Amara Fielder, 17.
District 8 Female.
Amara stepped into the dark, low-ceilinged club, the previously muffled music becoming louder as she fully walked into the room. Cerdiwen, next to her, linked arms with her, as not to lose her in the crowd of other tributes splitting up and moving deeper into the room. Cerdiwen turned to Amara, a smile on her face.
"So, what are we gonna do?"
"Not be here preferably," Amara replied, fidgeting with the shorter, silky green dress she'd been put into as her afterparty outfit.
"Well, that would be for the best, but here we are. Might as well make the most of the free drinks eh?" Cerdiwen said, gesturing to the various waiters meandering about the dance floor and surrounding area as well as the bar across the room. Everybody 16 and older could drink freely, and it seemed some of the older tributes were already taking advantage of that.
"You sure? I dunno, it seems a bit risky." Amara said.
"Cmon, let loose! Have a little fun!" Cerdiwen replied, tugging on her arm gently.
"Ugh. Fine." Amara said dramatically, letting Cerdiwen pull her deeper into the room, down some steps nearby to a small seating area, where restaurant-style booths were lining the walls.
"Shall we?" Cerdiwen asked, gesturing to the booths. Amara nodded, and Cerdiwen set off again, beelining for the nearest open booth. In theory, they were supposed to be mingling with the sponsors, interacting with them to help them get more sponsors in the Arena, but that didn't matter to them at that moment. Cerdiwen picked up a menu that was placed on the table before them, flipping it open.
"So what are we thinking? Drinks?" Cerdiwen said with a grin, flipping the menu to the drinks section.
"Sure, whatever you have is fine for me," Amara said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Okay, if you say so!" Cerdiwen replied, looking over the list, before closing the menu and pushing it away from her.
"Good evening ladies, what can I getcha?" A waitress said, sliding up to their table silently as if summoned by the sight of Cerdiwen pushing the menu away.
"I'll get uh, whatever that glittery drink thing is," Cerdiwen said, grabbing the menu and flipping it open, tapping her finger against one of the listed drinks.
"Yes ma'am, and for you?" The waiter said, turning to Amara.
"Same as her," Amara mumbled.
"Sure thing darling! I'll have those out for you in just a sec." The waitress said, turning and walking away with the same silent grace that she'd arrived with.
"She's pretty eh?" Cerdiwen said, leaning over to whisper in Amara's ear with a grin.
"I guess. I think there's prettier here though." Amara replied with a sly smile. In her opinion, the prettiest girl in the club was sitting right next to her, but she couldn't exactly tell her that since she swore she wouldn't let herself catch feelings for anybody before the Games. But, here she was, with a crush on one of her allies, who also happened to like girls. But, maybe she would reconsider. She could be dead in the next day, and she'd never been in love before, so why not live a little?
"I suppose," Cerdiwen said with a grin, placing an arm around her shoulders. She froze, not exactly sure what to do, but rather than pushing the other girls arm off, or saying anything, she leaned into Cerdiwen's side. She was warm and solid, and she made her feel safe, something Amara had not felt in a long time. Before either could say anything the waitress returned with their drinks, one was blue and the other red, both were made from what seemed to be shifting glitter and Amara wasn't sure if she trusted such a glittery substance, especially not one she was supposed to drink. Cerdiwen took a sip of hers, making a strange face, before turning to her with a smile, her lips now blue and glittery.
"Dude, you gotta try it! It's so good!" Cerdiwen said, pushing the red drink towards her. Amara picked it up gingerly, holding it up to the dim light to inspect it, before lowering it to take a sip. The liquid passed between her lips, hitting her tongue. It tasted like cherries and some other kind of fruit that she couldn't place.
"How is it? Good right?" Cerdiwen asked, grinning with her blue-stained teeth.
"Surprisingly good," Amara said, smiling back.
"Your mouth is red, your smile looks freaky as hell," Cerdiwen said, looking slightly puzzled.
"Well, your mouth is blue so you can't talk," Amara replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Wanna make purple?" Cerdiwen said, turning herself to face Amara better. Amara nodded, leaning forward to place her lips on Cerdiwens. They kissed for a moment before Amara pulled back for air.
"See? Purple!" Cerdiwen said with a large smile, her mouth now indeed a purplish colour.
"Yeah, I can see that," Amara said with a smile."C'mon, let's go dance!" Cerdiwen said, grabbing Amara by the hand and dragging her out of the booth. They made their way towards the dance floor, giggling the entire time, like two girls in love, not a care in the world, at least not for that night.
Arvid Lidstrom, 16.
District 7 Male.
Arvid leaned back in his seat, loosening the tie around his neck, it was annoyingly constricting. He watched his ally, Ardley finished his second, or maybe third drink of the night. Arvid suspected it was his third.
"Are you sure you wanna keep going like that? You've already had a lot." Arvid called to his ally, Ardley who was seated nearby but down and across the table from him looked up, squinting slightly at him.
"Well, why thought?" Ardley replied, slurring his words slightly.
"Dude, you're gonna be so hungover tomorrow," Arvid said, shaking his head and taking a sip of his water since he was a responsible 16-year old, rather than a stupid one, he didn't exactly understand why you'd want to spend your last day before your possible death hungover and miserable. He'd much rather spend the upcoming free day doing something he enjoyed.
"Do I look like I care?" Ardley replied, raising his eyebrows dramatically.
"No, you don't. But you'll care tomorrow. Drink some water." Arvid replied, sliding a glass of water across the table to Ardley. Ardley stopped it before it could fly off the table, looking at it with confusion.
"Why water though," Ardley said, lazily tapping a finger against the rim of the glass.
"Cause it's good for you," Arvid replied, pushing hair out of his face. He wasn't too bothered by the fact he'd ended up babysitting his slightly drunken ally, it meant he didn't have to interact with anybody else, like the sponsors, however, Arvid was pretty confident that his score and decently successful interview would secure them sponsorships without him having to actually talk to them which was overall preferable.
"Yeah yeah, you sound like my mom," Ardley said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Well somebody has to since you aren't gonna do it yourself." Arvid shot back. Ardley made a face at him like he was annoyed that Arvid was right.
"Whatever, when the hell do we get to leave?" Ardley said, flopping backwards in his chair like a defiant child.
"I don't know, I think we can go whenever we want," Arvid replied, with a shrug. They'd been there an hour or two at that point, he couldn't be sure since there were no clocks in the club, and he couldn't see the sun or the moon to make a guess based off of that.
"Can we go, please?" Ardley asked, making an exaggerated puppy-dog face at him.
"Yeah, let's get out of here," Arvid replied, pulling himself to his feet. He moved around the table, standing in front of Ardley, holding out a hand. Ardley looked up at him, squinting slightly before taking his hand. Arvid pulled Ardley to his feet, steadying the taller boy with his other hand.
"Where the fucks the door?" Ardley said, squinting as he looked around the room. Arvid placed a hand on Ardley's shoulder, holding on to him tightly as they began the hike to the door. They got about halfway there, and Ardley had only tried to wander off a few times, but Arvid kept ahold of him. They eventually reached the door, with no problems, and it slid open in front of them. They stepped outside, Arvid looking around the lit street before them.
"Whatcha looking for kid?" A voice called from behind them. Arvid turned to see the mentor from 1, Sarmiento, leaning against the wall.
"We're just trying to head back to the training center," Arvid said, gesturing at Ardley who was currently half draped over him, Arvid balancing him with one of his arms.
"Oh yeah, that's cool. It's not that far, I can just walk you two." Sarmiento said, gesturing down the street.
"Are you sure? Don't you have to be here?" Arvid said, gesturing over his shoulder at the door.
"Nah, there's a reason I'm already out here. C'mon, let's go." Sarmiento said, gesturing fo Arvid to follow him. Arvid dragged Ardley along, following Sarmiento.
"Wait you're the writer dude!" Ardley mumbled at Sarmiento.
"Yeah, that's me. It's sorta weird being recognized as a writer." Sarmiento said, smiling wryly. They continued walking in silence, most of Arvid's attention focused on keeping Ardley on track. They walked down the empty street, turning off onto another one on Sarmi's direction, and soon enough they arrived to the training center.
"Uh, thanks I guess?" Arvid said, turning to Sarmiento.
"No problem. You two get going to your rooms." Sarmiento replied. Arvid nodded, and turned, dragging Ardley into the building.
Creed Odinshoot, 18.
District 2 Female.
Creed kicked back in her chair, sticking her boot-clad feet onto a nearby unoccupied chair. She'd had a few to drink, and she was starting to feel the effects, it now made sense to her as to why her mother turned to alcohol after her sister's death, it made her feel less present in the situation, which was a bit odd to her, but she certainly didn't mind.
"Wait, what your dad is that what?" Creed heard Amber say to Charlotte from across the table, currently, the Career pack was crammed around a small table in the corner of the club, empty glasses and dishes scattered across the table.
"Yeah, he's the mayor. But like, I'm adopted."
"At least you have decent parents," Echo called out, the Careers collectively laughed, most of them having had a little more to drink than recommended.
"I'm gonna go and get some air real quick," Creed said, swinging her feet off the unoccupied chair and pushing her seat back, standing to leave.
"Sounds good," Ozzie replied, flashing her a thumbs up from their position, arm wrapped around Pedro's shoulders. Creed set off through the club, a little unsteady on her feet, but not so much so that she was stumbling. She looked around the club, trying to figure out where Dyan was. She spotted him, standing off to the side of the dance floor, pouting and she beelined to him, as quickly as she could.
"Yo, kid," Creed said as she approached Dyan, he looked up at her slightly startled as if she'd snapped him out of some deep thought. Creed was pretty sure Dyan was capable of deep thinking, despite his young age he was quite intelligent.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were with your uh, murder buddies." Dyan said, blinking his one blue eye, one green eye at her in confusion.
"Told 'em I was going to get some air. Come and get some air with me why don't cha?" Creed said, grinning at the shorter boy.
"Yeah, sure I guess. Not like I'm doing anything here." Dyan said with a smile. The two set off towards the door, arriving and stepping out into the cool night air, the noise of the party fading as the door closed behind them.
"So what the hell are we doing out here?"
"Well, we kinda need to talk about what's gonna happen in the Arena," Creed replied, leaning against the wall. The topic of conversation sobered her up pretty quickly, her head clearing a noticeable amount.
"What is gonna happen? Do you have a plan?" Dyan said, leaning against the wall facing her.
"Well, I think the best course of action would be for you to get away at the bloodbath, and I'll bring you supplies on my watches," Creed replied.
"What, I just, hideout near the Cornucopia?" Dyan said, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yeah, pretty much. Once the Careers go to shit, I'll leave and join you, and we'll be set." Creed said, waving her hands. It seemed like the safest way to go, Dyan just getting out and her bringing him any supplies she could sneak out, rather than him having to risk himself trying to get supplies, especially if Creed could get them with less risk. It was overall better for both parties.
"Are you sure?" Dyan asked.
"Well, I think that's the best way to go about it," Creed said, shrugging.
"Okay, I trust you. Are we allowed to go back to the training center or?" Dyan said, nodding.
"Yeah, it's pretty close I think. Let's go." Creed said, gesturing for Dyan to follow her. The pair set off for the training center, Dyan cracking a joke and the pair laughing as they walked.
Pedro Trujillo, 16.
District 4 Male.
Pedro poked his head away from the door as Creed and Dyan walked past down the alleyway, chatting. Just as he'd suspected, Creed was two-timing them. Pedro thought about what he would do with the information, he could just go straight to Ozzie with it, or he could hold onto the info and use it as blackmail material down the line. He decided to hold on to the info, information often proved to be just as valuable as supplies.
"Yo Pedro! Whatcha doing?" Ozzie said, walking up behind him, and wrapping their arms around his midsection from behind.
"Nothin' much, just stepped out for a minute," Pedro replied, taking one of Ozzie's hands in his own.
"Okay, well let's get back to the others. We've got plans to plan darling!" Ozzie said, gripping his hand and tugging on it, like a child trying to drag a parent to see a toy they wanted. Pedro let Ozzie drag him back to the Career table, where the others were seated, appearing to be deep in conversation.
"But do we know the tributes are dead? Or are they like taking their brains out or some shit?" Echo said, banging a hand on the table. Pedro quickly realized that they were in fact, not in deep conversation, they were drunkenly arguing about brain removal. Pedro didn't know why he ever thought the others were capable of deep conversation, sober or not.
"I doubt it, why would they want to do that?" Amber replied, raising an eyebrow at Echo.
"Like I fucking know!" Echo said, gesturing widely with his hands.
"I don't know why your mentor puts up with you two, you're ever bickering." Charlotte chimed in from the corner, cleaning the dirt out from beneath her nails.
"I think it's cause it's his job yanno?" Terce piped up from his seat.
"Okay kids, we're back. Glad to see you four didn't rip each other's heads off while we were gone." Ozzie said, sliding into their seat at the head of the table.
"Where's Creed?" Amber asked, snapping out of the argument she and Echo were having moments before.
"She went back to the training center." Pedro chimed in. All 6 sets of eyes turned to look at him.
"Oh cool, she just didn't even bother telling us." Echo said, rolling his eyes.
"I bet it's cuz she didn't want to deal with your bullshit anymore Echo," Ozzie said with a smirk, gesturing for Pedro to take his seat next to them. Pedro obliged, sitting, and Ozzie wrapped their arm around his shoulders, as had become customary over the past few days. Pedro didn't mind, despite the fact he knew he was only using Ozzie for his own self-gain, he sure didn't mind the attention and affection. He'd be crazy to mind it.
"So for the bloodbath, is there anybody, in particular, we should target?" Charlotte asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"Well, there's that chick from 3, Selene. She seems strong, and the crowd likes her." Pedro said, turning to Ozzie for approval.
"Yeah, I agree. Who else?" Ozzie said, nodding their approval.
"That 7 kid, Arvid, and that kid he's allied with, Ardley," Terce said.
"Yeah, they seem like feasible threats," Amber said, the rest of the group nodding their agreement.
"What about that kid from 5?" Charlotte chipped in.
"He's like 14, what threat does he pose to us?" Pedro countered.
"Good point, but his score is stupidly high for a reason I bet," Charlotte replied.
"Add him to the list anyways. So that's the chick from 3, the kid from 5 and the boy from 7?" Ozzie said, pulling a pen out of the pocket of their jacket and jotting it down on their forearm.
"Babe, are you making a murder list?" Pedro asked, leaning over to look at what Ozzie had noted.
"Yeah. I am." Ozzie said, grinning proudly.
"Hey, kids. It's closing time, you lot better get going back to your accommodations." An adult, who Pedro assumed to be the manager of the place, poked his head into the secluded corner of the bar they were in. The group all dragged themselves to their feet, filing out the door, the group joking and chattering loudly, Ozzie and Pedro walking hand in hand. Pedro felt like he was on top of the freaking world.