Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure]

marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
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Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure] Nov 28, 2020 14:22:23 GMT -5

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Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Nov 28, 2020 14:22:23 GMT -5

That's it, it's split it won't recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find their fathers and their mothers
If you remember who they are

He wrapped the bandage tight around the stretch of his forearm where the knife had gone deep. The salve worked to patch up the wound underneath, along with the sloppy stitching he’d spent to rend the flesh together. If Delroy had a mirror, he’d have been able to see all the scars he’d accumulated in the last six days. The jagged marks across his back, the purpling bruises across his stomach, and the mangled flesh along his legs all clung together with each patchwork they’d done after every battle.

The cornucopia stood stark behind them, etched of ice and unchanged since the first day they’d been lifted into the arena. Somehow, he and Shy had begun the journey together and now appeared close to ending it together, too. With three other cannon shots throughout the day, Del understood that more likely than not, he’d have to say his goodbyes to the quiet career from two that night.

This felt worse than the wounds seeping across his skin. Del reasoned that he’d drawn all his strength to survive from those who’d stood behind him: Domitia, Neysa, and Shy all at least tacitly agreeing to help him carry the banner forward. But now? He’d have to go it alone. As the chill came down his spine, Del pushed away the thought that he’d have to end a life to get through another day.

Should he have embraced it instead? Already he’d seen four that’d fallen: three at his hands, and a fourth just barely not. If he couldn’t accept death for what it was now, then he had no business going on living.

“Want to watch the sunset, man?” Del turned to look after Shy and offered a seat on the ice next to him. He moved to pull his knees up toward his chest.

“I wanted to tell you... I'm glad you're here, bud.”

elegant

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Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure] Nov 28, 2020 14:44:46 GMT -5

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Post by uwu on Nov 28, 2020 14:44:46 GMT -5

Four canons went off throughout the day, leaving something I didn't want to think about. The last time I made it to this part of the games, the gamemakers thought it would be hilarious to... to... I couldn't. I can't. I refuse to acknowledge the inhuman torture they put a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old through. No one should have had to go through that, but Carmen and I did. We were the youngest fucking tributes! Who in their right minds would fucking do that? An icicle knife flies out of my hand, clanging against whatever the hell the cornucopia was made out of. I don't want to do this again. They better not make me do it again. Please.

“Want to watch the sunset, man?” For the first time since I've met him, I think I'm finally glad he made a dumbass comment like that. I nod in agreement and take a seat next to him. “I wanted to tell you... I'm glad you're here, bud.” A quiet, almost inaudible chuckle passes out of my mouth. He may be a dumbass, but he has a heart and a spirit like no other I've seen, even after everything that's happened.

"Thanks." Has my voice always sounded like that? I clear my through with a cough. "Thanks for sticking with me." Much better. Most people would probably ramble on about how much of a friend their ally was or what they'd do to remember them after the arena (assuming they won), but I don't see a point in doing that. I was going to miss Delroy when one of us dies, and I'm going to get sad. Why make it harder on either of us? and why have our last memories of each other been a weep fest? No one likes weep fests. They're sappy and lame and probably good for viewership in the Capitol, which is what I don't think Del wants.

"What a beautiful sunset, wouldn't you say?"

[ahref="http://hungergamesrpg.com/thread/60901/character"]l

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marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
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Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure] Nov 28, 2020 15:16:18 GMT -5

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Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Nov 28, 2020 15:16:18 GMT -5

That's it, it's split it won't recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find their fathers and their mothers
If you remember who they are

Del kept his eyes on the distance, past the glass lake and toward what he assumed was the edge of the arena. Even as much as he despised the game makers, he had to hand it to them: the way the orange melded into red and stretched across the clouds reminded him of another winter’s sunset back in eleven. Maybe he’d started to grow too accustomed to the artificial and had replaced what was fake for what was real (a way to buttress against choices he’d made). But he still liked the way all of this would vanish to purple and indigo soon to leave he and Shy under cover of darkness.

‘Thanks.’ Shy spoke. Del shifted his chin ever so slightly and moved to raise an eyebrow. ‘Thanks for sticking with me.’

He remembered watching the boy in the eightieth. He wasn’t much older than he was at the time. How a twelve-year-old could’ve ever gone through this seemed one of the most deeply fucked up things that Del could imagine. A few days prior he might’ve let himself rage against what it meant and pried at Shy to expose more about how the capitol had stolen his childhood from him.

But he was six days older and several years wiser now.

Staring at the gawky career from two, Del saw someone that’d managed to piece himself back together. Stitched not by needle and thread but years of pushing back against the thought he’d not been worth a damn thing. That’s what Del was fighting against. To strip away the power that people in the capitol had to make those like Shy and Del feel as though they were worthless. Or that they needed to kneel before them and massage their precious egos. Boys like Shy and Del fought twice as hard for half as much and didn’t need to bang their chests to know they had a right to exist.

‘What a beautiful sunset, wouldn’t you say?’ Shy offered.

“Something special, I have to agree,” Del replied. He turned to look at his partner and gave a grin. “And come on man, you don’t have to thank me. Even if I’ve been the one running right into knives for you.” Del let out a laugh and rubbed at the bandage on his forearm. “I’d do it all over again for you.”

He glanced back at the sunset.

“I think I like seeing these better than sunrise. You don’t have to think about what’s coming next right away.”

elegant

Last Edit: Nov 28, 2020 15:19:07 GMT -5 by marguerite harvard d2a (zori)

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Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure] Nov 29, 2020 11:18:51 GMT -5

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Post by uwu on Nov 29, 2020 11:18:51 GMT -5

The bitter cold rushes through my nose as I take this moment in as Del responds. I pick up a word here and there. I think he said something about not needing to thank him, but I already did and I'm not taking it back. What's going to happen to us after all of this? Does either of us actually stand a chance at winning these games? Will it be worth it to survive one of these again, and would it be better to put the pain onto someone else?

“I’d do it all over again for you.” My teeth bite my inner lip. Why do I get stuck with the good-hearted people? Just let me kill people and not have to worry about losing them. My eyes dart down to the horizon, zoning out the world again. Is there some higher being that enjoys watching its creation torture themselves? Why and how could it let this all happen? None of us should be here. If there was a higher power, it wouldn't have had this happen, would it?

Del's voice cuts through my head. “I think I like seeing these better than sunrise. You don’t have to think about what’s coming next right away." I glance over at him, appreciating what most would call a friend, before going back at the horizon, nodding in agreement. My brain formulates multiple responses that I would love to say, but none of them seem like the right thing to say. With each passing second, the pressure to say something bears down, even though I know he won't care if I don't respond. It's not like I've been the most social person these games, to begin with, but it would be nice to not be a dick today.

With the sun almost completely set, I blurt out what we've both probably been thinking: "You know what needs to happen." I pause, trying to regain my composure. "I think we need to... I think we need to go our own separate ways soon." I don't want to have you go through the same pain I went through. You deserve better.

[ahref="http://hungergamesrpg.com/thread/60901/character"]l

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marguerite harvard d2a (zori)
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Call Them Brothers [Shy/Del Day 6 Leisure] Nov 29, 2020 15:30:49 GMT -5

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Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Nov 29, 2020 15:30:49 GMT -5

That's it, it's split it won't recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find their fathers and their mothers
If you remember who they are

'You know what needs to happen.’ Shy spoke matter-of-factly. The young man had seen all of this once before. They were fast approaching the point where they needed to resign as foes or die. ‘I think we need to... I think we need to go our own separate ways soon.’

Del gripped his knees tighter and drew in a long breath. He let the air expire outward into a great white plume in front of his face. He thought that it must’ve been harder in an arena full of ice and snow in a space that sheltered out the sound. That left more time for them to be in their own heads, and less distance between the words they said to one another.

“Back at Iris Gate, where I was going to school, we’ve got an apple orchard.” Del transitioned into his non-sequitur, with a smile. “They’ve got the best ambrosias you’ll ever taste, you know? Don’t waste your time on red delicious, they’ve got no real flavor, just flash.” He gave a wave of his hand and repositioned his hands around his knees. He thought of eleven then and how a camera crew must’ve been descending on his parent’s little shotgun house.

“You make it out of here, make sure you get to Iris Gate, okay?” Del looked at Shy with the sort of seriousness he’d reserved for one of his speeches to the rest of the tributes. “I mean, assuming it’s not me that gets back to those orchards first.”