Audra Zimanski, 16
District Five Female

Nubis is huddled up on one side of the couch, eating popcorn and watching the screen. There's a frown plastered on his face, and no one makes a move to comfort him. Not even Rosanna. No one wants to start him cursing again.

She's sitting next to Rosanna, listening to the older victor talk about the scores. It's nice to sit with Rosanna. She's just a nice, kind person that Audra appreciates talking to. And she's cunning as well - Audra's seen her interact with sponsors on the phone, she knows how smart Rosanna is.

She did well to learn everything she can about the ins and outs of the Games from Rosanna.

Now, she just needs to put it into practice.

"For District One: Flint - no, Fletcher Artesian has received a ten! And our lovely Lindor MacAvoy has gotten herself a nine. A strong showing for this District!"

The television announcers continue to discuss the scores, and Audra turns to Rosanna. "What do you think of these two? I'm worried about Fletcher - he's strong and silent, and he seems like the type to go after the stronger tributes. I can only hope that he doesn't pick me."

"Fletcher's strong, but in the typical career way - I've talked a bit with Ben, and he doesn't think that he'll go far. It's Lindor you'll have to watch, or, rather, Frosty." Rosanna pats Audra's arm, giving a warm smile. "You're fast, and smart. You'll be able to stay far away from those two."

"Oh my, Dimitri Muller has earned himself a nine! And Thetis Clifford has an eight - a decent showing for these two from Two! Will District Four be able to keep up the strong streak for the typical alliance?"

"I don't trust Dimitri - he seemed unstable during training. But apparently, he's ditched the career alliance from what I've heard from other tributes. Do you think that they'll gun for him?" Audra looks over at Rosanna. She knows how people work, especially groups - if a small but powerful person shows up without others to rely on, the group will get rid of them before they get too powerful. She's learned a lot from living with the uncles.

"Yes, but I don't know how he'll do - I've heard from Ben that he has a vendetta against volunteers. Hopefully, they'll get him quickly. But if not, stay well clear of him. You're not going to fare well against him, especially if he's been trained. Thetis should be alright - I believe she's another typical career girl. Honourable and all that."

"Alright, I'll make sure to do that." Audra turns back to the screen, waiting for the next group of scores to be announced. She's interested to see what the game makers thought of her own performance. She did what she wanted - she didn't touch any of the weapons. She didn't need that. Instead, she told them secrets - dirty little tidbits that she had picked up by watching the game makers during training. There's more stuff than most people think that can be picked up by watching body language and listening to gossip.

Hopefully, it worked.

"Paris Fresel has received a five for his efforts - and for Gadget Sycamore, a four!"

Audra nods slowly. "I guess that they won't be a threat."

"Be careful with Paris - he seems violent." Rosanna shakes her head for emphasis, russet curls waving in the air.

"He does, but he seems too slow mentally to do much. I don't think he'll be a threat," Audra replies. Rosanna nods her head in approval, and they turn back to the screen.

"Triton Clifford has earned quite a high score - he has a ten! And Lumara has gotten a six - not too shabby for being reaped! That's the second highest non-volunteer score of the night…"

Audra stares at Triton's face, biting her lip. She plays with a strand of brown hair, turning back to Rosanna. "He's going to be someone to watch out for. I'm nervous."

"He's going to be alright, don't worry. You'll survive if you play it smart - I know what you can do, Audra. You will make it through." Rosanna embraces Audra, and they hug for a while. "Stay clear of him, but don't worry. You'll have plenty of space to get away from the careers."

"Thank you." Audra still feels a bit nervous, but she wants to learn what she has to do to survive. She knows how to survive, she does. She hasn't survived all of these years for nothing - tricking men and women into handing information to her for her uncles' benefit, taking on new identities like it's her own whenever she needs to deceive yet another person. She can act for people, she knows how to manipulate them. She's smart.

But she's also worried - she doesn't want to fall victim to anyone early. She has to be careful, she has to watch out for the other tributes. One wrong move, and she might be dead.

She can't let her guard down.

"And now for District Five! For Nubis Skylar, a score of… five, just like his district! Congratulations to Nubis for his great score. And now, we have Audra Zimanski - she has received a score of… seven!"

Audra nods slowly, a small smile on her face. She doesn't trust Nubis' score, but he's too small to do anything to her. Sure, he might be prickly and hiding something up his sleeve, but he won't hurt her.

She'll avoid him.

And as for her score?

It's exactly what she wanted.

Chase Farlay, 16
District Eight Male

"And now for District Six: Gilbert Dongalls has received a three. And for Celaeno Cruise - this lovely person has received a six! A grand score for Celaeno."

Chase nods, grinning a bit. "Calaeno's a nice person - they're fun to be around. I'm glad they did well."

"Poor Celaeno, they can't help but look nervous all the time with that skin tone," Xiomara says from her seat on the couch, calmly eating grapes next to Tomas. "At least they'll manage to scare us all to death in the Games when we're convinced they're a ghost."

Chase laughs, reaching over to grab a grape. Xiomara hisses at him playfully and tries to hide the bowl from Chase, but he grabs a grape and pops it into his mouth. "Delicious!"

"Oh, shut up." Xiomara snickers, and they both laugh. "Wonder how Seven will do - I'd say that the guy was as dumb as a bag of rocks but he's not from Two. Saying a bag of lumber just doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?"

"We have the scores for District Seven! Birchwood Mason has earned himself a six - oh, the game makers missed a great opportunity to give him a seven, don't you think? - and Flora Perkins has received a two!"

"Now Flora is dumb as well, but in a vastly different way. Have you seen that pin of hers?" Xiomara smirks shaking her head. "Girl thinks the earth is flat or something."

"Huh, that's weird." Chase thinks about it for a bit, biting his lip. "Maybe she'll see the curve of the earth when we head up in the hovercrafts."

"I think we'll be too busy panicking about death to think about the curvature of the earth."

"True." Chase uses this moment to grab another grape, throwing it into his mouth and biting down with a satisfying squish.

"And now we have the scores for District Eight - so exciting! Chase has received a score of five, while Xiomara has received a score of six! A solid showing for District Eight, and now let's take a look at…"

Chase scratches an arm idley, continuing to watch. He's getting bored by this point - scores mean next to nothing to him, mainly because he hasn't thought about sponsors. He's performed decently for the game makers, and they gave him an average score as a result. It's the score of someone who isn't trying.

A little voice has been screaming at the back of his head to get up and try for once in his life, but he hasn't listened to it. He's been too busy enjoying the Capitol, too busy stuffing his face with whatever he can find to eat and watching cheesy movies whenever he gets the chance. He's also done a lot of talking, looking for possible allies. But even though he's had no success, he doesn't want to stress about it. If these are his last days alive, he wants to enjoy them.

In the end, slacking off like this might be the reason why he'll die.

But he just can't find a reason to get to work now.

There's no point.

"And the scores for District Nine are right in front of us, so - careful, Horatio! Don't cut your hand on that envelope, we don't want blood on the scores! - let's find out what they are! Del Picsis has received a score of… four! And Ellington Lockwood has earned herself a score of… seven! Marvellous!"

"Huh, I didn't expect Ellington to do that well. She always seemed like a five to me - what could she have done? Hm…" Xiomara lapses into thought, still eating her grapes while pondering the question. Chase grabs another grape, but she doesn't notice. When Xiomara starts to think, it's hard to get through to her.

Oh well, more grapes for him.

"So far, you two have done decently," Tomas says. He yawns a bit, and Chase realizes that he must only be a year or so older than them both. Weird. "I think I can get you sponsors if you get out of the bloodbath quickly - just keep to what we've discussed, and you'll do well. I think we can get one of you home if we really work at it."

"But what if we starve because we haven't gotten something from the cornucopia?" Chase starts to ask, then thinks better of it. He should run - he's not good with weapons, from what he's learned in training, and he's merely less bad with his survival skills. But if there's something close to him at the cornucopia…

What would be the harm of grabbing something quickly and then making a break for it?

"District Ten's turn! Cody Ridges has earned a five, while Bayleigh Mountainson has earned… a two! Well, two times five is ten, so the game makers are still keeping up their lovely tradition of matching scores with districts! Isn't that right, Jessamine?"

"Hey, Tracks." Chase looks curiously over at Xiomara, wondering why she wants to ask him something. He's told her his nickname before, but never expected her to actually use it - not many did.

"Yeah?"

"And we have District Eleven! For Kane Rowan, we have a score of… two, and Chastity Blythius has earned… a one. Oh, dear."

"I know you want to mess around at the bloodbath, but stay away from the careers. They're going to implode this year." Xiomara nods, and Chase stares at her. How does she know that?

"District Twelve is last, but not least! Lanson Paylor has earned a four, while Livia Donner has earned a three!"

He thinks for a moment, then nods. He needs to do something, he knows that. He just never found the motivation to. This might be it. "I… I will."

He will.

Another chapter!

What do you think of these two? Any scores surprise you? Are the announcers completely foolish?

Thank you to everyone still reading, y'all are marvelous. I'm glad to have you here.

We're getting close to the bloodbath! I'll see you soon with the interviews.

Enjoy! Until next time, TheAmazingJAJ