XXXVII. CUPIDITY

To sensual vices she was so abandoned,
That lustful she made licit in her law,
To remove the blame to which she had been led.

Sable Hayashi. 18.
District Seven Female.
Loveless Woods, East. 12:09.

"Fuck you," Sable hisses, the knife in her hand dropping to the ground as a cannon fires and she realizes what she's done. Because it isn't until the arena confirms Bonnie's downfall that Sable realizes, and she says aloud, "I… k-killed somebody."

Her heads hunched over, a mix of blood and sweat on her palms, "I didn't just kill anybody…" She laments in whispers, "I k-killed B-Bonnie," and a small tear forms from the corner of her eye.

Sable isn't sure why it's there. She loathes Bonnie Byrd, it's the only thing she's known for the past few days… fucking despising Bonnie Byrd with every inch of her skin, every bone of her body, and every small speck of dust withering away from her soul. But that didn't mean… she wanted her dead —Oh, yes it did Sable, you wanted her dead more than anything, Sable. You wanted her dead because otherwise you'd be dead, Sable, that's the reality of this place. And it isn't bad that Bonnie Byrd is dead— well, it didn't mean she wanted to kill her.

(Well, Sable didn't fully kill her, she just saw Bonnie pressed up against a tree by a mysterious woman with black hair, and at first she thought they were kissing but then she saw blood from Bonnie's leg and then her mouth and the rest of her body and she felt compelled to do something and she wasn't sure why but maybe she thought she should drag the woman off Bonnie… yet instead she was handed a knife, a blade cast in steel that she used to fucking murder…)

She still isn't sure what had come over her.

"You did good," The woman's voice can be heard from behind Sable, "Turn around, I want to talk to you."

And Sable does what she says because… she's terrified and maybe if she kills me now I won't have to deal with what I've done…

She doesn't even get that privilege… Oh how me dying be a privilege… why has it become this?

Part of her wants to ask the woman, "So you're going to kill me now, right?" But Sable's never been that outwards with her remarks. So instead, Sable asks her, "What do you want?" And that's what she's curious of, why somebody came out of nowhere to slaughter Bonnie and have Sable help.

"Nothing," The woman smirks, crouching to the ground to pick up the knife Sable dropped, which causes her to flinch for a minute but the blade's soon returned to her, "Have this, it's yours now."

Sable clenches the weapon in between her fingers, her eyes darting away from the rusting crimson that coats the steel, "I don't need it…"

"Yes you do, darling," The woman pats Sable on the back, "In case you hadn't realized, you're a murderer now." Sable scowls at her, doesn't say a thing yet she continues on, "What? That's not a problem… we're all murderers in here."

Sable mumbles under her breath, "But murder's bad…"

"Not if it's necessary," Somehow she hears, "You didn't like Bonnie very much anyways. She was horrible to you, dare I say, too lustful?"

And Sable just nods, "You'd be correct."

"So what's it matter?" The woman rolls her eyes before walking away into the dead trees and leaving Sable standing in the middle of the dirt, her jaw agape.

What exactly just happened? Sable's still not finished rationalizing the past five or so minutes of her life. And matters are just made worse when she turns her head and sees Bonnie's lifeless body on the ground.

Sable'd been trying to avoid looking at it, because it's only then, when she sees it, that she realizes just what she's done.

The Bonnie she sees isn't the same girl who came up to her when she was alone on the first day of training. It can't be… that Bonnie was somebody full of light, somebody so jubilant, so gleeful and angelic, somebody who made Sable think, dammit I need to talk to her, I need to know her… Not the same girl Sable did get to know either, the girl who Sable found herself sweating at the doorsteps of before getting lost in her completely. And the Bonnie lying on the ground isn't the same as the girl who Sable stood next to when she was hovering over the Cornucopia, a straight look on her face while heartbreak occupied her mind. Heartbreak and fear that Bonnie would play with her heart a different way.

No, the Bonnie that Sable sees is the worst thing she's seen in her entire life.

(And Sable's seen a lot in her eighteen years. She's seen her mother huddled over in fear of her father, her sisters slipping away from her and that horrified look on her grandmother's face once she realized how badly her grandchildren were hurting.)

But none of it is as bad as the blood congealing and clotting against Bonnie's neck, the gash in her chin darker than night, a hunk of flesh and gums flapped over by the wound. It's not as bad as the white in Bonnie's eyes, now rolled back into her head. Not as bad as the bloodied stains on her clothing and in her hair, dirt sticking to the liquid against the skin on her legs. Sable's seen so much, and none of it even comes close to the exposed bits of Bonnie's trachea, small pink rings contrasted against the white, a conglomeration of skin, crimson, and pus along the seams. And what's even worse then the creamy yellow substance that lines Bonnie's wounds, worse than the rawness of her flesh… the fact Sable caused it.

Really makes walking in on Linnea and Gio seem like strolling into a field of butterflies, doesn't it…

Part of Sable wants to come closer to the body, close Bonnie's eyelids and put something over her neck so she doesn't have to see it, doesn't have to see what she did to the girl, but that's pointless. Because Bonnie's already dead anyways. Sable already slaughtered her, anyways. Whats it matter if the cadaver gets washed clean and stitched back together so it can get buried? It's been done, finished…

And hell, Bonnie's family's probably watching Sable stand over their daughter's corpse screaming profanities at their screams mixed with confusion as to why she's just… standing there. It's considered a taboo in the Games, not leaving the body alone after it's dead, ever since a girl from Three dissected somebody a decade ago or so, everyone in the Districts gets scared when somebody dies and the attacker doesn't leave the corpse alone. She hopes… Bonnie's parents don't think she's like that…

There's just something about Bonnie like that… powerless, that puts Sable at ease and that's why she hasn't left yet. And it's not that Sable's glad Bonnie's dead… she just feels free suddenly, free from her cruelties and manipulations. It's like she's suddenly whole and Bonnie Byrd was a saw cutting through her now rusted over.

But Sable has to go… She looks up and down Bonnie's remains and sees a yellow stain beginning to form on the white parts of the front of her pants that weren't already tarnished by blood. It's a deeper yellow compared to the pus around her wounds and it takes Sable a few seconds before it sets in… oh.

That's enough to get her to run away from the body, Sable doesn't know much about the human body but she knows that if Bonnie can pee while being dead, who knows how much she can make? She's already covered in blood, though it doesn't clash much with the red of her vest, Sable doesn't need to somehow get urine on her too.

So she runs away fast enough that she doesn't think Bonnie's in sight and Sable sits on the ground by another dead tree, a branch on the ground next to her foot which she attempts to clean the knife off on. She mutters to herself, "So this is really how that ended?"

Because the irony isn't lost on her. For all Sable's life, she was looking for love, claimed it was the only thing she needed if she wanted to have a purpose in anything, yet the one time she kissed somebody, it ended with her ripping up her throat and leaving the body to rot because it started peeing.

Maybe Sable isn't cut out for love, anyways. Not in the sense she thinks she's unloveable or unworthy… it's just safe to say love isn't something that's worked out for her, and maybe it's not meant to work out for a long time. Maybe Bonnie was some sign from the universe that she doesn't belong to anybody but herself, and sure it took an extremity for Sable to learn that, but know she knows. Now she knows that wallowing around in hopes of finding love is worthless and love will come to her when the time is right.

But Sable Hayashi isn't worried about finding the right time anymore. From here on out, the only girl Sable'll write poems about and fantasize about being with until the world ends is herself.

Because for once, Sable's enough.

Saia Anaklusmos. 18.
District Four Male.
Springs of Satisfaction, North. 15:17.

"Well it could be worse," That's what he has to keep repeating in his head, "It could be fucking worse."

Yet… as time goes by and the arguing about District Eleven and how according to Hesson, "We're all going to get killed by them and it's going to be everybody's fault but mine," get more and more excessive, Saia begins to wonder, can it really get fucking worse than this.

It's a hypothetical question, of course. Things could very well get worse because well, At least I'm not fucking dead!

And Saia doesn't want to be dead, obviously, but he isn't sure how much more of Hesson's… just Hesson-ing he can take before he fucking snaps and rips the bastards head off, which wouldn't exactly be a great idea because Hesson could probably kill Saia in a second, and he was probably looking for an excuse too, that asshole.

"You seem… I don't know, off?" Ludo remarks as they journey past a sprawl of heaping waterfalls and granite rocks, "Is everything okay?"

"Why the fuck would everything be okay? I'm in an arena designed to kill me and one of my male allies is making me homicidal and the other is well… somebody I may or may not have the slightest bit of feelings for," is what Saia wants to say, but doing that would be absurdly out of character. He's been doing his best to show that he's just as deserving as being in the alliance as the others, but if he decides to fuck it all up and act like an emotional wreck, well he'll be back to square one. So instead, he says, "I feel great. Why'd you ask?"

Saia knows he's not fooling anybody though. Ludo can probably see the red heat on his face, the embarrassment and shame in his voice whenever he speaks, and it makes him annoyed, mainly at himself, but also at the situation he's put himself in.

"You seemed frustrated a while ago," Ludo remarks, referencing Saia's yelling fit at Hesson by pointing at him up ahead of them, "You know with H—"

"And you weren't?" He cuts his ally off, an unnecessarily fiesty emphasis in his voice, "It's just…" Saia draws his head down, "Really fucking frustrating, you know?"

Ludo glances at him with his picturesque brown eyes and sighs, "Oh trust me, I know." He darts his eyes back and forth as to make sure the subject of their conversation can't hear them, "I just… don't know what to do about it."

Saia stops in his tracks, realizing that he too doesn't exactly know what to do about it either. Magnificence had been bothering him about kicking Hesson out of the alliance earlier that day, but Ludo just sighed and said he didn't want to anger Hesson to the extent he physically retaliated. Saia wasn't sure on the logic behind that, since they could easily all work together to kill him together, but Ludo said that's "punk shit," and that it wasn't noble to team up and attack somebody who was supposed to be their ally. Saia supposed he made a good point, he could just feel the frustration mount in his skull and he wanted Hesson to know his place and shut the fuck up.

"Well we could always go and humor him by finding and killing District Eleven," Saia offers, noticing the intrigued look on Ludo's face, "Not that I have any idea where the hell they are and if I want to find them, especially if they really are the almighty beings Hesson says they are."

"But do you really want to humor him?" Ludo interjects, "I mean, yeah they're threats, but we'd be idiots to actively seek them out, especially if the arena changes again."

He makes a good point, the arena had changed areas… so to speak the previous night, and while he has no confirmation, Saia's not incorrect to think it could change again. And if that happens, the arena would presumably get smaller and smaller, and that means they're bound to get to the Elevens eventually. There's no use in rushing it.

"Fair," He nods in response to Ludo, "It's just also the fact this whole thing is royally stressing me out."

Ever since his embarrassing showing in the bloodbath, Saia's felt uneasy. He had one chance to prove to his allies that he was worthy or being there, yet when push came to shove, Saia did exactly jack shit. He just stood there like an idiot "playing defense," and maybe that was because he didn't know what he would do if he actually killed somebody. He didn't get how everybody else did it without feeling so miserable, or maybe they did?

Ludo grabs onto Saia's wrist, stopping him in his tracks and sending shivers down his spine as they arrive at the foot of one of the springs. He then calls out to the others, "We're taking a break for a bit."

"What do you mean?" Saia asks, looking at the mist of the falls as a soft smile forms on his lips.

"This walking around aimlessly thing is exhausting, we deserve a break," Ludo replies.

Saia nods, tugging off his vest and diving into the water without much warning. "Come in, Jornmark," he says as the water touches his skin, completely unbothered by the steam rising from the surface, "The water's great."

Saia sticks his finger in the water, wincing a bit as the water engulfs his flesh, "Dude?"

Meanwhile Saia's making waves with his hands as if he was a child experiencing swimming for the first time "What?" He stops splashing for a moment, "Is the water too hot for ya?"

Ludo gulps, "Not at all, Four."

"Then come swim with me!" Saia enthuses, a shit-eating grin on his face, "It'll be fun."

Saia watches Ludo look back to see Cyra, her expression matching Saia's, "It'll be fun," her tone's identical to his.

Ludo takes a deep breath before he lifts the bottom hem of his vest and pulls it off of his body and over his head.

"Oh," Saia whisper, before noticing the Ludo's looking at him too.

"You're being ridiculous Ludo," Cyra catches him staring, "I'll walk away for a bit, have fun."

Ludo watches his friend venture away before he closing his eyes and jumping into the water, "Shit!"

"Oh no," Saia swims towards him, "Are you okay?"

But then he realizes it's probably just the heat so Saia takes a minute to examine the boys sharp features, his slick hair and hypnotic eyes. He examines Ludo's whole face before leading his eyes down to his perfectly plump lips, and once he's done the boy says "Never better."

"What you looking at, boy?" Saia decides to put on his usual mask of confidence, "You scared?"

"Scared of what?" Ludo's breathless, still adjusting to the extreme temperature of the water, "I'm not scared of anything."

While Ludo isn't, Saia's afraid of the future in that moment and the fact that only one of them can make it out alive. He just hopes Ludo feels the same.

"You're scared of me aren't you Jornmark," Saia tries to get under Ludo's skin even if he's blushing red like a tomato.

"I just said I wasn't!" Ludo protests.

He can tell that Ludo wants him to make the first move, but Saia knows that Ludo usually has no problem flirting his ass off. So they don't speak for a bit, just staring at each other's netted bodies in the low light of the lake. Saia lets his fingers crawl under the water until he eventually felt Ludo's warm flesh on the tip of his thumb.

"Ludo?" Saia, red-faced as ever looks at the him as if he's clueless, "Your hand is touching my hand."

"I know it is," Ludo scoffs, "Is that fine?"

"I-I think it is," Saia rolls his lips as a sweat begins to form from his hairline, "Yes please."

Saia lets his fingers lock with Ludo's before inching even closer to him. Holding the his boy's hand was like holding a million dollars, so easy to lose, but so powerful, and for a moment Saia wants to swallow his fear and ask him, "Am I allowed to kiss you?"

But he doesn't, because Hesson walks down the hill towards them, anger on his face as per usual, "Now you guys are fucking instead of helping me?"

Saia can tell that Ludo's embarrassed when he says, "No? Saia's just my friend and we're just taking a break for a bit."

Just my friend… He wants to rip his eyes out but he refrains. Their hands are linked under the tides yet Saia's still "just a friend," to him. He sighs, he's being ridiculous. What did he expect when he lusted after the handsome District Two boy who'd never want a thing to do with him.

(And the worst part of it is that none of it matters because they're both likely to be dead anyways.)

Hennessy Barlett. 18.
District Nine Male.
The Fortresses of Pleasure, North. 19:25.

He's not sure whether it's hunger or nerves in his stomach, but to be completely honest it's probably the latter since Hennessy just "indulged" in a "delicious" meal of dried up berries that his alliance had picked up from the Cornucopia what seemed like forever ago. Well, actually it was only a day ago, but it feels like way longer considering all the fucking walking he's had to do. One would think, Hennessy's used to being on his feet all the time. That's how it is at the pub, right? Well, such thoughts could easily be debunked by the fact he has the body composition of a small pastry, anyways.

Hennessy has no idea why he's so nervous too. He's in a weird bunker fortress-looking thing in the middle of the arena, yet the whole "somebody could just fuck around and kill him at any moment" thing isn't the catalyst of his anxiety. No, no, Hennessy's palms are sweating because he agreed to officiate a pseudo-wedding for Danika and Silvana, and he's now realizing he has no clue how the fuck weddings even work.

It's too late for such a realization too, as Silvana's standing next to him with a smug look on her face as Lobo runs around the barren room scattering the petals of some flowers that he found on the ground. Lord, that kid has too much fucking energy. Hennessy's found the guy to be getting on his nerves as of late. Yeah, he's trying his best to not be a pessimistic little shit, but it sure is fucking hard when Lobo's prancing around like a fool, going on his silly little adventures where he somehow found a mutt that he then later declared to be his friend. As if that's how it fuckin' works… As if some Capitol-engineered hunk of shit's supposed to be our friend suddenly, moron.

But then again, at least this is better than yesterday's pity party over the fact Garrick died and that's somehow Lobo's fault because? He was really out here claiming that he should've protected Garrick when he's the shortest member of the alliance and all it took was somebody even younger to totally body Garrick. Hennessy finds it kind of pathetic, especially when they all had to go around in circles basically sucking Lobo's dick and saying why they love him so much and why he's such a good friend when all he'd done for the day is complain. And yeah, Hennessy's sad that Garrick died, but in all honesty he was never all that close with the guy and sure, he's a good person, but good people die all the time, and he can't even blame the Eight girl for killing him. He'd killed her friend right in front of her, which was in all honesty a stupid move that was ballsy as fuck. It's an ally down though, a friend gone, but he can't stand the fact Lobo's panties are so twisted about it.

So Hennessy ignores the fact Lobo's seemingly rabid and instead focuses on Silvana who, shockingly to him was not the monster-bride he thought she would be. Then again, she's getting married in a literal hellhole fortress bitch with handcuffs on the walls and ballgags on the ground, like some kinky bastard's sex palace, which is… pretty ironic considering what Danika told him about their relationship. From the good friend standpoint, Hennessy's pretty proud of her. Sure takes a lot of guts to lose your virginity in the Capitol of all fucking places.

"Where is she?" Silvana whispers, noting that Danika hasn't arrived to make her big bridal entrance yet. And she sounds worried even though Danika's only been gone what… five minutes. Though that's a lot of minutes when Lobo's monster buddy is on the loose so he'll give her that.

Lobo starts humming, and Hennessy wants to roll his eyes at him and get pissed when he realizes the tune he's creating, "Here comes the bride. All dressed in white!" Though, when Danika appears from the gates she's in fact not dressed in white. Instead she's wearing the same stupid uniform they're all forced to where but hey, it's the thought that counts.

Danika is holding some nice white flowers though, not dissimilar to the kind Lobo threw everywhere. There's an unmistakable grin on her face as she walks down the pseudo-aisle, her eyes fluttering.

Hennessy teases Silvana, "She looks pretty, doesn't she," But he's met with a swift punch in the gut, "I mean, what?"

"Sorry I'll be nice or whatever," She smirks at him, "I'm supposed to be all happy because I'm getting married aren't I."

"Well, yeah," Hennessy laughs and he scratches the back of his head. He wasn't really sure why he had the idea to do the whole wedding thing for them, perhaps he just thought it would be a fun little distraction, and one that wouldn't get them fucking murked like Lobo's little mutt adventure… headass.

"She looks beautiful then," Silvana props her head up so they can both observe Danika's last few steps towards them.

The look they have in each other's life is one Hennessy's all to familiar with, as it was the same way he used to look at August and the same way August used to look at him. So maybe that's why Hennessy feels this desire to protect them and their love, as he knows it won't last forever and he wants it to be fun while it still can be. Even if one of them lives he gets the feeling it'll be miserable.

"Well then, I guess we'll get started," Hennessy says just loud enough for Lobo to hear him, "Welcome, welcome everybody to the wedding of Silvana Ildron and Danika Xiong."

Danika whistles, "It's lovely to be here, Hennessy."

"Sure is," Silvana wraps her arm around the waist of her soon to be wife, "Thank you for this," and there's a rare but genuine honesty in her voice, "It actually means a lot, I promise."

Hennessy readjusts his posture, just about ready to get the show on the road when he hears the ground begin to shake. He mutters "What the fuck?" under his breath, trying to not lose his grip on the ground beneath his feet. A brick moves from the wall to his left, and then a few more, and the rumbling only intensifies as more bricks come plummeting to the ground.

He's lucky in the sense that the brick's aren't flying at him, and out of instinct he grabs onto Silvana and Danika. Lobo rushes towards them as the wall tumbles and a veiny green hand fits itself through a hole it's made.

"Hey, what the fuck is that?" Silvana grunts as the hand turns into an arm and then an entire bicep.

More bricks falling, and then a head pokes out. If… Hennessy could even call it a head, considering it has teeth running across it's entire face, gleaming red eyes and pink veins popping out of flesh. There's a purple horn mounted atop, but Hennessy know's what it is immediately. Or at least… he sort of does.

"Oh, that's my friend!" Lobo starts waving his hand like a giddy fool, "Hey again."

Surprising to… just about nobody, it is indeed not a friend. Instead, the monster hisses before rushing into the room, it's veiny legs now revealed. Whatever the fuck it is, it's fucking hideous.

"Fuck that," Silvana barks at Lobo, "It's not your fucking friend."

She tries to charge at the beast, her knife in her hand, but Danika calls out, "Don't you dare get near that thing," Yet Silvana doesn't listen so Danika continues, "It's going to vore you, headass."

Danika turns to Lobo and sighs, "It's your so called friend, you fucking kill it."

"It's not going to kill us," Lobo whines, "I already told you it wouldn't."

Unbelievable! Hennessy grunts before going to take on the monster by himself, though again, Silvana stops him, "I'm the tallest one here let me fucking kill it."

It's not much taller than Silvana, just by a head, so maybe she is the best fit to take it down, but that doesn't change the fact she shouldn't have to. This is Lobo's problem and of course he won't even do shit to fix it, much less fucking address it.

Silvana Ildron. 17.
District Six Female.
The Fortresses of Pleasure, North. 19:35.

It's honestly fucking hilarious, her wedding had exactly one guest and that one guest was enough to ruin it. And then Lobo can't even fix his own stupid problem, damnit Silvana's pissed out of her mind.

But what's she going to do? Let her girlfriend or whatever the fuck Danika is kill it? Hell no, and she's not going to let Hennessy's twink ass do it when she's clearly the most capable. She looks at the knife in her hand before charging, chuckling to herself in disbelief of the situation, I am tripping balls or something, seriously? Because this whole thing is beginning to feel like a fucking fever dream and now this ugly green thing is hissing at her like it think's is so fucking cool or something.

"Fuck off," Silvana snarls, kicking her feet as the monster approaches, "You're actually a whore, I hope you know that."

"Stop calling the mutt a whore," She ignores Danika's pleads.

"It's my friend," Lobo's relentless, much to Silvana's dismay.

Silvana closer her eyes and pretends she's… like stabbing a Peacekeeper or Elowyn or something, flinching when she makes contact with the monster's left peck (Why the fuck do mutts even have boobs?) as she feels a slimy substance drip onto her. She looks to see a green liquid coating her arm and she screams, "Stupid little cunt."

But she can't think about the semi-chilled substance right now, she has a monster to kill. Her feet skid against the cement as she continues to drive her knife into the mutt's green flesh, it's groaning getting slower and slower. It can't be this easy though, she knows it can't be.

When she removes the blade, Silvana hopes that the mutt will fall down to the ground in defeat, yet that's not the fucking case because damnit why would it be? Instead, it's like she hasn't done jack shit to the monster, and Lobo's still tirading, "Why the fuck are you trying to kill my friend?"

But luckily Danika's able to shut him up, "Oh, so friends are supposed to splash green shit on people? That's news to me."

She goes in to stab the mutt again but it cocks it's head and Silvana feels a sharp pain in her left wrist, then the sound her knife dropping to the ground. She looks to see the monster's teeth dug into her flesh, blood beginning to gush and she screams, "Get off me!"

But the monster doesn't move, instead driving it's teeth deeper to create a more catastrophic wound, so Silvana yells, "Lobo, fucking do something."

He shudders, like a fucking moron, "Sorry the blood is scaring me… I'm a bit squeamish."

"Should've fucking thought of that before you befriended a murderous beast," She retaliates, trying to pull her wrist away.

Then she hears Hennessy's voice, "I've got it," followed by the sound of his footsteps as he approaches Silvana. She looks to see him grab ahold of the knife from the ground, jamming it at the mutt's eye and screaming, "Get off my friend." He hits it's jaw next and Silvana collapses but at least she's free from the monster's grip. She tries not to look at her wound, instead wiping the blood on her pants and then going in to finish the job when Hennessy stops her.

He kicks the beast in between the legs then slashes at its torso as it plummets to the ground. There's green shit on him too, but Hennessy doesn't mind. Instead, he just stabs the mutt in the back and sighs once it's growling stops, "That should be fine."

Several seconds pass as they make sure the mutt truly is dead before Danika rushes to Silvana, "Are you okay?"

"Of course not," Silvana sighs, waving her arm about, "I'm fucking bleeding."

Danika nods, "Right let's fix that. Lobo, get the first aid kit."

But he protests instead of running off, "I'm scared."

Hennessy just goes, calling over his head, "I'll take care of it."

Finally, a moment of piece, or at least one before Danika yells at Lobo, "Is it your friend now, bitchboy?"

Again, Lobo just shudders like a nervous dog, "I'm sorry…"

"Why didn't you kill it when you found it?" Silvana asks, glad Danika's on the same page as her, "You really though the gamemakers would fucking sprinkle friends in here for you, Lobo?"

"Well they liked my interview…" He shrugs, "I'm sorry though, I mean it."

"You could've fucking killed me," Silvana grunts, "You could've fucking killed us all."

She's infuriated, honestly the most mad that she's ever been at somebody in a long ass time. He just… thinks that he's the shit and that everything will go according to plan when in reality he's just a dumb little bitch who's afraid of a little bit of blood. The bastard wouldn't fucking last a day in Six, she knows it. And now Silvana's left helpless as she waits for Hennessy, not even Danika able to bring her cheer since her arm hurts so fucking much and this place is just so fucking miserable and shit… "Is that pee I smell?"

Silvana looks to see Lobo hunched over, "Why do you smell like piss?" She isn't going to get closer to him in this state but if she could she'd punch him in the face.

"Well that would be because…" Lobo scratches his head and smirks, "I um… peed my pants," And then he must notice Silvana and Danika's eyes widening in disgust, "I'm sorry! I was afraid."

"Get the fuck out of my alliance," Silvana grunts, her brow furrowing, "Go away, right fucking now!"

Lobo stutters, "Y… y-you can't kick me out. I'm the leader."

"Since when did we establish that?" Danika nods as Silvana's shoulders begin to tense up, "No leader would put us in danger."

"I didn't mean too…"

Before they can continue their conversation, Hennessy runs into the room with the box of medical supplies, opening it so that he can wrap Silvana's arm in gauze but she interrupts him, "Have Danika do it," and she smiles.

Danika digs through the box to find a spray which she squirts onto the wound several times, Silvana wincing every time because it stings. But… it's probably important that her cuts are clean.

"Why's it all tense in here?" Hennessy asks, the silence nearly deafening, "Did something happen?"

Lobo opens his big fat mouth, "Danika and Silvana want to kick me out for putting them in danger."

Hennessy nods, "Well, that makes sense, actually."

"You… you can't be serious right now. You can't be? What the fuck… no, fuck? I… I told you, it was an accident, what the fuck?" Lobo shakes, scrambling around the ground, "I was just making a friend, like being a good person… I didn't try to kill Silvana, what? Why are you all playing the victim here? What the fuck..?"

His shouting is especially ironic considering the fact he's the one playing the victim in this here situation, but Silvana doesn't have time for debate. She needs him out if she wants to keep herself alive for as long as possible, "If you don't fucking leave… as soon as this bitch—"

"I have a name," Danika cuts her off, unrolling the gauze.

"Sorry," Silvana takes a sharp breath, "As soon as Danika Madison Xiong, District Ten Female Tribute in the 51st Annual Hunger Games finishes cleaning my wound that you fucking lead to… I'll…" She thinks of a good threat, "I'll kill you myself, bitch."

It's apparently good enough to make Lobo panic, and Hennessy and Danika don't verbally disagree with her so that means she should be good to go, or at least she's not wrong.

"You all suck," Lobo kicks at the ground, the flesh in his face turning red as his volume increases, "You all fucking suck. I thought you were my friends and that you cared about me and… just yesterday, you said I was great, damnit. You said I was a great fucking friend and now you're fucking lying to me. You're the worst, actually… And I can't even… get too mad since you were so nice to me before, but I am really disappointed and I thought you all were better than this."

"I thought you were better than putting us in a situation where we'd get hurt," Danika's eyes are swelling with tears as she wraps Silvana's wound, yet her voice is blunt, "I'm not mad at you either… just disappointed."

Lobo doesn't say another word before getting off the ground and leaving the room, traveling well, who knows where? Silvana isn't so sure she cares anymore. Even though she knows his intentions were good, she's seething at the fact he put them in danger and doesn't even do anything to protect them.

"It's okay, Silv," Danika runs her fingers through her hair, "We'll be better off without him."

But it's not just that… it's the fact she almost died, yet he didn't do a thing. And she's afraid that she'll almost die again and nobody will do a thing.

"I…" She sighs, resting her head on Danika's shoulder and whispers, "I wish we were kissing right now and not dying."

Danika laughs, and Hennessy does too but louder, "Hey, I'll look away but also… good things come in threes."

"It was a joke," Silvana giggles, closing her eyes not in anguish but in desire to escape reality for a moment, "It's all a fucking joke isn't it," her voice softens.

She feels Danika's lips against her forehead and she wishes that was enough for her to feel like everything's alright, but Silvana's no longer so sure.

Bubba St. Robbins. 18.
District Five Male.
Springs of Satisfaction, South. 23:20.

He takes a deep breath as he drags his feet through the sands of the desert, he's getting there, that's what Bubba tells himself at least. Though, as time passes, Bubba wonders, getting where? It's then that he realizes he doesn't exactly have a strategy as the Games continue. And what's the reason behind all of that, again? Bubba's spent the past two days just aimlessly wandering and for what purpose… and he's, dare to say, lonely?

Lonely, that's an emotion Bubba St. Robbins knows far better than he'd like to admit. He grew up lonely, which is… probably why I'm fucking like this, he laughs to himself, like what? Sick in the head, Bubba? Why don't you fucking say it, you're completely unhinged, you bastard. He refuses to let himself dwell on those thoughts… repeating in his head over and over, I'm a good person who does the right thing. I'm a good person who does the right thing. I'm a good person and I do the right thing when I kill people. The people I kill are threats to society and the world is better, kids like me are better now that they're gone.

At times he cracks himself up, quit pretending you're a good person, and this is one of those times. There's no audience in his direct sight, yet he's still putting on the show of happy-go-lucky ice cream boy as he skips through the sand, granules splashing about and again, he laughs. As if the cameras are even on him. All he's doing is acting like a fool in this semi-desert and there's no way in hell this shit can be entertaining to the people at home, such as my mother… and my father… not that they'd never be watching if I was being at all interesting, especially when the Careers are on the prowl, hunting down the other Tributes like they're merely prey. A cannon fired earlier that day and Bubba winced when he heard the roar, those fucking Careers, killing somebody for existing in their space again… Their insanity was the catalyst for Bubba's especially given the fact there was just about jack shit he could do that would prevent them from killing for the sole purpose of making themselves feel better about their pathetic lives.

It's all a scam, damnit, Bubba's convinced it must be… these kids from One, Two, and Four pour their parents life savings to attend a school for killers on the odd chance they make it out alive, and then what? He wonders, what do they even tell these children to drive them to kill? What do they even tell their parents to drive them to spend money on teaching their children to kill? And how do these… these children just say "fuck it," and go for it? Why do they just… listen, and grab knives off walls and start stabbing one another. Bubba didn't even go to school until he was eight, instead staying home with his nannies, and by the time he entered primary school for the first time, these Career kids had probably already killed people.

And it wasn't even like school made him all that happy. He was told that school would make him feel better, it would transform him out of the stage of being some bratty little toddler who bites people, yet it just made Bubba feel like shit for the first time in his life. He remembers… Watty, the same one he killed first and Solaris and Stolt who were his next targets, dunking his head in the toilet of the boys bathroom before Bubba was even ten, calling him slurs that he hadn't yet learned the meaning of. Bubba's bones would ache as he walked home from school, unsure if they were broken again or just sprained this time. And for what? The fact his voice had always been higher and his movements had always been more effeminate. Yet his parents didn't care when he came home all bloody and bruised.

He had people, yet Bubba was alone. It's like being alone is all Bubba knows, all he'll ever know so why does he even bother meeting people?

In a way, the aimless arena wandering's familiar to him. That's how it was before he went to work at McCow's, just strolling around the empty rooms of his home, shaving his stubble as it grew and trying his best to not take the blades to his wrists, because Bubba St. Robbins was apparently just too… bubbly… He tried to tone it down even, in middle school, but people just remembered him as the weirdly feminine kid that nobody wanted to eat with back in the older days, so he'd scream into his pillow, cursing the name of those boys and the way they ruined him before he could even have a chance to thrive. For all he knew, District Five was in black and white while he remained in screaming color.

But at least McCow's gave him purpose, yes, Bubba's eternally grateful for it. It gave him something to do, a place he could call home every day since his house certainly wasn't one. The work was monotonous at times, yes, yes, scooping cup after cup of chocolate cherry crunch until his palms got sweaty and sore, but again, at least it was something. As dumb as it sounds, in a world where Bubba was nothing, ice cream turned him into everything. Yet still, he felt the words of elementary school stirring in his head night after night… and he just wanted to make it stop.

Because that's Bubba's secret, for fucks sake. Even if Watty hadn't kissed him and made him feel like shit that night, Bubba still would've fucking killed him, because (I'm fucking awful), no, because… fuck Watty had ruined everything for him. He'd made him feel inadequate and years later he continued to. Bubba planned to kill him that night and if he had to do it all over again, he'd still choose to throw Watty's disheveled corpse into the freezer. He'd choose it a hundred times, the same way he'd chosen to strangle Solaris with a where and drown Stolt in a lake… for fucks sake there was no stopping him and he fucking enjoyed it, he enjoyed the look in their eyes as they came to the conclusion that Bubba actually won. He actually did something and he came out on top of them.

(But was killing them really "doing something?")

He's a mess, a fuckup and he's so fucking lonely that he turned to killing as if that would somehow fix everything and give him purpose. Damnit, he still wonders what would've happened if he'd just let Watty kiss him instead of assuming the worst. Maybe he'd be fucking happy then, maybe then the bubbly exterior wouldn't be such a fucking lie.

Then again… none of it would fucking matter because he's been fucked over and sent into the arena like he's facing some sort of a punishment for the fact he exists and maybe he deserves to die… maybe he truly is an awful person for all of this… fuckin' hell it doesn't matter because he'll die to the hands of some rich brat who never suffered and thought it would be fun to go off to the Capitol for a killing spree. So he'll once again be nothing, not that he even had a chance of being anything.

His palms sweat, the sands only getting hotter when Bubba looks across to see a boy with a buzzed haircut in the distance. He rolls his eyes, and part of him wonders if he should befriend the guy, but the other part says, aren't you tired of pretending you're a nice person all the time Bubba? Isn't it time you just embrace the monster that you are? I know how badly you just want to fucking snap…

Bubba looks at the boy again and shrugs. He feels the ground shake beneath his feet and he smiles. Another day must've come and gone. Maybe tomorrow I'll find a purpose.

He doesn't see, but the boy follows.

Liana Taylor. 40.
Head Gamemaker.
Purgatory. 00:05.

Clemensia and Lysistrata didn't do enough to warn Liana about how exhausting it would be sitting around in front of the screens as absolutely nothing happened. Minerva was sitting in her lap, softly purring as she fell asleep after the end of another day in Liana's hand-built hell. Liana looked at the cat and smiled slightly. It must be nice, she thinks, Just being a spoiled cat with no obligations besides eating twice a day and finding the secret to immortality. What a life!

She turns to the monitors as the Tributes run through the arena's second transition, this time into the third ring of hell, gluttony. Unfortunately for her, nothing's happened that's all too exciting though the Two girl did get her foot a bit twisted on a rock. Nothing terrible though…

When Liana first came up with the idea of her inferno, she thought it would kill people quicker and it would be a miracle if they even got to the ninth ring, yet that was proving very much not the case, just nine Tributes dead after two days… light work, as Lysistrata and Clemensia would have said. It makes Liana worried, that she isn't doing enough to get rid of the kids, and she's afraid that she made the arena too big for it to be deadly.

Which was why she decided to interfere that day. She'd noticed the Seven girl, Sable, all heartsick from Bonne of Nine, and sure, Liana didn't know anything of heartache, as she was above that, she had a feeling it was unpleasant. That and, well Bonnie had lived through her valuable screen time potential with Auxiliary dead so there wasn't much point in keeping her around. So Liana called on one of the guardians that the Tributes ignored in the first ring, an extremely sexually attractive (apparently at least) young woman who radiated lust, and mixed with the pheromones in the air, it was hard not to fall for her. And Bonnie did it so perfectly, she let the lust countess that Liana nicknamed Tess seduce her until she was nothing, and then she shattered her instantly. Well, she let Sable do the dirty work actually which was ridiculously more entertaining. Maybe it would teach her and everybody else that lust kills, it cuts deep and it's a mess.

Meanwhile the lovers alliance was getting too comfortable in their little settlement so she had to call on her orc friend Brian to spice things up, even getting it to befriend one of the Tributes before it striked so that it could stir up some drama, which worked splendidly, even if Brian said nothing to Lobo. Liana's shocked it didn't kill Silvana or anybody for that matter, but at least it provided enough disturbance to keep people entertained. That's what the whole Games is about, keeping people entertained even if it's in the form of watching Checkers play around with a frog all day. There had to be an audience for that.

She just hopes the next day will bring about something entertaining… that's all. Because her meddling with the mutts, yes that's what Gamemakers are supposed to do, but she gets worried that she's doing too much and not, as her bosses said, "Letting the Games happen." It's just the time limit that's worrying her because the last thing she needs is a ten person finale.

Liana sighs as she goes to move to her bedroom, the Head Gamemaker's suite to sleep for at least a few hours, mumbling to herself, "I hope they just fucking kill each other tomorrow."

But she didn't notice that she wasn't alone in the main room, no no, she hears a male voice, "These things are unpredictable after all."

Liana whips her head around, Minerva's subtle steps on the concrete ceasing, "Who are you?"

"Oh sorry," One of her assistants, Plutarch Heavensbee steps up from the corner of the room, the dark of his couch covering his usually pale face, "I didn't mean to disturb you…"

"You didn't," Liana brushes her hair out of her face, trying to be at least semi-warm and friendly with him, "You're allowed to go home, didn't I say that earlier?"

Like Clemensia and Lysistrata had instructed her, Liana sent her assistants home at eleven thirty in the evening under the impression they'd return at six thirty the next day. Yet Plutarch was still here which was… odd, especially considering the fact she's not the biggest fan of well… having company around more than it needed to be. Still, she knows Plutarch works hard, just seven years her junior too, but that doesn't mean he needs to work after hours. Liana's got the night staff for that.

"I'd prefer to stay, if you don't mind." Plutarch smiles, scribbling at his notebook the same way Liana did when she was in the arena herself. Nowadays she recognizes the computer's more practical when it comes to taking notes.

"You're not getting paid though," Liana raises her brow, not sure if she should be frustrated or impressed with him.

"I just like being here," He insists, and there's a part of that which warms Liana's heart, "I can tell you're nervous though, but I promise, you're doing a great job actually and I know our country's loving it."

She isn't sure if he's saying that for the sake of being nice or because he wants a promotion or something so Liana simply smiles, "Thank you so much."

"They say you've really risen to the occasion, Liana," Plutarch continues and Liana's flummoxed by his praise, "Seriously, don't worry about things messing up, these Games are going splendidly."

Again, she nods, "Thank you."

Plutarch grins and wishes her a goodnight before Liana strolls to her room, lifting Minerva in her arms and squeezing her tightly to her body. As wild as it is out there, she relishes the fact that Minerva's presence is a constant. And Liana sighs, if only I could manage all of this… But she doesn't have time to worry about getting things right for much longer. She has a new day of Games ahead of her.

Lust. As you can see, all it does is kill.

You're allowed to be happy, and you're allowed to appreciate somebody for who they are, but when it consumes you and you love the physical more than the mental, that's when you have to be afraid.

It bites and it stabs and it ribs at your heart strings.

Lust is anger and it's war. There's people who live every day of their life in lust and not love, and the worst bit of it is that they don't know the difference.

Don't let that be you.

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica