Damon Schaffer, Age 18, District Two's Male Tribute
Sabina the escort snaps her fingers, and an Avox girl is pushed in her direction. The girl snorts and crosses her arms, working her jaw in a way that shows her recently she was Avoxed. She's kinda pretty, with high cheekbones, glossy brown hair, and huge eyes. "Fetch a pitcher of… what do you guys want?" Sabina asks me and Kona, my fellow Tribute.
"Herbal tea. Mint, if you have it," Kona says. "Helps focus the mind." Sabina nods and looks in my direction.
"Fine by me. What the princess wants, the princess gets," I answer, pointedly looking at Kona. I'd seen her enough at the Academy to know she was doted on by the trainers. She beats the crap out of one kid, and suddenly she's the favorite. Granted, the kid was the chosen Volunteer who may or may not have been able to put me in a choke hold in under a minute. But I mean, it's one kid! Do you know how many bones I broke, none of them my own? Do you know how many concussions I inflicted with my bare hands? And Miss Special here delivers one bloody nose and she's Trainer's pet. She thinks she's so great, with her perfect bronze hair and her perfect evil eyes and her perfect six pack. I have a six pack. My hair is pretty darn perfect. I could take her.
Kona narrows her eyes at me and scowls. "I'm nobody's princess." Her voice is ice cold, her face hard. Maybe I'd be scared, if I wasn't such a boss. As it is, though, I laugh. She takes herself so seriously.
"Yeah, right," I challenge. "You're only the Volunteer 'cause you had a bit of skill to go with that hot bod and the trainers were too weak to say no to it."
She exhales an enraged breath, slamming her hand down and getting in my face. "I'm not here because of my 'hot bod'," she huffs, putting air quotes around my words. "I'm here 'cause I can kill you and anyone else that gets in my way to the Victor's crown."
"Oh, yeah?" I lean forward so we're nose to nose. "Prove it."
Her nostrils flare angrily and she's about to retort when we hear this wet wheezing sound. Both a bit surprised, we momentarily stop being at each other's throats. I look around to find the source of the sound, and my eyes land on the Avox girl. She was lingering there the whole time, watching us bicker. Her shoulders are shaking and her lips are stretched into a smile. The wheezing sound is coming from her. For a second I think she's choking, but then I realize: She's laughing at us.
I cross my arms and sit back in my chair, my face settling into a scowl. I hate being laughed at, especially by someone so low, but I can't help but respect the girl's guts. She's already had her tongue cut out, and still she doesn't follow orders. Besides, she's kinda cute.
"Shoo, go get the tea," Sabina growls at her. The girl rolls her eyes but stops heaving and slowly makes her way to the kitchen. Sabina turns to Kona and I, who are still fuming at each other. "Sorry about Ederra. She's new."
Kona nods, accepting the acknowledgement. "Whatever," I say. I don't need Sabina's apologies.
I turn back to Kona. I want her to get angry and fight me, because I wanna show her how much I could whoop her. "I could take you any day, you spoiled brat. Any of the other girls from the Academy could, too. I'd much rather have one of them for a partner than a dainty little Trainer's Pet who can't hold her own in a fight," I goad.
Kona's nostrils flare, but when she speaks, her voice is calm. "You're not worth the effort, Damon. Besides, you're too stupid for me to care about your opinion of me." She looks me right in the eyes, not a bit of emotion there.
No way she's that emotionally resilient. I keep making jabs, hoping to peel back the layer of calm that she suddenly has around her. "Weakling," "fragile," "diva," I call her, among other, more offensive things. "A disappointment to my great District," I say. Still, she sits serenely, facing forward and ignoring everything I shoot at her. "Wimp," I try halfheartedly. Nothing's getting to her, and I'm running out of insults.
She finally turns to face me, and I'm still holding onto the hope of a battle. She flashes a huge, completely fake smile at me. "Are you finished?" She holds her cup out, and I'm momentarily confused. I was too busy trying to think up something that would offend her that I didn't notice Ederra the Avox come back in with the tea.
Ederra pours Kona's cup a little messily, obviously not caring enough not to spill. "Watch it," Kona growls when some sloshes out of her cup and burns her hand. Ederra makes a face, and I smirk.
I hold out my own cup. "Hey, Ederra, right?" I say. She gives me a skeptical glance before starting to pour my tea. "Did you know your name is Basque and means beautiful? You certainly live up to it." She purses her lips and continues pouring. "Try not to spill this time," I tease.
The Avox stops pouring for a moment to look at me in disbelief. I'm the one in disbelief when she takes the carafe and dumps it on my lap. I jump up in pain and shock. "Gah!" I yell.
Complete chaos follows, with Kona bursting out laughing, Ederra making her wheezing noise, Sabina screaming at Ederra, and me dancing around in an attempt to get the scalding hot tea out of my underwear. "Oh, my gosh, Ederra!" Sabina shrieks. "Wait until I tell the authorities! They'll cut out worse than your tongue," she threatens.
The flash of fear in Ederra's eyes is soon masked in a defiant scowl, but I saw it. "Wait!" I call. I can't believe I'm doing this. "It's fine," I tell Sabina. "Don't- don't go telling everyone."
Sabina crinkles her eyebrows at me, confused. "Um, okay. If you like the Avox, I guess we can keep her around."
"No, I-" I start, but Ederra can't mask the pleading in her eyes. "Yeah, keep her around," I revise. What's wrong with me? How many times have I crushed someone with that same begging look without a second glance? Why is this different? Well, her life is on the line, for one. Wait, why do I care? I'm supposed to kill people. What? I don't even know. I sigh into my hands and go back to bickering with Kona. That's less confusing.
"Hey, Kona," I say.
"What?" she asks, finally stopping her snickering to respond.
"When it gets down to the Top Eight, you and me, both with our preferred weapons. Nobody interferes. If you're so tough, you can prove it then. Let's not murder each other before."
She stares at me for a moment, pondering before answering. "Okay, Damon. I hope you like the taste of your own blood."
Well. That was morbid. Right up my alley.
"Oh, Kona," I laugh. "When I'm finished, you'll long for something as tame as blood."
A/N: Hi, guys! Thanks for your reviews :) Thanks for telling me about Case's eyes, Guest. And yes it does, other Guest!
Sorry if Damon's a little confusing. His thoughts are a tiny bit scrambled, so the writing is, too. If you guys could tell me who you like best out of these two and also the pair from Seven, that would be really helpful. Also, is this style as enjoyable as the emails in the first chapter? I kind of like that format better, but I think this gets a better feel for the Tributes. What do you think?