let me give you my life | [Benedict and Alicia]

sbeeg
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let me give you my life | [Benedict and Alicia] Feb 9, 2021 14:12:04 GMT -5

Post by sbeeg on Feb 9, 2021 14:12:04 GMT -5

Benedict Nolan
There's nothing sweeter than my baby
I'd never want once from the cherry tree

It isn't until he's escorted off the stage by Peacekeepers does the gravity of the event hit him. Benedict sits in the cluttered room of Nine's justice building, watching the dust spin in the early morning light spilling in from a cloudy window. It's not even noon yet. How can it all be over if it's not even noon?

His throat is closing, his eyes itch with tears that do not come yet. He wants to cry but instead he is only able to choke on air. He can only suffer as his body tries to catch up to his emotions.

Benedict's brain falls into numbers mode. He hadn't seen the Reaping from other districts yet, he'd get that as soon as he was on the tribute train. Seize up the competitors and pick one to win it all.

He had a decent amount of money to his name but he could triple it with a few good bets. Money for Sebastian to hold him over until gets a new gig, and funds for Alicia. His family wouldn't give her a dime and he needed to know she'd be okay.

Ripred, she had to be okay.

He looks to the door, waiting not for his horrified mother or disappointed father, but for the one face that made getting through each day worth it.

Lyrics from Work Song by Hozier

Stare
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and i will hold you tight / like the moon in the arms of the sky

let me give you my life | [Benedict and Alicia] Feb 10, 2021 19:23:47 GMT -5

Post by Stare on Feb 10, 2021 19:23:47 GMT -5

alicia

People in Nine liked to whisper that Alicia Klare didn’t have a heart.

It wasn’t true by a long shot, of course, but she let the rumors live on because they were good for business. Everyone wanted their spies to be cold and distant, unbreakable. She was meant to be like stone or ice or something else that refused to yield to pressure and threats and the horrors of all the corrupt, broken things that the district had to offer. Alicia had no problem letting people think she fit that description perfectly.

But if anyone had been paying attention to her at the reaping, they would have seen through her deception in a heartbeat.

She didn’t just break. She shattered. She’d barely caught her breath by the time she stumbled through the Justice Building doors, the world swinging in wide circles around her. Her throat was so tight she could barely breathe, her chest caving in on itself, and for once the sight of Benedict Nolan did nothing to steady her. Instead the pain intensified and it was all she could do not to burst into tears right then and there.

Instead she lifted her chin and leveled her gaze at him, like a soldier going to war. “You’re not allowed to die. You - you’re not going to die.”

sbeeg
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let me give you my life | [Benedict and Alicia] Feb 12, 2021 9:52:25 GMT -5

Post by sbeeg on Feb 12, 2021 9:52:25 GMT -5

Benedict Nolan
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be
She give me toothaches just from kissin' me

Relief and pain twists in his chest as she fills the doorway. The war between his constant happiness to be in her presence and the sorrow of the moment.

"You’re not allowed to die. You - you’re not going to die."

She's trying, Ripred, she is trying. He can see the pain blooming in her own chest threatening to take over.

Benedict closes the distance between them and wraps his arms around her. He wants to memorize it: her warmth, the smell of soap on her skin, the tickle of her red hair against his nose. But there is still business to take care of.

"We don't have a lot of time so listen to me. Go to my apartment, under the bed should be a lock box. Take what's in it and bet on..." He tongue feels heavy. He doesn't know which day he should die yet. Emotion hits him like a train and he realizes when he lets her go he'll never hold her again. He clings to her, burying his face in her hair and wishing this had turned out anything other way than this. "Fuck, Alicia, I'm sorry. I'm sorry and I-"

His words are cut off by a choked noise and from the twitch of his shoulders one might think Benedict Nolan was crying.

Lyrics from Work Song by Hozier

Stare
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last seen Feb 15, 2024 23:43:11 GMT -5

and i will hold you tight / like the moon in the arms of the sky

let me give you my life | [Benedict and Alicia] Feb 13, 2021 22:50:12 GMT -5

Post by Stare on Feb 13, 2021 22:50:12 GMT -5

alicia

Alicia clutched him so tightly she was certain her fingerprints would leave bruises on his back, grasping onto him as if she could keep him if she only proved she needed him. And she did - Ripred, she did - she needed him like she needed oxygen and water and food. She kept screwing her eyes shut, waiting to wake up from what was certainly some sort of nightmare.

But his trembling against her was real, and the aching tightness in her throat was real, and the uglyangrything shredding through her heart was real. After a few shuddering breaths she steadied, refusing to cry in front of him. Benedict Nolan had enough to worry about without her tears on his shoulder.

"I'd bet on you." She whispered fiercely, burying her face into the crook of his neck. "I'd bet on you any day. I - "

Her voice cut off. She swore sharply, pulling out of their embrace and pressing the heel of her palm into her forehead. Everything was slipping to pieces around her and every time she tried to pull it back together a part of herself tore a little.

"I love you." The words shouldn't have sounded as broken as they did, twisting out from inside of her like a double-edged blade. She found his hand, winding her fingers around his. "I - I'll always love you."