Against the Odds (A Crossmare Fanfiction)

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God pls work-–

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They stayed there in comfortable silence for around ten minutes, neither of them sharing a word or making a move. They just stayed in each other's embraces, basking in in the peace and quiet.

At some point Cross fell asleep, his breathing soft and gentle against Nightmare's chest. The taller rubbed mindless patterns on his back, content with the feeling of Cross' soul beating healthily against his own.

Despite being asleep, he could see the changes the medicine was making already. His cheeks were no longer flushed, and this time when he wiped the sweat off of his forehead, it didn't instantly return. His body was trembling less and less, all the shakes and shivers subsiding as the miracle medicine did its work.

He glanced out of the cave entrance as the Hunger Games anthem played, staring at the sky as it did the same it did every night.

The fallen:
Geno from District Two
Killer from District Five
Finn from District Ten

So it was Finn's death that caused him so much panic. He assumed that later he'd be seeing Dust's name up there as well.

"Five Tributes left, you hear that Cross?" He said softly, tracing his finger down the bumps in Cross' neck. Of course the smaller didn't respond, but he hadn't expected him too. "Three to kill Cross, that's all. Just three."

This time the smaller shifted, not properly responding but digging his face further into his chest and muttering incoherent mumbly nonsense that made Nightmare smile fondly.

"Yeah, me too Cross. Me too." He snickered softly to himself and wrapped all four of his tentacles around the smaller, not wanting him to get cold in the night's breeze.

He stayed awake for a while longer before he found himself slowly nodding off, his head bobbing. He'd have liked to stay awake and keep an eye on Cross and check the fever didn't take any nasty turns. But he fell asleep helplessly, his grip on his partner only loosening the slightest.

——————

Day ten of being in the arena started off with a thunderstorm. Claps and rolls of thunder growled from the sky and forks of lightning flashed down, stabbing down at the ground and illuminating the sky in flashes of brilliant light. Rain came down in torrents, turning the river outside into a snarling beast with rapids and spray. The leaves on trees were torn at mercilessly by the howling wind, ripping them off of the branches and sending them spiralling off into the sky.

Nightmare stared dully at the cave entrance, watching as the vines covering it were battered in every direction, water trickling down the rocks like a scraggly waterfall. Here in the cave they were sheltered from the gale force winds, but he could assume that the other tributes weren't as fortunate and were currently being battered to death by the wind and rain. Or being struck by lightning, that would be helpful.

Cross was still deeply asleep, his small body slumped on Nightmare's lap and face pressed into the crook of his neck. Every time he breathed it send shivers down Nightmare's spine, his hot breath tickling him feeling undeniably good.

He hadn't been awake long, maybe ten minutes, if even that. He would have moved about and somehow been productive in their little cave, but he didn't really want to wake Cross. He wanted to give the medicine as long as time as possible to kick in and destroy the fever that had been plaguing his body.

But when an exceptionally loud crash of thunder rang out the smaller went stiff, his eyes shooting open and looking around blearily. "Wh-Wha--"