unreckless: (Heroes - Elle bearing pie)
Victoria ([personal profile] unreckless) wrote2008-12-08 03:55 am
Entry tags:

fic: Filled up with glue (Heroes; PG - Gabriel Gray)

title: Filled up with glue
character: Gabriel (implied Elle/Gabriel leading into the exposed future)
rating: PG
word count: an even 500
spoilers/warnings: through 3.11 to be safe; second-person imperative tense

summary: Mix your metaphors. Be normal.




Okay, so yeah, you’re tempted to make it so that little kid at the booth behind you never kicks a seat again for the rest of his life. Everybody has flashes of I could murder that little bastard, but you’re not going to act on that impulse, okay? You have to draw lines somewhere, no matter how arbitrary. It’s best to draw your lines in the metaphorical sand, by the way, and not in blood across people’s foreheads.

This? This is everyday life. If you intend to blend, then you really have to work to keep those urges in check, kiddo. Killing kids is just not on.

Actually, killing in general is frowned upon, so try to refrain.

So just ignore the kid and enjoy your ice cream. You have a pretty girl across from you who loves you. She’s really, really into her banana split. You have a hot fudge brownie dream in front of you that you’re not paying attention to, and your butter pecan is dribbling down the side of the bowl and puddling on the table. Be careful—normal life is in the details and right now you’re slacking.

Smile bright and happy when she looks up. This is your life now, smiling and having ice cream. This is what happy, normal people do, and you’re normal and happy, remember?

When you finish, take your girl out and walk down the street with her. Hold her hand. Pull her close against you later on, when it’s chilly, because she didn’t bring a sweater and hey, you’re a big guy. You put off a lot of body heat.

Remember, you’re both of you normal. You’re just like everybody else walking down the boardwalk. If there’s something a little extra in your cocktail, well, doesn’t mean you have to go there. You own a lot of shirts—you don’t wear your cable-knits when it’s ninety degrees out, do you?

Mix your metaphors.

Remember how you used to work so hard to fix things, back before all you were was a mindless, voracious carnivore? Meticulous, delicate little things? Being normal is kind of like that, if you remember. Bus fare to be paid in coins, the lobster clasp on the heart-shaped locket you bought your girl, tiny specks of spices sprinkled over dinner.

This is what you always wanted, wasn’t it? When you were sitting there, hunched over Daddy’s workbench and squinting at clockworks, you were dreaming of a sunshiny future with a sunshiny blonde on your arm. Okay, maybe you didn’t even dare to dream about the blonde; that’s fine. But here you are, living it now, and she’s here, too.

So what you’re going to do, buddy boy, is swallow everything down. Tamp all of it down pat. Make it lie like rugs. Lie like a rug yourself if you have to, if that’s how you have to go about being normal then that’s how you’re going to do it.

Eventually, it won’t even feel like you’re trying anymore.



End.

[identity profile] catyuy.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 09:18 am (UTC)(link)
I'm all for this future as long as he didn't kill Elle at some point and thats why she's not there in 3x04
Bad thoughts
Good fic.

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 09:24 am (UTC)(link)
That's certainly how I feel! That's why I warned for "maybe a little dark." Let's hope that she'd just stepped out to get orange juice or something when Peter popped into the Gray kitchen.

[identity profile] cruiscin-lan.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
1. Now I want butter pecan for breakfast.

2. You have to warn for "second-person imperative tense?" Is it really that scary to some people?

3. Actual review time. Loved it - loved the way you carried through the theme of "mixing metaphors," (and I love the theme, too, because it's something I do all too often IRL). I think you've mastered the person/tone/tense thing, too, which makes it all the more interesting to read. Great job.

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
1. It was all I could think about. Butter pecan. Mmmmm.

2. Clearly you've never dealt with the crazy that is the Supernatural fandom. Bloodplay and gay incest don't need warnings but this does. Seriously.

3. Thank you!
ext_47157: (Default)

[identity profile] faded-facade.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
The first paragraph totally had me hooked.

I love the way this fic flowed and now I kinda want ice cream despite it being ridiculously cold outside.

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! I wrote this in about half an hour, pretty much as-is, which might account for the way it flows. Maybe.

[identity profile] ashesfor-trees.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
This was so awesome! I love how you show Gabriel trying so hard, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the final line.

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
That's when you're making waffles, when it doesn't feel like trying. And then your kid dies, you go boom, and 20k people get vaporized.

I'm so glad you liked it!

[identity profile] killbot.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I really liked this. I like your style.

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! A compliment like that means a lot!

[identity profile] jncar.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I really like this, and I really like the style/tense you chose to write it in.

As much as us fangirls loved waffle-making daddy!Sylar, in reality it would be a huge struggle for him to be normal. You capture that struggle very well.

Good job!

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I agree that in the long run, it would be a struggle for him.

[identity profile] eternal-moonie.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG! I LOVE IT! I'm so friending you!

[identity profile] unreckless.livejournal.com 2008-12-19 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh dear, I just noticed this comment! I'm so sorry for not responding sooner.

Thank you so much! *friends back*

[identity profile] ateenwriter.livejournal.com 2009-01-04 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
lmao "I could murder that little bastard" totally thinking that even though I don't possess some of Sylar's "talents" lol

[identity profile] blackout-girl.livejournal.com 2009-01-31 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
WOW! I don't know how I missed this fiction but it got past me somehow. I loved this beyond words and I am totally voting for it in the Syelle fic awards. This is amazing!