befriend your ghosts

“Nice, I bet 7 smells a hell of a lot better than 4. You get used to the fish smell after a while.” She shrugged and looked over at Axel. “I’m so homesick, for a minute I thought the noise from the streets sounded like waves. Crazy…”

“It definitely doesn’t smell like fish.” District Seven was lucky in that way. She’d heard that District Twelve always smelled like coal, Four like fish, Eleven like rotting fruit, but Seven just smelled cleaned unless you were near a processing mill. They smelled like straight shit. “I miss the freedom from the woods, but not much else to be homesick for.” Certainly not for her family. “What’s the water like? I’ve never seen the ocean.”

“Focus on the non-important things then” He suggested as he placed his fingers against his temple trying to find a solution for this problem. There was little he could do to make things work. She seemed not to see the bigger picture of what it was going on. The more one talk about things, the bigger the bullseye she drew on her back.

“They do, indeed. You are facing people who are more skillful than you are. And that won’t hesitate to use what they know against you as soon as you step down the launch pad” He stated as he took a deep breath trying to clear his mind. “It’s highly unlikely a direct approach is going to work against them” He stated. 

Alright, now that was some advice she could actually follow. “That I can do.” Afterall, she’d spent her whole life avoiding the important things. When her parents ignored her, she never talked about it. When her grandmother died, she never talked about it. When she was reaped, she didn’t talk about it. She didn’t shut up, but she didn’t talk about the things that really dug into her skin. “What else ya got?”

“Trust me. There aren’t going to be people who can do what I can do in that arena. I know you haven’t gotten the chance to see me do anything yet, but when I say I’m no slouch. I mean I’m going to be damn near the best going in. They might wanna come for me, but I’m going to go for them too. I’ve got no intention to lose.” She shrugged. “If we’re not going to go with a direct approach, then what is your plan? Because I guarantee that I’m the best bet District Seven has had for a victor in years.”

“if the monkeys are sad, why are they fucking?” Monday had heard it all, curse wise. but she knew how to make jokes about it. usually this was the point in the convorsation where September came over and said ‘stop it, stop it. no cursing in the basement’. But Tem wasn’t here. so Monday just pretended she heard it. “i’m sorry. cursing is mean.” even if she’d said something hilarious.

“oh.” why did everyone here reject food? didnt they know it was practically a cardinal sin? “but you never know when you can eat again.” it was both to her rejection and her statement telling Monday to stop. “did you have food every day at home? cuz… lucky.” it was always tesserae. usually Monday’s. and because that was given out monthly, if it was nearing the end of the month food got… creative.

“skills?” she had lots of skills. “i make beds. like. THE BEST. and i can fold towels to look like birds. and i can do dishes pretty good too. and mop and sweep. i used to be the bestest climber eleven’s ever seen, but…” then her leg decuded to face sideways and now that wasn’t phesible. 

“what’s your name?” she offered, patting the spot on the bench next to her. this felt like friendship.

Axel couldn’t help but narrow her eyes somewhat at the child. She was a strange sort of person. Sure, Seven had it’s fair share of orphans and homeless kids that wandered the streets, but Axel never had to talk to any of them. She’d given them bits of food every now and then, but talking too much was a sure sign that you were going to get robbed when you weren’t paying attention. 

“You can eat again whenever here. The Capitol had enough food for everyone and then some.” A fact that echoed through the districts. “You can eat tonight, tomorrow, and every day until we enter the arena. It’s stupid to stuff your face and make you sick now.” Axel shrugged and crossed her arms in front of herself. 

“I meant any skills that are going to help you out in the competition. Do you have a plan at all? Aren’t your mentors telling you what to do?” It’s not as if that would help her, but it might prolong her life somewhat. “Bestest isn’t a word. Just say best.” The tone mirrored her mother’s. Axel’s parents had been educators, and they’d constantly been on her ass about speaking with proper grammar. “Axel.” She said simply, refusing to sit.

Ever since he was a kid, Ash had a light feet. He didn’t make noise while he moved. That was he wasn’t surprised when he startled her. He took a deep breath and decided to give her a chance. People usually understimate him when mentoring. Yet, he decided to give her a chance. Based on this talk, he would chose an approach. 

“Every time you open your mouth here, it’s most likely you make a mistake” He spoke. “Choose your words wisely. The more you speak, the more tools you can give others to finish you” He explained.

Axel kept her eyes on him as he spoke. The corners of her mouth tilted upward and she ran a hand through her hair. “If your whole strategy comes down to me not running my mouth, then we’re going to have a problem here, chief.” Axel crossed her arms over her chest casually. “Look, I’ll be honest with you. I want to take your advice. I want to listen to you. I mean, you actually won this thing once so what you’re saying isn’t for nothing, but-” She shrugged. “No one has ever successfully convinced me to talk less. So.”

“On the bright side, I’m no slouch when it comes to actual skills in the arena, and I’m hot. Don’t they all love that kind of thing?” Axel chuckled lightly. To most, it would seem as though she wasn’t taking any of this seriously, but if you caught her eyes right, you would know that her confidence was genuine and she was willing to learn if he had anything to teach. 

“i live in a basement.” monday noted. this place, at least, didn’t have a faint scent of mildew to it. the girl was just sitting quietly on a bench on the roof. she’d never been this high up before. stairs were impossible, but this place had an elevator. she was back around plants again, for the first time since her accident. with tons of food, too. 

if Monday were to drop dead here, she wouldn’t complain. “want a cookie?” monday had a plateful of all sorts of food she wanted to try (she’d already puked once from the sheer amount in her usually starved system) but the cookies kept inticing her. “I think they’re my favorite.”

Axel looked over at the cripple girl. Even she felt a little sad for her. There was no doubt in her mind that she would likely be the first to fall. “Well, you’re just a barrel full of the saddest fucking monkeys, aren’t you?” The notion to protect this girl flashed through her head, but she wouldn’t do it. She would only be a liability to Axel, and Axel couldn’t afford to put her life on the line for someone who would die at the end anyway. 

She looked down at the plate of food and turned up her nose. “No thanks. Never been big on sweets. You might wanna pace yourself, though. You’re going to make yourself sick, and weaker, if that’s possible." She pursed her lips. Her stomach was in knots over this for some reason. “Do you have any skills, kid?”

Delta too had instantly went in search of a place to be alone. It was stuffy inside the tower, and far too perfume-y. As far as she knew the only source of air was to go up. So she took the elevator up until she could go no further. She found a garden which peaked her interest, where she happened upon someone else. 

“It does smell fake here. Like they made a ‘fresh air” scent in a factory, and it doesn’t even come close.” She replied to the other girl. “I’m Delta. District 4.”

Her eyes scanned over the competition. There didn’t seem to be anything imposing about her. In fact, she looked more like she belonged as a stylist than as a tribute. Yet, the first thing you should remember was that looks could be deceiving. “I guess it could be worse. It could smell like shit or piss or something.” She shrugged, looking back over the skyline of the Capitol. Perhaps if this girl was worth a damn, Axel could make an alliance with her. She wasn’t wild about the idea. She would far rather work alone, but lone wolves died early. Ash had encouraged her to network anyway. “Axel. District 7. Where we make air.”

althea’s plan for making it through every hunger games after hers was simple; hide in the district eleven apartments until she was forced to socialize, try and get her tributes to do some sort of semblance of training, hide for as long as she could during the games, and make it back home in one piece. it seemed to be working, well it had for the past few years at least, and so she wasn’t at all worried about it not working this year. that was, until she found herself waiting for the elevator to make its way back down to the lobby from its trip to district twelve’s floor. she sighed, picking at her fingernails as she saw someone walking up next to her out of her peripheral vision. “the elevator’s, uh, taking an eternity, so i’d recommend the stairs if you’re in a rush.”

Axel shrugged. “Why be in a rush? I’ve not got anywhere else to go.” She groaned as the elevator seemed to be moving at a glacial speed. She’d been bored out of her mind in her rooms. She’d been bored out of her mind on the roof. She’d been bored out of her mind in the lobby even. Axel was beyond prepared to move past the make-over and the parades and get involved in the training. “It’s not like you get a lot of freedom in this place. Well, you might. Not so much for us.”

with thick, long and luscious dark hair, perfect skin and a well maintained beard - there was not much for his prep team to do. however, when they suggested they trim the ends of his hair, he quickly excused himself to go the bathroom and never returned. he knew that they were probably looking for him, but did he care? of course not. there was exploring to do.

jasper had never been one to sit still. curious by nature, it was a surprise to him that the lobby of the tribute tower was swimming with capitolites hoping to catch a glimpse at a tribute. he wasn’t sure how legal it was, but the prospect of getting more attention was too tempting. on his way down however, he was stopped in his tracks at the sight of another person. taking off his cherry tinted glasses, he stared at them for a moment before speaking. “well, aren’t you a strange looking human being.”

If there was an opportunity for Axel to get attention, she didn’t stray from it. Perhaps it was a byproduct of her parents constantly ignoring her, but it didn’t change it from being the truth. The moment she realized that the elevator would take her all the way down to the lobby, she was there, and the citizens of the capitol were eating her up. Surely if it wasn’t allowed, someone would come to collect her and usher her back to the seventh floor soon. They’d been babysitting her for days now anyway. 

She’d barely been down there five minutes when the elevator rang again. Axel sighed, figuring that this was the crew sent to get her. The surprise was when another of the tributes stepped off. Well, he was fucking gorgeous. That didn’t bode well for her. Sponsor always loved the good-looking boys. “That’s a funny way to say beautiful.”

“How useful is what you are telling?” He said as he looked into her eyes. It was not that he wanted to preach her, but having that attitude was moronic. Especially because more than ever she needed sponsors. She needed to practice for the cameras.

Axel jumped a bit and looked back over her shoulder. She hadn’t realized that Ash had followed her up here. Most people in district seven thought of him as a bit of a joke. He didn’t win his game by skill or strength, but Axel had noticed how clever some of his maneuvers had been. She’d cheered for him. “Hey handsome.” She responded simply with a smirk. “Not fucking useful at all, but if I only talked when I was useful then no one would let me talk at all, right?” 

The weeks leading up to the reaping, Axel’s parents had made her swear that she would not get into any fights. They didn’t want her to embarrass them sitting in the crowd of children with a large black eye or busted lip. Of course, Axel had done no such thing. She was only careful to win every fight she started. When that didn’t work, she snuck into her sister’s old bedroom and borrowed her old makeup to attempt to cover up the noticeable bruise running down her cheek. 

The nerves that rattled her peers were telling in various ways. Some chewed on their nails, some twist the coils of their hair, some even wrung their hands together. How cliche. Even Axel wouldn’t lie and say the nerves didn’t affect her somewhat. No one wanted to fight for their lives, but she would never stoop to looking as afraid as some of these people. The night before the reaping, an eerie calm washed over her. Her dress had been set aside so she could easily get ready in the morning. Axel knew something huge was going to happen the next day.

Everyone in District 7 was dressed to the nines as they filed into the roped off portion in front of the Justice Building. Axel could spot her brother sitting up on the stage near the Mayor. He gave her a solemn nod. Perhaps he knew what she felt too. If her name was called, there would be no volunteers to take her place.

“Ladies first,” The Escort announced as he stood in front of a large clear sphere. Axel wondered momentarily if they were actually made of glass or if they were just a fake plastic like so much from the Capitol. The Escort reached into glass and pulled out a name. He read it to himself first. The anticipation was killing the crowd. She was certain everyone watching could feel the tension too. Was it a stunt? The Escort’s eyes landed directly on her before he read aloud. “Axel Dragomir.”

She stood. Her ears were ringing. Blood was pumping too quickly through her veins. A confident smirk slid across her lips. If she was going to win people over, it was time to start now. Confidence could win all of them over. Axel raised her chin and began her strut to the stage. She only hesitated a moment when her eyes met her brother’s again. He looked panicked. Or sick. Since when did he care what happened to her? No one had really given a shit about her except for her grandma. Her grandma was gone now, which meant no one cared.