her eyes. Feel her fingers gripping your shirt a little too tight. For a moment, you wonder if maybe you've asked a serial killer to marry you and the cops have finally caught up to her.
But that's crazy talk, 'cause this is Sandra and she's always been the sweetest thing. You wouldn't spend your life with just any girl. So you go out on a limb and you agree. It's crazy, but you agree.
Because even if she is a serial killer, you guess you're still in love.
--------------------
10. When You Were Young - the Killers
but you can dip your feet, every once and a little while
You haven't tried to find anyone in a long time. The last time you tried, Matt had Bennet find you a new family to live with. Because it was "too dangerous." You've gotten used to this new family. Attached. So you haven't found anyone in a long time because you haven't been looking.
But Bennet brings these men, so it must be okay with Matt and Mohinder. Anyone they trust, you trust. Because they're your heroes, even now.
The one of them is small and scary, but the tall one is nice, and asks you to try to find his friend. He seems sincere, and you think you would like him, given the chance. You close your eyes and look and you find him and you feel better than you have in a long time. You'd missed using your power. Missed helping people in your small way.
When they leave, you think it would be okay to use your power again, just for a minute. Since you were already allowed to use it today, another minute can't hurt. You look first for Mohinder, then for Matt. Matt will know you were looking, so you hope he isn't too mad. Bennet said it was all right, after all, and you just wanted to know if they were safe.