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31_days2008-05-05 07:52 am
bane-6.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-05-05 07:52 am
[May 5] [Hellsing] Usual Duties
Title: Usual Duties
Day/Theme: 5. How terribly strange to be seventy
Series: Hellsing
Character/Pairing: Walter
Rating:
Every now and then, in the course of his usual duties, Walter would remember exactly how long he had been doing such a task. Unlike most people, his mind never glazed over into routine. Even if he had been doing the same thing every morning for longer than most people in the organization had been alive, he was always just as alert as he had been on missions when he was younger.
It made some of the more perceptive of the lower staff and maids nervous how hyper-aware he could be. That was what made it so strange to not notice his own age. He was very aware of his own strengths and limitations. He was aware of his own appearance and the impression it made.
He wasn’t surprised to be old, not alarmed at how quickly it had happened. It was only occasionally that the paradox crossed his mind. When he was younger, he hadn’t been able to imagine being old. He was going to be young and invincible forever. Then, with maturity had come a new certainty. As the missions grew more and more dangerous, as Arthur’s health started to fade, it had occurred to Walter’s younger self that he wouldn’t live to be old.
He had proven both his younger selves wrong, he thought with a smile. And while one would’ve been disappointed to be so old and serving tea, he thought they would both be impressed if they knew what he knew.
Day/Theme: 5. How terribly strange to be seventy
Series: Hellsing
Character/Pairing: Walter
Rating:
Every now and then, in the course of his usual duties, Walter would remember exactly how long he had been doing such a task. Unlike most people, his mind never glazed over into routine. Even if he had been doing the same thing every morning for longer than most people in the organization had been alive, he was always just as alert as he had been on missions when he was younger.
It made some of the more perceptive of the lower staff and maids nervous how hyper-aware he could be. That was what made it so strange to not notice his own age. He was very aware of his own strengths and limitations. He was aware of his own appearance and the impression it made.
He wasn’t surprised to be old, not alarmed at how quickly it had happened. It was only occasionally that the paradox crossed his mind. When he was younger, he hadn’t been able to imagine being old. He was going to be young and invincible forever. Then, with maturity had come a new certainty. As the missions grew more and more dangerous, as Arthur’s health started to fade, it had occurred to Walter’s younger self that he wouldn’t live to be old.
He had proven both his younger selves wrong, he thought with a smile. And while one would’ve been disappointed to be so old and serving tea, he thought they would both be impressed if they knew what he knew.