I listened to If You Want Love by NF the entire time I was writing this so,,, that's a concept song
Arley and Hermes knew this was it. That they had one last girl to murder. Just one. They had already decided on pulling an everlark suicide attempt.
"Where the hell could she be?" Hermes scoffed, dragging his feet as they walked. He was exhausted, thirsty, and hungry.
"Ruby isn't clever enough to have stayed alive this long!" He shook his head. It was true! She was an idiot. A selfish, spoiled, and cruel idiot who had snagged the capitals attention upon volunteering.
"You know how lucky some people get, Hermes." Arley shook his head. He had already planned how he'd go. He would take on the girl with the red hair, lose, and let Hermes finish her off. He knew that he didn't deserve to win. And that Hermes didn't deserve to die.
"Maybe some people don't deserve to be lucky! Maybe they deserve to die! And she deserves death! I know she does!" Hermes was completely willing to turn on his childhood best friend. Now more than ever.
"What was that, Hermes?" A female voice purred from behind them. It had a clear capital accent. "I didn't think you were that envious of me~"
Hermes and Arley whipped around at the sound of her voice. "I never have, and never will be envious of you, Ruby!" Hermes growled, his grip on his sword tightening.
Arleys heart rate had gone through the roof. He was ready to attack her! His knuckles were pale from gripping onto his dagger.
"I do hope that me killing the both of you can resolve our little, what are we calling it? Issue? I'm sure you'll forgive me, bread boy." Ruby sneered, glancing in Arleys direction.
Ruby smirked, reaching for an arrow for her bow. "Please try not to scream too loud, I'd like my victory to be silent~"
Hermes held his sword up, "Would you mind waiting? Just thirty seconds, dear." He always used to call her that, mostly as a joke. But now, he couldn't be more serious. "I suppose that our time is running out, and I'd like a proper goodbye."
"Of course. Anything for you. Thirty, twenty nine, twenty eight," Ruby had suspected that this would be easy. Painfully easy. Once the time was up, she could release her readied arrow, and kill two idiots with one shot. >:)
Hermes quickly turned to Arley, wrapping both arms around his neck. "Arley,"
"'No! Hermes, you can't do this. We can't do this. What're you doing?" Arley said quickly, looking up at him.
"Shhh, it'll work out. I promise. And I'd never lie to you." Hermes was slowly angling the two, giving Ruby a clear shot at his back.
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Nineteen, eighteen,"
"I hope you don't mind," Hermes sounded completely calm. Completely at peace with the fact that he would be dead in a mere twenty seconds. But he had to make the most of them. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to a wide eyed Arley's.
Arley knew he was wasting time. Valuable time. And he knew that he shouldn't do this. But he couldn't help but lean into Hermes and kiss back. He never wanted to forget how warm his lips were, or how he tasted richer than anything he'd ever had. He wasn't ready to let go.
"Five, four," Ruby was completely focused and aimed for Hermes's back, ready to fire.
Hermes pulled away, unwrapping his arms from Arleys neck. He lightly shoved him backwards, far enough to be safe from the shot. "I'll see you on the other side, Mella-"
"One." Ruby let her arrow fly, grinning like a child upon hearing Hermes scream.
"Hermes!" Arley yelled. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He would never be able to unsee what was in front of him.
Hermes had fallen to his knees, and was staring down at the arrow that had gone straight through him.
Ruby laughed, still grinning with glee. "Pathetic, Hermes! I always expected better from you! To think that you would've done our district justice!" She sneered.
That was it. Whatever was holding Arley together had snapped. He was suddenly filled with more rage and hatred than ever before. He charged at her, shoving his knife right into the center of her chest.
Ruby hadn't expected that blow at all. She fell back, quickly trying to crawl away from Arley. "No! No please!" She pleaded.
Arley tackled her, curling his hands around her throat and squeezing. Hard enough to kill her right then.
Ruby managed to let out one last mangled scream before the light faded from her eyes.
Arley stood up upon hearing her cannon, kicking her harshly in the side before running over to Hermes.
"You can't go. Please. Please don't leave me here." Arley begged, collapsing to his knees beside Hermes. "I can't do it! I can't!" Tears were already threatening spill.
"Arley-" Hermes coughed, struggling to lift his head to look at him.
Arley drug Hermes into his arms, resting him on his chest. "Stay with me. I need you." He said quickly, already starting to cry. He couldn't take seeing anyone he cared about in pain. It was traumatizing.
"Just let me go." Hermes whispered. He couldn't take it. He couldn't take the physical therapy they'd put him through. He couldn't take the constant cameras. He wouldn't. And that was it.
The sound of that cannon quite literally shattered Arleys heart. "I love you! I love you! Please-" Arleys voice broke with that. His entire body racked with sobs as he held Hermes's body. He wasn't going to let go! He couldn't! "Come back-"
"And the victor of the 100th Hunger Games,,, Arley Mellark." The voice over the intercom didn't sound as cheerful as it should've. How could it?
Arley was completely unable to think about himself. The capitol could bring him back! He'd seen it done before! He carefully laid Hermes down, walking over to retrieve his dagger. Everything had fallen apart. Everything. What would Aster say? What would anyone say?
((fuck that hurted))
