Woof Casino, District 8
"You can't ask for more, ask for more,
Knowing you'll never get that which you asked for."
Elliott Smith, Last Call
Androcles Anderson is a mess.
He's heard that some of his old classmates are going up in the world. Lysistrata is a doctor. Io is a gamemaker. Coriolanus is in the government. They probably owe their success to that stupid 'mentor a tribute' assignment.
Not everyone was so lucky with that assignment. Many of Androcles' classmates are now dead, while Androcles finds himself scarred and bitter, alone at a bar. He watches the Seventeenth Hunger Games on an old TV feeling a mild sense of amusement as the boy from District 8 achieves yet another kill, causing the gamblers gathered around the bar to howl with disappointment.
"Hey, Androcles, is that you?" Androcles turns to see a young woman with a severe bob of blue hair sitting next to him. He recognises her from school.
"Juno?" He asks. "What are you doing here?"
"I got fired from my job," she says. "Apparently I create a 'hostile work environment'. I mean, how dare they! Don't they know who I am?"
It's odd that Juno Phipps hadn't changed at all from the high-and-mighty narcissist she'd been at school. Androcles had been hoping she'd been humbled a little by something. Sometimes he hoped the whole world would be humbled.
"You're a reporter, right?" Juno asks.
"Not really," Androcles replies. He'd wanted to be one when he was younger but all of his ambition and drive had died after the bombing which had injured him. Suddenly, his biggest dream was that he'd learn to walk again and, once he had, everyone else seemed ten steps ahead of him.
"Whatever," Juno snapped. "I need you to do an investigation on Coriolanus Snow - you remember Coryo?"
"Yeah. I'm not a reporter, though. I can't-"
"Well now he's, running for vice-president and all the other candidates are dropping out, due to family illnesses and stuff. There's foul play involved, no doubt about it. I was looking into it before I got fired."
"Coryo getting involved in 'foul play'? Yeah, that sounds like the nicest guy in our class," Androcles says, drily. "The moment I hear 'foul play', I think of old Coryo."
"I'm telling you," Juno says. "How long's it been, seven years? Seven years since we left school and he's running for vice-president. You don't get that far by playing fair."
Androcles takes in the woman sitting next to him. At school, she'd been so toffee-nosed, so superior. Now she's unemployed and spouting conspiracy theories at a bar. He couldn't help but take some satisfaction in the fact that he wasn't the only who'd fallen on hard times.
"I think it's just because he's a nice, smart, hard-working guy and you're just a whiny brat who can't accept that other people can be successful," Androcles says. "Now shut up and watch the Hunger Games."
"I..." Juno stutters, "I... How dare you! I am a Phipps and..."
"I don't care," Androcles says. "Everyone knows your family is running out of money, Juno. You're losing your power."
Juno looks stunned.
"I don't want to watch the Hunger Games," she says, quietly. "It reminds me of that stupid competition I lost to Snow. The whole thing reeked of-"
"Let me guess, 'foul play'?"
"Yes! I mean, come on! Bobbin knew how to kill someone with a needle. A needle! That's even better than Luka Starkwain and his bike chain. I can't believe he died in the middle of the night and they didn't even show any footage of his death. I bet Snow rigged it so his tribute would win."
"Well, at least he didn't die in the arena bombing," Androcles says, bitterly, thinking of his own tribute, Sheaf. He'd thought she'd stood a genuine chance until he'd woken up in hospital with the news that the bombs had killed her.
"Is the boy from Eight still in?" Juno asks, her eyes moving to the TV.
"Yeah," Androcles says. "He's the biggest surprise of the year."
On the screen, the gangly boy from Eight, the boy who hadn't been able to shut up about aliens in his interview, tackles the girl from Two to the ground and gouges both her eyes out with a needle. Juno smiles as the eyeless girl struggles to get free.
"Who's that guy?" She asks.
"His name's Woof Casino," Androcles answers. "He's the boy from Eight. He's probably the favourite to win now that Sybil's about to die."
"I knew he looked familiar!" Juno cries. "That's Bobbin's brother! I knew Bobbin was something special. See, his brother's the favourite to win. Winning must be genetic. I wish Woof knew that Snow probably rigged the games. I'd like to see how old Coryo would fare against a Casino brother."
Androcles groans, sensing that Juno's about to go on one of her rants. He studies the boy on the screen, the crazed look in his eyes.
If Juno had been so upset by the mysterious nature of Bobbin's death, he didn't want to imagine what it'd be like for someone who'd actually cared about Bobbin.
The bartender declares the last call for drinks. Androcles orders the cheapest drink on the menu. Juno orders the most expensive. They raise their glasses to Woof Casino, who Juno dubs the future victor of he Seventeenth Hunger Games. Androcles wants to argue but he gets the sense that Woof is probably going to win and he'd be arguing just for the the sake of argument.
When they go their separate ways, they exchange numbers. Androcles isn't sure why he gives Juno his number, since she's been nothing but awful to him. Maybe he's just so desperate for someone to talk to, he'll settle for her.
A week later, Juno Phipps is found dead in her apartment. The official cause of death is heart failure but Androcles Anderson suspects foul play.
That's another Catching Fire victor done! I wasn't quite sure what to do with Woof at first but, once I decided to link his chapter to one of the minor characters from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the rest just came together. Woof became a wacky conspiracy theorist because he never found out how his brother really died, which makes him a pretty tragic guy. I quite enjoy writing about the minor characters from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The mentors in particular are in an interesting position because they have to deal with one of their old classmates becoming president, which is something that'll happen pretty soon. Next games is the one that takes place when Rarity disappears. It happens only a few months before Coriolanus Snow is elected president so expect some political shenanigans.