Carlo Longstaff

District Four

After dinner was over, Isaac plopped down on the couch in the sitting car, a glass of wine still pressed against him like it was a mug of coffee in the morning. Carlo sat on the bright pink chair next to Isaac. It was maybe a bit too presumptuous to assume that he could curl up next to Isaac while they watched reaping recaps, as if they weren't part of a mentor-tribute relationship. He knew that this flirting between the two of them was nothing more than having a little bit of fun before the seriousness began, but God, he wanted to test it just a little bit.

He wouldn't, though. Not now, and not in front of Sedna.

"Sedna wouldn't be so bad to have as a partner," Carlo said after a moment of listening to Karamo Morningstar jabber on about the tributes as they waited for recaps to begin. "Too bad about the twist this year, I guess."

Isaac shot Carlo a glance. "I guess," he agreed, "but I'm not going to mentor you on how to kill her."

"I didn't expect you to," Carlo told him, the words rushing out. He didn't want Isaac to think he wanted or needed charity to win these Games. He tightened up a little bit, turning toward the screen and away from Isaac. He wasn't just a Longstaff with an ego problem; he had the skills to back up his attitude. "Doesn't seem like you like her very much, though."

Isaac sighed and started drumming his fingers on the couch. Carlo didn't know if he was getting irritated himself, or if maybe he felt bad for being condescending. "I don't have opinions on either of you yet," he said shortly.

Right. Carlo could play that game too.

He was quiet for a while as the recaps finally started playing. District One was basically skipped over, except for a brief introduction to the two tributes by Karamo Morningstar.

An image of a smallish girl with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes appeared next to the very familiar face—Hall Silversmith, such a scrawny boy with dark brown skin and big, childish eyes. Carlo had seen the modeling icon everywhere, as he was a well-known representative of his father's child clothing line. Carlo knew that there had been some kind of accident in One that prevented them from finishing the reaping, but he had no idea that they actually intended to send Hermes Silversmith's son to the Games. It was probably the stupidest decision the Capitol had made in terms of the Games in years, and it made District One a huge disappointment for his assessment of Careers.

District Two was a little more promising—a shortish blond kid and a lean girl with curly hair. She was pretty, which was an advantage to her, if she wanted to pursue that. His mom always complained about the pretty girls from One flaunting their looks as if they could use that to carry themselves through the arena. He couldn't tell much from either of their reapings. Both of them seemed confident, although the guy seemed worried as he rushed up to the stage.

Karamo stopped off before they led into the recaps of Three to comment on Balder Stein and Neha Alexander. "I see fighters here," he said, pale fingers stretching out over his knee as he leaned toward his cohost, Violetta Bane, perhaps the most prominent newscaster in the Capitol who often acted as a commentator during Games seasons. There used to be an official announcer alongside the Master of Ceremonies, but the new tradition was to treat this second-of-command position as a reason to have a guest announcer ever year. Last year it was an old retired escort, which was a hit, but pretty and charismatic Violetta Bane was never turned down when she asked to come back to give it another go.

"I do too!" Violetta tapped a button at her fingertips and a little clip of Balder Stein's reaping played over again, the moment when he was first volunteering. There was fleeting fear in his eyes as he launched himself forward to take his position. "I have to wonder what this is about though…? Karamo, what do you think?"

"Oh, I couldn't begin to guess," he said with a laugh. His orange hair stuck out on either side of his head, and loose, feathery strands of it kept falling over his forehead. "Second thoughts, I wonder?"

Carlo winced for Balder Stein. With that stated for all of the Capitol to hear, he would have to work extra hard to prove himself as a fighting-fit Career, and not some wuss who barely managed to get past his volunteering nerves. It was almost cruel how much power the announcers had over their images, which could easily make or break their chances at survival.

"Why are you worried?" Isaac asked, seeing Carlo's discomfort.

"He could be my partner," he explained. "Shouldn't you think about the bigger picture, Isaac?"

Isaac nodded slowly but said nothing. So maybe they were bickering a little bit. It would only make their flirting more dynamic later on.

Carlo could only think about what the announcers said about Balder, though. It seemed like an unfair disadvantage to put on someone, something that bothered him yearly when he watched over Games and recaps. But bringing that up had brought nothing but ridicule from most people he tried to explain it to. Even most of his boyfriends didn't understand why a disadvantage to everyone but Four was a bad thing. Only Yue sort of grasped why he wanted things to be fair and even. Everyone discounted Four, since they only sent their best on specific years, and since they were the least prized of the three richest districts. Giving Four an outrageous advantage did nothing but fuel One and Two's opinions that they were weaker, and could only win with a little push.

He wasn't sure that someone like Isaac, someone who happily fought dirty, would understand. He couldn't see Sedna understanding either. These Games were more about winning for her, rather than bringing home honor to District Four, and carrying on a tradition. That was all the Games had become to so many Careers: winning for themselves, basking in the glory of it all, rather than culture.

District Three was unremarkable. "Easy pickings," Isaac said, running a hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair. It was hard to be annoyed at the man.

Karamo Morningstar and Violetta Bane fawned over the small boy tribute. Carlo tuned out for a little bit until finally his own reaping came on.

He leaned forward like the show was finally getting good, and Isaac rolled his eyes. He wanted to know what Violetta and Karamo had to say about him, though, and if it was better or worse than Sedna.

"She looks like a strong candidate," Violetta said mildly as Sedna climbed the stage. It was a nice enough compliment. Sedna truly didn't stick out in her reaping. She was a collected and confident volunteer, as many of them were, but that didn't make her any less dangerous. He knew from the train ride so far that she was determined and focused. He didn't like her particularly, but he knew that wasn't her fault. She was probably a wonderfully pleasant girl back home, and he would treat her as such. He just wanted to pick apart her weaknesses, and Violetta and Karamo were offering no more insight that he couldn't already gather himself. "Good posture—Karamo, have you ever heard that old saying about posture?"

Oh, Lord, Carlo thought, rolling his eyes. Would they just talk about him already?

When they finally did, he was not disappointed. Karamo Morningstar actually clapped for him, throwing his head back in laughter. Carlo grinned and crossed his arms.

"The son of Talisa Lonstaff," Violetta Bane said, the thrill in her voice all-encompassing.

"I remember the news reports from when he was born!" Karamo said. "He's grown up to be quite the volunteer."

Carlo watched himself walk up to the stage. For the first time, he saw the look in his mother's eyes as he volunteered. He was too focused on what he was doing this morning to think about looking back at the victors after he volunteered. He had never seen her so proud in her entire life, a small and reserved smile turning the corners of her lips upward. Carlo's grin dropped slowly, and every time the show cut away from the footage of his reaping, he hoped silently for a replay of the footage of his mother's face.

Sedna slinked into the living car and sat down quietly in the seat closest to the door, away from Isaac and Carlo. She was just in time to watch Karamo and Violetta fawn over his size and his obvious strength. She was going to have a hard time being his district partner.

The lower districts were usually pretty unremarkable, but there were a surprising number of volunteers. By the time the reaping recaps were over, Carlo assessed his competition out there. District Five had a poor crying boy and a quiet girl, a boy in a wheelchair from Six, a very strong looking lumberjack girl from Seven, a strong volunteer from Eight, a defeated volunteer from Nine. The girl from Nine yelled at the camera, spitting out insults at the Capitol about the fairness of it all, and then she broke into tears. He supposed that was interesting enough. A volunteer from Ten, and from Eleven, for fuck's sake. Twelve and Thirteen went by without picking up his interest, and then he was taken back to the moment that Karamo clapped at his reaping.

His boyfriends back home would get a kick out of that, and he was sure when he returned home they would pester him with jokes about being the Capitol's newest hunk. He was their hunk, he would say, and they would bug him about being cheesy, and it would all be done around a warm bonfire, some smooth liquor in his hands, or maybe just a mug of hot chocolate.

"The boys from Eight and Nine seem like threats," Sedna said from across the room, the first thing she'd said since dinnertime. Karamo and Violetta were assessing the cuteness of the younger tributes, and they had just about concluded that twelve-year-old Hall Silversmith was clearly the most adorable when Sedna spoke up. "Both volunteers, both strong."

"I don't like the girls from Seven and Ten," Isaac said. "Especially not the girl from Seven. The look in her eyes is bad enough."

"She seems like a hard worker," Carlo commented. He could tell from her physique that she was a laborer, and she seemed to be very at ease with her mishap as she almost fell walking up to the stage. She caught herself and went along with the joke of it all. He wanted to get to know her, even if only a little bit, during the training process. He found himself hoping that she was his partner, actually.

"Career pack seems weak," Sedna said. "District One is out altogether, and I don't know who else we'd ask to join."

Carlo's brow furrowed as he let out a breathy chuckle. "You just said who," he reminded her. "The 'threats' from Eight and Nine, and maybe that girl from Seven." He got up from his seat, wanting to have time to think on his own for once. If Yue was here, he'd bounce his ideas and opinions off of her, but in absence of his best friend, he'd just have to let his thoughts run wild. As he passed Sedna, he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Why wouldn't we want to keep our enemies close, my friend?"

He sat in the dining car, which their escort had mysteriously disappeared from. He seemed to be much more receptive to Sedna than to Carlo, which didn't matter to him. He'd get on his good side, hopefully without undermining Sedna's relationship with him too much.

He could hear the quiet, stilted conversation between Isaac and his partner floating into this car in bits and pieces.

"I think they'll have a good time appeasing the Capitol when Hall dies," Isaac mentioned, and Carlo couldn't hear Sedna's response. They started discussing the weird guy from Twelve and the attitude of the boy from Eleven, and Carlo didn't need to hear all of it to benefit from the snippets. He liked hearing others' opinions, even when they didn't much affect his already-established ones. It helped him to understand Isaac and Sedna themselves when he was able to piece together exactly where they were coming from about these tributes.

Eventually, his head found his way into his arms on the table, and he daydreamed about curling up with Arturo and Eli in his bed at Yue's house.

so this didn't actually have a lot of recapping and was more about the district 4 squad, but since intros were so long i didn't want to relive reapings in too much detail so i made it more about carlo & isaac & sedna. i actually intended it to be funnier and sillier since it's from carlo's pov when i first planned this, but then i thought about the Real Shit carlo might think and it turned into a more genuine chapter. w a little bickering from carlo & isaac

we're getting partners together next chapter tho!

chapter question: what do you predict the career pack will be like?