#chat:alder

[abel--evans]

“Alder, c’mere” Abel was drunk, which wasn’t a good thing, but it was a whole lot better than the Abel from a few hours ago, who destroyed his room and cried under the duvet. He wrapped his arm around Alder’s shoulder, to pull him closer, but also to steady himself as well. “Can you believe we’re about to fight to the death? You and me? How fucking crazy is that?”

@alder-reid

[abel-evans]

“Alder” Abel sang, leaning over in his chair in the mentor’s lounge when he spotted him. He was already a few drinks in, because what else can you do when they launch the games at fucking midnight? “Did you know, I’ve been banned from calling Maverick Mav?” he laughed. “I tried to call him Rick but he wouldn’t accept that either” he frowned. “What do you call him?”

@alder-reid​

[abel--evans]

“I think the outer districts” Abel made a face at the term he’d just used, because he hated it, but it was universal, rolled off the tongue, unfortunately. “I think we’re quite strong this time ‘round” he admitted, eyeing up his own two, before moving on to Alder’s, as they stood in one of the corners of the training centre, watching, like most of the other mentors. “Although, the careers do look as strong as always, too” he hummed. And it was odd, he wasn’t usually one to strategise, and Alder was the same as far as he could tell— but he needed to help Oxford, and Farina of course, but Ox, well his story was a lot closer to home.

@alder-reid

[abel-evans]

“So I was thinking” Abel started with, clapping Alder on the shoulder, probably a little harder than he needed to, but once the alcohol had seeped through his veins, Abel was always a little more heavy with his movements than usual. “If you and Mav were ever into experimenting” he wiggled his brows suggestively, held his grip on Alder’s shoulder because the coordination of moving one’s eyebrows while drunk might have him falling over if he had to balance himself all on his own. “I’m a free bird, you know? Just putting it out there— just incase you needed to spice things up”

@alder-reid​

[jade-byrd]

“I think I’ll be fine in there” Fitz admitted for the first time to anybody. It was probably a stupid thing to say, but Alder asked him to be honest, and this was honesty. “I’m a good hunter, I’ve got good aim, I can climb, I don’t give a fuck about anybody out in the real world” he explained. “So yeah, maybe you should help River, ‘cos I’m pretty much sorted”

Fitz looked at Alder, and then to the door, and then to his feet, silently planning his escape just in case he needed it.

"Well, do you want me to be honest? Or would you prefer something a little more contrived?" he asked, smiling a little.

[rush--knox]

"I don't know" Rush answered honestly, and he slid down against the wall so that he was sitting next to Alder, careful to keep some space between them. "Sorry I asked that, it's a silly question, usually back home we ask how the soil is, it's easier to answer"

Rush was probably the last person he expected it to be, although he wasn't exactly sure why. It wasn't like Rush was always off being weird somewhere, but it did seem like he caught Rush in the midst of most of those situations, rather than the other way around. "Are any of us okay?" Maybe Rush was. He seemed to cope okay, right?

[jade-byrd]

Fitz looked at Alder, and then to the door, and then to his feet, silently planning his escape just in case he needed it.

"Well, do you want me to be honest? Or would you prefer something a little more contrived?" he asked, smiling a little.

He hesitated, trying to study Fitz's face to determine if that was true, but he seemed to make himself more comfortable rather than running away, so Alder supposed he probably meant it. He took a seat opposite of him, clear of the exit-- just in case. Last thing he wanted to do was make his tribute feel trapped. "I just, um... I wanted to... to see how you are?" He pushed his fingers through his hair. Fuck, he always sucked at this, he could never find the right words for his tributes, despite the desire to be a good mentor for them.

[rush--knox]

A lump formed in his throat, one of the ones he had to hunch his shoulders to swallow around, and the tears, they built around his eyes, but he blinked them away quickly. “They don’t have these phone things back home” he waved his mobile phone around with a shrug. “Maybe some day”

"You could say that, yeah." It felt a little too mean after he'd said it, though. It wasn't Rush's fault he was raised the way he was, no matter how averse Alder felt toward any kind of Games-worship. "I, uh. I am sorry. That can't exactly be fun. Do you still talk to them?"

[jade-byrd]

Ezra let Alder's hand clash with his face, and he laughed because it wasn't as heavy or strong as he'd been dealt with before, all those years of sparring and fighting with other academy kids had prepared him for much worse, and although his face did tingle, he was still laughing. "Fuck you and your opinions-- or do you want me to punch you again?"

Alder had taken his fair share of punches, but God, it had been a minute since he'd gotten a punch from a Career at the top of their game. Heat and pain blossomed in his jaw, he stumbled backward in shock. "The fuck?!" he snarled, tasting blood and vision tunneling around Ezra. Each breath came shallow, rapid, and he barely hesitated before swinging his own arm at Ezra too, far less trained, driven by seething anger rather than any technique. It seemed for all Maverick had tried to teach him during their time together, all strategy and decorum when it came to fighting had departed with their relationship.

[abel--evans]

Abel caught Alder's mood switch, watched his cheeks redden and he cursed himself under his breath. He hadn't meant to be rude, or make anyone else upset, it just seemed this particular break had been one of his hardest yet.

"No-- I'm sorry, you don't deserve it-- you got one home, that's something worth celebrating-- let's, let's do a shot, yeah?"

The comment stung, enough to make him stare down into the amber contents of his drink, cheeks hot. He should know better than to say anything after his tribute had just survived, even if the way he saw it, it had been luck that Linden hadn't encountered as much as Farina and Oxford to be driven to the brink of sanity. Given another day, he was pretty sure her fate might have been the same.

"I'm-- I'm sorry," he mumbled, not taking offense to Abel's bitter laugh. How many times had he laughed the same way?

[jade-byrd]

This had to be flirting now, didn't it? Although Rowan found Alder hard to read, mainly because he just seemed so nervous, and maybe he was just saying these things out of nerves more than anything else. "Don't stop talking" he smiled. "It's one of the best conversations I've had since I got here-- one that doesn't revolve around my impending death, or my brother" he laughed honestly.

He was forced to give him a once over, and, of course, it did all look very nice on him. "It's probably not hard for them to make it work," he pointed out without thinking, which, of course made everything worse. "Just-- you know. You would look-- you know what, I'm just going to stop talking now."

[jade-byrd]

"I don't know, I'm not really a people kind of person" he sighed, collapsing into himself on one of the plush sofas, he had to admit, it was a little comfier than a branch of a tree. "What do you suggest? Do I go the sad route? The friendly route?"

"How we sell any tribute, we find you a good angle." Fitz, though, didn't seem to be the type that would enjoy an acting job on top of surviving the Games. "How do you want them to think of you?"

[abel--evans]

Abel was trying his best to stay sober, just for the interview, because he knew it would be a bad look if he was completely pissed in front of the whole nation. It would scare Rebecca, Liz would be angry, and this was as much about them as it was about him-- so here he was, as sober as he'd been in a while, hands shaking in the absence of the alcohol.

He was jittery, and in all honesty, he thought the flickering lights was all in his head until Alder spoke about them, confirming that no, his mind wasn't just playing tricks on him like it tended to do.

"Weird" he nodded, and immediately understood where Alder's thoughts were. Could there be some sort of rebel attack that might get them out of this mess they were stood in? Or was he dreaming too big? Were the withdrawals giving him a false sense of hope? "Did you hear about anything?"

He and Abel were both waiting backstage near each other for the interviews, Five now getting ready to go and the Careers officially through (and he'd let out a breath when Maverick finished, not that he was fixated on it). There was much more grouping up and mingling backstage than there had been during his first Games, everyone standing in a stiff line of strangers.

Alder opened his mouth and turned to Abel to make a snarky comment about Calix, when everything flickered, then went dark. For a few seconds, it went quiet, then as soon as the muttering and whispers began, the lights came back up.

Alder frowned, glancing around and raising an eyebrow at Abel. He shouldn't hope, it was probably just a power surge from a storm or something, but the hope was there anyway. He then searched for Abel's gaze, wanting to see if he was thinking the same thing as he was. "That was... weird."

@abel--evans

[rush--knox]

Not a whole lot sounded terrible to Rush, but coffee flavoured cake wasn't appealing to him, he hadn't quite acquired the taste for coffee just yet.

"I'm a food fan" he grinned, he'd recently learned that fan didn't only mean the device that moved air around, but also that he liked things. "I've always loved fruits, of course, but now I love chocolate and pasta and potatoes"

"Uh... I had one with coffee in it once while I was here. That was pretty good?" He himself wasn't enough of a cake person to really say, but the topic seemed to excite Rush. He'd attach to it-- anything to keep him away from potential brownies. He'd never heard of drugged cake... at least, he didn't think he had. "Sounds like you're a cake fan?"

[vix-holt]

Vix focused on the cigarette rather than Alder, mostly because she was never good at accepting help, never really had experience with it in her short life so far, so she felt awkward and unsure of what exactly to say. “I uh— why? Why do you want to help me?” she asked, raising a brow.

vix-holt​:

“I guess” Vix nodded in agreement, held back her sigh of defeat because she wasn’t letting herself give up, even if the odds were not at all in her favour. “There is a chance I won’t though” she mumbled quietly, because as optimistic as she was, there was reality to think about too.

.

He wanted to ask what would happen then, but he wasn’t sure he’d like the answer. So he didn’t, letting the statement hang heavily between them. “Look, we aren’t really supposed to help other Districts, but it kindof happens all the time. I’ll help if you need anything over the next couple days, so will the rest of Seven. The way I see it, the more tributes getting out that aren’t Careers, the better.”

[vix-holt]

Vix snorted a laugh, she’d heard all about Hestia since she’d arrived here at the tower. “My parents don’t exist— the rest of my family bottomed out when I was in my teens, so I doubt they’ll be interested in taking on another kid” she sighed. “She’s stuck with her dead beat dad if I don’t get out, so I just— I gotta get out”

vix-holt​:

Vix smiled even though her heart was breaking. She’d tried her best, as soon as she’d found out she was pregnant she’d changed her whole world to make sure Cassia had the best life she could, but things were out of her control now, and she wondered what kind of life her daughter would live if she didn’t make it out. “I wish I could make a plan for if— if you know I didn’t make it”

.

The thought made his stomach twist. “You said her dad sucks, so… I mean, do you have any other family or something? Is there, like, some District Six Hestia or something?” It was no secret she took just about anyone in from Twelve, but it wasn’t as if she could take every child in Panem.