Trigger warning: Some homophobic/transphobic comments at the end of Odyssey's section.
Chapter 2:
District Two
Bellona "Bell" Silvanus, 18
Two months before the Reaping
"Do you two want to volunteer or not?"
Bell lets out a sigh as she lifts up the eye mask, squinting at the sudden light as she tries to look at the victor yelling at them. If it was anyone else, Bell would have given them a short, sarcastic response, something like 'No, I'm just training blindfolded for fun'. But not to Kat Liero. She will not test that woman's threat to pick someone else to volunteer if she needs to.
"What?" Odyssey asks loudly as he pulls off his noise cancelling headphones, having missed out on everything Kat just said to them.
"I said," Kat starts slowly, staring intensely at both of them to make sure they're paying attention to her, but Bell wouldn't dream of not paying attention to the victor who has the final say in who volunteers. "Do you two want to volunteer or not?"
"Absolutely," Bell answers quickly, not wanting Kat to doubt her for even a second. Of course she wants to volunteer. She wouldn't have gotten Decima out of the way last year if she wasn't completely serious about being District Two's next Quell victor. She frowns just a little at this thought, having expected Decima to come up on top, not that boy from Eight. But…such is life. Everyone knows going into the Games what the odds are and Bell is not going to forget those odds. That was the mistake both of Two's tributes made last year, they both got too confident, and look what happened.
But not this year.
"Yes ma'am," Odyssey responds cheerfully, seemingly unbothered at all by the underlying threat in Kat's question. Bell spares a quick glance over at him, still not understanding after a few weeks of working with him often how he can just take everything in stride and not getting bothered by problems popping up. Bell likes to think she is good at figuring out people, but she has yet to figure out Odyssey Gunderson.
Well, she still has two months to figure him out before the Games to make sure she knows how to use him to get her victory.
Kat purses her lips at them and crosses her arms, still not seeming too happy about their teamwork, or rather, the lack of. And Bell knows why Kat is disappointed, she has the bruises on her arms from getting punched by either the trainers or Odyssey while they've been blindfolded and tried to work together. "I refuse to see District Two lose their chance at victory again because the two volunteers can't work together. I'm giving you one week to prove to me that you two can work together and guarantee you won't implode in the arena. If not, well, I'll find two volunteers who can prove that to me."
One week? One week to prove that Bell can work with someone that ultimately has to die for her to win? Bell gives an uncertain look over at Odyssey, wishing she didn't have to count on someone else to guarantee her spot as volunteer. But he's giving her such a confident smile that she finds herself slowly smiling back at him. He turns back to Kat, face turning to fierce determination as he nods his head at the victor. "We'll prove it to you. District Two is going to get a victor."
Kat doesn't seem convinced by this but simply motions to the three victors they've been working with, "Very well. Get back to work."
Bell glances around at the three victors, already dreading if she messes up and gets hit by one of them. In Kat's determination to get Two another Quell victor, she's put every victor to work in training them. And that means Bell has to face getting punched today by only the best in hand-to-hand contact: Darach Westmann, Jory Foran, and Maylene Henderson. Kat doesn't trust them yet with weapons – thank God or someone probably would have lost a limb by now – but fists still hurt a lot. She lets out a sigh as she stretches her aching arms, already hating the chuckle of amusement from Jory at her reaction. She turns her gaze back to Odyssey as she reaches up to put her blindfold back on. "Well, let's get this over with."
"Wait," Odyssey says quickly and reaches out to grab her arm, stopping her from blinding herself. Bell raises an eyebrow as she glances down at the hand on her arm and Odyssey lets go quickly, picking up on her being uncomfortable by the action. When she brings her gaze back up to his, that fierce determination is back in his eyes. "We need to fight together. Kat's right, we're never going to win if we keep going like we have been."
"I know that," Bell says with a huff, not wanting him to think she isn't smart enough to have picked up on that. They're…a mess when working together and it's not a surprise to her that Kat threatened them. They're not as much of a mess as last year's tributes, but they're close.
"Well we need to work together," Odyssey responds, watching her carefully to see how she reacts. Bell nods her head in agreement, smiling a little up at him, knowing she needs to make sure she can fight with him to win. And to make sure that he isn't going to fight against her. "I don't normally plan stuff but some strategy here might be needed."
"I'm listening."
"Well I won't be in a minute," Odyssey jokes as he gestures to the headphones hanging around his neck right now. Bell snorts at this and finds herself grinning at him before trying to stop that. She doesn't want to be friends with him. Being friends is only going to complicate things in the arena… "Anyways, I might not be able to hear, but you can. So I'll help you out by telling you where they are."
Bell considers this for a moment, not wanting to put her trust in someone so blindly, not when he could easily betray her in the arena. It should be the other way around, with Bell getting him to trust her. But…he looks so genuine about it that she soon agrees. "Okay but if I get punched in the face, I'm blaming you."
"I'll gladly take that blame," Odyssey chuckles as Bell pulls the blindfold down, taking a few seconds to get adjusted to the darkness. She hates the loss of sight, but at least she can still hear the victors around her as they move away from where they were talking together. She tries to track their footsteps, but it's hard with Odyssey joking around – he must have put his headphones back on, based on the volume of his voice. "Sorry that I can't lend an ear right now." Bell rolls her eyes behind her blindfold and shakes her head at him, but she still snorts a little at the joke. Odyssey laughs loudly at her reaction and she can tell by his tone that he's grinning right now, "Alright let's see what we can – oof!"
Bell hears a loud thud on the ground from her right, just where Odyssey had been standing. The victors clearly aren't waiting around for Odyssey to stop joking. Good. No one is going to wait for them in the arena. Bell turns her head, trying to hear where the victor was that knocked Odyssey down, barely able to hear their footsteps as they move closer to her. She strikes out with her fist, getting a gasp from Jory when she hits him.
"Yasss, queen!" Odyssey says loudly from the ground and Bell shakes her head, getting back into a fighting stance and straining to hear the other two victors. She can hear Darach's heavy footsteps in front of her but she can't hear Maylene, which is making her nervous. "Duck!"
Bell only hesitates for a fraction of a second before she listens to Odyssey, crouching down and trusting that he isn't going to lead her astray. There's some scuffling next to her in Odyssey's direction and she hears Maylene let out a curse from behind her. Bell kicks out her foot, swinging it widely in hopes that she'll hit her. Bell reaches out to steady herself on the ground as her foot hits Maylene, sending her off balance. She can hear Odyssey starting to fight again, probably against Jory since Bell just knocked Maylene away.
Bell stands up, struggling to hear where Maylene is and punches the air in front of her. She curses at this and moves her head around quickly, still unable to find the victor. Not with how much noise Odyssey is making fighting Jory. Panic starts to slowly build up in her out of fear of not being able to hear her opponents. If she can't do this now, how is she supposed to handle this if she's blinded in the arena? And when people are trying to kill her?
A fist strikes her harshly in the right shoulder and Bell cries out in pain from the punch. She can barely move her arm without sending a stab of pain through her shoulder, making her eyes water under her blindfold. Damn it, Odyssey said he was going to help! Some help he is.
This is why you can't trust boys.
Starting to get desperate to save herself from more pain, Bell kicks out her right leg in the direction she thinks are the victors. Her foot connects with them and she starts grinning until she hears the intense grown of pain from Odyssey. "Yield!" Odyssey cries out and Bell quickly takes off her blindfold, feeling guilty immediately when she sees him crouched over, hands holding his junk and tears of pain forming in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Bell says quickly, feeling really bad about kicking him there. Yeah, she'll do whatever to win, but kicking a guy in the junk is a low blow, even for her.
"I'll be fine," Odyssey strains to say, but Bell can tell by his voice that he's anything from fine right now. Bell carefully grabs his headphones so he can at least hear her and he smiles gratefully up at her before wincing in pain once more. "Well I guess I don't have to tuck later since you've kicked them so far up."
Bell rolls her eyes at the joke, starting to question how she's going to put up with all of his jokes for the next two months. "Yeah he's fine if he's joking," Bell says, looking around at the victors and seeing another one approaching, carrying two ice packs in her hands. Bell starts smiling at Glacia, hoping she's about to get another opportunity to try and talk the Quell victor into mentoring her. She's not giving up. She doesn't care if it takes until the day before the Reaping, she's going to get the victor with the most Quell experience to mentor her. "Hey Glacia."
"Was my husband nice to you?" Glacia asks as she hands an ice pack first to Odyssey.
"Oh, yes queen, thank you," Odyssey mutters as he gratefully takes the ice pack before letting Jory help him get over to one of the benches on the side of the room. "Thanks Jory, this is why you're Irene's favorite victor. That and she thinks you're hot."
The two laugh as Glacia hands Bell the other ice pack. Meanwhile, Darach starts to look guilty at his wife's presence and she lets out a sigh. "What did he do?"
"Punched her in the shoulder," Maylene answers as Bell puts the ice pack on her shoulder, sighing in the relief that it provides her. Glacia and Maylene share a hesitant look before Maylene shrugs at Bell. "I guess we'll call it quit for the day. You two took quite the beating. Go enjoy the weekend and we'll start again first thing Monday morning."
"Thanks Maylene," Bell says softly, getting a faint smile from the victor before she nods her head at the other two before leaving. Bell was quite proud of herself that she managed to talk Maylene into helping them train, especially with the upcoming Quell bitterly reminding her of who she lost. But hey, that wasn't her fault. Bell just wanted to have one of the few people that got a 12 in training help her. She can't control what happened in the past.
"So Bellona, can I talk to you?" Glacia asks her and Bell nods her head immediately, trying not to get too hopeful about what Glacia might have to say. She doesn't just want the victor to be her mentor for her knowledge about a Quell, but also out of admiration. Glacia's doing exactly what Bell wants to do after winning.
Glacia motions for them to start walking out of the training room and when Darach tries to walk with them, she gives him a look and he sighs heavily at this. "Glacia, you're not going without me so you might as well let me join you now."
Not going without him? Does that mean…?
Bell tries not to hide her excitement – it's not a definite yet – when Glacia sighs and shakes her head at Darach before giving Bell a hesitant smile. "Kat has finally talked me into doing what I really don't like to do… I'm only doing it because she said you haven't stopped asking… So, against my better judgement, I've decided to mentor you."
Bell grins so wide at this her cheeks hurt, but she can't help it. She managed to get Glacia of all people convinced to be her mentor. "You're not going to regret it at all. I'm getting that victory no matter what."
"But," Glacia says, holding up her hand and making Bell's smile drop in concern. "There's one condition…"
"You have to put up with me," Darach steps in, putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. Despite the smile on his face, Bell can see the concern in his eyes. "I'm not letting her mentor without me."
Bell lucked out even more than she expected. She's going to be mentored by two of District Two's most legendary victors? She holds in a chuckle at her success, knowing her one competitor for the spot as volunteer never achieved this. Suck it, Decima. "Then Two is guaranteed to have a victor with you two mentoring me."
Darach laughs loudly at this, making Glacia roll her eyes at him, but she still gives him a look full of love. "She reminds me of someone I once mentored."
"I have no clue who you're talking about," Glacia teases, getting a wink from him before turning her attention back to Bell. "Can you meet with us tomorrow to start discussing strategy? Kat mentioned you want to study psychology next year…maybe we can use some of what I've been learning."
"Definitely," Bell responds immediately, forgetting about relaxing tomorrow. She'll relax once she is victor.
"Now go enjoy your night off," Glacia answers, giving Bell a hesitant smile before motioning towards the door. "You won't get too many of those soon."
"I will," Bell tells her, almost ready to chuck the ice pack aside and keep training right now. She watches the victor couple leave before heading over to her bag on the side of the room, carefully picking it up and putting the strap on her left shoulder so she doesn't make her right shoulder worse. She winces in pain from it and rubs it a little, knowing it's only going to get worse. But, at least she has some time to ice it before she meets up with Victoria and Tiberius for movie night.
"Hey Bellona," Odyssey calls out to her, making her pause in the doorway to glance back at him limping over, still holding an ice pack. She cringes a little at that, knowing it was her fault. Maybe if he was an asshole she wouldn't feel bad, but he's not… He's too nice and friendly and she needs to keep reminding herself that he needs to die for her to win.
"I'm sorry about that," Bell gestures to the ice pack he holds, ignoring her thoughts about not being friendly with him.
Odyssey casually shrugs at this as they start heading towards the entrance of the training center, pushing back his shaggy hair by his ear to point at the scar on his earlobe. "I've gotten worse injuries and those were intentional. But anyways, while I don't have a problem talking about guy's junk, that's not why I stopped you." Bell raises an eyebrow at this, making Odyssey chuckle a little at her reaction. "But uh, I had an idea for how we could show Kat we're working together."
"I'm serious about being the volunteer," Bell says, needing Odyssey to understand that she's not giving up on this spot. There's no way she's giving up on the ultimate challenge of winning a Quarter Quell.
"Hi serious, I'm Odyssey," he grins at her, waiting to see her response. Bell tries not to laugh at the joke, knowing laughing only encourages her father when he cracks jokes just like this. But…she can't help the small snort of laughter. He just looks too happy about the joke. "But anyways, being serious… I was thinking…" He pauses when they step outside into a light drizzle, making him start pouting and making him look almost adorable at his reaction. "I hate getting caught in rain."
Bell turns her gaze away from him, quickly putting to a stop any thoughts she has about how he looks. She will not let anyone get in the way of her victory, especially not the cute boy who is probably volunteering with her. "So what were you thinking?" She asks, trying to get her thoughts away from Odyssey. She can't end up losing like Decima did.
"Well," Odyssey starts, actually sounding a little nervous, making her glance at him curiously. If he's nervous, maybe it's a weakness she can use in the arena. "Kat wants us to work together. Don't you think that would be easier if we did stuff together outside of training? You know, get to know each other?"
Bell carefully thinks over her response, knowing just how dangerous it might be to become friends with Odyssey. Friends are way too dangerous in the arena. But…wouldn't it be better to have Odyssey as a friend and not an enemy? "Odyssey, I'm intending on winning. You know what that means for you."
"I'm also planning on winning so I guess we have a bit of a problem here," Odyssey smiles over at her, showing her comment hasn't succeeded in pushing him into being a friendly acquaintance. "So why don't we agree now that we'll work until the end? Show them all that District Two shouldn't be underestimated. And then the best one of us can win."
He's so full of himself and it's obvious that he's confident that he'll be the one to end up victorious in that fight. But Bell doesn't back down from a challenge and making Odyssey think they're friends might just help her manipulate the other careers. So against her better, she sticks out her hand to him. "Deal."
Odyssey is grinning as he shakes her hand firmly, "Now, friend, how about you come to my show tonight?"
"Your show?" Bell questions, watching his face grow nervous about her question. "Oh yeah, I forgot Pride is putting on a small show tonight…"
Bell really isn't sure about the show…it's so different from the plays she goes to see with her sister. Hell, it's different than anything her family ever does. And she was supposed to do stuff with Victoria and Tiberius tonight…
Odyssey takes her hesitation as her answer and starts pouting some more, turning away to hide the disappointment on his face. "Well, I guess I'll see you on Monday for training."
He starts walking away and Bell calls out to him, even if she doesn't know why. "Wait!" She yells, waiting for him to turn back to look at her. Why not go? She can bring her friends with her and it will be a chance to get Odyssey to like her more. And who knows, maybe letting him think they're friends will work to her advantage in the arena. "What time does it start?"
Odyssey starts beaming at her, causing her to smile back as his smile is just the kind that you see and can't help smiling in return. "9 pm. And make sure to bring your friends."
Venus Nahara aka Odyssey Gunderson, 18
Later that day
To say that Venus was excited for tonight would be the biggest understatement. Tonight was her last big show here in District Two before going off to do bigger and better things in the Capitol. But there is no time to be sad today. Not when she has worked her cute butt off to plan this party.
"Why does your makeup look better than mine?"
Venus chuckles at her sister's approach, leaning over to give her air kisses on both cheeks. "Because you taught me everything. How is the crowd tonight?"
Laurentina grins at her as their youngest sister Penny runs over. "Small, but enthusiastic. You know how District Two is."
Venus sighs dramatically, knowing all too well the bigotry still prevalent in this District. "Well you know what I always say, if they can't love themselves, how are they supposed to love someone else?" Venus notices Penny looking upset by this and reaches out, gently hitting her sister on the noise. "But we're not here to be upset. We're here to have some fun and celebrate everyone."
"Can I dance up on stage with you?" Penny asks her, eyes wide in excitement as Venus stands up, taking one last look in the mirror to make sure her appearance is flawless. Laurentina wasn't wrong, her makeup does look stunning, and her dress is showing off all those muscles she's worked hard to earn in training.
Venus swirls back to face her sisters, smiling sweetly at little Penny. Well, not quite little anymore, but she'll always be Venus' little sis. "Of course you can, Miss Penny. Maybe we'll even get Laurentina to get up on stage."
Laurentina starts flushing at this suggestion, making Penny start giggling while Venus laughs loudly. "Not a chance. I love you and happily support everything you do, but I'm not dancing up on stage with you."
"Not even if there's a cute girl dancing with you?" Venus wiggles her delicately drawn eyebrows, watching Laurentina grow even redder. "Maybe that other intern in the mayor's office?"
"Oh look at the time," Laurentina says quickly, glancing down at the non-existent watch on her wrist. "It's time for you to start the show."
"The night is young, there's still plenty of time to find Laurentina a girl," Venus loudly whispers to Penny, watching their oldest sister keep flushing at this. Venus starts motioning the two from the dressing rooms at the back of the small club that was willing to let them host this show with Pride. Well, it helps that Venus is one of this year's volunteers and the club is run by District Two's youngest victor, Misha Harington, victor of the 147th Games.
"Alright you two queens, time for you to head out into the crowd," Venus gives her sisters kisses on the cheeks before having to part from them.
"Good luck!" Penny grins at her and Venus blows her a kiss as they start walking to head out to the crowd.
"Make sure you slay," Laurentina glances back to look at Venus.
Venus winks at her sister and puts a hand on her hip and gestures to herself with the other. "Oh honey you know I'm always slaying." Penny giggles at this and waves cheerfully at Venus as Laurentina shakes her head a little, but the smile she's fighting makes Venus know it's all in fun. "Enjoy the show!" Venus calls after them, waiting until they are out of sight to keep walking over towards the stage.
Venus finds the young victor near the back of the stage and he grins over at Venus approaching. "Miss Nahara, always lovely to see you."
"Oh yessss, Misha, you are looking stunning," Venus gestures to the victor's silver jumpsuit, covered in gems and with a soft gauzy cape draping around his shoulders. "Where did you get that and where can I get my own?"
"I had to make sure I was dressed appropriately for District Two Pride's second annual Drag Show," Misha takes Venus' hand, kissing the back of it. Venus jokingly fans herself, making the victor start laughing. "How about I'll gift you one when you return to Two as the victor?"
"I'll wear it the first time I get to perform in the Capitol," Venus gives Misha a flirty wink at this to hide how flattered she is that Misha wants to gift her something like that. "And thank you, it means a lot to know I have District Two's youngest victor supporting me."
"Only the youngest for a few more months," Misha winks at Venus, making her flush a little and dramatically fan herself, only making Misha chuckle at her reaction. "Now come, my queen, it is time for us to make our grand entrance for the night."
"You flatter me too much, Mr. Harington," Venus teases as Misha leads her towards the stage he built just for tonight. She doesn't even know how to start thanking Misha for everything he's done, from transforming the space to even being one of the hosts. This show just wouldn't be possible without him… "Thank you, honey, for everything. I don't know why you do so much for me but thank you."
Misha pauses at the edge of the stage to turn back to stare at Venus, his dark gray eyes staring so intensely at her that she is in shock by the look, keeping her from having a witty response like normal. "I have my reasons, Od- er, Venus," he whispers, catching himself before using the wrong name right now. Venus raises her eyebrows at his soft tone, barely able to catch what he says next. "I'll tell you in time."
Misha turns around, leaving Venus stunned and trying to recover from the way he stared at her like he could see right through her, past all the makeup and the over the top fashion. And it's left her with a feeling she isn't used to, making her face heat up and her heart rate quicken.
No, no, that is not happening before the Games happen.
Venus shakes her head, clearly out any thoughts to focus on right now. She doesn't have much planned for the future, but she isn't about to plan something that will interfere with winning the Games and becoming a famous queen in the Capitol.
Luckily Misha has turned back into his normal, flirty self and when he turns back to Venus, that serious look is gone and replaced with a smirk of excitement. "Alright Venus, you ready to wow the crowd?"
"Absolutely," Venus answers confidently, letting the victor lead her out onto the stage. They're met with excited cheers and Venus blows a few kisses out to the crowd, laughing as a few people try to catch them. Laurentina was right, it's a small crowd, but they more than make up for it with their energy. District Two may not be as accepting of these people as other Districts, but they don't let that stop them from being proud. And Venus is so proud to be part of it.
Venus skims the crowd, pleased when she finds everyone she invited is here tonight. "Oh yasss queens, you are all looking gorgeous tonight!"
"Welcome, everyone, to Pride's Second Annual Drag Show!" Misha yells out, getting loud cheers of excitement. Venus claps her hands at this, feeling so thrilled by the crowd and being up on stage. This is what she's meant to be doing, no doubt about it. "We're your hosts for the evening. Of course, you all know me, Misha Harington, but our true star of the night is Miss Venus Naharaaaa!"
Venus strikes a pose with her hands on her hips before starting to laugh in happiness at all the cheers from the crowd, especially when one of her friends screams out, "Work, queen!"
"Oh yes honey, you know I will," Venus calls out, pointing at where her friends stand with her sisters. Venus waits for the crowd to stop cheering, resting her arm on Misha's shoulder and smiling at him, getting a lazy grin in return. "Now before we get started with tonight's show, there's a few people we need to thank for their help in putting together this show. First and foremost, we need to give a very loud round of applause for this man next to me." Venus leads the crowd in cheering for the victor, even jokingly pretending to bow to him, much to his amusement. "Thank you, Misha! We couldn't have done this without you!"
Misha chuckles at Venus' reaction, waving at the crowd to quiet down. "I also couldn't have done this without Miss Venus Nahara here."
Venus basks in the cheers, living for the spotlight. "Well Misha just couldn't say no to this beautiful face," she teases him, but pauses when she notices he seems to hesitate to laugh at this comment. But with the crowd in front of them, there's no time for her to think more of it. "There's a few others I need to thank. We have my dear sisters. Laurentina, for letting me raid her closet, and Penny for coming up with the theme of tonight, honoring our last Quarter Quell: Ancient Gods and Goddesses!"
The crowd rightfully applauds her sisters, Venus joining in on the praise. "And of course, there's a few friends to thank for helping out. We have Astraea, Irene and Ajax, and Wence," Venus leans forward, holding up a hand to pretend to whisper to the crowd. "Boys, Wence is single."
Venus winks over at a quickly blushing Wence, the boy trying to hide behind Ajax laughing loudly at his reaction, especially when someone in the crowd shouts out, "I'm single, Wence!"
Venus laughs along with the crowd, knowing Wence isn't truly upset with her and it's all in good fun. And if he ends up with a date after tonight, well, it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.
Misha looks about ready to start the show, but Venus holds up a hand to stop him. "There's one more special guest tonight to acknowledge." Misha raises an eyebrow at this, but motions for her to continue, thankfully letting Venus take charge of the show since she was the one who organized most of it. "I want to give a big shout out to the person volunteering with my boy Odyssey, the queen Miss Bellona Silvanus!"
Venus starts clapping for Bellona, hoping for a brief second that she isn't going to be upset by Venus bringing attention to her. But Bellona starts waving at the crowd glancing over at her, grinning and laughing at all of their attention. Thank goodness she's a good sport and doesn't mind the attention on her.
"Now," Venus says dramatically, getting the crowd to quiet down as they wait for what she'll say next. "Get ready to work, queens!"
Odyssey Gunderson, 18
Odyssey is still basking in the attention and cheers of the crowd as he finally steps out of the building, letting out a sigh of relief at the cool night air. It's on nights like this when he's absolutely certain that this is what he's meant to be doing. He belongs up on that stage as Venus, performing in front of people. But not just the small crowds in District Two of those that understand him and don't judge him for not being 'enough of a man' for enjoying performing as a drag queen. He wants to be in the Capitol, doing this for a living.
Well, he'll get there soon. He just needs to get through the Games first and become the victor. Then he'll figure things out from there.
But one step at a time.
Odyssey searches outside for his friends that said they would wait for him, finding them pretty easily in front of the building since most people have left already. His sisters have long since left to avoid Diana and Juju getting too upset at Penny staying out late. Odyssey might forget sometimes that Penny is only fourteen, but their mothers certainly don't forget this.
It seems like only his friends were willing to wait around for Odyssey to wrap things up with Misha. Odyssey had delayed a little bit there, wanting to see if Misha acted…odd anymore once he took off all the makeup and was no longer Venus, but the victor was so exhausted by that point that he was barely keeping up a conversation. Which Odyssey was a little okay with…he didn't want to deal with that kind of confrontation. It's best just to put those thoughts aside for now. Those thoughts will only distract him when he needs to be completely focused on the Games.
"There's our queen and future victor," Irene calls over to him and Odyssey holds up his hands, giving a little spin as the small group cheers for him as he walks over.
"Hey, no longer a queen right now," Odyssey says with a wink, getting a scoff from Ajax at this as his friend puts his arm around Irene. Odyssey turns his attention over to where Wence is standing quietly to the side, wanting to make sure he isn't excluded from the conversation or mad at Odyssey. "How are you, Wence?" He doesn't ask directly about earlier, feeling a little nervous that Wence will be angry at him and really not wanting to have that confrontation tonight.
"I'm good," Wence says softly, giving Odyssey a smile that tells him there are no hard feelings, always able to communicate well without words.
Odyssey grins back at him, but Astraea speaks up before he can. "He's more than good, he got a number from a cute guy." She sighs wistfully as Wence starts turning red at her comment. "I wish I had gotten a number from a cute guy."
"You had plenty of chances to get someone's number," Irene teases, making Astraea start pouting at this. But knowing Astraea, Irene is probably right. "If you weren't so hung up on that guy from training, you could have gotten a date tonight."
"Did you guys have fun tonight?" Odyssey asks quickly, noticing the way Astraea is looking a little upset at Irene's teasing and wanting to keep everyone happy. "What about Penny and Laurentina?"
"Penny had so much fun!" Irene says right away and both of them start grinning about Odyssey's youngest sister. Everyone in their friend group just loves Penny. "She was really sad when it was time for them to leave."
"I knew she would be," Odyssey says with a sigh, but tries not to let it bother him. There's no fighting their mother's curfew. So instead he turns his head up to the sky, enjoying the fresh air around him after being in that club for hours. Two is finally starting to warm up this spring, but not tonight. Not with the cloudless sky showing off the stars. "Wow, it really is such a beautiful night."
"Hey Odyssey!"
Odyssey turns around in surprise, not having realized that there were other people still around the club. He had assumed everyone left a while ago. So he's pleasantly surprised to see Bellona standing there with her two friends, giving him a small smile. "Oh hey, Bellona. I thought you would have left by now."
Bellona gives a small shrug at this, walking over to him, her friends close behind her. "We figured we would wait to see you after you were done." She gives him a small smile at this, only making Odyssey start grinning that she waited all this time. Surely if she's stuck around, she must have enjoyed the show and his plan is working to show Kat they can get along and work together! "You live over in the stone quarter, right? I'm close to there, we can walk back with you."
"Sure, sure," Odyssey answers, grinning over at her as he motions for his friends to get moving as they watch Bellona apprehensively. Their reaction is understandable since she's volunteering with him, but they don't really know her. Not that Odyssey quite knows her either but…she doesn't seem like a bad person.
They start walking back to their homes in a slightly uncomfortable silence as their friends talk around them, slowly falling behind them, leaving the two volunteers to talk. Odyssey so badly wants to ask Bellona what she thought of the show, but can't bring himself to ask. He doesn't want the conflict with Bellona if she doesn't agree with his hobby, not just because it would threaten his chance of volunteering, but he's dealt so much already with people in Two not approving of his choices. "So…" Odyssey starts, trying to find some way to break the silence that is slowly building in awkwardness. He just isn't sure what to say to the person he really doesn't know that well aside from what he's seen in training. "I bet you didn't expect to have one of our victors bring you on stage for the audience round of the lip sync battle."
"Not at all," Bellona lets out a hearty laugh at this before covering up her mouth when she lets out a snort of laughter. Odyssey chuckles at her response, feeling hopeful that she enjoyed herself, but still, he keeps quiet and doesn't ask. Luckily, Bellona is just as sociable as he is and doesn't seem to have a problem keeping up the conversation. "I wasn't sure what I was expecting but I had fun. A lot of fun, actually."
"It wasn't…too much?" Odyssey asks carefully, aware that he might have made her uncomfortable by dancing with her in the crowd as Venus. But that's what Venus does and he wasn't going to change who he is. But he so badly needs things to work well with Bellona. There's no alternative to him volunteering.
Odyssey sneaks a glance over at Bellona, trying to pick up on any emotions to indicate how she really feels about tonight. But she's keeping her face a cool mask, making it difficult for him to pick up on anything. A few seconds pass before she looks over at him, turning away when she sees him looking at her and Odyssey almost thinks he catches a faint blush on her cheeks, only making him even more confused by her. "No," she finally answers, giving a smile over at him. "That's was probably the most fun I've had in a while."
"Really?" Odyssey fully turns to Bellona, grinning in excitement over this. He can't help it, not when he was afraid that Bellona was going to insult his passion or push him away, ruining his chances of fame in the Capitol. She could just be saying it to make sure she still volunteers, but as long as that still happens for him, Odyssey will roll with it. "Your friends must be the life of the party!"
Bellona snorts in laughter at this joke, glancing over her shoulder at where her two friends walk. "Those two? Nah, they're too busy paying attention to each other."
"That's how Irene and Ajax are," Odyssey chuckles as he nods in the direction of his friends. Bellona laughs a little too, leaving Odyssey a little surprised by how well his plan is working out to prove to Kat they can get along. "So-"
Odyssey cuts off when he sees a pair walking towards them, making any trace of a smile disappear from his face. "Oh great," he mutters, really not wanting to ruin the amazing night he's had dealing with Crius still being bitter that he didn't beat Odyssey for the volunteer spot.
"Hey Bell, why are you wasting your time with this prissy boy?" Crius calls to Bellona, making Odyssey clench his fists in anger. He keeps his gaze straight ahead, confident in who he is and not letting any pathetic boys tell him otherwise.
"We're not friends, Crius, so don't call me Bell," she answers Crius and Odyssey can see her glancing over at him out of the corner of his eye as he keeps his gaze ahead, refusing to acknowledge Crius.
Great, Crius is going to come here and ruin everything he started building with Bellona tonight. And then he's going to lose his chance to volunteer and he'll never make it to the Capitol and become famous doing what he loves.
"You're wasting your time with him," Crius continues to say, seemingly unbothered by Bellona shutting him down. "Why don't you hang out with a real man instead?"
Bellona lets out a harsh laugh at this as Odyssey clenches his fist, refusing to stoop down to Crius' pathetic level. He's just looking for a confrontation and he's not going to give it to him. "Surely you can't be talking about yourself."
Odyssey glances over at Bellona at that comment, surprised to see her defending him. Maybe she was genuine about having fun tonight. Or maybe she's just serious about volunteering. He looks over at Crius, finding his sister Clio standing behind him, looking unhappy about this situation. Odyssey can hear his friends catching up with them as Crius gets a smug look on his face at having Odyssey's attention. "Well I'm certainly not talking about Venus," he spits out the name like it's the worst slur and Odyssey is nearly seconds away from saying something to him, despite his intense dislike of conflict. "She grew up with so many women and no testosterone that it's no wonder he turned out so gay and dresses like a pathetic little girl."
Before Odyssey can even open his mouth to respond, Bellona has jumped forward, striking Crius in his smug face. He clutches his nose as it rapidly starts bleeding, making Odyssey start grinning at Bellona's reaction. "The only 'pathetic little girl' here is you."
Clio starts dragging her brother away from them as he starts cursing at them, looking apologetic at the two volunteers as their friends all catch up to them.
Odyssey turns to Bellona, raising an eyebrow in surprise that she defended him and slowly starts to grin. "You know, Bellona? I think this is the start of a great victory for District Two."
Flannery Escouvier, 49, Escort for District Two
Leading up to today, Flannery had been excited about returning to District Two. She loves the District and its victors, many of which she has aided in bringing them back home and she even considers her friends. But stepping back onto the stage for a Quarter Quell has brought back memories of the last one, back when she was much younger and still naïve about the tributes.
She had been lucky then to have a victor return home to Two that time. But she still remembers the lose that came with Glacia's victory. Flannery can only hope that this Quell will bring home another victor for Two but with less heartache.
Flannery takes a look back at the victors, finding the previous Quell victor easily among them, holding on to her daughter tightly and staring down at the stage. The escort almost goes over and hugs her, but protocols exist for a reason and she will not take any chance of upsetting the Capitol. Not when they showed with Chic that they aren't afraid to fire the escorts if they're not behaving properly.
Flannery just wants to make it through this year before she finally decides to retire. And hopefully District Two will give her one last victor.
Flannery takes a deep breath before forcing a smile on her face, trying to forget the memories of the last Quell. That was a different Games and she will have better odds this time with volunteers allowed like normal. Even the atmosphere in the crowd is so different from then, a tense excitement buzzing through them in anticipation for their volunteers. Flannery had heard rumors from talking to Jory about the tributes and how Kat trained them, only making her more hopeful for their victory.
But hope can be dangerous.
"Good morning, District Two!" Flannery says with partially fake cheer, pausing to let the crowd applaud loudly and welcome her back. Their enthusiasm towards her has her smile growing more genuine with each second, reminding her once more that it's a new year. "After many years here, you should know by now that I'm Flannery Escouvier, your escort once more!"
Flannery's smile falters slightly at that statement, despite the crowd cheering for her. She's going to truly miss them next year but…all good things have to end. "I have high hopes for us that this year we will bring home another Quarter Quell victor to sit on this stage next year with whichever escort is so lucky enough to take my place…"
The crowd is slow to react to her words and she watches the disappointment start to spread across their faces. Flannery can't stand to see them growing upset over her so she clasps her hands together, knowing this is the last time she'll do this. "Now, let us celebrate the tributes who will fight and earn the title of victor of the Sixth Quarter Quell!"
The cheers return as Flannery strides over to the first glass sphere, knowing from decades of being her that it's a waste of her time to carefully choose a name. District Two has only once failed to give volunteers since she's been here and that was because they were forbidden. She returns back to the microphone, waiting to see who will be the first volunteer step out from the crowd. "Okay the first tribute is Eliza Drea."
Flannery just cannot fully bring herself to be excited as the girl makes her way towards the stage. Not when she knows this is her last time being part of the Reaping. "Welcome, Eliza," Flannery says softly when the girl reaches the stage, both of them knowing she won't be up here for long. "Now are there any volunteers?"
"I volunteer!"
There's the first one. Flannery squints to gaze out into the crowd, not having to struggle too hard before she finds the girl leaving the front section, shoulders back and head held high as she approaches the stage. Her dark brown hair is pulled back into a bun, showing off her eyes that scan over the crowd, observing them all and almost daring anyone to try and challenge her for the right to be there. When she reaches the stage, Flannery has to look down at her, but she finds herself genuinely smiling once more. The girl reminds the escort of her friend and Quell victor. "Welcome and what is your name?"
"Bellona Silvanus," she answers confidently, grinning out at the crowd when someone in the front shouts up at the stage, "Go Bell!"
"Excellent," Flannery mutters, pleased so far with the odds of victory from District Two. "Now, how about we see who will be joining you?"
"Oh I already know," Bellona answers, still with that confident smile on her face and giving the crowd a wink at this, making them laugh happily at her.
Oh Flannery is going to miss this place so much.
Flannery tries to push back her sadness once more, distracting herself by going to the glass sphere on the opposite side of the stage. But she hesitates to pick one of the pieces of paper, knowing it's the last time she'll do this, even if it doesn't make a difference here. But still, she wants to make it count.
She selects one and slowly returns back to the microphone, delaying the inevitable, even if she absolutely hates falling behind schedule. "And our second tribute is… Davin Clearwater."
An eighteen year old steps forward, looking as if he doesn't have any training. But based on the lack of fear in his eyes, Flannery knows there will be someone that steps forward to volunteer. "And…one last time… Are there any volunteers?"
A few seconds pass, surprising Flannery just a little before a strong voice calls out, "I volunteer as tribute!"
The boy that steps out from the front has a confident grin as he looks at the crowd, waving to them as he approaches the stage, not looking at all like he waited to volunteer because he was hesitant. He's well-dressed but his dirty blond hair won't stay put, getting tousled in the wind as he climbs the steps onto the stage. When he reaches the stage, he gives the crowd a salute before turning to face Bellona and Flannery, huge grin on his face. "Hey Bell, good to see you up here."
"You too," she answers, confident smile still on her face at seeing him.
The boy holds out a hand to Flannery, giving her a smile that probably makes lots of people his age swoon. "Odyssey Gunderson."
Flannery shakes his hand, smiling again thanks to his infectious good mood. She takes a good look at the two of them, having a gut feeling about these two that she doesn't get often. They're going to be different than most years. Kat really did everything to make sure District Two gets another Quell victor.
"Well District Two," Flannery starts, having to pause when she feels her voice wanting to crack at the realization this is her last time doing this. "Your two tributes this year are Bellona Silvanus and Odyssey Gunderson." Flannery lets the crowd cheer louder than she's heard them in many years as the two shake hands in front of her. When they start to quiet down, she takes one good look out at the District, really hoping she'll return with a victor this year. "And…may the odds be ever in your favor."
I had way too much fun with this chapter so very big thank yous to Dreamer and mistycharming for Odyssey and Bell respectively! I love getting to have the tributes connected prior to the Games and these two have a fun dynamic already that I'm really looking forward to developing more!
I'll clear things up on Odyssey just to make sure there is no confusion: he identifies as male and uses he/him pronouns, but he enjoys being creative and expressing himself as a drag queen, Venus, and that is when he uses she/her pronouns.
So what did you think of these two? Will they be able to keep working well together in the Games or end up working as poorly as Decima and Coeus last year? Do you think my girl Flannery will get one last victor before she decides to retire? And what do you think about the victors seen here (I just love my D2 victors lol)?
Alrighty, I'll see you next time in District Three!