Freedom Comes At A Price

Reed chuckled lightly. “Hey now, no need to make me feel like I’m not special.”

Reed looked at Cambric out the corner of his eye. He didn’t like the way his friend was studying him. He looked back to the tv and tried not to react to Cambric’s question. Reed chuckled “It’s nothing. The girl was confused about a lot of stuff including thinking I was anything more than a mentor to her.”

“Oh, you’re special.” He reassured him with a laugh despite himself.

Reed sat in the viewing room after he had gotten his umpteenth drink that day. Reed hadn’t been able to sleep, not after the conversation he and Cassia had had. He couldn’t forget the feeling of the young girl, his own blood,’s arms wrapped around him the previous night. Part of him didn’t want to forget the feeling of the hug, not when it was possibly his last from her, but part of him wanted to forget everything. But Reed knew he couldn’t do that. He needed to be there for Cassia, and Cain, and to do everything in his power to get one of them preferably Cassia out. He anxiously rubbed his hand over his face as he waited to see what arena awaited the tributes. Soon the man made appearance of a mall appeared. It could have been worse. He watched the camera panned around each tribute’s face as the clock counted down. “May the odds be ever in your favor, Sis.” He said softly as the horn blared.

The Games had just been about to start and Dorian was looking for a viewing room to slip into. Usually on day one, the viewing rooms filled up pretty quick; most of the Mentors stuck to their own floors, but Dorian wanted to be on the main floors to get to a sponsor if he needed to for his kids. So when he stepped into one of the rooms, he was surprised to see only Reed inside, anxiously looking at the screen. Dorian stepped inside, glancing toward the screen to make sure he hadn’t missed much. The countdown was still going. Less than fifteen seconds.

Before he even had time to greet Reed, he heard the younger Mentor speak up and he froze. Wait… “Sis?” he asked, brow raised. He didn’t know Reed had a younger sister, let alone that she was one of the Tributes in the Games. He glanced around the room to make sure it was just them before he moved to take a seat next to Reed. “Cassia?” he asked again, just to be sure he heard him right.

@reed-macphee

she watched him wave her over and looked at the screen. did she really want to watch this? no, decidedly she did not. but she was a capitolite. they were suposed to enjoy the games. the games werent supposed to make her sick. so she smiled and sat down, with noticibly less bounce than normal.

“are lucky and jude still okay?” she asked nervously. those two kids mattered to her, Lucky especially.

Reed sat in the viewing room after he had gotten his umpteenth drink that day. Reed hadn’t been able to sleep, not after the conversation he and Cassia had had. He couldn’t forget the feeling of the young girl, his own blood,’s arms wrapped around him the previous night. Part of him didn’t want to forget the feeling of the hug, not when it was possibly his last from her, but part of him wanted to forget everything. But Reed knew he couldn’t do that. He needed to be there for Cassia, and Cain, and to do everything in his power to get one of them preferably Cassia out. He anxiously rubbed his hand over his face as he waited to see what arena awaited the tributes. Soon the man made appearance of a mall appeared. It could have been worse. He watched the camera panned around each tribute’s face as the clock counted down. “May the odds be ever in your favor, Sis.” He said softly as the horn blared.

Stellina was perched on the very edge of her chair, eyes peeled for any trace of August or Nova. “Did you just say your sister was in there?” she asked, sparing him no more than a glance before returning her gaze to the TV screen. She didn’t know much about Reed. He’d won before she was born, and she’d never really spared Eleven a second thought before she started working in the Tower if she was being honest.

“That’s rough. I’m sorry.” There was genuine concern in her words, though. She knew the pain of losing a sister to the Games.

Reed drew in a deep breath as Cambric entered and invited himself to sit down. It wasn’t that Reed didn’t want to see his best friend but he had been avoiding him. It was just easier that way, for both of them. Reed just hoped that Cambric hadn’t heard what he had said earlier. He wasn’t sure how Cambric would react to the news about Cassia. Reed flashed a quick pained smile before taking the flask and taking a few gulps. After he had lowered the flask Reed looked back to the TV. “I had a feeling this year’s arena was going to be indoors.”

“We all had that feeling,” Cambric pointed out because most of the victors he had talked to had called it. He had wanted something more natural, but Cambric couldn’t say he was surprised either. They were due for something different. The jury was still out if he liked the arena or not.

With a sigh, Cassia flopped down on the couch allowing her green eyes to wander over to her mentor. There had been a hundred witty things in her head to say, but right now when it counted, Cassia wasn’t sure if she wanted to shout or cry or just ignore the thing that had been gnawing at her for nearly two days now.

“So, do you feel like sharing with the class Reed, or are you really going to make me ask if it’s true?”

@reed-macphee​

Reed had rose early that morning, eating a light breakfast before heading down to the training center to await tributes. He wanted to scope the talent out as soon as tributes started training. Now he stood watching his own ‘special’ tribute. Boy was he not impressed in the least and as Cassia turned around that was clear on his face. Reed turned to look at the Trainer “I’ll take it from here.” He ordered before steppjng forward. “Again.” He told Cassia dryly.

Reed’s anger boiled as Cambric knocked his hands away but he had enough of a grip on reality not to hit his best friend. He knew Cam had been struggling with Selu’s death as well. But how could he have kept this from Reed?

“Oh don’t play dumb.” He shook his head with disgust. “I know she told you.” Then it dawned on him, maybe Selu hadn’t told Cambric. But why would she have done that? He took a deep breath as the anger began to diserpate. “You should have told me that you two were expecting.” He said softly.

Cambric stood there dumbfounded. The silence was awkward, even for him, but he didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth just to close it again. Surely Reed was not serious, but why would he joke about something so serious?

“I… We…” He stumbled over his words a bit. “We were waiting till after the wedding.” That had been the plan anyhow. Selu had wanted to do it the right way and Cambric had wanted to give her that. She had deserved that. If it had happened early? Well, it wasn’t a horrible thing. He would have been just as thrilled as afterwards.

Reed needed a break from training. A break from Cassia. So he tried to find an empty room to take a breather in but the room he entered was already occupied. He moved to leave before he saw who it was. Reed weakly returned Birch’s smile before moving over to the couch. “Life is a little…complicated right now.” He admitted before looking at the seat on the couch beside birch. “May I?”

Birch nodded, patting the seat and scooting a little bit over. He put the list of sponsors down on the side table and picked up the mug of hot chocolate that an Avox had brought in for him a little bit earlier. He blew on the curling steam that emitted from the cup. 

“More complicated than normal?” he asked curious. Reed was not always forthcoming and he hoped he could help the mentor from Eleven. “If you want to talk, I am a good listened,” Birch offered, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. “Or we could sit in silence if you want. Although, I might start singing if that happens. I doubt you want that though,” he added, trying to lighten Reed’s mood. 

The red pen he had in his hand felt heavy as he thought to where Jude and Lucky were and how they were doing. He had to remind himself that he had two partners in there probably mentoring them. Birch shook his head as he heard the door creak open. Seeing Reed, he gave his counterpart in Eleven a smile. “How is life Reed?”

// closed starter for @reed-macphee

Reed closed the space between him and his best friend before shoving Cambric’s shoulders back when he gave one of his classic smartass replies. “Shut the fuck up Cambric!” He growled. “Why didn’t you tell me about…about Selu? Didn’t you think that was kind of something important to tell her older brother…your best friend?”

“Woah, there cowboy.” Cambric told him as he knocked his friend’s hands away. He certainly wanted no part of an angry Reed in his personal bubble. Yelling, Cambric could handle that, but he wasn’t in the mood to get in a fight with anyone today. It wasn’t like life had been a walk in the park for him either lately; not since Selu’s death.

“I don’t need a break,” she told the trainer as she pulled herself up, brushed herself off, and readied herself for another go. This time she would be much more aware of her left side than she had been previously.

Though apparently, her trainer was far too busy looking at something or someone else over her shoulder. Annoyed, Cassia spun around to see what had caught her attention. She was the one going into the games, so her attention should be fully on her.

When she spun around, Cassia found herself face to face with her mentor, Reed MacPhee.

@reed-macphee