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“You bastard!”
His feet take a rough landing as he crashes out of the sky. Scott barely registers the ache, the pulsing heat in his veins taking precedence. Abolish turns to him and meets his gaze calmly, and it just makes the anger in his heart burn brighter. “Scott—”
No, he won’t have it. “Don’t you Scott me,” he hisses out, pressing his fingertips together. “Not right now— not after what you just did!”
“I did what I had to do,” Abolish says bluntly, without a hint of remorse. He’s firm in his stance, so certain of it all, with a confidence that Scott has come to adore, and yet now he resents it too.
“You— you liar, you did what you wanted to do!” Scott snaps, and yellow eyes narrow slightly as Abolish frowns. “It didn’t have to go this way, it didn’t have to end like this, and you know it.”
Abolish’s lips thin into a stubborn line. “She knew the risks.”
She knew the risks—
His hands tremble with rage, and Scott balls them into fists. His nails dig into the soft skin of his palms, the sting a welcome distraction from the building pressure behind his eyes. “The plan was to wait, to let her get out of range, but you pulled the trigger early. You— That was Shelby’s last life, Abolish, and you threw it away like it was nothing!”
“They were in the perfect position, if I had waited, if they had all gotten out of range, this opportunity wouldn’t come again.”
Scott scowls. “You don’t know that.”
“No,” Abolish agrees easily, but his voice is hard, “and that’s exactly why I didn’t wanna risk it.”
Fuck.
That’s not the problem here, that’s not— Scott knows another moment like this might never present itself again, he knows, okay, but it’s about the cost. When does the price you have to pay get too high? Maybe it doesn’t matter, but Scott still needs to know, except no, he knows the answer already, he just wants to hear Abolish say it out loud. “So what? You just… decided that this was worth Shelby’s life?
[Would it have been worth Scott’s life?]
“She decided that when she agreed to be bait,” Abolish replies flatly. “All of us are down to our last life, Pearl and Sausage are permanently dead now, and as entertaining as this has been, it’s still a death game, we always knew this was going to happen— you knew this was going to happen, you can’t seriously be upset that I’m playing my part.”
Abolish is right. Scott has always known everyone was going to die, and as ugly as the grief in his chest feels, he’s long since accepted this. It was a choice to care anyway, to allow himself to get attached to the others in a way Abolish refused to, but it always felt like the right one.
But Scott isn’t feeling sad right now, he’s feeling angry.
“Just because I understand—just because I love you—that doesn’t mean I can’t be upset with you, Abolish!”
“You—” The firm confidence in Abolish’s expression falters, and for a moment he’s lost for words. “You love me?”
Scott looks away with a scoff. Slowly, the fight drains out of him, and his shoulders slump down in defeat. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know,” he mutters, staring at the ground. Anger is still simmering under his skin, but it’s just out of his reach. Instead he just feels… tired. “It’s been obvious to everyone…”
There’s a soft exhale. “But I didn’t— It’s not been obvious to me.”
“Oh.”
It would be laughable if it didn’t make his chest feel awfully tight. Cleo had teased him that you didn’t even need eyes to see how blatant his feelings are, but it wasn’t much of a joke when even Shelby knew, and she literally couldn't see the way Scott looked at Abolish.
Maybe it was a joke after all.
Scott doesn’t know what to say so he keeps quiet, allowing the silence to suffocate the space between them. The tension between them is unfamiliar, uncomfortably so, and Scott has half a mind to turn around and leave, but before he can decide to go through with it, Abolish steps forward and closes the distance between them.” Look at me,” he orders in a soft whisper, but Scott refuses; he’s afraid of what he’ll find in Abolish’s eyes. “Scott…”
“Don’t—” But when a callused hand cups his cheek and tilts his head back up, Scott can’t resist looking straight into Abolish’s piercing yellow eyes. Something squeezes painfully around his heart as their eyes meet, and Scott grasps hold of Abolish’s arm, suddenly desperate to cling onto anything. “Don’t tell me you don’t love me back, please, I can’t—” His voice cracks, but he refuses to cry, even as he begs, “just stay silent, o-or lie, I don’t care, just please don’t say you don’t love me.”
Abolish’s throat bobs, his expression unreadable. Scott can’t tell what he’s feeling, but for once, maybe that’s a blessing in disguise. “Okay,” Abolish agrees quietly.
“Just lie,” Scott reiterates, desperate to make sure that Abolish understands too. “When I— fuck, when I die, I don’t to die unloved, not—” he cuts himself off, feeling troubled.
Not again.
The grip of Abolish’s fingers tightens slightly. “Don’t say that, don’t talk as if you’ve already given up, Scott,” he says tersely, and to Scott’s relief, at least that feels familiar.
He bites down on his lip until he tastes blood. “Don’t be silly, Abolish,” Scott says softly, exhaustion clear in his voice. “We both know I’m not going to win this, you are…”
“We don’t know that,” Abolish says harshly, and Scott’s breath gets stuck in his throat at the intensity in his gaze. “You beat me before, Scott, and you gave me the best, most entertaining fight I’ve had in years.”
“But that’s exactly it, handsome.” Scott gives him a weak smile. “Aeolus didn’t pick me because I’m a fighter, he picked because I’m entertaining.”
Irritation flashes over Abolish’s face. “So what now? You’ve already given up? That can’t— you can’t be serious right now,” he says in disbelief.
“I’m just being real. Isn’t that what you wanted from me, to drop the mask?”
“I want you to fight!” Abolish snaps back, and he pulls Scott closer. He moves forward willingly, placing both of his hands up against Abolish’s chest, one right over the loud beat of his heart. “To stay alive, to beat me, to try and take me down and win! Scott, you—” he cuts himself off in frustration, but Abolish’s eyes never stray away, keeping Scott captive. “Do you want to die?”
Scott turns his head, brushing his lips against the palm of Abolish’s hand in a tender kiss. “Of course not,” he replies quietly, and it’s the truth. Even when he’s angry with Abolish, when he’s tired, when he’s upset, he so desperately wants this, and why would Scott ever want to die when he has it?
“Then give it your everything, don’t just accept that you’ll die, fight to win and get your wish,” Abolish says firmly, but his touch is gentle when he brushes his thumb over the corner of Scott’s mouth. “Tell me you’ll fight, Scott— if you don’t want to die, tell me you won’t give up.”
Oh…
He would never give up, that’s not been on Scott’s mind for even a single second, but if Abolish wants him to be honest, he’ll make him a promise.
“Okay,” Scott murmurs. “Okay,” he repeats, “I promise you that no matter what, that I’ll do everything I can do to get my wish.”
Abolish nods jerkily, just once, then he exhales slowly, and Scott can feel the tension drain out of his shoulders. “Okay, yeah, that’s— that’s… good.”
A promise is a promise, and Scott plans to keep it.
Scott smiles, still tired, but it’s fonder now. The fire in Abolish’s eyes draws him in, that passion, that desire, and to have it pointed at him, by the gods, Scott yearns for him. “Lie to me,” he requests in a whisper.
Abolish swallows, but even now, his eyes remain so intense it sends a shiver down Scott’s spine. “I love you,” Abolish says, like the truth.
Scott kisses him softly.
He doesn’t care if it’s true or not.