[August 2] [Mad Max: Fury Road] Watch and Learn
Title: Watch and Learn
Day/Theme: 2. the taciturn watcher
Series: Mad Max:Fury Road
Character/Pairing: The Ace
Rating: G
He hadn’t lived longer than all the others by not paying attention. He knew the signs and he kept a careful watch for them. He knew when things were going to to get ugly. He knew how much fervor he needed to show to be a respected member of the crew without making an ass of himself or wasting a life. He remembered the world before it had died, and while this was better than living feral in the Wastes, he sometimes doubted, and knew enough to hide those doubts.
He was reliable, a fixture. The younger Boys came to him for guidance, and the Imperators knew better than to disregard his suggestions. He had a place of respect and he had earned it by knowing his place, knowing everyone’s place, and monitoring how they all fit together. He lived by machines most of his life, and lived like a machine as well. He was as attuned to all the sounds and movements in the crew as he was the rig’s engine. He could tell when something wasn’t right.
The signs were all there now, but he wasn’t sure what they were leading up to. He had watched Furiosa climb in ranks for hundreds of days. She was reliable too, ruthless, unflinching, unstoppable. Once a task fell to her, it was done. He had been glad to serve under a worthy Imperator, and he thought he knew her well enough, but something had changed.
It was in her eyes. The cold set of them, gold and green, had a new light in it. It wasn’t the ambition he had watched as she rose in station. This was something long-brewing and just now coming to the surface. It was in the way her flesh hand moved, too steady to be fidgety, but a new tension was in her fingers. Some reined-in energy crackled off of her. Something was up. Something was off. Something was going to happen.
And it had. He had been right. It had still shocked him, that she had worked so hard, so long just to throw it away for a fool’s betrayal. Where did she think she could go? Where did she think she could hide? The world had shrunk to how far a tank of gas could take you, and if the rig could make it, so could all of the others. She had destroyed herself and by association, all of them. It wasn’t the betrayal that rankled, it was how useless, how wasteful it all was.
She had thrown him off the rig and he had dislocated his shoulder, lost some skin to the sand, bloodied his face, and knocked himself dizzy. He had nearly been run over by a few of the pursuit vehicles, but even bloodied and staggering, the pups he had raised into War Boys knew him. One of the cars had stopped for him and been spared the worst of the storm because of it.
He had been taken back to the Citadel to be patched up as best as he could by the Organic Mechanic’s helpers, since the OM himself was tear-assing around with the Immortan. He had waited the days out, taken his turn watching the flares and smoke that rose up from the canyon country. He didn’t know what to wish for.
It made sense that Furiosa had taken the Wives. When the world was alive, it would’ve made her a hero. Heroes didn’t last long anymore, though. All the commotion meant that the fight was still going on, but if she got away, all it would mean was that life would be a lot harder until the Immortan was satisfied that there were no other traitors in the Citadel. That would take awhile. If she was caught, the Wives would be returned, she would be made an example of, and life would go on as it had, terrible, but bearable.
He had never expected to see her come home in triumph. Granted she was in worse shape than he was, but she was alive and standing, which was more than could be said for the Immortan. Ace watched the Gigahorse come up on the lift. He was about to watch the world change again.
Day/Theme: 2. the taciturn watcher
Series: Mad Max:Fury Road
Character/Pairing: The Ace
Rating: G
He hadn’t lived longer than all the others by not paying attention. He knew the signs and he kept a careful watch for them. He knew when things were going to to get ugly. He knew how much fervor he needed to show to be a respected member of the crew without making an ass of himself or wasting a life. He remembered the world before it had died, and while this was better than living feral in the Wastes, he sometimes doubted, and knew enough to hide those doubts.
He was reliable, a fixture. The younger Boys came to him for guidance, and the Imperators knew better than to disregard his suggestions. He had a place of respect and he had earned it by knowing his place, knowing everyone’s place, and monitoring how they all fit together. He lived by machines most of his life, and lived like a machine as well. He was as attuned to all the sounds and movements in the crew as he was the rig’s engine. He could tell when something wasn’t right.
The signs were all there now, but he wasn’t sure what they were leading up to. He had watched Furiosa climb in ranks for hundreds of days. She was reliable too, ruthless, unflinching, unstoppable. Once a task fell to her, it was done. He had been glad to serve under a worthy Imperator, and he thought he knew her well enough, but something had changed.
It was in her eyes. The cold set of them, gold and green, had a new light in it. It wasn’t the ambition he had watched as she rose in station. This was something long-brewing and just now coming to the surface. It was in the way her flesh hand moved, too steady to be fidgety, but a new tension was in her fingers. Some reined-in energy crackled off of her. Something was up. Something was off. Something was going to happen.
And it had. He had been right. It had still shocked him, that she had worked so hard, so long just to throw it away for a fool’s betrayal. Where did she think she could go? Where did she think she could hide? The world had shrunk to how far a tank of gas could take you, and if the rig could make it, so could all of the others. She had destroyed herself and by association, all of them. It wasn’t the betrayal that rankled, it was how useless, how wasteful it all was.
She had thrown him off the rig and he had dislocated his shoulder, lost some skin to the sand, bloodied his face, and knocked himself dizzy. He had nearly been run over by a few of the pursuit vehicles, but even bloodied and staggering, the pups he had raised into War Boys knew him. One of the cars had stopped for him and been spared the worst of the storm because of it.
He had been taken back to the Citadel to be patched up as best as he could by the Organic Mechanic’s helpers, since the OM himself was tear-assing around with the Immortan. He had waited the days out, taken his turn watching the flares and smoke that rose up from the canyon country. He didn’t know what to wish for.
It made sense that Furiosa had taken the Wives. When the world was alive, it would’ve made her a hero. Heroes didn’t last long anymore, though. All the commotion meant that the fight was still going on, but if she got away, all it would mean was that life would be a lot harder until the Immortan was satisfied that there were no other traitors in the Citadel. That would take awhile. If she was caught, the Wives would be returned, she would be made an example of, and life would go on as it had, terrible, but bearable.
He had never expected to see her come home in triumph. Granted she was in worse shape than he was, but she was alive and standing, which was more than could be said for the Immortan. Ace watched the Gigahorse come up on the lift. He was about to watch the world change again.