"Ev, hurry up! Five's just about up."
Evandar Locke broke away from the conversation he was in, grateful for it really. The two girls he'd been speaking to had been prattling on and on about the rude service they'd received at some boutique or another, and he'd been unable to get a word in edgewise to politely excuse himself from them. The start of another district's reaping was perfect timing.
He strode over to the sofa that sat in front of the largest screen in the house, his friends shifting to make room for him in the center. The girls who had been talking at him leaned against the back of it. They'd told him their names, but neither one came to mind. He wasn't even sure who had invited them along. But then, he was the son of the Head Gamemaker. People flocked to the events he held each year around the Hunger Games. While he made a point to only really invite friends, word got around and he didn't turn anyone away. He had the house to himself, except for his younger sister, Tullia, who was currently in her room with her own set of friends. As long as the house was not utterly destroyed and both he and his sister were alive at the end of the day, Evander's father cared little about what went on when he wasn't around.
On screen, Maximus Flatwood and Daphne Bright - the current announcer and host of the games, respectively, prattled on about the virtues of District Five, lamenting the fact that they had been so close to victory last year. As they spoke, footage of a gaunt looking girl - one of last year's tributes from Five - struggled with a much larger boy from District Two, each one with a dagger clutched in one hand. Daggers had been the only weapons in the arena last year. Many of the deaths had come in close, hand-to-hand combat, like the one currently being shown, as a result. Much to everyone's surprise, the girl from Five had managed to sink the dagger right through her opponent's ribs and into his heart, only to take a dagger in the back from Paragon, the victor from One, who'd been hidden away nearby. They didn't show that last bit - whether because they'd already shown it in early in the day or out of respect for District Five, Evander wasn't sure, but he guessed it was the latter.
Finally, they got down to business. They cut to the District Five square just as their escort began the reaping, dipping her hand into the glass ball and pulling out a tiny slip of paper. "Jocilyn Woods!" He called out, only to be answered by a shaky sob from the crowd. A girl came up from the middle of the group - 14 or 15, Evander supposed, though she looked younger as she stood on the stage. She looked tiny and frail. "She won't last an hour," Someone snorted nearby, and Evander nodded in agreement. She wouldn't make a good contender.
It was barely a moment after the boy had been reaped that there was a call from the crowd. Someone was volunteering. Other partygoers who had been paying little attention to the reaping suddenly turned their attention towards it, crowding around the screens in the room. Evander leaned forward too, watching as the new boy came up to take the stage. Volunteers in One, Two, or Four were expected - but years could go by without someone volunteering from one of the other districts. Usually it was someone who thought they had a shot at winning, but if that was the case here, then the boy was delusional. He was older than the girl by a year or two, and he didn't look much better off than she was, just as thin, scrawny and underfed.
Their faces were nearly identical, and Evander quickly realized what had happened, before the boy had introduced himself as Rowan Woods, Jocilyn's brother. "Idiot," He murmured, "He's trying to protect his sister. They're both dead." As much as he loved Tulia, he would never do something that thick-headed if he were in Rowan's place (not that he ever would be). Even if he did manage to protect her through the games, one of them would have to kill the other in the end. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his father and the other Gamemakers tried to work it that way if they could. The Capitol would eat the tragedy of it all up.
As the siblings on screen shook hands, Evander cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Another district down, folks," He called out, spreading his arms wide and mimicking the cheerful tone the escorts so often used during the reaping, "Who wants to place a bet on one of brave tributes of District Five?" This had become a yearly tradition - the Reaping pool. His guests put some money into the pot and pick one tribute that they thought would win, but they could only pick right after the reaping for their district. Most went for one of the tributes from One, Two, or Four, so everyone's share of the winnings was usually small, but if one of the lower districts won, it was a very nice payout.
"I will!" Much to Evander's surprise, his friend Vibiana shifted forward, tucking her money into the large jar at the center of the coffee table. Looking at the gathered group's incredulous stares, she shrugged.
"My mother always sponsors," She explained, "She likes sob stories. Put me down for Jocilyn."
"Alright," Evander said, scribbling down Vibiana's name on his sheet, before he took on that mock cheery tone once again. "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
A/N: A bonus chapter of the reaping for you all, mostly because I haven't gotten any new submissions yet. I'm really hoping we get more of the Capitol's perspective on the Games/experience watching them in A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (only a few more days!) since that's something that wasn't really touched on in the original trilogy and I'd be interested to know more.