Kyan Maddox

Narrowing his eyes, the gamemaker wondered if the man before him was really so dense. Setting aside the fact that scurvy was a non-communicable disease (he knew District 12 struggled, but were they all so poorly educated?), and contrary to whatever Haymitch seemed to be suggesting, Kyan was from the districts. He had grown up in One, relying on his father’s business connections to make it to the Capitol after he’d aged out of the Games. Kyan decided to ignore the comment, choosing to instead match the other’s snide remark. He’d never been one to prioritize deescalation. “I’m not sure what the going salary is for victors these days,” his tone was just as smug, “but if you’re in such dire need of an orange I’m sure I have some spare change here.” He crosses his arms over his chest, gaze critical. “And I won’t even make you beg for it. Maybe.”

The foul smell of overindulgence wafted off the victor, but he remained as cool and unbothered as ever. He’d never been a particularly expressive man, even less so in the early hours. “That so?” Would it be the end of the world to just leave him to figure it out on his own? Kyan entertained the thought for a moment. With the stolen file tucked into his bag, ditching the man in favor of retreating to the safety of his own apartment sounded far more appealing than helping Haymitch sort himself out. But something about it didn’t feel right. Maybe Kyan did have a conscience after all. “Living on the streets now, Abernathy? Pity.”

That was what had lead him to seek out Kyan, hoping that his guess that his friend might have been working late proved correct. Hands held up in mock surrender ( one of the few people that would ever see that gesture, even light-hearted, from him ) at the other man's tone when he was proven right and their paths crossed. "What, can't a guy stop by his best friend's place of work every now and again?" Hand went to his chest as if the very idea that he couldn't drop in on Kyan whenever he wanted pained him.

For a brief moment he considers sulking in the shadows and attempting some kind of poor imitation of the other man. But in all their years of friendship he'd never quite been able to master mimicking Kyan's demeanour for more than a few moments, inevitably breaking only moments in to the impression. "You've been avoiding me, I had to do something to get your attention. Figured you might like me more if I went the dark and brooding route like you." Even as he speaks a wide grin stretched its way onto his features.

“Never had a man fight for my attention before.” There was the slightest indication of humor, one he was sure Helios — and only Helios — would have the skill and experience managing his nonsense to pick up on. “Hate to say it, but I’m not too sure calling me dark and brooding is earning any points in your favor.” Something reminiscent of a smile finds its way to his face, but it’s faint. Helios always had brought out the best in him. Between the two? He was the better man — far more well mannered than Kyan had ever been. “Can’t say I’m too fond of being so predictable, either. I’ll have to work on that. Surely you weren’t really out looking for me?”

feel free to change pronouns / terms / tense as needed!

❛ You’re okay. You’re safe. It’s okay. You’re here with me. ❜

❛ It’s only a few weeks. I’ll be back before the snow melts. ❜

❛ A lot can happen in a few weeks. ❜

❛ I did what I had to do to survive. If I didn’t, I’d be dead. ❜

❛ If you wanted to be babied, you should’ve asked [name]. ❜

❛ You are a strangely dislikeable person. But you do have your virtues. ❜

❛ Such bravery. Such spirit. Such…contempt. ❜

❛ My dear, I think we can make this so much simpler if we agree not to lie to each other. What do you think? ❜

❛ What is to prevent, say, an uprising? That can lead to revolution. And then, in a fraction of time, the whole system collapses. ❜

❛ You should imagine thousands upon thousands of your people dead. This town of yours reduced to ashes. Imagine it gone. ❜

❛ Tell me. At what point did he realize the depth of your indifference towards him? ❜

❛ I don’t want to kill you. I want us to be friends. But if not friends, then allies. ❜

❛ That was nice acting. Almost thought that kiss was real. ❜

❛ All you need to do is give a few speeches, wave to the crowds, and enjoy your time in the spotlight. ❜

❛ I’m really not in the mood for a lecture. I’ll apologize to [name] later. ❜

❛ You don’t have to apologize to anybody. Including me. ❜

❛ If you can stop looking at me like I’m wounded, then I can quit acting like it. ❜

❛ I’ve never been very good at friends. ❜

❛ She was too young, too gentle. And I couldn’t save her. I’m sorry. ❜

❛ Wait! No! Leave him alone! ❜

❛ I never meant for anyone to get killed. ❜

❛ I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. He threatened to kill my family. ❜

❛ Well, I have family, too. Okay? People that I need to protect. ❜

❛ Come here. You’re gonna be okay. I promise. ❜

❛ It was just a dream. I’m sorry. ❜

❛ Will you stay with me? ❜

❛ We could get married. ❜

❛ Eyes bright. Chins up. Smiles on. I’m talking to you, [name]. ❜

❛ Everybody who’s anybody is here. And they all want to meet you. ❜

❛ It’s appalling. Still, if you abandon your moral judgment, it can be fun. ❜

❛ Well, maybe it was you who inspired me to come back. ❜

❛ She’s not who they think she is. She’s not a leader. She just wants to save her own skin. It’s as simple as that. ❜

❛ I agree she should die. But in the right way. At the right time. ❜

❛ It’s moves and countermoves. ❜

❛ It won’t work. Fear does not work as long as they have hope. ❜

❛ They’re gonna hate her so much they might just kill her for you. ❜

❛ If we leave right now, we can be far away from here by tonight. ❜

❛ [name] threatened to have you killed. ❜

❛ You know how I feel about you. But I can’t think about anyone that way right now. ❜

❛ The only thing that I can think about every day, every waking moment, is how afraid I am. There’s no room for anything else. ❜

❛ You haven’t hurt people. You’ve given them an opportunity. They just have to be brave enough to take it. ❜

❛ We have to go before they kill us. They will kill us. ❜

❛ People are looking to you. ❜

❛ I don’t want anyone looking to me. I can’t help them. ❜

❛ Look, you’re new here. Trust me, I’m trying to help you. ❜

❛ Thought you’d be gone by now. ❜

❛ I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna stay right here. Cause all kinds of trouble. ❜

❛ How can we live like this? How can anybody live like this? ❜

❛ You understand that whatever I do comes back to you. I don’t want you to get hurt. ❜

❛ You don’t have to protect me. ❜

❛ If you cannot contain [name], then I will have to terminate her. ❜

❛ And you’ve come to, what? Ask me to… die? ❜

❛ What’s it say that [name] was here 45 minutes ago begging to save your life and you only just now show up? ❜

❛ You could live 100 lifetimes and never deserve that boy. ❜

❛ There are survivors. There’s no winners. ❜

❛ Do whatever you can. [name] lives. Not me. Promise me. ❜

❛ How could any of us even trust each other? ❜

❛ It’s not about trust. It’s about staying alive. ❜

❛ You look pretty terrifying in that getup. ❜

❛ I haven’t dealt in anything as common as money in years. ❜

❛ I’m an open book. Everybody always seems to know my secrets before I know them myself. ❜

❛ So what do you think? Now that the whole world wants to sleep with you? ❜

❛ I guess we just try to figure out who we trust least and work our way backwards from there. ❜

❛ There’s always a flaw in the system. ❜

❛ How are we gonna kill these people? ❜

❛ God! Does anybody actually believe this? ❜

❛ You know, I’m getting totally screwed over here. ❜

❛ Well, you know what? Fuck that! And fuck everybody that had anything to do with it! ❜

❛ Just be your usual self. Actually, be your happier self. ❜

❛ Make him pay for it. ❜

❛ We’re a team. Aren’t we? ❜

❛ You both deserved so much better. ❜

❛ Any last advice? ❜

❛ Stay alive. ❜

❛ Remember who the real enemy is. ❜

❛ I don’t want to be with anyone else in there. Just you. ❜

❛ Look at this. They’re holding hands. I want them dead. ❜

❛ Good thing we’re allies, right? ❜

❛ Well, I guess we’re not holding hands any more. ❜

❛ I don’t care about any of them. ❜

❛ Be careful. There’s a force field up there. ❜

❛ Oh, my God. You were dead. Your heart stopped. ❜

❛ Someday I want to love someone that much. ❜

❛ We should set up camp. Take turns sleeping. I can take first watch. ❜

❛ That thing I did back there for [name]? That was called “saving his life.” ❜

❛ If I wanted to kill either of you, I would’ve done it by now. ❜

❛ Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll be right here with you. It’s okay. It’s okay. ❜

❛ She sacrificed herself for me and I didn’t even know her name. ❜

❛ They know they’re outnumbered. I doubt they’ll attack again. ❜

❛ They can’t hurt me. There’s no one left that I love. ❜

❛ Love is weird. ❜

❛ I don’t want to be the one that shoots first. ❜

❛ They’re not gonna make that same mistake again. ❜

❛ You know and I know there’s only one person walking out of here. ❜

❛ If you die and I live, I’d have nothing. Nobody else that I care about. ❜

❛ See, this is why no one lets you make the plans. ❜

❛ We couldn’t tell you with [name] watching. It was too risky. Better for you to know nothing. ❜

❛ You have been our mission from the beginning. ❜

❛ This is the revolution. ❜

❛ You promised me that you would save him over me! ❜

❛ You promised me! You’re a liar. ❜

She couldn't keep track any longer of how many panic attacks she had in the past couple of hours. President Snow had shown his displeasure. Not in a direct sort of way. No, he was from high society and knew how to wrap a bow around bad news or disdain. And Sara wasn't completely daft. She knew what he had meant when he asked her how long she had walked around with the knowledge she shared during her interview.

Gosh, she was such a silly goose. Her father had scolded her after she had ran to him, sobbing, echoing the President's words. She was basically disowned. How could she be so daft?

It was only a matter of time she got.. executed for treason? Would the execute her over this? Was it really treason? The thought alone pushed more sobs from painted lips. Her breath was all the way up in her chest and rapid. It was an ugly sort of cry. One that could not suppress the whine of desperation. And her make up.. well, let not talk about the make up. It did hit some of the redness that was caused by the many cries, but nothing no longer was on the place she initially put it. Such a mess.

Having the night off then was the most cherished gift Kyan had ever received. Or it should have been, had it not been for the horribly grating noise coming an apartment down the hall. At first he tried to ignore it, as if his glass of whiskey would be sufficient enough to drown out his neighbor's hysterical wailing, but it just seemed to get worse.

He had finally had enough. Whatever so-called crisis this person was going through could happen quieter. Annoyed, Kyan shoved his feet into the pair of leather loafers he had kicked off at the door when he arrived home from work not an hour ago before padding down the hall, following the horrible sound. He stopped in front of the door it appeared to be coming from and knocked. The door had barely cracked open when he spoke.

Her heels echoed on the cobblestones as she gracefully positioned herself to face him. "You know, this is the third time this week you've shown up when I've called, like a well-behaved dog - Maybe it's you who's obsessed with me." Gleam quipped with a sly smirk, her hands slipping into her pea coat pockets. Her stylist had begged her not to leave, especially with a morning meeting looming on her schedule and the meticulous work they had put into her appearance. Gleam had been styled to perfection for a series of interviews and photoshoots that day. Despite her disinterest in complying the capitol's demands, she realized that no compliance could be a matter of life or death. 

"Will you be watching my interview tomorrow? The blonde arched her eyebrows as she posed the question, her words measured and deliberate. She was acutely aware that they were never truly alone, especially within the confines of the Capitol's walls.

"I'm happy to head right back to work if that's how you want this to go," he threatened, using his thumb to briefly gesture behind him. It was an empty threat, and he knew that she knew as much, but it still brought him a small bit of satisfaction. "Go ahead, try me. Some people have actual jobs, Gleam."

Or two, if you counted the whole intelligence for the rebellion thing, but he wasn't about to throw that out there. Not yet, anyway, it was far too dangerous, and despite the annoyance Gleam caused him, Kyan wasn't about to throw her into the deep end. Not when there was so much at stake, and he knew what happened to those the Capitol deemed untrustworthy.

He sighed. Would he be watching the interview? Of course he would; even while working, avoiding it wasn't really a choice with the near constant stream of Capitol propaganda in all government buildings. But Kyan had known Gleam long enough to understand that she wasn't asking for the sake on conversation, there was something she wanted him to hear. "Of course," he answered smugly. "As if I would ever miss an opportunity to watch you kiss Capitol ass and suck up to our good friend Mr. Flickerman. They'll have to pry me away from the screen for meetings."