3/10/15

Hi again! Sorry, I said I'd update on Friday, but then I had to babysit and on Saturday I had something else going on (can't remember what, though), on Sunday I had church and I had to clean the basement, and schoolwork took me all day yesterday so updating then was out of the question. I'll get my crap under control one of these days *wistful sigh*

Thank you Quenn of Colours for following/favoriting, Josephm611 for following, Lya200 for reviewing, and stellaslomp for reviewing :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention

…

Chapter Thirteen: Training part 2

I walk into the cafeteria, and I'm instantly flooded with memories. I haven't really been here since the night before my Games, when I retreated to its safety after humiliating myself during the interviews. This is the place where I met Lewis, too. I may have allied with him on the training floor, but we met here. I shake away the memory and grab Finnick's shoulder.

"When do you think Haymitch will talk to us?" he asks in a quiet voice. I shrug and look around the room. I spot two familiar faces, only they aren't walking in from the entrance that everyone else is using.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up," I say in a fake sneer. The twins involuntarily flinch.

"It's not like we had a choice," Gloss says.

"Yeah," Cashmere agrees.

"Whatever," I say, rolling my eyes. I look over at the group of people standing in line to get food. I still can't help but compare it to the cafeteria at school. I bet everyone will find their little cliques now.

Oh no, we are not playing cliques with the victors. Not if I can help it.

"Come on, help me push these tables together," I say, trying to push a table to the center of the room. Gloss and Finnick join me, while Cashmere goes to fetch Brutus and Enobaria. We eventually get the tables pushed together and fall into the line for food. One by one, the remaining victors enter the room. At this point, the only one of us who's missing is…

"Blight?" I ask.

"Hey Hanna," he says, setting down his tray between me and Finnick. He takes a seat and pats me on the shoulder.

"Where have you been?" I snap in a whisper.

Blight shrugs. "I just had to take care of a couple things.

I sigh and rub my temples. "A couple things wouldn't have taken you the first half of training."

"Sorry," Blight apologizes. "Those couple things just took longer than I thought they would. But I'm here now, aren't I?"

"I guess so," I scoff, and I go back to eating.

"What were those things?" Finnick asks.

"Just things," Blight says.

Gosh, this is cryptic even for Blight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Mason family circus," Shey mumbles under her breath. I almost choke on my mystery meat.

"What?" I ask.

"Just… you two," Shey laughs.

"Yeah, right. Don't worry Cowgirl, you don't have to pay for the show," I scoff.

Shey punches me on the shoulder. I punch her back.

"Ouch. I probably deserved that," Shey admits.

"Yes you did," I agree. "And so did I. Now, on to business. What station are you going to next?"

"I guess I'll try archery," Shey says. "You know, to get the feel of it," she drops her voice to a whisper. "I may have to bring Katniss her bow. I don't want to seem incompetent with it."

"Good idea," I say nodding my head.

"I may as well go with her," Angus says. "Finnick?"

"No thanks, Mags and I were there earlier," Finnick comments. "I think I'll just stalk the newbies. See what they're made of."

"Suit yourself," Shey says. "Gloss? Wanna come with?"

Gloss ducks his head slightly. "I'd love to, but I think Cashy wants to drag me to the hammocks," Gloss says, nudging his sister with his elbow. She scowls at him and he laughs. "Not like she needs the practice. I swear she can make a decent hammock out of anything."

"Really?" Blight asks.

"Yeah, it might as well be my talent, if it weren't for my guitar," Cashmere says. "Oh, I made this one that hangs off my balcony- scares the crap outta Gloss. I swear, it's not like it's that high up, but…"

"It's going to break one of these days," Gloss says defensively. "You're the only family I have left, Cash. Gotta keep you safe somehow."

"Glossy, it can't possibly break because I'm the one who made it," Cashmere says proudly. "Besides, it's been up there for years. If it was gonna break it would've done it by now."

"I guess you're probably right," Gloss admits. "So what about you Johanna? Where are you going next?"

I look at Blight and shrug. "I dunno. Axes, maybe?"

"Sounds like a plan," Blight agrees.

….

Time goes by quickly. I catch up with my old friends, make a new one out of Lover Boy, and just generally get better with my axe. It's funny, really, how well I can still throw an axe. It's been so long that I'd all but forgotten. Same goes for Blight. But the two of us are still better than anyone else in the training center. I bet we even rival Katniss's ability with a bow. Maybe even Finnick's ability with a trident. Or not, but it's still a nice thought. A really nice thought.

"Private Sessions are today," Finnick comments.

"Really?" I say sarcastically. "I never noticed."

Finnick laughs. "So what are you going to do?"

I shrug and poke at my mystery meat. I'm not sure why I always get some, when I hardly end up eating it. Maybe it's to remind me that even the Capitol has to endure trials, even if they're as trivial as not knowing what they're eating. Not that anyone in District 7 would mind it. A little under a fourth of us wouldn't even notice. Okay, scratch off every bit of sympathy I have for the citizens of the Capitol.

"I should tie some knots. Throw my trident. But they're expecting that. I need to do something else, too," Finnick says nervously.

"They probably want you to strip," I scoff.

"Nah, I think I'll leave that for you," Finnick teases as I regret telling him about my prank in the elevator. I punch him in the arm. Harshly.

"Well, if Finnick strips, I'm doing ballet," Angus laughs.

"Aww, you took mine," Blight fake whines.

"What is wrong with our dads?" Shey whispers. I shrug in response.

"I know what I'm going to do," Cashmere says. We all look to her for explanation. "Sing, duh."

"You sing?" Peeta asks. It's not really a scorn, more of a genuine question.

"Yeah," Cashmere says.

"It's her talent," Gloss adds.

"You know what? I'll just tell jokes," Chaff laughs. "Why did the cookie go to the doctor?"

Silence.

"Because he was feeling a little crummy!"

Only Katniss and Peeta laugh.

"You like that? Here's another. Why did the aardvark cross the road?"

"To beat up the idiot who keeps telling jokes about him?" Enobaria guesses. This time everyone laughs.

"Forget Chaff telling jokes," I laugh. "Leave it to Enobaria!"

"What about you Mags?" Peeta asks. We all look at her and wait for an answer.

"Take a nap," Mags shrugs.

It figures.

…

If anyone got the "why did the aardvark cross the road/why did the cookie go to the doctor" reference, this is a sign that I've been watching too much Teen Titans recently. Too much Young Justice too, I guess. On second thought, you can never watch enough of either of those, so… I regret nothing.

Speaking of TT/YJ, my Teen Titans OTP has always been Cheshire and Speedy and the last time I watched Young Justice I got to "Targets"… let's just say I had a huge fangirling attack… (if that doesn't make any sense, both of those characters are in Young Justice too, only Speedy goes by Red Arrow instead but it's the same person, and in that episode they had a LOT of screen time together. What makes it even better is that in Teen Titans Cheshire didn't even have a speaking role and in this show she couldn't seem to shut up)

Long story short, if you've never seen either of those you need to watch them asap

Quote of the day!

"Maybe I don't recognize you sober." –Mockingjay part 1, Katniss Everdeen

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess