Robin's Song
"A hundred Gil, take it or leave it." The graying apothecarist crossed his arms at peered over his glasses at the scruffy boy in front of him.
Twelve-year-old Robin almost dropped his bag in shock. "But licorice root has always been worth twenty per ounce!" he protested, but he might as well been arguing with a brick wall for it did because the austere man refused to back down.
"Well demand's gone down this season and it's only worth ten. If you have a problem with that go elsewhere," he snapped and pointed to the door.
Robin glowered at him beneath his twitching brow. He knew the herbs were worth twenty but the apothecarist was only trying to rip him off because he was a kid.
If it was Raven he wouldn't try to bargain me down, he thought angrily. A familiar stab of pain went through his chest when he thought of his brother and for a moment sadness flashed across his young face.
There was a rustle as a pale hand pulled back the curtain from from the back room and the apothecarist's daughter emerged. Lovely as freshly fallen snow her angelic face was like something out of a picture, almost too beautiful for grim District 12. Having heard the commotion she turned pleadingly to her father. "Please father, you know Robin's lost his brother and-"
A sharp whistling sound flew across the room and Robin flinched on instinct but the smack wasn't intended for him.
It wasn't just the community home kids that came to school with bruises and angry red marks on their skin. Everybody knew that old man Keyton took out his anger on his family for the brash man never bothered hiding his demeanor. Rarely did he ever smile and cold-hearted Mrs Keyton, if anything was worse.
Ruth's eyes went wide and she raised a hand hesitantly to her face. Robin looked away in embarrassment, but to her credit she didn't cry. In some ways she was stronger than him, and he had a grudging respect for her because of that.
Disgusted by the apothecarist, Robin grabbed the money from the counter and ducked out of the store, the violent jingling of the bell at the door ringing behind him as he took off running down the street.
.
The next day at school he noticed a dark mottled purple-blue bruise on her cheek. She was more quiet and withdrawn as usual, even when her friend Maysilee gave her a hug and whispered something in her ear.
Robin leaned in but he couldn't hear what they were saying, he was sitting too far away from them at the back of the class. After all, that's where the other kids from the Seam always sat.
The merchant kids kept to themselves usually at the front of the class near the windows, a small smudge of gold against a sea of coal.
Robin stared at the wall to the right and tapped his pencil against his book, imaging the swaying trees of the forest veiled by encroaching night.
While the teacher droned on about coal byproducts, the girl beside him tapped his leg. "Psst, Robin," she hissed before furtively tossing a square folded note onto his desk.
He grabbed the note before the teacher could see and wondered who it was for before seeing his own name scrawled on the top.
Who could it be from? he wondered, he didn't have any friends to pass notes with.
Robin made sure the teacher had the back to the class before unfolding the note under the desk. The first thing that he noticed was the neat cursive handwriting which meant the note came from a girl.
Dear Robin, meet me at the old oak tree after school at 4.
-Ruth
Before he could puzzle out the meaning of the note the bell rang and he hastily stuffed it in his bag to head to his next class. For the rest of the day he wondered why Ruth would want to meet him, and in the end it was curiosity that brought him to the old oak tree.
After school he hovered awkwardly, wondering if it was just a cruel joke and Ruth was actually laughing at him behind his back with her friends over the stupid community home boy. With increasing agitation he couldn't think of a reason that a merchant girl would actually want to meet him.
But no, Ruth wasn't that like, that she was nice, the kind of girl who rescued stray kittens and left hand-knit hats outside for whoever needed them to take. She wouldn't stand him up, would she?
Robin didn't have a wristwatch so he glanced at the elongating shadow of the tree, trying to gauge the time and figure out if she was late. He allowed a few more minutes to pass before deciding to return to the community home when he heard a voice crying his name from behind.
"Robin! I'm sorry, did I keep you waiting long?" she panted. "I had to run an errand right after school and it took longer than I thought."
"No, it's fine," he said, half lying, half happy to see her. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Ruth pulled out an envelope from her satchel and handed to him with both hands. "Here. After you left father felt so badly about the way he treated you that he wanted to make up the difference."
Her hopeful smile against her ugly bruise told him everything.
He held up a hand to refuse to envelope. "I don't need your charity," he replied curtly. There was a better chance of being hit by a meteor than old man Keyton ever feeling bad about his behaviour, Ruth must have taken it out of her own pocket money and there was no way he was going to put himself in her debt.
"Oh but Robin," her face crumpled.
"Keep your money," he said. "I don't need it." Robin turned away and began back to the community home, but a strange feeling gnawed at him. Looking back, he could see the hurt expression on Ruth's face before she sharply turned away. A strange feeling hit him in the stomach, but he had no idea what it was.
The next day at school there was a second note on his desk. He sighed and unfolded it under his textbook.
The Capitol doctor in town wants to get into traditional medicine. -Ruth
Happiness fluttered in his chest like a butterfly but quickly turned into lead when he realized he still owed Ruth for the information. After all, nothing came free in District 12. Later he would have to find a way to say thank you, but what could he possibly give her in return?
.
In front of his brother's grave he sat cross-legged with his head resting on his hands and stared at the solemn grey tombstone. "Raven, what do girls like?" he asked, even though he knew there would be no answer.
He sat quietly, listening to the gusts of wind as it swirled around the sharp edges of the granite.
Even if there was no reply it made him feel better to talk aloud. Raven was older and wiser and always had an answer for everything. If only he were alive he would know, he would tell Robin what Ruth would like and the right things to say and do.
But Raven wasn't, and there was no one to teach him how to be a man.
Since the birth of Panem, Spring Harmony Day celebrated more than just the beginning of spring. The day symbolized new beginnings, a new farming season, and new love. To celebrate this day, boys would give small gifts to girls, both potential love interests and also to female family and friends. The shy and introverted also took advantage of the day, finding solidarity in the expected sea of rejections, their torment softened by the holiday.
For weeks Robin had thought long and hard about what he could possibly give to Ruth. He finally decided on a bracelet made with glass beads that he bought with money traded for three fish and a squirrel.
With the gift safely in his pocket, Robin approached Ruth early in the morning as she talked with friends; however, overcome by shyness, he hesitated when he neared her desk. At the last second he hesitated, suddenly feeling shy. It shouldn't be that hard, he scolded himself, all he had to do was hand it to her casually and say, "Happy Spring Harmony Day," that was it.
He was still repeating the words in his head when he felt someone stride past him and stop at Ruth's desk.
"Happy Spring Harmony Day!" chirped Dannel Mellark, stealing the lines that Robin had agonized in his head over and over with ease.
Ruth smiled shyly at him. "Thank you, Dannel." Seeing how the hopeful boy remained at her side, Ruth felt obliged to open her gift. She tugged at the ribbon to reveal a batch of frosted heart-shaped sugar cookies topped with coarse brown sugar.
"Go ahead, try one!"
She picked up a cookie and bit into it daintily. "Oh it's delicious! Did you make it yourself?"
"Yep. I made them just for you," the friendly baker beamed.
Robin felt in his pocket and suddenly realized how shabby his own cheap gift was in comparison.
Dannel turned around as if just noticing him. "Oh Robin, did you have something to give Ruth something as well? I'm not surprised, she's pretty popular," he chuckled.
The baker's son had spoken the truth, for on her desk, gifts from hopeful admirers lay stacked and were in danger of sliding to the floor.
"No," he muttered and looked away, not caring if they thought he was rude. Before anyone could say something he walked back to his desk and laid his head on his outstretched arms, feeling unexplainably frustrated.
.
"Raven, how can you tell if a girl likes you?" He was cross-legged once again, one hand propped against his chin. Raven had claimed he wasn't interested in girls but Robin knew they were interested in him, he could tell by the way girls were always hanging around, begging him to walk to them to school and hinting that he would make a good husband while Robin watched their subtle flirtations and tried not to feel jealous.
But then again Raven was taller and stronger and more handsome than he was. The one thing that Robin had over his brother was his singing.
A rustle in the trees bordering the metal fence caught his attention, and a group of mockingjays peeped out from the swaying branches. He gave a slight smile and began to sing.
'I loved a maid like summer,
with sunshine in her hair'
The sound of approaching footsteps on the cobblestone path startled Robin. He turned to find Ruth hovering hesitantly, an awestruck expression on her pretty features. A gust of wind swept through the cemetery, blowing against her skirts and sweeping her hair back. In that moment it was as if the clouds had suddenly parted, because all Robin could see was her light.
"That was beautiful," she whispered.
"Thanks." Robin looked away awkwardly. He was suddenly embarrassed, as if she had invaded his privacy by learning one of his secrets. His singing was reserved for people he liked, and for the longest time that group consisted of his brother and the mockingjays.
A very long, awkward silence stretched as they stared at each other.
"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.
"I was actually looking for you." Glancing out at the forest, Ruth pressed a lily-white hand against her reddening face. "Um, we're running low on milk thistle at the apothecary. Did you see any growing?"
"Yeah I did, do you want me to get some for you?" He got up and dusted off his pants.
"Yes but…." Ruth began fidgeting with her dress as she gnawed her lip. Her large, blue eyes betrayed her nervousness when she asked, "can you...take me under the fence?"
He hesitated. Contrary to the propos that warned them of wild muttations and land mines left over from the Dark Days he knew it was safe. But most people wouldn't dare go under the fence with only a kitchen knife as a weapon and he wondered if Ruth was really okay.
"If you want," he said slowly.
"I do," she said, but her words didn't match the terror on her face.
With sundown only hours away, the pair promptly left the cemetery for the part of the fence located in an abandoned area near the mines. In a secluded spot close to the fence, far from any Peacekeeper patrols, Robin held out a hand towards the wire, sensing for the tingle of the current. The fence was as silent as a stone.
They proceeded further along the tall fence until they reached a two-foot section where the wire passed behind a clump of bushes. Robin laid flat on his belly and slid under the wire with ease.
Hesitantly, Ruth lay flat, and swallowing hard, slid under the fence. Scrambling to her feet, she ran with Robin into the forest.
They slowed down at a hollow log where he retrieved his bow and quiver of arrows and handed Ruth a burlap sack.
"Will you need to use that?" she asked, pointing to his bow.
His lips tightened grimly. "If we run into anything dangerous."
She started twisting the fabric of her skirt nervously in her hands and shuffled closer to him. "Oh."
In the end she didn't have to worry, nothing dangerous sprang out from the forest to meet them. He led her to a grassy patch where a clump of milk thistle, purple puffs on spiky green stalks were growing. They both knelt down and started to fill the bag, working together in silence.
"Robin, I was wondering, did you have a relative from the town?" she asked shyly. "Sometimes in the light I've noticed that your eyes have a more bluish tint than grey."
He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe? But blue, grey they're pretty close in colour." He turned his face away from her intense stare in embarrassment.
"You have a nice voice," she continued. "How come you never joined the school choir?"
"Don't have time," he mumbled and kept his head down. The truth was he spent his free time in the forest hunting and gathering which he then traded for coin. Mr. Davis at the bank took his money even though he was underage in exchange for a small fee and kept it safe for him until he turned eighteen.
She looked at him inquisitively. "I know, you and your brother were always trading in town. What were you two planning to do with the money?"
"Me and Raven, we were saving up to buy a house in the nicer part of the Seam," he confessed.
"There's a nicer part of the Seam?" she blurted out. Then her eyes went wide and she clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh I'm sorry Robin, that was rude!"
He gave her a side-long glance, wondering if she was making fun of him but she seemed sincerely apologetic.
Still, for the rest of the task they worked in silence. Soon the bag was full and he shoved it in her hands. "Happy Spring Harmony Day," he muttered, not looking at her.
"Thanks Robin, and I hope I didn't offend you." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then took off for the fence as if her life depended on it.
Later that day when he was washing dishes with a dozen other children busily cleaning the kitchen he wondered what that kiss on the cheek had meant.
.
It didn't matter though, because when they were fourteen Ruth and Dannel began holding hands in the halls and sitting together at lunch while both their friends teased them mercilessly. They blushed but continued to be inseparable, quickly becoming the most popular couple in their year.
Weeks later, a rumour began to spread that Dannel had proposed to Ruth— and that she had accepted. When this rumour reached Robin, he slammed his locker shut, kicking a new dent into the steel door, why? He couldn't tell. After all they made an attractive couple and Robin pretended that he couldn't care less.
Instead he busied himself with what his brother would have wanted him to do, hunting and staying alive. So he spent increasing amounts of time in the forest by himself, trying to tell himself that whoever was dating who wasn't even worth his attention.
With gritted teeth he let loose an arrow, striking down a plump pigeon mid-flight and jogged to pick it up where it fell. He threw his prize in his bag and jogged back to town for his next trade, ignoring the aching in his chest.
"Everybody shut the hell up!" Matron hollered. "It's almost time for the mandatory broadcast and all you brats have to listen!"
Everybody quieted down and shuffled to the dismal canteen so they could watch the flickering halo-screen that was set up along the wall. Robin took a seat, more worried than normal about the broadcast. The fiftieth Hunger Games were approaching, which meant a Quarter Quell. Having been focused on this special, more horrifying event for weeks, his stomach had become tied in knots.
As the broadcast began, everybody of reaping age watched impatiently as Caesar Flickerman spewed updates about famous victors, announcing the birth of a Victor's son and another's marriage. Just when Robin thought his rambling would never end, Caesar straightened and said, "As you all know, this year will be the fiftieth anniversary of the Hunger Games, which means our second Quarter Quell is upon us."
Someone sitting close to Robin whispered, "What will they do? It isn't for months yet."
"I dunno," replied another boy. "It can't be good if the president is going to announce it."
The anthem played and Robin's throat tightened with revulsion as President Snow took the stage.
He was followed by a young boy dressed in a white suit, holding a simple wooden box. The anthem ended and President Snow began to speak, to remind them all of the Dark Days from which the Hunger Games were born. When the laws for the Games were laid out which dictated that every twenty-five years the anniversary would be marked by a Quarter Quell. It would call for a glorified version of the Games to make fresh the memory of those killed by the districts' rebellion.
"On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it." Robin wondered how that would have felt, picking the kids who had to go. It must have been worse, he thought, to be turned over by your own neighbors than have your name drawn from the reaping ball. Apparently the Victor of the first Quarter Quell killed himself soon afterwards, if that was any indication. He turned his attention back to the television.
"And now we honour of the Second Quarter Quell," continued the president. The little boy in white stepped forward, holding out the box as he opened the lid. "On the fiftieth anniversary as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district is required to send twice as many tributes."
The president had stopped speaking but it didn't register in his head at first. Only when the boy next to him gave a squeak and a girl from in front fainted did he realize what it meant. He honestly couldn't think of a worse twist, twice as many tributes means facing a field of forty-seven instead of twenty-three, worse odds, less hope, and ultimately more dead kids.
A numbness began to spread from his chest to the rest of his body when he realized it also meant having to survive two Reapings next summer instead of one.
.
The Reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games weighed heavily on everyone if the soft sighs and muttered curses in the bleachers were any indication. As if to mock them the weather had graced them with a tantalizing warmth and sun, a light breeze blowing through the brightly-coloured banners while the scent of summer blooms clung to the air and the birds, oblivious to their anguish, tweeted gay melodies.
Despite all of nature's attempts to raise their spirits the fear and uneasiness in the square was palpable and everyone would remember this day as overcast and muggy.
Robin gulped as he signed in and took his place with the rest of the sixteen year olds who were muttering darkly. The stress was so thick he could almost see it, tensions were running high and everybody was wound tighter than a spring.
A loud shout caused him and the others to turn their heads. There was already a fight between two teenagers and the Peacekeepers moved quickly to break it up. Coarse slurs were spat against as the combatants struggled against the armoured Peacekeepers.
He craned his head and recognized one of the teens as Haymitch Abernathy from his class. When he had told Ruth that there were nicer parts in the Seam, he also meant there were also some not-so-nice parts, and that was where Haymitch happened to come from. Every other word out his mouth was something so foul even the community home boy was wincing. Haymitch made a rude gesture at the boy he was fighting with which earned him a cuff around the head by the Peacekeeper restraining him.
Robin shook his head and turned back to the stage, having bigger things to worry about. Relatives of tributes seemed to have a higher chance of getting Reaped, almost too often to be a coincidence. Since his older brother had been reaped, Robin surely thought this worsened his odds. Rubbing his sweaty palms against his pants, he had to choke back the bile in his throat when he saw that the reaping was about to begin.
After the agonizing introductions of the ceremonial opening, the peacock-colored escort from the Capitol drew two names from the girl's bowl. Robin barely took notice until the ditzy Capitol woman plunged her hand into the bowl of slips for the boys. Robin's knees became weak and his arms hung heavily at his sides.
The woman announced the first name.
It wasn't him.
He let out a sigh of relief and held his breath again as the escort's hand returned to the bowl. He couldn't even remember the second name, all he knew was that it wasn't Robin Everdeen and he was so relieved that he almost collapsed.
He was vaguely aware of Haymitch being prodded to the stage and a small part of Robin, a mean and nasty part couldn't help but be glad to see him go. After all, nobody in the District really liked sullen, foul-mouthed Haymitch.
Better him than me, he thought, trying not to feel guilty as he trudged back to the community home, safe for another year.
The next day at school, several desks were empty. Maysilee and Haymitch had been whisked off to the Capitol but Ruth, Mariselle and Haymitch's girlfriend were also absent. Seeing Ruth's empty desk reminded Robin how he barely functioned when the Capitol took his older brother, and something hit him deep in the gut as he remembered how he could barely even bring himself to move when Raven left. Suddenly, he started to feel their pain in a twisted kind of solidarity.
A couple of weeks into the Games, Robin and a few others were cleaning the coal dust which had settled on the school windows when an older girl had run in breathlessly announcing that there was a mandatory broadcast.
The response was immediate, everybody dropped their rags and ran to the canteen. For the first time in ages District 12 had two tributes in the top eight and everybody had been holding their breath that one of them could make it all the way to the top.
Robin skidded into the canteen just in time to see a flock of bright-pink birds on long legs ravaging one of the tributes. He wondered who it was until they scattered, leaving an injured Maysilee gasping in pain. A sigh was released from the entire room when they realized that she was definitely gone.
"Maysilee!" Haymitch shouted. He ran over, knife in hand and knelt beside her. She was in so much pain that she couldn't speak but Haymitch held her hand until the cannon sounded.
As he saw a tear roll down Haymitch's face, Robin's heart broke a little and he regretted how he had misjudged Haymitch. He didn't think Haymitch was capable of compassion, but watching him comfort Maysilee he realized he didn't know Haymitch at all. Now more than ever he hoped that Haymitch could win, he deserved to more than anyone to come back and see the District's regret at how they had mistreated him.
And he did. It was a close match but clever Haymitch managed to use the edge of the arena to return his opponent's ax into her skull.
Everybody in District Twelve cheered, but at school Robin couldn't help but notice a certain desk in the front of the room that continued to stay empty and feel concern for its occupant. He knew Ruth was taking Maysilee's death hard, and he wondered if she would ever be ready to come back.
.
That year there were three new headstones in the tribute graveyard instead of two.
"Nobody talks about you anymore," Robin said softly, laying a hand on his brother's stone grave. "It's all Haymitch this and Haymitch that. People couldn't stand him before he won and now everybody wants to be his best friend. Part of it is because of the parcels. Raven, they're real. Flour, sugar, meat, drums of oil and fine grain, and you don't even have to put your name in the bowl for it."
He paused for a moment to collect himself. Something began to sting in his eyes as he admitted the truth.
"I just wish it hadn't been Haymitch. It should have been you." But who would even remember a boy who had placed third in a Games with no surviving footage when Haymitch Abernathy brought home the crown four years later?
A trickle slid down his cheek as when realized that if everybody forgot about Raven, it would be as if he never even had a brother. So that was why he couldn't forget him, he vowed. That was why he needed to keep on remembering his brother, to keep him alive somewhere in his memories so his existence wouldn't completely disappear.
.
Later that afternoon Robin trudged to the square where the festivities for Haymitch's Victory were set up. He began to stand in line for candied apples before deciding he actually had no appetite and turned to go.
As he turned to leave, he spotted Ruth sitting on a park bench, lovely but wan, far from the merrymaking. Always drawn to her, he approached shyly with his hands in his pockets. "Ruth? Are you okay?"
"Oh, it's you, Robin. Hello." Her voice sounded flat and she kept her eyes on the ground.
He bit his lip wondering what do and say but then she shook her head and got up from the bench. "Let's go somewhere else, I can't stand… this." She pulled him by the sleeve and he followed her to the meadow, the scenery shifting from festive banners to dead grass and weeds.
They were the only ones there, everybody else in the District was enjoying themselves in the square.
"Where's Dannel?" he asked, thinking of her boyfriend.
"Lining up to get some cotton candy for me." She blew out her breath impatiently and crossed her arms across her chest.
"Won't he wonder where you are?"
"I don't care," she blurted out. "I can't stand him anymore." She turned away as if she was ashamed. "I-I mean...I don't even know. He's so nice and so devoted. Everyone likes him, but I…don't love him. Even our parents expect us to get married one day. I already know that's not going to happen. I want break up, except that I don't have a good reason. Augh! I'm sorry I'm boring you but I just don't have any other friends anymore." She sniffed and pulled out her handkerchief.
"Maysilee wasn't just my best friend, she was like a sister. When she was gone I couldn't even get out of bed, I couldn't deal with anything and I'm just a wreck. It hurts Robin, it hurts," she began to cry in earnest. "Dannel tries to understand, he tries so hard but he just doesn't know he's only making it worse. How do you live Robin? How do you go on day by day when the person who was everything to you is dead?"
"I-" he took a deep breath and tentatively reached a hand out to brush her face with his fingers. "I can't give up on life because of the mockingjays."
"What?" She was confused.
"My brother used to say that mockingjays symbolize the strength of the will to live. When the Capitol left Jabberjays to die out they only mated with the mockingbird to give life to the most proliferic bird there is. They're everywhere, reminding me that if they could survive, so can I."
There was a rustle behind them, as a flock of curious mockingjays peeped out from the foliage. Since their ancestors the jabberjays had been bred to eavesdrop on humans, the mockingjays cocked their heads inquisitively and watched the young couple with interest.
"Sing?" she asked, almost pleadingly.
Normally shy, Robin took a deep breath and began to sing a verse from his brother's favourite song.
I hope it's worth it,
What's left behind me,
I know you'll find your own way,
When I'm not with you
And as always they fell silent, and after a polite pause sang the words back to him.
Ruth's eyes widened and her tears seemed to dry up. She turned to him with a mixture of awe and envy. "That was magical, I've never heard anything like it. Thank you, Robin."
He blushed and shrugged bashfully. "I can sing for you any time you like, if you want."
"Would you really?" She looked at him with such intensity he blushed even harder and had to look away.
"Of course. Can we meet tomorrow after school in the field?"
She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "It's a date."
The next day, a rumour swept through the school hallways that Ruth and Dannel had broken up. Robin kept his head down and refused to join in the gossip about the school's golden couple, burdened by irrational guilt.
"So do you think Ruth dumped Dannel or the other way around?" Two girls were gossiping in hushed whispers at the water fountain that had been broken ever since he could remember.
"The other way around of course, Ruth's been such a downer recently, she's no fun anymore."
"Yeah I know right? Oh I did my hair differently today, do you think Dannel will notice?"
Robin ignored their whispers and slammed his locker shut. He shouldered this third-hand books over his broken schoolbag and walked out the doors.
He wondered if Ruth had heard the various talk—or if she had been offended. Either way, she never mentioned school when they met that afternoon. Strolling through the meadow, their hardships became a distant dream. They no longer looked away if the other stared too long. The held hands and talked. They smiled at the discovery that both took joy from the simplest things in life.
Later of course new rumours began swirling that Ruth had hit rock bottom when she was slumming with some Seam orphan but she didn't seem to care and he was so blissfully happy he didn't care either. Together, they felt immune to anything the world could throw at them.
.
"She likes me Raven, she actually likes me!" he told his brother excitedly. Seventeen was too old to be acting this childish but with Ruth in his life everything was better. The colours were brighter, birds sounded sweeter, even his bland food was tastier. It was the first time in his life he had ever felt so happy.
His head was so high in the clouds as he thought about Ruth that he didn't even hear the footsteps approaching until he turned around to see, of all people Dannel Mellark. Noticing the bouquet of assorted blooms from the District florist, Robin nodded his respects.
"Visiting your brother, Robin?" he asked pleasantly. "Here." He plucked a violet from his bouquet and placed it across Raven's grave.
"I'm afraid I'm going to start becoming a regular here, Linde was my favourite cousin," he confessed, laying the rest of the bouquet in front of the newest female tribute's grave.
Robin stared at the flowers, then at Dannel's expression, remembering nimble Linde Undersee as doing incredibly well for District 12- until she ran into the Careers.
"I didn't know you were related to the Undersees," he finally said.
"Almost all the merchants are related in some way or another. Ruth is actually my third cousin twice removed, did you know that? At the rate we're going the merchant quarter is going to be more inbred than my family's bakery in a few generations." He gave a small laugh at his own joke.
Robin's hands clenched tightly. "Why are you being so nice to me? You should hate me," he blurted.
Dannel looked up at him with a puzzled frown. "Why? Because Ruth chose you over me?" he said mildly.
Robin nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Dannel looked away and sighed. "What's the point of all this hatred? It just goes around and around, and who wins? Not us. You know, from the Capitol to District 12 we're all people. How does it make sense for the country you're born in determine whether someone goes to die or watches? I've always thought that maybe if we focused on what was the same instead of what's different, then maybe we would realize we actually have no reason to hate each other."
Robin looked at the baker thoughtfully, seeing him in a new light. A surge of emotion, a mixture respect, remorse, wistfulness struck through his heart as he thought about what the world would be like if it more people like Dannel Mellark were in charge.
But then again, he thought sadly, gentle souls like him were rarer than District 12 victors.