Disclaimer: The parachute idea is not mine at all. Credit goes to weasleysweaters on tumblr for her sheer genius (I hope you don't mind that I used it).
CHAPTER SONG: "Surface of the Sun" by John Murphy
The air was much fresher the following morning. It reminded Lartius of spring. He tucked Rendwick's canteen next to his own in his backpack. He cast a glance back at Rendwick, who was still sleeping on the floor, then stepped out onto the fire escape and pulled the panel shut. If he worked quickly, he'd be back before Rendwick woke up. He didn't want Rendwick to think he bailed on him.
He hadn't even reached the end of the block before he saw people in the park on 23rd Street. He didn't need to get closer to find out who they were. Aside from him and Rendwick, there was only one other group of allies in the arena. He immediately took a left and went for the west side park. He wanted to check on it anyway, to see if the water was back up and if grass was still dry from yesterday.
The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Lartius did his best to keep his time outside the hideout short. He wished it didn't take so long to get from Avenue F to 16th Avenue. Even more so, he wished Phox, Alto, Eunia, and Volumnia had set up camp somewhere else.
When he finally reached 16th Avenue, he was glad to see that the grass was back to normal. The water fountain was working just fine, too. He quickly refilled both his and Rendwick's canteens, then scanned the tree branches for birds. He managed to kill a couple of them, pluck them, and clean them out. He knew it would be risky to cook them in the park without someone keeping watch, but he didn't really have a choice. Rendwick was still asleep back at the hideout; he couldn't cook inside the hideout because of all the smoke. He broke off several branches from the nearest tree. He just had to be quick and very, very careful.
He lit the fire and hovered the birds, skewered on branches, over the fire with one hand. His other than held a knife. He looked around the streets, up at the rooftops, and back down at the birds. He kept turning them over so they would cook evenly on both sides. He felt very nervous and paranoid, trying to do two things at once. He knew Rendwick wasn't sleeping well since the Games started. He hoped and willed that Rendwick was still sleeping by the time he got back.
Finally, the birds were done. Lartius quickly stamped out the fire and stuck the birds inside his backpack. He climbed up the fire escape and quickly walked back to Avenue F. The sun's position actually hadn't changed too much since he left the hideout. It hadn't fully risen over the horizon yet, so maybe Rendwick was still asleep. When he reached the hideout, he looked around, making sure he wasn't being watched. He carefully stepped onto the fire escape, trying not to be too loud, and went back inside the hideout. When he pushed the panel back into the frame, Rendwick looked up at him, over to the empty spot on the floor next to him, then back up at Lartius. Lartius heard movement behind him and turned around.
"Did I wake you?" Lartius asked.
"No," Rendwick replied, shaking his head. "I haven't been sleeping all that well since the Reaping."
"I don't think anyone has," Lartius said.
Rendwick sat up. He noticed Lartius was taking off his backpack. "Did you go somewhere?"
"Yeah, I went to get food," Lartius replied. He sat down next to Rendwick.
"Alone?" Rendwick asked incredulously.
"Hey, I'm alive, aren't I?" Lartius was smiling a little. His hand went up to Rendwick's shoulder, then slowly up to the back of Rendwick's neck. His thumb brushed back and forth in Rendwick's hair and he pulled him into a kiss. Rendwick's hand moved up to the crook of Lartius' elbow. Lartius smiled a little at the warm, pleasant sensation in his chest. He pulled back so he could look at Rendwick.
"Did you notice I was gone?" he asked.
"No," Rendwick replied.
Lartius nodded. "Good. I didn't want you to think I ran out on you, especially given what happened last night."
Rendwick smiled. "Where'd you go to get food?"
"Phox, Alto, Eunia, and Volumnia were at the park a few blocks uptown so I went back to the park on the west side," Lartius said, opening his backpack. "The grass looks normal again and the water's back up. I guess yesterday's drought was just something the Gamemakers did to freak us out." He passed Rendwick his now full canteen.
"Thanks," Rendwick said, taking his canteen.
"You're in a good mood for someone who's not a morning person," Lartius noted.
Rendwick just smiled again. He tugged Lartius forward by his jacket and kissed him again. His hand moved up to the space underneath Lartius' ear. Lartius had one hand on Rendwick's shoulder to steady himself. He smiled against Rendwick's mouth.
"Are you hungry?" Lartius asked, pulling back.
"What did you get?"
Lartius pulled the two birds out of his backpack, still skewered on their sticks, and handed one of them to Rendwick.
"It's really nice out today," Lartius said.
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hm. It's like spring."
Rendwick moved in a little closer to Lartius. "Do you think there'll be another drought at some point?"
Lartius shrugged. "I don't know what goes on in the Gamemaker's heads." He took a bite of his bird.
"Yeah. How do you think they make all of this?" Rendwick asked him.
Lartius thought back to all the past arenas, all the leafy trees, the ponds, the lakes, the bushes, the stone, the sand, the mutts, and the concrete. "I don't know. I bet it gets hard after so many years, because they have to make each Games more interesting than the last. I don't think they've ever used the same arena twice."
Rendwick took a bite of his own bird. "Yeah. If they kept using the same arenas over and over, people would get bored and they wouldn't want to watch anymore."
"Can you imagine if people stopped watching?" Lartius said. "Even the people in the Capitol? None of the sponsors would send anything."
"And the Capitol citizens are the biggest spectators. The other districts only watch for the kids from their district. And the parents sometimes feel like they can't watch because they're terrified of watching their kids die on TV. They just feel so powerless, they want to protect them, but they're separated by a screen."
Lartius wondered if that was how his parents felt. Maybe his mom felt that way. His dad wanted to watch him succeed, as did his brother. He could practically see Jax sitting directly in front of the television set, scanning the roads and rooftops for a glance of his big brother. He dropped one of his empty bones onto the floor next to him.
"But if no one watches, they don't have a Game," Rendwick said.
Lartius never thought he would talk about the Games like this while he was in the Games, let alone at all. Lartius bet that if his friends from school were in his situation, they would think the same way about the Games.
Actually that wasn't true, he realized. His friends were all straight. They all had different personalities, but a similar drive. Their attitudes would be more like Phox and Alto. They'd be in the thick of the action, looking for tributes to kill everyday, not holed up in a secret room with Rendwick. If any of them had been picked or volunteered in his place at the Reaping, they wouldn't have made any kind of connection with Rendwick.
Rendwick dropped the last bone on the floor and wiped his hands off. He moved so he sat next to Lartius with his back against the wall, propping his arm on his knee.
Lartius took a sip from his canteen. "Did you ever think that you'd have a better understanding of the Games if you were a part of it, but now that you are, you still don't have a clear picture?"
"I think that's kind of the point, though," Rendwick said. "No one knows how the Games are made or organized. It's all shrouded in mystery. They want to keep people like us and prospective tributes out of the loop."
"Yeah, I guess." Lartius dropped his last bone down in his pile. "If they gave us details on how everything worked, we'd have it too easy out here. We'd know how to get around anything the Gamemakers threw at us."
"The last thing the Gamemakers want to do is make this easy," Rendwick said. "If it's too easy, everyone gets bored."
Rendwick shifted in his seat a little, turning more towards Lartius. His arm reached up to wrap around Lartius' shoulder. Lartius shifted in his seat, and leaned his back against Rendwick's chest. Rendwick hooked his chin on Lartius' shoulder.
"I'm really not in the mood to go out right now," Lartius said.
"Me neither."
Rendwick's hand was by Lartius' arm, his thumb brushing back and forth in the crook of Lartius' elbow. Sometimes when Rendwick moved his head, the tip of his nose would brush the top of Lartius' ear, which gave him that warm, pleasant sensation in his chest again.
"Do you think if your parents saw this that they'd be happy for you?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick tilted his head to the side a little. His hand trailed down Lartius' arm and reached his wrist. "Yeah." Rendwick's hand traveled down further and their fingers entwined. "Maybe."
Lartius smiled a little. He looked down at their hands and noticed something protruding from the sleeve of Rendwick's jacket. He pushed the sleeve back and saw an intricately knotted bracelet tied around his wrist. "What's this?"
Lartius could feel Rendwick smile near his ear. "It's my district token. My mom made it from fishnets and dried seaweed. I've been wearing it since I was 12."
Lartius let the sleeve fall back over Rendwick's wrist.
"What's your token?" Rendwick asked.
"Don't have one," Lartius replied. "Didn't think of one. My brother has one, though. An old coin. He found it the dirt at his school playground."
"He already has a token?" Rendwick asked. "How old is he again? Seven?"
"Mhm." Lartius nodded. "I used to be like him. I always looked forward to the Games. I acted like one of the Capitol spectators. Me and my friends would reenact them."
"You used to?" Rendwick repeated.
"Yeah." He turned his head to look at Rendwick. "Not anymore. And I bet you can guess why."
Rendwick smiled a little. "Did I really get through to you that quickly?"
"Well, you had all the evidence you needed in here."
Lartius leaned in and kissed him. His hand went up to Rendwick's shoulder. Rendwick's other arm wrapped around Lartius, pulling him in a little closer. He felt Lartius' hand move up from his shoulder to just beneath his ear.
Rendwick pulled back and rested his forehead on Lartius'. Rendwick never thought he could feel this happy, especially not in the Games. It made him feel human. That was one thing he was still trying to hold onto. He didn't want to turn into a monster.
Rendwick noticed his priorities had shifted at this point. At the start of the Games, he was planning on just surviving the Games. But now, his priority was Lartius. He had to keep Lartius alive.
Lartius looked at Rendwick. "We should go out at some point."
Rendwick's mouth thinned. He didn't say anything.
"You know we can't stay cooped up in here the whole time," Lartius said. "We won't survive that way."
Rendwick nodded reluctantly. "I just figured this was a much better way to spend my time."
Lartius turned a little in his seat. "I'm not saying we should go hunting for tributes." Rendwick's other arm wrapped around Lartius' neck to join the other hand. Lartius' hand went up to Rendwick's elbow. "I know you don't like that. I'm just thinking we could go out and walk, refill our canteens, something."
"You don't like being cooped up in here," Rendwick said.
"I'd like it a whole lot less if I were alone, that's for sure," Lartius said. Rendwick smiled. "Sometimes, I just need to get up and walk around, and I need my open space."
Rendwick reached up to Lartius' hair. "I understand." He leaned his forehead against Lartius' again. "When do you wanna go?"
Lartius smiled. "Not now. In a little bit."
Rendwick laughed a little and kissed him again. Lartius' hand trailed up and down Rendwick's arm.
"Has your dad let you do things in his workshop yet?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius laughed. "I can't believe you remembered that."
"Of course I did." Rendwick kissed Lartius' temple, his nose brushing Lartius' forehead. "Well? Has he?"
"No," Lartius answered. "He said he wanted to wait until I was eighteen, so I have a few months left to go."
Rendwick nodded.
"What about you?" Lartius asked. "Did you ever learn how to catch shellfish?"
"Yeah, when I was thirteen. I caught this huge lobster. Normally, we're not allowed to keep anything we catch. It has to go right to the markets. But since it was the first time I'd caught shellfish, my mom helped me sneak it home."
Lartius smiled.
"It tasted incredible, too," Rendwick added.
Lartius laughed. He rested his forehead on Rendwick's again, then leaned in more and kissed him. His hand went back up under Rendwick's ear, then into his hair. Lartius felt Rendwick's grip on him tighten a little. They pulled apart again, and just sat there, looking at each other.
"All right," Lartius said after a while. "We should get going."
Rendwick nodded and kissed him one more time. Lartius reached over for his backpack and jacket as he stood up. He extended a hand and helped Rendwick to his feet. Rendwick put on his own backpack and took his spear. Lartius put on his jacket, swung his backpack over his shoulders, and headed for the window.
"Wait, wait," Rendwick said suddenly.
Lartius turned around. "What?"
"Can we just establish something right now?" Rendwick asked.
"Establish what?" Lartius let go of the panel.
"A rule, about all this." He gestured between the two of them. "That whatever happens in the hideout stays in the hideout," Rendwick said.
Lartius nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
Rendwick's entire body seemed to relax. "Thanks."
"Of course," Lartius said. "You say that like you were afraid I'd say no."
"I just wanted to make sure," Rendwick said.
"Well, it's not really my place to push you into things," Lartius said, reaching for Rendwick's hand. "If you don't want people to know yet, then who am I to say no to that?"
Lartius leaned up kissed him once. Rendwick held onto him and kissed him back, longer. Lartius smiled as he gripped Rendwick by his shoulders.
"Okay," Lartius said after they broke apart. "Let's go."
Lartius pulled the panel open and they both stepped out onto the fire escape. Lartius pulled the panel shut and they walked up to the roof.
Rendwick glanced up at the sky. "You're right. It is really nice out here."
Lartius smiled and glanced up, too. He noticed the sky was a little overcast. "It wasn't this cloudy when I was out earlier this morning." The clouds stretched all over the arena, the ones back towards the tallest building looked particularly ominous.
"What, you think it's gonna rain?" Rendwick asked.
"I hope it doesn't."
"Where do you wanna go?"
Lartius looked around. "Let's head uptown. The park's probably empty by now."
Rendwick nodded. They made their way up to 23rd Street, slowing down a little when they got closer to the trees. They looked around the park, peering through the leaves and branches to make sure the coast was clear before they went down the fire escape.
"We can't keep hiding from them, you know," Lartius said, when Rendwick jumped down to the pavement.
"Yeah, I know," Rendwick replied. He knew who Lartius meant by "them".
"Wish there was a way to diminish the pack," Lartius said, as they crossed the street into the park. "So we wouldn't have to worry about fighting all four of them at once."
"There probably is, we just need to think of it and put it into motion," Rendwick said. They walked down the line of trees to the stone fountain.
"Have you ever checked out the rest of the park?" Rendwick asked. He looked to the left of the fountain.
Lartius shook his head. "Never really had the time."
There wasn't really much to see of the rest of the park at first. It was just a lot of open space more trees and bushes, and a couple of boulders here than there. The more they wandered around, the more they saw. There were bronze statues and wooden benches placed around the park. Lartius also noticed that some of the trees had low branches, easy access for climbing.
"Do you think this arena was based on a real place?" Lartius asked Rendwick. "Like a real city where people used to live?"
Rendwick raised his eyebrows, pondering this. "Maybe. They have to get their inspiration for these arenas from somewhere. Maybe there was a city like this back when Panem was called North America."
"I never really learned anything about North America in school," Lartius said. "Just that it was devastated by natural disasters and war."
"Yeah, same here." Rendwick sat down on one of the boulders. "What do you think this place was like, if it existed in real life?"
Lartius reached up to a leaf dangling from one of the trees. "Busy. This place is just rows and rows of buildings. And cramped. There are no houses in here, so everyone must've had a floor or a section of it to live in."
They just spent their time wandering around the park. It was one of the rare moments where they didn't feel rushed out in the open arena. Several times, Rendwick had to fight the impulse to reach for Lartius' hand. His head wanted to keep his relationship with Lartius a secret, but his heart didn't seem to care.
They walked into the trees, seeing the layer of woodchips on the ground instead of grass. They looked up and saw blankets stretched between the branches, tied to each other, shielding them from the sun, forming a makeshift tent.
"I bet this is where they stayed during the drought," Rendwick said, half to himself and half to Lartius.
Lartius looked up at all the blankets. "Yeah. Maybe."
"This looks pretty cool, though," Rendwick said. "It looks like a fort I made with my friends when I was nine."
"Yeah?" Lartius grinned. "What'd you use it for? Secret clubhouse?"
"Sometimes. One day it was a pirate ship, another day it was a castle."
"Wish we'd done that ten years ago," Lartius said. "Sounds like fun."
Rendwick laughed a little. They kept wandering around, although Lartius didn't think there was much else to see underneath the blanket tent.
"Lartius?" Rendwick said suddenly.
"Yeah?" Lartius replied.
"You said Phox and everyone were here this morning?" Rendwick asked.
"Yeah, why?" Lartius turned around.
"I think they left this behind." Rendwick pointed underneath one of the trees.
Lartius walked up to the tree and saw what seemed to be a pile of clothes. Rendwick tentatively poked the pile with the blade of his spear.
Lartius laughed. "What are you doing? It's a pile of clothes, not a bomb."
"I just want to make sure," Rendwick said. "You know who we're dealing with here."
"Yeah, but they're not smart enough to make a pile of clothes dangerous. Relax."
Rendwick started to laugh, too. "We find a pile of clothes, I apparently see a bomb, and you just see free clothes."
Still laughing, Lartius crouched down and picked up the shirt on top of the pile. "It's all guys' stuff." He went through the rest of the pile and found two more shirts and two pairs of pants. He handed a pair of pants and shirt to Rendwick. "Finders keepers."
Rendwick laughed again, tucking the clothes in his backpack.
"I don't really think there's much else here," Lartius said, putting away the clothes he'd gotten from the pile.
"You wanna head back?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius nodded.
They passed back through the trees and found themselves by the fountain again. Although he dimly registered that the sky looked more overcast than before, Lartius' mind was still on Phox and his troupe. He knew they were all dangerous as a group, but Lartius felt Phox was the most dangerous when singled out from the rest of them. Even if the managed to evade being diminished from the pack, he was going to be tough to deal with when the time came.
One of the bushes by the trees caught his eye and Lartius stopped. He crouched down in front of the bush. Rendwick noticed Lartius wasn't following him anymore and turned around. Lartius plucked one of the berries from the bush and looked at it.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Rendwick asked, taking his arm. "That's nightlock."
"I know," Lartius replied. Rendwick let go of his arm. "I was thinking I'd slip this into their food and see if they fall for it. They spent most of their time in the Training Center playing around with the weapons."
Rendwick thought about this. "But wait, they've been through the parks before. They've probably already seen the nightlock and recognized it. That's why they haven't touched it."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Lartius said, nodding. He pressed his lips together, still staring at the grass for a while before he looked up. "Do you still have the parachute the bread came in?"
Rendwick raised his eyebrows. "Good thinking. They'll trust anything that comes from the Capitol."
"Or looks like it anyway."
Rendwick swung his backpack off one shoulder and around to his chest. He unzipped it, fished around inside, and took out the tin container. "The parachute's back at the hideout."
Lartius took the container, opened it, and saw what resembled a paper napkin inside it. He dumped a handful of berries onto it, making sure it didn't touch the metal interior, in case they used the container for something else.
"I think we should test it," Lartius said.
"On who?" Rendwick asked.
"Someone else. Just to make sure it works. Who's left?"
Rendwick tipped his head back a little. "Um… besides us and Phox and his troupe, the guy from Five and the girl from Twelve."
"We'd have to find one of them to test this out." Lartius screwed the lid back on the container and put it in his backpack.
"You wanna do this now?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius shook his head. "No, not now. I was thinking about heading out just as the sun started to set and hopefully finding someone before the anthem, when the sun is down. That way they won't see us throw the parachute down, and it'll be too dark for them to recognize that it's nightlock."
"That's brilliant," Rendwick said, impressed.
Lartius pulled his canteen out, shook it a little, and headed to the water fountain, shrugging. As he was refilling, Rendwick felt something small fall on his arm. He looked down at his arm, up at the overcast sky, and felt something wet drop on his face.
"Damn it," Rendwick said.
"What?" Lartius asked, putting his canteen away.
"It's starting to rain," Rendwick said. "Can't you feel it?"
Lartius looked down at the water pooled in the basin of the fountain. The surface looked undisturbed. He held out his palm, but the rain caught him on his wrist. "Yeah, we need to head back."
It wasn't raining too hard as they started walking back, but the rain did get heavier by the time they reached 19th Street. Lartius could feel the rain soaking through his shirt and pants. After the drought yesterday, the cold drops permeating through his clothes felt pleasantly cool. He let himself enjoy it.
The rain had gotten even heavier by the time they made it back to the hideout. Lartius' shirt was entirely soaked now, even the parts of his shirt covered by his jacket. As Rendwick quickly looked around to make sure they weren't being followed, Lartius tipped his head back to get a face full of the rain. Rendwick looked at him, laughed a little, and dragged him inside.
"Hopefully the rain stops tonight so we can test the parachute idea." Lartius swung his backpack off his shoulder.
"I forgot they could make it rain in here," Rendwick said, pushing the panel back into the window frame. He set his spear aside and took off his backpack.
"It was refreshing though, especially after the drought yesterday," Lartius said, shaking off his jacket.
Rendwick shed his own jacket, felt his wet shirt between his fingers, and pulled it over his head. "Are you soaked?" he asked Lartius.
Lartius' stomach jumped at the sight of Rendwick's bare chest. He smiled a little. "Yup." Lartius peeled off his own shirt and wrung it out. A sizable stream of water dripped onto the floor. "Jeez. It's like a sponge."
Smiling, Rendwick moved in a little closer and draped his wet shirt over his shoulder. He ran his hands through the top of Lartius' wet hair, flicking droplets of water off the ends, his eyes locked on Lartius'. Rendwick's lips were hovering inches over Lartius'. Unable to stand it, Lartius pulled him down and kissed him hungrily.
Both of their shirts wound up on the floor. Lartius' hand went to the back of Rendwick's head, pulling him in deeper. Then their hands began to wander, up and down each other's backs, arms and chests, cupping each other's cheeks, and sliding into each other's hair. The water made their hands glide smoothly over each other's bodies.
Still attached to Lartius' mouth, Rendwick sat down against the wall, dragging Lartius down with him. They kept kissing, deeper and deeper, faster and faster, Lartius sitting in between Rendwick's legs. Lartius liked their small, intimate moments, but he always felt like he wanted more.
Rendwick let himself get lost in the moment. He felt his spine buck up whenever Lartius' fingertips pressed into his skin. The body heat passing back and forth between them made their minds foggy. The room was filled with their heavy breathing and the sound of rain pounding on the panel in the window. Rendwick sat up a little so he wasn't leaning against the wall. Lartius' hand moved down his back, his fingertips gently traced down Rendwick's spine, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from him. Rendwick gently bit down on Lartius' lower lip, dragging it with his teeth. A soft moan escaped Lartius' lips.
Lartius' head and heart were going a million miles a minute. He didn't feel the need to come up for air. The water was drying on their skin, so Lartius reached up into Rendwick's still wet hair. Rendwick's hand slid down to the small of Lartius' back. Lartius smiled a little against Rendwick's mouth. His lips moved from Rendwick's mouth to his jaw, down his neck, to his collarbone. Rendwick let out a moan of his own, tipped his head back, and kept his eyes shut. His hand moved to the back of Lartius' head.
Lartius kissed down to the middle of his chest before he made his way back up. He lingered on Rendwick's collarbone, smiling a little at the noises Rendwick was making. He moved back up his neck and to his jaw before Rendwick pulled him back to his mouth. Rendwick's other hand went back and forth between Lartius' waist and the small of his back. Lartius' hand slid from his neck down to his chest. He could feel Rendwick's heart thumping. Lartius' hand to continued to slide down until it reached Rendwick's thigh, moving closer and closer to his hips, but Rendwick stopped the wandering hand and pulled back, breaking the kiss.
"What?" Lartius asked, looking at him.
"I just, uh," Rendwick cleared his throat. "I feel like we need to… slow down a little."
"Okay," Lartius said, nodding.
"Sorry," Rendwick said, looking down.
"Hey, come on." Lartius cupped Rendwick's face with his hands. "We talked about this earlier. Don't be sorry. You're allowed to go at your own pace."
Rendwick smiled, and felt his face turn a little pink. He felt incredibly lucky that Lartius understood and respected his process. Lartius kissed him one last time before he reached over and picked their shirts up off the floor. "This… is yours," he said, handing Rendwick his shirt. He tossed his own damp shirt aside and took out one of the dry ones he'd found at the park.
Rendwick put on his own dry shirt on. He pulled Lartius in a little and kissed him, very slowly, very gently. Rendwick leaned back against the wall, draping his arms around Lartius' neck, pulling him into his chest, like they'd been that morning. Lartius rested his forehead on Rendwick's temple. He always liked rain. It made the atmosphere serene, even inside a building. He felt like they were inside a bubble, safe, isolated from the rest of the arena.
"I know you keep saying I don't need to apologize about taking it slow," Rendwick said, his hand fiddling with the collar on Lartius' shirt. "But I feel like I need to."
"Why, though?" Lartius asked.
"Because this is all new to me. I don't know how it's supposed to work, so I'm just treading lightly until I get used to it."
"So?" Lartius said, smiling a little. "It's new for me, too. I don't know how this is supposed to work either." He shrugged. "We'll figure it out together. Who cares? It's not like anyone's watching us anyway."
Almost instantly, Lartius felt a sharp sting in his forearm. He grimaced as his hand instinctively reached for the spot below his elbow.
"What is it?" Rendwick asked, sitting up instantly.
"It's just my arm," Lartius said. He took his hand off looked at it. There were no cuts or marks or anything indicating pain. Then Lartius saw a faint light pulse underneath his skin.
"No," Lartius said, a tone of awe in his voice. "It's my tracker."
Rendwick looked down at Lartius' arm. "It's hurting?"
"Stinging." The light underneath his skin was a dull orange, not the white-blue he saw when the Capitol attendant had injected it into his arm. "Do you think it could be because of the rain?"
"I doubt it." Rendwick's mind zoomed into overdrive, trying to figure out what this meant. Since they were dealing with the Capitol, it couldn't mean anything good. His heart seemed to drop when he wondered if the injection was safe. Was the tracker giving Lartius an infection? The Capitol attendants were all dressed in white and had a sterile look about them. No one had ever died from getting their tracker injected into their arm. But, then again, Rendwick didn't even know that tributes were injected with trackers until he got into the hovercraft the morning the Games started.
"Is yours orange, too?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick looked at his own tracker. No light was pulsing through his skin. "No."
"Maybe it's dying out," Lartius suggested. He didn't know what kind of power the trackers ran on.
If the tracker was giving him an infection, Lartius was going to need medicine. Rendwick was about to go for his backpack and see what his first aid kit had that could help when he felt a sharp sting in his arm. "Agh." He looked down at it and saw the same orange light Lartius' tracker had. "Okay, now mine is orange."
"What does it mean?" Lartius asked.
For some reason, now that they both felt the stinging from their trackers, Rendwick's theory that the tracker was giving Lartius an infection died off. It wouldn't make sense to kill both of them by an infection, especially since they were hiding from the cameras for most of the Games. It seemed like a very boring way to die. The viewers wouldn't like it.
Rendwick looked back down at his tracker. There had to be a reason why the light was now pulsing orange. He wondered if Lartius was right, and their trackers were dying out. If their trackers died, the Gamemakers would have no idea where they were in the arena.
Or-
"They're trying to find us," he said suddenly.
Lartius looked at him. "What?"
"The Gamemakers have cameras everywhere in the arena, except in here," Rendwick said, turning a little in his spot on the floor. "The trackers are telling them where we are, but they can't see us. I think they're trying to rework the trackers to figure out how that's possible. That's what's causing the stinging."
"You think so?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick shrugged. "It's a theory."
"You don't think it means anything dangerous?"
Rendwick shook his head. "Why would they kill us through our trackers if they couldn't see us? It's not a very exciting or dramatic way to die. And they want to show all the deaths on TV."
Lartius nodded. "Good point."
They both relaxed a little. Rendwick's arms went back around Lartius' shoulders.
"No one in the Games has ever died from an infection from the tracker?" Lartius asked.
"I don't think so," Rendwick replied. "That was actually my first thought when you said yours was stinging, and I was kind of, you know, inwardly panicking. Because if you did have an infection, I wouldn't know what to do or if I had anything that could help."
"If I did, though," Lartius said, "if they did give me an infection through this thing, they'd do something about it. Have a feast by the Cornucopia. Get everyone over there to fight it out for what they need."
Rendwick nodded, his heart dropping again. He'd forgotten about the feast. He'd seen several of them in past Hunger Games. The Gamemakers were probably imagining the showdown between a pair of tributes afflicted with an infection and a pair of tributes who weren't.
"We should be careful," Rendwick said. "You know, just in case. The second something feels off for either of us, we have to take it easy. We can't overexert ourselves."
"Off?" Lartius asked. "Like how?"
"Like a fever or something. Or if the stinging gets worse."
Lartius nodded. "And then what?"
Rendwick let out a puff of air. "Then we'll figure it out. I didn't check what was inside the first aid kit I got, but I bet there'll be something there that could help." One of his hand moved up to the back of Lartius' head, fiddling with his still damp hair. "You know, just in case," he repeated.
Lartius nodded again. His hand moved up to Rendwick's shoulder, then trailed lightly up and down his arm. He smiled a little at the way Rendwick was looking at him. He liked that Rendwick was looking out for him like this. It felt comforting, just in an oddly different way. He didn't really know how to describe it.
Rendwick leaned his forehead on Lartius', his eyes shut. The hand on the back of Lartius' head traveled around until it reached Lartius' chin, tipping his face upward a little bit. Rendwick kissed him gently, catching Lartius' top lip in between his. Lartius' hand reached back up to Rendwick's shoulder as he kissed him back a little deeper. He could feel Rendwick smiling against his mouth. Lartius propped his arm up, his hand reaching into Rendwick's hair again. Rendwick broke the kiss and rested his forehead on Lartius' again, his arm wrapping around his shoulder again.
It took a while, but Lartius slowly noticed the light permeating through the panel and filling up the room. The rain had stopped. Lartius got up, opened the panel, and poked his head outside. The sun was about to set.
"It's almost sunset," he said, pushing the panel back into place.
"You're gonna test out the parachute idea?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius nodded. He went to his backpack and took out the metal container full of nightlock. Rendwick reached over by the wall and retrieved the parachute. He handed it to Lartius, who fit the container back in the metal case, shut it, and clipped the parachute to the top.
Lartius looked over at Rendwick, who was still sitting comfortably against the wall. He looked like he had no intention of getting up. Lartius suddenly realized that Rendwick had asked if he was going to test out the parachute idea, not if they were going to do it together. He'd said "you", not "we".
"Are you okay with this?" Lartius asked, holding up the parachute.
Rendwick let out a breath and leaned the back of his head against the wall. "I don't know, honestly. I mean, it's pretty clever, I'll give you that. And it's less barbaric than stabbing or shooting someone. But… it's still killing a person. So I'm a little conflicted, you know?"
Lartius nodded. He put his jacket back on. "You don't have to come. I can do this by myself."
"No," Rendwick said, shaking his head. "It's okay. I'm coming with you. You need someone to cover you while you're testing it out."
"Are you sure?" Lartius asked. He stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulders.
Rendwick nodded. "Don't want anyone sneaking up on you."
Lartius smiled a little and pulled him to his feet.
"So what exactly is the plan?" Rendwick asked, putting on his jacket.
"We go looking for a tribute, whether they're on the move or they're stationary. We shadow them until night falls and they settle down for the night. Once they're comfortable, we find some higher ground and I'll throw the parachute down."
"What if they settle down on a rooftop and none of the buildings around them are taller?" Rendwick asked.
"Then we don't test it tonight. It'll be too dark to go looking for another tribute by then. We'll try again tomorrow."
Rendwick put his backpack on and picked up his spear. Lartius wrapped the parachute around the metal case and stuck it in his backpack. He opened the panel again, looked around, and stepped onto the fire escape, Rendwick following behind him and pulling the panel shut. The orange hue in the sky reminded Rendwick of the sunset from yesterday, at the top of the tallest building. He smiled to himself.
They headed uptown, walking on the rooftops. Lartius was scanning the ground below them. Rendwick glanced at the sunset again, and reached for his night vision shades in the side pocket of his backpack, thinking he would give them to Lartius when it got darker. He knew Lartius didn't want to use a flashlight, since it would give them away in the dark. When they passed the park on 21st Street, Rendwick could tell that Lartius was scanning the park. He turned left, walking past Avenue F and G.
"So I guess we're hitting the parks first?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius nodded. "It has water and it's predictable. It's the first place they might go."
They didn't really talk much the rest of the walk. Lartius was feeling a little antsy. His heart was pounding a little. He really wanted to try out his parachute theory. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to see if it would work. And he really did want to try it out that night, as opposed to waiting until the next day. He wanted to eliminate the pack of high-district tributes as quickly as he could. The fact that they were in the same arena as him and Rendwick made him nervous. He had no idea where they were, and he always seemed to run into them every day (although they never saw him). If the pack was diminished (or even gone), Lartius would be able to relax.
It gradually became darker and harder to see by the time they reached 9th Avenue. When they got to the park on 38th Street, Rendwick was ready to hand the night vision shades to Lartius. He unzipped the side pocket of his backpack when Lartius suddenly stopped.
"What?" Rendwick asked him.
"I think I see someone," Lartius said, pointing down to his right.
Rendwick squinted down, but finally saw a moving shape wedged in between two tall pine trees on the right side of the park. He reached into his backpack, and pulled out his binoculars. He pressed them to his eyes and focused in on the shape. He was able to make out the face with the sun almost completely set. His back was turned to the nearest building.
"It's the guy from Five," he said, passing the binoculars to Lartius. Lartius looked through them himself, nodded, and handed them back to Rendwick, who tucked them back into his backpack.
The building nearest to him was in front of the larger of the two pine trees. Lartius mentally documented the right building so they wouldn't have to keep looking down and risk getting caught. He glanced up at the still darkening sky, hiking his backpack higher onto his shoulder. "All right, let's do this."
The two of them walked on the far side of each building, so the guy from Five wouldn't be able to even see their silhouettes from the park. They walked a little further back between 9th and 8th Avenue before turning and walking up four more buildings.
"Okay," Lartius said in a low voice when they got to the right building. He looked back up at the sky. "It's not dark enough yet. We need to wait a little."
Rendwick nodded. "How long do you think?"
"Not too long. Maybe five, ten minutes."
Lartius sat down on the far side of the building. Rendwick sat down opposite him and put his spear down.
Rendwick studied Lartius' face. "You really want this to work, don't you?"
"Well, yeah," Lartius replied. "What other option do we have? I can't think of another way to diminish the pack without the rest of them immediately coming after us. Say I throw a knife, and it gets Eunia in the neck. They'll know it's me and that I'm nearby. It'd be too dangerous and stupid to try and hide. If I ran for it, they'd catch up to me."
"Why are you saying it like that?" Rendwick asked.
"Like what?"
"You keep saying 'I' and 'me'. Like you're doing this alone. We're in this together, remember?"
"I know, I just meant hypothetically."
"Yeah, but even hypothetically, why would you be alone in this?" Rendwick challenged. "Why would you think that I wouldn't be right there next to you?"
Lartius was taken aback. He tried to find the right words. "No, I just meant-"
A slow grin appeared on Rendwick's face and Lartius stopped.
"Why do you give me a hard time like that?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick shrugged. "It's fun. You get all flustered."
"Shut up," Lartius said, laughing a little.
Rendwick was laughing, too. His smile made Lartius' heart flutter. He felt a fleeting impulse to reach over and kiss Rendwick, but he pushed it aside. It could wait until they got back to the hideout. Thinking quickly, Lartius looked up at the sky, just to give himself something to do.
"You think it's dark enough yet?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius contemplated it for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. It's time."
They both got up and made their way to the other side of the building, facing the park. Lartius unzipped his backpack, fiddled around a little, and pulled out the parachute. He separated the parachute from the metal case and made sure the strings weren't tangled. Lartius glanced down very carefully to see where exactly the guy from Five was sitting.
"Can you see okay?" Rendwick asked in a whisper.
"Sort of," Lartius replied. "Not really."
Rendwick reached into his backpack, pulled out his night vision shades, and handed them to Lartius. He nodded in thanks, put them on, and looked down again. The shades were amazing, he could see so much more clearly. He found the guy from Five, still with his back to him. The pine trees he was sitting in between were pretty tall, but Lartius was hoping the parachute wouldn't get caught on the branches. If it got stuck in the tree, it was gone. They had no way of getting it out.
Rendwick was glancing around, spear in hand. It was a little harder to see in the dark, but he didn't ask Lartius for the shades back. Lartius' hand flexed around the metal case. He aimed, and then threw it between the trees.
The second Lartius threw the parachute, he immediately remembered that when a parachute was sent down, it emitted a beeping noise and had a flashing light. If the guy from Five noticed the light wasn't working or that there was no beeping, he might suspect it was a trick. But after a couple of seconds in the air, Lartius saw the flashing light and faintly heard the beeping noise. He breathed a sigh of relief. He guessed that the beeping and light worked when the parachute was in the air. He was even more relieved when he missed the branches entirely and the parachute floated down directly over the guy from Five.
As soon as the guy from Five looked up and noticed the parachute, Lartius and Rendwick stepped back a little as a precaution. Lartius could still see him catch the parachute and open it.
"Did he fall for it?" Rendwick asked.
Lartius watched the guy from Five take a few berries and eat them.
"Yep," Lartius replied, nodding. "It worked."
Sure enough, a few seconds later, he keeled over and the cannon boomed. Lartius quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there, and went for the fire escape.
"Where are you going?" Rendwick asked.
"To get the parachute back before the hovercraft gets here," Lartius replied. He took off the shades and handed them back to Rendwick.
Both of them quickly climbed down to the sidewalk and Lartius went into the park to retrieve the parachute. Rendwick followed close behind him, still glancing around to make sure no one was following them. Lartius pried the container from the guy from Five, closed it, put it back into the case, and clipped the parachute back to the top. He quickly wrapped the case in the parachute and tucked it back inside his backpack.
"Are we good?" Lartius asked Rendwick, straightening up.
"Yup," Rendwick replied, nodding. "Let's head back."
They climbed back up the fire escape and made their way from rooftop to rooftop back down to 15th Street and Avenue F.
"It worked," Rendwick said to Lartius.
Lartius nodded. "Yeah." There was a tone of relief to his voice.
"You sound like you thought it wouldn't," Rendwick said.
"No, I was just nervous, hoping it would work. Like, right before I threw it, I was just hoping it wouldn't get caught in the trees and that it would beep and light up. I had last minute worries about that. I'm glad it did work, and we got it back so we could use it again."
Rendwick was about to reach for Lartius' shoulder, but resisted. He kept reminding himself of the cameras in the arena.
"And now you can relax," Rendwick said.
"Yeah, tonight. At least a little," Lartius said. "Then, tomorrow we have to diminish the pack."
Rendwick nodded. They both turned left and walked back to Avenue F before walking back down towards 15th Street. Lartius did feel more relaxed now that he knew his theory worked. He wasn't too anxious to try it tomorrow night on the other high-district tributes. He figured he would be more anxious when the time came.
As they walked further downtown, Rendwick kept looking up at stars dotting the artificial sky. He'd never noticed before because he'd spent his nights in the hideout. It reminded him of summer nights back home. During the summer, there was considerably less light pollution so everyone in District 4 could see the sky like this at night. Rendwick was so lost up in the stars that he almost didn't notice they had arrived at the hideout. Lartius noticed where he was looking and tipped his head back to look up at the sky.
"It's amazing," Rendwick said. "It's not real, but it's still amazing."
Lartius smiled. He pushed the panel open and they both went inside. Rendwick pushed the panel back into the frame as Lartius reached inside his backpack and turned on his flashlight. Although it was a decent source of light, Lartius wished it were brighter. Or that he'd gotten a lantern from the Cornucopia. He dropped his backpack and sat down against the wall.
"It was a good day," Lartius decided.
Rendwick smiled. "Yeah, it was." He propped his spear against the wall and dropped his own backpack onto the floor. He sat down next to Lartius, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"How long do you think before the anthem?" Lartius asked.
Rendwick paused for a second, thinking. "Not that long, probably. We came back pretty late."
Lartius shifted in his seat so he was facing Rendwick. He leaned his head against his. He felt Rendwick pull him in a little closer.
"Just for the record," Lartius said, "I know we're in this together."
Rendwick smiled a little. "I know you do. I know what you meant back there. I was just trying to get you to loosen up a little so you wouldn't be so nervous."
Lartius nodded. "Well, it worked. You made me laugh."
Rendwick's smile widened.
"But uh," Lartius continued, "you did it, too."
Rendwick looked nonplussed. "I did?"
"About the parachute before we left. You asked me if I was going to test it out, not 'we'."
Rendwick nodded. "Oh. Yeah. I didn't even notice that." His thumb brushed back and forth on Lartius' shoulder. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Lartius said.
"Are you sure?" Rendwick asked. "I don't want to make things complicated."
"No, it's fine," Lartius replied, looking at him. "We both knew what we meant."
Rendwick looked back at Lartius. He was about to kiss him when the anthem started playing from outside. The two of them got up and went out on the fire escape. They watched the Capitol seal vanish in the artificial sky and the face of the male tribute from District 5 appear in its place. The tribute they killed with the parachute full of nightlock.
"This is where the Games get harder," Lartius said as they went back inside the hideout. "When the number of dead tributes goes down."
Rendwick pushed the panel back into the frame, nodding. "It was just one person today. Yesterday it was two, and the day before it was three."
"And the day before that was the bloodbath," Lartius said, slowly.
Rendwick looked at him. "That can't be right. The bloodbath was only three days ago?"
Lartius leaned his back against the wall. "I think so."
"God, that's so weird. Especially since the last few days have gone by so fast."
"I thought today went by a little slower," Lartius said. "I mean yeah, we went out twice but we weren't out for that long. We spent most of our time in here."
Rendwick nodded. The two of them straightened out their blankets that were still on the floor. They both knew it was time to get some sleep. Once they were lying down, Lartius reached for his flashlight. Rendwick reached over and wrapped his arm around Lartius' shoulder again, pulling him into his chest. He noticed his right arm didn't sting as much anymore. He wasn't sure if the stinging in his arm was subsiding or if he was just used to it now.
Lartius gazed up at Rendwick, but couldn't make out his face in the darkened room. His hand glided up Rendwick's chest until it found the back of his head. He felt the tip of Rendwick's nose on his forehead. He felt it move slowly down to the tip of his own nose. He felt Rendwick's lips meet his, and tightened his grip on him, pulling him down a little more.
When they broke apart, Lartius rested his cheek on Rendwick's chest, his forehead by Rendwick's collarbone. His hand slid down from the back of Rendwick's head to his chest, feeling Rendwick's heartbeat. He smiled to himself as Rendwick's chest rose and fell in time with his breathing.
Rendwick didn't remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up sharply in the middle of the night. It was still pretty dark inside the hideout. He couldn't see Lartius' face, but he still felt him in his arms. He shut his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, his grip on Lartius shifting a little. He moved his other arm to Lartius' waist.
As Rendwick felt Lartius' slow rhythmic breathing against him, a horrible thought passed through his mind: at most, only one of them would survive this.
That's one thing he never learned in the Training Center.
Never fall in love at the Games.
A/n: Sorry this chapter took so long to post. A) School and Game of Thrones got in the way. B) I knew it was going to be more subdued than the rest of them and I tried not to let it get boring. And then it became probably my gayest chapter yet. I might as well have titled it, "GAY DIDDY GAY GAY GAY GAY LOOK AT ALL THE GAY".