(no subject)
Title: Deep Blue Sea
Author: Vanz and Alexa
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ray/Walt | Hunger Games AU
Fandom: Generation Kill, Hunger Games Trilogy
Word count: 1888
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Characters are based on the HBO representations, not on the actual people themselves.
Summary: The first time Walt met Ray, it involved ditching a party he’d later get ass-reamed for, sneaking into a building which would probably get him into trouble too, and teaching Ray how to swim for almost no reason at all.
A/N: this part was written by the wonderful wonderful vanz.
The music of the president’s mansion seemed to shake the entire building. It was well into the early hours of the morning and it was in no way winding down any time soon. Walt’s attendance was greatly requested and he was starting to wonder why he even stepping on that train. He stood near the back of the room where he looked out into the crowd of Capitol citizens who he was made to meet, being this year’s Hunger Games Victor. But he honestly couldn’t put names to faces if you paid him. Too many colors, too many costumes, too much going on.
It was all just making his head hurt.
He’d never seen people like the people in the Capitol back home. With strange tattoos and piercings all over and dyed skin. It didn’t make sense. He’d been to plenty of parties back home, but dressing in elaborate and uncomfortable costumes just seemed... pointless.
Even he was embarrassed by what his stylist Lilley had him wearing. He protested against mesh netting and wanted to wear actual clothes. But apparently being from District 4 meant almost always being close to naked all the time? Another thing Walt didn’t completely understand. Sure he spent a lot of his time back home shirtless and swam naked a lot. But he was at home and it was hot and just how those things were. But it was night time and cold and he was shirtless wearing basically his Opening Ceremonies costume all over again. Gold bands around his arms, no shoes, no shirt, a midnight blue cape tied together with gold chords, and Walt lucked out when Lilley caved and let him wear pants instead of the skirt again. But they were riding dangerously low on his hips and tighter beyond all sense and reason.
Well, he wasn’t planning on having any children any time soon.
The music faded slowly into something not as loud- still rather obnoxious- but was everyone’s cue to partner up and grind together. It was a ridiculous spectacle to see everyone practically having sex on the dance floor.
“So how bad do you hate this?” He heard a voice come up next to him. He looked over and saw a kid shorter than him and much scrawnier. His hair stood tall with shaved sides and different colors all over the rest. He was also not wearing much, but his arms and entire upper body was covered in the strangest designs that looked almost like a blueprint. He was, however wearing shoes and pants that seemed to fit.
“Is it that obvious?” Walt said a bit quieter than he meant to.
“I bet if you tried hard enough,” Ray tried to put his voice over the music, “You could flood this entire room with your super District 4 powers.”
Walt pulled his eyebrows together. “I don’t have any superpowers.”
Ray looked amused. “Is that why you’re dressed like a god or something?”
Walt shifted a little, pulling the cape around his chest suddenly becoming incredibly aware that people could actually see him. And Ray saw all the blood in Walt’s body flood directly to his cheeks.
“Aww come on, Walt,” he nudged him with his hip. “I’m just messin’ with you.”
There was a beat between them with neither of them really knowing what to say to one another. Walt hadn’t gotten that good with talking to people like Ray. They were both Victors, sure. But that seemed to be the only thing they had in common. Walt didn’t know how to talk to someone like Ray without potentially sounding stupid.
But it was Ray who broke the silence between them. “Come on,” he grabbed Walt’s hand. “This music sucks.”
Walt wanted to snatch his hand away, but he looked up to see Ray making a beeline for the door and let him lead them out.
It was the first time Walt had been on the streets of the Capitol without cameras in his face, people poking and prodding at him like he was some sort of new species of animal. The streets outside the president’s mansion were, for the most part, empty aside from a few citizens who were too wrapped up in their own conversations with one another than to pay attention to Ray and Walt. Their hands were intertwined as Ray got to jogging to the end of the property and to the intersection that led to the other side of the street.
“Where are we going?” Walt asked trying his best to keep up and to keep his cape from flapping all around. Ray didn’t say anything, but instead slowed his pace and dropped Walt’s hand when they got away from mansion.
Ray turned a corner and stopped for Walt to catch up. He leaned against the brick wall of a building bigger than either of them have ever seen, but was small in comparison to some of the others that had just been completed and were beginning to be built near the mountains. He dug around in his pockets for a smashed carton of cigarettes and a lighter.
Walt shook his head, refusing the cigarette when Ray held the carton up to him. He took the spot next to Ray and led his head rest against the window. The cloud of smoke from Ray blew slowly into Walt’s face, but he remained unmoved. It was a disgusting smoke of tobacco, and even though neither of them actually introduced themselves to one another, Walt didn’t want to seem rude.
“So where you wanna be, Walt?”
Walt was asked a lot of questions before and after the games. What he thought of the Capitol, what he liked most, if he was happy to be here, 15 different ones dissecting his motives and actions in the Arena, and lot of them about what happened with Nate. All of them were ones that he had zero interest in answering, but recited the answers he had been fed that were guaranteed approval.
And yet, no question sounded like the one Ray just asked. And it felt strange. It was usually like an automatic reaction- this kind of question requires this kind of answer. But Ray looked at him with his head cocked to the side and he wanted to know for himself, not for hundreds of people he didn’t know.
Where did Walt want to be?
“Under water,” well that was a pretty natural reaction. “Where you can’t hear anyone and it’s just you.”
Ray got that amused look again where one side of his mouth turned up and his ears perked up. “Yeah?”
Walt shrugged; he knew it would sound stupid to someone not from District 4. But Ray asked.
He stubbed out his cigarette on the brick and pushed himself off the wall.
He started walking and got a few yards before turning around to Walt. “You coming?”
Coming where?
He didn’t know, but it was not where they were fifteen minutes ago. Something in Walt pulled him towards Ray. It might’ve been curiosity and some strange trust in the Victor he didn’t quite understand. Ray had one of those faces that you might not immediately trust a hundred percent, but made you at least want to.
“Are you sure we’re supposed to be here?” Walt was nervous as Ray easily tugged at a few wires to disarm the security box on the door of a building at the edge of the high rise district. The door clicked open and he led them inside the dark room.
“We’re Victors Walt,” Ray whispered. “We can pretty much do whatever we want.”
The wandered farther through the room when everything started to glow blue. Walt stepped around Ray to see the large lap pool. The lights at the bottom of it made everything illuminated. Walt knelt down at the edge and stuck his hand through the cold water. A smile of recognition crept on his face and it was the first time ever that Ray had seen him look genuinely pleased.
He didn’t hesitate untying the cords of the cape and letting it fall to his feet and pulling off the gold bands from his forearms. Getting those pants off, however, was a completely different story. The leather clung to his skin in the moisture of the room and there was a lot of pulling and tugging. He didn’t notice Ray laughing at the struggle, and he didn’t rightly care. He also didn’t care that he wasn’t wearing any underwear, courtesy of Lilley. As soon as the pants were kicked aside, he dove straight into the water- arms stretched far, toes pointed, perfect formation. There was barely a splash when he hit the water.
Ray watched as the boy from the sea swam and flipped and twirled and floated in this world which he might not truly understand. He sat on the metal steps with his pants rolled up and legs dangling in the water. He didn’t notice when Walt came up from the bottom and quickly grabbed his feet to scare him.
“Shit man,” Ray said nearly kicking him in the face. “Don’t scare someone like that. It ain’t cool.”
Walt spit water and laughed, but it came out as almost a giggle. “You’re not gonna swim?” he asked using the steps to hold his feet in place as he floated on his back.
“I can’t.” Ray admitted matter-of-factly. The concept seemed strange to Walt as he pulled his eyebrows together and shook his head.
“That’s crazy. Everyone can swim.”
“I can’t.” Ray shrugged again. “Never had to learn. Water and electricity don’t exactly mix.” He didn’t mean to make that sound like a reference to his games, which is the last thing he wanted to talk about, but it was true. There wasn’t so much as a pond anywhere in District 3 that he knew of and if there was, it was probably gated off.
Walt unhitched his feet and held out his arms. “Come on. I’ll teach you. Everyone can at least learn.”
The first time Walt met Ray, it involved ditching a party he’d later get ass-reamed for, sneaking into a building which would probably get him into trouble too, and teaching Ray how to swim for almost no reason at all. There was a lot of flailing and choking, but Walt got him to at least calm down and help him understand the water. Got him to move with it, instead of fight it. The Capitol could do whatever they liked with Walt, but the water was an instinct that he’d never be rid of.
He never thanked Ray for bringing him to the pool, but it didn’t matter. Because for the next week until he went back home to District 4, and the months following when he came back the Capitol, they were inseparable. It was like meeting someone you’ve known for years. They fell into a rhythm of understanding. Although Ray got too excited when he spoke about things Walt didn’t understand and when Walt would rather sleep than play outside, it felt as though they’d done this routine a million and one times.
Walt didn’t much care for the Capitol, that part hadn’t changed. But he was glad he met Ray. He’d never admit to being grateful for that.
Title: Sleepless
Author: Alexa and Vanz
Rating: PG-13 (at most)
Pairing: Ray/Walt | Hunger Games AU
Fandom: Generation Kill, Hunger Games Trilogy
Word count: 909
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Characters are based on the HBO representations, not on the actual people themselves.
Summary: "We make a really fucked up pair, you know. Water and electricity. You know better than anyone that those two don’t mix well. One of us is going to end up getting hurt."
A/N: pretty much my direct continuation of what vanz wrote
The next few weeks in Walt’s life were a blur, and his relationship with Ray was no exception to that. Everything culminated one night in Ray’s apartment. They had been out at a party someone was throwing in the Capitol, not that Walt could even remember who that person was. He was just happy that it wasn’t official Victor business and he had been allowed to dress himself. Now, it was 3 am and the two of them were pressed together on Ray’s bed. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had fooled around, but it was the first time they had gone this far.
Now, with Ray on his back and one leg hooked around Walt’s waist, Ray thought things were going pretty damn well. There had been a few fumblings at the start, but Walt had been new to this so it was expected. They had a rhythm now, and Ray buried his fingers in Walt’s long hair, brought his hips up to meet Walt’s thrusts. Walt pressed his face against Ray’s neck and inhaled deeply.
And suddenly, Walt stopped. “Dude, what’s up.” Ray asked with mild annoyance, his voice hoarse. He dug his heel into Walt’s back, but Walt was silent. Ray was about ready to flip them both over and take matters into his own hands when he heard Walt’s breath hitch.
“I’m sorry Ray,” he choked out, and Ray could feel the tears rolling down Walt’s face and onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just can’t, I just-” His voice cracked and he let out a sob, no longer trying to hold it back.
“Oh Walt...” Ray said softly, shifting them both around to lie next to him. He wrapped his arms around Walt’s shoulders and just held him, ran a hand up and down his side. “Walt, it’s okay, I get it, it’s fine.” He kept repeating as Walt completely fell apart in his arms.
Walt hadn’t had a break since winning his Games, and everything he’d been feeling since had been building up and building up until it finally became too much. Ray wasn’t sure what he could do other than just let it happen.
And then, suddenly, Walt spoke up. “I watched your Games,” he said through a sob. Ray was silent. The Games weren’t something that they talked about, but he had assumed Walt would have seen his - they were mandatory viewing after all.
“At first, I wrote you off like everyone else did.” And then, he was silent again, his breath hitching every now and then as the tears became less frequent.
Ray must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, his eyes were snapping open to find himself alone in his bed and a light from the bathroom shining into the hallway.
Ray stretched, cracked his back, and quietly made his way into the bathroom. Walt was sitting in the bathtub, submerged up to his chin, and Ray had to smile. He walked over to the tub and climbed in to sit at the other end. Walt’s brow was furrowed. “You alright?”
“You laughed. When you won, I mean. Did it even bother you at all?”
“Walt,” Ray started, moving to come over to the other end of the tub. But Walt stopped him with a hand against his chest and he had to sit back down. “Walt, I deal with things in my own way.”
“Your own way involves covering your body with all sorts of shit and staying out partying until the sun rises?” Walt shot back angrily.
“I watched your Games,” he continued. “Both tributes from 4 were in the group that you electrocuted. I grew up knowing them, you know. The idea to jump in the water to get away from the stampede was probably theirs. What danger in the water could there be for someone from District 4?”
“Walt, they were going to kill-” Ray started, but Walt cut him off.
“You didn’t see their faces before they died. That was something the cameras really loved - the look of recognition on their faces in the split second before the lightning hit your tower, realizing that it was all over.”
Ray crossed his arms and brought his knees to his chest. “Walt, I didn’t ask for this to happen. You think I set out wanting to kill people? I did what I needed to do to stay alive. Just like you did with Nate.”
Walt sank deeper into the tub, submerging himself completely. Ray took that time to move forward again, and when Walt came up for air he didn’t resist Ray wrapping his arms around him and pressing a kiss against his jaw. “Oh God Ray, I just feel so horrible. There isn’t a day where I don’t wake up hating myself for what I did to him.”
Ray brushed the wet hair off Walt’s forehead and sighed. “I know Walt, I’m sorry. None of us asked for this fucked up shit. You just have to deal with it however you can. And you’ve got me.”
Walt smiled a sad smile. “I’ve got you.” He ran his hand over the tattoos on Ray’s back. “We make a really fucked up pair, you know. Water and electricity. You know better than anyone that those two don’t mix well. One of us is going to end up getting hurt.”
“You’re right. But I don’t mind taking that chance.”
Author: Vanz and Alexa
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ray/Walt | Hunger Games AU
Fandom: Generation Kill, Hunger Games Trilogy
Word count: 1888
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Characters are based on the HBO representations, not on the actual people themselves.
Summary: The first time Walt met Ray, it involved ditching a party he’d later get ass-reamed for, sneaking into a building which would probably get him into trouble too, and teaching Ray how to swim for almost no reason at all.
A/N: this part was written by the wonderful wonderful vanz.
The music of the president’s mansion seemed to shake the entire building. It was well into the early hours of the morning and it was in no way winding down any time soon. Walt’s attendance was greatly requested and he was starting to wonder why he even stepping on that train. He stood near the back of the room where he looked out into the crowd of Capitol citizens who he was made to meet, being this year’s Hunger Games Victor. But he honestly couldn’t put names to faces if you paid him. Too many colors, too many costumes, too much going on.
It was all just making his head hurt.
He’d never seen people like the people in the Capitol back home. With strange tattoos and piercings all over and dyed skin. It didn’t make sense. He’d been to plenty of parties back home, but dressing in elaborate and uncomfortable costumes just seemed... pointless.
Even he was embarrassed by what his stylist Lilley had him wearing. He protested against mesh netting and wanted to wear actual clothes. But apparently being from District 4 meant almost always being close to naked all the time? Another thing Walt didn’t completely understand. Sure he spent a lot of his time back home shirtless and swam naked a lot. But he was at home and it was hot and just how those things were. But it was night time and cold and he was shirtless wearing basically his Opening Ceremonies costume all over again. Gold bands around his arms, no shoes, no shirt, a midnight blue cape tied together with gold chords, and Walt lucked out when Lilley caved and let him wear pants instead of the skirt again. But they were riding dangerously low on his hips and tighter beyond all sense and reason.
Well, he wasn’t planning on having any children any time soon.
The music faded slowly into something not as loud- still rather obnoxious- but was everyone’s cue to partner up and grind together. It was a ridiculous spectacle to see everyone practically having sex on the dance floor.
“So how bad do you hate this?” He heard a voice come up next to him. He looked over and saw a kid shorter than him and much scrawnier. His hair stood tall with shaved sides and different colors all over the rest. He was also not wearing much, but his arms and entire upper body was covered in the strangest designs that looked almost like a blueprint. He was, however wearing shoes and pants that seemed to fit.
“Is it that obvious?” Walt said a bit quieter than he meant to.
“I bet if you tried hard enough,” Ray tried to put his voice over the music, “You could flood this entire room with your super District 4 powers.”
Walt pulled his eyebrows together. “I don’t have any superpowers.”
Ray looked amused. “Is that why you’re dressed like a god or something?”
Walt shifted a little, pulling the cape around his chest suddenly becoming incredibly aware that people could actually see him. And Ray saw all the blood in Walt’s body flood directly to his cheeks.
“Aww come on, Walt,” he nudged him with his hip. “I’m just messin’ with you.”
There was a beat between them with neither of them really knowing what to say to one another. Walt hadn’t gotten that good with talking to people like Ray. They were both Victors, sure. But that seemed to be the only thing they had in common. Walt didn’t know how to talk to someone like Ray without potentially sounding stupid.
But it was Ray who broke the silence between them. “Come on,” he grabbed Walt’s hand. “This music sucks.”
Walt wanted to snatch his hand away, but he looked up to see Ray making a beeline for the door and let him lead them out.
It was the first time Walt had been on the streets of the Capitol without cameras in his face, people poking and prodding at him like he was some sort of new species of animal. The streets outside the president’s mansion were, for the most part, empty aside from a few citizens who were too wrapped up in their own conversations with one another than to pay attention to Ray and Walt. Their hands were intertwined as Ray got to jogging to the end of the property and to the intersection that led to the other side of the street.
“Where are we going?” Walt asked trying his best to keep up and to keep his cape from flapping all around. Ray didn’t say anything, but instead slowed his pace and dropped Walt’s hand when they got away from mansion.
Ray turned a corner and stopped for Walt to catch up. He leaned against the brick wall of a building bigger than either of them have ever seen, but was small in comparison to some of the others that had just been completed and were beginning to be built near the mountains. He dug around in his pockets for a smashed carton of cigarettes and a lighter.
Walt shook his head, refusing the cigarette when Ray held the carton up to him. He took the spot next to Ray and led his head rest against the window. The cloud of smoke from Ray blew slowly into Walt’s face, but he remained unmoved. It was a disgusting smoke of tobacco, and even though neither of them actually introduced themselves to one another, Walt didn’t want to seem rude.
“So where you wanna be, Walt?”
Walt was asked a lot of questions before and after the games. What he thought of the Capitol, what he liked most, if he was happy to be here, 15 different ones dissecting his motives and actions in the Arena, and lot of them about what happened with Nate. All of them were ones that he had zero interest in answering, but recited the answers he had been fed that were guaranteed approval.
And yet, no question sounded like the one Ray just asked. And it felt strange. It was usually like an automatic reaction- this kind of question requires this kind of answer. But Ray looked at him with his head cocked to the side and he wanted to know for himself, not for hundreds of people he didn’t know.
Where did Walt want to be?
“Under water,” well that was a pretty natural reaction. “Where you can’t hear anyone and it’s just you.”
Ray got that amused look again where one side of his mouth turned up and his ears perked up. “Yeah?”
Walt shrugged; he knew it would sound stupid to someone not from District 4. But Ray asked.
He stubbed out his cigarette on the brick and pushed himself off the wall.
He started walking and got a few yards before turning around to Walt. “You coming?”
Coming where?
He didn’t know, but it was not where they were fifteen minutes ago. Something in Walt pulled him towards Ray. It might’ve been curiosity and some strange trust in the Victor he didn’t quite understand. Ray had one of those faces that you might not immediately trust a hundred percent, but made you at least want to.
“Are you sure we’re supposed to be here?” Walt was nervous as Ray easily tugged at a few wires to disarm the security box on the door of a building at the edge of the high rise district. The door clicked open and he led them inside the dark room.
“We’re Victors Walt,” Ray whispered. “We can pretty much do whatever we want.”
The wandered farther through the room when everything started to glow blue. Walt stepped around Ray to see the large lap pool. The lights at the bottom of it made everything illuminated. Walt knelt down at the edge and stuck his hand through the cold water. A smile of recognition crept on his face and it was the first time ever that Ray had seen him look genuinely pleased.
He didn’t hesitate untying the cords of the cape and letting it fall to his feet and pulling off the gold bands from his forearms. Getting those pants off, however, was a completely different story. The leather clung to his skin in the moisture of the room and there was a lot of pulling and tugging. He didn’t notice Ray laughing at the struggle, and he didn’t rightly care. He also didn’t care that he wasn’t wearing any underwear, courtesy of Lilley. As soon as the pants were kicked aside, he dove straight into the water- arms stretched far, toes pointed, perfect formation. There was barely a splash when he hit the water.
Ray watched as the boy from the sea swam and flipped and twirled and floated in this world which he might not truly understand. He sat on the metal steps with his pants rolled up and legs dangling in the water. He didn’t notice when Walt came up from the bottom and quickly grabbed his feet to scare him.
“Shit man,” Ray said nearly kicking him in the face. “Don’t scare someone like that. It ain’t cool.”
Walt spit water and laughed, but it came out as almost a giggle. “You’re not gonna swim?” he asked using the steps to hold his feet in place as he floated on his back.
“I can’t.” Ray admitted matter-of-factly. The concept seemed strange to Walt as he pulled his eyebrows together and shook his head.
“That’s crazy. Everyone can swim.”
“I can’t.” Ray shrugged again. “Never had to learn. Water and electricity don’t exactly mix.” He didn’t mean to make that sound like a reference to his games, which is the last thing he wanted to talk about, but it was true. There wasn’t so much as a pond anywhere in District 3 that he knew of and if there was, it was probably gated off.
Walt unhitched his feet and held out his arms. “Come on. I’ll teach you. Everyone can at least learn.”
The first time Walt met Ray, it involved ditching a party he’d later get ass-reamed for, sneaking into a building which would probably get him into trouble too, and teaching Ray how to swim for almost no reason at all. There was a lot of flailing and choking, but Walt got him to at least calm down and help him understand the water. Got him to move with it, instead of fight it. The Capitol could do whatever they liked with Walt, but the water was an instinct that he’d never be rid of.
He never thanked Ray for bringing him to the pool, but it didn’t matter. Because for the next week until he went back home to District 4, and the months following when he came back the Capitol, they were inseparable. It was like meeting someone you’ve known for years. They fell into a rhythm of understanding. Although Ray got too excited when he spoke about things Walt didn’t understand and when Walt would rather sleep than play outside, it felt as though they’d done this routine a million and one times.
Walt didn’t much care for the Capitol, that part hadn’t changed. But he was glad he met Ray. He’d never admit to being grateful for that.
Title: Sleepless
Author: Alexa and Vanz
Rating: PG-13 (at most)
Pairing: Ray/Walt | Hunger Games AU
Fandom: Generation Kill, Hunger Games Trilogy
Word count: 909
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. Characters are based on the HBO representations, not on the actual people themselves.
Summary: "We make a really fucked up pair, you know. Water and electricity. You know better than anyone that those two don’t mix well. One of us is going to end up getting hurt."
A/N: pretty much my direct continuation of what vanz wrote
The next few weeks in Walt’s life were a blur, and his relationship with Ray was no exception to that. Everything culminated one night in Ray’s apartment. They had been out at a party someone was throwing in the Capitol, not that Walt could even remember who that person was. He was just happy that it wasn’t official Victor business and he had been allowed to dress himself. Now, it was 3 am and the two of them were pressed together on Ray’s bed. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had fooled around, but it was the first time they had gone this far.
Now, with Ray on his back and one leg hooked around Walt’s waist, Ray thought things were going pretty damn well. There had been a few fumblings at the start, but Walt had been new to this so it was expected. They had a rhythm now, and Ray buried his fingers in Walt’s long hair, brought his hips up to meet Walt’s thrusts. Walt pressed his face against Ray’s neck and inhaled deeply.
And suddenly, Walt stopped. “Dude, what’s up.” Ray asked with mild annoyance, his voice hoarse. He dug his heel into Walt’s back, but Walt was silent. Ray was about ready to flip them both over and take matters into his own hands when he heard Walt’s breath hitch.
“I’m sorry Ray,” he choked out, and Ray could feel the tears rolling down Walt’s face and onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just can’t, I just-” His voice cracked and he let out a sob, no longer trying to hold it back.
“Oh Walt...” Ray said softly, shifting them both around to lie next to him. He wrapped his arms around Walt’s shoulders and just held him, ran a hand up and down his side. “Walt, it’s okay, I get it, it’s fine.” He kept repeating as Walt completely fell apart in his arms.
Walt hadn’t had a break since winning his Games, and everything he’d been feeling since had been building up and building up until it finally became too much. Ray wasn’t sure what he could do other than just let it happen.
And then, suddenly, Walt spoke up. “I watched your Games,” he said through a sob. Ray was silent. The Games weren’t something that they talked about, but he had assumed Walt would have seen his - they were mandatory viewing after all.
“At first, I wrote you off like everyone else did.” And then, he was silent again, his breath hitching every now and then as the tears became less frequent.
Ray must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, his eyes were snapping open to find himself alone in his bed and a light from the bathroom shining into the hallway.
Ray stretched, cracked his back, and quietly made his way into the bathroom. Walt was sitting in the bathtub, submerged up to his chin, and Ray had to smile. He walked over to the tub and climbed in to sit at the other end. Walt’s brow was furrowed. “You alright?”
“You laughed. When you won, I mean. Did it even bother you at all?”
“Walt,” Ray started, moving to come over to the other end of the tub. But Walt stopped him with a hand against his chest and he had to sit back down. “Walt, I deal with things in my own way.”
“Your own way involves covering your body with all sorts of shit and staying out partying until the sun rises?” Walt shot back angrily.
“I watched your Games,” he continued. “Both tributes from 4 were in the group that you electrocuted. I grew up knowing them, you know. The idea to jump in the water to get away from the stampede was probably theirs. What danger in the water could there be for someone from District 4?”
“Walt, they were going to kill-” Ray started, but Walt cut him off.
“You didn’t see their faces before they died. That was something the cameras really loved - the look of recognition on their faces in the split second before the lightning hit your tower, realizing that it was all over.”
Ray crossed his arms and brought his knees to his chest. “Walt, I didn’t ask for this to happen. You think I set out wanting to kill people? I did what I needed to do to stay alive. Just like you did with Nate.”
Walt sank deeper into the tub, submerging himself completely. Ray took that time to move forward again, and when Walt came up for air he didn’t resist Ray wrapping his arms around him and pressing a kiss against his jaw. “Oh God Ray, I just feel so horrible. There isn’t a day where I don’t wake up hating myself for what I did to him.”
Ray brushed the wet hair off Walt’s forehead and sighed. “I know Walt, I’m sorry. None of us asked for this fucked up shit. You just have to deal with it however you can. And you’ve got me.”
Walt smiled a sad smile. “I’ve got you.” He ran his hand over the tattoos on Ray’s back. “We make a really fucked up pair, you know. Water and electricity. You know better than anyone that those two don’t mix well. One of us is going to end up getting hurt.”
“You’re right. But I don’t mind taking that chance.”