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Gluttony
Even if she and Haymitch weren't pulling off their star-crossed lovers ruse, Maysilee believes she would still have chosen him as her ally. He's deviously clever, he has hunting experience, he's fast, he's strong…
He's home.
He's home, she thinks as they run away from the Cornucopia, away from the other tributes who have just shaken off the enchantment of the arena and are now massacring one another, as she reaches out and takes her hand in his.
He's home, she thinks as she bandages his hand after an encounter with some carnivorous squirrels, and she presses her lips to the gauze covering his palm.
He's home, she thinks as it rains, and he laughs almost deliriously at the sight of clean water, fresh water, safe water, and in this arena of false paradise, he's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen, and she stretches up on her toes to kiss him for the first time.
She doesn't even have to remind herself of the cameras, waiting, watching for the town girl and the Seam boy to seize the chance to finally express their forbidden love. She doesn't care how the Capitolites choose to interpret their words and actions. Let them think what they will of her smiles, as she giggles at his jokes and quips and can almost imagine Jon and Dell, Marj and Rose, laughing uproariously alongside them. Let them think what they will of her kisses, as she desperately tries to drink in the taste of home in the only way she knows how. Let them think what they will of her tears, as they walk away from each other at the edge of the arena, and she dreads the cold nights that lie ahead—however many are left for her—and being alone for the first time since they were deposited in this godforsaken arena, and losing the last piece of home.
Maysilee feels his absence almost instantly. A shudder tears through her body, and she sinks to her knees. This simple act, being overcome by emotion, saves her life, as a candy pink bird with a razor-sharp beak swoops down and pierces the space where her head just was.
She sees the swarm of nauseatingly pink feathers coming for her. Maysilee shields her head, curls into a ball, and as the first beaks begin to slice her skin, she screams. "HAYMITCH!"
Is it their cutting beaks that will kill her first, or suffocating on the feathers smothering her face? She can't move, can't give them an opening to her throat or vital organs, but she's going to die if she stays here.
"HAYMITCH!"
She thinks she hears her name as blood drips down her face. But she doesn't believe it until the birds shriek and scatter, fleeing from the flaming torch they made the other night, the torch that Haymitch is swinging at the fuchsia vultures. The last of the birds disappears from view, but Maysilee doesn't move. She can't move. Her muscles are frozen, her bones are stone, her body refuses to obey. It isn't until Haymitch gently peels her fingers away from their protective brace around her head and clutches her to him that life returns to her limbs, and she reaches toward him. Tears fall silently from her wide eyes, her chest heaves, and her whole body trembles like leaves in the wind as Haymitch carries her away.
It feels like hours before she finally speaks; perhaps it was hours. When her hoarse voice finally sounds, she mumbles, "We can't split up again. We can't. We can't. We can't."
And his voice, hoarse as well, murmurs, "We won't split up again. We won't. We won't. We won't."
Haymitch is fixing her wounds as best he can when the announcement sounds throughout the arena. Two Victors, they promise. Two can go home if they're from the same District. Two can go home if they're the last ones standing.
Maysilee should know better than to believe the Capitol's glittery words and saccharine promises. But she wants to go home, and she wants Haymitch to come with her. They have been through hell on Earth together, and there's no way she'll make it out of the arena sane without him. Call her needy, call her desperate, call her clingy, but she isn't leaving this place without Haymitch Abernathy at her side.
He takes her hand and looks her in the eyes, his gaze dark. "We're going home," he vows.
She clasps his hand back. "We're going home," she agrees. We. We. We.
That night she has nightmares of bloodthirsty birds the color of cotton candy. Haymitch is there when she surges awake, quickly shushing her before she can accidentally give away their location and pulling her close again. Her shaky fingers clench and twist the front of his shirt. Breathing in his scent and feeling his warmth has an almost magical calming effect, and she just wants to stay there forever and ever, drinking in Haymitch Abernathy for the rest of her life, however long that'll be. If this is the closest thing to love she will ever get, then she will take it wholeheartedly, unabashedly, shamelessly.
No him. No me. Just we. We, we, we.
Their lovers' respite doesn't last for long. All too soon it's down to the final four, and they're facing off with the two Careers remaining from District 1, who found them where they were hiding at the edge of the arena. The girl accidentally sends her ax flying over the cliff, and Maysilee kicks the boy's sword over as well. The boy laughs triumphantly anyway and advances, intent on finishing her off with his bare hands.
Maysilee ducks.
He doesn't.
The sword flies into his belly, and the girl has only a second to realize what's happened before her ax finds a new home in her skull. Boom, boom, the cannons sound.
A third one lies in wait for Haymitch, whose guts are a slippery mess outside of his body. Maysilee chokes down a sob as she kneels beside him, wishing Rose and her healing knowledge were here, wishing they were home, wishing the damn hovercraft would show up already and fix him.
Just kidding, they say. Only one can win.
"M-Maysilee," Haymitch rasps, as the light begins to fade from his once-bright eyes. "I… I…"
Her bloody hand cups his cheek. "We can't split up again," she whispers. "We won't split up again."
No him. No me. Just we.
Maysilee picks up the knife he dropped.
His eyes widen. "Maysilee, no—don't—"
Crimson. Crimson all over her wrists. Maysilee sees a hovercraft racing towards them as her vision fades to black.
Thanks for reading! Like last time, if you review on this chapter, I'll send you a very very short snippet of the next installment. :)