Pixel Delaroux Has Done Nothing Wrong

The woman left in a huff and Pixel smiled victoriously to herself. Her pink python had become a staple at home, and the other Three victors didn’t seem to have nearly as much of a problem with her pet as the Capitolites did. Maybe that was why she loved it so much; irritating Capitolites had become a hobby of hers.

Pixel turned around on her heels, deciding she wanted a snack. That train of thought was interrupted when she was met with the eyes of someone standing behind her.

“Oh, hey,” she said, stopping in place. “Didn’t see you there.” // @ttwstarters

–Task 003–

Aspen wanted to point out that neither one of them really needed the money, but she figured that wasn’t the point so she just accepted them. Whoever this person was (she would have to have Pixel point him out) he must deserve it. She wouldn’t do it just because she could, right?

“You have nine siblings?” Aspen asked slightly incredulous of that fact. Somewhere she had heard that number before, but it wasn’t something she could have recalled. All she had known was that Pixel’s family was rather large. A large family like that would have struggled in District Nine too. “And how often did you get caught…?” Now Aspen was curious and she had to ask.

Aspen followed Pixel towards the banquet tables. “Does this make me your accomplice now?” She asked. Aspen had to admit the thought was kind of exciting. Part of her wondered if this was the kind of things normal kids did growing up. “Because I promise nothing other than perhaps a distraction.” Talking to people was awkward enough for her, let alone anything more. Besides, Aspen didn’t want to hurt people by stealing their things anyhow.

“Uh,” Pixel shifted, trying not to make things awkward. “Had nine siblings. I pissed off the Gamemakers before my game, so... now I have eight.”

She bit her lip for a second, then cleared her throat. The last thing she wanted to do was delve into what had happened to Intra. “But! I got caught often enough when I was little that they all thought I gave it up for good. Kinda cleared me of suspicion when things went missing around the house- they all thought I was no good at stealing so it couldn’t have been me.”

Pixel picked up a muffin from the banquet table and took a big bite out of it. “Guess you are my accomplice now. Sorry if it was unwilling. And hey, sometimes a distraction is all you need.”

The food definitely beat what she had at home. Even the food she had gotten for the tessarae was only barely above the moldy bread and scraps that she managed to have for food in her District. Despite her family working hard, they still barely got food for all of them to get by. Yet here was all the lavish and fresh food, all right here for the Capitol.

“Guess being annoyed is better than being dead,” she murmured, reaching for a flute of champagne. If she was going to be going into The Games, Ashten needed something to help her get through day one. “Guess I’ll find out if– when I get out of there.”

Once she felt she had grabbed enough food, she moved away from the line of tables, but still stuck close to talk to Pixel a little more. “Feel like I’m kind of already shoved in the spotlight just being a Tribute. It’s… a lot.”

Pixel nodded and reached for a plate, loading it with chips and guac while she was here. The new District Three escort would get mad at her for ruining her dinner, but she wasn’t really at a point to care much what she thought. The woman was a lot older than Lael, a lot more traditional, and seemed to think Pixel was about ten years old by the way she treated her. 

“You’re not wrong, I guess,” she shrugged. “I mean, if you saw the end of my Games you’ll know that I’m probably the luckiest person here, being alive at all.”

She shoved a chip in her mouth, crunching down on the snack and nodding along as the tribute spoke. 

“What district are you from?” Pixel asked. “I don’t know if I asked, but from the sound of it, it’s probably not anywhere near the Careers.”

Aspen turned at the sound of a voice, happy to see it belonged to Pixel. The youngest Victor from District Three was certainly someone she was happy to meet during her Victor’s Ball. After excusing herself from a rather nosy reporter, Aspen made her way over to Pixel curious as to what she was hiding. Did she want to know? Absolutely.

“Where did…” Aspen started but she didn’t need to finish that sentence. However, she couldn’t help but look at Pixel slightly amazed. She wasn’t sure whether she was more amazed she had stolen someone’s wallet or that she had stolen it and apparently not got caught. Aspen could barely talk to someone without blundering her words let alone steal something from them

She reached for the card unsure of what she’d do with it, she hardly needed a free ice cream the way people gifted her with things, but someone might need it. “You amaze me Pixel.” She admitted incredulously. “Also remind me never to blow you off,” Aspen joked.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

Pixel smiled and handed over the card, pulling out a few bills and handing them over to Aspen with it. 

“Before I won, my family super poor. And there are a lot of us kids around,” she explained as she sifted through the stuffed billfold. “I got tired of sharing all my crap with nine siblings, and learning how to take things from people’s pockets was the only way I figured out how to have stuff for myself. At least it was when when I was, like, ten.”

Pixel took the last of what was useful from the wallet and dropped it on the floor, making sure to keep the ID in there for safe return to Amos. Seeing the same wallet made it recognizable, even if she couldn’t tell who it belonged to from the front. She’d taken Quirinus’s several times with that strategy.

“So I taught myself,” she answered with a little laugh. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

Pixel didn’t know if she was taking advantage of having someone else in the Capitol with her who was roughly her age- last year, the next oldest victor was five years her senior, and being fifteen and the only teen victor wasn’t exactly conducive to a great time for the kid. Now she was sixteen, with an eighteen-year-old who was still figuring out her way in this world, and she figured now was as good a time as any to attach herself. 

When she other girl approached, Pixel pulled out a stuffed wallet and opened it to show Aspen. 

“It’s Amos Lorraine’s,” she smiled. “I’ve been after that guy for ages after he blew me off early last year. Here, he’s got a punch card for a free ice cream that’s almost full. You want it?” // @dreamsbornofgrain

She looked at the younger girl with a knit brow, but then shrugged a shoulder and decided to take the mystery snack and give it a try. Pixel had a point, after all. “Looks that way.”

Ashten recognized Pixel, of course. One of the newer Victors from the last few years. She remembered the mall Arena, remembered the finale when the amusement park was falling around her and the boy from Two. No one had expected her to come out of the Arena alive, yet she managed that feat. Helped give Ashten a little confidence that maybe she could make it out, too.

“So how’s the life of a Victor treating you in the last year or two?” she asked, trying a bite of the mystery food. It was a sweet treat, the flavor bursting on her tongue. Ashten gave a small nod, sidestepping along the table down toward the drinks to grab something for herself. 

Pixel shrugged as she swallowed down the mini pie. Really, the food was the only good part of these things. That and being able to see the victors from other Districts who were cool to her. Aspen and Lincoln and Nolie and such. The District Three family was awesome, but she got to see them all year.

“It’s fine,” Pixel shrugged. Better than being dead in the ground. That was probably too morbid a way to speak to a tribute. “I mean, the money’s good and all, but people don’t really leave you alone, which gets annoying. Unless you’re into the fame and stuff, I guess.”

Just this morning she’d been questioned upon leaving the Three suite about how she felt about her tributes, how cute was her boy this year and were there any special relationships they might be seeing from her? She’d gotten tired of it a year and a half ago, and even though there was a new victor, things didn’t seem to have ceased much.

As soon as she was done in the Remake Center, Ashten wanted out.

Not that she minded being clean, but the shaving and waxing, the scrubbing and poking– it was too much. Had they just left it to her to handle, then it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But other people were touching her and she just wanted out. So once she had her hair cleaned and everything, Ashten slipped out to go and get something to eat. She had to wait for her stylists to come and figure out what kind of tree they were going to style her up as this year. Seemed to be the same get up year after year for Seven.

She had approached the table full of food, snatching up a small sandwich when she noticed someone walk up beside her. She glanced over at them and then down at one of the plates of… something in front of her. “Any idea what that is?” she asked, pointing toward the mystery food.

@ttwstarters

Pixel’s kids were set in the Remake Center (it still felt weird calling them her ‘kids’, even if Ripley was pretty close to her in age) and she was hungry. The pack of gum she’d stolen out of the Five stylist’s pocket wasn’t exactly tiding her over, and she spit her latest wad out into her hand and stuck it on the wall on her way towards the snack tables. 

There was a girl there, taller than her but probably a tribute, considering Pixel didn’t recognize her. But she grabbed a mini pie off one of the racks and took a bite as the girl asked her a question. 

“Beats me,” she shrugged. “Probably tastes pretty good, though, at least compared to whatever they give you in your district. The Capitol always saves the best food for themselves.”

Echo nodded sympathetically.  She understood far too well how things just…didn’t feel normal.  Adjusting to the life of a victor was a very slow process and it didn’t help when the Capitol press was always hounding you.  She felt for Pixel.  The girl was so young.  It sucked that she had to go through something like that.

However, Pixel’s question caught Echo off guard.  She bit her lower lip, worrying over it as she tried to figure out the best answer.  Victors went through hell and sometimes, drinks were needed to deal with the Capitolites.  “One drink,” she finally told Pixel.  “But there are two rules.  First, you can’t have a drink unless I’m around.  You’re still too young to be drinking without supervision.  And two, do not tell Dorian or Wiress.  They’d kill me if they knew I let you drink.”  She smiled.  “If you can agree to the rules, Pixel Delaroux, then you can have a drink.”

To be honest, it had been a joke. Pixel didn’t really plan on starting to drink until she turned sixteen, at the earliest. That was the age her brother Rom was when she found a bottle of beer under his bed one night. They’d just moved into their new house in the Victor’s Village, and the house was big enough that the five oldest siblings all got their own rooms for the first time ever. Which made it all that much easier to snoop when her older brother and sisters were out of the house. 

But if the opportunity presented itself, why not take it? 

“Deal,” Pixel nodded with a tricky smile. “Dorian and Wiress will not know, and just one. Now what do you suggest?”

Hey, at this point she’d managed to avoid the post-victory alcohol binge for a year and a half. She deserved it, right?

Wiress stopped regaling a prominent reporter with a blatant lie about her life in Three (”did you know I bathe in a tub of baked beans every Sunday? It’s how I keep my skin so youthful”) when she noticed Pixel looking a little uncomfortable. Fearing the worst, she pulled away and made her way over to her youngest victor.

“You can always use me as an excuse,” she assured her. “That’s what mentors are there for. Goodness knows I put Beetee on the spot all the time when I was your age.” Her eyes scanned Pixel’s face. “Are you alright? He didn’t say anything uncomfortable, did he?”

Pixel grinned upon seeing Wiress appear seemingly out of nowhere behind her. The other mentor seemed to have a talent for that; Pixel never really could tell when she was coming or where she was coming from. But she respected it. If Wiress had a little more desire to pull things out of pockets Pixel figured she’d be very talented at it. 

“Thanks, Wiress,” she answered, glancing around at the mention of Beetee. She hadn’t seen him around lately, and figured it might be nice to catch up to the guy. He was about as devious as she was sometimes. “I never stop needing you guys, even after the Games are up.”

“No, I’m fine,” she answered with a smile. “Nothing too bad beyond, like, ‘how was mentoring for the first time’ and stuff like that. All PG.”

Aspen shot Pixel a curious look. Tricks, what tricks?

Right, there were other Victors that weren’t much older than them though Aspen was sure Jules, Thresh, and Lincoln were all at least a few years older. “Well, doesn’t that make me part of that club now?” It was something they were just tossed into by winning Aspen assumed. “I really don’t feel as if my name belongs with theirs.” Everyone loved the Victors, Pixel included, but Aspen wasn’t sure if she belonged there or not.

She followed Pixel happy for a moment of peace and quiet. “Don’t suppose we can hide here all night?” She joked wishing it was true and not wishing it was true. The party hadn’t been all that bad, just busy. Aspen kind of liked the decorations and all the foods similar to what she had back home. It felt like home.

“Do you know all the spots that are quiet?”

“I wish,” Pixel dropped her shoulders and dipped her head to the side with a sigh. “If I could escape to a hiding place for all these events I would. They suck. Like, especially if you hate making small talk, which I really do.”

It was funny to be talking to another teenager like this who wasn’t related to her. Pixel didn’t have many friends back home in Three, due to her reputation for having sticky fingers, besides her siblings. Last year she was the only victor left who was still a teenager, and she hadn’t gotten all that close to many tributes during her Games. Not that she liked to think about those other tributes anyway.

“No,” she groaned. “I wish I knew them all. Maybe some day I’ll figure it out, but for now it’s just this... smoking stairwell.”

Pixel seemed to be handling things well, but Echo still worried.  She knew those first few Games were hard.  She remembered the pressure and the sadness.  She had experienced it all not that long ago.  So, she watched while Pixel dealt with the journalist latching on to Echo’s presence.

Chuckling, she shook her head.  “Literally never apologize for that,” she reassured her.  “That’s what I’m here for, you know?”  Pixel was a good kid and Echo wanted to make sure she handled it as well as she could.  Victory wasn’t easy and it took a lot of practice.  All Echo could do was hope she could guide her without messing up too badly.

Pixel breathed out a relieved sigh when she realized it was Echo behind her. “Thanks.”

She didn’t know how exactly to describe her relationship with Echo. Somewhere between sibling and mentor. Cool older cousin, maybe? Whatever it was, Pixel liked it, and she felt a close bond with the other young victor. 

“I know, but it’s been a year and a half and I’m still getting used to this stuff,” she answered, rubbing a finger on her temple as if she had a headache. “Am I old enough to have a drink yet? I feel like I’m understanding why there are so many alcoholics around here.”

“It’ll happen for the rest of your life, Pixel, trust me,” Valor said with a knowing sigh, glancing out into the crowd to make sure no one was eyeballing either of them. 

There were more Capitolites here than people from the Districts and that always made him uncomfortable. The only reason he wasn’t tense like he was in the previous years was because of how much he was still flying high from the recent great events in his life. 

Upon his search, he did see a young reporter with a datapad in hand staring at both of them, so he put his hand on Pixel’s back and gently pressed, trying to get her to move. “Let’s go find somewhere else to stand for now,” he said. “We’ve got a watcher at your nine.”

At first Pixel squirmed a little bit at the feel of Valor’s hand on her back. Generally, she didn’t like people touching her if they weren’t related. But he was helping her get away from an oncoming reporter, she realized, and she let him guide her away for a minute. 

“Thanks,” she answered. “Have anywhere in mind?”

Pixel, of course, had her own hiding spots, but it was interesting to see where another victor would bring her for a bit of safety. The emergency exit stairwell was getting a little too clouded with smoke for her taste at this point.

Dorian had just pried himself away from a very one sided conversation with a few Capitolites when he had noticed a small group around Pixel. Probably wondering how her first year as a Mentor went. Dorian always hated having the cameras and journalists in his face, even after all these years as a Victor. And while he didn’t really have a great track record of dealing with them, he didn’t want to leave Pixel stuck with them.

So he had stepped toward the group just as the interview seemed to be wrapping up and Pixel had excused herself. Dorian shook his head, “It was why I was here, don’t sweat it.” He stepped aside to walk with Pixel away from the crowd to avoid getting dragged into another conversation they didn’t need to be part of.

“Doing okay otherwise?” he asked her.

Pixel sighed in relief when she realized it was Dorian, one of the few people she could lean on when she had to be in the Capitol. 

“Thanks,” she answered as the reporter stepped away in search of a more interesting target. She’d given them some soundbytes and hopefully they’d be happy with that. “You’re always good to count on when I want to stop talking to really uninteresting people, Dorian.”

Pixel let out a deep breath, just now realizing how much tension she’d been holding in her shoulders. It was always more stressful talking to reporters and Capitolites than she liked to admit. Granted, she didn’t like to admit that she ever got stressed. It ruined the image she was trying to cultivate. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “How are you?”

Aspen had to laugh softly at Pixel’s admission. “Not sure I am the best out…” She admitted because after all, this was her party and she didn’t get ten seconds alone. There was always someone wanting a picture, an interview, to ask a question, or an introduction she was supposed to be present for. “If anything, it’ll just make it worse.” Surely the pair of them, the previous Victor with the new Victor, would bring the media running.

“But if you can get me five minutes without a camera in my face, I will owe you one forever.” Aspen joked but she was serious. The past thirteen days had been long and she was ready to go back home. To go back to her little corner of the world, decorating cakes at the bakery, and just being Aspen. Then again, she would never be just Aspen again. “I am not sure if I feel more like a freak show here or back home.” District Nine hadn’t had a Victor in nearly fifty years, so she was a strange creature back home, especially at school.

Pixel sighed. “I mean, you’re not wrong. But it’s ok, I have tricks.”

She’d met Aspen briefly once or twice, and the girl seemed nice. It was a bit of a relief not to have a big, scary Career following Pixel’s victory, since she didn’t quite know how she’d manage having to stand next to that. Especially after her own tumultuous relationships with the Careers in her year. Two of them had verbally threatened her before the Games even started, and Leon was... well, she still hated thinking about it.

“It’s tough, but I’m used to it. Believe me. It’s worse when you’re suddenly in a club of ‘youngest victors’ with Nolie Reyes and Finnick Odair,” Pixel answered, noting the two previous trained Careers (it truly was weird that she’d made it out of the arena, she had to think). “Come with me.”

Pixel had scouted out a spot during her own Victory Ball in an emergency exit stairwell. Occasionally mentors would come in here to smoke, but they never bothered anyone else looking to make an escape, so Pixel knew it was a safe spot. She led Aspen over there and let out a breath of relief, not realizing until now just how tense she’d been from all the mingling. “Here. It’s quiet.”

“And I was the best you had?” Cashmere asked with a laugh. Pixel and her were an odd match, but she didn’t mind. Over the years she had found she didn’t mind the new Victors. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had one of her own to talk to and guide. Lincoln and her had always had interesting conversation over the last couple of years.

Cashmere looked at the red head a moment. “Long as you tell me you don’t have that snake here now, we’re good.” For a Career she wasn’t necessarily afraid of them, but Cashmere surely didn’t like them. “Or is this where you tell me you have a tarantula next?”

Pixel laughed a little. She’d only talked to Cashmere a couple of times but she’d always been nice to her. Even if she had a hard time opening up to mentors that weren’t from Three, it was good to see a friendly face. 

“You were the closest I had,” she answered. “Had to get out of there as quick as I could, you know?”

The world didn’t know about her big escape during her own year’s private training, and Pixel wanted to keep it that way, but sometimes she had to hold herself back from making jokes about it. Granted, the mentors probably knew she’d attempted a few escapes outside of the training center, though she’d never gotten very far with those. She’d been caught, and the tributes from One and Two especially were willing to rat her out as soon as she showed her face.

“No snake today,” she answered. “I left him at home for this trip, but he’ll be coming with for the next Games. And no tarantulas, don’t worry.”

Vista had been left to care for Geof the snake, with Linux and Page making sure she didn’t forget to feed the pet. Luckily the Delaroux clan seemed to all be oddballs in their own ways, because none of her remaining siblings had recoiled or gotten queasy about the appearance of a giant snake in their home.