Hermitcraft Oneshots

Hitchhiking

|=====|=====|

TW/CW: guns, death, blood

Prompt: Hitchhiker

Characters: Xanus, Grian

Style: Angst

Word Count: ~880

AU: N/A

|=====|=====|

It was getting dark, Xanus realized. They needed to get home soon but they had run out of money that night and were still a few towns from where they needed to be. That meant they had one option left, and they might as well get one more job done on their way home.

So now Xanus was hitchhiking, they didn't have to wait long before a car pulled over, the driver rolled down his window,
"Where you going?"
"Arkley"
"I'm heading that way, I'll give you a lift"
"Thanks, I'm Logan by the way"
"Xelqua"

They didn't give the driver their real name, it was too risky. Instead, they used their go to fake identity, Logan Elliot, who claimed to be 29 and have worked in a butchers for his entire life. Who supposedly had a wife and two toddlers. None of this was true of course, well, he used to exist until he picked up the wrong hitchhiker. It wouldn't be too long until Xelqua met the real Logan.

Xanus looked at the driving man. He had sandy blonde hair that went down to his shoulders, his grey eyes had purple undertones which made it seem like they were enchanted. He had a few scars littered across his face. He was cute, Xanus thought, he almost looked like what they had imagined their future partner would look like.

They were still a while away from Arkley when Xelqua made a turn onto a less frequently travelled road which lead into a small pine forest. He stopped after a bit, turning to look at the stranger in the backseat. The stranger who called themself Logan had white hair that was long but had been tied back in a simple braid. Their crimson eyes stood out against their pale skin. He had introduced himself to them as Xelqua. It wasn't his real name of course, only rookies used their real names in his line of work. It would be fun, killing this one, they were the prettiest hitchhiker so far.

Xanus pulled their gun from their bag once Xelqua turned back around, aiming it at the drivers head. He was just another person to add to the list.

Xelqua pulled his gun from where it was hidden in the car's door, preparing himself for the quick turn and fire that he was used to. He was just doing what he loved.

He turned, his gun lined up with the passenger in the backseat.

Their eyes locked. Neither of them pulled the trigger. Neither of them lowered their gun. Both of their brains urged them to fire, to end the person on the other end of their gun. Neither of them moved.

"How many?" Xelqua questioned after a while, his voice low,
"758. You?"
"693."

Xanus lowered their gun, sliding it back into their bag. They felt confident that Xelqua wouldn't pull the trigger. They stepped out the car at a gesture from him. He re-aimed the gun.
"How long have you been doing this?" He asked. It seemed more like a demand than a question.
"Two years."
"You've been going two years and you've only got 758?"
"How long have you been going then."
"Year and a half. Who was Logan? Since that's who you're pretending to be."
"Some guy from Niesto. He was a butcher." Xanus remembered the day they killed him like it was yesterday. Xelqua continued,
"And who are you really?"
"We both know I can't answer that."
"And you should be smart enough to know you don't have a choice."
"Xanus... My name is Xanus. What's yours?"
"None of your damn business."
"Jeez calm down dude you don't have to be rude."
"You're lucky you're not dead, don't push your luck."
"You would not believe the amount of times that I've nearly died, it's not luck anymore, it's a fucking miracle."

He gripped the gun tighter, as if it would disappear if he didn't. He was interested in the person stood in front of him, but he couldn't let them leave. Nobody survived an encounter with him, but maybe they could be the first. Maybe if he just knocked them out, he could leave them there and hope they would die but not have to kill them.

The two stood there for what felt like years before Xelqua lowered his gun and turned to walk away. Xanus watched him go a few feet, then stop and turn to face them again.

A gunshot rang through the air. One person collapsed, blood pouring out of their wound. It was the same colour as their eyes, he thought. In that moment, his total went up, 694, but it wasn't Xelqua who walked back to that car. Xelqua didn't feel things for his victims. It was too easy to disappear into the mask of Xelqua. Too easy to play the part. Too easy to lose the parts of himself that were real in the parts that were fake when they so often overlap. Sometimes they felt like one whole person instead of one pretending to be another. Sometimes it felt like they were too similar. It was times like this that kept them apart. Times when Xelqua didn't walk away from a corpse, but Grian did.
|=====|=====|

Is this the third angst chapter in a row? Yes.
Was this meant to be fluff? Yes but my brain decided y'all were getting angst so here we are. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, until the next one, bye! ~Mors