Author's notes: hey there, everybody. So. Sound of Silence. It's short. Just so you know. Also: BLAH. As I said, this was supposed to come out way sooner than it was, so a thousand apologies about that. School likes to eat my brains…
Do not own or this wouldn't be a problem. :/
27. Sound of Silence
Dan was beginning to feel like a taxi service. Every night for a week and a half after what Daniel mentally dubbed "The Incident", Rorschach would show up in his basement like Dan had instructed. Always right on time, silently waiting for Daniel to put on his costume, and then climbing into Archie without a word. And after a little while of riding around in silence, he would abruptly order Daniel to stop by some alleyway or rooftop and would depart without a second glance. And Daniel would watch as he melted into the shadows' embrace.
Sometimes, Daniel would try to talk to him, but Rorschach would never answer, or if he did, it was a short, often one-word response in a voice of a caricature. Or sometimes, he would proceed to deliver long monologues of the filthy nature of man with frightening imagery and grotesque metaphors and at those times, Daniel was almost relieved when Rorschach finally shut up.
Those were the times when he thought he preferred the silence.
Some nights, after Rorschach had disappeared, Daniel would try to follow him into the dark. But when Rorschach didn't want to be followed, then it made it nigh impossible for Daniel to do anything about that. But then again, if Dan was being honest with himself, he wasn't looking all that hard, the image of bloodied gloves and a jack o' lantern face still haunting his mind. There were times when he entertained the notion that maybe the man who was behind the mask wasn't exactly Rorschach. That maybe something had happened to his friend and he had appointed a replacement. He wasn't sure why he thought that would be a better alternative, seeing as the only way Rorschach would turn over his mask to someone else would be if he was dead. But it still seemed like a better alternative.
Some times, Daniel felt like the worst friend in the world.
Things were falling apart everywhere and Daniel often wondered how deep his partner's connection with the city ran. They both seemed to be going insane at exactly the same time, falling apart at the seams and Daniel wondered why it is that when both need him the most is when they both decided to push him away. At the same time, he wondered if he'd be strong enough to hold on if they reached out. Still, Dan felt like an asshole for not trying.
He knew what he should have done, that night, when Rorschach came back. He knew what he should have done before that little girl's name ever reached their ears. He knew what he should have done right after. The problem was, he didn't know what he was supposed to do now. And that drove him crazy.
So he tried just being there, being the taxi service and listening to the silence and waiting for a way he could reach his friend. Rorschach had to be in there somewhere, waiting for Daniel to save him. At least, that's what Daniel hoped. The alternative, that Daniel would be sitting with this stranger in Rorschach's clothes, forever listening to the silence, was too much to bear.
There wasn't a whole lot to talk about lately.
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A/N: Blerg. That wasn't as good as I'd wanted to be. Like, at all. But it wasn't really supposed to be anything super important so much as it was supposed to be a transition chapter for the next one, which I've already written so it won't be a kajillion years before the next update. Thanks!