Jade Byrd

Sheen hummed for a few seconds, it was an interesting question. Who would you befriend in the arena? Though he felt that the term befriend was very strong, he wouldn't have considered any of his fellow tributes his friend. Save for perhaps Shimmer, but she had been his district partner. "Well, the people you should work with, I think, your District partner, naturally. The boy from Nine is promising, maybe the girl from Seven. She has a good story and will get a lot of sponsors, you can try to feed off her resources. The Career Pack isn't your only option for allies though. Use whoever you can to further yourself."

Jade nodded as he spoke, she could agree with most of it, which meant he was paying attention, had been thinking about strategy for her before he approached the subject herself. "I'll do my rounds, see who I can make connections with, there's no point in forcing something when I might have to kill them in the end anyway" she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, they do make it in segments for a reason," Holland said dryly, taking the fruit offered only because she had watched Jade peel it and could be sure there was nothing nefarious going on. It was likely just a way of getting close to a Gamemaker, as if that would end up giving her a leg up in the Arena. "It's called the fruit of friendship." She bit into hers. "Too sweet, if you ask me."

Jade thought she was doing well, Holland had took the fruit, that was a good sign. She chose to ignore the lack of enthusiasm in her tone. "I don't think anything is too sweet in small doses" Jade smiled, popped another piece into her mouth. "I imagine you'd probably be pretty grateful for this inside an arena"

@jade-byrd

Jade was taking an early break, because the centre was just getting busy with the buzz of the tributes who had come straight from breakfast, Jade had already put a few hours in by then, she worked better early in the morning.

Smiling, Ash lit up a little when she shared that she was a jeweler and worked with diamonds and other gems. She must have been from District One then. "Oh, a jeweler? That's really cool! You're from One? I've never met anyone from there yet actually! What is it like?"

"Yeah, one, of course" She smiled, that smile she'd perfected over the years. "It's nice, a lot similar to here actually, which I suppose isn't the same for everyone"

Jade screwed up her face at that. Love life was a thing she could never really relate to. She was just not into it, never had time for it, nobody was ever good enough in her parents eyes, and it all just didn't seem worth her time. "How boring" she sighed, sipping on her drink again, it was going down a little easier now. "There's so much more important things in life than feeling all gooey for a second or two"

Cade snorted, very much liking Jade, he decided. "I take it you're not the 'I love love' type?" he asked, grinning at her. "I mean, I don't blame you. It gets old hearing constantly who slept with who, who's mad at who, who's manipulating who without admitting to it... it's exhausting." He shook his head. "And I've heard there's a lot of that at the Academies too. Would you say that's right?" Had to be, a bunch of hormonal teens and young adults stuffed into a high-pressure environment.

"I always think about how I would feel as a tribute fighting for my life, if my mentor was to send me a baseball hat" Jade snorted out a laugh as she held the hat between her hands. She didn't understand it. Yes, there were arenas with scorching sun, and sun in your eyes was annoying, at the very least, but a hat? Would that save you?

Ash was looking at the girl holding the baseball cap, and saying how it wouldn't save you from the sun, and that it would need a hidden head massager to make her want to put it on, which caused Ash to chuckle a little. She must not have had much experience working in the sun.

Jade didn’t like the attitude she’d been met with, but she bit her tongue, careful that they were in a public place with way too many important faces around to respond how she really wanted to.

"A fire? With a pair of glasses?" She repeated, shocked. What was she thinking? The outer districts were worse than she'd ever imagined. "You might want to start there, in training, making a fire is basic survival" she pointed out, because if she was completely honest, she felt a bit bad for the girl.

"I had what I had," she defended, unable to help herself despite her strategy of playing at naïveté. The look of despair on Jade's face at the information cut a little too deep, Farina not sure if it was a judgement on her circumstances or her intelligence. She didn't like either answer. "Well that's what sponsors are for, right?" As if she'd get any. As if Jade wasn't about to see her ass parked in front of the fire making station for a good portion of the next few days.

Jade just shrugged. If her face was cracking and peeling she'd want some aloe, not a cap, but Slate was the latest victor, even if he was from twelve, and a rebel, she had to respect him. "No, but it would get rid of the headache I'm bound to have dealing with these lot" she joked, nodding to one of the tributes from five just as they dropped one of the knives a centimetre away from their own toe.

Cade shrugged, pouring one out for himself too, then cutting it with some soda water. He couldn't get wasted too quickly with another two hours on his shift. "You know, you'd honestly think that, but so much of it is people's love lives. Do you know how often people around here just don't tell each other they like them? Causes so many fucking problems. Just kiss them and get it over with, if it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be." He didn't wholeheartedly believe that, but it did get pretty damn infuriating to have to listen to Capitolite pining day in and day out.

Jade screwed up her face at that. Love life was a thing she could never really relate to. She was just not into it, never had time for it, nobody was ever good enough in her parents eyes, and it all just didn't seem worth her time. "How boring" she sighed, sipping on her drink again, it was going down a little easier now. "There's so much more important things in life than feeling all gooey for a second or two"

"Not really," she half-lied. Of course she had other skills that might prove useful in the Arena. Plant identification, natural medicine, a particularly strong stomach for nasty injuries. Jade, though, would be receiving the charade of helpless Farina in full force. "Tried'ta make a fire once with an old broken pair of glasses. That count?" she asked, putting on her most innocent face possible.

"A fire? With a pair of glasses?" She repeated, shocked. What was she thinking? The outer districts were worse than she'd ever imagined. "You might want to start there, in training, making a fire is basic survival" she pointed out, because if she was completely honest, she felt a bit bad for the girl.

"If it were sunny as hell and your face is cracking and peeling sunburn, you might be grateful," Slate said. "Don't think a head massager would do you as much good as the shade." He wondered if Jade was a Callisto type -- unprepared, no business being here -- or a Helios type -- bent on ruining everyone else's fucking life.

Jade just shrugged. If her face was cracking and peeling she'd want some aloe, not a cap, but Slate was the latest victor, even if he was from twelve, and a rebel, she had to respect him. "No, but it would get rid of the headache I'm bound to have dealing with these lot" she joked, nodding to one of the tributes from five just as they dropped one of the knives a centimetre away from their own toe.

"Obviously" Jade scoffed in agreement. "Do you trust Sheen as a mentor? He doesn't seem like a typical career type, does he?" she mused, she had all the skills and strategies she needed without him, but she'd see what he had to say for himself during training anyway.