The Hunger Games, Cato X OMC, theme set Epsilon
Fandom: Hunger Games
Pairing: Cato X Asher Stone (Original Character)
Theme set: Epsilon
Title: The Games' Unseen Kill
Rating: T
Warning[s]: Some sexual content and violence, character death
Disclaimer: Don't own
A/N: Thanks to the lovely azelmaroark for the beta!
#01 - Motion
Asher Stone watches Cato train, perfecting each technique he learns with his sword, and he feels a simmer of lust and appreciation for the Career.
#02 - Cool
The first thing that attracted Asher to Cato was his eyes; the cool blues were the prettiest he had ever seen.
#03 - Young
Even though he’s nineteen now, Asher still has nightmares about being back at the reaping and being chosen, or worse, nightmares where Cato is chosen; since Cato is sixteen, that nightmare could still come true.
#04 - Last
And it does; as soon as their Escort calls, “Cato Lee!” Asher feels his world tumbling down- their relationship will either be over or permanently altered because of this and he had hoped the good times would last.
#05 - Wrong
Asher screams in his mind; it wasn’t supposed to be like this, they were supposed to be together forever.
#06 - Gentle
They say their- possibly- final goodbye, and then, when no one’s looking, Cato leans down and presses their lips together, whispering, “I love you”.
#07 - One
“I-I love you too… Please, kiss me one more time,” Asher whispers, heart hammering in his chest, and Cato turns around and obliges, giving one last chaste kiss before he goes to meet the Peacekeepers.
#08 - Thousand
Every second seems to last a thousand and that’s how they’ll feel until Cato comes home- and their sanity won’t let them say “if” anymore.
#09 - King
Cato’s big, strong, smart, and brave, and he’s the best of the Careers in their district, but that isn’t enough and Asher knows it.
#10 - Learn
When he’s training with Brutus, Cato won’t accept anything less than perfection, because once the Games start he won’t be able to learn from his mistakes; the slightest error could be fatal.
#11 - Blur
Within a few hours of the start of the games, time has no meaning anymore.
#12 - Wait
Asher wishes he could tell the universe to wait, that he isn’t ready for this.
#13 - Change
Cato feels the change in atmosphere once the initial bloodbath is over; the dust settles and now it’s just a matter of picking the others off one-by-one.
#14 - Command
Cato lets Clove lead their pack- she was his best friend before the games and he knows she’ll do a good job- but part of him wants to have more control over his fate.
#15 - Hold
Cato’s been stung by a Tracker Jacker and as Asher watches Cato moaning and rambling deliriously, all he wants is to be able to scoop him into his arms.
#16 - Need
Tears flow down Asher’s face; all he wants is for Cato to come home now.
#17 - Vision
Cato finally opens his eyes and sees the arena around him, and as he waits for the pain to subside enough for him to sit up he allows his mind to wander to Asher and what he might be thinking right now.
#18 - Attention
Asher can tell that Cato is dangerously dehydrated- he can’t seem to pay attention to anything the pack of Careers says to him- and he wishes he could tell them just how close they were to a stream.
#19 - Soul
He thinks- or hopes- that Asher knows he only kills because that’s what he was trained to do from day one.
#20 - Picture
Asher continues to watch the Games with his family for days and days, completely silent, never letting on that he cares about Cato as anything more than a friend even when the images on the screen tear him apart inside.
#21 - Fool
Cato doesn’t realize that by killing Rue, their group has sealed their fates.
#22 - Mad
Thresh is furious; when Cato finally finds him a ways from the Cornucopia, he’s almost afraid he won’t win this battle.
#23 - Child
Asher whimpers and wraps his arms around himself, and even when Cato defeats Thresh he breaks down into tears and throws up- he can’t take much more of this.
#24 - Now
“Cato, run!” Asher shrieks at the screen, even though he knows Cato can’t hear him.
#25 - Shadow
The shadow is the first thing Cato sees, and then he turns to see the wolf muttations and a cry of fear escapes him.
#26 - Goodbye
The wolves chase the final three to the Cornucopia, and for a moment Asher thinks Cato will win it all, but then he falls, and Asher knows there’s no hope; he whispers his last goodbye and “I love you” in his head.
#27 - Hide
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no way to fight; Cato screams in pain as they bite him and start chewing his flesh off, and he begs for them to kill him quickly because he can’t take the agony anymore.
#28 - Fortune
Asher doesn’t remember where he heard the phrase “Fortune’s fool”, but it fits him now; his entire world dies with Cato.
#29 - Safe
“I love you, Asher… Stay safe…” Cato whispers in his head, an instant before an arrow pierces his skull and everything vanishes.
#30 - Ghost
That night, Asher doesn’t sleep; every time he closes his eyes he sees Cato’s last hours replaying in his head- Cato’s already haunting him.
#31 - Book
Asher tries writing his feelings down in a book, the pain, the loneliness, the guilt, the anger; it doesn’t work.
#32 - Eye
Those beautiful blue eyes won’t leave him alone, and every time he thinks of them, he whimpers, “Cato, no…”
#33 - Never
“I’m so sorry… I never should have let you go, I should have volunteered for you,” he moans, looking skyward, “This is all my fault, it should have been me who died, not you…”
#34 - Sing
His mother sings to him, the only way to ease his nightmares every night; Asher wishes he knew what Cato’s singing voice sounded like.
#35 - Sudden
In his dreams, they’re kissing passionately, but then Cato is torn from his embrace by the wolf muttattions and his flesh torn apart bite by bite, and he can’t move to help him- all he can do is scream, “Cato, no, no!”
#36 - Stop
His tears are dried up, his voice is faded from lack of use, and he feels completely empty; the pain will never end.
#37 - Time
Asher feels mildly surprised when one day, he realizes the Victors from District Twelve are going to be coming here for the victory tour soon, and he wonders how he’ll be able to handle it.
#38 - Wash
His parents have given up on pulling him out of his depression, so they’re shocked when he starts taking care of himself again one day- it’s a step, if only a small one.
#39 - Torn
His heart still aches, but he knows it’s time to start to move on because that’s what Cato would have wanted.
#40 - History
Asher suddenly realizes how much he hates the Capitol when he watches the Third Quarter Quell; the rebellion was 75 years ago, why should they still be paying for it now?
#41 - Power
When the rebellion starts, he decides he’s going to fight with the Rebels.
#42 - Bother
Fear almost makes him back out- why bother, the Capitol is so powerful- but then his family joins in too and he knows that he has to, for Cato, even if he dies in the process.
#43 - God
He wonders if anything will happen after he dies, if there’s someone in charge of all this.
#44 - Wall
Before the Games, Asher had sometimes found himself wondering why Cato was so distant at times, and now he knows that it’s simply a matter of building a wall around your mind when you can’t afford to feel anything.
#45 - Naked
He feels so vulnerable, so exposed as he charges into battle under Lyme’s command; is this how Cato felt going into the Games?
#46 - Drive
His determination never wavers; he has to fight, has to make sure there is never another Hunger Game.
#47 - Harm
Asher is just glad his younger brother and sister will be staying at home, out of harm’s way.
#48 - Precious
His father has been killed- he died protecting Asher’s mother- and a tear streaks down his cheek as he thinks about each precious moment he had with the people he loved.
#49 - Hunger
The Capitol has fallen; no more Hunger Games, no more oppression, no more suffering.
#50 - Believe
Even though the Games were a huge part of Cato’s life, Asher thinks that Cato would have been happy.