Atticus clenches his jaw. He can feel the vein on the side of his forehead throbbing and knows he's turned an ugly shade of red, but can't bring himself to care. "I'm not- I'm not some child," he spits out angrily, fists clenching at his side, "I don't need to be babysat!"

Stood opposite him, Bex Talos raises one perfectly arched eyebrow. "No, you don't. That's why it's not babysitting. It's training," she repeats for what she thinks must be the fourth time now. She drags her words out clear and slow, as though she were talking to a first-year Academy student and not the Victor of last year's Hunger Games, and smirks when it gets the desired effect; Atticus lets out an honest-to-god growl. She can't stand men. "Don't you fucking patronise me!" Atticus bellows, taking a few, purposeful steps forward, but it only gains a humourless cackle from Bex. "Don't you start something you can't finish, boy." she warns, glassy smile stretching over her face.

"Enough," Kade sighs wearily from his position next to Bex. "Enough," he repeats firmly when neither Victor stands down. Atticus eyes the older man wearily, but relaxes back with a grumble. "Atticus, you won last year. You're not ready to mentor-"

"Yes I am! I've been trained all my life-"
"So have the tributes," Kade interrupts, "they're probably going to be just as trained as you. Your only gain on them is that you have knowledge of the arena."
"Exactly! So let me mentor!" Bex rubs her hands over her face and lets out a loud, deliberate yawn. Atticus throws her a sharp glare.
"Atticus," Kade warns. "You've only been in the arena once-"
"So have you!"
"Yes, but Bex has been mentoring for fifteen years and I've been mentoring for ten. We've done this, a lot. You haven't."

Atticus mumbles something about fucking bullshit, but Kade interrupts him again, "you are in part responsible for these two kids' lives, you realise that?" When Atticus's eyes meet his, his gaze is steely, serious. "You have to coach them, guide them. You have to tell them the best way to get sponsors, and then you have to get sponsors. You have to convince people to spend money on your District, you have to be nice, charismatic."

"When you didn't have any weapons, how did you get your mace?" Bex asks. Atticus sighs.
"You two got it for me."
"Uh huh," Bex nods, "and how did you kill the girl from Nine?" Atticus thinks she's beating a dead horse now but doesn't say so. As much as she pisses him off, he's not an idiot. He's seen Beatrice's Games, he knows what she did, what she can do. "With my mace," he answers through gritted teeth. Bex grins, clearly enjoying herself, "and by killing the girl with the mace we sent you, did you win the Hunger Games?"
"Bex." Kade's tone is tired.

They're all stood in the staffroom of Two's Training Academy; Bex and Kade had found Atticus here this morning, hacking dummies to pieces alone. The Reaping's tomorrow, there's next to no students here, nobody cramming for last-minute practice - in Two, the whole District knows who's going into the Games long before the Reaping. No twelve-year-olds lose sleep at night.

The intention was to simply let Atticus know how the next few weeks will go. He only won last year, so he wouldn't be an official mentor but a trainee, shadowing Bex and Kade's process. In truth, no matter what he just said, Kade knows they'll have very little impact on their tributes in the seven days before the arena - they had next to none on Atticus. The tributes from Two are always highly trained, not only for the battlefield but also for the cameras. The only truth Kade's mini-speech had was with the sponsors, but even then normally Two has them lining out the door; getting a mace for Atticus had been no issue at all. Kade normally spends the week sighing a lot and drinking black coffee, staring sorrowfully out of windows and wondering how they'd choose to execute him if he suddenly rebelled. Bex normally spends it eating lavish chocolate and drinking herself blind. They make a good team when it comes to sponsors and strategies, Bex and Kade, but as people they could not be more different. Bex is five years older; she loves the Games and loves killing. The Capitol had eaten her up, they called her a psychopath and a killer and bloodthirsty. Kade knows Bex is a killer, and she's certainly bloodthirsty, but she's not a psychopath. She's just...brutal. Ruthless. Kade is more apathetic to the Games. He gets nightmares, sometimes, and can still name every other tribute he killed, can still hear their screams. He's growing tired of the same tributes Two has every year, those who are eighteen and can't wait to kill other children, those who boast that they enjoy it.

And Atticus- well, Kade hates Atticus.

Atticus killed five in the bloodbath and two later that evening, making his kill list on day one seven names long. He was - and still is -dangerous and deadly and a walking landmine; quick to get angry and always confrontational. Around Atticus, Kade feels as though he's walking on eggshells.

He remembers the last day of last years Games, how Atticus had smashed the girl's head in with his mace but knew it didn't kill her. He didn't finish the job, he didn't stop her suffering, he sat back on his heels for three minutes and sneered at Nine's gasping, twitching body until her cannon went off. It was the longest few minutes of Kade's life. And knowing that Atticus is heading to the Capitol, where Althea Windrow's wounds will still be fresh and raw, and knowing that Atticus will definitely make some sort of comment - Kade is dreading bringing him along.

The official rules from the Gamemakers are that One, Two and Four - due to the sheer size of their Victor pool - can only bring along two mentors every year. The exception is when a new Victor is shadowing: such as Atticus. The other, outlying Districts can bring as many Victors as they want, but Kade knows that despite this, some Districts will only turn up with one or two - their sole, sober Victors. Two has the most Victors, and between Atticus's Games, the 95th, and Kade's Games, the 85th there's been another - Yvonne Layton. Atticus is becoming a mentor and Yvonne is not purely because this time, Yvonne is a general psychopath.

"Atticus, do you understand?" he asks, and the other man gives a curt nod. "Good. We'll see you tomorrow - don't be late." With that, Atticus is gone.

"Holy fucking hell what crawled into his ass and died?" Bex drawls once the door slams shut. She sits herself on the counter as Kade goes to switch on the kettle, shaking his head with a grim expression on his face. He's reminded suddenly of his Victory Tour, and how the mayor from Twelve had anxiously tried to play host and offered him tea. Kade had accepted but was not expecting to wait five minutes for water to boil in a pan over an ancient stove. Ever since his Games, Kade's become acutely aware of just how privileged he is.

"Tea?" he asks Bex absently, but she shakes her head.
"I'm not a pansy, Laxton. More of a coffee girl." Kade snorts. They fall into a somewhat-comfortable silence as the kettle boils. They both have a mug in hand - black coffee for Bex and tea for Kade - when it's broken. "I am worried..." Kade begins.

"I know," Bex finishes for him, blowing on her drink, "we'll just have to keep an eye on him."

A/N

meet the mentors for district two! what are your thoughts on them, reviews are appreciated!

there are still a few tribute slots open, at the time of writing there is: d3f, d8f, d11m, d12f & d12m available!

a reminder on those who have reserved tributes, i'd like to get them pretty soon please(:

thanks for reading all, happy easter if you celebrate it & stay inside, stay safe

-silver x