#125vb

“Two victors for the price of one” Abel hummed as he drowned his bag of fries in ketchup. They wouldn’t serve him anymore, not until he’d eaten something they’d said, so ever compliant, here he was about to ram a bag of fries down his throat so he could order a double whiskey and avoid sobering up completely. He was standing at the bar, making eye contact with the bartender as he popped each bite into his mouth. “Aren’t we lucky” he finished his thought, finally turning to the person next to him. “Want one?”

Luca was out the back of the building, fitting in a smoke break and hoping not to be interrupted by anyone who wanted to talk money or sponsorship or anything of the sort. His head hurt from small talk and really, he couldn’t wait to go home. “I’m not going to offer you one” he said then, when Poppy appeared, turning his head to blow out the left over smoke from the drag he’d just taken.

“Are you drinking chocolate milk?” Dale asked with a frown as he nodded to her glass. Because if it wasn’t chocolate milk, he’d probably be more concerned, but still, there was so many choices of beverages here, he couldn’t quite believe someone would actually choose flavoured milk of all things.

“What do you think of these things?” Luca asked, referring to the ball itself as he stood next to Clementine, thankful that he’d spotted someone who he could have an actual worthwhile conversation with. It wasn’t always the way at these balls, lots of snotty rich capitolites talking nonsense usually. “You grew up in the Capitol too, right?”

“Listen, if you don’t have a drink for me you can turn back around” Abel said, or slurred, if you wanted to be correct about things. He swivelled his finger too, and then almost fell off the bar stool he was sitting on. They wouldn’t serve him anymore, and he was pissed about it. It had been a hard couple of weeks, and after the attack, he was struggling even more than he usually was. Tributes had still died, and then some gamemakers too, and it was hard to find the hope in it all.

“You would think they would break out the best champagne tonight” Dale said, rolling his eyes as he took another sip of what he would classify as cheap alcohol from the flute in his hand. “Budget must be tight, it was quite a quell, wasn’t it?“

Luca had found a quiet corner where he could hide away and just not have to talk to anyone for a little bit. He always had a pencil on him, and he’d been doodling on a napkin, drawing the chandelier above his head absentmindedly when he heard someone approach. “Once you’re not here to talk money, the seat is free” he said, not lifting his eyes from the napkin.