Now I remember the joy and the meaning of the fate....

[asmilinggod]

WHO| Kevin and YOU!
WHAT| Visitors have been removed, Kevin is really lost, and he's been TOLD alcohol helps with this....
WHEN| The evening after the arrest.
WHERE| A bar, where else?
WARNINGS| Everything that comes with Kevin. The chip in his neck is reprogramming him as he sits there, so he's going to be pretty weird. Also very drunk. Watch this space for updates.


Y'know, it was probably the serenity that stood out the most.

When his mother was taken, it was sudden. That wasn't as jarring as it could have been, all told. What WAS jarring was that serenity as she was taken...that grace, even as she was being handcuffed and led away from him after all these years.

It reminded him, unbidden, of another time he had forgotten. The feeling of restraints around his wrists, his throat raw from screaming out, his feet sore from being dragged across hot sand with no shoes - he couldn't hear his mother then, except perhaps a soft goodbye. She was serene then, too.

He didn't know if they were good memories or not.

Now he was doing something he had heard helped with this kind of thing...drinking. A lot. He was sitting at the bar, an array of empty glasses sitting in front of him, swaying on his stool. The sharp-eyed would notice a burn forming at the back of his neck, just under his hairline - from the inside.

He couldn't feel it anymore.

Comments

[quiteliterally]

Tentatively, he reached out, touching the skin below the chip with a bit of a grimace. "Kevin, you're..." He meant to say something else, but then the alarm is all the more clear when he sees a tear splash down against the counter. "You're crying."

[asmilinggod]

The skin was HOT - still burning. It wasn't going to stop until Kevin did.

Sniffling, he laughs a little - it's a weird sound, somewhere near a sob. He's sobbing, and he doesn't really know he is yet.

"Th's...tha's SILLY...." He swayed hard, tears coursing down his cheeks down. "...I...I...."

A hiccup. He looked to Chris, something pleading in his expression.

"...I can't cry...."

[quiteliterally]

"Of course you can cry, everyone can cry." It's reassuring, encouraging even as he pulls his fingers away before he can injure himself on Kevin's skin. Chris frowns, uncharacteristically, and stands up with decisive action. "We should go now. Even I think crying in public is a little... unkouth."

But it's not said without humor; it isn't meant to be cruel. He just wants Kevin away from this place where he can hopefully talk to him. Where he can pick this apart and make it make sense and feed him kale juice until he sobers up.

[asmilinggod]

"Nooo, n-no, I - hic - I caaaaaaaaaaan't...."

He looks at Chris as he stands, clearly confused by his own emotions. He touches his own face and nearly panics at the moisture there. The tear ducts ache. They haven't been put to use in a long time.

His eyebrows furrow, incongruous with his grin.

"Chriiiiis...help me?"

[quiteliterally]

He holds his hand out to Kevin, wondering if his hand will be just as hot as his neck, but he's willing to take the risk. Everyone claimed to care so much about these Tributes while they were fighting one another to the death. But while they were here? In house? Who would look out for them? Who would care about them? People like Kevin and Fee had taught him that what he'd been taught his whole life about the Games simply wasn't so.

They weren't good. Nothing about them was. And he's not sure he can stand being a part of it anymore.

"Come on, Kevin. I've got you."

[asmilinggod]

In spite of himself, Kevin stands - his hand is, mercifully, normal in temperature when he takes Chris's, lightly trembling and unsteady on his feet. He lurches forward and leans on Chris.

He's a mess.

"Yer...suuuuch a good fr'nd," he chokes out, still crying uncontrollably.

[quiteliterally]

"I do try to be the very best friend I can be," he agrees softly, arm coming securely around Kevin's shoulder. He spares a glance to the bar and lays some money on for his untouched drink and some extra in case Kevin owed anything.

And now they're walking, as slowly as he can manage, towards the door. "One foot in front of the other, you have absolutely got this."

[asmilinggod]

Grateful for the assistance, Kevin leans heavy on Chris, stumbling his way along with him.

"...I...do. I've got...got this."

He hiccuped on his tears, barely able to walk.

This was why he doesn't drink.

[quiteliterally]

Chris trained every day, he could all but carry Kevin if need be. As it was, he gently supported him while avoiding the hot flesh of his neck.

"We'll get you some electrolytes and a little rest and you'll be good as new. Better, even."

[asmilinggod]

At this rate, he was going to need to carry him.

He didn't respond, instead lapsing into tears again. These ones were edged with something new, though - pain. He was feeling the pain.

He wasn't used to it, fairly crumpling into Chris's arms.