Bricks in the Wall, Chapter 54: Keepsake
Title: Keepsake
Characters: Sylar, Peter's hair
Rating: PG
Words: 350
Summary: Sylar creates a keepsake.
Sylar gathered the bit of detritus from the bathroom trash, carrying it into the kitchen where he placed it in a waiting saucer of water. It was a wad of hairs Peter had thoughtfully removed from the bathtub drain after his shower (convincing him to shower at Sylar's place had been more difficult than expected, but it had been accomplished). Now Sylar leaned over his odd prize, rinsing it gently from one saucer to another, changing the water patiently until he was sure he'd removed all contaminating residue of soap and shampoo. That done, he sorted them using the delicacy that served him well as a watchmaker. He arranged the fragile filaments on a paper towel, one next to the other, stretched out to dry. An even thirty head hairs he recovered, along with one he believed to be a pubic hair. Two of the longer hairs looked suspicious - a little too light. They caught the sunlight with a golden sheen rather than the dark gloss of Peter's. Those, and the short, kinked hair, went back in the trash. Once dried, the twenty-eight remaining were carefully stacked across a pair of waxed threads. When they were all arranged, he tied off the threads to bundle them into one tiny lock of silky fibers.
With a pleased, close-mouthed smile, Sylar moved his treasure to his work desk. There, he dug through a jar of watch parts until he found what he was looking for - a pocket watch that had had its internal mechanisms removed. Into this empty case, he carefully spooled the strands, looping them to fit within their new home. Taking care not to catch any of the hairs in the closure, he snapped the case shut and slid the watch under his pillow for safe-keeping. This way, even if Peter disappeared tomorrow, he'd still have a part of him, something to prove he'd been here … something to prove Sylar wasn't crazy, or alone, after all.
Characters: Sylar, Peter's hair
Rating: PG
Words: 350
Summary: Sylar creates a keepsake.
Sylar gathered the bit of detritus from the bathroom trash, carrying it into the kitchen where he placed it in a waiting saucer of water. It was a wad of hairs Peter had thoughtfully removed from the bathtub drain after his shower (convincing him to shower at Sylar's place had been more difficult than expected, but it had been accomplished). Now Sylar leaned over his odd prize, rinsing it gently from one saucer to another, changing the water patiently until he was sure he'd removed all contaminating residue of soap and shampoo. That done, he sorted them using the delicacy that served him well as a watchmaker. He arranged the fragile filaments on a paper towel, one next to the other, stretched out to dry. An even thirty head hairs he recovered, along with one he believed to be a pubic hair. Two of the longer hairs looked suspicious - a little too light. They caught the sunlight with a golden sheen rather than the dark gloss of Peter's. Those, and the short, kinked hair, went back in the trash. Once dried, the twenty-eight remaining were carefully stacked across a pair of waxed threads. When they were all arranged, he tied off the threads to bundle them into one tiny lock of silky fibers.
With a pleased, close-mouthed smile, Sylar moved his treasure to his work desk. There, he dug through a jar of watch parts until he found what he was looking for - a pocket watch that had had its internal mechanisms removed. Into this empty case, he carefully spooled the strands, looping them to fit within their new home. Taking care not to catch any of the hairs in the closure, he snapped the case shut and slid the watch under his pillow for safe-keeping. This way, even if Peter disappeared tomorrow, he'd still have a part of him, something to prove he'd been here … something to prove Sylar wasn't crazy, or alone, after all.