Andrew sighed deeply, clearly frustrated. He smacked his hand against the concrete wall. The sound echoed through the lobby, but for the most part people ignored them, which was surprising. “There are a lot of eyes on us, Tesla,” he said patiently. Taking his hand in her’s, he looked into her eyes. For the first time all day, he felt a genuine tug at his heartstrings. “I mean it when I say this,” he said quietly. Only speaking to Tesla now, “I love you. And I’m sorry that this pressure is getting to us, but we need to work together. You said it yourself, I need you just as much as you need me in this.”

It was out of character for Tesla but she still rose her voice, “HEY. You don’t get to call me that.” It felt good to stand up for herself. It felt good to speak up. “I don’t care if you think I’m bossy. I am not a slut or a hoe or a bitch or a cunt. You don’t get to call me that.” One of the career tributes who was near enough smirked and smacked the arm of what was surely another career tribute. Catching sight of them, a strategy-always-first Tesla quickly balled up Andy’s shirt and brought him down to her height to kiss him so that they would confuse her anger for passion. Her eyes remained wide open. 

“I have to keep up?” Andy snapped, turning his attention solely to Tesla. Galaxy was happy enough to stay out of it. She turned to walk away. “Tesla, there’s this thing called grace. Do you know what that is? I spent all day being bossed around by you and you teased me like I was some sort of pet to you.” He groaned, turning away from her. “Cunt,” he murmured under his breath.

The spit hardly phased him, but it distracted him enough that when Tesla head butted him, it caught him off guard. She wriggled out of his grip, shoving him off of her, but Andy was stronger. Grabbing her by the waist, he flipped her over onto her stomach and grabbed her arms roughly. Pinning them behind her back, he pushed all of his weight into her lower back with his knee. “Give it up, Tesla.” He spoke close to her ear, hissing the words. It was only then that he had realized how angry she had made him in the past few hours. Tesla was bossy and controlling, and after being shoved around all day during the scavenger hunt, he couldn’t handle having her reject him again. It was all he could do to show her who was boss now. “That’s enough, Randy.” Galaxy said. Reluctantly, Andy stood up, letting go of Tesla with a little shake. He stood at attention toward Galaxy, who still looked disappointed in both of them. “Do you understand now why you need him on your side Tesla? Play smarter, not harder.”

With great power comes great responsibility lol, and that was a lesson that Tesla had yet to learn. Growing up in a home where hands were the only tools of communication, Andy learned at a young age how to manage being hit and how to dish it out when necessary. Now, he could only anticipate Tesla so much. She was unpredictable, she was a firecracker and insane at times, but Andy knew she would find a way to get behind him. Before he could even process, Galaxy spoke from behind him, instructing Tesla on where to go next. He toppled forward, falling to the ground. Andy ducked his head and protected his neck. Swiftly, he grabbed her ankles and dragged her right down to the ground with him. Andy straddled her, holding her arms down with his knees. “Good,” Galaxy said behind Andy. She had moved her position as they fought, he noted. “Now Tesla, how would you get out of this?”

Andy did his best to imitate Galaxy’s position. The tribute center was shockingly very busy at the midday mark. Tributes from other districts seemed frantic, following their own training plan. By now, it seemed that the other Mentors had either left to talk with sponsors or trusted their tributes enough to let them train on their own. Andy was thankful that Galaxy was willing to allocate more time to him and Tesla. “It’s important to remember that balance is the key factor in any hand-to-hand combat. You lose your balance and it’s game over, but you can easily win by getting your enemy off center.” Galaxy squat down, motioning for Andy to do the same. He mirrored her position, but she quickly moved to make adjustments; straightening his back, pulling his knees in closer to the center of his body. After Galaxy did this both with Tesla and Andy, all she said was. “Fight.” Andy made eye contact with Tesla for the first time since their fight, and immediately swung, getting her in the cheek the horse had gotten her earlier that morning. She fell of balance, stumbling to the side.

Pietro scoffed under his breath and Tesla knew it was for her. His arm was still linked with hers and while normally Tesla would opt for the lesser amount of physical contact, she felt a degree of comfort. “As for you, I went through your file.” “We have files?” Tesla asked immediately. “District Three has files, transcripts from the academies. This is how I know you excel in the sciences. So I have chosen a less traditional route for you. Bombs, explosives, poison even, the like.” “That weapon will get me immediately killed in close combat,” Tesla said thoughtfully. “You’re a little over 5 feet and 100 pounds, any weapon in close combat will get you immediately killed.” Tesla was beginning to resent the lack of confidence that everyone seemed to have on her but she said nothing of it. “That is why you’ll have him,” Galaxy said, referring to Andy. “You’re long distance, he’s close combat. You will complete each other.” 

After the matter was sorted, Galaxy jumped into a different groove. Pointing her finger at Andy, she raised her eye brows in the most animated way he had ever seen Galaxy portray. “You have to portray the super caring boyfriend.” Isn’t that what I already am? “This meaning you would kill for your girlfriend. Not help her until it isn’t convenient for you anymore. Be the man who would rather die than exist a day on this Earth without Tesla by your side, understood?” Andy sort of rolled his eyes as he nodded, and Esterly cleared her throat. “–Yes, Galaxy.” He responded quickly. “You fought Dom with an Axe, right? That’s what you’ll stick with.”

Dannell, who seemed just as confused as Andy was by Pietro’s actions, gave him a gentle pat on the back as they went to sit down. He hadn’t seen much of her lately, and he was glad to be in her company, even if only for a few moments. Galaxy stood in front of the Tributes, Designers and Esterly who all sat in a row at the dining room table. “Once you’re in there, I can’t tell you what to do. But if you want my help while you’re in there, you will follow my every instruction that I give you today and tomorrow.” The atmosphere in the room significantly dropped. “Let’s start with Tesla,” she said after a pause. “You’ve got those beautiful innocent eyes, but we all know that your looks won’t help you. You wouldn’t last a day in that arena without Andy.” Andy tried to make eye contact with Tesla, but she kept her stoic expression forward. “Since you both showed the Capitol how in love you both are,” she almost inflected enough to mocked them, but this was Galaxy Berto. She had no time to mock them. “That’s the angle we’re playing here. Tesla, you’re helplessly in love with Randy Soplon. And Randy, you will do anything to protect her. This is what the four of us have decided and this is what we’re going with. There are no arguments.” Galaxy stared directly at Tesla.

Training Day 2.5

“Fuck, Tesla. You’re not listening.” He took the opportunity to stand up and pace. “You don’t understand what you’re doing.” Finally, he stopped moving and looked at himself in the mirror. “You wouldn’t have kissed me like that if–” Andrew took a deep breath. “You know what? You’re right,” he said calmly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” His tone had a hidden sense of sarcasm, but he knew that Tesla was right. Andy could be an asshole when we wanted, but not to someone he loved this much.

Quickly Andy took the opportunity to move faster than he intended, but Galaxy didn’t offer them much time. Gently, he pawed at her clothes, wanting so badly for them to come off. His hands slowly began to move up her chest when she stopped kissing him. “You love me,” she sounded too serious. “Tesla–” “So then you’ll understand. I’m not going to sleep with you.” Her voice was stern. Anger began to bubble within him. “Tesla, you can’t do this,” he said in a low, warning voice. “That’s not fair! You can’t tease me like this.” He spat the words at her.

“Tesla!” Andrew exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face. He fell to the bed softly and placed his hands on her waist when she sat on top of him. Her kiss was sweet, but Andy’s was much more hungry. He kissed her back with a heavy load of passion and desire. “Tesla,” he said her name again, much softer this time. “I love you, so much. You know I would never do anything to hurt you,” he kissed her again. “I’m so glad that I’m here with you.”

Tesla was stuck standing on the tips of her toes because of Andy’s arm wrapped around her waist. She could feel a shiver crawling over her skin. Still, her smile was innocent. But as she planted her feet back on the ground his hold around her became tighter. “And you’re just funny,” she stated simply, her hand moving up to his face where she cupped his cheek. “You know, I do love you, I do,” she spoke with a nod as if she were trying to convince herself. “Randy,” she finished with a smirk.