esper myrellis-verilla. 18.
september, 88 add.
morning.
It had been three months since Esper survived the Games, and he wondered if he would have fought so hard if he'd known what was waiting for him on the other side.
Townes grinned. "It won't be so bad," he teased, his dark eyes bright. Class had just ended, and around them, students were packing up to leave the lecture hall. "Believe it or not, I'm actually the top student in this class."
Esper scoffed. "Sure."
"Uh, yeah. Who else would it be?"
Esper rolled his eyes. "Can we just get this over with?"
"I'm free tomorrow."
"Great. Does four work?"
"Yeah. Oh! We should go to this coffee shop a few blocks away- it's right by the library, and it's usually pretty quiet. We can meet after class and walk over together."
"We really don't have to," Esper offered. "I don't mind just doing the project myself."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Esper deadpanned.
"I'm not going to let you tank my grade," Townes said.
"That would require me to tank my own grade, which I'm not going to do," Esper replied.
"Mutually assured destruction. My favorite kind!"
Esper checked his watch. "I should be going," he said. "I need to get home."
"Bedtime already?"
"No," Esper said. "I just got my allergy test back, and if I spend more than ten minutes next to you, I get hives."
"How'd you find that out? Did you steal some of my DNA or something?"
"It wasn't hard. You drool a lot."
"Good to know! I hadn't noticed. Maybe you should refer me to your doctor, so I can get that checked."
"Oh, sure. Let me get right on that," Esper said, backing away.
Townes pointed at him accusingly. "Tomorrow after class," he reminded him. "Four o'clock. Doing the project. Together!"
"Together," Esper sighed, and then he turned and left.
This was not the first time Esper had been forced to work with Townes on an assignment. It was actually the third time they'd been paired together since the semester had started. After the first time, Townes warned him this would happen, and to his dismay, Townes' prediction was correct. They shared all the same classes, all the same assignments, and neither was willing to sit anywhere but the front row. Townes Zamoras was always stubbornly in his peripheral, a shadow Esper couldn't shake.
(He never should have gone to that stupid party. He didn't even like the Mayor: he'd made Esper's life more difficult than it needed to be plenty of times with his cuts to various welfare programs. And he certainly wasn't liking him any more these days, what with him sending his son after Esper all the time. He understood why he was doing it, but Esper just wanted to be left alone. He had enough on his plate without the Zamoras family stalking him across Six.)
When he got home, he found Rhylee already there, putting away the dishes.
"I said I would get to those," Esper said, dismayed.
"I don't mind!" Rhylee said, stacking some cups inside the cabinet. Their cat- who Esper had gone back to their old apartment for soon after getting back, who was now enjoying the luxury of the Victor's Village- rubbed up against her bare legs.
"At least let me-"
"I'm almost done," Rhylee interrupted. "Relax."
Esper narrowed his eyes at her. Rhylee grinned. Esper slowly set his bag down and leaned against the fridge, resigning himself to watching as Rhylee finished putting away the cups. She left two out, filling them with water and handing one to Esper.
"How was school?" he asked.
She sighed. "Fine."
"Just fine?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Mhm. I'm still kind of getting used to it."
Rhylee had just started her first year of high school. "I remember the classes got a lot harder,"
Esper said. "But maybe that hasn't started yet."
"Not really," Rhylee said. "There's just a lot more people."
"How are your friends?"
"Allegra is good," Rhyle replied. "So is Atticus."
"What about Helena?"
"We don't talk as much anymore."
"Did something happen?"
"I didn't do anything," Rhylee said. "She just, um… she said some not nice things."
"About you?"
Rhylee looked away. "No."
Esper's heart sank. "Oh."
(It was one thing for him to bear the eyes on him everywhere he went, to hear the whispers and tolerate the fake smiles; it was another for his siblings to.)
"I just didn't want to listen to it anymore," Rhylee said, her jaw tight.
"You don't have to defend me," Esper said gently.
"I just don't get why people feel like they should say those things," Rhylee said, and Esper caught the quiver in her lip. "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it, right?"
"You've always been better at that than me," Esper said. "Wait- people? Like, multiple?"
Rhylee's eyes widened. "Um…"
"Are people being mean to you at school because of me?" Esper asked, setting down his water.
"They're being mean because they're mean," Rhylee said.
"How long has this been going on?"
"It's better now," she said quickly. "It was worse when school started. But it's been a couple weeks, so it's not as much anymore."
"Weeks?"
"But not really anymore."
"Rhylee…"
"But I don't need Helena. Or any of them. It's fine."
"I'm so sorry."
"You didn't do anything."
"That's not true. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Rhylee shrugged. "It's not a big deal."
"You can talk to me about this stuff."
"I'm okay, Esper," Rhylee said. "Everything is fine, okay?"
"But if it's not," Esper said, "you can tell me."
"Okay."
"Good," Esper said. "Why don't you invite your friends over this weekend or something? I'll get you guys some snacks, and you could watch a movie, or play one of those board games the Capitol left here. Who knows? Maybe one of them is actually fun."
Rhylee nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said. "Okay."
"Great," Esper said, and he meant it. "I have some stuff to go work on, but let me know when you get hungry, okay?"
She nodded again.
"And thank you for doing the dishes."
She gave him a small smile. "You're welcome."
"Liar," Lio said, and he raised the shield. Esper braced himself for the final, sickening blow, but no scream rang out. Metal crashed into stone as Sirenna rolled, grabbing her tanto and shoving it upwards into Lio's ribs. His eyes bugged out, and he fell to the ground, choking.
Sirenna stood.
"You ruined everything," she spat, pointing her bloody tanto at Esper.
"I didn't tell him to try to kill you!"
"But you gave him reason," she said, walking closer. "And you gave him permission."
"Mavka?" he called. "Mavka!"
But the Two girl was nowhere to be found.
"Mavka!"
"Looks like your bestie flaked on you again," Sirenna teased. "Vikram, Portia, Mavka, even Serenity… all gone!"
She backed him up against the wall, her smirk wicked on her lovely features.
"Goodbye, little snake," she murmured. "I hope this feels as good as I imagined."
She lashed out with her tanto, slicing through Esper's throat just as he screamed-
-and then his eyes opened, and he was awake.
His scream cut off, and Esper sat up, burying his head in his hands, failing to hold back his sobs. He couldn't catch his breath, and he reached for the glass of water by his bed, gulping it down in an attempt to calm himself. He didn't know how long it took for him to stop shaking.
He didn't bother trying to go back to sleep that night.
townes zamoras. 18.
september, 88 add.
the next day: morning.
Everything was set for that afternoon, and it put Townes in an extra cheerful mood.
(After today, his father would get off his case, and Townes could finally get away from Esper and live his own life. He could taste the freedom, and it was intoxicating.)
Esper did not seem to share his good spirits.
"You look awful," Townes remarked as Esper arrived at their first class of the day.
Esper scowled as he took a seat to Townes' left, shifting his bag to the floor. "Thanks for letting me know."
And he wasn't just saying it to say it- Esper didn't look great. The circles under his eyes were deeper than usual, his frown set more firmly on his face. He still held his chin high, but his shoulders slumped a bit.
"You're welcome. Anytime."
Esper ignored him and pulled out a notebook, flipping to a clean page.
"We still on for this afternoon?" Townes asked.
"Yes," Esper said.
"Good," he said, feeling a bit more secure in his preparations. Everything would go smoothly.
Esper gave him a side eye.
"What?"
"You're acting weird."
"No, I'm not."
"You are."
"This is how I normally act."
"So then you're just weird…?"
He fake-pouted. "That's sort of hurtful, don't you think?"
"Not if it's the truth."
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'truth hurts?'" Townes asked. "Truth and hurt are not mutually exclusive concepts."
Esper looked away, suddenly focusing very hard on his notebook.
"Hello?" Townes said. "I asked you a question?"
"I've heard the phrase," Esper snapped.
"Oh my god. Relax."
"I'm relaxed."
"Yeah. Sure you are."
"I am-"
That was when the professor stepped up to her lectern, and the class fell silent around them. Esper pointedly ignored him as he began taking notes. Townes returned to his own studies, trying his hardest to focus on class and not the freedom that awaited him after this afternoon.
(But Townes did notice that once or twice, Esper's gaze drifted, and that once or twice, he had to scramble to take down a note on something the professor said.
He couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, Esper was thinking of- what sort of bitter truth Townes had reminded him of. There was something intriguing in the look in his eye. His usual intensity had shifted, replacing it with something else Townes couldn't put his finger on.
But maybe, based on what he knew of the Victor, Townes was happier not knowing.)
the same day.
four p.m.
He found Esper outside the library, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He was staring off into space, and he didn't seem to notice Townes approaching until he was directly in front of him.
"Coffee shop's this way," Townes said, pointing over his shoulder.
Esper blinked. "How far is it?" he asked. Townes turned to walk back down the hall, and Esper followed.
"Only a few minutes. Have you really never been there?"
"No."
"You know what? That actually makes a lot of sense."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you literally run home every day after class. No wonder you don't know about any of the good cafes."
They turned a corner. "Yeah, because I have shit to do," Esper said. "I don't have time to wander around the city."
"You can do homework in places that aren't your house."
"Do you really think that's all I do?"
"You haven't proven otherwise."
They left the building and started walking down the street.
"I have a life, you know."
"Oh, right. You're busy with all your interviews and famous people parties, right?"
"No, you idiot, I have a family."
"From the sob story. I remember."
"From the what?" Esper said, looking over at Townes, a note of warning in his tone.
"You know, all those times when you were all like-" and Townes took a moment to raise the pitch of his voice- "'You can't kill me, I have a family at home, blah blah blah, ouch, you stabbed me in the face!'"
"I did not sound like that."
"I thought the impression was pretty good!"
"And it wasn't a sob story. And it only happened once, and I wasn't begging like that."
"I don't know. That's what it sounded like to me."
"Are you sure you actually watched it?"
"Uh, yeah. It was mandatory viewing."
"Oh, so it's your memory that's the problem."
"You were the one that got hit on the head. If anyone's memory is wrong here, it's yours."
Esper scoffed. "If I could forget it, I would."
"We're here," Townes said, stopping in front of the coffee shop. He opened the door and stepped inside- it wasn't too busy, thankfully, and he led the way toward a table by the window.
"This one?" he said, setting his bag down on a chair, as if he hadn't picked this spot specifically for his purposes.
"Sure. Whatever."
"Do you want anything?" Townes asked. "I'm gonna go order."
"Are you actually getting something?"
"It's a coffee shop. I'm getting coffee."
"How much is a black coffee?" Esper asked, reaching for his wallet.
Townes scoffed. "I don't need your blood money. That's all you want?"
Esper glared at him. "Yes."
"Of course he drinks his coffee black," he muttered to himself as he turned to walk toward the counter.
"I can still hear you."
"Good!" Townes called over his shoulder. "That one ear of yours is hanging in there!"
He didn't bother looking for Esper's reaction. He could feel the heat of his glare on his back, and he let himself find satisfaction in it. By the time he returned to their table, Esper had already pulled out his laptop and his notebook.
"So I've already divided the work between the two of us," Esper said without looking up. Townes set down their drinks as he kept talking. "We just need to answer the discussion questions and write a paragraph connecting the chapter one concepts to chapter two. I've already written the connection paragraph and answered the first five-"
"We just got here," Townes interrupted, sitting down on the other side of the table. "What do you mean, you've already written it?"
"I already did my half."
"I thought the discussion questions were meant to be, you know, discussed."
"We're discussing them right now."
"At least let me see what you wrote," Townes said. Esper spun his laptop around, and Townes leaned forward, reading Esper's responses. "Why does this say 'Last edit was eleven hours ago?'"
"Why does that matter?"
"Because that was, like, five a.m."
"Just read the answers."
"No wonder you looked like that this morning," Townes muttered. He took a few minutes to read through Esper's work before passing the laptop back.
"So?"
"I'd change some of the wording," Townes replied. "And I'm just supposed to answer the rest by myself?"
"Is that a problem?" Esper asked, reaching for his drink.
"I feel like they'll be able to tell we didn't actually discuss shit," Townes said. "It'll sound like two different people answered the questions."
"Then add something."
"Is that allowed? I wasn't sure I was able to contribute," Townes replied.
"Once you're done pouting, yes."
"Fine. Give me the computer."
Esper handed it over once again and returned to his coffee while Townes got to work, providing counterpoints to Esper's answers. He even went ahead and gave his thoughts on the rest of the questions.
"Are you done yet?" Esper asked.
Townes typed one more sentence. "Yeah. Here." He gave the laptop back.
Esper scanned Townes' contributions. "Are you serious?"
"What?"
"You undermined everything I said."
"Well, yeah, because that's what I would do in a discussion," Townes said. "Now it looks like we discussed! Problem solved."
"Problem not solved. I'm not leaving this in."
"Just respond to it, and it'll be fine," Townes said. "Besides. No one will know who said what."
Esper rolled his eyes, but he did start adding to the discussion questions again. Townes smirked, reaching for his own drink while Esper worked. He spared a glance out the window, letting his eyes drift over the passerby, forcing his face to remain neutral as he spotted a camera flash in the crowd, directed at their window. Eventually, Esper passed him the computer again, allowing him to read over everything, and Townes only had a few thoughts to add.
"See? That wasn't so hard," Townes said, giving the laptop back one more time.
"It wasn't fun, either," Esper replied.
"Well, too bad, because they definitely said we have to do this a few more times."
"Hooray."
"And we have that other paper for next week. You better not do that one ahead of time."
"Why not?" Esper said. "It worked this time."
"Because we have to pick a topic, and I'm not gonna let you just pick whatever you want."
"So tell me what it should be about now, then, and I won't have to do that."
"You're insane," Townes said. "Are you sure the whole concussion thing got resolved?"
"How do you think concussions work?"
"Well, maybe it wasn't the concussion. Maybe something has always been wrong with you."
"Oh, so you're my therapist now?"
"Absolutely not. I think hearing you whine about your life would make me lose my mind with boredom, probably."
"If anyone here has a boring life, it's you."
"Says the guy who just goes home after class every day and does nothing."
"Again, I have a life," Esper said. "And if you don't want me to write the paper by myself, we should pick a topic before the weekend."
"Fine. But you still need to let me do some of it. Your shitty writing is not going to ruin my grade."
"My writing is not shitty."
"It wouldn't be if you didn't write this at like four in the morning."
Esper shut his laptop. "Are we done here?"
"Yeah. I think so."
Esper slid his computer and his notebook back into his bag. Townes grabbed their empty cups and threw them away before grabbing his own stuff, and he led the way to the door, holding it open.
"After you."
Esper rolled his eyes but stepped through. Townes followed, grinning.
"See you tomorrow."
"Bye."
Click.
The camera flash caught Esper's attention. "What was that?"
"I thought you were used to the attention by now," Townes said, still grinning. He waved in the direction of the camera.
Click.
"Stop it," Esper snapped. "What are you doing?"
"Enjoying being seen with the Victor, of course."
"I have a name."
"You do?"
Click.
"How did they know I was here?" he asked.
Townes shrugged. "You're famous. Duh." He threw up two peace signs as he posed, knowing Esper would hate it.
"Stop it," Esper repeated. "Wait a second-"
Click.
"-you didn't know about this, did you?"
"What," Townes said, "you think I contacted a tabloid, told them where you would be, dragged you out to this coffee shop to work on the project, and got my picture taken with you?"
Esper stared at him. "Did you?"
Townes put one of the peace signs behind Esper's head. "Of course I did."
Click.
Esper smacked his hand away. "You're ridiculous. Why the fuck would you-?"
"I didn't want to," Townes said.
"But you did. Are you low on clout or something?"
"You have to admit, it was kind of genius."
"It was stupid."
Click.
"That's your opinion."
"Oh my god. Is this about the fucking election?"
"Who said it was about that?"
"It's the daddy issues. It always comes back to daddy issues with you, doesn't it?"
Click.
Townes dropped the peace signs. "I thought I already told you. You don't know shit about me."
"Then deny it."
"You don't know what you're talking about-"
Click.
"You've been shitting on me all day, but you can't even take one little comment-"
"Shut up."
Click.
"-and it's because it's true, isn't it?"
"No, it's not-"
Click.
"Well, I hope you got your picture," Esper said. "Because I'm leaving."
"Yeah, run away again, just like last time," Townes called as Esper turned to leave.
Click.
"The coffee was shit anyway," Esper replied.
"Of course you would think so, because you ordered a fucking black coffee-"
But Esper ignored him as he disappeared around the corner, leaving Townes alone on the
sidewalk, still seething.
Click.
esper myrellis-verilla. 18.
the same day.
night.
He stabbed him over, and over, and over, widening the hole in Lio's chest, but Lio didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on Esper.
"You ruined everything," he said, his voice ragged. "You ruined me."
"All I did was tell the truth," Esper insisted.
"It wasn't your truth to tell," Lio said. Esper stabbed him again, but this time, Lio grabbed the knife, ripping it from his hand and shoving it into Esper's face. Esper screamed and fell back, and Lio was stabbing him now, over, and over, and over, and-
-he woke up, his scars burning, his face sticky with tears.
By the time he calmed himself down, he knew he wasn't going back to sleep.
So he reached for his laptop once again, and started compiling paper topic ideas.
townes zamoras. 18.
the next day.
evening.
"This was not what I meant by fixing," Mayor Zamoras snapped as he threw another tabloid down on the table in front of Townes. Townes already knew what the photo would be, and he was correct: himself, arguing heatedly with Esper.
"They didn't use any of the good ones," he muttered.
"They did," his father said, flipping a few pages in. Townes hadn't seen these yet- there was one of him smirking while Esper worked, one of him holding the door for Esper with a grin, one with the peace signs. He read the caption above the rest of the article.
Esper Myrellis-Verilla and the Mayor's son, enjoying coffee together before their argument outside yesterday afternoon.
"I have a name," Townes mumbled.
"This is not good enough," his father said.
"What?!"
"All you've done is created more drama!" his father said. "This is not fixing!"
"Do you know how many people I had to call to get someone to take these?" Townes demanded. The answer was one, but he didn't need his father knowing that.
"I don't care," the Mayor answered. "I did not give Cahill University another endowment for you to ruin my reelection campaign. I did not have a personal dinner with the university president-"
"You didn't have to do that!"
"Clearly I did, because you're incapable of repairing any of your own damage!" his father shouted.
"That's not true-"
"Then prove it!"
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder!"
Townes blinked, not willing to show his father the distress he was causing him. "I will!"
His father shook his head, pointing at the tabloid again. "Not good enough," he repeated.
Then he left, and Townes buried his head in his hands, trying to shove back his father's words, to put them out of his mind, but it didn't work.
(It never had.)
hey besties! if you stumbled upon this fic- hello, i'm rb, nice to meet you. this is an interlude fic between my most recent and my upcoming syot. it does contain a shit ton of spoilers for gc in case you were interested in reading that. this fic will be updating throughout the rest of the rb3 sub period (every few days or so) and holy shit i'm excited about it. gaytober is real! i have so much goofy shit planned for this! we will have fun!
anyway- i hope you enjoyed this chapter, happy october, and i'll see you again in a few days :)))
rb
