[Watchmen] What Dreams Say
Title: What Dreams Say
Day/Theme: 9. cornerstones of humanity
Series: Watchmen
Character/Pairing: Adrian, and Rorschach, sort of.
Rating: G
It was one of those dreams seen from a distance, even though he recognized the perfect, golden man as himself. He recognized the other man too. They were in his rooms, somewhere he was sure the other man had never been, and he was gesturing at his walls of treasures from ages past, talking about art and poetry and genius and science, about all the good reasons humanity should be saved.
The other man, broken and vicious, would snarl back that an art collection didn’t change the fact that the only things threatening humanity were the humans. Minds that made poetry created bombs and hands that carved marble also pushed buttons. It was an old argument.
It wasn’t fair that the good had to be destroyed by the bad or the selfish, he said. Isn’t that why they did what they did? Wasn’t that why they became masks?
Fair? The other man sneered. Fair is what children whine about.
Children should be protected. It went without saying.
Or sacrificed to make a point, the other man growled, and it stung more than it should.
Uncalled for, he declared.
Unforgivable, the other hissed.
That smoothed the sting. He didn’t require forgiveness and said so. He did what had to be done. The other man restrained himself with visible effort.
Could respect your conviction, he said. Except for one thing.
The golden man that was him tilted his head mockingly, waiting to be enlightened.
If you truly believed it was for the best, the man said, holding up a hand like a dramatic schoolteacher. That the dead were necessary price to be paid, you wouldn’t have run. You would’ve stayed in New York, thrown in your lot, and taken the chance that you would die with the rest of your victims. It if it was worth millions of lives, it was worth yours.
Someone had to rebuild, the golden man began, but it sounded petulant, even to his dreaming ears.
And profit, the other interrupted. You can’t save humanity. You’re barely human yourself. What human have you ever cared about, loved, or trusted? You’ve never been one of them. You’re no better than the bomb.
And he took enough offense at that to protest loudly enough to wake himself up. He was still agitated, but it was easy to forget why and he ended up laying awake in the new world he had forced on the old one.
Day/Theme: 9. cornerstones of humanity
Series: Watchmen
Character/Pairing: Adrian, and Rorschach, sort of.
Rating: G
It was one of those dreams seen from a distance, even though he recognized the perfect, golden man as himself. He recognized the other man too. They were in his rooms, somewhere he was sure the other man had never been, and he was gesturing at his walls of treasures from ages past, talking about art and poetry and genius and science, about all the good reasons humanity should be saved.
The other man, broken and vicious, would snarl back that an art collection didn’t change the fact that the only things threatening humanity were the humans. Minds that made poetry created bombs and hands that carved marble also pushed buttons. It was an old argument.
It wasn’t fair that the good had to be destroyed by the bad or the selfish, he said. Isn’t that why they did what they did? Wasn’t that why they became masks?
Fair? The other man sneered. Fair is what children whine about.
Children should be protected. It went without saying.
Or sacrificed to make a point, the other man growled, and it stung more than it should.
Uncalled for, he declared.
Unforgivable, the other hissed.
That smoothed the sting. He didn’t require forgiveness and said so. He did what had to be done. The other man restrained himself with visible effort.
Could respect your conviction, he said. Except for one thing.
The golden man that was him tilted his head mockingly, waiting to be enlightened.
If you truly believed it was for the best, the man said, holding up a hand like a dramatic schoolteacher. That the dead were necessary price to be paid, you wouldn’t have run. You would’ve stayed in New York, thrown in your lot, and taken the chance that you would die with the rest of your victims. It if it was worth millions of lives, it was worth yours.
Someone had to rebuild, the golden man began, but it sounded petulant, even to his dreaming ears.
And profit, the other interrupted. You can’t save humanity. You’re barely human yourself. What human have you ever cared about, loved, or trusted? You’ve never been one of them. You’re no better than the bomb.
And he took enough offense at that to protest loudly enough to wake himself up. He was still agitated, but it was easy to forget why and he ended up laying awake in the new world he had forced on the old one.