PART OF THE MACHINE

Echo nodded.  Made sense that Valor would have shown Dorian a few things.  Sometimes she honestly forgot about their connection she was too wrapped up in her own things.  “Well you’re probably better at it than I am even if you are a little rusty,” she assured him with a teasing smile.  There was a small part of her that was nervous about people seeing how bad she was at this, but she knew it was also important if she wanted to make her tributes do well.

Still, she watched while Dorian took a stance and mirrored it.  “I don’t know how throwing knives and relaxation go together in the same sentence, Dorian,” she teased.  “I mean how can I be relaxed with a potential murder weapon in my hand?”

“Takes practice.” Just as anything did. Dorian smiled back at Echo, letting her settle into her stance. Her quips had him scoff, tilting his head toward her, “I’ll give you that.” It was never easy holding one of those things, even after The Games were said and done. But were they ever really done, even for the Victors? Dorian knew better than to assume yes.

“Might be easier to think of the knife as an extension of your arm rather than a murder weapon. And all you’re murdering is that plastic target right there,” he pointed toward the target ahead off her. “Best accuracy comes from over the shoulder, not sideways. Keep your shoulders loose, and avoid too much flick in the wrist. Spinning knives look badass, but that’s how you’ll lose control pretty fast.” 

Valor shook his head at Dorian with a small smile on his face. He brought his hand up to rub on Rosie’s back to try and help her calm down. Most of her tears were dried out but she had a few stains on her cheeks that she kept pawing at to wipe her face. He glanced up at his husband at the offer for him to get cleaned up and he nodded.

“Yeah, just wait for me, I’ll just change out of my clothes for now,” he said before he kissed Dorian on the cheek and left them in the living room.

Immediately, Rosie started whining and whimpering, starting to get upset when Valor moved away from them. He stopped before he went into the bedroom and turned to look at his daughter with a smile, trying to get her to calm down.

“Baby, I’m just going in here, okay? See?” 

He moved his arm into the threshold of the bedroom and walked inside, shutting the door only a little and quickly removed his training clothes. He moved into the bathroom to take a wash cloth to his face and chest and armpits before putting on a little bit of cologne to mask the smell for now and changed into brown trousers and a white shirt and moved out into the living room again with his arms up.

“See? I’m still here, star shine,” he said.

He gave a small nod and a smile at Valor, watching him slip away and toward the bedroom door. When Rosie started whining, Dorian rubbed slow circles across her back and shushed her gently, “Daddy’s not going far,” he assured her, slowly walking with her around the room. Making sure to keep the door within her sights. 

Eventually they had stopped at the window, Dorian pointing out taller buildings, or the train whenever it passed by. Anything to help keep Rosie occupied even for a moment. By the time the window was getting boring, Valor had stepped out of the bedroom in a new outfit and Dorian turned so they both faced him. “See? There he is,” he told her, smiling as they walked over toward him. 

“So, what do we wanna eat?” he asked, looking between Valor and then to Rosie, “and no ice cream for lunch, we’ll have that for dessert.”

“Hey,” Cambric said quietly as his friend walked by. Since they had arrived, Cambric had been looking to talk to Dorian, but the right opportunity had come about. What they needed to talk about wasn’t something you could just talk about anywhere. Right now, it was a perfect time. Everyone was fussing over the new crop of tributes, the newest Victors, and what everyone was wearing. Who would be looking for a couple of “older” victors if they vanished for a couple minutes.

Cambric looked at his friend a moment, weighing his words. “Fancy a quick walk for some fresh air?” In the past, Dorian had told him of his displeasure with the way things were and Cambric had agreed. It was time to see just how much they agreed on their like thoughts.

@dorian-hawthorne·

Dorian had thought about heading up to the Third floor to pick up Rosie and go to the viewing rooms of the Training Center to chat up some sponsors, though he wasn’t really making quick work of that; he never liked talking with Sponsors. But it was required of him to help those kids any way he could. But on his way down one of the corridors, Cambric had stopped him. He meant to talk with him sooner, but the hustle and bustle of The Games overshadowed their chances to talk. Dorian offered a small nod of his head toward Cambric in greeting.

“Sure, yeah,” he replied, slowing his steps so Cambric would fall in step with him, “haven’t had a whole lot of chances to get out and walk around.” It was hard to have a private conversation in the Tower. Slipping his phone from his pocket, he sent Valor a quick message, letting him know he was on a walk with Cambric. 

Valor held up his hand for Dorian not to press the issue anymore, hoping that he would trust him in fixing it on his own. If it needed to be fixed anyway. The girl had a strong likelihood of dying with an attitude like that, as were a lot of the tributes that came and went. The only one that Valor knew that should have won was Ashanti. Her memory still tugged deep into his heart and he knew that he would be hard pressed to forget about her. 

Once the image of their crying daughter came into view, Valor’s expression softened completely. Dorian was the first to go to her and lift her from the couch, Valor following shortly behind him. He put his arm around Dorian’s waist to press himself against his side while he held their daughter close. The other hand came up to cup her head so he could gently stroke down her long brown hair. Rose whimpered and started to cry softly, putting her head down on Dorian’s shoulder and sniffling. Her little hand came up to wipe at her face and her nose.

“Oh, star shine…” Valor said in a pitiful, sympathetic tone as he leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. She sniffled and looked at him with the most precious set of doe eyes he had ever seen on a little one. It made him hate having to leave her alone even more. 

He nodded his head in time with his husband’s words, smiling softly at his little quip about eating bugs. Rose made a face and shook her head, digging her head into the crook of Dorian’s neck to hide herself, clinging to him like a tiny monkey. 

“No go,” Rose cried, sniffling again. “No go.”

“You’re coming with us now, honey,” Valor said in an attempt to soothe her. “Let’s go get some lunch, my love. You can stay with Papa, okay? We’re here for you.” He kissed on her shoulder and moved her hair out of her face. “It’s okay. We’re here.”

She wiped at her eyes again before looking at him from under Dorian’s chin, making a slight face. “Daddy, you stinky.”

Valor laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, star shine.”

Dorian leaned into Valor’s touch, still holding Rosie close so all three of them were together. But Rosie had started to cry again and Dorian pressed a kiss to the side of her head. He knew Rosie had separation anxiety; even if they were in Three and one of them had to go somewhere, she always asked where daddy or papa went. She had to know where they were and when they would come home. And if they didn’t come home by a certain time, then she started to get upset.

He didn’t like leaving her alone, either, but they couldn’t bring a toddler to the Training center. Maybe Dorian could bring her with to talk with Sponsors, but if he had to go down to the center itself, she couldn’t go with. At the same time, Rosie had to learn that her parents couldn’t always be around, but that didn’t make seeing her like this any easier.

“Yeah, we’re going to get some lunch. Just the three of us.” He glanced at Valor and offered a small smile, but then paused at her next remark. He let out a soft snort, “Daddy was working. Sometimes it makes him stinky.” 

He glanced over at Valor, “You want to get cleaned up a bit before we go? Might have to calm her down a little, anyway.”

“Oh God, no, I’d never bring her in there,” Valor agreed.

He stopped at the elevator as Dorian pressed up, looking to him when he lifted their hands to his lips and kissed him on the knuckles. Valor found himself giving him a small smile as his hand came untangled from his and cupped the side of Dorian’s neck, his thumb brushing the hinge of his jaw appreciatively. He moved it to rest on his shoulder for a moment as Valor took a step closer to him to be in his presence. 

“Awful,” Valor admitted. “Not physically, just… they’re awful people. Especially that girl.” 

The elevator doors slid open and the two of them walked inside, Valor reaching over to punch the ‘3′ on the panel before the doors slid shut. “The other day before the chariots, she saw me trying to comfort Rose when she was being fussy and she advised me to put poison on the tip of her thumb to make her stop sucking it… if that gives you an idea.”

He cut his eyes over to his husband, clearly not amused by having to tell him that at all, but it was honest. They were trying to be better at telling each other the truth, so Valor felt he needed to tell him. 

“But I’ll deal with it,” Valor said in a lower tone as the elevator came to a stop on the third floor and the doors slid open to the scene inside.

The babysitter looked overwhelmed as she sat in the chair, chin on her hand, looking at the toddler as she cuddled her bear and refused to even look at the small plate of two cookies sitting next to her. Once the two men walked into the room, Valor’s heart felt a thousand times too big when he realized how sad their daughter looked. As soon as Rose looked up to find them, immediately, her red cheeks became redder and she started to whimper, nearly borderline tears again as she abandoned her bear and lifted her arms up.

“Papa,” she cried. “Daddy.”

Dorian leaned into the touch at his neck, smiling at his husband and just enjoying the affection given to him. But once Valor gave his answer, Dorian frowned. At first he had just assumed that it was because the kids from One were the typical Careers, in it for the glory and too full of themselves to listen to Valor, a Victor that had been in The Games. Through a literal Hell. But Valor went into the girl from One, what she had told Valor.

"She said what?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard what Valor had told him. Whatever had been going through that girl's head... no wonder Valor thought she was awful.

Dorian gave a small nod, but didn't have time to say much when they were greeted with the sight of the poor babysitter, seated in one of the chairs and looking very distressed. From her texts, she had tried everything to try and comfort Rosie, but the poor girl wasn't getting any headway. And poor Rosie...

She had clearly been crying, cheeks pink and eyes already glistening with fresh tears. The small whimper tore at Dorian's heart and his expression softened, making his way over to the couch to reach down and pick her up.

"Hi, sweetheart," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'm sorry you didn't have a good day... but Daddy and I are here, like we said, right?" His voice was quiet, gentle, while he held Rosie close, rubbing her back soothingly in slow circles. He spared a grateful glance to the babysitter, glad that she had at least made an effort to try and watch their daughter. "Are you hungry?" he asked Rosie, "Hm? We can get some lunch? Maybe a sandwich, or a handful of bugs? I know that's your favorite."

They had given the babysitter that morning instructions to send messages or call Dorian if anything were to happen, knowing that Valor would be less likely to have his phone on him as he had to deal with Careers. He had spent most of the morning training Iunia and the boy and discussing shop with the other mentors. He had been busier than normal, but he didn’t want to be. Valor, despite not voicing it, wanted to go back to Three with his family. He didn’t want to deal with this psychotic little girl and feel like she was criticizing him at every turn. He was already fed up with it. 

Thankfully, he had taken notice of the noon hour approaching and went to get his stuff, checking his messages to find one from Dorian sent six minutes prior. He slid it into his pocket and grabbed his stuff, walking out of the Training Center to meet with his husband, who was patiently waiting for him outside in the corridor. Valor was still a little sweaty from working, but he grabbed his husband’s hand with no hesitation. 

“Hey,” Valor breathed, shaking his head at Dorian’s comments. “Doubtful she’ll be mad. More upset, I think. I’m sure we’ll be in for it either way.”

It had been a small joke, but Dorian knew how Rosie was when either of them-- or both of them-- were away for too long. Rosie got very upset if her parents were gone, which Dorian understood considering she had spent her life up until now in an orphanage. And even for them both, it was tough to be away from her. Still, they had their obligations to The Capitol and Dorian knew as she got older, Rosie would get better at coping with her dads being away. It would all take time.

“I feel bad leaving her with the babysitter, but... not much else we can do during Training, unless we wanna chase her around the Training Center.” And Dorian knew that would have been a nightmare in itself, especially with how some of those kids were throwing the knives.

He had walked with Valor to the elevator, hitting the ‘up’ button and waiting with him. “How were your kids?” he asked, lifting their hands to press a kiss to his husband’s knuckles.

Echo didn’t want to be useless.  She didn’t want to leave the physical training to the trainers.  Fell had taught her to throw a punch so now she’d been teaching herself how to throw the knives.  Maybe she should have done it when the tributes weren’t in the midst of training, but she wanted to figure it out.

She wasn’t sure which station her tributes were at, but she didn’t expect Dorian’s voice to fill her ears.  Looking over at him, Echo smiled.  “You’ve got pointers?  I’d love the help.  I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own.  I thought it was physics and geometry but I’m still not getting it.”

“Still a little rusty with it, but Valor gave me a couple pointers last year.” Despite not being too keen on teaching kids how to kill each other, it was part of his job as Mentor to teach Three’s Tributes to fight, or at least to have some sort of fighting chance in the Arena. So he had tried to keep up with the throwing knives over the years, though he only recently had started making more of a continuous habit. 

Dorian stepped at the station next to Echo, taking up a couple of the throwing knives. “For starters,” he began, glancing toward her to see if she was paying attention, “you’ll want to be relaxed. Tense muscles will screw up your throw. Keep your dominant foot forward, like this.” Dorian rolled his shoulders and relaxed his own posture, keeping his right foot in front with the knife in his right hand pointed down.

She held her last throwing knife in her hand, the hilt resting gently against her palm. It was so light, so well balanced, and definitely not for her. It was too small to imagine wielding at close range. If she had a weapon, she wanted something that would end her opponent quick and painless. “I think I’ve got the gist on how to use this from close range. Pointy end first and all.”

She shook her head at his question. “Not unless they put a scythe in the arena.”

“Could even do a throw at closer range, if need be. Would be handy if you want to stop your target in its tracks before they get to you.” But the girl seemed pretty convinced the throwing knives weren’t for her, so Dorian was willing to let it go. The Games were all about getting creative with their child murder, after all.

“A scythe?” he asked, brow quirked. With a slow nod, he offered a small shrug, “If you show them what you can do with one in your private training session, they might have one for you in the Cornucopia. Or if you have enough sponsors and your mentors know what you can do with one, you could get one that way.”

TTWTASK: Paint Me Like One of Your Capitol Girls

Dorian waited for Valor outside of the Training Center, standing a little ways down the corridor. He had been looking to his phone, letting the babysitter know they were on their way. Once the doors opened and Valor had stepped out, Dorian smiled, pushing off from the wall he was leaning against.

“Hi honey,” he greeted, reaching out to offer his hand to Valor. “Hopefully Rosie’s not too mad at us... and that the babysitter’s been holding up all right.”

@valor-hawthorne

She sucked. It probably didn’t help that she was horrendously near-sighted and, as there were few doctors  in district nine, she’d spent her life working through it. If she made one knife hit the target it was more out of luck than anything approaching skill. Her trainer had insisted she have a go at all the weapons though so there she was. She was prepared for that trainer to be the one next to her but when she turned it was a man, probably to old to be in the training business. No uniform, so she figured a mentor.

“Don’t waste them on me,” she told him. “I won’t be embarrassing myself with these in the arena.”

“Might be the only thing you’ve got in there.” There had been a Games in the earlier years where Tributes were only armed with maces. While it wasn’t a very popular year, it was still very much a possibility that The Capitol could limit the kids to only one weapon. Or it could be all that she could get her hands on. “Don’t have to throw them, either. If you have to, could always be at closer range.”

Dorian didn’t like to think anyone or anything was a lost cause. He wanted to offer at least something for her to take from the station; training only lasted for so long. “Any weapons you think you’d do better with?”

He had started to make his way over to the knives station. He watched the person practice a throw, brow slightly knit in observation. “Not bad,” he commented, “might have a pointer or two to help your aim.”

@ttwstarters

“I hope it blows over Dorian, but the part I’m scared about is not what the citizens will pay attention to, it’s what Snow will pay attention to. I hope he releases me from this commitment, but I don’t know.” He sighed, rubbing his hands on his face. “He came to my house, all the way to Ten. That makes me think it’s going to be a little longer than the normal Capitol news cycle.”

He smiled at Dorian’s wedding. Birch didn’t mind the small kinds of ceremonies. He would just want his wedding outside, but that wasn’t a deal breaker in an ideal world. “I mean, as long as you’re expressing your love, does it really matter where it is?” 

Birch grinned, imagining a little girl’s excitement at the train. “I mean, what’s not to love about trains? They’re fast and pretty and make lots of fun sounds. Your daughter has good taste, Dorian. But, I’m sure if you introduce her to horses, she will like them too. She sounds like her taste extends to that too.”

“Snow came to see you?” Dorian’s blood ran cold. It was never a good thing if President Snow was making house visits, especially all the way to District Ten. And Birch definitely didn’t deserve any of what Snow was throwing at him. None of them did. He didn’t realize things had been that bad, but then again, Snow had implemented the more frequent Quarter Quells after airing the show for Birch and the raids on the Districts the year before. “Shit...”

He couldn’t imagine what Birch was going through this past year. Losing a Tribute was always hard, but he clearly had known Finley and there was a special bond there. Her death had affected him, and he was paying for it. It wasn’t fair, but that was their lives. It made Dorian’s skin crawl just thinking about it.

Dorian offered a small smile, feeling a weight in his chest suddenly for all the gushing he was doing while Birch was forced to live a lie. But he did seem genuinely happy to hear about it all. “I mean, I could bring her down by the horses before the Parade, see how she likes them. If we could visit Ten, I’d bring her. Feel like she’d have a good time there.”

Dorian’s touch sent rockets through his blood stream, the heat of their skin touching in some regards making him feel like he was weightless. Valor moved his hands up the back of Dorian’s shirt while they kissed, drinking each other in as if they had been apart for months. It was only days, but or Valor, that felt like a lifetime, especially when he had no choice but to go to District One. Being there had brought up too many haunting memories and all he craved while being there was getting to his husband’s arms as fast as he could.

Valor felt Dorian’s hand come up underneath him and smooth across his bare back, making a small noise escape through his nose before the kiss broke again and Dorian’s words were a breath against his wet lips. Valor smiled and gave him a quick peck back as his fingers made gentle lines straight down his husband’s spine, up and down, up and down. 

Valor looked up at him as Dorian stroked his cheek with his thumb like he were the grand treasure at the end of a long journey. In a way, he was. Valor had struggled for years his entire life only to end up right here, right where he was supposed to be, with the man he loved more than anybody in the world, except for now, maybe their daughter. 

“I’m just glad it’s only for a day or two every year and never longer than that,” Valor said quietly as he looked him in the eyes, enjoying the pressure on top of him. Valor’s hands moved from the back of Dorian’s shirt until they brushed across his butt and settled on his thighs, curling his fingers around the backs of them to keep him steady. “You sure you and Rosie were okay those couple days without me?”

Valor’s fingers along his spine had Dorian sigh softly in content. He was happy being close with Valor like this, having their small family together again and having some sort of normalcy in that regard, despite starting the new Games season. Having Valor around always helped calm him down; The Games had a way of putting him on edge most years, but also having Rosie to look after helped ground him, too. But Valor seemed to help balance him out, and he was sure with time, Rosie would do the same, too.

“Yeah,” he agreed, smoothing his hand up to run through Valor’s short hair. Valor had adjusted his hold on Dorian above him, shifting just slightly to keep himself steady above him, his hand smoothing up his back and then over his side. 

His question had Dorian meet his gaze again and he tilted his head slightly. “Rosie cried a little after you left,” he replied, still combing his fingers through Valor’s hair, “it was her first time being away from you for that long, so she wanted you back home. But I told her we would see you again in a couple days. After a nap, she was a little better. Still asked about you and why you had to go. Still had some sniffles, a little whining. I got her ice cream-- I know we need to watch that, but... she needed it.”

Dorian pressed a kiss to Valor’s forehead, then on the tip of his nose. “It was a little stressful. I was afraid I didn’t know what to do to help her. To let her know we’d see you for sure.  I think what helped her get more excited was actually being on the train. That was when it was real for her, y’know? She loved the train ride. If I didn’t peel her away from the window, pretty sure she would have just stared outside the whole time.”

He chuckled, dropping his gaze a moment to Valor’s chest. “But we were okay otherwise. She just really missed you, honey. I’m sure it’ll get better over the years, just... it’s hard when she gets so attached to us and then one of us is gone for so long.”

Valor looked up, a single eyebrow risen at Dorian’s simple response. He wasn’t sure if something was wrong with him or if anything had happened. Valor almost rebuttoned his trousers in preparation for something having been wrong that he needed to deal with, but instead, he ended up with Dorian chest to chest with him until his weight toppled onto him. 

“Dor–” 

Valor fell back onto the bed with his husband’s weight on top of his and his lips on his. Valor went into the kiss with no expectations of what was going on, but all he knew was that it was welcomed and his worry had vanished almost immediately. Valor reached his hands up inside of Dorian’s jacket so he could pull his hips against his. The old man was insatiable sometimes. Valor, while kissing him, felt Dorian’s glasses slipping a little down the bridge of his nose, so he reached up, slid them up and off of the top of his head as the kiss broke. Dorian booped his nose against Valor’s and Valor laughed a little under his breath. He put the glasses down on the bed next to them.

“Hi,” Valor said, his palms moving slowly up and down his sides until his shirt rode up just enough for Valor to feel his warm skin with his fingertips. They re-initiated another kiss and this time Valor leaned his head more up into his mouth. Valor’s heartbeat was getting a little quicker now, no doubt his husband could be able to feel it.

Dorian paused when Valor slipped the glasses off of his head, smiling down at him before nudging the tip of his nose gently against Valor’s. After the greeting was returned, Dorian locked their lips together in another kiss. A soft sigh of content muffled into Valor’s mouth. He felt his wedding ring pulsate a little faster with Valor’s heartbeat, making his own heart flutter in his chest.

Dorian was just so happy to see Valor again, to be with him and get to hold him. Kiss him. He brought his hand up to cup Valor’s cheek, his other arm wrapped around him to press their bodies closer together. His fingers ran over Valor’s back, curling into the back of his shirt.

“I missed you,” he whispered against his lips, stealing one more peck before leaning back to look down at his husband. His thumb traced gently along his cheek, a fond smile across his own lips. “I know it was only a couple days, but... I think having you around more makes me miss you more when you’re gone.”