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especiallythewomenandthechildren · 10 months ago

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As If Destiny (part eight) 🌹

Part Seven 🌹

Warnings: Parent death, sibling death, death and brutality (it is the hunger games after all) characters may be ooc. Reader may not be your fav this part. I read the book a while ago but don't really remember much of Snows way of thinking (I mean I know its toxic and insane but yk the other things) so I will mostly be basing off the film and my own thoughts. Also I can't spell for the life of me so be prepared for bad spelling and grammar. Enjoy loves!

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The air of the station was stale, as if taking the simplest of breaths would cost a significant amount of energy. It felt as though even the bugs buzzing around in the spring weather were flying in slow motion. Maybe it really was the air, or more likely, the atmosphere of your mind.

You felt nauseous and dizzy at the arguments that split your soul. The tributes were to arrive today, naturally, Jessup with them. Were you here to give the best first impression or to size him up? A part of you wanted to save him from the horrors, but the lately very loud voice has been telling you that he deserved it. Especially a boy from District Twelve, around the age of those who murdered your brother in the dense woods of the small district.

Your long time waiting for the train arrival was spent trying to settle that internal struggle to no avail. You were staring straight ahead onto the empty tracks when something felt different. The peacekeepers were still stoic, tracks still echo-filled at even the slightest noise. But a slight breeze was felt behind you. When you turned around, that breeze of fresh air happened to be a certain blonde with irresistible eyes.

He was in the rouge academy uniform, as were you, and he held a pristine white rose in his hand. He had clearly expected the station to be empty, so the sight of your drained eyes made him suck in a breath.You let out a tired laugh at his appearance.

"So are we allowed to be here, or are we both going to receive whatever nightmare Highbottom has set up for us?"

Coryo walked to stand next to you as he retorted back with a sly grin.

"At least we will go through whatever the punishment is together."

"Ah, yes, nothing shakes the trouble duo!"

He took a sideways glance at you as he started chuckling.

"Trouble duo? That's really the best you thought of? I thought you were the poetic one."

He joked at you as you gasped in mock offense.

"I'm sorry, do you have any better names for us?"

Yes. Yes, he did. But none of them had to do with Highbottom or any mocking moniker. His personal favorite was "couple." The others were a bit ambitious and would be used in the far future, such as President and First Lady. Not a bad ring to it. But he wouldn't voice out his desires, even if he was on his death bed. Especially after what happened in that hallway yesterday.

However, you were too busy observing for the upcoming train to notice Coriolanus's gaze. When you turned around, he didn't shift away his gaze.

But you didn't question it. Maybe because it has become familiar and a comfort these past weeks. You had ammunition of reasons such as his hyperobservation to explain these glances. Not a single one of them hit the real reason.

The blonde was fidgeting with the rose slightly, which made a slight laugh creep past your lips. It took him a second to realize the cause, but when he did, he slightly blushed.

"I would have gotten you one too if-uhm, I knew you would be here."

Your lips curved into a shy grin at his flustered words.

"I'm not the one you need to charm, Coryo; you did that a long time ago."

You noticeably were avoiding his eyes, and he let it be because he was quite sure he was turning as red as his uniform.

"Can I ask why you are here, Coryo?"

He seemed a bit taken aback at your sudden question. Of course, he knew the reason he was there: to win the Plinth Prize. To do that, he needed Lucy Gray's trust, and this was just the way to do it. But he feared his reasoning was a bit too harsh. It was the last days of this girl's life, and he was just seeing her as a means to an end. Coriolanus didn't want you to think of him as heartless or worse, that he would be using your trust as a means to an end as well.

So he simply replied that he wished to gain the odd girl's trust, and this seemed like a good way to get a head start. You nodded along, agreeing that she seemed like the character who wouldn't do anything without trust.

Although, your eyes seemed to darken after his reasoning. He couldn't decipher the look completely, but it was clear guilt was a factor.

"Y/N?"

Your faraway eyes and mind locked into his at hearing his soft voice.

"Why are you here?"

You stared at him, slightly getting lost in the ever-shifting color in his eyes. You looked downwards as you breathed out.

"I don't know. I wish I did. Something told me I should come, see him for myself. Maybe it will help clear my thoughts on everything here. And I know a part of me wishes to find something in him to justify his murder."

You bitterly admitted. You were still glanced down when Coriolanus responded.

"This isn't your fault; you know this, right? You didn't choose him, and you didn't make the games."

He let it sink in for a moment, enough for it to visibly break through your guilt-made walls. Coriolanus waited for you to finally regain the will to look up at him.

"And if anyone has reason for the things you are thinking and feeling, it's you. They still want us dead. The Capitol says the war is over when it's far from done. I mean, come on, these kids are the next generation of rebels. It's either them or us."

His tone started out light and soft but quickly turned to stone. You wanted to argue with him, to shout at the top of your lungs that they are innocent and no part of the massacres you suffered. But how could you? How could you fight your exact sentiments?

You knew he was right, no matter how much it hurt your morals. They were old enough to feel fear. Old enough for that fear to become hate. Hate to violence.

And they were old enough to kill. The minimum age for the Reaping was twelve. You and your classmates had the ability to take a life at half that age.

After that, the long-awaited train began pulling into the station. You've only ever seen a train in person once. When you gave miniature hugs to your uncle Averic and freshly fourteen-year-old Octavious.

You were only five at the time, and the upcoming horror of the Dark Days were still a few months away. There were others there saying their goodbyes, but you weren't focusing on them. Or how they began filtering out as the time for departure came closer. You were still clinging onto your older brother's legs as your mother, aunt Fiora, and uncle Averic seemed to be in serious talks.

"Otto?"

The young boy seemed to be trying to listen in to their conversation, and it took a little slap to his leg to get his attention. When his eyes, which were the same shade of yours, landed on your own, they softened from his prior harden state of focus. He knelt down to your height as he turned all his attention on you.

"Why are you leaving?"

The boy had to take a shaky breath. He had slightly hoped you would just accept your mother's reasoning that he "just had to go." But, of course, you, being too attentive and curious for any kid your age, just couldn't let his absence go. In reality, he didn't have to leave. He had forced himself to be involved. It took every stretch of persuasion to convince his uncle to let him come along to what was being described as "a small rebellion."

He wasn't to do anything but take note and follow his uncle's lead. Otto dreamed that within a year, he would be given his own battalion, and the next, be his own commanding general. It was not extremely unusual for a young man of age sixteen or seventeen to be in command. Averic Emberidge was a living example. And like his maternal uncle, Octavious Vaun had great military promise. He had life promise.

He had promise.

And a promise given to his young sister. That he would come back.

Otto achieved his goals of military prowess. But the young man, no matter how skilled or trusted, broke his promise to the person he loved most.

But back then, the promise was fresh and believed to be easy to keep. The platform was empty save for one family by the time your own was forced to part. Your mother and aunt switched between the two members who would be off in District territory. You stood back and watched the goodbyes as a man approached.

He was tall, broad, and commanded the air of the room. As if even the rules of the universe had to bend to his will. He had two children and an older woman trailing behind him. All four had bright and magnetic blue eyes.

The Snows were not easy to miss, not even miles away, as though their powerful aura was felt in all areas of proximity.

He stopped right in front of your mother, who stood in a deep green fashioned vintage day dress. The beautiful woman still looked forward, slightly past her brother's shoulder.

"Cloria. Fiora."

He gave a nod after each name. The former turned to him with those still captivating eyes. The latter rolled her own pair at his presence. He acknowledged your uncle and brother as well, but they would have time for conversation later. They were all to be on campaign together after all.

Crassus and Cloria broke away for a very brief discussion while you still stood a bit away from the group. Your uncle noticed you and your lack of an official goodbye and smiled in invitation. You sprinted into his now-open arms as he spun you around, much to your oblivious enjoyment. When he set you down and grabbed your arms to make you focus on him, his prior smile dissolved into a grave thin line.

"Hey, kid."

Uncle Averic's voice wasn't the joyful one you were used to. You knew then that you needed to listen up and closely.

"I know you are a tough little girl. I saw how you beat up your brother, after all."

You smiled proudly while the aforementioned beaten boy scoffed. He was referring to the past few weeks in which Otto taught you how to fight. It was safe to say he wasn't expecting your level of skill and dedication. The fourteen-year-old just wanted you to have basic defense skills, but your speed of skill accelerated the lessons considerably.

"But y/n, things are going to be a little different now. I need you to watch out for your mom and aunt Fi, okay? I know Rhayen will be there, but you are responsible too. You are smart and strong, kid, just don't be reckless. Your mom doesn't need any more stress."

Your uncle struck his hand out, and you shook it in agreement. It didn't hit your young mind all that you would have to endure to keep this agreement.

Your mother and Crassus seemed to be finishing up talks, so you turned to Otto, who seemed to be holding back tears as the gravity of the situation hit him.

"Hey."

His still-changing voice broke. He scooped you up in his arms as he stared down at you.

"I will write all I can back home, and I'll make special letters just for you, okay? I'll draw out the words for you."

You could read, and at a very accelerated level for a girl your age, but Otto was already missing the days where you would draw out what you were feeling in situations you couldn't speak out loud.

"No! I want words, I can read Otto! I want hard words too!"

He laughed at your little pout of demand. Your determination to push yourself even in that small way was one of the many ways you motivated him throughout the war. Otto knew you were waiting for him, so he rushed to come back. But even his speed could not make him outrun fate.

Your mother had come back and had taken you - begrudgingly - out of her oldest child's arms. You watched them board the train and watched the adults' reactions. Each had a different expression.

The older woman who was with General Snow, who you would eventually call Grandma'am along with her grandchildren, looked proud; she looked overconfident and a bit arrogant. Fiora was on the brink of biting her finger off as she bit nervously at her nails.

And your mother. Her eyes were scanning the train, but they saw two worlds. One where the three men would come back, unscathed and victorious. The other was grim and the unfortunate reality of only the news of their death coming back.

You remember as you scanned the faces, all which were focused on the now-departing train, one was staring back at you. Even all those years ago, Coriolanus was always a face of comfort and reliability. Across the platform, you two bore into the soul of the other, trying to make sense of any of the chaos around them. Your family began walking towards the west exit while his the east.

The distance grew and grew, but so did the intensity of your connected gaze. Neither seemed to want to let go. As if you both knew this would be your last look for three years. The last look as unscathed children.

But those children grew up. And you were back on a train platform with those ever-searching blue eyes. Though, no longer did he search for sense or his father, but now for his ticket out of poverty. A ticket in the form of a fascinating brunette.

He walked towards the now-opening doors of the cattle train. The smell was foul, but you followed him. Some tributes got out, either by their own or forced out. A bat also flew out which you noted. The tributes looked at the Capitol duo with a range from curiosity to murderous intentions. You went down the near entirety of the vehicle the two from District Twelve appeared. Jessup got down first and helped Lucy Gray down by her waist.

You and Coryo sucked in a collective breath. Any last-minute nerves had to silence themselves because it was far too late now to back out.

Jessup immediately noticed you both and sent a glare. He stepped closer to Lucy Gray in protection while she was busy taking in her surroundings. The movement of Jessup and his noticeable stare past her made the girl turn.

She was quite beautiful; the screens didn't do her justice. She had coffee brown eyes, matching colored hair, and clear, tanned skin. But it was her expression that added to her beauty. She was clearly suspicious, to which no one could blame her, but as she raked over both you and Coriolanus's forms, she had a slight grin of curiosity.

It was quite a contrast to her fellow tribute, Jessup. His eyes were sharp, and he was clearly displeased at your presence.

But you cleared your throat anyway, although Coryo beat you to speaking.

"Welcome to the Capitol."

He held out the rose for the girl, who took a long good look at it before taking it.

"We are your mentors. It's nice to meet you both."

You said sweetly and had a small smile to which the girl returned but fell flat on Jessup. You put your hand out to Jessup, but not surprisingly, he left you hanging. You gulped down your embarrassment and bit your lip, signs of uncomfort ot unnoticed by Coryo. Lucy Gray looked you both up and down as she sized you up.

"When I was little, my mama used to bathe me in buttermilk and rose petals."

She took a petal off and stuck it right in her mouth. She gave it a good taste followed by a smile.

"Tastes like bedtime."

You turned to Coriolanus, who was still wide-eyed at his tribute's actions. You didn't know exactly what to expect when you came here, but it surely wasn't this.

"So what do our mentors do?"

It seemed like Lucy Gray was going to do all the talking as her friend stayed stone-faced besides her.

"We do our best to take care of you. Lucy Gray, Coriolanus is your mentor while Jessup, you are stuck with me."

Lucy Gray nodded along and examined her mentor once again. Jessup examined you as well but not in the pondering way his companion was. Rather, he looked like he was thinking venomous thoughts of you and as if your being was yet another punishment he had to endure.

Any further conversation was interrupted by several peacekeepers motioning for the two from twelve to get moving. Lucy Gray looked over her shoulder and wished you both luck on that front while she was being pushed towards a small vehicle along with the rest of the tributes.

Coriolanus already began asking the silent peacekeepers if we can escort them, but none were willing to answer. You followed him aimlessly, ready to start your exit and walk to the Academy. You both still had classes today, even though they were modified to center around your mentorship. But Snow wasn't willing to give up.

When a tall and lanky boy tried to make a run for it and distracted the peacekeepers, a certain look overtook Coriolanus. Everything seemed to be blocked out, just him and the door to the truck. You had a feeling what he was going to do and cursed him once you saw his legs start pumping.

I hate you so much, you idiot Coriolanus Snow.

Your chant of dislike was all you could think of as only a split second after him, you followed him into the abyss of the vehicle that held twenty-three (Wovey yet a year away) teenagers who wanted you both dead. A desire they might just get once the doors shut, trapping you in.

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As soon as Coriolanus landed on the truck, he went directly towards the back. Your legs weren't as tall as his, so it took enough effort from you to get on the truck that you fell onto the floor. That was when Coryo noticed you had joined him. His eyes widened in fright, and he moved to pick you up when another tribute shoved him against the back wall. He let out a painful groan as he tried to charm his way out of the situation.

The tribute holding onto him was even taller and considerably broader than the blonde boy.

"I'll kill you right now."

He snarled at Coriolanus and was backed up by a sick girl.

"He killed a peacekeeper back in eleven."

You learned that the peacekeeper killer was named Reaper, and the ill-looking girl was named Dill.

The threat on Coriolanus's life made you get up in a second and get ready to stop any further action. But as soon as you landed on your feet, your position mimicked Coriolanus's as you were being shoved by Coral, the girl from four. You knew she was Festus's assigned tribute and she seemed like a clear delight with her wicked smile.

"I call dibs on killing her."

Her breath, with the scent of fish still lingering, fanned all over your face. But unlike Coriolanus, your face didn't show any fear or desperation. You held her gaze with a glare of your own. You've fought off a lot more menacing figures than her.

While you had no fear, Coriolanus was taken over with terror.

"Don't you touch her!"

He made a move against Reaper, who shoved him back even harder against the wall. His struggle made the red head girl holding you laugh.

"Aw, how cute. Your boyfriend tryin to help you, princess."

Your hostile glare deepened at that. She had so much confidence in her ability and power over you. And while she was much stronger than you, she was sloppy. She didn't even hold back your hands or disarm your legs. You could easily throw her off if she made a move.

Lucy Gray watched the events unfold and glanced at Jessup who seemed okay with letting their mentors suffer fates similar to their inevitable ones. She didn't like not doing anything to help them. They were supposed to help her and Jessup, right? They would be at a clear disadvantage if something happened to them.

Plus, you and Coriolanus were interesting; nothing like what she imagined Capitol kids to be like.

As the rest of the group agreed on the murder of the academy students, Lucy Gray piped up.

"Y’all got family back home? They’ll kill them if you hurt them. Then you."

She made sure her message was clear. The thought of their families being hurt made them pause, as well as the instant death. In the Hunger Games, they at least had a shot at living. Reaper loosened his grip, and she continued.

"Besides, he’s my mentor. I might need his help."

She nodded her head towards the disgruntled mentor. She didn't mention who you were mentoring because she hoped Jessup would speak up. She knew Jessup didn't necessarily care for you, but he knew you might be some sort of help. The dark-skinned boy didn't get to speak up before Coral, however.

"And you a mender, princess?"

She shoved you again, which made Coriolanus flinch, but Lucy Gray motioned with her eyes for him to stay in place. His involvement would only make things worse.

"Better hope I'm not yours."

She didn't like your answer if her teeth-bearing snarl had anything to say about it. Something about it fueled your fury.

"Do you know why they call it the Hunger Games?"

You beckoned her with a slight smirk that angered the aggressive girl across from you.

"I'll still kill you."

She threatened you as she didn't know where you were going with this. The unknown was a disadvantage to her and fueled her fear.

You asked again, and the sweet-hearted Wovey answered instead.

"Because there is no food."

She answered confidently and in that sweet voice, which felt so wrong in this environment. You didn't want to go ahead with your plan of words, but when Coral turned back from looking at the little girl to you, the fire was back.

You stared straight into the angry eyes of Coral with a menacing smile.

"Oh no, there is plenty of food. I mean, look around. I see twenty-six bodies of food."

You could feel the girl's arms shudder, and you saw the rest of the faces go pale. But you weren't done.

"Hunger stands for the hunger in one's eyes. Once that bell rings, that hunger takes over. Hunger for blood, corpses. For survival and victory. And if you lose focus for just a second-"

You made quick work as you shoved Coral's arms off of you and placed them behind her back. You have now reversed places as she struggled against the wall and beneath your far more forceful and effective hold. Attention was still hooked onto as you finished your lesson.

"You're dead."

Your quick move shocked the entirety of the truck, including Coryo. He knew you could fight back from your younger days by the pestering of Festus, in which you gave him a solid black eye for days. Yet, he didn't know just how good you were, much of it still from your brother's teachings and occasional lessons from Rhayen.

You were ready to let the girl, who still wore her scowl but couldn't hide the fear behind her eyes, go. Although, you bent closely in front of her face to let her know your last message.

"You better thank your lucky stars I'm not in that arena with you. I already won my games."

You hissed out the now positively infuriated teenager. The other tributes ranged from absolute horror of you to confusion on your last statement and how you were so cutthroat. No one expected children of the Capitol to have this in them.

The entirety of the truck's eyes were on you, except Lucy Gray. She looked to Coriolanus to examine his expression. She wanted to know if this was all a front or your sweet nature on the station was. The best way would be to see what the boy, who clearly knew you, thought of the situation. His face was not expressing fear or confusion like the others, but rather a sad look of understanding.

All of the Capitol struggled most definitely during the Dark Days and still with its legacy and effect. But you were one of the few to suffer nearly all the horrors it brought during the war and the only one who still lost after it. The rest of your classmates seemed to move past the traumas, but not you. Maybe it was because of your mother, but it always seemed to play out on repeat behind your still-shining eyes.

Lucy Gray's eyes bounced from Coriolanus's face to yours again. She seemed satisfied and understood. You weren't bluffing. Though, as she looked again at you, she saw your eyes soften. You realized all you had done and said. You had felt threatened, and it had just become instinct to take control of a threatening situation. It hit you that you just became Coral. It was clear she was scared of being here, and her menacing demeanor was a defensive mechanism. And your haunting words were yours.

Lucy Gray took note. Maybe she and Jessup could trust you. But all of a sudden, the truck began shaking harshly and began tipping as the doors opened into the bright light. It shocked you, and due to being closer to the door, you were one of the few to fall. You fell silently but locked eyes with Coriolanus as you did, which was enough for him to let go as well. He was already slipping anyway as Lucy Gray hung onto him, and the truck began tipping.

The mentor was able to land without a scratch and checked on Lucy Gray, who was the same. She looked to her friend, who dusted himself off from where he landed a few meters away from her. Coriolanus watched her make it to Jessup when he began frantically looking for you.

You were more in the middle of the area, which he soon realized was the Capitol zoo. He scoffed at the insult to the districts as he rushed to your side. However, you weren't as lucky as those in the back. You had landed face first into some rocks, which busted a nasty cut above your eye. You had swatted away Coryo's helping hands and slipped off your academy blazer to dab at the blood.

"Huh, look at this. Capitol bleeds."

Your head snapped up to meet the mocking Coral. Coryo looked as if he was going to pounce on her, but you pulled his arm back. He helped you up as you looked past his shoulder.

"What in the world is the weather guy doing here?"

The quite loud presentation voice of the notorious Lucky Flickerman was heard as he tried to get your and Coriolanus's attention.

Lucy Gray and Jessup had moved towards you two while Coral walked off. When Coriolanus heard that he was live for all of the Capitol, he began to panic. His breath became rapid and shallow. You were quick to grab his cheeks to make him look down to you.

"Coryo. Look at me. It's nothing you haven't done before. I'm here with you, okay?"

You waited for his nod to smile back at him, which calmed his nerves considerably. Your tributes watched on, slightly amused. Lucy Gray felt charmed by your clear looks of affection, although it hurt her due to her own recent love troubles. Jessup felt amused that the girl who was just threatening Coral was so taken by a skinny, lanky, and pale boy such as Coriolanus.

You both turned to the other half of your makeshift group.

"Lucy Gray Baird, Jessup Diggs, let us introduce you to our neighbors."

You beckoned them forward, while you opened your hand for Lucy Gray, who took it with an amused tilt of her head. Jessup and Coriolanus shared a look, in which the latter looked at the former's hand and was swiftly met with a clear "no" at the thought of the two mirroring your actions.

When you reached the edge of the cage, you noticed two small children. Coriolanus moved to the other side of Lucy Gray while Jessup moved to you, still a bit back. However, your attention is quickly taken by the questions of Lucky Flickerman.

"Who are you two? What are you doing in the cage here?"

Coriolanus responds and explains the situation to Lucky while you and Lucy Gray focus on the children in front of you.

They seem very taken by Lucy Gray, and she is quite the charmer. She captures the attention of all around with her honey-like voice and witty answers. Soon enough, Lucky focuses on her, eager to learn all about the strange girl. She explains the Covey and the importance of her beautiful dress.

"This dress was my mama’s so it’s extra special to me."

You glanced at her with a shared sympathy as she informed the ignorant host of her mother's passing. She felt your stare shift and turned to you as you gave her the slightest of nods. You didn't know if she understood its meaning, but her knowing eyes crinkled with a smile that let you know your message was well received.

Lucy Gray had a good feeling she could trust you. Maybe if she somehow won, you two could be good friends. She was a charmer and well-liked in twelve, but she didn't really have friends besides the Covey; who were more family than friends.

"Do you know the wonderful mentors for me and Jessup? Seems we got the cream of the cake 'cause no one else even bothered to show up."

You took a gulp and forced a smile as the camera visibly moved to focus on you.

"Well, we've met Coriolanus Snow, yes?"

Flickerman paused to ensure he got the blonde's name right and was met with a nod.

"And who are you, young lady? And did you get that nasty cut from the other tributes when you jumped in the cage? Were you told to jump in?"

His questions flew a million miles a minute, but you responded with grace.

"Hello there. My name is Y/N Vaun and oh no, I fear I am quite clumsy."

You covered up the fact that you might have had your neck slit if not for Lucy Gray.

"And the game makers didn't tell us that we couldn't. They just said that it was a mentor’s job to introduce our tributes to the citizens of Panem. And we thought, well, if they were brave enough to be here, then why shouldn’t we be, too?"

You looked up to Coriolanus to assure your answer was sufficient enough, to which he agreed. Lucy Gray did have one adjustment though.

"For the record, I didn’t have a choice."

Which you couldn't help but tilt your head to the side in agreement to her statement while Flickerman opened up again.

"For the record, I think you both are about to be whisked away."

Suddenly, two strong peacekeepers began dragging you away with Coriolanus. You fought them off to freely walk on your own as you noticed Lucy Gray stop him and whisper urgently, to which he agreed.

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The walk to the academy wasn't too far, but your pace was set quite fast. You and Coryo were already going to attract a lot of attention; missing class for an assumed press event with the tributes was a big no. Your dash to the prestigious institution was a silent conversation between you and Coryo. There didn't feel like much to say as you both were too far in your heads.

Coriolanus turned to you slightly as the question that's been burning in his mind came out.

"Why did you jump in the truck with me?"

You didn't even hesitate as you answered him, still looking forward.

"Are you seriously asking me that, Coryo?"

When you were met with nothing but silence, you turned to him.

"You jump, I jump. You throw yourself in a cage filled with people who want to gut you? Expect to have a friend with you. Maybe it will make you think before you do something stupid next time."

Your answer and vow of companionship caused a satisfied smile to overtake the handsome boy's features. It stayed there for some time before your now dark voice piped up.

"Do you remember the station?"

Your sudden question broke the prior silence. The fair-skinned teen looked at you in question.

"The station we were just at?"

He felt as if he missed something. The thought of being out of the loop unnerved him. You motioned that the recent setting wasn't the point of your question as you elaborated.

"No, I meant right back when the rebellion started. That day when they shipped off."

The heir of Snow's face scrunched up as he thought of the memory; one of his first clear ones. Young Coryo was so confused with all happening around him. Crassus rarely acknowledged the five-year-old's confusion while grandma'am kept on repeating curses about the rebelling districts. Though, as always, Tigris tried to calm down and help her little cousin. She wasn't that much older but she was old enough to understand; her uncle, the sole provider of their family, was to be off across the country. It worried her beyond what her youthful face would show. A face constantly lit up with the warm smiles her young cousin elicited.

But there were moments, although few, where Tigris's attention was elsewhere besides Coryo. One of them being on that now demolished train station, where she watched Crassus Snow depart from the Capital and eventually, their lives. It was in that moment where Coriolanus didn't look to his cousin for comfort but rather the girl with curious and wandering eyes. He had seen you before, but that was the day you truly entered his life. The young man laughed sweetly at the memory.

"You refused to look away even as we were being pulled away."

"Hey, you didn't look away either!"

You retorted back to the reminiscing adolescent. His eyes were still glued forward as you neared your destination. Out of his peripheral vision, however, he noticed a solemn demeanor took you over.

"Funny how different my only two train experiences are."

You laughed without humor, a grim noise.

"The first time, I had the privilege of ignorance. Hands were clean. And the people. Nearly every person I loved in one place. Fast forward today. I'm all too aware of the blood dripping from my hands, and I keep on making it gush."

You paused to take a bitter breath while refocusing your eyes straight ahead. You both were nearly to the entrance of the academy campus.

"Not a single one of them made it out alive. The only one was you."

The boy in mention furrowed his brows at your statement. It didn't strike him until now that you were right. Every member of your family on the platform that fateful day is six feet under. And by the way you spoke, so was little five-year-old you. The thought of your absent family made him reflect. His life wasn't easy in the slightest, but he did have his loved ones, no matter how little the number was. Sure, his grandma'am was a bit eccentric and not whole in the head, but she was a reminder of the glory indebted to the Snows. She was, most of the time, a sweet grandmother and a constant pillar of support.

And of course, Tigris. His life was mostly filled with darkness, metaphorically and literally with the high cost of electricity. But Tigris was always a light shining bright. Guiding him when he was lost in the slightest bit. He left that station with nearly the same family he has today, excluding his cold father. And even though his absence was a painful reminder of their living situation, Tigris often reminded Coryo that was given a chance to be a better person without his father's controlling and cold nature. A chance she tried to make possible at every possible moment.

But you didn't have a single member of your beloved family anymore. It was true your father was alive, but Coriolanus knows he has all but officially stepped out of your life. A move that made the young man resent and hold a place of disrespect in regards to your father. Your feet had carried you through the vast academy doors and down the hallways leading to the class you should have been in half an hour ago.

It was when you were mere feet from the door when a realization hit him. You said everyone you loved was on that platform and he was the only one to live. wait. did you just- does that mean-

"Your little excursion was in violation of about five different Academy rules, Mr. Snow and Miss Vaun. Chief amongst them, endangering a Capitol student."

You had entered the domed classroom, and Coriolanus couldn't further question your prior statements. You had ascended up the stairs with Coryo following close behind. You turned to question Dean Highbottom, who didn't even look up at your presence.

"Neither of us forced the other to go. We went on our own accord."

You responded back to the dean still focused on his papers.

"I don't care how or why it happened. You both put yourselves in danger regardless. I’m moving for the Gamemakers to disqualify you as mentors immediately."

You scoffed at his actions in disgust. He really jumped at any chance to make Coriolanus suffer. Highbottom has now become a plague you now have to deal with as well. Young Snow didn't appreciate his operation against him and you as he questioned his validity.

"You said we had to get our tributes to perform, not that we had to stay away."

"I’ll add insubordination as well."

Coriolanus opened his mouth to retort back when he was cut off by a chilling voice.

"Snow and Vaun fell down in the cage."

The ever-infamous Volumina Gaul appeared with a devilish smile playing on her bright red lips. She crept closer as she continued.

"Snow fell down in the cage but it landed…"

Her riddle was quickly figured out by the pair who answered at the same time.

"On stage."

The quick and correct reply made her wicked smile grow impossibly more.

"You’re good at Games. Maybe one day, you two will be Gamemakers like me. You are quite the pair."

The decrepit Casca Highbottom turned to watch the interaction and grumbled at the head Gamemaker's implication.

"If the Games continue at all."

"Oh, they’ll continue. With performances like young Mr. Snow and Miss Vaun's in that zoo."

The eccentric woman made her way to the end of your row as she questioned.

"Which one of you had the idea to jump in the cage with the tributes?"

You and Coriolanus knew neither of you had an idea that you would end up there. That doesn't mean the brave (and stupid) idea to jump in the truck came from nowhere.

"Coriolanus was the one."

You were quick to respond that the boy couldn't cut you off to mention your own involvement. That doesn't mean he didn't have his own speed in answering.

"Y/N was the one who fended them off, though. She also was the one who thought of presenting Lucy Gray after gaining her trust."

To say Dr. Gaul’s already peaked interest didn't skyrocket would be an understatement. She remembered her surprise, an emotion that appears very little in the woman's life, at seeing the two academy students in the zoo. Their elegance and charisma in their performance were extraordinary. And to see how fast they are to jump to the other's defense and bolster made the peculiar woman ache for more. She may have found not only one but two promising students.

"Holding her hand, Y/N? Introducing her to people? You make it look as if we’re one and the same as those animals."

The disgust was clear in Clemensia's voice as she spoke. She was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when it came to Sejanus, who lived most of his life in the Capital after all. But straight district? That was a whole different level of abhorrence.

Said district - not district boy had his own opinions to voice.

"Coriolanus and Y/N didn’t show those people anything they didn’t already know. That the tributes are human beings. Just like us."

He paused to let the idea sink in for the snobby children of the Capital. You and Coriolanus were not surprised at his little outburst, but that doesn't mean you were happy with it. You were very far from it. Sick and tired of constantly hearing the saintly nature of those in the districts. But the curly-haired boy continued.

"That’s why nobody wants to watch the Games. It’s because people know deep down that winning a war 10 years ago doesn’t justify starving people’s children, taking away their freedoms, their rights."

You stayed silent as your nostrils flared, and your teeth ground against each other. You weren't sure where all this anger came from, but you assumed part of it was all your memories of the war becoming so clear lately. The constant yapping of Sejanus that they are oh so innocent while you remember otherwise did not help the blood boiling. Your symptoms of rage did not go unnoticed by Dr. Gaul.

"And what do you think, Miss Vaun? Are the inhabitants of the districts human or animal?"

The entirety of the class focused on you as you took a second to compose yourself. You took a deep breath, and instead of looking at the woman who proposed the question, you locked eyes with Dean Highbottom.

"They are obviously humans."

The man's eyes seemed to have an odd look of relief at your response, but you weren't finished. Your eyes didn't blink nor flinch as you bore into the older man's eyes. "

Animals are incapable of reaching a man's level of sinister."

The recipient of your gaze flinched at your tone and words. It felt as if you stabbed a blade straight into his already shattered conscience. However, your answer sparked new levels of interest within Dr. Gaul. You seem to be more of a promise than you initially let on. Sejanus was far from impressed by your answer. You never spoke out against the districts before; what caused you to now?

"Some of those kids were two years old when the war ended. The oldest of them were only eight! They didn’t have enough to become sinister."

His tone implied the thought that your description of the districts' "humanity" was ridiculous. The people outside of the Capital were good. Far better than those within it, clearly. But Sejanus's blind opinion of them brought you to new levels of anger. You scoffed out a breath of pure disbelief as you turned to stare straight into the brown eyes of the boy.

"Too young? Eight is quite old enough to do sinister things. Look around, Sejanus. You think any of us, who, by the way, were those eight years old, survived by playing with our dolls?"

You paused, trying to compose yourself, while all pairs of eyes were on you. Well, all except Sejanus. You two have never had a quarrel. If there was anyone who the rest were certain would back up Sejanus, it would be you. But here you were, spitting words of venom and unfortunate truth.

"Death doesn't discriminate by age. War doesn't discriminate by age. Each and every one of us here had to become soldiers and survivors by age five." You paused, "Does that sound like humanity? Like the pure good you preach about the districts? They are just like us. Whether or not you want to see it. You claim us evil and we might be. But tell me who do you think caused us to be so harsh? If we were able to kill at six years old, I am quite sure those sixteen-year-olds wouldn't bat an eye. If you don't believe me, let me ask Otto."

The mention of your brother caused the already dead silent classroom to stiffen. Even Highbottom, who disliked yet another reminder of Cloria Vaun (or Emberidge, depends on what memories), had to throw back another shot of morphling. Sejanus was already uncomfortable with your sudden shift in demeanor and your public argument. His discomfort increased when you began using the words "we" and "us," but the mention of Octavius Vaun made him freeze. You rarely mentioned him and if you ever did, you couldn't bring yourself to say his name. You never gave the full details of his death, but you told him enough to know it was a subject never to be brought up. Now that you did, he, along with the rest of your class, knew you weren't going to be able to be controlled.

And you weren't. You didn't let up your hold on attention for a good while as you kept going.

"Hmm? Or how about we ask all of our classmates that should be here? All those people who should be our friends, lovers, siblings? What about those infants who died before they could take a breath because their mothers died of starvation? Let's go ask their corpses, huh! Oh wait, right. Just go around and ask the Capitol population. We didn't have a body clean-up system back in the war. What do you think we did with the bodies?"

The slow realization and remembrance of whispers of the war crept back to Sejanus's mind. Your voice was steady as you continued.

"We had to get whatever nutrition we could, no matter where it came from."

Clemensia had turned deep shades of green at the mention. At the memories.

"Y/N, please stop."

Her wobbly voice and discomfort did the exact opposite of her pleas. You took a look around the classroom to see your peers avoiding eye contact with you and looking one step away from barfing. The sight made you laugh in dark hysteria as you now addressed the room.

"Really?! That's all it took? Ten years? Ten years and you forgot everything! Now that you don't have to throw the last words of your loved ones in a fire to keep warm! These pristine uniforms and marble classrooms enough?! You forget when you had to survive for weeks off of a single rat carcass? When you had to fight deranged old men for a half-empty bag of moldy peaches for your entire family? When your only drink was your own blood? No memories!? No memories of the insanity causing people flinging themselves off of rooftops and others beating the vultures to cut up their corpses!"

Your voice was in a full, rage-fueled yell by the time you finished. You would have continued if a hand on your shoulder didn't signal to stop. You looked up, ready to fight whoever it was, until you realized it was Coryo. You expected him to be embarrassed of you, maybe angry. But he wasn't. His eyes seemed to be glowing with understanding and a shared irritation. After a minute of you calming down, a voice perked all too happily.

"My, my, what a declaration!"

Dr. Gaul was all too eager at your fury. Her blood was on fire with excitement at your sentiments. The question she initially came here to ask you and Coriolanus was finally ready to be asked.

"What are the Hunger Games for?"

The woman looked between you and Coriolanus, eager for an answer to which the latter responded.

"They’re to punish the districts for their uprising, to commemorate the end of the war."

Her smile was gone at the disappointing answer.

“Commemorate the… Dull, dull, dull. Punishment can take myriad forms. Why not drop bombs, cancel food shipments, stage executions? Why Games?"

Her question was not met by either of the two students she wished but rather the clear sympathizer in the form of Sejanus Plinth.

"Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves whether or not they’re right in the first place?"

"You have a problem with my Games?"

Any answer was intercepted by Dean Highbottom who has more than enough of this discussion and development.

"Perhaps the Capitol students are ill-suited to be mentoring tributes. Perhaps the Game’s time has passed."

It was then when you regained your voice.

"It clearly hasn't. The Games, whatever their ultimate purpose, is a reminder. To the districts, most definitely, but also the Capital. It is clear that most here wish to forget and hide away the horrors we've endured. Forget all you wish, but the districts won't. They have to suffer what we did and we have to remember why."

Dr. Gaul was taking in your answer. And it clearly pleased her, whether that be a good or bad thing. That curiosity and thrill continued as Coriolanus added in some suggestions.

"Maybe we should be viewing those tributes as human beings. I mean, you saw those kids in the zoo; they just… they just wanted to get to know Lucy Gray. If we need people to watch, we should be letting them get closer to the tributes before the Games. To make the stakes personal."

As your apparent partner continued, the gears in your mind started turning.

"Who will watch the Games if they care what happens to the tributes?" Arachne questioned. And you were the one to answer.

"Everyone."

When you answered, Coriolanus looked to you with a ghost of a smile on his lips as you understood.

"You wanted them to be spectacles? What's better than letting them share their characters? Their lives, dreams, regrets. Biggest loves and losses. If you want people to watch, they will when they have people to root for and against."

Young Snow was quick to pick up after you.

"And if we bend a few Capitol laws, we could even have them place bets. The winner of the arena may not be the same as the winner of the people."

You jumped back into the conversation with a slightly more chipper tone.

"Give them interviews to learn who they are. Maybe we can even do skill tests. If you use Coriolanus's betting system, it can give even the weakest of tributes more of a chance. People would not only be able to bet on who they like the most but who has more of a chance. Not to mention they would have the power to change those odds."

Dr. Gaul was at all-time levels of elation at the pair. She knows promise when she sees it.

"I’d like you to write up a proposal of these thoughts tonight, Mr. Snow and Miss Vaun. "

You turned to look at said Mr. Snow when a certain raven-haired girl stood up from her seat next to him.

"Wait. You mean you might actually use their ideas?"

Clemensia thought her two high-achieving friends' ideas would just be left floating and not actually implemented in one of the most important events of the country.

"If it’ll help the ratings, why not."

Dr. Gaul’s words made the realization hit you like that cursed cattle train. Your ideas were shared in a slight haze of excitement and lingering fury. If your suggestions really were implemented, you may have just subjected generations of children to death.

Your revelation was clear on your face as Sejanus looked up to who he called his closest friend. He felt slightly betrayed by your outburst, but more so confused. Though, his anger and confusion dissipated a good amount when he saw the horror of realization upon your face.

On the other side of the star pupils, Clemmie slightly shuddered as the outlandish Gamemaker turned her cold gaze upon her. The young woman put on her charming smile as she tried to weasel her way into success.

"Coriolanus and I are class partners, Dr. Gaul. We do all of our assignments together."

You shared eye contact with the girl's partner who seemed to be just as skeptical as you. You turned in Dr. Gaul's direction, which also happened to be Sejanus's. You looked down and saw his face look glossy and hurt. A pain that transferred over to you at the sight. But that would be for a later time. For now, you looked up and informed the Gamemaker that you would be doing your proposals on your own.

The classroom was filled with the manic laughter of the woman. Doubt started filling up your veins at working with the prominent figure. Her bright teeth shone bright as her diabolical smile grew.

"It’ll be an interesting test."

A test of intellect, character, and survival indeed.

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆

You and Coriolanus sat at a small table on the edge of the cafeteria. You wished to be nowhere near the prying eyes and gossiping mouths of your peers. But apparently, Lucy Gray asked for food, and you couldn't let her or Jessup go hungry. Yet, you were now an active hand in their death.

That ever so active voice in your head kept on screaming against your heart. Your napkin was full of the food that used to reside on your plate, and now you were just waiting for Coryo, who came in a bit later than you. He was fast and smooth in his movements and was barely deterred from his actions when a voice rounded your table.

"You trying to fatten those kids up so you can finally start taking bets? Make sure they look lively enough to make good interviews?"

Sejanus spewed his remarks as he sat down on a chair at the head of the table. You glanced down in shame, but the words didn't bother Coriolanus.

"You think they’ll give those kids a scrap if we don’t give them a reason to do it? How do you think your tribute will have a chance if he can’t eat?"

You looked between the two. Sejanus seemed to concede at that point while Coryo kept on stuffing the napkin. The brown-eyed boy's voice seemed to soften in pain.

"He was my classmate. Back in two."

You sucked in a sharp breath. It was already hard enough for him to be a part of the game, especially being given a tribute from his home district. But his own classmate? If you were Marcus, you wouldn't spare Sejanus a glance or a word. And that was the worst part. Sejanus would try to help in any way he could, but the situation he was in, "the lucky one," wouldn't make it very easy to gain the trust of his former classmate. Coryo stopped his movements to look at the only boy he could call a solid friend.

"It’s not your fault it’s him."

You both knew that it would still sit on his conscience, no matter if he really was to blame or not. His scoff said it all.

"See, I know. I’m so blameless, I’m choking on it. My father bought him for me, you know, at the Reaping, just so he could show me that I could never go back to two."

You couldn't believe it. It was common information to you how much Starbo tried to change his son. That doesn't mean you expected him to go to such lengths.

"Maybe you could use that to your advantage."

Sejanus whipped his head to you as he squinted at you. The girl in front of him wasn't the same angry one in the classroom. No, this was the same one who he called his best friend for years, yet it just confused him even more as to why you would suggest that. You were quick to elaborate when it seemed that neither boy caught on.

"You want the Hunger Games to end, right? You can do something about it. No real change will happen unless it happens in the Capital. You are one of the few who can actually do something and one of the even fewer who wants to."

Sejanus seemed to be contemplating your words when Coriolanus added on.

"The best way to change it is to be subtle. Small little changes and actions cause enough damage over time."

Sejanus looked down at his two friends' laps and looked back up with a smirk starting to form.

"Like napkins of food. Make them strong enough to be remembered. Quite the rebels."

His smirk seemed to be contagious as it spread to Coryo. You had a smile as well that only grew as Coriolanus spoke again.

"Oh yeah. I’m bad news."

His eyes were on you the entire time as a blush crept on you. Your teeth couldn't help but show as the three of you got up and started your walk to the Capital Zoo.

Like your morning walk with Coriolanus, this walk was short but a bit more cheery as your little friend group conversed. You feared Sejanus would hold your prior actions against you, but he understood, as always. Well, that and Coryo's explanation on how you both expanded the odds for the weaker tributes instead of making it worse.

You and Coriolanus were recalling the earlier events of the morning that didn't appear on live television.

"Wait wait, you did what to her?"

You were holding back a laugh as Snow described how you switched up Coral and the overdramatization of it.

"Okay, first of all, I did not knock the life out of her. And she was getting on my nerves. Like if you are gonna threaten someone, at least do it right!"

The two boys shared a look and laughed a bit at you. A laugh that was swiftly met with a glare.

"Wanna see me execute my threat, Plinth?"

He was quickly grabbed by his sleeve by Coryo to ensure his friend's safety. You turned forward with a smug smile at their fear while they walked a good meter away from you. Soon enough, however, your little moment was met a swift end as you reached the zoo.

There were far more visitors than this morning, but many seemed to be a ways away; the tributes being watched from afar. You and Coryo spotted your two tributes on the far left side of the area, laying their backs on a large rock. Marcus was on the other side, so your trio split as Sejanus tried so hard to get him to take the food from his hands. A task that was unsuccessful.

You got closer and saw Lucy Gray smile at Coryo and the food he carried and promised he kept. She noticed the napkin of food in your hands as well, making her smile grow.

The singer walked to the bars while Jessup stood behind, still pensive at your presence.

"Is that for us?"

She took the two napkins out of the Capital students' hands, handing one of them to her friend. He didn't even give the food a glance as he bore into your eyes, displeasure evident.

"I’m not hungry."

You had a polite smile prior, hoping to get off on a better start this time. But his refusal made it slightly deplete. You understood why. You and the rest of the Capital students here, which now included Arachne, must have seemed like a cruel joke life played on him. You were willing to walk away, maybe try to focus on helping Coriolanus with Lucy Gray if Jessup refused you.

But Lucy Gray refused the boy who protected her to go hungry. She pushed the food into his hands like a mother would to her child.

"You think I can’t hear your stomach growling, Jessup Diggs?"

He looked between the food, his friend, and you a good number of times before he surrendered to his growling stomach.

Satisfied, Lucy Gray turned back to Coriolanus and seemed to settle in across from him. You doubted Jessup recreate the friendly posture, but you sat down a bit further down from Coryo. She wasn't much further from Arachne, who seemed to be playing a torturous game with her tribute, Brandy.

Your face contorted in disgust at her actions. The girl was going to already struggle, what is the need to play with her hunger?

"You sure you don't want to play with me first?" You turned your head from the perusing scene to the new voice. In front of you stood Jessup Diggs. He stood there, analyzing you as if you were a puzzle that had no connecting pieces. Your eyes moved down the concrete you sat on as you let out a soft, sad laugh.

"Already bad enough I'm not in there with you. Don't need to rub it in any further."

He squinted his eyes down at you. Every statement that has come out of your mouth has only served to confuse him more. From your very first meeting, the truck, earlier when you were in the cage, and now. Arachne's moves and character were what he expected when he was traveling to the Capital. But you and Coriolanus (and a recent brunette curly-haired boy on the far end of the zoo) were the anomalies. Lucy Gray told him to accept your help as she would her mentors, which was reasonable enough.

But why did it seem like she actually trusted you two? Sure, you jumped in with them, but it seemed for more personal gain than their tribute's benefit.

You looked back up to a questioning Jessup. He didn't understand what you meant that you should be in there with him.

"What's the difference between us? I happened to be born in the right place, I guess."

Your nonchalance intrigued him more than it brought fear. You may be just putting up a facade to make him trust you, but what would be the point? He was gonna die soon enough.

Jessup, much to your surprise, sat across from you as he gobbled down the food. He noticed you looking down and eyed you suspiciously. You just lightly smiled and promised to get him more if he would accept. He turned his head from side to side in thought, which caused the left side of his neck to be exposed. A dark and deep mark appeared against his skin, which caused you to have an instinct to reach out and help.

However, your sudden movement towards his neck caused him to back up rapidly. The action caused Lucy Gray and Coryo to look over in fright. But neither of you looked back as you stared at him apologetically while he eyed you again.

"Sorry, I just noticed and worried me."

You mumbled it quietly, which was oddly enough, reassuring to Jessup. He did see the worry appear in your facial features. The emotion was too deep and genuine to be faked. He slowly got back to his original position.

You kept your hands to your sides as you looked over his wound. Your eyes moved from his neck to his deep brown eyes.

"It looks new. Can I ask what it's from? I may be able to get some medication."

Jessup wondered how much was available to you at just a snap of a finger. Were you the type of person to do that? His assumption of the Capital made him believe so, but your personal actions proved otherwise. Especially your little stunt with Coral.

"Bat bite. Got it when covering for Lucy Gray. Rather me than her."

Your eyes went from warning to a softened glow. He didn't like the feeling of trust building

"I don't want medication though. I want to go out my way."

You couldn't help but smile at his conviction. If he didn't get medication, there was no way he would be able to survive. But that didn't seem to bother him.

"Jessup, if it's from a wild bat, there is a likely chance you can get rabies. Are you sure? It does wild things to those infected."

The effects of it bothered Jessup slightly. He didn't want to die as a deranged man he couldn't recognize, but he didn't want to give the people who took everything from him the satisfaction of his death. He shook his head in assurance, and you were ready to drop it when a thought sprang through your mind.

"I am willing to drop it, but please, be completely sure if this is what you want. Do you have family back home who need you?"

The mention of his family made him clench his teeth, and you were sure you messed up. You were quick to apologize, but that didn't erase the pounding thoughts of the boy's family.

"The only thing they need me for is to clean their gravestones."

Your gaze was sympathetic, but you turned it away. You knew what it felt to be looked at like a kicked puppy after people learned of your mother's passing. You were sure a man like Jessup wouldn't be very fond of pity.

"He looked a lot like you."

Your head went through whiplash due to the speed you turned to the boy. Your eyes were now the analyzing and questioning ones. You motioned for him to continue; to make sense of his statement.

"The boy who killed my family. He couldn't be any older than me, sixteenish. He had your eyes."

Your breath seemed to speed up as it dawned on you what he could be saying. That sweet little Otto was capable of murdering an entire family. Then again, what would he think of your actions in the war? Jessup took in your reaction as he cautiously continued.

"Don't think he don'it before. Kept looking back and forth between my pops and brother. Like he was begging them to change back time."

You were no longer looking at the talking boy, but it was clear you were hanging onto every word. Your eyes fluttered around as you tried to make sense of the new knowledge.

"He had reason if that makes you feel better. They were rebels and took out a good number of Capital forces. Just those two on their own."

He didn't hide his proud smile as he didn't even realize it appeared for a few moments. When he did, he was ready to see you storming off, glare knives into him, or plan ways to make him and his fellow tributes suffer. But you were just looking at him, a sad smile on your lips. You couldn't blame his smile. It was his family succeeding in their beliefs, no matter how it pained you. It wasn't as if you were sentenced to a bloodbath as your final moments.

The lack of aggression you presented allowed for Jessup to precede.

"They stood proudly as they were accused of their crimes. He gave them a chance, but they didn't say a peep. The boy with your eyes was shaky as he raised the gun. My momma couldn't hold back and ran into the gunfire. In just three seconds, my entire family erased. Glad they didn't shoot into the floor."

His face shifted from pride to bitterness to a hollowed smile.

"Always check the floorboards of twelve. Never know what you find."

You wanted to pipe up when you heard the disgruntled grunts of Brandy and the mocking laugh of Arachne. It had paused for the majority of your conversation with Jessup because Arachne was busy being interviewed by Lucky Flickerman. Though now she was back, her little game was resumed.

It burned your blood at seeing her cruel game. No one would ever describe Arachne as nice, but she would never stoop this low. Unless they were the district, apparently. You quickly muttered an apology to Jessup as you got up and walked unamusedly to the red-haired girl. Your hand swiftly snatched the glass bottle before it disappearedinto the bar to tease the starving girl again. Arachne looked up to the intruder, and a deep scowl appeared when she saw your face. Behind you, the sun was bright, as if casting a halo down on you. Oh, how fitting for little miss perfect, the sour girl thought.

You turned to Brandy and gave her a warm smile as you gently laid the bottle down next to her. Her eyes narrowed at your act and were glazed over in dehydration. The girl's hands were lightning as they snatched the drink and gulped it down as fast as was possible.

You left the tribute to her drink as you were met with the nasty stare of Arachne Crane.

"Feel proud of yourself for making her suffer even more? I mean, come on, Arachne!"

You huffed at her, irritated at her childlike behavior. Your back was turned as you began walking back to your own tribute when her voice sneered.

"Wonder what dear old Otto would think of you taking care of the same animals that chopped him up into tiny little—"

At the sound of your brother's name, you had turned back, and as she continued, so did your strides. But it was the sound of glass shattering that made you jump into action.

Physically jump as you pushed Arachne out of the way of the oncoming bottle. Brandy had a clear shot to the front of her mentor's throat but due to your speed and slightly turned position, it didn't hit her target. Instead, the broken bottle jammed itself within the side of your neck as your knees buckled on impact. You felt around the area as hot sticky blood poured all over your fingers.

Your hearing began getting muffled, but the gunshots were piercingly loud, as was the sound of your attacker's body hitting the ground. You saw red around you, unsure if it was one of your fellow students or even more blood.

Black dots began spotting your vision as you fought to keep them open upon the orders of someone. You weren't sure who, but whoever the saving angel was, they were doing everything to keep you conscious. No screams came out of your mouth, but warm salty streams across your cheeks, mixing in with the now pooling blood.

The lack of audible panic made your internal one settle slightly. Your mother surely screamed herself on the path of death as did your aunt Fiora. But then again, maybe your brother died without a squeak.

Your eyelids felt as if they were being welded shut against all your will power. You turned your head to the left, which was the side that hadn't been stabbed. The last thing you witnessed before you lost all reality was a head of pretty white hair with matching gorgeous blue orbs. His mouth kept on moving and forming words, but no sound pierced your ears.

You felt his hands around you, cradling your gushing neck. His hands looked as if permanently stained with red dye as he moved them around frantically. In such movements, his hands happened to fling your now apparent rings in front of your view. The two golden ones on the outside seemed mostly clear if the blood overtook her. That accursed silver of a thousand snowflakes glistened under the sunlight. As much as a ring being drowned in blood could.

Your eyes flickered from the bloody snowflakes up to the eyes of a bloodless Coriolanus Snow. A Coriolanus Snow who begged you to open up your eyes. Who attempted to will it into existence before he was pulled off by peacekeepers. Your body was hastily put on a stretcher and sent straight to the Capital hospital.

Not a single blink occurred from the blue frozen eyes of the Snow heir. How is it that it was only this morning when you were on the other side of the cage? Safer on that side.

Snow was on the verge of a breakdown. One of anger and of fear. He was only mere feet away. Only a few feet away and you still might lose your life because he wasn't careful. A promise was sworn internally within that calculated boy that day.

Never again will you be choking on your blood while he stood aside with nothing happening. You were not going to suffer the same bloody fate as your mother. You would not suffer. He swore the vow repeatedly as he rushed through the streets to meet your unconscious body. The world can take his money, parents, even the Plinth Prize. He would refuse to give it anymore.

He would not give up on you.

He would not give you up.

A/N: so sorry for it being so long! Not very carefully read I'm so sleepy I'm seeing things help. Pls lmk your thoughts. Much love !!

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆

@notyourwildestdream 🌹@darktrashsoulbear🌹@fantasylovestoryme 🌹@nekee-lilac02 🌹@a-avengerparker 🌹 @queenofshinigamis 🌹@darlingisntit 🌹

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inposterumcumgaudio · 23 days ago

Note

Your thoughts on Madame Wanda or the Thomasina House? If you haven't already ofc.

I've talked a bit about Thomasina House in the Class Structure post and there's a bonus theory I have about it in my post about Gemma Olsen. I might do a post about Thomasina House in particular in the future because there's more to say, but for now, I'll take you up on Madame Wanda and expand that a bit to the Reform Club as a whole.

Gonna disappoint right off, but I don't think anyone is actually having sex at the Reform Club. Sorry. All right, maybe some people do sometimes, like fucking at Studio 54. But that's not actually what the point of the place is.

It is described in the art book as a "punishment club". People go here to be punished for a misdeed they refuse to remember, but becuase they don't remember what they feel guilty for, there's no apparent reason they can't have some fun with it. That the developers have taken this concept and appended fetish play to it confuses the subject, but even then it still makes perfect sense. Fetishes aren't really about sex either so much as foundational (often childhood) memories later re-contextualized in adulthood. Dohoho.

And Madame Wanda is a matron overseeing the discipline of her naughty children.

I would really liked it if she were the Wanda Durbyfield from the "Diary of a Wayward Girl" that you find at the Hippo Club.

In fact, I very much think this was the intention: the Wanda in this diary ends her last entry by saying that, "Some day I'm going to punish them. I'm going to punish them all." And Madame Wanda has a cut diary too, indicating that she would also have been in the habit of documenting her life.

The only problem with this is that Wanda Durbyfield's diary points to her being younger than Margaret Oliphant, which would make her too young to be a Crier. But its a very good story otherwise. A girl unable to raise her child herself and terrorized by the town for it, grows up to find her calling in punishing her fellow Wellies while forgetting just as much as they have why. I think they just couldn't let go of the idea of a Crier running the fetish club because that is also a good concept. Would that they were compatible!

If the cut diary is any indication though, Wanda would have also grown into the role. As Wanda Durbyfield, her punishments would have been a revenge for the rage she was made to endure from the townspeople who were more powerful as a group than her. As Madame Wanda, her punishments are corrections with the understanding that people - children - misbehave without fully comprehending the underlying cause, especially when they have the boldness of a mob obscuring their better sense. This is why you punish them one on one (and presumably a premium rate).

I have a chapter in which I've juxtoposed the Reform Club with the Church of Simon Says and if Wanda Durbyfield was supposed to be Madame Wanda, then the game would have done this as well.

"I don't care if we ARE required to go to church! Those women are lunatics, the way they ganged up on me! You'd think they'd be GLAD I'm giving up the baby. They put their children on the train -- wouldn't they want another child? But no, I'm apparently the worst sinner in the world for sending mine away. Am I supposed to raise it here? Much better for it to live on a farm."

That the Home for Wayward Girls was a religious institution and enforced church-going despite the growing danger it posed would not only place Wanda at odds with the Church of Simon Says on a business level in the future, but a philosophical one as well.

The thing I think is most interesting about the Reform Club is that they are apparently engaging in some sort of resistance efforts, but we never actually get to know anything about it other than that it's happening. And what's more, you only learn this from a line that Sally will soliloquize to herself when walking around in the Garden District.

"I almost miss going to the Reform Club. I bet some of them could help. And they never ask awkward questions. But I'd have to be Naughty Nurse again, and I'm just not that."

I genuinely think, though. that this line is only here to give context to Gemma's bug out bag and not to actually lead into any further supposition about the Reform Club's activities. It's a sort of slight of hand, really, because the thing you're supposed to be focusing on from this statement is Sally's Naughty Nurse act that she just can't bring herself to reprise. Whatever the Reform Club is doing is similar to Mr. Kite in that you are presented it to pique your interest, but you're never permitted to get any closer to it.

And, if we're accepting that Wanda Durbyfield was meant to have grown into Madame Wanda, she even had the sense as a wayward girl know that some people deserved their chance to leave Wellington Wells.

"No one will ever marry her now. Nor me, I suppose. Not unless I can move away."

"Am I supposed to raise it here? Much better for it to live on a farm."

Beyond that, I have a further, wilder theory about the Reform Club and its place in the world.

In Lionel Castershire's quests, he often makes mention of an unnamed client who collects Uncle Jack records, but its in Ollie's act when Castershire asks him to retrieve the Salty Dog from the Lawrence house that we learn more about this client beyond that.

"I have a client who likes to… collect things. Very powerful man. He has quite a few employees, but he'd rather they not know about his… private interests."

(As an aside, I think it's very funny that this dialogue implies the client is a taxidermy dog fucker - particularly in view of what I'm about to tell you further - but upon receipt of the quest, you learn he was probably just after the Hope Diamond that should be in the Salty Dog.)

When you return with the Salty Dog, you get one last parting piece of information from Castershire:

"My client is a man you want in your corner. And not in the other."

I like very much to think that this client is the Mr. Cleland that Madame Wanda is expecting when you come upon her as Arthur.

Mr. Cleland is a reference to John Cleland, who wrote Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, more popularly known as Fanny Hill. In it, a wealthy woman recounts in two letters to a friend known only as "Madame" the sexual adventures of her earlier life. It is considered the first English prose pornography and is otherwise notable for its use of euphemism. It contains no vulgarities directly, instead describing its graphic sexual events in very... couched language. So couched you could lose your clover clamps or the key to your safe in it. Also, Cleland wrote this novel from debtor's prison.

So Mr. Cleland and his friends are coming to visit for some Golden Knocking, are they?

I think this is meant to be euphemism, which is doubly hidden because it is framed in a place that is also trading in innuendo. Which is to say, they are implying this is a fetish-y sex thing, but I think it is actually a business transaction and this is is why you want Mr. Cleland in your corner and not the other.

I believe he brings his "friends", people who owe him money, to the Reform Club to get the screws put to them and that Madame Wanda, resident expert in the art, assists him with this. This may even be why the Reform Club is permitted to operate as it does, it enjoys the protection of a "powerful man". Probably makes makes them lean over the chair and watches while Madame Wanda gives them a proper caning. Maybe the tranquilizer darts on the table are so they can walk home after.

Further story elements in the game that dovetail nicely with this idea are the quest "Moon Juice Leach" and Captain Lawrence's unpaid debts and subsequent "accidental" death in "Old Soldiers".

In "Moon Juice Leach", Eddie Coke is remembered as having not having the "common sense that God gave an ordinary bowl of porridge" nor much reason to need "contraband" motilene, but a desperation to try to steal it all the same. This idea that motilene can even be contraband is a whole other ???, but the constables suppose that Lionel Castershire (who we later learn in Ollie's act is perhaps a tad less upstanding than he appears) may be involved in Eddie's fatal caper. If Lionel acts as a buffer between Cleland and his acquisitions, this would make sense. If Eddie got a taste of that Golden Knocker, it would also explain the reckless attempt at theft.

Meanwhile Captain Edward Lawrence is past due on his bills and on notice for shut off from the Department of Water and Power. More motilene-related troubles. Possibly purchasing discounting "contraband" motilene and being unable to pay that bill either?

Rather than (or unable to) meet his obligations, he's chosen to shut himself up in his house and refuse calls.

To great effect:

If this is the work of Mr. Cleland (or more likely his "few employees"), it presents another interesting connection: that he may also have something to do with who has access to the apples from the last apple tree in the Garden District.

Or maybe Mr. Cleland's just wondering why Captain Lawrence is buying a luxury like apples when he owes him money.

That Ollie is asked to retrieve the Salty Dog from his brother Colonel Lawrence's house, after both brothers have died, seems like a case of shifting the debt around. (This is also why I wondered if the Salty Dog wasn't supposed to be Bonny Prince Charlie at a point.)

Dropping a bookcase on Captain Lawrence is a steep escalation, for sure, but if he wouldn't come to the Reform Club, then he didn't leave himself much room to negotiate a payment plan.

Who knows. He might have even liked it.

#madame wanda #wanda durbyfield #mr. cleland #lionel castershire #eddie coke #captain edward lawrence #we happy few #the reform club

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shmowder · 3 months ago

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Ooh, OCs! I'm in a patho oc group that I've unfortunately been too busy to participate in lately but I love my little (big) guy, so I'll share him here.

His name is Yonho, he's a former butcher turned botanist/agriculturalist, and he's 15 - because odonghs aren't born, they're spat out from the earth as fully formed adolescents. Yep, he's a worm NPC!

After learning how to exist for a few years he was put to work as a butcher for the Bull Project, but after doing that for a few years and realizing his labor mostly just made their greedy exploitative Böös richer, he quit and went to be a cattle herder in the steppe. He was free, but lonely, and couldn't enjoy his freedom knowing so many of the Kin were still slaving away at the meat factory. So he thought, hey, we're working there so we have money to buy food, right? So why don't we just grow our own food and we can stop working for him?

Great idea! Lots of other people thought of that before, though, and... the soil just sucks. It's terrible. Anything except twyre is barely worth growing. If they were going to stay in one area they had to depend on imports. But instead of giving up or saying they should return to being nomads he wondered if there was a reason twyre grew so well, and if they could give other plants that property. He planted the herb patches in Shekhen and started studying them, and one day when he was explaining his idea to a butcher who stopped by, they said they saw a book about something similar at a shop in town. He looked into it and found several books about plants, but they were all in Russian. So he went to some of the Kin in town and had them translate, and started trying to learn to read Russian himself so he could understand them better.

Now, a worm being interested in western science and trying to learn to read Russian is very unusual. And guess who caught wind? Vlad Jr. He immediately sought out Yonho and offered to help, saying he would give him the books he used as a child to learn to read, and would have books on agriculture imported for him. Yonho was obviously skeptical but Vlad Jr seemed better than his father and he couldn't think of a way this would hurt him so he cautiously agreed. And it worked, Vlad Jr did get him books on reading and agriculture. With his help Yonho quickly picked it up, and with a better grasp on Russian he started to speak more clearly, more like a townsperson. That was when Vlad Jr started talking about how wouldn't it be great if they could educate all the Kin and make them civilized like this? And Yonho realized he had never actually been interested in helping him, he just wanted to show they could be assimilated. He was understandably furious and while he didn't cut ties with Vlad Jr completely since having those connections is handy, he went back to Shekhen to focus completely on his twyre experiments. That's where he is during the game, and he's thrilled when Artemy frees the survivors from the Termitary and brings them there. He's even more determined to succeed now so it can be a long-term solution.

Despite being a devout Boddho boy, he really doesn't have any issues with the Town itself. Plenty of the Kin seem to like living there. It would be fine if not for the meat slave factory. And the racism. But a lot of people, especially those from the lower districts, are completely okay with living alongside them. Bar a mass departure, Yonho's staying near Shekhen and the Town forever. The Kin are his family. He's not leaving them.

Of course he believes all the steppe legends, being one himself, and he also believes the Mistresses. They've had Earth Mistresses and Mother Superiors for ages. However, he doesn't like the Dark and Light Mistresses. They're powers not native to the area, and like invasive species, they cause more destruction than good. He obviously hates the Olgimskys and thinks the Polyhedron is an abomination, so he hates the Kains too. He doesn't know much about the Saburovs but Katerina is a townborn Earth Mistress and they're not responsible for any huge destructive superstructures so he likes them best by default.

Obviously he would aid Artemy in his attempts to bring the Kin to Shekhen, but he wouldn't be hostile toward Clara or even Daniil if they were polite to him. I doubt he'd sabotage it, but he'd try to rescue the Kin from Utopian end by bringing them to a safe place in the steppe rather than inside the Polyhedron. As for quests... I'm not sure! He might ask you to get him a book or some supplies for Shekhen, or to talk to Vlad Jr for him. He would definitely be one of the worms you can trade herbs with though.

This was... already much longer than I intended it to be oops but here's the full document I made for him! And here's a drawing of him, done by the awesome @hayheadd!

A WORM OC!! IS IT MY BIRTHDAY? I LOVE HIM PLEASE MY CHILD <33 I would move the mountians and boil the seas if even one thread on his clothes gets touched by someone with malic.

Reading his backstory felt like reading a fable tale, one of those beautifully drawn bedtime stories you's obsess over as a kid. The narrative build and gradually steps he takes in order to solve this conundrum instead of just surrendering to the harsh reality.

He isn't satisfied with the current treatment of the kin. He wants his people to be turly dependent rather than subjected to borderline slavery by greedy cooperations.

It's very admirable how he doesn't give up even when his attempts fail, when the plants he attempts to grow withers, he asks why and tries to find an alternative way, searching for knowledge and information rather than simply giving up and thinking it was a foolish thing for a worm to even amount to anything.

I also like the complex relationship with Vlar Jr. Because he genuinely would help a worm if he ever caught wind of someone of someone like Yonho attempting to learn russian and actually read books. Sure, he'll do it with the intention in mind to spin this whole thing into benfiting his agenada to "uplift" and "enlighten" the kin, rather than actually understand why Yonho is doing the things he is.

But he still helps, I love that rat boyfailure man who. It is clever of Yonho to not cut off all connections since Vlad Jr. naivety or underestimation of the worms and kin can benfit him into getting even more batony books and outerworld resources with the Olgimskay's connections alone.

Ha, ironic. Taking advantage of the Olgimskay ignorance to help his own people who were wronged by them, to provide the kin even more knowledge whilst still respecting his own traditions and culture.

Because he knows the earth is a living thing, that he is a living proof of the magic in this universe and you shouldn't forgo one for the other.

Yk who else believes in steppe legends? Yulia, at least in P1. Taya also seems like she'd hold great favouritism towards the worm attempting to plant her strawberries and all kinds of fruits she's always read about but never tried.

Mother superior would definitely have his back if one of the Kin has a problem with his ways or claims it's an insult to the earth to attempt to not be satisfied with just the twyrine and swerve.

The art is so beautiful, I adore the little flowers and how accurate his clothes are to the Kin fashion ingame.

#♧OC event #♧Other's ocs #♧Vlad #♧worms

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mikeys-bike-slut · 2 years ago

Text

Untitled - SEQUEL Pt.1

Surpriiiiise! Here is a sequel to my Untitled story! Hope you will like it! Strap ya seatbelts guys cause it's gon be a bumpy ride

T.W: N/A

***

5 years later

"Wakasa, hurry up!" I shout upstairs as I rush through the house trying to put my earring in.

"Shut up!" A yell comes from upstairs.

We have time Wakasa said.

Dont worry, we won't be late Wakasa said.

Of course we're late...

Today's Emma's and Mitsuya's wedding and as much we drifted apart and Toman has disbanded we kept in touch with each other and our friendship remained strong.

After I moved in with Wakasa I barely seen the gang except Chifuyu and Tora with whom I've been actually working with the past four years. Chifuyu saved up and opened his pet shop, just like he planned it with Baji. It's a sweet little shop with loads of cats, dogs, hamsters and every other furry little pet you can imagine. Though Wakasa told me I don't have to work he'll take care of me, that was just not something I wanted to do. So I talked to Chifuyu and he was happy to hire me full time.

No one knows where Mikey went, hust like if the ground opened up and swallowed him he disappeared. I was worried about him in the beginning but it was his choice and I had to put him into the back of my mind in order to move on and function until he was nothing but a distant memory.

The Haitanis, since our last goodbye they kept their word and vanished from my life, the only time I'd ever hear from them is when they send me a beautiful bouquet and gift on my birthday, every year but in person? I have not seen them since that day.

Draken? He's well, we used to meet up once every month for a coffee and a catch up until life got busy for both of us and I haven't seen him for over a year, we still text every now and then but it's not the same.

The Ginza duo, a few months after I moved into Wakasa Hyde contacted me and set up a meeting. Wakasa refused to let me go alone so he accompanied me to Ginza. Hyde explained his reasoning and apologized for causing me distressed and also offered me a position at the Ginza gang which I turned down. Once I explained to him that I am retiring from the deliquent life he respected my decision but told me I'll always have the Ginza district at my service if I'll ever need them. He also offered of I ever want to talk about my brother I can contact him whenever. In the beginning I didn't but as time went by I needed closure so I rang him and we met up. From that day on it was almost once a week thing and we grown really close. He reminded me of Yasu a lot and unofficially became my brother which just shocked Wakasa that once again I was able to turn one of the ruthless men in Japan into my lapdog basically.

Back to now. Wakasa and I were getting ready for the wedding, you know, at a decent time as one should but the White Leopard decidedhe urgently needed to fuck me. I told him we have no time but it's Wakasa, when it comes to sex the world could be on fire and even that wouldn't stop him. Would have he stopped if I asked? Of course, though Waka's sex drive is high he is always respectful and asks for my consent. So yeah was it also my fault? Yes. Will I keep blaming him? Also yes.

"Oh god, c'mere kitty" I sigh as I grab him and pull him to me and fix his disaster of a tie. "There, now can we go? I'm supposed to be the maid of honour"

"Well you definitely suck at that" he grins and I just flip him off while I grab my ourse that matches my dress. "Shit" I curse as I check the time and see we're already half an hour late. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, just shut up" he groans as he grabs his keys and we finally head out.

Ignoring traffic lights Wakasa sped through Tokyo straight to shrine where the ceremony is to be held. As he parks up I don't even wait for him I rush up the stairs -as much as I can in heels and a long mermaid dress- but as I get there to my surprise everyone's still outside chatting and smoking.

"Angel!" I hear a voice from my right and I find Mitsuya standing there in a beautiful lilac suit with silver patterns.

"Taka-chan!" I exclaim as I jog up to him. "Where's Emma? What's going on??" I ask almost panic and he let out a laugh.

"We still have about an hour before the ceremony don't worry" he chuckles and I give him a confused look. "We know you and Waka too well we know you two probably gonna be late so we gave guys the wrong time" he winks at me and I don't know if I'm annoyed or grateful.

"You have a point" I sigh then chuckle then suddenly someone covers my eyes from behind. "Hakkai?" I question.

"Wrong" Mitsuya chuckles. "Bit taller"

"Kenny??" I ask excited and I hear his laugh from behind me as he uncovers my eyes. I turn around and find him standing there with a big grin. "I like your hair" I grin as I look at his now jet black hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Cool, right?" He grins then opens his arms and I give him a tight hug. "I missed you" he smiles softly as he holds me close.

"The hell is this?" I hear Wakasa's voice from behind me with and annoyed expression on his face.

"Precaution" Mitsuya grins at him then shakes his hand.

"Well played" Wakasa sighs then looks at me and Draken. "Don't steal my girlfriend"

"I try" Draken grins at him then lets me go. "You should go find Emma she is inside if Yuzuha hasn't murdered her yet"

"I don't think Takashi's that lucky" Wakasa grins and I just smack him.

"Feel free to beat him up if he won't behave!" I call back as I run off and Wakasa just gives me the finger.

I quickly find Emma, but instead of finding her with a big smile and excitement she is curled up crying on the small seating inside the room. I walk in giving Yuzuha a confused look who just shakes her head.

"Hey, hey what's going on Em?" I ask worried as I kneel in front of her.

"Maya!" she exclaims and just launches on me and continues crying. I hold her close and gently caress her back.

"Alright, what's going on. If you missed me, I'm already here" I grin trying to lighten the situation but it failed.

"I don't know if I'm ready... I just... seeing Draken here brought up a lot of feelings" she cries quietly and I let out a sigh.

"You still love him, don't you?" I question as I pull away enough to look at her and she just nods.

"If you love someone else you shouldn't marry Mitsuya..." Yuzuha speaks up and walks up to us. "It wouldn't be fair on him"

"You should talk to Mitsuya, Em. There's no point in marriage if it's only one-sided. I'm sure Taka will understand it" I explain as I caress her cheek.

"I guess I should... I just... I don't know how I feel. I love Takashi but my heart still yearns for Draken... I don't know. I just need a bit of time alone" she says quietly as she looks at us.

"Of course. Give us a ring when you'll need us. I'll go talk to the priest" Yuzuha smiles softly and gently squeezes Emma's shoulder before walking out.

"I'm gonna go check on the males incase they murdered each other" I joke which makes Emma chuckle a bit.

I give her a hug before I walk out as well. I let out a sigh and running my fingers along my neck trying to figure out what the fuck to do exactly. As I walk outside I lean against the wall of the shrine and let out a long sigh, just wanting to collect my thoughts before I check on the herd but I can't enjoy the silence for long as I hear footsteps approaching. Looking up I find a tall, dark blue hair guy standing there with not exactly a happy expression.

"Is everything okay, Shiba?" I cock a brow as I look at the former Second Division Vice Captain.

"I don't think so... Look can I trust you?" he asks in a serious tone and I start to not liking this.

"Of course" I nod. "What's going on?"

"Mitsuya wants to call off the wedding. He and Yuzuha got very close and doesn't think he should marry Emma. Nothing happened! Before you'd murder any of them, as far as Mitsuya knows it's one-sided but I know my sister... she had a massive crush on Mitsuya for years and I- I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do" he says with almost one breath and suddenly I feel somewhat relieved. I let out a chuckle and Hakkai just gives me a glare. "This is serious!"

"I know but, Emma also unsure about the wedding cause she still loves Draken" I say it with a big grin.

"Oh? Well, they all need to have a fucking talk cause Draken loves Emma too..." Hakkai says then we just both starts laughing.

"You go talk to Draken and Taka, I'll go talk to the girls" I say with a big grin.

We both run off to the opposite direction. My heart hammers in my chest from excitement as I rush through the shrine almost tripping a few times until I finally reach the room finding both Yuzuha and Emma look like they're in line for the slaughter house.

"Okay, this wedding is off" I say with a big grin and they both give me a scared and confused look.

"What did you do??" Emma asks panicking but before I could say anything Mitsuya walks in along with a very shy Draken.

"The four of us should talk" Takashi says in a soft tone.

I just wave at them before I walk out leaving the four lovebirds to sort this out between themselves. As I walk out Hakkai gives me a big grin and I just jump on him and hug him tight. "Good thing they have us" he grins then spins me around before putting me down.

"What on earth did you two do?" we hear a laughs from behind us and as we turn around we find Chifuyu and Kazutora standing there.

"Hey good to see you guys" Hakkai grins as he hugs the two males and I just wave at them.

"So what's going on? Did you crash a wedding? " Wakasa's voice suddenly comes from behind me as he wraps his arms around me.

"More like saved it" I grin as I lean back against him and he places a kiss on my neck.

"Sure" he grins then playfully bites my neck making me let out a small yelp.

"Behave leopard" I chuckle.

"Aren't you two cute" Tora and Hakkai coos as they look at me Waka and I.

"Shut up" I chuckle and flip them off.

"Don't be jealous" Waka grins.

"Oh god no, it's enough working with her" Chifuyu laughs but suddenly I notice something in the distance and I tune out of the conversation. I notice a figure in the garden of the shrine and he looks eerily familiar.

I pull away from Wakasa and walk off towards the garden which the males don't even realize as they get deep into their conversation. I open the gate and walk into the beautiful garden but the figure was gone. Was I just seeing things?

#wakasa x oc #tr x oc #tokyo rev occ #tokyo rev #tokyo revenegers #imaushi wakasa #angel x wakasa #draken #mitsuya #takashi mitsuya #mitsuya takashi #ryuguji ken #hanemiya kazutora #shiba hakkai #sano emma #shiba yuzuha #yuzuha x mitsuya #emma x draken #tokyo rev oc

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xsweetelegantdisasterx · 1 year ago

Text

☆Dropping off Chapter 4 ☆

Missed something?

Here are the previous ones:

{1} {2} {3}

❧ Summary: The Belladonna’s were always successful in keeping a low profile. They kept their numbers small, and their friendships smaller. After Kuryu discovers they have the ideal location for their casino, they start causing trouble for the group. With the help of the Amamiya Brothers, and the S.W.O.R.D district, they must overcome the biggest battle of their lives.

❧ Characters: Masaki, Hiroto, S.W.O.R.D Members, Original Characters.

❧ Pairings: Masaki/OFC, Hiroto/OFC.

❧ Genre: Angst, some fluff, there's betrayal.

❧ Warning: There's going to be violence & some suggestive situations. If you don't feel comfortable, please don't read. ♡

❧ W/C: 2270

❧ A/N: This is a work in progress, I have 4 chapters written, working on 5 now. Please bare with me as my job keeps me busy, but I'll push out chapters as I can. Hopefully you enjoy ♡ Also I'm super nervous on sharing this piece, so please go easy on the slaying

➻ Taglist: @stardragongalaxy

Reign started to stir as she felt heavy. Her head was pounding, feeling as a train ran her over. She rolled over seeing pillows separating her and Masaki. She looked down noticing his leathers were on her backwards.

“Masaki, what the hell?” She couldn't help but laugh and be confused all in the same breath.

He grinned, opening his eyes, stretching a bit sitting up, “I don’t know if you know this Reign, but you get frisky when you're drunk. I made a pillow fort and put you in my jacket, backwards mind you, to protect my innocence.”

“You put me in a straightjacket?” She looked in the mirror, trying to confirm what she was seeing.

“To protect the sanctity of my innocence.”

“Your innocence huh? Masaki, I believe a lot of things, but you being a hundred percent innocent is not one of them.”

He rubbed his hair amused at the whole situation. “You tried to molest me, I had to prevent that.”

“How long do I have to stay in this homemade straightjacket?”

“Until your sexual deviations are gone.”

Reign furrowed her eyes. She was going to get out of it one way or another. No matter how hard she tried, she could not reach the zipper due to his leather jacket being stiff. Masaki got up putting on his shirt, he kissed Reign on her head as he walked out. She threw on her joggers searching for Kurenai. Maybe her best friend would help her out of this conundrum. Reign got to the bottom of the stairs noticing everyone in the kitchen. They were all seemingly in an important discussion. All eyes were on hers, snickering coming from the guys.

“Kure. . My sweet, beautiful friend. . Can I have your assistance with this zipper.”

Kure just looked dumbfounded, sharing glances between her and Masaki. A smirk befell her lips before answering.

“I have so many questions right now. First, why are you wearing the jacket backwards?”

“We have a comedian in the house, that goes by the stage name Masaki. He put me in this.”

“Tell them why,” he gestured his hand before taking a bite out of the orange in his hand.

“Listen, no. Nothing I say makes this any less awkward for me.”

Saikon circled her laughing like he’d heard the best joke. “How drunk did you get to put a jacket on backwards? I thought you could hold your liquor?”

“Saikon I didn’t ask for your input.”

“You’re still dancing around the reason Reign,” Masaki’s dimples showed.

“Is nobody planning to help me?” Reign tried to cross her arms but was unsuccessful.

As if nothing could get worse, Reign heard Sisi's obnoxious cackle behind her. If the samurai decided to just appear out of thin air and stab Reign, it would be better than to hear her mouth about the situation. She closed her eyes trying to envision a time nicer than this, to help cool her off. When she opened her eyes again, Kenshin was bent over the island laughing.

Reign turned slightly glaring at Masaki. “Shut up Sisi.”

“Reign do me a favor, lift your arms a bit,” Siyeon sat down.

“I’m done with everyone in this room. Masaki, you don’t play fair.”

“What did you do?” Ivy circled her.

“Nothing that concerns anyone in this room. I guess I’ll have to call Murayama to get me out of this jacket,” Reign headed towards the door, smirking just knowing he’d help then.

“Tell him I said hi.”

She stopped. He was calling her bluff.

“What do I have to do to get out this jacket?” she tried to whisper as low as she could, “I promise I won't get fresh with you.”

Everyone's mouth gaped open. Masaki smiled as he walked over to her, her cheeks filled will blush, “At least not when you're drunk,” he whispered in her ear.

Reign heard her freedom in the form of a zipper. Looking back at Masaki, she glared. A cup of coffee stole her attention as she grabbed it before heading upstairs.

“Reign that was mine,” Saikon was offended she took it.

“Call it your asshole tax,” she sipped it walking up the stairs.

“I don’t like to pry, but you probably just friend zoned yourself,” Kenshin patted Masaki on the back.

“On the contrary, I just built a great foundation. I didn’t want our first time to be on the account that she was under the influence,” Masaki poured coffee joining the people at the table.

“He will never allow that to happen,” Hiroto fist bumped his brother proudly.

Reign joined back downstairs after a shower and a change of clothes. She felt better, but started to feel regret about coming onto Masaki. That wasn't like her, but she did drink a lot. She got a phone call excusing herself out the room.

“Oneesan, come quick. Something’s wrong with your clinic!”

From what she was called, it could only be one of the three from Oya. She rushed into the kitchen grabbing her jacket and keys, without saying a word. Everyone looked at the panic on her face, chasing behind her. She jumped on her bike with nothing on her mind but getting to her clinic. She about had her fill on the whole Casino project. Whoever decided to try and mess with her today would pay.

After a couple of minutes of riding, she arrived to the clinic. She parked her bike grabbing a weapon out of her saddle bag. With the flick of her wrist, the weapon expanded in her hand. She saw a lot of figures standing around, but the tall figure that had his back towards her was the closest. Reign grabbed her hair sticks, placing them intricately in her hair. She took off as quickly, but quietly, as she could not to tip him off. Reign jumped up using the chair next to him. She brought the stick around, wrapping her legs around him, bringing them down; tightening her grip.

The guy was stumped as to how this happened so quickly. A few minutes of them squirming on the ground, Kurenai and the others ran in turning on the light.

“Reign! I think that’s one of the Oya boys!” Kurenai and the others were yelling.

Reign had Furuya in the choke hold. She looked down as he looked up at her; she released her hold.

“I’m so sorry Furuya.”

“Oneesan, you sure you don't want to come to Oya? That's Oya spirit!”

Murayama and Seki started clapping and jumping around happily. Furuya stood up rubbing his neck, entranced by what just happened. He immediately sat down in the chair, just watching Reign. He’d never gotten jumped by a woman before; a tiny one nonetheless.

“Murayama, what the hell? You said something was wrong with my clinic.”

“I didn’t say anything bad. I just meant your new employees didn’t have their boss here. I like where your mind went with this though Oneesan .”

Reign rested her face in her hands. When she looked up, she saw a whole room of people. She only recognized the ones from her home and the three from Oya.

“My new employees? Where Murayama?”

He made a huge circle in the center of the room, smiling, “Us Oneesan, we're your new employees.” His crew smiled and waved.

Reign crossed her arms, “You’re serious?”

“Of course. We can’t have sick animals in the district. You have a job to do, we want to help.”

“This is very kind of you all but I have no way to pay you all at the moment without clients.”

“We’ll comprise a contract Oneesan don’t you worry,” Seki was excited.

Kurenai and the others were also confused, right alongside Reign. She still had her arms crossed pacing the floor.

“What about the hours you all have class?”

“Oneesan,” Murayama’s face turned to a frown.

“Murayama, I do appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but during the day I’d have no one to help me.”

“We could take turns Oneesan,” Seki interjected.

“There are labor laws I have to abide by guys. The only thing I can think of is having temporary hours.”

She saw how passionate these kids were about helping her, she didn’t want to shoot down their offer. It would keep them out of trouble outside of their class. She thought long and hard about their offer.

“Oneesan, we can find others that might help,” Murayama looked defeated as he laid down.

Reign paced her floor in deep thought. “Can you guys be here from three to six?”

“So you'll consider our offer Oneesan ?”

“Probably against my better judgement, but yes.”

All the boys from Oya yelled as they ran to Reign hugging her; Furuya being the first one. She couldn’t help but laugh from their excitement.

“Three to six, you probably won’t be able to do anything but check people in, take payment, and disinfect after every customer. Is this understood?”

“Of course, we will not let you down.”

Reign smiled, “We’ll start this on Monday. If you’re late, you have to deal with my wrath. Get it?”

They all shook their heads excitedly.

“Good, now go home. I don't want to fight your parents,” she ushered them out the door.

Murayama, Seki, and Furuya were the lasts to leave.

“Gosh Oneesan. Your man came through can you believe it?” he grinned tapping his cheek expecting a kiss.

Reign furrowed her eyes smiling, she patted his cheek. “Thank you Murayama.”

“I see you Oneesan. I’ll get a kiss on the cheek one day.”

They walked out strutting. Kurenai, Masaki, and Hiroto approached her.

“The fact that you took Furuya down is impressive.”

“I didn’t know it was them, I just chose the closest to me.”

Reign walked over to the door ready to leave since there was nothing to be done until Monday. Masaki was the last to walk over to the door.

“Can we talk?”

“There’s literally nothing to talk about. I made a fool out of myself. I just want to chop this up as a bad memory and move on,” she locked her door heading to her bike.

He stopped her, Reign just scoffed silently. Kurenai looked back before popping the others on the chest to stop.

“I just was going to suggest hiring people.”

“Masaki, I have no money to pay anyone. With all the heat from Kuryu lately, I doubt I’m going to have prospective employees lining up at the door.”

“Hmm can't have Reignkaida worrying about that can we?” Kenshin looked over at Saikon motioning towards Reign. “Kure in retrospect you’re a manager, so you might could help manage the animals too.”

“That's honestly not a bad idea guys. Managing animals though?” Kouga crossed his arms.

“You know what I mean,” Kenshin growled a little being corrected.

“I don't want to work with her guys,” Saikon sounded put off from the whole conversation.

“You owe The Belladonna’s Sai,” Kenshin spoke up. “It’s either here or with the obnoxious ones; your choice.”

He growled under his breath, “The obnoxious ones sound like a better deal.”

Kenshin rolled his eyes from the disdain Saikon had with Reign. “Whatever, you know Reign would have your back if you needed it. The least you could do is return the favor.”

Kenshin climbed on his bike awaiting the cue to head back to the house. Kurenai was trying to figure out how they would come up with the payroll portion.

“Let's go somewhere. I have an idea on who could help loan the money,” Kurenai, Kouga, and Kenshin took off.

Reign looked over seeing Saikon and Hiroto standing around. Hiroto almost looked as troubled as Reign did. She slapped Masaki on the chest pointing at his brother; he was visibly uncomfortable. Masaki smiled as he hung his head. Hiroto joined up with them as Reign giggled. He looked over furrowing his eyes at her.

“Sorry, you just look like how I feel being around him.”

“He just gives me weird vibes,” Hiroto shoved his hands in his pockets.

“That's Sai for you. He's an asshole sometimes but he has heart,” she turned to Saikon as he glared at Reign.

“What do you want?”

“I’m going back home, you’re free to come with us.”

“I'll pass. I'm going to go find some food,” Saikon hopped on his bike leaving the trio in the distance.

“Do you two want to come?”

“I'm going home. Masaki, I'll catch you at the house,” Hiroto pulled down his shades leaving Masaki and Reign.

Reign looked over at Masaki, offering the same invitation.

“Don't look at me with your eyes,” his voice dropped.

Reign smiled. She walked over to her bike looking at Masaki again, seeing he was going to follow her. They went back to the house, being the only two there for the time being. She unlocked the door, holding it open for him. They both sat on the couch in complete silence. He would look over at her, seeing her in deep thought.

“I do feel I need to apologize to you. I’m usually not that forward, so I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need your apologies Reign. As much as I would’ve loved for us to do that, I wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation. I want you to want me without the alcohol.”

She looked around. She definitely wanted him; alcohol mixed in the equation or not. “I respect that.”

“I respect you,” once more, his dimple complimented his smile.

She pulled a pillow out from under her as she laid on his lap. He ran his hands through her hair, putting her to sleep.

#my fanfic 👾#high & low fanfiction #amamiya brothers fanfic #high&low fanfic #nightshade fanfic

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chounaifu · 8 months ago

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the cigarette is briefly pulled back from between his lips, arm resting against the railing as he looks back towards the goldenrod skyline, draped in the dusky hues of the setting sun. " one of the only things i haven't forced myself to forget about the time before radio tower was the night before it. "

It was the first time the two of them had returned to Goldenrod together; individually, Proton and Archer frequented the ward for business reasons, but never simultaneously. The Game Corner was still operating at full capacity, which meant that Proton found himself in the city on a monthly basis. Often times, he found his mind wandering to ghosts-- coworkers who had perished on duty on that day. The street of the entertainment district was full of these ghosts. What a coward he was, incapable of looking at them in the eye when he passed by.

There was always enough soju flowing at the izakaya to make the phantoms disappear.

A smoke break on the roof of one of the Rocket-owned buildings in the western part of the city allows the two of them to linger in silence for a while. Traveling together for work purpose didn't necessarily mean that the pair would be spending much time together. Proton had freight for the Game Corner to attend to, while Archer had spent the entire day attending meetings with foreign investors.

Archer breaks the silence, and it causes Proton to stop breathing for a moment, lips parting somewhat, pupils sharpening in surprise.

They had a rule that they agreed upon years ago, an unwritten law that they adhered to without question: we don't talk about what we do, or what we feel, when we're alone.

. . . Of course it's Archer who betrays this creed. It shouldn't shock Proton at this point, not because he is a lawless man, no no, that's far from the truth. He keeps his promises and believes in the structure given to him. But between the two of them, it had always been Archer who turned suggestion into action. How fitting for the man who took up the helm of leadership when they had been abandoned.

Proton's brows furrow, and he huffs through his nostrils, finishing his cigarette and tossing it to the ground, crushing it with his boot. He folds his arms on the railing, turning his head off to the side.

Were they actually about to talk? He swallows, and Proton swears he feels nails slip down his throat.

"-- Y'know, I'm way more of a coward than anybody else," Proton admits quietly, eyes lidding somewhat as he props himself up on an elbow while slouching on the guard rail, slouching with his chin in his hand.

"There was a part of me that wanted to run so fuckin' badly. Not--" he lifts his head and shakes it, still looking away. "Not because I didn't wanna go through with the plan-- but because I knew there was no way back. We were either gonna get the job done, or burn ourselves down tryin'."

And a lot of them did. Proton was prepared to be one of them.

"I wanted to get outta there because," he exhales sharply, taking his hat off and scrubbing a hand through his own hair. Ah man. Nobody's taught him how to speak after muzzling himself so thoroughly.

"Well-- 'cause I wanted to get you outta there too."

A loyal hound dragging his handler away from the fire to prevent an act of self-immolation.

He turns his head and looks at the other man, and he swears he still sees that sorrowful, vulnerable look on his face, drenched in the red light of the radio tower that had flooded their hotel room through the window that night.

"-- You thought we were gonna die too, didn't you?" Proton asks, bringing a thumb up and brushing it against his own lower lip, "That's why we gave in to each other."

Giving in is the most sane way to describe it-- they'd clung to one another in mournful passion with mouthfuls of blood, like beasts struck with starvation. Like terrified lovers who did not want to die with regrets. Though, perhaps the most horrifying thing was not that their lives were at risk-- but that they wordlessly acknowledged a very human emotion that was rooted between the two of them.

That's why the madness he's been struck with has never dissipated.

And so he straightens himself back up somewhat, leaning against the other executive, and slipping an arm around his waist. Proton keeps his head angled to look at him-- thinking back to the way he slipped out of that hotel room like a coward afterwards, instead of ending things the way they had started, with their lips against each other-- he finally returns the kiss.

"We have to go," he speaks up, aware of what time it was. A business contact was meant to meet them in the business car of the Magnet Train back to Saffron.

"Staying in one place for too long is risky."

#➤ 《 𝟗𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭; 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 》 In Character #➤ 《 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 》 Answered #➤ 《 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 》 Verse One #♡ 《 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫; 𝑾𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 》 Aʀᴄʜᴇʀ #{ GOD I had to go back and read that thread on Discord GOD. GOD! ! ! }

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crescentblossom66 · 2 years ago

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Dead Bird Metro: The Tale of two Girls Chapter 19

She tapped her claws on the table impatiently, waiting for the other two people that she had ordered back to their new HQ. With the Leowles and Penguiads out of the relevant parts of the Metro, the leader of the Nyakuza found it best to be in the center, it was easier to control all affairs from there.

The young cat next to her mirrored her motions, she really needed to buy her a new coat, they had insisted that they wanted one like hers, and she gladly obliged, however, by now the wine red coat that complimented their rare purple fur nicely, was torn up quite a bit and it was getting bit small now.

The door to the large meeting room opened and a white British Shorthair entered the room, her orange eyes went from the Empress to Maemi, who gave a short nod just like her mentor.

“I'm not too late I presume? I still had to deal with a rather ignorant business partner, which resulted in my departure being a little delayed.” She dusted off her black blazer and gray pencil skirt before sitting down on the chair to the left of the table.

“No, Nozomi, you're just on time, I wager that Toshihiro will keep us waiting.” Empress looked at the time again, it was now 03:02pm, of course the meeting time was exactly at 3.

“Quite. I so loath his tardiness.” Nozomi reached for her tablet typing something in a speed that left Maemi in awe.

It took another ten minutes until the door finally opened a second time and a cat with near pitch black fur entered. Maemi really liked the beautiful dark blue kimono with a wave pattern he wore, it reminded them of a famous painting they had seen in the museum that he was the curator of now.

“My apologies

I could not get here faster

Please, do not mind me”

“You're always incredibly late! Toshihiro, that's exactly the reason why I hate working together with you.” Nozomi's fur bristled at the sincere apology of the male cat that only bowed down deeply to emphasize his regret.

“You wound me my lady

I ran as fast as I could

Inspiration struck”

He answered before he went to sit down. With her closest allies now brought together, the Empress started to talk. “The reason you're all here today should be obvious, given the recent developments between us and the bird gangs.”

Nozomi nodded, not even taking her eyes off the screen, still typing furiously. “You think that they'll try to attack us next, I wager, and I agree, it's only logical for them to try to weaken our moral by killing us.”

Maemi jumped a bit at the thought of either of the three cats in the room with them dying, the little jolt caused Nozomi to stop and look up with a warm smile, “Don't worry yourself, Maemi, I don't plan on dying to those dimwitted cretins.-” The smaller cat relaxed a bit, “-Even should they make it into my office building, they'll find that traversing it won't be easy.” She looked back down with a smirk, starting to type again.

“Pesky little birds

We will destroy them, no doubt

You need not worry”

The assurance and confidence of both of their colleagues was reassuring, so far they had stayed away from fighting them, thinking that the sheer number of the Nyakuza was enough to deter the owls and penguins from attacking them. Maemi would have never thought that a bunch of birds could put up so much of a fight, but the thing that worried them the most was the two human girls that were mentioned over and over again by the cats in their ranks. One supposedly had brown hair tied in a pony tail, a cold and calculated young girl, who kills cats without betting an eye. The other girl had a darker skin tone and curly hair, apparently that one was charismatic and could think quick on her feet.

The Empress slowly rose from her chair and started to walk up to the big window, staring toward the old industrial district. “No doubt will they try to take you out, sooner or later, all I ask is that you'll prepare for combat. I'm not losing our hard earned territory again.”

“Positive. As I said, I'm not planning on losing to them, capturing and running the Leowles' businesses was annoying enough.” Toshihiro only nodded in agreement.

“Good, I want you to return to your businesses, kill any birds that come your way...Maemi-”

“Yes, ma'am!” The young cat saluted and proudly waited for an order.

“-I need you to head to our storage near the edge of the shopping district, no doubt will they try to sabotage us by breaking our weapons and supplies. Greet those birds for me if they show up, will you.”

“Dead or alive, ma'am?” The tall, gray cat thought about it for a moment, before coming to a conclusion.

“Alive would be better, capture them when the opportunity presents itself.” Maemi nodded with a serious expression. They wouldn't fail, those birds would pay for killing so many Nyakuza!

“Dismissed.” At that, the three cats got up and filed back out of the room leaving the tall cat behind, whose eyes narrowed, “Why do you struggle so much against the natural order, cats eat birds, it has always been so, and it will continue to be so.”

Dave looked around, almost shaking as they moved around the edge of the Nyakuza territory, it was determined that he and Enrique were to head to the big storage hall. Miraculously, both leaders managed to not kill one another in the meeting the day prior, however, Dave noticed the tension of his boss, and the sheer hatred for the leader of the Leowles.

Enrique, who appeared as calm as ever, was leading him and a group of five owl and five penguins, a small group had an easier time staying undetected, that was something that Hattie explained to them, and the old, yellow bird had nodded in approval. “You have that micro chip that your leader has given you, right, amigo?”

Dave rummaged around in the inside pocket of his jacket and felt the small piece of technology still being where it should be, for a moment he had feared that he had lost it. DJ Grooves had entrusted him with it, telling him that they could open the gate to the storage hall with it. He didn't understand anything he had told him, but it boiled down to 'Put the chip on the card reader, it will to the rest'. The small penguin was proud at being given such an important item, he couldn't mess this up now! “I got it right in my pocket, don't worry.”

They continue on through the alleys until they spot the storage hall. “So far so good.” Enrique observes the guards that have taken position around the big building. He sees around five cats guarding the outside of the hall. The low number wasn't unusual, they still had their claws full with running the former Leowle and Penguiad territory, that and the fact that they lost quite a lot of cats in the assault on their HQ.

Dave peeks around the corner, and gets pulled back by Enrique when one of the cats looked their way. The small eagle-owl starts whispering after motioning for the penguins and owls that were with them to come closer. “We'll attack them from both sides, I'll lure them over here. Dave-” The penguin jolted up in surprise.

“A pincer attack, dude, that's brutal, man. Bow wasn't joking when she had us watch out for you owl when Hattie came walking toward us that day.” The penguin shuddered a bit.

“-I want you and the penguins to go around the building and strike from behind. ¿Comprendes amigo?“

“Yes?” He looked a bit uncertain, kind of understanding what he just asked and kind of not. The penguins followed behind him, drawing their weapons as they walked behind the building from the left side waiting for Enrique to draw the attention to him and the owls. They started to attack as soon as they heard a loud 'How DARE you!' come from the position of the owls. Dave quickly took out one of the cats by stabbing him in the back while Enrique finished off a cat that had tried to slash him with their claws, only for their neck to meet his sharp talon on the way. The other owls and penguins quickly overwhelmed the remaining three. “Take that, fur balls!” One of the penguins cheered and high...oned? His brethren. The owls, meanwhile tried to focus on the front.

Enrique looked around some more, Dave following shortly behind him. “That's a big hall, alright, I wonder how many dangerous weapons they're storing in there.” Dave looked up at the massive, green building, while Enrique walked up to the small panel that required some kind of code. “You think there's more of those fur balls in there?” The penguin moved next to the panel, away from the door, just in case more cats came running out when he put the chip onto the panel and the door opens.

“We'll find out, ready when you are, Dave.” The penguin nodded and waited for the other penguins and owls to be in position before putting the micro chip on the electronic device. A robotic 'Access granted' could be heard. The door slowly opened, Dave gripped his knife tight and looked over at Enrique, whose eyes narrowed.

Nothing happened...absolute silence. The doors were fully open and for a full 10 seconds there was no noise, but the noise of his own breathing in Dave's ears. He watched as Enrique peeked around the corner into the storage hall and followed when he moved from his position and slowly entered, his weapon at the ready.

The hall was dark, hardly any windows made it difficult for the penguins to see. Enrique on the other hand could see nothing out of the ordinary. Some big crates with food, large shelves full of various blunt weapons like bats and golf clubs, even crow bars. He slowly inched forward scanning the whole room, behind him the penguins, Dave and his group of owls followed close behind. He looked between the large shelves moving further and further in.

He was about to get out the dynamite that his boss had entrusted him with, when he heard a loud voice above him. “I've heard that birds like to be free...-” His eyes widen in shock when he heard a loud snapping noise and saw a huge metal cage fall down from the ceiling. Dave yelped when the cage hit the ground with a massive steely thud. “-well, I like mine caged.” A small purple cat in a red jacket jumped down from one of the support beams at the top and landed on the cage gracefully. “I would have preferred to kill you for all my friends YOU killed, but the boss wants you alive for some reason.” They gave the owls and penguins a glare, their green eyes glistening with hatred as they jumped to the ground.

Dave appeared shocked, but snapped himself out of it. “You won't get away with this! DJ Grooves will come and save us!” The penguins behind him rallied together and cheered, showing their refusal to give up. Enrique growled at the young cat, countering their glare with his own. His feathers rising up, as he watched their smirk.

“You're making a big mistake, even should you kill us the rest of the Leowles will avenge our deaths.” Internally Enrique was angry at himself, he should have seen this coming, yet, he realized to late that they were being watched the moment they entered.

Maemi only dusted off their paws before making their exit, the owls and penguins yelling and fighting against the bars of the cage, making them laugh as they left the building. Maemi closed the doors, leaving Dave, Enrique, and the penguins and owls that followed them in near pitch black darkness.

Dave sat down on the ground, hitting his head on a metal bar, that he couldn't see. “We really messed up big time now.” He let out a deep sigh.

“They won't lose, Dave. My boss and yours, Hattie, and Bow will get the job done.” Enrique tried to cheer his new friend up, but he looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

“W-What are they gonna do to us?” Dave asked with a shaky voice, he started to shiver a bit. Still true to his nature, the eagle-owl was oddly calm.

“They'll likely will use us as bait. They want to lure the others into a trap.” Enrique cringed a bit when he noticed that the flightless bird had started to shake even more.

“We really done it now. We...We'll get DJ Grooves and the others killed.” His voice was nothing more than a near broken whisper.

Enrique only laughed a little, “I'd like to see them try! Those four aren't stupid, Dave. They'll notice that something's wrong when we don't come back.” He wanted to say that they could also think that they've been killed, but decided to not tell Dave that, thinking that it would harm the already depressed bird more.

“...What do we do now?” Dave inquired. This darkness felt like it was crushing him.

“We...we wait, compadre, we wait.”

#dead bird metro au #ahit fanfic #ahit hat kid #ahit bow kid #ahit dj grooves #ahit conductor #inspired by an au from #the confuktor

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lazaruspiss · 1 year ago

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North Gotham: Part One

Exhibition Grounds: The Exhibition Grounds, along with Robinson Plaza, were built for the World Fair of 1893. The fair was originally supposed to take place in Chicago that year but the mayor, Theodore Cobblepot, engaged in some pretty cutthroat politics to influence the organizers and change the location to Gotham City. The obelisk, monument, Forum of the Twelve Caesars, and art installations were all designed and built by renowned architects and artists with no expense spared. The monument in particular was commissioned by the mayor, who wanted to represent the hardships the first settlers of Gotham City had to face at sea in order to reach the shores of the New World. The fair attracted a reasonable number of visitors and was declared a success by the mayor. It's no coincidence Cobblepot Steel saw a sharp increase in profits that year.

Gotham Heights Residences: This was the biggest apartment complex in Gotham City when it was built in 1925. It catered to the city's wealthier residents. Some members of the Elliot, Kane and Powers families took residence here, but many left when the downtown district was developed. Despite this, the complex is still very popular with older Gothamites who are looking to live in luxury away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. Part of the building burned down during a violent protest around ten years ago, and the city diverted funds to repair it. This caused a lot of controversy as the funds were initially supposed to be used to revitalize Robinson Plaza. I had to intervene after Anarky and a group of rioters managed to make their way inside and had taken some of the residents hostage.

Gotham City University: The Arkhams built the university in the 19th century. One of the first halls to be completed was Holloway Hall, donated by the Arkhams. More halls were endowed by other families since, such as the Cobblepots and the Chandlers, as well as my own, which contributed to make the university what it is today. The Martha Wayne Foundation sponsors many programs for low-income youth to attend the university, helping them access the education they deserve. It's one of the projects I'm most proud of. Notes: Found Kirk Langstrom. He's a professor of zoology at Gotham City University. Investigation is ongoing.

Leblanc Funeral Home: The LeBlanc Funeral Center has tended to the needs of many of Gotham City's most notorious figures. Local politicians, pillars of the community, and criminals alike have all gone through LeBlanc's doors, the most infamous of the latter group being Vincent Falcone, the former head and founder of the Falcone crime family. Given the funeral center's close proximity to St. Faustina church and the Gotham City cemetery, it is always busy.

#gotham knights #Locations (GK)#North Gotham (GK)

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trapper-faggot · 2 years ago

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Thank god im getting hours again

long ass ramble under the cut

So I'm back at my old job.

I worked there August-early December as the head of an after school program, where I completely burnt out. I was working 45-50 hour weeks constantly, always on call, always stressed, so I hit my breaking point and quit. However I made a point to do so on good terms, and left the possibility of subbing open.

Well I lost 2 whole fucking months to depression, and job hunting is hell, and so I reached out to my buddy who is a site director at the site closest to my old one. She got me 3 shifts last week, and I could have picked up a 4th just I was busy when she messaged me. This week I have 3, potentially 4 once again.

And like... I LIKE the work, I love playing with kids, I love the routine, I love teaching. This job allows me to sit, hell sometimes large chunks of my shifts end up "racing a kid in long division cause he just learned and is super excited. this excitement is contagious and soon there are 5 children cramming around solving math problems" or "kindergartner spends recess showing me how good she is at hop scotch and karate and ballet and ballet karate"

Also?? I am DAMN good at my job. I am! I can admit that! My first ever job was teaching, I baby sat a lot, I genuinely really enjoy playing with kids and teaching. As a site director I was immensely overworked but it was universally agreed upon that I was thrown into a bad situation and did an amazing job all things considered! I held that place together until I couldnt anymore, and sounds like its still a mess over there, which tbh is validating. I am on top of things! I am a very good employee and teacher! As a former site director, I understand the back workings of everything, and what needs to be done. I actually made myself look good, because I remembered that since I was last there they had added a new government training needed for my file, and asked my friend if she could send me a link so I would be 100% up to date. Given that a lot of teachers are behind on or not doing their trainings, this makes me look fantastic.

AND!!! The pay is SO good. Like until I get my first paycheck I don't know what my exact rate is. but minimum wage here is around 15, starbucks I think i was getting 15.25, and this job starts teachers at fucking 19 an hour. As a site director I was getting 23 an hour, but post taxes it ended up closer to 19 cause it was a higher tax bracket. But like...either way. This job pays fucking bank if you can do the work.

And like... at the end of the day I am valuable and needed. The company has been having a lot of staffing problems, both from high turnover in the educational/childcare sector in general, but also because of federal background checks being super super slowed down. (this might not still be a problem but it was from july to december of last year). Other than this one training I am 100% trained. In fact for the position, over trained. I am comfortable with the job, know how things work, and like whether I'm officially a site director or not that is still a cohort I used to belong to, and I'm still in contact with one of them. I know people at most if not all sites, the district manager really liked me, and had actually tried to get me to stay by suggesting I step down to a teacher position, like I'm trying to get now.

IDK. Sorry if you've read all of this and are expecting a point, its just...so much to think about. Like...I left this job for a lot of reasons, but one was that I wasn't fully qualified for the position I was in legally speaking, and I was basically being slowly be replaced embarrassingly, cause everyone knew me as the one in charge but suddenly I wasn't. But I'm still a good teacher, it was just a bad situation. And like...theres a lot of teachers out there that aren't that great, but all the site directors in the area as well as the district manager know I'm damn good. And its this weird position where I'm basically walking in like "sup I'm back, you know you missed me, give me shifts, I can do whatever where ever, you know me" And so far it seems to be working.

#personal #hey like if you read this please and sorry its so fucking long #just...a lot to think about with this job thing and sometimes i just need to ramble it all out #i'll probably delete this later

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anarchistdoll · 3 months ago

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Getting An Upgrade Pt. 2

Note: This is something I wrote a whiiiiiiiiile ago so its okay-ish, had to split it into two parts cause tumblr is a cuck. Anything you wanna say or suggest about it is welcome. “U-um, how did you know that? I haven't told anyone.”, you manage to stutter after you look at this woman for what feels to be far too long. “Oh the people here tell me everything! Especially when some rando hoity toity business man comes looking for me!” Her systems begin to change color and glow a dark blue. You realize that behind the mask is a voice modulator that she’s speaking through. “Well, I'm very sorry if I ended up causing any trouble.” You say, now flustered. “Oh not at all hun!”, she responds,” Come on, lets go get you nice and comfy in my workshop” She takes you through several alleyways and tight spaces between the housing. You’re disgusted with the amount of grime that you’ve gotten covered in but for some reason the filth just sloughed right off her. You begin to ponder what tech could do that. Maybe the soft vibrations of the cybernetics help get it off of her? Maybe an electro-magnetic field that helps resist the grime? That type of tech is usually only seen in the upper class districts where they’d rather not be bothered with keeping themselves clean when they stuff their disgusting mouths with expensive food. Either way, her systems are now glowing a deep red, so she likely doesn't enjoy this trek anymore than you do. The robot lady leads you to a manhole cover that she places her hand on either side of it and pulls, steam vents out of her hands for a moment and the cover comes loose, that she then places to the side. “You go down first.” She points at you,”I have to seal this back up on our way down.” The first sense to hit you is the smell. Sewers don't smell very pleasant, especially in the slums. You hear the girl follow you down, followed by the noise of the manhole cover being placed back and more steam. You wait for her at the base of the ladder. She jumps down the last couple of steps with a way splash that you barely dodge. Her systems glow yellow and illuminate the dark sewer system. “Sorry about the smell, not much I can do about that, the hardest part is over now and my workshop is close by! So let's get going!” You nod and begin to follow her lead again. After pinching your nose and getting your boots wet for a good twenty minutes, you and the cyborg lady make it to a big steel door. “This part of the city is old, you can't walk through the sewers in the higher district levels, the pipes are too close together. Lucky for me, these sewer systems were built before the districts were even a concept” The lady continues as she pulls out a key and begins to unlock the door, ”this is also a time when governments thought that secret bunkers were cool, so when your daddy is a higher up of a corporate business, you get access to all sorts of fun resources!” She shoves the door open to reveal what appears to be an airlock,“Anyway, I set this system up so that the nasty shit of the sewer doesn't seep in when I'm trying to work, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to strip!” You begin to stutter,”U-um excuse me but what?” “Come on,” she interrupts,”It's nothing I haven't seen before, and besides, you don't want to keep smelling like sewer do you?” You gulp, and nod at her. You turn around and begin to undress hoping that she isn't watching you although you feel like there's a set of eyes watching you. Not before long you turn around and begin to flush as she is also stark naked. As your eyes scan over her, you see that her lower parts aren't there, just a smooth section of metal. Upon a closer look. there appear to be creases within the metal in that area, likely a way to interchange genitals. Her breasts are mostly still human, her B cups coming to a soft point with bits of black metal scattered in between.

#writing #trans #robot #bad art #medical play

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lythea-creation · 5 months ago

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Broken Toys - Johanna Mason x fem reader (Chapter 20)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

word count: 3.078

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The days passed by and I was busy with my training once again.

Johanna had reassured me several times that she would be fine before I had agreed to training the whole day again.

When I met her at dinner, I noticed that she was upset.

“Johanna, did anything happen?”, I asked her worried.

She exchanged a glance with Katniss which did not ease the anxiety inside of me at all.

“Coin refused to let Katniss and me join the final battle. Now we have to start training tomorrow and pass a special exam to get a chance”, she grumbled.

Honestly a great part of me wished that Johanna would not pass the test, but I knew that it was selfish. She had good reasons to fight as well and I could understand her.

“You can't persuade me not to”, she added eyeing me carefully.

“I wouldn't have tried to anyway”, I assured her.

“Great. Cause training already started today and I'm too tired to discuss that now”, she admitted bluntly.

Katniss looked utterly exhausted as well. I remembered that her ribs were still healing and she looked like she was in pain.

“Katniss? You alright?”, I worried.

“Yeah, I got a new treatment for my ribs to recover faster”, she explained.

Tonight was horrible. It was not like I had had a great night lately thanks to everything going on and the constant nightmares of either Johanna or me or both of us, since a few days also the ones of Katniss. But this was another extend.

Katniss was battling the pain of her rib treatment and Johanna was struggling with her morphling withdrawal.

I woke up to Johanna insulting Katniss. Apparently district 7 had a lot of ways to swear and curse and Johanna knew them all.

I made sure that she was drinking enough water, which was a battle on its own. Johanna was not able to think clearly anymore as she was really suffering, which hurt me too. I just wanted her to finally get better.

As the sun raised again, Johanna was eager to drag Katniss to training. Sleep was not an option anymore anyway. So I decided to go to training early as well.

“I don't think I can handle this today”, Katniss confessed.

“Of course you can. We will both handle it. We are victors, remember? We survive everything they throw at us”, Johanna stated.

She was looking completely sick and was shaking badly. Preferably I would have tied her to the bed, but I knew that I could not stop Johanna as she was stubborn as hell. And maybe she needed the training to improve her health.

Reluctantly Katniss got up.

When I returned from training that evening, Johanna and Katniss were not in the infirmary. One of the paramedics told me that we had gotten a new room.

I searched for the right number, knocked and opened the door.

Johanna and Katniss were talking to each other on eye level, something I had never experienced between the two before. They had not noticed me yet. So I stayed silent and listened curiously.

“May be. But he has changed”, Katniss said.

“You too. And (f/n) and me. And Finnick and Haymitch and Beetee. I'm not even talking about Annie Cresta. The arena broke us all pretty well, didn't it? Or are you still the same you were back then when you volunteered for your sister?”, Johanna questioned.

“No.”

“That's the only thing the psycho doc may be right about. There is no way back. So we could as well move on”, Johanna recalled.

She moved and the lights turned off. Literally kept in the dark. Thanks!

“Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you tonight?”, Johanna joked.

“As if I couldn't take you on”, Katniss shot back and the two burst out laughing. They had to be really beat up to behave like that.

“Hey, guys”, I greeted them.

If I had sneaked to my bed, the possibility of them attacking me despite their state, would have been too high for my liking.

“Oh, (f/n)! How do you survive this hellish training? You've been gone even longer than us”, Johanna noted.

“I had more time to adjust”, I brushed it off.

“District 11 is endurable”, Katniss recalled.

“Ouch!”, I exclaimed as I had hit my pinkie toe at the edge of the bed.

“Why are you two even still sharing a room?”, I wondered.

“Because they don't trust me, but fulfill every wish of the mockingjay”, Johanna proclaimed.

“What time is it?”

“Apparently past curfew as the lights turned off. Eleven pm.?”, Katniss answered.

I sighed. “Talking about warm water. I haven't taken a shower yet.”

“Do it tomorrow morning”, Johanna grumbled half-asleep.

“Trust me. You don't want that”, I assured her as we usually shared one bed.

“Can't be worse than in the arena. Come over before I get angry”, she threatened me.

I did not have any energy left anyway. So I obeyed.

Over the next week the situation in our room improved progressively.

Currently I was making my way to the canteen for dinner and was happy to see Katniss, Finnick, Annie and Johanna gathered at one table. Of course I joined them.

Johanna smiled at me when I sat down in front of her next to Katniss.

We listened to Finnick telling a ridiculous story about a turtle who had carried away his hat.

Things almost felt normal. Talking and laughing with friends during dinner without thinking about the cruelties going on on the surface of this country. But this illusion did not remain long as Peeta suddenly appeared behind the empty chair next to Johanna.

“Peeta! Nice to see you … and not inside the bed anymore”, the girl next to Katniss exclaimed.

Two guards were standing behind him and he had difficulties balancing the tray due to his chained hands.

“What kind of fancy bracelets are these?”, Johanna joked.

“You can't trust me yet. I can't even sit here without your approval”, he elucidated.

“Of course he can sit here. After all we are old friends”, Johanna announced while patting the chair beside her.

The guards nodded and Peeta sat down.

“In the Capitol Peeta and I had adjacent cells. He knows my screams and I know his”, Johanna declared.

An uneasy feeling built up inside of me. I knew that it was Johanna's way of coping to bluntly state her thoughts, but I hated it to be reminded of her torture that was killing me already whenever I had time to think about it.

Annie, who was sitting at Johanna's other side, had zoned out earning Johanna a death glare from Finnick.

“What? My psycho doc says that I should freely express my thoughts. That's part of my therapy”, she justified herself.

Silence erupted between us as Finnick tried to soothe Annie.

The rest of dinner continued awkwardly and I was glad when it was over. Peeta had said some terrible things about Katniss.

I once again distracted me with my training, while Johanna had already returned to our room and was probably telling Katniss everything that had happened after the latter had left the canteen.

When I returned to our room after my shower and laid down on Johanna's and my bed, the lights turned off.

Johanna immediately wrapped her arms around me.

“Johanna? Did you really hear his screams?”, Katniss asked.

“That was part of it. Like the jabberjays inside the arena. With the difference that it was real. And it didn't stop after one hour. Tick tock”, Johanna replied and I snuggled closer to her, if that was even possible.

“Tick tock”, Katniss whispered back.

Even Johanna's closeness could not keep the nightmares away tonight.

The following days Cressida and her team filmed me, Gale and the other victors training.

Cressida was excited about the video she had taken of me. I was shooting onto moving targets from different angles and distances and did not miss one. The hard training over the last weeks had definitely payed off.

The propos were amazing.

Finnick, Annie, Katniss, Johanna and me dancing on the wedding.

Finnick killing some 'enemies' with his new trident.

Gale bombing up a building with a special arrow.

Katniss and Johanna working together to win against a dozen opponents.

Even Peeta was shown training.

The rebels were ready to fight. That was what the videos were screaming.

One day the device on my wrist told me to go to the command center.

Finnick, Gale and five other people I did not know were standing in a row. What was all of that about?

“(f/n). You're part of my group during the final battle”, Boggs declared.

Several emotions flooded my mind. Relief that I would be allowed to fight. Happiness that Finnick would be my ally again. Anxiety as you never knew how such a battle would turn out.

And because I did not know what was up with Johanna. And Katniss of course. Today was their exam deciding whether they would join the battle or not.

Suddenly the door burst open, revealing an excited Katniss, although her expression changed to an insecure one.

Boggs shook his head with a smile at her behavior.

“Let's see”, he instructed her and she showed him her hand with a number on it. “You're part of my unit. Sniper special unit. Go to your group.”

That at least explained why Katniss and me were here. As far as I knew Gale was pretty good as well and I could not say anything about the rest. But why was Finnick here? His strength was combat.

And why were we in the command center? Boggs could have gathered us anywhere. Something was off. There had to be another reason for this special group constellation.

Plutarch ripped me out of my thoughts by talking about the problems we were going to face at the Capitol. He pushed the button on a strange device and a hologram of a street section of the Capitol appeared.

Plutarch entered a code and several lights turned on and started blinking in different colors and speed.

“Each of those lights resembles a pod. The pods contain different obstacles like an explosion or mutts. You cannot make a mistake. Otherwise you get trapped or die. Some of the pods already exist since the dark days. Others have been invented over the years. Honestly I created a lot of them myself. This program, which one of us took when we left the Capitol, is our latest knowledge. They don't know that we have it. But it's likely that new pods have been activated over the last months. You have to expect that.”

My face became pale and I felt sick. We were literally trapped. The games would never stop until Snow died.

Katniss seemed to realize that herself as she slowly approached the hologram followed by Finnick. The three of us each touched one of the pods.

“Ladies and gentleman ...”, Finnick began silently.

But Katniss' and my voice cut through the silence of the room.

“Let the 76th Hunger Games begin”, we finished Finnick's announcement simultaneously.

Katniss started laughing before anyone could react to our realization. “You could have saved yourself the trouble of training Finnick, (f/n) and me, Plutarch”, Katniss stated.

“After all we are the most experienced soldiers you have”, Finnick added.

“As if I haven't noticed that”, he shot back.

As a former game maker he knew what we were up against.

“Now march back into the line, soldiers Odair, (l/n) and Everdeen! I want to finish my presentation.”

We obeyed.

The questioning stares of the others did not matter. How could they not see it while the layout was so obvious to us? Being a victor really changed your perspective.

The rest of the presentation was pure torture. Standing there and knowing to go back into the arena again without being able to react to it. We had to suck it up and wait until the presentation was over.

I felt sorry for Katniss when she had to stay longer for a special order.

Finnick and I waited outside for her and she immediately enveloped us in a hug.

“What am I going to tell Annie?”, Finnick whispered.

That reminded me of Johanna again.

“Nothing”, Katniss replied. “Like my mom and Prim.”

“When she sees the hologram ...”, Finnick considered.

“She won't. It's secret. It has to be. Furthermore, it isn't exactly the same as the games. There can be more than one survivor. We just react so extremely because … you know why. But you two will go anyway, won't you?”

“Of course! I wanna make Snow pay just as much as you do”, Finnick proclaimed.

Before I could respond, an unsettled Haymitch appeared. “Johanna is back in the infirmary”, he announced.

I felt like I was trapped under the water by the huge wave again. My whole body was shaking.

Not again. Why did worst case scenarios love me so much?

“Why? What's up? Is she injured?”, Katniss asked as I was in a shock state or rather keeping myself from breaking down.

“It happened in the block. You know, where they try to trigger the weaknesses of the soldiers. They flooded her whole street”, Haymitch enlightened us.

“And what?”, Katniss questioned.

Did she not know?

“That's how she was tortured in the Capitol. They soaked her in water and then tortured her with electroshocks”, Haymitch clarified. “And in the block she had a déjà-vu. Out of panic she didn't even know where she was. She's getting sedatives again.”

My whole world appeared to be spinning. How was I supposed to take all of that?

Nevertheless, my shaky legs moved on their own toward Johanna.

I flinched when a hand touched me.

Finnick supported me on the way as I was literally almost breaking down. I was stumbling and feeling disoriented.

A few seconds away from the infirmary Finnick suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Shh. It's going to be alright”, he whispered and just now I noticed the tears streaming down my face.

I clung onto my friend until I felt safe enough not to collapse on my own.

He gently wiped my tears away and smiled comfortingly, although I could see the pain in his eyes. Johanna was also his friend.

I took a deep breath and entered the room. “Hey, Jo”, I greeted her softly while slowly approaching her.

She looked incredibly vulnerable, which scared me. I had never seen her like that before.

The thought of participating in the next Hunger Games moved to the background.

I observed her closely to acknowledge if she was alright with my actions. As she did not resist in any way I sat down next to her on the bed, pulled her into my arms and stroke her face.

Finnick rested on the chair beside the bed and took Johanna's hand.

To my surprise and horror Johanna let it happen.

After a while she suddenly jolted upwards with wide eyes.

“Shh. I'm here. I'm here”, I whispered and gingerly pulled her back down.

I knew that feeling. She did not want to fall asleep, afraid what it would bring to her, afraid of the memories she would not be able to fend off. But the sedatives were working against her.

Soon Finnick left and Katniss appeared.

For a few seconds she stayed in the door frame and watched Johanna before handing her a small bundle.

“What is that?”, Johanna asked with a hoarse voice.

“I did it for you. Something you can put into your drawer. Just smell”, Katniss replied.

She carefully moved the bundle to her nose. As I was literally close to her, I could smell the pine needles as well and could not help myself but smile.

“Smells like home”, Johanna stated with teary eyes.

It broke my heart.

Katniss and I exchanged a gaze expressing everything we could have said. We knew each other well enough by now.

“That's what I hoped”, Katniss enlightened us. “As you come out of 7. Do you remember when we first met? You were a tree. At least for a short while”, Katniss recalled.

The memories of my awkward encounter with Johanna after her striptease in the elevator came to my mind.

Johanna tightly grabbed Katniss wrist. “Katniss, you have to kill him.”

“Don't worry”, she promised.

I could see that Katniss was not comfortable with Johanna's death grip.

“Swear it. By something that's important to you.”

“I swear it. By my life.”

“By the life of your family.”

“By the life of my family.”

Now Johanna finally let go of Katniss' wrist, which the latter rubbed absentmindedly.

“What do you even think why I wanted to go there in the first place, silly?”, Katniss reminded her earning a small smile from Johanna.

”I just had to hear it”, Johanna clarified and held the bundle to her nose with closed eyes.

When Katniss left and hence Johanna was alone with me, she confronted me. “You're going anyway, aren't you? To the Capitol to fight against Snow?”

I did not know what to respond. My decision to go had not changed. But saying that out loud after everything did not seem right. Though Johanna deserved my honesty. “Yes. I have to make Snow pay for everything he's done. I'm too far into it to turn back. Though I don't want to leave you behind. But I'm also relieved that you'll be safe”, I admitted.

She grabbed my wrist like she had done with Katniss and it hurt.

“It's bad enough that I can't go, but the sedatives are suppressing my frustration. Still … You've a tendency to act reckless when you don't have to worry for someone else. You have to return. Periodt.”

I nodded.

“You watched my first games. You know what I can achieve when I want to return”, I reassured her.

We shared a gentle kiss before Johanna gave in to the sedatives and fell asleep.

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