#thread: silena vale.

[brutcllysoft]

@devilwomcn / silena & eden.

So far, everything has been just as exciting as Silena had always believed it would be. She's still high on the adrenaline rush that came from volunteering, the goodbye with her parents having passed by so quickly she's barely even sure she remembers it before she had been swept up into the train. While her life in District One is cushy by comparison to the lower districts, the train car is still nicer than anything she's ever seen before. It's almost a little jarring, but Silena had taken it all in stride. "You're going to give yourself frown lines," she scolds, raising a brow at Eden when they're finally away from prying eyes of the rest of their team. "What are you making that face for?"

[brutcllysoft]

For all of her faults, Silena can read a room and the little train car the four of them had piled into had been full of tension. At first she'd blamed the obvious reason — it hadn't been that long ago that Ryder had killed her older sister in the games. It would make sense for things to be strange, at best, when he was put in the same room as Silena and Eden. Which was unfortunate given the fact that they would all being seeing far too much of each other in the foreseeable future. But as she'd observed for a while long, she picked up on the fact that he and Marcus apparently have a history as well. When the mentor had left, she'd stayed behind. Had a conversation with her district partner, waited a bit and then decided to explore the train herself. It hadn't taken long to cross paths with Ryder again, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "If my family was going to try to get some kind of poetic revenge don't you think we would have done it by now?" A part of her is bitter about Opal's death. She misses her sister, wishes that she could be with her now — but the truth is it was better she die in the Games than anywhere else. Even if she hadn't been able to win, she'd gotten far in her games and it had been an honour to go the way she had. Even if sitting face to face with her killer is a hard pill to swallow, Silena does her best. "You and Marcus seem to be old friends. Should I be worried about that distracting you?"

— who: @brutcllysoft / ryder & silena — where: the bar carriage — when: the train on the way to the capitol

The drink in his glass rocked with the movement of the train on the tracks, directing them toward the Capitol, where Ryder would perform this song and dance all over again. He arguably should be in the viewing room, sitting there analyzing tapes of former games. It had been seven years, he wondered if his tapes were still in rotation. Then again, maybe it was a bad idea to watch him killing the third Vale sister while sitting beside the remaining two. Whatever, it might’ve cut the tension. But the second the train started moving, Ryder had excused himself to the bar carriage. He had always known the universe was against him, but Marcus volunteering seven years too late and expecting Ryder to help him win was going too far. So instead of pretending like he wanted to be civil, he took another swig of his drink. Dropping the glass back onto the counter, watching the remaining liquid slosh in time with the train, Ryder glanced up as he heard the door open. Silena was standing there. “Want one? They’re free.” Honestly he didn’t even know if Silena was old enough to drink. But in reality, who was going to say something about offering a tribute who could possibly die in the next few days a drink. “Or have you come here for some poetic revenge?”

[brutcllysoft]

@fclseconfidence / silena & monroe.

Silena really has no reason to interact with the other districts prep teams. In the big picture, they have nothing to do with one another and they're only barely on her radar. But there's a lull before the parade begins where everyone — tribute, mentor, prep team — are all given a little bit of free reign (or as free as anything can be here) and Silena has taken it upon herself to scope out everyone else's outfits. She spots the other woman in the designated District Two area and when she doesn't recognize her as a tribute, mentor or their escort she figures she must be the stylist. "This is pretty," she hums, channeling every etiquette class she had to endure over the years. A hand reaches out to touch the fabric draped over Two's horses, manicured finger running along the smooth edge.

[brutcllysoft]

@beneathoaktrees / silena & jocelyn.

Silena had started sizing up the other tributes immediately. She'd watched all of the Reapings from the train and formed her opinions. While she knows that she really shouldn't count anyone out — anything could happen, right? — she made mental notes of those she thinks will actually be competition and keep a close eye on, and those who she'll keep in her peripherals. Both tributes from five had landed themselves squarely in her peripherals. Neither of them set off any warning bells in her mind, but she's keeping an open mind as they enter the training room. She watches everyone else for a while, more or less unimpressed before she really makes any effort to talk to anyone who isn't her district partner or the other careers. After a quick round of the weapons, mostly to take stock of who is good at what, she finds herself in the survival skills area. "Your district partner just almost lit himself on fire," she hums, standing near Jocelyn. She almost sounds bored as she turns to the other girl, a brow raised. "He's off to a great start."

[brutcllysoft]

Seven has always been an interesting District to Silena. While they weren't a career district by any means, they had produced a handful of victors in the past and had their fair share of threats in the arena. They certainly weren't a district that could be counted out — not like Five or Twelve. Not this year, though. This year they'd been given a couple of flops that Silena wasn't really going to bother with, figuring that someone would take them out early enough in the games and if not, surely they would be victim to the elements. Of course, if given the chance she would have no problem slitting either of their throats but she wasn't going to be gunning for them either. She hums, eyes drifting back to the tribute in question. "And the girl? I haven't seen much of her either." Silena knows in the back of her mind all of this could be part of a strategy, but she has a feeling that isn't really Ashton's style. He seems much more the brute force kill them before they kill you type than the wait them out through survival skills type. She watches as he throws the axe, resists the urge to roll her eyes at the showboating. She clicks her tongue, shrugging. "I can't give you all my secrets," she muses. "I do prefer up close and personal though. A lot less room for errors." Messier too, which she hates but she figures she'll have to make some sacrifices. Besides, there's probably some Capitol freaks out there who will get off on her covered in blood and send her some ridiculous sponsor gift like a solid gold knife she'll need a crane to lift.

While there may be a difference between Seven and One, Ashton never really had the same mentality as the rest of those in Seven. He's a pariah back there, rather than a hero like he should be. He provided for them. Given, that he'd killed his own district partner not too long into the Games, he did it to survive. Breaking out of his exterior shell and becoming the Victor that now has to be there every Games just to be disappointed was a bit fucked. One would be a better place for him, for sure. "It's good you know that," he comments. It's not exactly a compliment but it could be taken that way.

Ashton snorts looking at his Tribute. "He literally shakes every time I come near him. I can't even attempt to make that shit any better. Kid's just gonna die anyway." He wouldn't put it past the kid to die of a heart attack stepping foot into the Arena. Give Ash a winner and he'll make them a warrior. Give him a corpse walking and he's not wasting his energy. Picking back up his axe, he flexes his arm and fires it at the target. "You could get him just like that. Or are you more of an up close and personal kind of girl?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

[brutcllysoft]

There's a sudden ringing in her ears that might be concerning if she didn't have bigger issues going on right now. One would think by that Silena would mean the Hunger Games ordeal going on right now, but really all she can focus on at the moment is what her sister had said. Baby fat — baby fat? She spends half of her days following the rigorous academy training schedule, she does not have baby fat... does she? This is what Silena hates the most about herself. Most of the time, she's calm and confident — conceited or cocky even. Silena is beautiful and she knows it. She'd been brought up to be beautiful — sometimes she thinks it's the most notable thing about her but is ridiculous considering she'd also been the top of her class and she is about to be a victor. But all of that always has and always will come second to the fact that she's beautiful. That's just how the Capitol, and by extension District One, operates. So to have someone so casually point out one of the flaws she hadn't even realized she had? She'll be thinking about that for days, annoyingly. Even now, her pinky finger skates across her jawline, searching for imperfections.

She's been thrown off of her game now, something that she'll need to work on. It can't be that easy to have her lose focus right now, she needs to get her head back on straight. "Two did alright a few years ago." But alright doesn't really cut it, and they both know that. Besides last year Two had been almost embarrassing. An old man and an academy flunk? Silena hadn't expected anything out of either of them and still isn't convinced it wasn't rigged when the girl won in the first place. "Four would be good to have around since we don't know what kind of climate we're looking at." There had been basic swimming lessons at the academy but it definitely isn't Silena's strong suit. "Seven might be okay if it's someone older." Even Eleven has had stronger contenders in the past. They're certainly not careers, but given the nature of their industries, they often worked physical jobs which could lead to strong tributes. Sometimes. She matches Eden's eyeroll with one of her own, not a huge fan of having to avenge the little guy but she knows the Capitol will eat it up. "I'll find someone who can pull their weight but won't actually be a threat in the big picture. Shouldn't be hard."

For all of her fear and anxiety, it’s absolutely sick that Eden’s most prominent emotion is suddenly an intense pang of jealousy. It doesn’t happen often — she’s beautiful and she knows it, that particular trait of hers has been drilled into her since she was a little girl and has only heightened since she became a victor. But the thought of her sister who is, objectively, equally as beautiful as she is coming to take her spot would probably have her face twitching if it weren’t so frozen in place. Eden is used to being fawned over, she is used to being the golden, shining star of their family — it’s what she’s been raised for, and it’s what she’s killed for. When Silena eventually supersedes her in that, Eden’s not sure how she’ll handle it. So her default setting is, of course, deflection of her own insecurities. “Oh, you’re young,” she starts, but what could simply be a compliment on Silena’s youthful beauty obviously has a caveat. “You’ve got time to lose your baby fat before they tighten everything up. Makes everything smoother if you wait I've heard.”

Her head tilts, fingers crushing the glass of water she delicately sips at in an attempt to mask her features as she forces herself to stay in check. They’ve got more important things to worry about than this, and Eden won’t let her moments of envy be the reason her sister bleeds out in an arena. “Two’s been floundering lately but Four could be promising. If you want, it’s sometimes good to bring in someone from an outer district. Gives your alliance an easy breaking point and if you let someone else kill first, you can take the rest of them out right after. That’ll be a good chunk of your competition done for. And sponsors are suckers for a heroic Career avenging the little guy.” Eden’s eyes roll hard at that — and that certainly hadn’t been her own strategy, but Silena’s got a look of sweetness to her that could make it work. “Just something to keep in mind during training. That’s when you’ll really scope things out.”

[brutcllysoft]

Okay, yeah, mark Ryder down as paranoid and theatrical, Silena thinks. Maybe that's why he won the games — the Capitol wanted to entertained by the games above all else, even if they were still claiming it was a punishment. She raises an eyebrow at him and resists the urge to roll her eyes. "I was talking about my sister," she reminds him. "She volunteered. She knew the risks and so did the rest of my family. I know you didn't." It had been a huge scandal at the time, one that Silena remembers well. "Kind of surprising, honestly. Son of a prominent member of the district... Everyone figured it would be a given you and your brother would be front runners for the games." Except they weren't and Silena was admittedly a little curious about that. Most families are clamouring over each other for the honour of competing and it didn't make sense to her that the mayor's son hadn't been a part of that. She glances away from Ryder long enough to take the drink from the Avox and smells it. While District One is well off by comparison to the outlier districts, they certainly aren't indulging in Capitol luxuries on a regular basis. The drink is sweet, almost sickly so but the blonde sips it slowly anyways. She might as well enjoy the Capitol perks just incase she does end up dying in a few weeks. "Are you gonna tell me who paid him off or are you going to make me guess?" She asks, setting the crystal glass down on the bar top.

The question made the man snort out a laugh. “Silena,” He said, his voice full of incredulity as he studied the blonde beside him. “You’re about to be in an arena where the only other living things with you want to kill you. No matter how much you trained for it, you’re going to come out a little paranoid.” Ryder still double checks every lock in his home three times before going to bed. And he crosses the street if he feels someone has been walking behind him for too long. But something told him that no matter what he said, Silena wouldn’t hear it. “I didn’t volunteer,” He reminded her -- though he wasn’t sure he had to. It had been a talking point during his games that he was the first non volunteer tribute from District 1 in years, but then again, it had been awhile, and weirder things have happened since his games. Swishing the liquid in the glass before him, brown eyes cast a sidelong glance at Silena as she took up the empty space beside him. If he was smarter, he wouldn’t elaborate. But maybe giving her just enough of the story could get him what he wanted. “The story?” Ryder mused, taking a long sip of his drink. “Simple really. My name got pulled, and it was the year Marcus was supposed to volunteer,” The victor had no idea how the decisions around who would volunteer when happened at the Career Academy, but Marcus had been talking nonstop about how it was his turn to bring pride to the District right before the reaping. “And turns out that you’re going into the arena with someone who can be bought pretty easily.”

[brutcllysoft]

This time Silena really does roll her eyes, letting out a quiet sound of disapproval. "Are you always this paranoid?" She asks, raising a brow at him. Is this what she's in for for the next few weeks? Constant paranoia and suspicion about something Silena couldn't be less interested in while he drowns himself in free booze? "Everyone here has stabbed someone's sister," she points out, referring to the victors. "That's the risk that comes with volunteering. Obviously we would have preferred it to be the other way around — no offence. But don't flatter yourself to think that my family has been sitting around the dinner table plotting your downfall." Silena misses Opal so much sometimes that she can hardly bare it, but the truth is this was how they were raised. It just is what it is. There's nothing anyone can do about it, and to hold resentment and anger over it is only going to give her premature wrinkles. At least it was someone from One and not some scrawny nobody from Twelve who took her sister out — or even worse, death from the elements. Boring. What isn't boring is his obvious reaction to her prodding about Marcus and it sparks her interest. "Wow, you're batting a thousand with tributes this year, huh?" She plants herself on a bar stool, one leg swinging up to cross over the other and her chin falling to rest in her upturned palm, leaning on the bartop. "What's the story there?"

Waving at the Avox standing behind the bar, motioning to Silena to silently say to get her whatever she wanted, Ryder drained the liquid out of the glass in front of him, flipping the glass so it was upside down on the cool marble of the bar. “I think,” He hummed, brown eyes tracking the movement of the blonde woman. The comment about revenge may have been a joke, but they were alone now, and he was pretty sure that the Career Academy taught you how to kill and make it look like an accident. “That your family is too smart to do anything obviously. Maybe you’ve been waiting.” Arching an eyebrow upwards he watched as his upside down glass was replaced with a fresh drink. Dragging his thumb against the rim, the victor stared at her. “We’re not friends,” He snapped, eyes dark with anger at the simple idea. But was that fair? Because they were friends once. “Yeah I’m sure it’s been eating you up inside.” He rolled his eyes a little bit before taking a sip from the glass in front of him. “That’s not the problem, though. So I’m not going to be the one getting in your way.”

[brutcllysoft]

Silena hums when Eden shrugs off her claims that she's making a face, but the younger sister makes no effort to push back. What's the point? Clearly whatever is bothering Eden, she doesn't want to talk about and Silena has a feeling she won't want to hear it anyways. If Eden were to start voicing any kind of concern about her choice to volunteer, she knows she would get defensive and the two would only end up arguing. Instead, it's better to nod and agree — though it is annoying when Eden casually talks about the perks of being a victor. Eden is even more beautiful now than she had been before the Games, annoyingly enough. That was just another reason not volunteering had never been a choice for Silena. While there's the obvious and the typical reasons — she'd trained her whole life for this, the promise of eternal glory, bringing honour back to their family after Opal fumbled the bag, blah blah blah... She also can't sentence herself to a life of crows feet and frown lines while the Capitol keeps Eden looking youthful and beautiful. A kinder fate would be death in the games — though that's not going to happen either, so who cares?

"Not that I'll need it for a while," she hums, though she remembers Eden's victory. She had come home looking... not different, but not quite herself either. Some people may have chalked it up to the trauma that everyone pretends doesn't exist, but Silena knows that hadn't really been it. She'd been shiner somehow. Whatever the Capitol had given her (which she hadn't needed because honestly, Eden has always been aggravatingly beautiful) had turned her into the best version of herself but done it in such subtle ways that even their family had a hard time picking out the differences. She can't help but wonder what they'll do to her. "Although I wouldn't hate it if they carved my jawline out a little. You should start advocating for that as soon as everyone else picks up on my inevitable win."

Oh, okay, right to business. She shouldn't be surprised when Eden wants to talk strategy right away, she needs to get her head back in the game, after all. She has her entire life to focus on the luxuries of the Capitol, for now she needs to focus on the task at hand. "I'm open to alliances in the beginning. It makes sense for Marcus and I to stick together — he's stronger than me, but I'm faster than him. It could work for a while. And we'll see what Two and Four bring to the table. I'd rather get it all over and done with sooner than later, though. I know the games are supposed to be a show, but I'd rather not be in there for weeks at a time." She remembers one year the games had gone on for nearly a month and the idea of going that long without a shower makes her want to rip her skin off.

This all feels too familiar — like Eden is being forced to live a life she's already lived, to repeat some of the worst days of her life. It's in the way her parents stood proudly in the crowd when her sister's hand shot up, and the way Silena walked on stage like she was practicing her inevitable victory march. Eden's lived this day before, only seven years ago — and as hard as she tries, she can't help but fear how it will end. But no amount of terror will get her to admit that to her sister, not when Silena is so obviously convinced that things will go differently for her. "No face," she dismisses, but even as Eden shakes her head she can feel her lips turning further downward, her brows furrowing more. A quick peak in one of the shiny, stainless steel fixtures of the train confirms what she'd already known, though. "No frown lines, either, kid. One of the many perks you'll get as a victor." This brings a smile to Eden's features, at least — tight, contained, controlled. Silena will have the privilege of injections and eternal beauty that most victors are afforded when they're sought after, because Silena will win. Silena must win. There is simply no other option. "Have you considered a specific strategy, yet? We'll need to watch the reaping tapes, size up your competition and see what strengths to play at. Other than your obvious charm."

[brutcllysoft]

Silena can count how many times she's actually been around animals on one hand, but she figures like everything else in her life, if she acts like she's good at it, she will be. So she shrugs off the other woman's warning, keeping up the act of indifference but takes a step back anyways, turning to face her. She hums, nodding, "I guess your job is a little harder." Not that anyone from District Two is ugly... but there's a reason everyone strives to work for District One, isn't there? "Silena, yes. And I didn't catch your name, I apologize."

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Monroe said, watching as the District 1 tribute dragged her finger against the fabric she just laid out on the horses. “That one’s a kicker.” There was a bruise forming on her calf that proved it. Apparently these horses wanted to be as much a part of this spectacle as the entirety of the District 2 team, which was to say not at all. But, there was an image to maintain, so they continued as if nothing was wrong, and Monroe made a note to keep carrots in her pocket for later. Turning to smile at the tribute, Monroe continued to brush its mane. “Thank you, I hand stitched the sides.” It was eighteen hours of her life, dedicated to a horse. Monroe didn’t really focus on how that made her feel, but she just looked the blonde up and down. “Your stylists did a great job, though it obviously isn’t hard to make you look stunning ...Silena, right?”

[brutcllysoft]

It's hard to put a finger on the energy down in the training room. On one hand, there were the few of them who actually seemed to know what they were doing. On the other hand, there was a general air of sadness that bordered on pathetic as those from the less prepared districts fumbled their way through trying to learn how to handle a weapon or learn enough survival skills to outlast the fighting. Silena could almost feel bad for them, but at the end of the day it was the districts fault. It's not her fault One, Two and Four are proactive enough to start their training young. No one is stopping the rest of them from following suit and maybe if they were all preparing for the Games, they could avoid little kids going in at all. She's pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a voice, head whipping around to find who had been speaking to her. She recognizes him, of course. His games hadn't been all that long ago and they had been brutal enough to spark conversation amongst the districts. And he's easy enough on the eyes which is refreshing compared to the over the top Capitol looks and the malnourished kids that make up her peers. So she bats her eyelashes at him, smiling sickly sweet as he compliments her.

"Pretty only gets you so far," she chimes in, shrugging. Opal had been just as beautiful as Silena and Eden and sponsors had been a dime a dozen — but at the end of the day that hadn't been enough. "But I'm confident that between that, my interview and my training score I'll turn a couple of heads." She follows his gaze, brows furrowing together as she takes in the District Seven tribute and can't help but think back to her earlier thought. Their district should really be more proactive about who goes into the games. Someone who actually stood a chance should've volunteered for him. And admittedly, she's a little surprised that Ashton has discarded him so quickly, but it's none of her business if he wants to count his tribute as a loss already. It's just another point in her favour. "A good breeze might beat me to it. He looks like a gust of wind would snap him in half."

@brutcllysoft

Some people are born as chaos and others are born into chaos. The latter are pussies. At least, that's how Ashton would see the world. He was born to be a victor-- he just didn't know it. He'd even gone so far as to be scared of the Games, worried that he wouldn't be able to kill when it came down to it. How wrong he had been... He'd been able to kill, in fact, he was fucking good at it. The sponsors loved the black horse coming from behind wielding an axe in both hands swinging in the canopy of a dense forest. Now though, he has to spend his time mentoring other kids from Seven-- something that certainly isn't his forte. Ashton is feared in Seven. And here, while praised, he would rather be throwing axes or creating chaos. "Pretty girls are a slam dunk for a mentor," he snickers finding his latest entertainment for chaos. A fresh tribute that looks like an angel but considering he's heard of her family in District One, he knows it's all a fucking act. "And she's your sister so they will eat that shit up." Then again, considering one of the sisters died in the Games, maybe they'd give up on that family for good. "Do me a favor and kill that one," he says pointing to his own tribute who's weak and frail. He has no use for him.