[closed]

[affluenza]

Who| Dandy Mott and Phillip Gray
What| Dandy's been wounded at the cornucopia and isn't too happy about it.
Where| The pine forest
When| Around the 25th
Warnings/Notes| Blood. Wounds. Excessive whining.

Dandy wasn't long for this world.

Deep down he knew as much. He'd made enough wounds to know what's fatal. Yet, he's still in denial. Last arena he was dropped in late. He lost because he wasn't given a fair chance at getting a weapon, and that stupid lady cheated by coming back to life after he killed her. Besides, the whole arena was sabotaged anyways. He wouldn't have wanted to win like that.

This one, on the other hand, was a little harder to rationalize. He ran straight for the cornucopia, he had been training this entire time, how could he lose? It was the other tributes, they must have been targeting him specifically. He was warned that they might if he kept talking himself up, but how could he really be expeted to stop that? A rising star had no use for humility.

He clutched his stomach, where his biggest wound was, although he also had wounds on his back and shoulders. His coat was sticky and bloodstained, clinging to him. As he limped along, barely able to stand up straight anymore without leaning against the trees for support, he began to feel lightheaded, mumbling to himself as he stumbled.

"...it's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair..."

Comments

[voiceinthephone]

Dandy would soon be joined by a rather breathless Gray, having survived the Cornucopia with a tent. The poor man was disoriented and searching for anything he could use to help his chances and Sandy's. Phil was running without any direction, just away from the bloodbath and the trampled tributes. The only reason he'd stopped was because he'd slipped onto the soft ground.

"Holy shit...holy shit..." Phil muttered to himself, reeling from everything and getting his bearings. Reality seemed to crash down on everything, on this new life.

Phil expected the sounds of a forest full of life, not the petulant sounds of a man who got hurt. For all the snark the former night guard sent Dandy's way, Phil's first reaction was to rush over, "Mott?!"

The blood-soaked jacket wasn't a good sign and having dealt with the stuff, he knew the wounds had to be deep to staining it so quickly. "Shi- come on, lay down on that tree, I need to see how bad it is." He had to try.

[affluenza]

"I can't..." he said, trying to catch his breath although it hurt to breathe, "I can't lay down. Can't give up now."

Really, he was afraid that if he laid down he wouldn't be able to get back up and that would be the end of his time here in this arena. He couldn't fail so badly in his second arena, he just couldn't.

"It's not that bad," he said, taking his hand off of his stomach wound for a second. It was deep enough that it was a wonder his insides weren't spilling out into the open, and dark blood was seeping from it.

[voiceinthephone]

One look and Phil breathed in deep; he was seeing entrails at this moment. "Jesus Christ, that's that bad. You can't keep pushing your body, you're losing a lot of blood as is!" Whatever rudimentary first aid the former guard knew, he had to stop the bleeding as best as he could.

Gray didn't care about the arena now, he focused more on getting his fellow Tribute some help. Quickly, he covered the wound with his hands and applied pressure, hoping that would hurt. "For an actor, you really need to practice your death throes," he joked half-heartedly, hoping he could find some leaves to make a bandage. "Focus on me, okay? Talk to me."

[affluenza]

"Ow!" he winced when Phil touched him, stumbling back, "Don't touch me! You're not gonna help me! You're here to kill me!"

But it wasn't like Dandy had much strength in him to retaliate with.

[voiceinthephone]

"Wha-No, I'm here to help!" Phil spoke with a sincere drive to provide aid, "You're going to die faster at this rate, might as well have some time to, uh, say something to your fans or something?"

He tried again to apply pressure, "You can't be serious. Breathe in and out, slowly."

[affluenza]

"My fans? If I die like this I'm not going to have any fans! I'll be a laughingstock!" he said, coughing up a bit of blood onto his sleeve.

"Stop doing that. It hurts. Breathing hurts too."

[voiceinthephone]

"Sorry, sorry," Phil withdrew from the bloody mess and huffed, "You're pretty memorable as a man, your fans will be there for you, no matter what. Remember those bots I was telling you about?" He figured a different topic would help Dandy focus, "They...they killed people back home a-and people still loved them."

He was shaking a little, "Just stay still, okay?"

[affluenza]

"O-of course they'd love me for killing! It's why they brought me here, right? It's what I'm good at," Dandy said, "It's dying they're going to hate me for! Dying this early...but it wasn't fair, they all ganged up on me because they were afraid and jealous. This was supposed to be my big break! I hate them! I hate you all!"

Dandy didn't even have it in him to get excited about killer bots, but he'd be finished moping one day and on that day he'd be really, really excited about that.

[voiceinthephone]

Phillip reeled from that outburst, almost not believing the words out of his comrade's mouth. He froze for a moment before he realized just a little of who Dandy really was underneath it all. Dandy Mott was a murderer by trade or worse.

"You...kill for fun?"

Something in Phil changed in that moment. Something that took away his usual sweet and genuine demeanor. In its' place was something else entirely.

[affluenza]

"I kill because it's my destiny! I was supposed to be an actor, or a singer, but no one would ever give me a chance, so I had to take things into my own hands and do the only thing left," he said, "And yes, it's fun, too. But we're all here because of that, aren't we? Why else would they choose us? You said you knew how to hide bodies, even if you only knew five ways."

[voiceinthephone]

A chill went down Gray's spine as Mott ranted on. Was that why he was chosen for the Games? Because he was complicit in hiding the bodies from ever being found? For being unable to save those children? The thought alone made him dizzy but he had to keep things stable.

"Fun fact, Mott," Phil retorted almost in a whisper, "I've never killed a man in my life. I only did clean up for the animatronics." That was the truth and he wished he could keep it that way.

[affluenza]

"Then why are you even here?" Dandy said, managing a laugh despite his condition, "You're canon fodder, that's why. For me, and others like me."

He reached up weakly, as if making a failed attempt to strangle Phil, "I'll tell you what...just let me kill you. I'll do it easy. You can go back to the capitol and I'll at least have one under my belt this round."

[voiceinthephone]

To be called cannon fodder right after getting his world turned upside down, snapped Phil to and he held Dandy back with his hand. In his brown eyes burned a desire for atonement and judgment. If he let Dandy fall, he'd surely bleed out, nice and quickly.

"No. No I won't let you kill me. I have things to before my time's up," he uttered under his breath. "I take away this hand, you're going back to the Capitol and deal with your own mistakes."

He even pulled away slightly to prove his point. He couldn't deny the rush he felt, to have someone's life in his control.

[affluenza]

"What do you have to do here? It's not like you have anyone you want to kill," Dandy said, hanging on as much as he could, "Do you? If that was it, I'd almost be proud. If it's just something you need to say, wouldn't it be better to say it back in the capitol? It's not like anyone's gone for good."

Dandy still wasn't taking this all that seriously. He was in pain, sure, but he was almost delirious and without the fear of real death pain was all there was. "We can be friends if you let me take you down. Or we can be enemies. Your choice."

[voiceinthephone]

"I'm looking to protect," Phil outright said it, "If I'm going to be here, I might as well do something with my lot. Might not win me fans with the Capitol but you're going to suffer for yours. Hope you have a good PR guy."

He didn't give the choice much thought and pulled his hand away. "You're a twisted little boy who doesn't know how to grow up. I've handled more effective killers in my world." With that, Gray sat in front of Dandy and waited for Death to claim him. He didn't quite understand why, but it was as if he was watching the Pizzeria serial killer die.

[affluenza]

"Protect...that's a laugh. Prolong their suffering...is more like it," Dandy said, falling to the ground, trying in vain to prop himself up on his elbows, "And you haven't...handled anything...like me."

For a moment any semblance of his attempt to seem like a charming, normal human dropped and all that was left was anger in his eyes. He glared up at Phil, trying his best to say something more, but the ground was so cold against his wounds and he didn't have any energy left in him before he collapsed.

[voiceinthephone]

"You're not a God, nor are you a killer," Phil would later break down at this, at himself for being so callous with a fellow D6 Tribute, someone he knew. This wasn't him, he would tell himself, he wasn't a murderer, but in Dandy's place was someone else. The horrifying reality of the Arena sunk into him like the ever-present stench of death.

Adding insult to injury, Gray decided to take Mott's windbreaker, but not before leaving the man's token on his hand. "You're not going to use this anyway," he rationalized, eyes looking straight at Dandy's glare with just as much strength. "I'll see you on the flip-side, Dandy."