IX. CURIOSITY AND BUBBA

And has a nature so malign and ruthless,

That never doth she glut her greedy will,

And after food is hungrier than before.

Curiosity "Curie" Zinque. 14.
District Five Tribute

The smell of food was always what woke Curie up from their somewhat zombified slumber. They enjoyed a life on a tight schedule, and in living that life, Curie often slept for eight or more hours. The District Five kid believed that they needed the sleep, the fuel to get on with their day more than anything, and like any other young adult, any other teenager, they could sleep like a rock for what seemed like hours on end. It was only when their mother woke them up with the smell of eggs and bacon that they would finally leave their bed.

"This again?" Even though eggs and bacon was one of Curie's favorite foods, they would occasionally bore of it, "Can I try my yogurt?"

"I'm not sure it's safe to eat," Their mother Beatrice replied, a shrill tone in her voice, "It smells rotten."

"It's not rotten, it's fermented," The District Five kid rolled their eyes at their mother, "Obviously."

Why would it be rotten if I made it? Why would I purposely make food that's rotten?

Curiosity had spent the past few months perfecting the art of creating yogurt, much to their mother's dismay despite the fact they were prone to experiment with food and always had been. They had spent the previous night (a Friday) boiling milk over the stove and pouring in cream and sugar and all the other ingredients that they loved in order to ensure that this batch of yogurt would be perfect, even if Beatrice didn't approve, "Can I?"

"If you get sick it's not my fault," Curiosity's mother opened the door to the refrigerator to reveal a big glass bowl of vanilla yogurt, "Save some for your friends though, okay?"

Of course Curie would save food for their friends. There truly was nothing that the District Five kid loved more than creating a feast of the healthiest foods they could find and serving it to all their friends every Saturday afternoon. They were always so eager to try Curie's cuisine, and it gave them the biggest smile on their little face, "I was planning on it. I'm making tortilla soup as well."

"Do tortilla soup and vanilla yogurt really go together, Curie?" Mrs. Zinque was always a bit of a rule follower, though that made sense since both her and Curie's father were distinguished individuals, a food scientist and a nutritionist, and they both had been trained to stick to the norm, "Maybe you should pair some fruit with it instead of the soup?"

"Obviously the soup is an entree and the yogurt is dessert," Curie pleaded, "We'll wait some time in between courses."

"Yogurt is an odd dessert, no?" She asked, "Maybe you could make ice cream or I could go McCow's Creamery and buy you all some?"

That's ridiculous?

Curie had a tendency to absolutely despise any food that could be considered remotely unhealthy, and ice cream was far from the exception, "Yogurt is better for us. Less sugar and it'll make our bones grow stronger."

"But ice cream has calci–" Curie was prepared to cut their mother off

"The carbohydrates severely outweigh the calcium. Ice cream is made with a thicker cream that adds fat which could possibly lead to indigestion," Curie smirked, licking a bit of their yogurt, "This is way better."

Curie needed every bite of food that they consumed to be the pinnacle of health, nothing more and nothing less. Perhaps it could be that they were a bit neurotic over maintaining their slim figure and ensuring that their skin was clear, that there wasn't a bad calorie in their body, but they didn't mind going completely off the walls when it came to food because it always brought a smile to their face.

"I'll try it then," Their mother took a spoonful of yogurt from Curie's dish, smiling with her teeth as soon as she digested, "You know what Curie? This is actually pretty good. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Of course it's good," Curie's father Albert walked into the kitchen, sitting on the barstool next to his kid, "Curiosity always makes the best food that there is to be eaten."

"Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad." Even though they were used to compliments on their food, Curie still blushed each and every time they received them, "Glad to hear you like it."

They didn't spend much more time talking to their parents after that; they had tortilla soup to make and admittedly they were a bit nervous since they'd never done a good job with it, but Curie was determined to make it work this time. They took the chicken that they had brined and cooked overnight with spices out of the refrigerator and onto the kitchen counter, using a pair of scissors to cut the twine they used to hold the bird together. The District Five kid later proceeded to put it in a large metal pot over the stove and pour in all their favorite and most healthy ingredients to make the broth. They chopped an onion, and some celery, as well as some more mild peppers and poured in oil and stock before turning on the heat and waiting for their meal to be ready.

This is just going to be perfect!

After what seemed like half a day but in reality was only an hour, Curie went to check their soup and was pleased to see that they had succeeded. They removed the heat, sprinkled their freshly baked whole wheat tortilla chips over the pot and then placed a lid on the pot so they could ensure it stayed warm for when their friends arrived. The District Five kid sat in their favorite chair in the living room when they heard a knock on the door. Their friends were finally starting to arrive and they were static.

The first person to arrive was their friend Nikola, which Curie felt a bit awkward about. Obviously they cherished her presence, but she was dreadfully quiet, and Curie never new what to talk about with her which was unfortunate since she was usually the first person to arrive at the friend group's gatherings, "Thank you for coming, Nicola."

She hesitated, not to Curie's surprise, "It's not a problem."

Curie couldn't get too upset about it since Nicola was for sure the smartest person in the friend group, she just lacked any social skills, whereas Alexandra who was the next friend to arrive was the complete opposite.

"What's up dudes," She made herself comfortable as she kicked off her shoes and entered the Zinque family home, "How's it go."

"We're good!" Curie smiled before hearing somebody else come through the door, "Wait hold that thought, somebody else is coming."

"Good afternoon fools!" Curie was delighted to hear their friend Stephen. He was really goofy and a bit of a nuisance at times, but Curie loved him nonetheless, save for the times where he would screw around with their food and sprinkle carbohydrates and junk into it. They didn't have time to individually greet them though, "Oh. The bastard's here!"

It was a weird adjustment for the District Five kid, hearing their friends grow up alongside them and begin to use foul language. It made them miss when they were all little kids and would be frightened at the thought of a word as simple as "stupid" or "dumb."

"Of course I'm here, sluts!" Charlie was a genius but she was also the friend who had grown up the fastest. In the past year, she had non-stop been talking about sex and how she wanted to have it with everybody she saw even though she was just fourteen. Curie wasn't remiss to the fact that her parent's sheltered her and her sex obsession could possibly be a form of retaliation, yet Curie was still a tad uncomfortable when she burst into random sexual facts that she had memorized for some ridiculous reason.

I guess sex to her is food to me. Once again, I'm the healthiest.

Of course Curie had a crush as well, and that was none other than Louis, who arrived after Charlie alongside Gertrude. Their crush on Louis had been going on for quite some time now, and perhaps the fact they were Curie's best friend only made the debacle of the attraction even worse. Louis was good though; they never judged Curie for their food obsession and always helped out with their cooking when asked, even offering on occasion. It was nice.

If only I had an opportunity to tell them how I feel. Ah well! There's no point in having true feelings for somebody when you're only fourteen. We'd fall apart anyways.

That day's gathering went just as well as Curie could have hoped it would have. Even though Stephen made his usual jerkish comments about how it was ridiculous that Curie had the tendency to make everything healthy and Charlie found it appropriate to announce that she wished somebody would nakedly spoon-fed her Curie's soup and yogurt, it was an overall positive day. Louis looked at them a little more than they usually did, so maybe it was true the they had feelings in returned.

It doesn't matter though!

Gertrude helped Curie plate the food which made it look nicer than the usual disaster it was presented as, and they appreciated it. Their heart was just as full as their stomach was as they said goodbye to their friends at the end of the day, pleased with just how much fun they had.

"You know Curie," Their mother held their shoulder once they shut the door on Louis, "I really like these friends for you."

"I like them for me too," The District Five kid smiled before turning around and giving their mother a hug, "I'm so happy right now."

"And I'm happy that you're happy."

Curie truly was living life in the best way that they could have ever hoped to live it. They had the best friends in the world even if they drived them crazy sometimes, they had the best parents who always looked out of them, and they had their cooking which would never not give them joy.

I hope it stays this way forever.

Bubba St. Robbins. 18.
District Five Male.
TW: LGBTQ Slurs.

Every day that Bubba was able to work at McCow's Creamery was a blessing. Previously plagued to days filled with being watched like a hawk by nannies, being told what to do and how he was to spend his time was draining even if it didn't seem like it would be. Yeah, yeah, at least I get to have nannies, but who knew being rich could be boring. He wanted to do something for himself for once, and at times he would feel bad for using his parents' money on things that he wanted since as far as he was concerned he didn't even have parents. Clara and Jeremiah (not mom and dad) were always busy at work being surgeons or whatever it was that they did (Bubba didn't remember and he wasn't sure if he cared to) and the District Five boy just overall felt unwanted by them. It was clear they didn't want a child since it was too much of a commitment but they felt as though they needed one to be socially acceptable.

Too bad for them since I'm the furthest thing from socially acceptable.

Bubba wasn't able to come to a conclusion as to why exactly he was deemed a social oddity, but he had grown to realize that he didn't really care about the reasoning anymore. In the mornings Bubba took great pride in getting ready for his job, always ironing his polo shirt the night before and hanging it on his doorpost so that he would be ready for the day as soon as he woke up. He crawled out of his velvet pajamas and slipped the powder pink top over his head and onto his body. He made sure to leave the top button undone before putting affixing his white name tag, "Bubba" inscribed in black cursive lettering onto his shirt. He combed his tangled brown hair back and added some gel before putting on his circular hat with the McCow's logo and pinning it onto his head. Next was the best part of his outfit, the part where Bubba wore a pleated skirt in the same color of his shirt that fell just above his knees. He was seemingly mesmerized by his appearance. It didn't matter that skirts were supposed to be worn by girls after all, Bubba loved the way he looked in them and that was what mattered.

How funny is it that I'm the prettiest boy in Panem? He winked at himself in the mirror before hopping into his black leather shoes and preparing to go to work. Maybe his parents were downstairs eating breakfast or maybe they had already gone to work but it didn't matter all that much to Bubba since it wasn't like he had anything to say to them and it wasn't like they had to say anything to him.

The walk to McCow's wasn't particularly special in any way, Bubba picking up a croissant and a coffee at a local shop during the journey, savoring every bite and every sip. He always enjoyed food, especially since he never knew the splendor of consuming home cooked meals from his parents, usually having frozen food for dinner. Croissants and coffee was nice though; the people in the shop were kind and made his order quickly and never commented on his skirt unless they were telling him how cute it looked. If only everybody was like this; maybe then everything would be different.

Arriving at McCow's was always euphoric for Bubba. It had an atmosphere that wasn't replicated anywhere in District Five as far as he knew, the pink florescent lighting displaying the menu. The floor was of a black and white checkerboard pattern and all the seats were the exact same color of Bubba's dainty little uniform. The take-home ice cream was lit the same color of the ice cream, and the aroma of the freshly baked waffle cones invaded the District Five boys's nostrils with glee. Old-age music from Sapphira Starlet's album "Across The Stars" faintly playing in the background of the score, Bubba never not humming along to the choruses.

(Y'know it's a blitz me and you. This restaurant booth was built for two. I'd say I love you but that would be the worst thing I could do, so I guess I'll just enjoy the bliss of the blitz)

"Morning, St. Robbins!" His boss Hippie McCow (whether or not that's his real name is a mystery) greeted him with a smile, the same way he did every day, "It's always nice to see you."

"It's a pleasure to see you as well," Bubba did a little curtsy with his skirt, causing Hippie to giggle, "What should I do for the day?"

"I've gone ahead and made many batches of ice cream so you should be set for the whole day. Just work the counter and I'll head out," Hippie's voice faded.

He was growing older by the day and it was kind of sad for Bubba to watch. While the man was far from a replacement for the father he never had, the District Five boy enjoyed being mentored by him since he was genuinely a good person unlike almost everybody else he knew.

Sad he doesn't know who I really am but maybe it's better this way.

Hippie often left the shop as soon as Bubba arrived, leaving the boy to his own devices, which usually wasn't an issue. He loved greeting the customers with a beaming smile on his face, asking them what they wanted to order and then gracefully providing, complimenting them on their outfits and how they were lovely people. It was the absolute best, knowing that he could make somebodies day just by issuing a small compliment to them. It was what allowed him to wake up in the morning and actually feel like he was worth something, especially after being told for the longest time that he wasn't worth anything, or at least that message being hinted to him in a not so subtle manner.

It all changed that one day though. It all changed just a few hours after Hippie left for the day.

There had been a lul in customers which wasn't particularly uncommon since most people didn't crave ice cream so early in the morning, and Bubba didn't exactly think that anything out of the ordinary was going to happen. He thought it was just another day in the shop and more glorious customers would come soon but he was so dreadfully wrong.

He heard the jingle of the bell above the door to the shop chime, immediately grabbing the District Five Boy's attention. A short man came through the door. He was overweight, almost to a comical extent and his hair was certainly in the process of removing itself from his head. He was wearing a black pinstriped suit that didn't fit his body at all, chunks of his stomach fat seeping from the bottom of his torso, and hands appeared to be hairy and wrinkly. At first Bubba felt bad for being so harsh on the man's appearance, but he wouldn't be for long.

"Welcome to McCow's Creamery," Bubba chirped as the man approached the counter, "My name is Bubba! How can I help you today?"

The man looked Bubba up and down and rolled his eyes in the back of his head. He wasn't sure what the man was thinking but the words he muttered under his breath revealed everything, "fucking fairy."

He didn't know what hit him once he heard the words that rolled off the man's tongue, but there was no going back for the District Five boy. His eyes examined the room, making sure the tinted windows would do a good job blocking out the view from outside the store, ensuring there wasn't anybody that would be passing by and would see what was about to happen. Bubba was senseless as he felt his right hand creep towards the butcher's knife on the counter that was used for chopping nuts, his eventual sweat sticking to the grip.

"I'm not sure if I want to be served by someone like yo–," The man arrived in front of Bubba, his words only heightening the anger that was spinning inside his stomach.

Bubba closed his eyes and felt his right hand raise. He couldn't control it anymore and there wasn't even a point in him trying. He heard a loud noise and opened his eyes to see his knife planted in the man's eyes, his screams deafening the District Five boy's ears.

It was a miracle that the walls were sound-proof.

"You fucking faggot!" The man roared, justifying Bubba's cruel and spontaneous decision in his head. Blood gushed from he wound, a sticky crimson staining the knife as the man tried to cover it.

Bubba had done this before. He knew how to finish him.

He carefully pranced in front of the counter and looked the man in the eyes (or rather eye) before using his knee to knock him to the ground, placing his hand on his mouth so that he could listen to the music as he delivered his final blow to the neck.

(Y'know it's a blitz when its just us two. You fell for me so I'll fall for you. I'd say I need you but I know what that would do, so I guess I'll just enjoy the bliss of the blitz)

It's going to be so hard cleaning this. Blood stains marble.

He knew what he had to do if he wanted to properly dispose of the body. As soon as Bubba was sure that he was gone for good, he grabbed his arms and swung him through to the backside of the counter before opening the door to the room with the large freezer where they stored all the ice cream. He opened the heavy door, banging it against the man's head for extra measure and moved all the ice cream inside to the front of the fridge. Hippie always had Bubba do this since he was too weak to do it himself nowadays.

He'll never know.

Bubba gulped before he lifted the beaten man into the freezer, shoving him so deep that he touched the back walls before covering him with the tubs of ice cream so that he could eventually decompose into the nothingness he deserved to be. The District Five boy didn't think much more after that. He had a floor to clean and customers to serve after all.

Curiosity "Curie" Zinque. 14.
District Five Tribute

Nothing good lasts forever.

That's what Curie learned on the warm July morning when a pretentiously dressed Escort read their name from a bowl, announcing to the whole country that they would be shipped off to their death, or rather to "have the honor" of representing District Five in the 51st Annual Hunger Games.

"This wasn't what I meant when I said I was hungry before we left for the Reaping," Curie tried to crack a joke to their parents in the Justice Building as they said what they knew were their final goodbyes.

Nobody laughed. Curie didn't really expect them to.

"For the first time, I'm at a lost for words," Curie's father was the more miserable parent. Surely their mother was also mortified, but perhaps she didn't have the words yet to express how she felt, "I'll believe in you forever, Curie."

"You don't have to." They just wanted to see their friends again, see Louis again, one last time before they left for the terror of the Capitol.

They didn't come though. Not even Louis came. They were confused.

Where are they?

Maybe they weren't allowed in the building for some reason or maybe they didn't care. Curie was exhausted and didn't have time to think about what they were thinking. They were trying to see the positive in everything that was happening but they were disgustingly unable to. The District Five kid's parents were silent as they watched their child slowly realize how badly things were about to be. It wasn't like anything they said would be worth anything.

Not even the possibility of new food would be enough to make Curie smile.

Bubba St. Robbins. 18.
District Five Male.

The only bright side to being Reaped was that Bubba genuinely thought he had a chance, even if he was too afraid to verbalize it in the Justice Building since that would lead people onto who he was, and the crimes he had previously committed. Nobody needed to know but him.

Killing Watty let me get over the hurdle. Break the ice. Everything after him was easy and everybody next will be the same.

He didn't want to be cocky but he didn't want to be too naive to the fact he actually had a shot even if it was a small one, and he would be mad to deny it. The District Five boy couldn't show it on his face, as badly as he wanted to smile or at least seem relatively content, he knew he couldn't.

It wasn't all that surprising when Bubba's parents didn't say goodbye to him before he left. The interaction would have been painfully awkward and he didn't need that in his life. He didn't need their bullshit wishes of good luck and how they'd "miss him so dearly," because it was obvious based on previous behavior that they didn't.

"Your grandfather is here to see you," A Peacekeeper announced, Bubba confused since he didn't know he had a grandfather.

The feeling didn't last long though, since Hippie hobbled into the room to give the District Five boy the world's warmest hug, "I told them I was your grandpa so they would let me see you. I'm going to miss you kid."

"What are you going to do with the shop?" Bubba hugged him back. He was the only consistent employee and he couldn't help but be afraid that the business would be shattered.

"I'll figure it out," Hippie sighed, clearly out of breath, "Don't worry about me. You'll do fine out there, I just know it."

And I think I know it too!

Sorry for the delay with this chapter! I wanted to write it but the shit with FFN being down made me really unmotivated but yeah anyways here is District Five! Let me know what you think of Curie from Platrium and Bubba from kremit1000! I hope everybody is staying safe and trying to be positive even though it is rather hard for us Americans to do so right now.

Also um? 100 Reviews? Thank you so much; the reception I've been getting on the story is absolutely mind boggling and I cannot begin to articulate how grateful I am.

Best,
Lindsay