(no subject)
Fandom: Silent Hill 2
Pairing: James Sunderland/"Maria"
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: uh, PG? nothing graphic, but it's kind of dark.
#01 - Comfort
Her voice is such a precise match he thinks he might be able to pretend, so long as he ignores the lewd comments and cursing.
#02 - Kiss
She tasted of lipstick and cigarettes and filled his mind with the smell of grave dirt, and he swears he won’t let her do it again but knows that he will.
#03 - Soft
She says “you loved her, didn’t you?” and the words are like a kiss, a caress, but the next sentence out of her mouth is a slap in the face.
#04 - Pain
He pushes her against the wall as he kisses her; he hears her head thud and a sharp gasp and jerks back, and she blinks at him and asks “Did I do something wrong, James?”
#05 - Potatoes
Life with her would be fighting and fucking and going out for every meal - he can’t see her proudly serving up dinner, or chatting and peeling potatoes while he cooks for her.
#06 - Rain
The only weather feature here is a dense fog, but her proximity makes him feel he’s been caught in a storm, soaked through and weighed down.
#07 - Chocolate
She pockets a butterfinger “for Laura” but can’t tell him why she’s sure it’s the girl’s favourite.
#08 - Happiness
When he says this place makes him feel as if he’ll never be happy again she stares blankly at him, as if she doesn’t understand what the word means.
#09 - Telephone
She tells him it won’t work before he even lifts the receiver from the cradle; when asked how she knows, she says “I don’t kn- I tried it, of course, how else?”
#10 - Ears
Sometimes the things she says to him seem as if they’re arriving directly in his brain, the fact of her speaking them bypassing that pesky business with air and vibrations.
#11 - Name
As he drives, the lake filling his view, he wonders why it took so long to question the similarity of their names.
#12 - Sensual
The way she moves, stretches, walks; he thinks they’re all perfect, and all choreographed to the point of parody.
#13 - Death
Each time she comes back, he is able to convince himself that she was never really gone; he tries not to think that he’s doing the same with Mary.
#14 - Sex
She’s blatantly sexual, a magnification of what Mary lacked in her ending months, and he finds himself both aroused and sickened.
#15 - Touch
“I’m real,” she says, slipping her hand through the bars to stroke his cheek and he - he believes her.
#16 - Weakness
She gasps, stumbles back and he plays the big strong defender and keeps her safe, and she realises that that is what’s going to get him.
#17 - Tears
She clings to him, weeping, begging not to be left alone again and he wonders: does she really not know that everyone leaves?
#18 - Speed
He hears her screams and the heavy footsteps of that helmeted freak, but he does not slow down until he knows he is safe.
#19 - Wind
She smiles lovingly at him, and he huddles against a knife-cold breeze that isn’t there.
#20 - Freedom
The first time he is distraught, the second time is surreal, but the third time, with the spears - he looks at her corpse and wonders if he’s free now.
#21 - Life
The third time she kisses him is through the cell bars, and he knows he was mistaken because she is warm and vital and here.
#22 - Jealousy
She plays at having secrets like they make her interesting, and he envies her that delusion.
#23 - Hands
She slips her hands under his shirt and her fingers are warm, which doesn’t seem… right.
#24 - Taste
“James, you need to eat,” she says and pushes a slice of apple to his lips - he feels it, but it tastes like air.
#25 - Devotion
He’d said would go to the end of the world for his wife; if Maria is the reward for his devotion, it is a cruel joke.
#26 - Forever
Mary is gone, and Maria is here, and Maria is sick, and then she’s gone and back again and gone again and James wonders if this is all there will ever be for him; certainly, it’s all he deserves.
#27 - Blood
He pricks his finger on the bent needle; she rolls her eyes and asks why he’s still carrying it as she brings his fingertip to her lips.
#28 - Sickness
Every time she coughs, he feels shards of ice in his chest.
#29 - Melody
He thinks that Maria would love the sweet, sad tune the music boxes play; then he realises he meant Mary, and hates himself just a little more.
#30 - Star
“Lady Maria”, the posters say, and he laughs - nobody who is a star in this place could be called a lady.
#31 - Home
He asks why she’s still here, why she hasn’t gone home to safety, and she tells him she has nowhere else to be.
#32 - Confusion
“I’m not your Mary,” she spits, and he thinks - not for the first time - that he is going mad.
#33 - Fear
He doesn’t like being around her, but every time he loses her it’s like a punch to the gut.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
He got the idea from a book about a war; “Flash,” he hisses as he hears something approach, and she says “It’s me, Jame- oh, alright, thunder.”
#35 - Bonds
The straps that hold her feet could not possibly support her weight; her eyes are black and they’re staring at him now and brandishing the spears but all he can think is that she should be tumbling down.
#36 - Market
She refuses to set foot in the florists’ market, telling him flowers put her in mind of hospitals and funeral homes, of sickness and death.
#37 - Technology
“I thought the point of modern medical technology was to keep people alive long after they were supposed to be dead,” she says, and he thinks: there’s no machine in the world that could have kept her safe.
#38 - Gift
She’s like a present, a small toy or a sweet slipped to a squalling child; there there, don’t cry, we’ve bought you a nice shiny new one.
#39 - Smile
It’s more like a baring of teeth, and it makes him feel like prey.
#40 - Innocence
She is a slut, posing and throwing herself at him, bargaining for protection with kisses and promises; the faith that he will care for her, not just take what she offers and leave, is a kind of innocence in itself.
#41 - Completion
When it’s over he looks at the thing that was and wasn’t her, and he feels nothing.
#42 - Clouds
Sometimes he finds it difficult to look directly at her; it’s as if the fog is denser around her somehow, as if she’s formed of the heavy cloud that hangs over the whole town.
#43 - Sky
When she’s around he feels claustrophobic even outdoors, like the sky is coming down.
#44 - Heaven
The fact that she has the keys to the strip club makes him imagine her white flesh exposed as she struts and poses and twirls, and the surge of arousal makes him want to smash her face.
#45 - Hell
Through it all, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s done something to deserve it, that he is meant to be here with her.
#46 - Sun
He doesn’t notice that there is no sun providing the dim light until he’s been in the dark and back again; the same way he doesn’t realise that he can feel her presence until she’s gone.
#47 - Moon
Humouring her, he draws a card and she reads the meaning to him from the booklet - nightmares, enemies, tricks and falsehoods, mental and emotional trial - and he makes her leave the deck where she found it.
#48 - Waves
He sees her everywhere - in the fog, in windows, under the ripples that move out from the boat as he crosses the lake - everywhere but in Maria.
#49 - Hair
Somehow, the bright and vital pink of her hair and clothes makes her look pale and dead.
#50 - Supernova
The realisation that she isn’t Mary explodes behind his eyes like a dying star; this doesn’t make him feel better about having to kill her again.
Pairing: James Sunderland/"Maria"
Theme set: Alpha
Rating: uh, PG? nothing graphic, but it's kind of dark.
#01 - Comfort
Her voice is such a precise match he thinks he might be able to pretend, so long as he ignores the lewd comments and cursing.
#02 - Kiss
She tasted of lipstick and cigarettes and filled his mind with the smell of grave dirt, and he swears he won’t let her do it again but knows that he will.
#03 - Soft
She says “you loved her, didn’t you?” and the words are like a kiss, a caress, but the next sentence out of her mouth is a slap in the face.
#04 - Pain
He pushes her against the wall as he kisses her; he hears her head thud and a sharp gasp and jerks back, and she blinks at him and asks “Did I do something wrong, James?”
#05 - Potatoes
Life with her would be fighting and fucking and going out for every meal - he can’t see her proudly serving up dinner, or chatting and peeling potatoes while he cooks for her.
#06 - Rain
The only weather feature here is a dense fog, but her proximity makes him feel he’s been caught in a storm, soaked through and weighed down.
#07 - Chocolate
She pockets a butterfinger “for Laura” but can’t tell him why she’s sure it’s the girl’s favourite.
#08 - Happiness
When he says this place makes him feel as if he’ll never be happy again she stares blankly at him, as if she doesn’t understand what the word means.
#09 - Telephone
She tells him it won’t work before he even lifts the receiver from the cradle; when asked how she knows, she says “I don’t kn- I tried it, of course, how else?”
#10 - Ears
Sometimes the things she says to him seem as if they’re arriving directly in his brain, the fact of her speaking them bypassing that pesky business with air and vibrations.
#11 - Name
As he drives, the lake filling his view, he wonders why it took so long to question the similarity of their names.
#12 - Sensual
The way she moves, stretches, walks; he thinks they’re all perfect, and all choreographed to the point of parody.
#13 - Death
Each time she comes back, he is able to convince himself that she was never really gone; he tries not to think that he’s doing the same with Mary.
#14 - Sex
She’s blatantly sexual, a magnification of what Mary lacked in her ending months, and he finds himself both aroused and sickened.
#15 - Touch
“I’m real,” she says, slipping her hand through the bars to stroke his cheek and he - he believes her.
#16 - Weakness
She gasps, stumbles back and he plays the big strong defender and keeps her safe, and she realises that that is what’s going to get him.
#17 - Tears
She clings to him, weeping, begging not to be left alone again and he wonders: does she really not know that everyone leaves?
#18 - Speed
He hears her screams and the heavy footsteps of that helmeted freak, but he does not slow down until he knows he is safe.
#19 - Wind
She smiles lovingly at him, and he huddles against a knife-cold breeze that isn’t there.
#20 - Freedom
The first time he is distraught, the second time is surreal, but the third time, with the spears - he looks at her corpse and wonders if he’s free now.
#21 - Life
The third time she kisses him is through the cell bars, and he knows he was mistaken because she is warm and vital and here.
#22 - Jealousy
She plays at having secrets like they make her interesting, and he envies her that delusion.
#23 - Hands
She slips her hands under his shirt and her fingers are warm, which doesn’t seem… right.
#24 - Taste
“James, you need to eat,” she says and pushes a slice of apple to his lips - he feels it, but it tastes like air.
#25 - Devotion
He’d said would go to the end of the world for his wife; if Maria is the reward for his devotion, it is a cruel joke.
#26 - Forever
Mary is gone, and Maria is here, and Maria is sick, and then she’s gone and back again and gone again and James wonders if this is all there will ever be for him; certainly, it’s all he deserves.
#27 - Blood
He pricks his finger on the bent needle; she rolls her eyes and asks why he’s still carrying it as she brings his fingertip to her lips.
#28 - Sickness
Every time she coughs, he feels shards of ice in his chest.
#29 - Melody
He thinks that Maria would love the sweet, sad tune the music boxes play; then he realises he meant Mary, and hates himself just a little more.
#30 - Star
“Lady Maria”, the posters say, and he laughs - nobody who is a star in this place could be called a lady.
#31 - Home
He asks why she’s still here, why she hasn’t gone home to safety, and she tells him she has nowhere else to be.
#32 - Confusion
“I’m not your Mary,” she spits, and he thinks - not for the first time - that he is going mad.
#33 - Fear
He doesn’t like being around her, but every time he loses her it’s like a punch to the gut.
#34 - Lightning/Thunder
He got the idea from a book about a war; “Flash,” he hisses as he hears something approach, and she says “It’s me, Jame- oh, alright, thunder.”
#35 - Bonds
The straps that hold her feet could not possibly support her weight; her eyes are black and they’re staring at him now and brandishing the spears but all he can think is that she should be tumbling down.
#36 - Market
She refuses to set foot in the florists’ market, telling him flowers put her in mind of hospitals and funeral homes, of sickness and death.
#37 - Technology
“I thought the point of modern medical technology was to keep people alive long after they were supposed to be dead,” she says, and he thinks: there’s no machine in the world that could have kept her safe.
#38 - Gift
She’s like a present, a small toy or a sweet slipped to a squalling child; there there, don’t cry, we’ve bought you a nice shiny new one.
#39 - Smile
It’s more like a baring of teeth, and it makes him feel like prey.
#40 - Innocence
She is a slut, posing and throwing herself at him, bargaining for protection with kisses and promises; the faith that he will care for her, not just take what she offers and leave, is a kind of innocence in itself.
#41 - Completion
When it’s over he looks at the thing that was and wasn’t her, and he feels nothing.
#42 - Clouds
Sometimes he finds it difficult to look directly at her; it’s as if the fog is denser around her somehow, as if she’s formed of the heavy cloud that hangs over the whole town.
#43 - Sky
When she’s around he feels claustrophobic even outdoors, like the sky is coming down.
#44 - Heaven
The fact that she has the keys to the strip club makes him imagine her white flesh exposed as she struts and poses and twirls, and the surge of arousal makes him want to smash her face.
#45 - Hell
Through it all, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s done something to deserve it, that he is meant to be here with her.
#46 - Sun
He doesn’t notice that there is no sun providing the dim light until he’s been in the dark and back again; the same way he doesn’t realise that he can feel her presence until she’s gone.
#47 - Moon
Humouring her, he draws a card and she reads the meaning to him from the booklet - nightmares, enemies, tricks and falsehoods, mental and emotional trial - and he makes her leave the deck where she found it.
#48 - Waves
He sees her everywhere - in the fog, in windows, under the ripples that move out from the boat as he crosses the lake - everywhere but in Maria.
#49 - Hair
Somehow, the bright and vital pink of her hair and clothes makes her look pale and dead.
#50 - Supernova
The realisation that she isn’t Mary explodes behind his eyes like a dying star; this doesn’t make him feel better about having to kill her again.