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mirrorsmoonlight · 5 months

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☆ ~ meet me on the beach

pairing: coral x district 12!reader summary: daydreaming always brought the possibilities of what you could’ve been. warnings: fem!reader, second person, reader kinda takes lucy gray’s place, jessup and reader friendship, mix of things from the movies and books, not much romance but a little bit a/n: yes guys i’m a coralbaird shipper

when she’d first confronted you in the cattle truck after her and the others had an unwelcoming encounter with your mentor you’d felt an overwhelming desire for her.

it might’ve been your desire for something that’ll keep you from spiraling into the deep dark hole you were in or it could’ve been that you felt it was unfair that such a beautiful tribute would be one you would have to be against soon.

even when she was threatening to kill your mentor you didn’t once interrupt her, obsessed with the bloodthirsty smirk held on her face and the crackling of her knuckles. the only thing that ended up interrupting your adoring gaze was the back of the truck shaking, a chute unceremoniously dumping all of you onto the ground of the monkey enclosure.

you had stayed closer to jessup through the hot days and the cold nights, cuddling up together for some sort comfort. even when the brandy girl died and you and the others were heavily chained it didn’t stop you. it also didn’t stop you from taking glances at the captivating redhead that strayed even closer to her district partner.

but the days were growing longer and your bodies weaker; despite your mentor - coriolanus - bringing you food whenever he could. yet whenever you slipped away and deeply thought about it, even though on the surface his intentions seemed genuine, deep down you felt that he was doing this to gain an advantage - for what, you didn’t know.

however, the only capitol citizen that had caught your attention was the muscular but otherwise kind looking boy that had brung a huge bag of sandwiches (meatloaf if you remembered correctly) and plums. you could sense that he was seemingly different than coriolanus, never outwardly bringing the attention of the crowd and broadcasters to show that he was being a good person. only doing it because he wanted to.

you honestly wouldn’t have minded being his tribute rather than coriolanus’.

the only way you were coping was by daydreaming. your imagination ran wild with the thought of escaping with the other tributes, with coral. maybe up north, you could find a place and learn to live with what you had together - connecting in a way that you’d wouldn’t have been able to because of the separation of the district borders and the threat looming over all of your heads.

but you knew that wasn’t plausible after seeing the district 10 girl hanging from the crane while you were paraded in a cage during the capitol girl’s funeral. it wasn’t plausible when you heard the bullet shells clang against the arena floor as districts 1 and district 2’s tributes got gunned down after running. it wasn’t plausible because no matter how hard you hoped, you couldn’t develop any more of a platonic or romantic interest in the others because in a few days your hands could be tainted with their blood.

but that logic definitely didn’t stop your heart from beating a little faster when you felt her eyes on you, even when her gaze was predatory. or the blush that would take over your cheeks when she came a bit closer to you than she should’ve - even if she was just passing to grasp one of the offers from the crowd. and it definitely didn’t stop jessup from noticing, your shy smile more than enough of a hint of what you could possibly feel towards her.

“did you really have to lay your feelings for the district 4 girl,” he whispered softly towards you, ignoring your objecting nod, “don’t give me that bullshit, this bite may be deluding my senses but i’m not stupid.”

you fidgeted with your fingers, “i know, with the situation we’re in it’s probably not the best idea to get all love sick. and i know that i just..i don’t know? i can’t stop myself from wanting her, jess.”

he nodded in understanding, “i’m not saying you can’t go for it but..sooner or later one - or both - of you would end up dead.” there was a pause as he considered how to lay down the next words, “plus, she seems very determined to win so i don’t even think she would be open to your feelings..”

your face fell but you knew jessup was right, “yeah, i know. but thank you, for worrying about me. i’m happy that i was stuck with someone as kind as you in this horrible circumstance.”

he laughed with whatever energy his body had left, “yeah but it would be funny if you two did get together. you’d be some sort of star crossed lovers.” a smile appeared on your face as you leaned your head on his shoulder.

although, never knowing that despite your careful whispering, hidden in the dark was the short haired redhead who was shocked at your revelation. if not also a bit smug.

the day had finally come, a multitude of dread, fear, and nervousness radiated off of all of you as you were placed on the red markers; just minutes away from the gong ringing. weapons lined up on the cornucopia waiting to be stained with blood.

you knew your plan, despite your mentor’s advice you’d planned to grab one of the weapons before leading jessup to the tunnels. anticipation weighing heavy on your chest as you waited for the gong. and as soon as it sounded you ran as fast as you could into the bloodbath.

initially you dodged most of the others that came for you, only getting a bit knicked before quickly swiping a fair sized combat knife quickly tucking it away before searching for jessup.

once you found him you quickly escaped into the tunnels, running from whoever decided to target you two. the doors were locked but you were able to escape through the small opening at the bottom, just seconds before an axe came down on where your foot rested just moments before. gasping in relief as you heard the displeased banging on the other side.

“hey lumberjack, get in there and get her out,” her voice echoed through the tunnels. “i’m not sticking my head in there, she could be waiting with a brick.”

she scoffed, you could tell she was already impatient with them, “you’re useless.” the tunnel went quiet, and as time stretched on you assumed they were either leaving to hunt some other unfortunate soul or camping outside the door to ambush you once you got out.

averting your attention you gently patted your shoulder, allowing jessup to lean on you after noticing the prominent dark eye bags resting on his face. trying to ignore the adrenaline that felt too good, spiraling through your chest.

you didn’t remember falling asleep, and you almost cursed yourself for doing something so stupid until you realized you were temporarily protected by the door closing you in. there was a stir against your shoulder, alerting you that jessup must’ve woken up too.

he definitely looked dehydrated; fatigue shown on his face pairing with what you could remember the occasional twitching coming from him. so hoping to relinquish that, you gently cupped some water from the nearby source, holding it up to his face. barely making it to his chapped lips since he hurriedly slapped your hand down, leaving you a bit confused and scared.

“jessup?” you looked towards him, only to see his dark eyes staring at you. “what’d you do to it?”

you backed away from his intimidating stature, fear coursing to your veins - knowing if he did turn on you, you could either run or use the sharpened knife you held in your boot. “i didn’t do anything!”

sensing how this was going to escalate you dived down to the opening you had gotten through the day prior. not wasting any time in escaping the tunnels as - what you now realized - a rabid jessup hastily chased after you.

you had climbed up one of the elevated pieces of debris, knowing - hopefully - in his haste he’d probably loose his balance. but eventually there wasn’t anywhere else you could escape to.

yet it seemed like you had some outside help, the objects flying overheard now proving of that. another obstacle that jessup would have to face to get to you.

as it booked straight towards him the unreliable drones had broken the bottles open, the water splashing from the impact, making jessup react horribly. not even realizing the tilting of his feet until he’d fell smack down onto a piece of rubble.

you quickly looked down in both shock and horror. and for a moment as you watched you could see jessup’s body release all the energy he had before, it slipping away like the white foam trailing down his chin.

you carefully got down to where he was resting, scared but you knew he couldn’t hurt you anymore. his slow blinking and shallow breaths were the only sign of him being alive, although you knew he was slipping away fast.

“it’s okay jess, you can rest,” your shaky hand gripping onto his, wanting him to at least know he wasn’t going to be alone in his last moments, “how can you dream if you don’t sleep?”

his hand gave a brief squeeze in recognition since his mouth couldn’t do the job for him, him tilting his head to get a better view of you even if it was just for a second.

silence rang as you watched him take his last breaths, shakily sighing before closing his eyes. you pulled out a piece of ripped clothing you stored in your pocket, taking it to the puddle of water to soak it before cleaning his face; wanting him to atleast have one last piece of kindness.

only seconds after would your world spin, a certain redhead ready for your blood.

she’d decided that using your momentary vulnerability would be the best to get rid of you, not to mention after hearing your little confession to your district partner she knew you’d (most likely) wouldn’t be willing to hurt her. but underestimating always brought a person down.

you heard them before you saw them. you tucked the makeshift cloth under jessup’s hand before pulling out your combat knife. yet no matter how fast you ran there was always one to stop you in your place; the little one mizzen, the cowboy from 10 and the lumberjack from 7. not to mention the dangerous woman wielding a trident being the most eager.

luckily your speed and the aftermath of the drones crashing against their bodies buyed you enough time to escape. hoping that this would be the last time you’d encounter them like this.

you could sense her following you as climbed up the rubble, wanting to get as far away from the winding bodies of the holographic snakes that were out for blood. you only had gotten a safe distance away before she collapsed at your feet, the snakes wrapping around her arms and neck as they sunk their venomous teeth into her skin. a betrayed look on her face. “it’s not fair, it’s not…i couldn’t have killed them all for nothing.”

the feelings you felt so strongly when you first saw her returned. the ultimate defeat you and her both felt in the moment left you with clarity. so you tried your best to grip onto her hands, pulling her up so she rested on you.

even as more snakes came for her you tried to fight them off, pulling at them but stopping when you heard the pathetic whimpers leave her lips; the strong front she held till now disappeared.

“i’m sorry for what i did,” her voice was weak but she fought her hardest to get it out, “for hunting you.”

your eyes crinkled as you listened to her. “i’m sorry that we had such little time with one another and that we never got to experience more together.”

she fought against the venom as she pulled up her head from your chest, “i’m sorry that we couldn’t have gotten together like we both wanted.”

you gently pulled her head so it rested back on your chest, lips skimming across her forehead since it’s the last opportunity to do so. “we can still be together if you just promise to wait for me.” her eyes slipped closed as you whispered the last words, “just wait for me on the beach.”

and as coriolanus watched the other side of the screen, an astounding buzz rang through the room, your profile being the only one that was standing.

a/n: the snakes didn’t attack reader cause y’know snow cheated and made sure she’d win :3 (sorry this was so late. i appreciate everyone’s patience!)