Chapter 47: Lumen Helio

Frederick Astaigers pushes in the heavy wooden door before closing it behind him, lifting and closing the latch. He shucks off his coat with an almost practiced shrug of his shoulders, turning to hang it on the hook. When he glances back into the expanse of his simple living area, he blinks and brightens a bit in pleasant surprise, upon noticing that he has, but wasn't expecting, company.

"Hello, neighbor…" Mr. Astaigers has a friendliness about him that is almost otherworldly, and his smile remains like a beacon, as he sits on a shoe ottoman to take off his loafers. He playfully passes one shoe between his two palms, chuckling a little. He rises, still smiling. "Did you have fun today learning about our new friend, and the Hunger Games?"

"Yes…." A chorus of what sounds like children's voices rises up, its collective tone giving the strangest feeling that it's been pre-recorded.

One little girl's voice cuts above the others: "Gee, the Games are so wonderful – everybody must love them!"

Mr. Astaigers chuckles, almost a little sheepishly. "Well… not everyone…"

A humorous, spliced montage follows of people being interviewed off the street. Some of them look Capitolite, while others resemble district people – or, at least, what those in the Capitol imagine district people to look like.

"Bah! Humbug!" One crotchety old gentleman croaks.

"The Hunger Games are a bother! – The noise! The crowds! I really wish it were outlawed!" bemoans a stressed Capitol saleswoman dealing in insistent customers wanting to buy Games paraphernalia.

She's followed up by a cynical district farmer, his outfit looking more like a costume and just a little too fake. "How can they talk about the Hunger Games when there's so much unhappiness in the districts?"

Back to Mr. Astaigers, smiling softly with a sad, regretful shake of his head. "Poor, misguided folks – they miss the whole point! Lots of unhappiness? ….. Maybe so. Sometimes… But don't the Hunger Games take a little bit of that unhappiness away? Doesn't the chance to get to a watch a tribute overcome all the odds drive away a thundercloud, or a tear on a Saturday?" He sighs heavily, regretfully. "Not much, maybe." He absently checks his watch, now sporting, an 'Oh, golly gee! Is that really the time?!' expression. "Hey! …. It's getting late. You'd best be getting on home…" The children's track picks up sad sighs. Mr. Astaigers smiles like a soothing parent. "I know… But why don't I bring out our new friend before we go? Lumen! Come on in, neighbor!"

Lumen Helio, the Games' 47th Victor and Five's most recent, stumbles in through the heavy, wooden door. "H-hello, Mr. Astaigers. Thanks for inviting me…. over today." The 17-year-old kid, who already has a sad reputation for being a bit of a drunkard, is hiccupping. Slurring his words. Frederick keeps his polished smile on, knowing they can edit some of that out in post-production. He slings a friendly arm over the young Victor's shoulders, keeping him right with him.

"My pleasure, friend…." He lifts his head up to once again glance out into the beyond. "Before I go, kids, our pal Lumen and I would like to share something special with you, for the times when I'm not around."

A ukulele has suddenly appeared in Lumen's hands – supposedly, it's his Victor talent – and he begins playing a passable strum. Frederick Astaigers beams, murmuring, "Sing with me, neighbor..." and the two men begin swaying companionably back and forth, the older man singing:

"You've got a friend in me…. You've got a friend in me…. when the road looks rough ahead and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed…"

"…. You…. just remember what your old pal said…" Lumen actually manages to keep in time to the music while singing his one given line.

"…. For you've got a friend in me! …. Some of the folks might think I'm a little bit smarter than I am, bigger and stronger too – Maybe – but none of them will ever love you the way I do. It's me and you, kid….. And as the years go by…. Our friendship will never die. You're gonna see it's our des-ti-ny… You've got a friend in me….. You've got a friend in me!"

The song ends, Frederick is still grinning with a neighborly arm slung over the Victor when the production manager calls, "And…. CUT!"

Frederick drops his arm from around Lumen, pats the poor drunkard on the shoulder sympathetically, before turning to face his director and production designers.

"That was great, Fred, just excellent! Sounded a little coerced from Lumen, perhaps, but we can tweak that in editing…"

Frederick nods in understanding, trusting his team to do what they've always done to make Mr. Astaigers' Neighborhood the #1 syndicated show on children's programming. He watches from the corner of his eye as the drunk Victor from 5 is quietly led away, and he feels a true, Christianly compassion for the man.

Years later, Frederick Astaiger will cry like a baby when he watches Finnick Odair skewer that same, poor drunk on a beach with his trident, as if the latter was in any way at all a threat to the lovely girl from 12….