(c) Hubris. (M)

Title: Hubris
Rating: M, for violence/mature themes
Status: Oneshot
Summary: Hubris--the flaw that leads to the downfall of the hero in Greek tragedies.

You know this isn't a Greek tragedy.
You know you're not heroes.

But the gun is loaded.
The stakes are high.
And god knows you're flawed.

Warning: Mature themes and general suckiness.

-------------

"I need your help." He looks across at you with a face devoid of emotion, as you've always known him.

"What is it, then?" You would have been almost curious had he not taken such a long breath before replying.

"This...life. It's turned into happenstance of the most macabre nature. It will end...tonight."

No exchanged glances. No unspoken question. Nothing. You fill what should have been a quiet room with laughter. You watch his face contort, briefly, with confusion, before proper procedure and circumstance rectify him again into a stance of idle curiosity. Cue the unspoken question. Why the laugh?

"It seems obligatory, given the circumstance. Mark me, I'd further mock the fool embroiled in the system were it not you, and would such an act not be so embroiled itself in hypocrisy."

An eyebrow dryly rose. "Pray tell, when have you ever been above the realms of hypocrisy?"

Touché. The slightest grin flicks across your face as you both revel in the repartee. Or you would, were such an event not so saturated in disgusting sentiment. And so the conversation returns with your next move.

"You are a true adherent to the stereotypes of our generation, should you be truly considering this."

"Have you not considered it yourself?"

"Indeed I have. But I dare say you're avoiding the matter at hand. Forgive the brashness of the question, but curiosity drives it in such a fervent way...how would you do it?"

"That is one of the reasons of this meeting. Your support in terms of means and reason would be of the utmost welcome here."

"I presumed as much." You tilt your neck back, neatly pulling at the various collars of your suit, quietly pleased at the request of your sole equal. "The first thing to consider is the removal of personal aftermath. Your first attempt needs to be your last. Otherwise you run the unfavourable risk of being found and interrogated by parental figures and the like. A method is needed that gives you no chance to regret, no chance to change your mind, and most importantly, no chance to be revived into this world. How would you propose to achieve such a thing?"

While the echoes of your monologue still rang in the hallway, he neatly produces his means. His father's pistol.

"One to the head should do it," he flatly states, aptly loading the gun in one fluid movement.

"Indeed," you reply, "but are you presuming that your human nature, for all its determined egocentricity, is infallible?"

You've got him curious now. He almost smiles as he replies. "Do elaborate."

"You may change your mind yourself. And then you will be left in the situation of having a pistol to your head. It is enough to turn even the most stable mind to wrecks. And the eyes of society find even the most concealed cracks, prepared to rip them open to ridicule and shame. The logic of which, I dare say, is your reasoning for coming to me. You already have the gun. Now you just need an external trigger hand to do the deed, correct?"

"Who else do you think I know who would shoot me without quarter or second thought?"

Metal changes hands as you feel the weight of the instrument placed, trustingly, in yours. Although trust would again, require feeling. This was by no means a favour. If anything, it was a business transaction. Quick and painless. At least, for you.

Bang. He falls. You walk over as he chokes, hands scrabbling briefly at the hole in his jacket before finding grip on the floor. Cue the exchanged glances.

"Forgive the...bluntness," he stutters, shallow breath briefly robbing him of composure before he continues. "My chest is decidedly unlike my head."

You repress a laugh. It would have been a waste of moment, and you have too much to say as it is. "Now you know how your loved ones will feel when they find you."

"I am thankful for that, I suppose. Although I'm sure their encounter will not miss the heart, as you did...May I be so bold ask to ask whether you will simply watch me die?"

"A macabre ending to a macabre life would seem fitting for you, no?" You find yourself watching him with a wonderful new clarity. You would have pondered the unlikelihood of you never putting the gun to use again, were you not so sure of his next question.

"Can you say with truth you would not like such an ending?"

You shake your head with honesty as you turn the gun on yourself. You fall with a similar lack of grace, and he slips from view. You hear him sigh disdainfully, along with some gentle scuffling on the floor as blood numbly seeps from you.

"Melodramaticism does not become you as hypocrisy did." The change in equilibrium makes his voice echo with new depth and you realise the battle is not yet over.

"Perhaps I am finally above the realms of the latter." You feel yourself overcome by some euphoria as you unwittingly begin to stain the marble floor with blood. You hear footsteps echoing now. Wait. Footsteps? His voice again.

"That will most surely be marked as your tragic downfall."

He comes into view. Confusion hastily followed by curiosity washes over your face, until he opens up his jacket to reveal a bulletproof one, complete with stopped bullet. The unsubtle nature of his grin would disgust you were you not mentally congratulating the simplicity of his plan.

"It seems that your human nature, for all its determined certainty, is infallible also? You really think I'd just let you kill me?" He span on his heels, savouring every step of his slow exit of the room. "I knew you wouldn't shoot me in the head, because you assumed something I knew to be false. You assumed my intent had any actual gravity."

He was seconds from leaving forever before the gun fired once again. His facade fell into shock as his thigh ruptured and sent him to the floor in agony.

"You assumed I'd let you...walk away..." Your voice cracks again as your vision blurs at the edges. You hear him anxiously drawing breath again, an action now noticeably laced with pain. You're both trying to conceal the agony as best you can now, but silently you know the game has no life left in it. He wastes no time in drawing it closer to an end.

"Assumption is our folly, indeed." You nod in agreement, mind almost overcome with lethargy.

"An act of hubris for us both, I'd go as far to say."

"Save for the fact we are not heroes, brother."

You aim at his head and fire one last time.

"That we are not."

EPIC 0_0

Like lines from a movie trailer I really wanna see.