Notes: Written for kolms comment ficathon; prompt: "marvel/glimmer, don't think i'm pushing you away when you're the one that i've kept closest."

The Glow

"This is stupid."

"Shut up, Glimmer."

"I mean, really stupid."

"Shut up, Glimmer."

Praise the lord, she actually does for a couple of seconds as he tries to arrange the string perfectly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't want to die? Now shut up and stop distracting me."

"Everybody dies."

He considers this for a second. "Okay, I don't want to die in the next two weeks."

She shrugs. "Fair enough." She peers at his mechanism. "You know, I don't exactly think she'll be your biggest threat."

"Exactly. I'm getting some practice on the weaker targets; with any luck, I'll have more of a handle on things when it comes time to take on stronger people."

"What about the 12 girl? Don't they have some kind of alliance?"

He pauses. "...It's 12. Who the hell gets taken about by 12?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he says cheerily.

She huffs exaggeratedly and, if he wasn't trying to concentrate, he'd find that pretty funny. "...It wasn't my fault."

He blinks. "You fell asleep on watch; it was sort of your fault."

"I was tired! Cato forced me into taking first shift; I didn't want to!" He tries to ignore her shouting excuses, though he doubts it'll work. She does eventually stop though. "...So what, I fell asleep. What does that prove? That I'm human. Well it's more than I can say for you."

"It proves you're an idiot," he says, unaffected by her comments. You don't need to be human. All you need is to be good, they used to tell them at the Academy. Glimmer used to sit at the back during those lectures and paint her nails.

"I am not an idiot," she sniffs. "You're the one deciding it'll help anything to kill a twelve-year-old. Haven't you learned? You let those types get killed off by the elements, else you become a villain, and we all know the villains don't win."

"Why were you cosying up to Cato then?"

"Uh, slit his throat in his sleep? No-one ever said the villains don't do well."

It's his turn to sigh. "Why do you have to be such a distraction?"

She giggles and winks. "As many a boy has asked."

He does not blush. He is currently fighting for his life; it is not the appropriate time to start blushing because a dead girl might be flirting with him (is there ever an appropriate time for that?). "Nevermind. I need to get this snare set."

"Mm-hmm." She nods firmly. "Well then, I better skedaddle. See you on the flipside. Luck with your killing a twelve-year-old. Jeez, surprising it took you as long to go crazy as it did."

He glares as she vanishes into a golden mist. Brat.

"So, I figured it out."

She sits down gracefully next to him, somehow managing not to get his blood on her, despite it flowing from his neck to exactly where she's sitting. "No offense Glimmer, but this really isn't the time."

"Aww," she pouts. A pause. "But seriously though. Setting that trap for the little girl? Knowing what the big girl could do? That wasn't target practice, no way in hell."

He rolls his eyes. "Good for you. Can I die in peace now?"

"I kind of doubt it," she points out. "But... I get it. Katniss killed someone you cared about. Might as well try and return the favor."

He's struck dumb for a moment. Then: "Glimmer... what part of shut up don't you understand?"

"The part where I actually have to do it," she says flippantly. "Anyway. It's kind of flattering."

"I didn't do this for you."

"Of course not."

"We barely knew each other."

"But we did know each other."

He doesn't know how to respond to that. "...You were from home; I suppose I liked that. I'd rather have kept you around a little longer, no matter how stupid you were-"

"Oi!"

"-but it doesn't matter. I came in here knowing you'd have to die. I wasn't exactly crying for you."

Liar.

She shrugs. "Well you were underwater right after I died, so I can't really tell if that's true." She leans forward slightly, strokes his hair. "I stand by what I said. About it being surprising you didn't go nuts earlier."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He's still coughing up blood. Slowly, her hand moves from his hair to his hand - he holds it, watching as she glimmers as much as her name promises. "So where are we going?"

"Um, somewhere? How am I meant to know?"

"Well you've been dead longer than I have."

"Yeah, but I'm just your hallucination, so it doesn't really count."

Her glow spreads from her hand to his, and he can't help but be transfixed. He's never shone like her; very few people have. He falls into it, falls into the shimmer, and everything seems as beautiful as she is.