singillatim | think of me once in a while

THINK OF ME ONCE IN A WHILE

WHERE: The wilds of Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A.

TAKE CARE

Off the heavily-trodden paths and steady trails there’s a lonely semi-circle of gnarled jack pines that twist and bend beside a rocky cliff face. Beside the pines are carefully-laid stone piles, three in all, one half-built with rocks stacked haphazardly in waiting beside it.

They vary in size, one as tall as a man, one smaller, one sort of leaning, as though the builders were more concerned in the act of laying the stones themselves than any kind of uniformity. In one cairn buried deep in the middle of the circle of stones is a scrap of graying fabric, in another a piece of paper too weathered to read, in another a silver fork.

The site itself looks worn and revered. It’s been used, but for what purpose is unclear. Marker, memorial, altar, grave - the cairns might be all things at once, or nothing so significant. There’s only one real clue: a small collection of plants, some wilted and some fresh, at the foot of each stone tower.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Think we still are in Hell no matter what that old man says," Rorschach growled out. Between people like Hickey and himself here, there certainly was cause to think they were all being punished for their sins and the like. Killers, Communists, homosexuals. No wonder they were all trapped in this place together.

The one hiccup in that idea was the existence of people like Kate, who Rorschach knew for certain did not belong in a fiery (or icy) pit. But maybe she'd fallen through the cracks somehow?

Unknown to Rorschach, Hickey is thinking the same thing. Yeah, they might be in hell (or at least, he'd think that if he believes in hell, which he doesn't). But there are a few outliers.

"I'll be sure to tell Miss Marsh and that Ruby girl your thoughts," he muses. "I'm sure the children will love to hear that you think they're damned."

"Their presence does make the theory less realistic," Rorschach said grudgingly. Even he could admit Kate didn't belong in Hell and Ruby probably didn't either, although of the two of them he thought Ruby might have had something less than savory in her background.

"But who said the Devil is fair?" There, that was a workaround his rigid mind could accept.

"All of Christianity?" said with a tone of voice that implies he thinks Rorschach is dumb as hell.

"Haven't set foot in a church in years, but even I know there are rules to who gets sent where. Most people would consider that fair."

Yeah, the nonexistent devil might suck. But Hickey's pretty sure there's a set of rules as to who gets sent to hell and who doesn't. After all, what's the bloody point of it if there isn't?

There was a soft snort of contempt from Rorschach at Hickey's words. "Learned long time ago God's not fair. Why should the Devil be any different?"

Rorschach had seen the absolute worst that humanity was capable of and knew that God didn't care much what his children were doing to one another. And if he was supposed to be the good guy, what did that mean for the other one who was supposed to actually be the evil one?

"If God's not fair, why d'you talk like you believe in him?"

Just saying. Rorschach's mentioning Hell, mentioning sin, seems pretty stupid in Hickey's mind to believe in some all-powerful force that treats the world with a mercurial unfairness.

He can see the buildings of Milton barely poking out from behind the trees. Good. The sooner he gets there, the sooner he can try and shake this asshole from him.

Rorschach paused for long enough it appeared he might not answer the question before he finally spoke again, a usual tic with him. "Seen gods before." Manhattan was sort-of one, enough to make Rorschach believe there had to be other higher powers in the universe.

There was also the much more personal answer in that Rorschach needed to believe there was a God somewhere watching over everyone, even if he was a cruel or indifferent one. It was the only way his chaotic and often insanely savage world could make sense. To think it all was just random and without meaning was something he couldn't allow himself to even fathom.

"So've I," Hickey points out, with a tone like it's the most obvious thing ever. "But there's a difference between gods plural and God singular. Nothing I've seen has given me any proof that the Christian god is real or that he even gives a single solitary shit to begin with."

After all, if God was real, surely he'd want something from Hickey. Surely he'd make his presence known? Hickey has no use for institutions that can't directly benefit him and as far as he's concerned? God's one of them.

Rorschach just shook his head. He was done trying to explain and wasn't about to put forth the effort for someone he disliked as intensely as he did Hickey. "Don't expect someone like you to understand."

Just what he meant by that he didn't expand on. It was very possible he was referring to Hickey being gay but it was also just as likely he was irked just by the man's general attitude surrounding everything. It wasn't like they had ever gotten along even before Rorschach broke into his house with the intent of punishing him and found out he was in a relationship with Billy.

Hickey's able to guess what Rorschach means by that. He doesn't know specifics, but he knows whatever he's implying? It's disparaging.

"I think I'll go to the community center for a bit," he muses, more to himself than to Rorschach. "Chat with a few people there. See if anything's new on the message board."

Get to a public place so he can then proceed to ignore this prick.

"You do that." He'd had just about enough of Hickey for the moment. Without another word, Rorschach went over to the nearest building. In a few fluid movements, he was climbing up the side of it to the roof, back to patrolling Milton from its rooftops.

He silently watched as Hickey went off, the entire interaction feeling like it had left a bad taste in his mouth.

think of me once in a while

cw: homophobia

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: homophobia

no subject

no subject