I woke up and shivered from the cool air. My hand landed on the rumpled sheets on the other side of the bed; the fabric was cool.
Then I remembered what today was. Reaping day.
Shit.
There were low voices in the other room. The annoyingly high pitched one of my younger brother, Feliciano, and a lower ugly one from the potato bastard.
Not that it was actually an ugly voice, but it was German, and therefore ugly.
I gritted my teeth, hating that my stupid brother was choosing the potato"s company over mine. I got out of bed, kicked aside one of Feliciano"s random stray cats, which hissed at me, so I kicked it again.
The little fucker scratched me across my bare ankle and I screamed.
No - yelled. A manly yell.
"You better go see what kind of issues your brother's having," came the bastard"s voice.
Feliciano giggled softly, sounding gay as fuck. "It's just the cat, Ludwig. I bet my kitty scratched fratello again."
Oh, hell no. No way was my brother spewing lies about me to his German whatever he is.
I stormed into the other room, looking incredibly pissed off, because I was, dammit, and promptly tripped over the washbasin.
I meant to sweep gracefully into the room like a ... like a ... swan! Yeah! Instead I fell forward and was about to smash my handsome face in when strong arms caught and steadied me.
And then let go extremely quick.
I rubbed my shoulder where the potato bastard had gripped me to stop my fall of non-epicness ... no - it was his fault that I fell in the first place! Damn that weiner sucker!
Damn that stupid German was strong. Fucking not fair that since he was the son of the mayor that he got to eat right while the rest of us didn"t even dare to exercise for fear of burning more calories than absolutely necessary.
So therefore the potato bastard could be called fat in our District.
Ha.
But I digress.
"Good morning, Lovino," came a familiar voice and for the first time I noticed Elizabeta Hedervary standing by the stove cooking breakfast.
Or should I say attempting to cook breakfast, since she was ogling my brother and the potato bastard so fucking shamelessly.
I ignored her.
"Get out of my fucking house," I spat at Ludwig. Who was also fat.
"But Lovi," Feliciano whined, standing up. I rounded on him and smacked in him the face.
Maybe it was an accident. But still.
"Veee~ you're mean!" Feliciano cried, running behind to hide behind his blond boyfriend. "This is my house too so you can't just kick Luddy out!"
I stalked forward, and was pleased to see the German pale. "Then you take your disgusting German and go someplace else where no one can see you."
Feliciano's eyes lit up and began to sneak away.
As if I was going to let him run off alone with that bastard.
"NO!" I hopped forward - not literally you dumbass - and grabbed Feliciano's skinny wrist. "You stay here. And you -" I jabbed my finger at Ludwig - "can disappear. As in now."
I snapped my fingers threateningly at him.
He should've been running away screaming in terror.
Sadly, he didn't.
"I think it would be best if I left now," Ludwig said awkwardly.
My brother gasped. "You can't leave without giving me a kiss!"
What. The. Fuck.
He was freaking sixteen!
"Oh my," Elizabeta said softly. Without looking I knew one she was fucking bleeding from her nose already.
Feliciano smiled, batting his eyelashes like he was freaking Bambi.
"U-um…" Ludwig nervously glanced aside and paled when he saw the deadly stare I threw right back at him, "…I don't think it's a good idea to do that while your brother's—"
Feliciano didn"t let him finish and pulled him closer, gently pressing their lips together and paralyzing Ludwig for a second with just that one touch, before the blond macho man wrapped an arm around Feliciano as well and kissed him back.
…
…
Well.
This was… well.
I stopped glaring daggers at the German and my little brother – they were too busy getting in each other"s pants anyway to pay attention to me anyway.
Elizabeta was too busy mopping up blood from her nose and trying to take fucking pictures at the same time and at times like these I had no idea why Feliciano and I allowed her to be our caretaker and live with us.
She"s a strange women to say the least. And fucking batshit insane.
I groaned and went back to my room to pull on a pair of jeans and a fashionable jacket. I went out through the back door because I feel like losing my non-existent breakfast over seeing German/Italian soft porn.
Or seeing my kitchen being turned into a fucking crime scene.
S-she better not get any blood on the furniture, dammit!
Walking down the street of the Seam in District 12 was like walking into a fucking black and white movie. No color, no life, and half starved human beings struggling along.
Feliciano and I have been luckier. I could hunt for food, and Elizabeta was a healer, so people paid her what they could for medicine and treating injuries.
Though usually their health problems came from fucking severe malnutrition.
So the prescribed cure was food!
Which they couldn't fucking afford, of course.
It was really a fucking sad story, but it's not like I could do anything about it.
I went out to the woods, picking up my bow and arrows - yes, I could use them fine, thank you very much - and climbed over the electric fence.
The electricity wasn't on when I crossed it. Duh.
Sadik was waiting for me. He's handsome, if you must know, and I know you want to know, with high cheekbones and tanned skin and dark hair.
But since I'm very, very, so damn straight I would never consider him.
Damn straight. Ha!
We really didn't have much to say. Me, not talking, him, being naturally quiet.
Sadik had brought breakfast, and we ate together, sitting on the soft grass and watching the birds and the ambiance was great and all.
"I wonder if my name will be drawn for this year's Reaping," Sadik said idly.
I swallowed my mouthful of bread. "Don't fucking say that."
"My names in there forty-two times." Sadik looked at me, his dark eyes unfathomable. "Your name will be in there twenty-two. Feliciano will be in there only five times."
I was pissed at him for bringing that up. "I don't let him take any fucking tesserae." I watched a bug crawl idly along my jeans before I flicked it off.
"I wish this didn't have to happen. Why don't we run away, just the two of us?" Sadik stared at me, and I looked away uncomfortably.
"We wouldn't make it five fucking miles," I muttered, then cringed at my eternal pessimism.
Sadik shifted so that he was closer, and I fought the urge to scoot away. Not that Sadik was a creeper or did anything like that.
No. Not at all.
Until he started to lean closer, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek. I felt my face flare an unattractive shade of red.
"W-w-what -" I stuttered, leaning back, because sure as hell I wasn't going to kiss him. Fuck no!
"Your hair has red in it," he murmured, tucking a stray strand behind me ear. His hand accidentally brushed my curl and I flinched away.
Sadik considered my unwilling expression, then sighed and let me go.
Good.
God, Lovino. What, feeling disappointed? You"re the one that fucking rejected that guy!
He touched my fucking curl, dammit!
I started to get up, gathering all the dead furry critters and the plants that I gathered.
Sadik held out a hand and helped me up. His warm hand lingered around my wrist longer than necessary.
"Don"t go back," he said, half jokingly. "We can run away together."
God, he was kinda sexy looking like that, bathed in the warm glow of the sun and all that shit.
I laughed kind of high pitched, but it was still a MANLY laugh, got it? I slid my hand free and turned around instead.
"Won't happen in a thousand fucking years. I got Feliciano to think about."
Sadik was understandably sullen and quiet when we went to the Hob to trade in our illegally hunted but highly sought fresh meat.
I managed to get half a gallon of tomatoes- yay!- from the grocer and also some flour. The potato bastard had made a pasta machine and given it to Feliciano for his birthday.
It wasn't a magic pasta machine, dumbass. It just had the ability to shred dough into nice even strips so Feliciano and I could have pasta whenever we fucking felt like it.
Which was every meal assuming I had hunted down enough innocent bunnies and cute furry creatures to trade for dough.
By the way, the reason Feliciano gets to stay home and be a fucking housemaid and Elizabeta"s assistant (and that idea is kind of fucking creepy so I try not to dwell on it) is that he couldn"t hunt.
The one and only time I took him out hunting he fucking cried because I was a cruel heartless murderer of bunnies and rainbows and dreams and all that was cute and innocent.
And he fucking tried to heal the rabbit and squirrel I had shot through the eye.
Anyway...
Sadik and I parted to go home and get ready for the Reaping. I was fucking starving again- really Sadik? You think bread fills me up for breakfast?- and was really looking forward to pasta for lunch.
\(^^)/
Even though we were so poor because we live in the crappiest district of them all, I was still the proud owner of a closet where Feliciano and I had clothes to choose from.
I decided to keep it fairly simple, yet stylish - we were going to a Reaping, after all. I threw some clothes Feliciano should wear on the bed: a fashionable light yellow shirt and some nice and really tight, yet good-fitting washed-out jeans and some... well, sneakers. Just like all of the other clothes, I didn't know what kind of brand they were, but their black color went well with the rest of his outfit, so whatever.
For myself, I chose a cool dress shirt with a casual black tie and some black pants I loved. Last but not least, I had planned to wear really manly shoes and an even manlier pair sunglasses (I scored those in a really dingy shop somewhere once and had to trade five fucking squirrels for it but I regret nothing since they looked fantastic on me).
…
You're probably already aware of it, but in case you haven't noticed it yet, no, we didn't and couldn't wear clothes from expensive brands, since we were too fucking poor to afford them.
Also, we've sold all of our clothes that actually did have a brand to people from the Capital, so that our household could… well, get a little money.
And yes.
Selling my wonderful expensive fashionable shit was fucking horrible.
But my brother"s well-being meant more to me.
…
What, it did!
Good thing my sense of fashion was also flawless with brand-names that were… no brand-names.
So yeah, in the end, I still looked sharp as hell.
Sad, but sharp.
…
It's something.
…
Anyway…
I nodded, not too unsatisfied as I looked at the clothes on the bed.
Damn, brand-names or no brand-names, we'd still look fucking perfect if we wore this.
"Ohh, that looks nice, Lovino!~ Just leave it up to you to think of cool combinations like this!" Feliciano then suddenly said somewhere behind me, making me jump up in surprise.
"I-it's not a matter of thinking of combinations, it's a way of life. And I'll fucking punch you in the nose if you sneak up on me like that again." I huffed, shoving the clothes in his arms, "...n-now, get yourself dressed."
"Wow, yellow! It's been such a long time since the last time I wore yellow!" Feliciano looked at the shirt in amazement, "...ah, I wonder why..."
"So do I. Your skin has a really nice light tan, so yellow looks great on you." I said with a stern expression - since I was very serious about it. I mean, we were talking about fashion. Fashion was serious business.
My brother looked from the shirt to my straight face and couldn't withhold a laugh.
"God, you"re so cute when you're acting like a homo so shamelessly, Lovi!~"
"Wh-wha..." I looked at him utterly shocked, "...I'm not!"
"What not?~" Feliciano asked, slipping into the shirt, "...not cute or not a shameless homo?~"
"Neither!" I snarled, putting on my dress shirt (a bit roughly) as well.
Feliciano gave me a teasing grin. "You might just happen to attract the attention of Antonio!"
I felt my face redden. Antonio was a bubbly airheaded who would be so damn friendly with me whenever he saw me, which was not very often. Still it was hard to resist the charm of that handsome- no, average- man.
"Do you think he'll be at the Reaping?"
I rolled my eyes. "Everyone has to be at the Reaping. But he is eighteen, so his name will be in there for the last time."
"Are you worried for him?" Feliciano was uncharacteristically somber as he smoothed his hair.
I watch him fail epically trying to flatten the stubborn curl. "Why should I be?"
"Well, he's your friend, isn't he? And Sadik too?" Feliciano winked at me. Or he may have been just winking at himself in the mirror.
Gaah. The fucking mysteries of life.
"They are just the annoying assholes in my life. Nothing more," I said harshly.
"Awww… you're so cold, Lovi…" Feliciano said after some incomprehensible mumbling.
"I'm not cold at all." I snorted. "I'm a very warm and affectionate person and I'll fucking kill everybody who dares to say otherwise."
"…are… are you going to kill me then?" my brother asked, breathlessly.
"Damn right I am – unless you pipe the fuck down already."
"But I don't want to die yet! Veee… I'm too young, talented and pretty to die!"
"And so humble, too." I dryly remarked.
Feliciano ignore me and continued his wailing.
"Also, who'll take care of Ludwig when I'm gone? Veee… Will you do it? You will, right? I mean, someone has to give him his daily portion of wurst, you kno—"
"Finish that line and I swear I will slaughter you."
"Awww… veee…"
"And stop sounding like some spastic cat in heat with your "awww" and "veee", dammit!"
"…"
"Better. Much better."
I watched my brother pout, then decided to take pity on him. Afterall, he was concerned about the Reaping, and as the mature older brother it was my job to comfort him.
"Feliciano, your name has only been there four times. There's no fucking way they're going to pick you."
He lifted his huge amber eyes. "I know. I was more worried about you."
I snorted. "I'm Italian. I'm good at running away."
Feliciano tried to smile and failed. "I hope I won't know anyone that's chosen."
"We can always hope." And maybe two fat whales will crash into the fucking sun today.
Elizabeta was nowhere in sight. Since it was fucking mandatory that everyone has to attend the Reaper, the Peacekeeper had her accompany them to houses to make sure that everyone attended the Reaping and no one could fake a sudden attack of illness.
We walked down to the Reaping, where they sorted us by age. Which meant that I was with the sixteen year olds.
Ludwig was a year older than me, so he was in the section to my left. That blond worrywart already had a crinkle on his forehead from scowling so much.
Feliks "Effie" Lukasiewicz was bouncing around the stage. This year, his outfit was a burning neon pink, so bright that it left fucking images on my vision after I looked away.
His hair was in his usual sleek shoulder length style and a softer pink color if you must know- and I know you want to know- and his short frilly maid-outfit-style hot pink dress was paired with a pair of thigh high boots in the same color, only with white lacing and subtle frills.
He looked so devastatingly gay that I wanted to laugh at him.
Except for the fact that he was totally pulling it off. He was attracting quite a few stares, from both males and females.
I was totally not staring at the section of white thighs above Feliks" boots before they disappeared into the white ruffles of his dress, when he leaned over to adjust the too short microphone.
...
He had on white lace panties.
...
May I also mention that his legs are perfectly white and flawless and just the right shape?
...
GAAAH! I am completely straight, dammit!
I looked around wildly to distract myself and luckily I found some entertainment.
Julius Abernathy was slumped down in a chair on the stage. He is the only surviving victor from District 12, and a drunken asshole.
He flung his (fifth?) bottle of wine onto the floor, making Feliks wince delicately.
Julius staggered across the stage to give Feliks Lukasiewicz a hug though I - and the rest of the crowd - could see his hand clamp down on the section of sleek white thigh and start sliding up that sinfully short dress in front of fucking live TV.
Feliks's outraged embarrassment cracked me up.
Damn, do I have to laugh at other people's distress every time?
The Peacemakers rose to their feet, hesitating. Feliks rolled his eyes and tossed his hair while his other hand slammed into Julius's chin, knocking him backwards and off the fucking stage.
My respect for that girly man boy just rose by ten fucking points.
So after another ten damn minutes that seemed to drag on forever, everyone quieted down to listen to the mayor spew about half and hour of bullshit about the found of the Panem and punishment for the rebellion that happened a fucking century ago was to send two children from each district to fight to the death like some sick Battle Royale freak game.
And then, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for:
The Raping.
I mean, Reaping.
You can bet that goes on in the Games.
Reaping lives.
Hah. I bet you perverts thought that raping went on, too.
...
It might. I don't exactly remember the episodes from every Game, but I'm sure at some point in time that happened.
I mean if cannibalism can happen, you can bet rape happened.
Oh, God. That means one of the victors could've been a rapist.
As if that's so fucking shocking. They would have to kill at least twenty some people to be crowned victor in the first place.
Anyway...
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost missed the drawing for the first Tribute.
Feliks had finished his little speech, which was annoying as hell to listen to because of his Valley Girl accent.
"So, like, welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games, and may the odds be, like, totally in your favor!"
He fucking twirled like a fucking princess as he skipped to the decorated glass bowl holding pieces of our destiny in there and all that wonderful metaphorical shit.
Feliks stood on his tiptoes - which seemed rather excessive since he was already prancing around in four inch heels in his girly as fuck stripper boots - and twirled his fingers dramatically before withdrawing a slim ribbon of paper.
His ever present smirk faded slightly as he looked at them name, but then did his best to beam at the audience.
"Like, Feliciano Vargas, you should totally come up here."