Hello lovelies! This is my entry for Victor Exchange 2023! I got LC-it-gets-better-alt-account's baby Theo, and I hope I did the bean justice! I loved writing Theo so much ;w; Merry VE, LC!
As a general reminder to those reading, Theo uses she/it pronouns!
I.
Theodora Vanek-Haddad
As the javelin sailed through the air and pierced the target, right in the middle of the target drawn sloppily onto the chest of the dummy, people behind her clapped softly in praise. The dummy toppled over and the javelin stuck up in the air like a flagpole stabbed into the ground, and with a proud smile at the sight, Theo ended its turn for target practice.
It was the week leading up to the reapings, the same week that the Quell twist would be announced, and despite the past year being spent gauging each candidate among the Academy students, the staff still saw it fit to hold a contest for their students in order to figure out how dedicated they all were to the position. Those by the swords station, handling their metal swords for the first time since last year's contest, had already finished their contest—with Char at the top, like usual. It was no surprise to see that Char had flocked over to the spear station to check in with Theo, and as Theo returned to the crowd and spotted Char, they both held their hands out at each other.
Char and Theo kissed each other gleefully on the lips, and a couple of the other students waiting for their turn shuffled away from them awkwardly. Theo didn't pay them any mind—after all, this was just how it greeted Char on any given day. This was no different to shaking his hand or having a secret handshake.
"Beautiful form," Char complimented her. Theo beamed and nodded in thanks. "How's the competition looking?"
Theo shuffled closer to Char as they both looked back at the rest of the students waiting their turn. "I still have one more round to do," it told him. Char nodded sagely. "Daphne still hasn't had her turn yet."
"That's because they're saving the best for last."
Daphne approached from behind, slotting herself between Theo and Char with an arm around each of them. Daphne didn't hesitate to stand on her tip-toes and peck Theo on the cheek, and then she was right back to grinning playfully at the two of them. This was also another reason why the staff decided to hold contests in the week leading up to the reapings—Daphne was right behind Theo in the rankings for the female tribute, and there was plenty of time for Daphne to overtake Theo in terms of skill. They both specialised with spears, after all, but Theo found it a little hard to figure out how Daphne could overtake her in just a week. No matter how much Theo fretted over Daphne about it and patched up injuries caused by it, Daphne still continued to ignore her wellbeing in sparring matches and focused too hard on fighting dirty rather than keeping herself safe.
If the bo staffs they'd trained with in the past had been bladed, Theo thought, Daphne would've lost a finger or three years ago because she insisted on throwing sand from her pocket at her opponent.
"Or maybe someone slept past their alarm," Char scoffed, "and missed the first round. Your perfect hair can't fool me, missy—you missed some gunk still in your eye."
Daphne hurriedly wiped at her eyes, surprised, but soon stopped and punched Char on the shoulder. Theo laughed softly. Normally when Daphne did that, it meant Char had played a trick on her. And it was fine to laugh at tricks if Daphne got physical in a way that didn't go for the face or below the belt.
"Asshole," she grumbled, but Daphne was smiling regardless. "Don't tell the trainers I slept in. I'll never hear the end of it."
"Yeah, yeah." Char pulled Daphne's arm off of his shoulder and gave her a light shove towards the rest of the students waiting their turn. "Go line up before you lose points. You're being mean to Theo, not giving it a good fight for the top spot."
As Daphne walked backwards to the group waiting their turn, Theo watched as she bent a full ninety degrees and bowed back at the duo.
"My sincerest apologies, my liege," Daphne drawled. Before she could continue speaking, Theo bolted forward and grabbed at her arms. Daphne was frazzled as Theo picked her up and held her up in the air, but when Theo turned around and set her down, Daphne could quickly see why Theo had stepped in. The spear rack had been restocked while the trio were talking, and Daphne had been about to impale her leg on a longer javelin. "Right. Eyes in front of me. Thanks, Theo."
She gave Theo one more kiss on the cheek before finally joining the others in line. Theo let out a sigh of relief and returned to Char's side.
"I should ask the trainers to bring the medicine kit out," it lamented. Char snorted a laugh and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Maybe." Theo looked at him, brows raised, and he was smiling enough that his dimples were showing. His grey eyes, though, were trained solely on Daphne for the same reason Theo's had been. "I bet she makes everyone upset with how competent she is. You think she enjoys it?"
"Enjoys making them upset?" Theo pursed her lips. "Daphne doesn't strike me as the type. Maybe she'd enjoy teasing a little with it, though."
"Definitely. It's not like anyone would be upset if she gets it this year, though," Char went on. "Daph may be hanging out with me in the unpopular crowd, but she's got the same respect that you do. Y'all are the cool kids who are so cool that you won't even hang with the other cool kids."
When he looked up at her, he was giving Theo a playful grin. It wasn't self-deprecation, but Theo still couldn't help the pang of protectiveness it felt at the words.
"You're cool, too," it said. It bumped shoulders with him, giving him a little nudge, and Char returned it with a soft laugh. "I'm serious. I think you're cool. I like hanging out with you, too. And you're just as skilled as me and Daphne. You're better with a sword than I am, at least."
Char barked out a laugh. A few pairs of eyes landed on them, and Theo missed the scowls some of the students had when they realised it was Char. Frankly, how anyone disliked Char was beyond Theo; he was outgoing and funny, and everyone loved outgoing and funny people.
"I'll be sure to remind the trainers of that when they make a final judgement," he joked. Theo huffed a small laugh to itself, smiling again, and the duo returned their attention to the other students.
Up until now, it was fairly obvious that Theo and Char were going to be entering the arena together. Theo was the best in the Academy, and Char was the best among the boys; in fact, Theo's trainers often said it would make less sense to send them separately instead of together, because their best together had higher chances of winning than only one of their best. If Char didn't get first place, Theo definitely would—anyone with half a brain could see that, they'd tell her. And Theo believed them. More than that, Theo hoped it would happen. Despite the fact that they were best friends, despite the fact that they each had lives they both wanted to live after the Games, neither saw any point if the other wasn't with them.
Theo and Char trusted each other. Theo and Char loved each other like siblings. Theo and Char overcame adversity together.
And Theo and Char were comfortable dying by each other's hands over anyone else's.
That was potentially the only other thing Theo's trainers seemed to like about them going together. They could trust that Char wouldn't backstab Theo—he'd even get enraged at the idea that he'd do that to it—and to the same end, they could trust Theo to help Char stay alive if the career alliance fell through. One against five was unfair, but two against four? Two of the best in the District against four? They had a chance in that fight.
As time went on and Theo's eyes began to wander, taking stock of the other groups still finishing up, it glanced over at the archery station as subtly as it could manage. Theo's next turn was coming up soon, but everyone else she spoke to on a daily basis was almost done or already standing nearby to see how Theo and Daphne's turns went. About the only ones left to join Theo and Char were, of course, Daphne, but also Char's sister.
When Theo caught sight of long, wispy dark brown hair tied up in a half-ponytail, she felt her heart skip a beat. There was Betty, testing the strength of the string on her bow as she waited for her turn at the station. Theo swallowed a lump in its throat. With her hair tied back like that, Betty looked extra pretty—not that she wasn't pretty with it down, but it was rare for Theo to get a chance like this to see Betty in her training gear due to how different their fighting styles were.
Betty seemed to notice she was being watched. When she looked up from her bow and over her shoulder, Theo jolted and tried to smile casually at her. But she was tense, and Theo found it hard to act natural like everyone always said to when handling their crushes. Betty got along with it just fine, which Theo was thankful for, but if catching cues between platonic relationships was hard for Theo, then giving out those same cues for someone it had a romantic interest in was pure torture.
At the sight of Theo, Betty's expression softened a little and she waved in Theo's direction. Theo's fingers dug into her arm as she waved back, almost drawing blood with its nails, and before Theo could even call out to Betty, one of Betty's friends grabbed her attention to fix someone's bow.
Theo let out a slow, relieved breath when Betty looked away. She didn't come across as weird just now, did she? Betty never disliked Theo and the way it preferred to interact with people, but the more Theo tried to learn about how others courted someone without outright blurting that they liked them to their face, the more Theo wondered if it was doing anything right with the awkwardness and startled reactions.
"You've got it bad," Char said. Theo glanced back at him, and he was watching Betty as well. "I'm sure she won't mind if you say it outright, you know."
"Absolutely not," Theo said quickly. "I'll die."
"Betty won't kill you," he chuckled.
"I'll die of shame. Or stress. Or something else."
"I promise with all my heart that you won't die," Char insisted. He leaned against Theo as he surveyed the rest of the archery station's participants. He was so casual about it, so unbothered, and Theo was glad that he didn't dislike his best friend crushing on his sister. Everyone else who'd noticed always said that if they were in Char's shoes, they'd cut Theo off in a heartbeat. They always sounded so opposed to a friend of theirs dating their sister, but Theo supposed Char wasn't like everyone else. To Char, it was already family. What difference did it make if Theo liked Betty? It was better than Theo hating Betty's guts, Daphne had told her once.
Theo quickly looked away from the archery group and back to Daphne. She landed a headshot on the dummy, but the trainer didn't award her any points—it wasn't the marked target that Daphne was supposed to throw the javelin at. Daphne didn't seem fussed, but the fact that the neck of the dummy was half-bent from the impact definitely had a few of the other students mumbling to each other.
Daphne stood with the duo with her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed out into a pout.
"Can you believe that? I don't even get points for a killing blow."
"Ah, Daphne," Theo said slowly. "I should've told you. Killing blows are being ranked next. Right now is precision training."
"Really? Ah, who cares? I don't need precision when I totally got that sucker through the eye." Daphne was practically preening thanks to her confidence.
"Keep it up for the next one," Theo agreed. "You'll get top marks for killing blows for sure!"
The encouragement went on in the same vein for a short while, up until Theo was called over again for another throw. It landed a perfect hit again with throwing its final javelin of the day, and Theo was proud of herself as she rejoined Char and Daphne to wait for Daphne's remaining turns. It truly felt like a regular day of training, Theo thought, and almost no one gave any mention to what the Quell twist might be tomorrow morning. Everyone was so focused on getting that perfect score, of getting ahead of everyone else before the week ended, and it felt less like Hunger Games prep and more like the final semester testing to determine the rankings in the Academy.
It was at Daphne's final turn that Theo felt someone tap on its shoulder, and it looked back to see who it was. As soon as Theo turned her head, though, plush lips were pressed to her cheek before the newcomer backed away to speak.
It was Betty.
The sheen of sweat on her brow made her skin glow more than usual, Theo thought immediately.
Theo was quiet, surprised that Betty had approached, but reason quickly brought focus again. Of course Betty approached. Betty was part of the friend group. Everyone loved Betty.
Theo loved Betty a lot.
Theo quickly looked away, smiling bashfully, and cleared her throat. "How'd you do?" Theo asked Betty.
Betty giggled, a very sweet and soft sound, and leaned around Theo to wave to her brother. "I think I did well. I cut my finger on the last round, though, so my scores won't be as high for the rest of the week."
"You what?" Theo was back to looking at her, alarmed, and it took her hands in its own and turned them both over hurriedly. After inspecting each finger, expecting to find a bloodied wound in need of urgent medical care, Theo was relieved to find just a surface level cut on the calloused tip of Betty's forefinger.
"I barely even felt it," Betty laughed. "But when toweled off earlier, it stung a little."
"It's because the nerves are exposed without any blood to clot over it," Theo sighed. She blew softly on the cut, and Betty winced at the action. "S—Sorry! You should ask the nurse for some bandage tape. It won't fix the cut but it'll hold it together and let you keep training for a little longer."
"I'll have to ask," Betty said, voice soft and gentle. "I really thought my fingers were calloused enough to avoid cuts like this, honestly."
Theo hummed and still held Betty's hands. It had a troubled expression on its face. "Collagen might help build up callouses faster," Theo mumbled. "You already have some, but it might make them stronger. I'm sure if you ask at the cafeteria, they'll give some mixed in water. It's good for your hair and nails as well as your skin, too."
Theo glanced at Betty's face. Betty was listening with a very patient and interested look.
It let go of her hands and coughed into its fist. "N—Not that you need a supplement for your hair and nails. Your hair is nice enough already."
Betty bit back a laugh and smiled at Theo. "Well, I think your hair is nice, too," she said.
Theo practically short-circuited. It reached up for the ponytail her hair was tied in, and Theo fiddled with its hair with a bashful smile. Betty thought her hair was nice. Betty thought its hair was nice!
A few seconds of awkward silence passed. Theo hardly noticed it, so absorbed in the compliment, but Char seemed to. He cleared his throat and looked at Betty as Daphne crossed her arms over her chest, watching Theo with an incredulous grin.
"Hey, B, quick question that's super time-sensitive because Theo is just so popular right now," he said all at once. Betty looked at her brother with a confused frown. "So we're planning this thing where Theo and I have one-on-one dinners with our friends so we can all just soak up as much time as possible before we go to the Capitol. It's a whole thing that'll take a week, planning it has been a nightmare."
Theo blinked and was pulled from her happy daze. Had Char been planning something like that this whole time? Last Theo heard, everyone was going to meet at the hangout spot and sleep overnight together. When was Char planning on telling her it was going to be a one-on-one thing over the course of a week?
"Okay…?" Betty replied slowly.
"I'm a very generous brother," Char continued. Betty's dubious expression went ignored. "So very generous. Incredibly generous. What do you say about being the first one to get a one-on-one dinner with Theo? Beat everyone to the punch, have a nice little evening together before Theo and I leave?"
Betty furrowed her brows. She pursed her lips. Theo did the same and looked at Char.
"That's pretty time-consuming," it mumbled. "Wouldn't it be easier for everyone to get together in the one place?"
Daphne coughed and turned around hurriedly. Theo hurried to Daphne's side and patted her back as she coughed and choked on seemingly nothing. Poor thing, she must've swallowed some spit wrong. Theo could relate to that.
"I agree," it heard Betty say to Char. "It saves you a lot of trouble with planning, too. Were you going to make Romulus cook every night?"
Char cleared his throat.
"Charles Bennet, you were not about to make our friend into a pasta machine!" Betty scolded him.
"M—Maybe just for your dinner," Char mumbled.
"I can't believe you. Have you even asked him yet?"
"N—No, but—"
"And what about poor Theo? It'd feel bad for making Romulus cook for a whole week!"
Theo looked up from Daphne and back to the twins. "I would," she agreed.
With a pained sigh, Char held his face in his hands and slouched over.
"Alright," he said, seeming defeated. "We'll have dinner together. You're both right. That's much easier."
When the first day of training came to an end, Theo hadn't given the moment much thought. It assumed that Char was trying to organise something nice, albeit in a complicated way, and while it appreciated the thought, Theo did like the idea of everyone eating together and camping out in the hangout spot before the duo left for the Games more than the packed schedule of dinner with each friend every night.
And Theo truly didn't give the conversation any thought until Char pulled her aside at the end of training, after they'd emerged from the changing rooms at the same time, and all of a sudden Theo was overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment.
"I'm so bad at this," Theo whispered, panicked. She reached up to the braided, velvet yarn necklace around its neck and rubbed it between her fingers. It could feel some of its anxiety ease away with the sensation against her skin. "Why is this so hard?"
"Hey, even us neurotypicals are bad at this kind of thing," Char reassured her. He grabbed Theo's face in his hands and pressed a kiss to both of its cheeks, quick and rushed, but ultimately reassuring. "And you aren't the only one who didn't realise. Betty was just as clueless."
"Maybe Betty doesn't think of me in that way," Theo started.
Char shook her head in his hands, almost like he was making Theo deny the thought. "No, no, no, none of that! My sister is just a dumb lesbian. You could sleep with her and she'd still think you meant it platonically."
"But I don't want to sleep with her—"
"Unless she consents and understands, yes. I just mean that she's very oblivious to your feelings, even if you're blunt about them—and I know," Char cut her off, right as Theo was about to argue against spilling its feelings outright, "you don't want to be upfront about it. Frankly, I don't think a lot of people want to. We can't all have the perfect confession and acceptance. Not like me," he added with a smug smile.
Theo sniffed and twirled the yarn around its finger. "I really like Betty," she mumbled.
"I know you do, Teddy Bear," Char said softly.
"Why is it so hard to throw hints?" Theo continued to mumble. "I don't even understand half of them. Did you know someone told me to do a 'push and pull method'? I can't even figure out how pushing Betty and then pulling her back would make her understand my intentions."
"Oh," Char hissed. "Oh, honey, no. It's—It's a metaphorical push and pull. The kind of thing where you push with overbearing interest and then pull away—seemingly stop wanting anything to do with them—to make them chase after you. It's a… Whoever told you to do that was stupid."
It did sound stupid. How was showing disinterest supposed to make someone realise you liked them? It felt unnecessarily mean.
Theo sighed and finally felt a bit more calm. Char took that as a sign to let go of her face, and Theo gave him a guilty smile as the rest of their peers left the changing rooms and headed home for the day. It was all so confusing, things that Theo wished it didn't have to think about as often as it did, but the worst part of it all was the feeling of selfishness that Theo would experience once she was calm again. Theo was the mother of the group, the one who comforted and listened to everyone else; having Char and the others do the same for her felt so unnatural, so wrong of Theo. Like Theo was supposed to simply be a beacon of hope for them, not waver in its adoration of its friends. Theo was happiest like that.
Love felt more and more complicated by the day, but Theo still wanted to feel that rush of romantic love with Betty. The somersaults its stomach did when Betty paid attention to it, the happy mood Theo would be in if she dreamed of Betty the night before—it felt so nice, but expressing it all without pushing Betty away with the awkwardness of it all was a labyrinth unlike any other.
"How do you think I should do it?" Theo asked Char. The two of them walked together out of the Academy, mixing in with the crowd of students heading home. "I don't think I could outright say it to her face."
Char hummed to himself for a moment. "Why don't you just do it during the interviews?" he asked.
Theo blinked once.
"The interviews…" it mumbled.
"Yeah. It's not like we're the ones being interviewed at the final eight," Char explained. "And everyone else makes big statements during interviews for strategic purposes. But Betty knows you're earnest, so she'd know you're not making a strategic play. And then you can prepare yourself in the arena for her answer, right?"
He made a lot of sense… And honestly, Theo wasn't opposed to it. Part of what had Theo so worried about outright confessing was not being prepared for whatever answer Betty gave. This wasn't a case of handing her a letter that asked if she liked Theo and then waiting for Betty to reply through snail mail. Because Betty had trouble with focusing on things other people liked, when she did notice something, she was the type to address it immediately so misunderstandings weren't created. If Theo sent her a letter and tried to wait a week for a reply in the mail, it'd find Betty on its doorstep within the hour with an answer, good or bad, whether Theo was ready to hear it or not.
"Yeah," it said slowly. "The interview could work. Are you okay with that, though?"
"Hey, if it's how you'll be able to confess most comfortably," Char reassured her, "then I'd even sacrifice my fifteen minutes of fame to give you more time to get it all off your chest."
Theo smiled, relieved. She leaned over and kissed Char on the cheek, and Char grinned back at it as their usual relaxed banter took over. Things would work out. Things always worked out. Theo would work something out.
"As a reminder that the rebels' selfishness ruined not only their own lives, but the lives of those precious to them," President Hinter's grainy voice announced over the radio, "each tribute must bring someone they personally know of reaping age with them into the arena."
At the front of the classroom, where the top students in the Academy were gathered, Desdemona Qiang turned off the radio and faced the classroom with a stern expression.
"That's our twist," she announced. This was how the Academy saw fit to handle preparing for the Quell—they'd called in the victor of the last Quell, District Two's own Desdemona Qiang, and she was to give a lecture on how her Quell twist had affected her game plan and the arena expectations following it. "Until we get more information, I'd say it's safe to assume that someone can volunteer to go with a tribute, provided there's proof they know each other. That'll big everyone's biggest hurdle—friends and family and perhaps even rivals are the limitation now. But remember this above all else, children: This is no different to the Fiftieth Games. Only one of you from the four sent to the Capitol can win."
Theo was writing down notes in its notebook as Desdemona spoke. Every bit of information counted, especially if Theo had to adjust her plans over the Quell twist, but the more Desdemona lectured the Academy students, the quicker Theo realised that its plans weren't all that disrupted. This just meant that Theo and Char took someone with them each, but that provided a bigger issue that they had to tackle later, when the lecture got out: Which of their friends did they sacrifice alongside themselves? Char and Theo didn't have enemies or rivals—their rivals were their friends, and it was all friendly competitions—and most of their friend group dropped out of the Academy when their interests fell elsewhere.
Romulus wanted to be a trophy husband. He never dreamed of labour, let alone participating in the Games, and he was more concerned about how to best ask out his crush and longtime booze supplier, Jacinta. He would rather die than be sent to his death—which made no sense, Theo knew, but that was how he'd always phrase it when he was asked why he didn't commit to the Academy.
McCoy was more of an artist than a fighter. They preferred collecting flowers to press and tasting new imported tea from District Nine. While they'd been the one to completely repurpose the old antique vehicle behind one of the mines, McCoy didn't have much in terms of strength and fighting prowess to speak of. If Char or Theo brought them into the arena, McCoy would feel guilty about being dead weight and they'd lose their friend in a completely preventable way, but mostly due to negligence and the other career pack members singling them out as the weakest link. And Theo couldn't do that to a creative soul like McCoy.
Caeneus was out of the question—he was dating Char, and Char was adamant that Caeneus shouldn't have to choose between himself and Char in the finale. Neither of them would leave the arena without guilt in their hearts, and the death of their lover would haunt them. Compared to Theo and Char, who both had someone they loved but resolved to accept death at the other's hand, it was infinitely more cruel to make Char kill or be killed with his boyfriend.
Daphne could probably go with them, but that left the other with only one option, and it was an option Theo couldn't bring itself to pick. Daphne was well-trained, right behind Theo in terms of skill, and she was constantly in competition with Theo to go into the Games. But Daphne had a whole extra year to train, and while she was certainly skilled enough to go into the arena right now, what did it mean for next year? Did Char and Theo commit to taking Daphne for a higher chance of winning? At the cost of next year's batch not having a trump card like Daphne, who hid her skill behind her laziness? Theo's mentors would argue in favour of it, but when Char talked to her about next year's odds and how they'd each mentor Daphne for next year's Games, it was very obvious that Daphne would be carrying District Two next year.
And then there was Betty.
Theo couldn't live with itself if it took Betty into the arena.
The lecture ended after two hours of Desdemona breaking down her Quell's arena and mutts. The giant island sectioned off into twelve portions with the cornucopia in the middle, forming a thirteenth section, and Desdemona hadn't held back on the island's twist: That every twenty-four hours, the section of the island with the most tributes registered triggered a massive trap meant to help with culling numbers. The twist for Desdemona's Quell had been based on District wealth—more impoverished Districts had to send more tributes, and Desdemona had been one of only two tributes from District Two, while the vast majority of tributes (twelve of them, the highest amount in Games history) had been from District Twelve. Somehow the total had reached seventy-seven children, and Desdemona explained that the island's trap system was necessary to keep the Games continuing and for at least one death to occur each day.
Desdemona ended the lecture after recounting her Games with a warning to the hopeful volunteers before they left.
"If they needed a daily event to cull seventy-seven tributes, one each day, you should completely expect something to occur in the arena to whittle down forty-eight tributes over the course of a week." Math equations on the ratio of deaths to days spent in the arena during the One-Hundred and Fiftieth Games littered the chalkboard. "It might not be as frequent as mine was, but it'll happen. There's no doubt about that. Now, all of you go home and think long and hard about who you'll bring with you. And make sure you have proof—Peacekeepers will be interviewing witnesses and the Academy staff won't be able to lie for you."
Given that Theo's friends were labelled as the "weird" group in the Academy, it would be hard-pressed to find someone who doubted its chosen partner's validity for the Games. Everyone knew of the group because they wanted to stay away from them, even if they wanted to spend time with Theo and get in her good graces.
Char pulled Theo aside after she left the classroom. The other top-ranking students were already off in search of someone to bring with them, discussing with each other if they could get enough proof within a week to convince Peacekeepers of a prior relationship with someone, and Theo was wondering the same thing—though not for the reasons they seemed to be thinking of. Some of them were coming up with ways to try and convince the Peacekeepers they knew Char and Theo as more than just a name and a face in the Academy, and Theo even saw someone approach Daphne with a friendly smile and a wave. She saw Daphne shut them down immediately, yelling loudly enough for the Peacekeepers to hear, "I don't know you! Get lost!"
That was the last of Daphne that Theo saw as Char guided it to a secluded classroom further from the crowd.
"So, massive wrench in the plans," Char started.
Theo tilted its head curiously. "I don't think it is," she said.
"I mean, sure, we both still go into the arena," Char agreed. "That's unchanged. But who the hell do we bring with us? Everyone but Daphne is invested in something other than the Games, and we'd both sooner choke than take Betty and Caeneus."
Yeah, Theo thought the same thing. She hummed and planted its hands on its hips. "If only we could nominate each other for it…"
Char blinked. He looked up at Theo. And then he was grabbing Theo's face and peppering it with kisses excitedly.
"Teddy Bear—" A kiss. "—you're such—" Another kiss. "—a genius!" One more kiss, right on the lips.
Even though Theo was delighted to receive so much affection in one go, she was confused about why Char was so excited.
"What did I do?" it asked.
"You just saved us a massive headache." Char grabbed her hands and dragged it out of the room. "C'mon. I know who's behind me in terms of volunteering. We'll go talk to him now."
She was still confused, but Theo followed after him with a bit of hope in her heart. It reached up and rubbed the velvety yarn between its fingers, and eventually Theo's mind caught up with Char's idea and Theo's previous statement. Of course, she thought, no wonder Char was so excited. What Theo said made sense—it wasn't like they weren't allowed to take another volunteer with them. Char and Theo were special in that regard; how many past volunteers were best friends? How many prospective volunteers had an equally skilled friend at the top with them?
If Char or Theo volunteered and the other volunteered to go with them, or if they picked the other on stage, who could stop them? They were following the rules to the letter.
"Are we telling Daph—"
"Not Daphne," Char cut Theo off. He let go of its hand and let Theo run beside him freely. "Someone we don't know. Less moral dilemmas in the arena that way."
It made sense. And though Theo wasn't sure who Char was looking for specifically, two names came to mind when Theo thought of who was best after their friend group was eliminated from the equation.
"Ajax," it told Char. He looked at her through his peripherals and nodded. "And Ebony for the girls."
"You volunteer," Char said. "I'll be your elected partner. We tell Ajax. He's not as good as Ebony, anyway."
Even though Ajax was second to Char among the boys, it was no secret that Char was way ahead of the other boys in general. And with Theo being the best in the Academy this year overall, that meant they were handing off the opportunity to volunteer to someone sixth best at the most generous.
Ajax was easy to find, all things considered. He was lingering at the front gates of the Academy, looking upset as he glared at the ground and kicked stones about, and Theo waved him down as Char called out to him. He looked at the duo, scowled, and he turned to leave before they could even reach him. Theo ran faster—harder—and latched onto his arm before he could so much as leave the property and them in the dust. Ajax shook at its grip, yelled at her, and Theo squeezed its eyes shut as the sensory overload of the yelling crashed into her.
"Ease up, Ajax!" Char shouted as he approached.
"Get the fuck off me!" Ajax yelled.
"Ease up!" Char repeated. "We have good news!"
"Oh, you both worked out who to take with you? Good for you!" Ajax's tone was dripping with so much sarcasm that even Theo could pick it up. "Oh my God, get off!"
"One of us is giving up the volunteer slot!" Char wheezed as soon as he got close to Ajax. Ajax paused his shaking arm, no longer trying to get Theo off of him. He looked at Theo, eyes wide, and then at Char with just as much surprise. Theo let go of his arm slowly, and it was relieved he didn't immediately start running again. "Oh Christ— One of us is—"
"Yeah, I heard you." Ajax was giving Char a hard stare. "Why are you two telling me? Is Charles giving it up?"
That was a good question, but Theo could gather that Char intended to have it volunteer and for him to be called up onstage with her.
"Theo's better than me," Char explained. "It makes sense for it to volunteer and for me to be picked as her plus one."
Ajax frowned. "Okay… So why are you telling me?"
"Volunteer in my place," Char gasped. He bent over and coughed, catching his breath after the frantic sprint through the Academy to find Ajax. Ajax seemed to brighten at the suggestion; he looked hopeful, but like part of him was still in disbelief.
"Seriously? You'd just let me?"
"You're next after me," Char said with a shrug.
"It makes the most sense," Theo agreed. Ajax gave her an incredulous look. "You're the best after Char, like he said. If three of us go into the arena together, we have a higher chance of winning. And Char and I can prove we know each other personally, so we don't have to try and convince Peacekeepers if we try to bring the next in line with us. I mean…" Theo gestured between the three of them vaguely. "We've barely spoken this long to each other before. I don't even know your surname. Do you know ours?"
"I know his is Bennet," Ajax tried. He cleared his throat and propped his hands on his hips. "My surname's Formido. Yours?"
Was this Ajax trying to get to know them? Theo smiled and answered happily, "It's Vanek-Haddad."
Ajax's expression darkened. He cursed to himself and nodded.
"This makes sense, then," he muttered. "I always thought it was Haddad-Vanek, so maybe it's for the best if you two pick each other. We don't even know what they'd ask us on the day of the reapings."
"So you'll volunteer for the male slot?" Charles asked, hopeful.
Ajax waved him off as he turned to walk away. "I'll think about who I'll take. You better not wuss out of this, Bennet."
Theo and Char high-fived each other and finally let themselves relax. They could work with this, Theo thought. If Theo volunteered and took Char with her, it didn't have to worry about which of their friends would be sacrificed in the arena alongside the duo. And then either Char or Theo could come home to Caeneus or Betty, respectively.
The plan hadn't changed at all.