[Jan. 1] [Boardwalk Empire] Sometimes the Dream Has You

[seta-suzume.livejournal.com]

Title: Sometimes the Dream Has You
Day/Theme: Jan. 1, 2014 "here I dreamt I was a soldier"
Series: Boardwalk Empire
Character/Pairing: Richard Harrow
Rating: PG


He never came home from the war. Instead, he imagines, this is all just a dream on a day spent away from the front. With the pressure off for a while, he can finally sleep long enough to dream. ...So, why can't the dream be a good one? Is the future so bleak his subconscious refuses to even entertain the possibility of a happy return?

In this phantom of a life after war, he is marked, he is monstrous, he can barely connect with anyone. Each rebuff raises his hesitance. Even his bond with Emma is fractured. He drifts through Chicago, then on to Atlantic City, following the breadcrumb trail of what small affection he can grasp.

Even so, he becomes a soldier again in another sort of war.

There is only one thing he can do, and that is kill. Perhaps there is solace in the knowledge that at least it is something he can do very well. He will fight for Jimmy-

-Will Jimmy fight for him?

(Yes, but-) War takes him too.

Does Richard dream he awakes in some large and loveless mansion or is France the dream? He is only a soldier, no matter which is true.