Dead Girl Walking ― Aaron Minyard

18. human

i can fake a smile
i can force a laugh
i can dance and play the part
― christina perri

[trigger warnings: riko; forced interaction w/ an abuser; mentions of breaking bones]

♦

THE SELF-PROCLAIMED KING OF EXY kissed Kathy's cheek in greeting. Whatever Riko and Kathy said to each other was lost in the audience's racket, but Kathy was beaming when she leaned back.

Riko took the last few steps to their couch alone and stood over Kevin and Mara, as much a shadow haunting them as he always was.

He was smiling, but all his eyes held was murder.

Only after the crowd quieted down did Riko speak. "Kevin. Mara. It's been so long."

There was a scuffle and crash in the audience, but Mara didn't dare take her eyes off the devil. She'd made that mistake before, and she wouldn't do it again.

Riko held his hand out to Kevin in invitation. Kevin stared at it for a couple seconds, then slipped a hand into Riko's and let Riko pull him to his feet. The crowd applauded as Riko embraced Kevin.

Riko let go and held Kevin at arm's length. "I think you've shrunk since I last saw you. Don't they feed you down here? I always heard southern food is heavy."

"I run it off on the court, I guess," Kevin managed.

"What a miracle." Riko turned his attention, and it took everything in Mara to ignore both the fight and flight instincts banging around in her head. She forced herself to stand up, knowing what was expected.

As Kevin sat back down, Riko pulled her into a too-tight hug.

Mara wanted to claw her own skin off and then his. She wanted to rip him apart and then herself, destroy every trace of her that had ever been defiled by his disgusting hands.

He pulled back. "You look as beautiful as ever, Mar," he said. He kissed her on the cheek, right on the number he'd branded her with, and every inch of Mara burned. "It's good to see you again."

Mara's tongue felt like it had turned into stone. "You too," she managed.

Kathy grinned like this was everything she had ever wanted. "Look at that! If only Jean were here—we would have the full set!" She chuckled at her own joke. "Take a good look, everyone. Your golden pair is back, but for the first time ever, they're rivals. Riko, Kevin, Mara, we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for tolerating our incessant fanaticism."

It took every ounce of Mara's strength to sit back down gracefully, crossing her legs once more and pretending she didn't want to scrub her cheek hard enough to break skin and muscle and bone. Riko sat down on the other couch as Kevin sank back into his cushion. Mara could feel his trembling where his arm was pressed to hers.

Kathy looked at Riko. "From what I've just heard from Kevin, it sounds like neither of you have spoken in a while. Is that right?"

"It is," Riko said. "You sound surprised."

"Well, yes," Kathy said. "I didn't think it possible for you two to grow apart."

"A year ago it would have been impossible," Riko said, "but you have to understand how emotionally crushing December was. The injury was Kevin's to bear, but we all suffered for it. Some of us couldn't handle the reality of what that accident meant, myself included. Kevin and I grew up at Evermore. We built our lives around that team and our pair work. I couldn't believe we'd lost it. I couldn't accept that our dreams had collapsed. Neither could he, so we withdrew from each other."