Chapter Text
He’s not sure when it happened, the change of intention. It certainly wasn’t this way at the start – back then he’d wanted nothing more than a quick transposition, a trade of circumstances. Darling was clueless, bumbling around the dark and drawing any old creature to him. He was broadcasting out as well as listening in, and that fascinated Zane. Very few had managed that, the last being Wake with his projections out to bother his wife and his odd visit to his former best friend and manager.
He’d seen off several of the smaller bottom feeders lurking around the hapless scientist, chasing them away from his prize and continuing to observe until the time was right. Darling had figured a potential way out, and he wanted it. He’d stalked, a shark slowly circling in the murky black of the Dark Place until he felt confident to approach. He had to be sure this wasn’t some sort of retaliatory trick from Wake…
Ah… Wake…
The similarities to Wake had been too much to ignore, but the longer he observed the more he had realized that they absolutely nothing in common except their voice. Darling was bright, energetic, excited. Wake wandered around in a cloud of gloom and doom, every time they met returning to whining about his wife or Scratch or the rules. Booooring.
But Darling… Darling wanted to find the rules, not so that he could abide by them but so that he could see how far they could bend. So, he could understand what they meant. That had made the choice easy.
It had been quick, their first interaction. A few harmless flirtations and a drink and within seconds Darling was well and truly on his hook. Zane knew what he wanted and how to get it. Back then, what he had wanted was Darling’s brain. Alan had been a good partner, when he was willing to be manhandled into writing. He was good at it when he just let loose and created. But he had to be guided, to be led along. Zane had felt increasingly like an angler fish, his light mesmerizing the writer and convincing him to ignore the jaws behind it until the auteur got what he wanted. He had been lucky that Yoton Yo was relatively easy to extrapolate from the few crazed writing sessions he had with the writer, providing him with a strangely personal piece that echoed Alan’s own. A helix of intention forever spiralling around a central point – the wish to escape the darkness.
But the film hadn’t been enough. It hadn’t managed to tear apart whatever it was that was binding them down here in the depths of the lake. It certainly wasn’t enough for Zane to fully pull himself out of the room he found himself contained in. It had granted him access to the outside, allowing him to run into that odd little sheriff and eventually Darling himself, but too long out of room 665 led to him weakening. Wake’s manuscript might have been enough, but the last time they had spoken together they’d come to blows. Wake wanted to stop writing, convinced something horrible would escape if he got out. Irritated beyond belief with his self-centred whining, Zane had offhandedly remarked that the thing escaping would be Alan himself…
And that had woken up Scratch…
Zane wasn’t sure how long it had taken him to pull himself back together again after that. What Scratch had done to him was an experience he never wanted to repeat. He was missing time in ways that he hadn’t noticed in a long time. All he knew was that there was a new voice in the darkness. Darling.
So he’d met him, brought him home… and that was where Darling had stayed. Entirely against the plan…
As he sat on his couch holding a negroni in one long fingered hand, the limb draped across the top of his knee which was twisted up onto the couch itself, the realization of how things had changed so significantly poured over his mind. Darling, his Darling, was prattling on as usual - quantum theory this and alternative universes that – but he stood utterly vulnerable in the auteur’s realm. There was no indication of fear, of potential concern. He just was.
He’d lost the lab coat some time ago, the sweater vest as well. And his shirt… Zane allowed a smug smile at that. He’d taken the relatively buttoned up scientist and turned him immediately to… well. He was wearing one of Zane’s jackets, unbuttoned, the limp remains of his bowtie hanging haphazardly from his neck. His hair, messy and floppy, had grown a little in his time here despite the loops resetting things. Despite the drink in his own hand, Zane was sure the scientist had not drunk a drop of it in the last few hours. He was utterly enthralled with his own musing; his own thoughts about the nature of the Dark Place and how they could get out of this place.
Zane just watched him, a lazy smile crossing his face as he took in the lines of his body, his hands as expressive as the rest of him. He could watch Darling talk forever, just cocooned in this space where they were safe.
Where he was safe.
Shoving the thought away, Zane blinked slowly before trying to pull himself back. He had to get him back on track, he couldn’t sit just here thinking about his current muse. He needed to get out of the Dark Place.
“Darling,” he drawled, the word escaping his mouth like a bubble of molasses. It was thick and sweet and heavy in his mouth, utterly surprising him at the way in which it came out. The scientist paused, attuned to Zane’s interjections in a way that sent a jolt through him. Barbara had been enraptured, Cynthia enthralled, Emil obsessed… but none of them looked at him the way Darling did when Zane called his name. It was like he was drawing the scientist back to himself with a word, a breath of his name pulling him back to reality. Darling looked at him like a lamb, eyes big and wide and soft and utterly trusting.
Zane briefly wondered if he’d look at him like that with his hands wrapped around his throat as he whispered his name and tore the life out of him…
Shaking the thought out of his head, he got to his feet in one fluid motion, crossing the room and losing his glass somewhere along the way. Darling’s eyes snapped to him, and he realized he’d glitched his way to his researcher. There was no concern from the man, his slightly goofy smile expanding instead of falling apart.
“I’m sorry, I was rambling again wasn’t I? I do that when I get lost in an idea,” Darling said, leaning into Zane’s hands as they cupped his cheeks. Zane tutted softly, kissing his forehead and enveloping the man as much as he could without actually wrapping his arms around him.
“Noooo I love it when you ramble, I do. You always have something fascinating to say, even if I don’t understand a word of it…” He leaned back, running a thumb along Casper’s jaw and watching at the full body shudder it caused in the scientist. “No I could listen to you ramble for days. I have, in fact… and would do it again in a heartbeat. I just wanted…”
He trailed off, confusion running through him. What had he wanted? What did he want? He wasn’t sure. He’d wanted to see the way that the corner of Darling’s mouth crinkled, the slight dilation in his pupils. He’d wanted his warmth, to feel centred and grounded for the first time in decades…
“We should focus. The more we focus, the sooner we can get out of here,” Zane said, swaying slightly to some music that was only in his own head. He drew Darling with him, the doctor allowing himself to be drawn along for a moment before he suddenly planted his feet and pushed Zane back gently.
“In that case, there’s some things I need. We need to go outside to get them, I don’t think you will have them here.”
Zane felt as if the walls of Room 665 cracked and splintered at the suggestion. The world simultaneously blew apart and imploded inwards. No. No no. No no no no nononononono.
“No. You don’t go out. I go out, I can maybe find what you need,” he said, his voice a little high pitched.
“Some of it is very specific, Tom. I know what I need, I’m an FBC scientist I can take care of myself.” The trite dismissal rankled Zane immediately, sending a snarl thrilling through him. His shoulders tensed as he pushed back and created physical distance between himself and Darling.
“Can you?” Zane asked, his tone acidic. “Were you taking care of yourself with the experiments with that Dylan boy? Or were you just some kind of Science Icarus, chasing your hypothesis to whatever end no matter the risks?”
Darling blinked slowly, utterly stunned. Zane was too lost in his fear and anger to care. He had always had a temper, and he had always been possessive of those that were his. The Dark Place had just made it worse. The scientist had not seen that side of him, and the cutting remark went straight through what little defences he had up against the other man to wound him deeply. Of course, he was right – he had not thought things through with Dylan. Nor had he thought things through in coming here to this Dark Place. But the speed with which Zane attacked him hinted at something more, some reasoning for him to go immediately to that level of hurt.
“Wow… That’s… Uncalled for,” Darling replied, putting his glass down and immediately doing up his shirt as if that would provide him with more protection. Tom just dropped onto the couch in a huff, taking an angry sip of his own drink and looking anywhere that wasn’t at the man he had just insulted. He couldn’t tell Darling that he was terrified about him getting hurt, that the other creatures in the dark would have more power than him after some time out of Room 665. He could not tell him that he wanted just to keep him safe…
He felt a sudden weight at the end of his couch as Darling sat down with a sigh, his serious gaze settling on Zane after a moment.
“Do you want to talk about that? Cause that came from nowhere.”
“Not really,” Zane grumbled, tucking himself away from the other man. Darling sighed softly, reaching out to lightly pat Zane’s knee.
“Look. You’re fine. You said something pretty hurtful but there has to be a reason for it. Are you scared?”
“I’m not… Look,” Zane sighed, the contact of Darling’s hand on his knee immediately breaking some of the ice. “Look. You don’t understand what it’s like out there. You were lucky that I found you first. That I… had a reason for you to be alive. There’s plenty of things in the Dark that would have torn you apart only to put you back together and do it again. You don’t understand what’s out there.”
“So explain it to me,” Darling replied, his tone even as he looked over Zane’s features. The man looked like he was simultaneously trying to will him away and also escape into nothingness. Darling had watched Zane do that once before, opening the door to the apartment and sliding out of it while he thought Darling was asleep, but he seemed to not want to do it now. Managing a weak smile, he lightly gripped Zane’s bony knee once more and prompted him to look up at him with his icy blue eyes.
“I promise, I understand a great deal if it’s just explained to me, Tom. I’m a pretty smart guy, you know?”
“I do, and I love that about you, I just…” Zane sighed and ran a hand back through his hair, baring his teeth in irritation. “The Dark hides a lot of dangers. I kept them away from you when you first arrived, but we’ve been nudging things. It draws things closer, hungry things that see your light and want it to themselves. I won’t let you be hurt.”
Darling stared off into the distance for a moment, slowly nodding to himself before he seriously looked back at Zane. “So. Give me the light, and we go together. Short trips – you’ve said before you can’t leave here for long periods without getting sent back – but we can try. We have to try, if we are ever going to get out of here.”
Zane took in his statement, fighting the fear for a moment longer. He was right, if they stayed in here they would never get out. He had to trust that Darling knew a little bit about what he was doing.
Pushing himself slowly to his feet, he nodded and downed the rest of his drink. With a flick of his wrist the glass disappeared, and he offered a hand to Casper. “Alright. I’m convinced. And I’m sorry. You know how this place seeps into you and plays off your fears…”
“Well.. no, I really don’t, if I’m being honest. You’ve not given it a chance to,” Darling replied, smiling slightly as he ran a hand back through his hair and started casting his eyes around for his clothes. “I’ve been kept completely safe here.”
The statement made Zane simultaneously preen with pride and feel chastised by Darling’s admission. He’d verbally attacked for no reason other than his own wounded ego. He would have to make it up to him.
As Darling scampered around, pulling on his clothes and beginning to prattle about the exact parts he would need (“duct tape is especially important, I’ll need a massive amount!”) Zane set about gathering a light source that they could both carry. He had his own ways of repelling the shadows, of course, but some of them had become slightly more threatening of late. They weren’t just Alan’s shadows anymore; it was like some of them were Scratch’s too – ravenous and angry. The light would help them more than any of his own abilities.
He handed a lamp to Darling, noting the slightly anxious look on the other man’s face. He was just about to tell him it would all be ok, when suddenly there was a rumble outside of the hotel. The air pressure in the room changed, and both men turned to face the window outside. A dark cloud was rolling in like a pyroclastic flow, engulfing what little of the rainswept street they could see behind it. Darling barely had a chance to draw in a gasp before it hit the ground floor of the hotel with a thud, shaking the building and causing the Oceanview to groan.
It felt as if something shifted in the world, the quality of the very air altering and leaving Darling feeling slightly woozy. He wobbled in Zane’s grip, aware that the taller man had clutched him close. Zane’s eyes were darting between the window and the door, intermittently checking to see if the world was still the way it was supposed to be. As the Oceanview stopped trembling, coming to a rest in the wake of whatever something had passed through the city outside, Darling slowly found himself clearing his throat and loathe to let go of Zane.
“What was that?” he breathed, trying to fight back the fear in his voice.
“That, dear Darling, was everything changing. We are going to have to be far more careful than we first thought…”