Drabble: Unbearable?
Feb. 4th, 2014 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bk_forever
Title: Unbearable?
Author: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
badly_knitted
Characters: Jack
Rating: G
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack ponders on love and immortality.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: For neverminetohold’s prompt: Jack (Ianto optional): the unbearable lightness of being. It turned into a double drabble!
As a child, Jack believed being immortal would be wonderful, but now he knew better: It was a curse he would never escape. Even death provided only a brief respite.
He was condemned to live forever, watching everything change while he stayed the same.
Worse, he would inevitably outlive everyone he loved, watching them age and die, leaving him behind.
Hard as he tried to keep people at arm’s length, it never worked. Someone always managed to sneak past his defences into his heart, making him care.
Just how many times could a heart break before it shattered beyond repair?
OoOoOoOoO
But what was the point of life without love?
It didn’t bear thinking about.
A hollow, empty, existence devoid of companionship and that precious, unique connection to another living being would be even worse torture than loving and losing.
Although it was his greatest source of grief and pain, love was also the only thing that made immortality bearable.
Having someone to share experiences with meant making memories to sustain him after they were gone.
Despite the agony of loss, Jack couldn’t ever regret loving. He would carry his memories of each and every loved one with him, throughout eternity.
The End
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no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 03:21 pm (UTC)utterly beautiful....
"Just how many times could a heart break before it shattered beyond repair?" this is so poignant
Going to my memories!
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 03:35 pm (UTC)I was relying on you to give me some fluff this afternoon... And you give us this.
Heartbreaking but beautiful.
*sneaks off to curl up in a corner and cry-after giving Jack a big hug*
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 03:43 pm (UTC)(Just remember this is before Jack finds out that he gets to keep Ianto forever).
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 04:58 pm (UTC)If love wasn't a necessity we'd be able to live alone our whole lives. It's something Jack has to be aware of. I love how you worked opposite to the common trend that Jack guardians his heart in fear of losing his loved ones.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 08:49 pm (UTC)Thank you.
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Date: 2014-02-04 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 08:53 pm (UTC)The Master, I think he's afraid to let himself become so vulnerable, and probably doesn't think anyone is worthy of love, especially not primitive humans, but even Time Lords need someone.
Thank you.
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Date: 2014-02-04 08:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-04 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 05:20 am (UTC)Precisely why we all want Ianto to be immortal too - forever is better with two.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 01:21 pm (UTC)Thank you!
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Date: 2014-02-05 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 01:23 pm (UTC)Thank you!
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Date: 2014-02-05 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-05 08:00 pm (UTC)Thank you. He's tragic, but not defeated. And now he has an everlasting Ianto, so he'll be fine =)
no subject
Date: 2014-02-06 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-06 01:19 pm (UTC)Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-09 02:20 pm (UTC)Of course I expected heart-break - I was certainly asking for it - but this is such a great, succinct character piece about Jack, the downside of his immortality and what makes it worth holding on - the double-edged sword of friendships/love that he finds again and again. This is the pain and motivation I see in him, too.
Thank you for this! :)
no subject
Date: 2014-02-09 03:57 pm (UTC)Yes, double-edged sword is exactly right. Love brings him the most joy as well as the most pain, and keeps him fighting even as it breaks his heart. It forces him to live instead of just existing.
Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-09 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-02-09 03:59 pm (UTC)It's tragic, but hopeful, because it's love that makes his existence worthwhile even when it breaks his heart.
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Date: 2014-02-14 05:14 pm (UTC)Beautiful insight in Jack's character and what keeps him ticking throughout the ages. <3<3
no subject
Date: 2014-02-15 07:23 pm (UTC)Yes, love is a blessing as well as a curse to Jack, it breaks his heart but gives him something to live for.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-16 07:41 pm (UTC)Beautiful and sad at the same time. But luckily you have found a solution.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-16 08:20 pm (UTC)Yes, Jack doesn't know it yet but soon he won't have to worry about losing his Ianto. =)