General reminder that Theo's pronouns are she/it

V.

Perseverance

"Oh my God, can you give me space to just breathe?"

Fortuna was yelling at the top of her lungs as the chariots came to a stop back inside the building. The harmonious appearance of District One ahead of their chariot shattered immediately as soon as shadows of the hall covered them in darkness. Theo watched, the high of the cheering and the blinding light fading as the District Two chariot entered the darkness, and it saw the form of Fortuna leap from District One's chariot and stumble to the ground. She rolled out of the way of District Two's chariot, and Fortuna's costume was torn—the same spot that Montresor had been dragging her by earlier.

Theo didn't hesitate, even when Char tried to stop her. She jumped off of the District Two chariot, following Fortuna, and stumbled to a stop in front of her after rolling away from the other chariots and back to its feet. Peacekeepers and Games staff were running over, alarmed, but Theo was still the one who reached her first.

"Are you alright?" Theo panicked. It looked her up and down as they both sat on their knees, and the only thing Theo could see was Fortuna nursing one shoulder to keep the bodysuit in place now that it was torn. "Did he—"

"I'm fine," Fortuna gasped quickly. She held up a hand and pushed herself away, creating more distance between herself and Theo. "I'm fine. Go back to your chariot."

"But—"

"I said I'm fine!"

As Fortuna yelled at Theo, Theo couldn't help worrying about what it'd done. Fortuna had seemed so desperate to ask Theo and Char to keep her busy before the parade, and in the brief time they were out in the open and waving down adoring crowds, it wasn't like Theo had seen anything happen in the chariot ahead. If anything, Fortuna had been waving down the crowd just as much as it had and didn't seem to be as stressed as before, when Montresor had manhandled her. Theo wasn't trying to say that the issue had been resolved, but from where she was standing in her own chariot, it had looked like Montresor had calmed down enough to play up the crowd as much as the twins were on the District One chariot.

So when Theo recoiled, it couldn't help looking like Fortuna had slapped it. And when Fortuna looked at Theo and saw that expression, her own softened as the District One stylists skidded to a stop near her.

Fortuna was dragged away by the stylists carefully, like she was made of glass, and Theo watched all the while. Char was climbing off the chariot with Bellatrix, waiting to help the other teen down safely, and both of them ran over to Theo to check on her with stressed reactions.

"Don't just jump off the chariot while it's moving!" Char hissed. He was grabbing Theo's legs and checking them for injuries, but when Theo didn't wince as he rolled its ankle, he relaxed a little more and let them go.

"What the hell happened?" Bellatrix demanded. Similarly, she was holding Theo's hands and rolling its wrists slowly to check for damage. Theo didn't recoil, instead holding Bellatrix's hands gently in her own, and smiled at Bellatrix reassuringly.

"I'm okay, guys," it said softly. Char and Bellatrix sighed in tandem as the other chariots passed them by. Theo could see the chariot for District Seven pass them by, and the only girl on the chariot—the oldest among them, likely the same age as the trio on the floor—was watching them with furrowed brows. The rest of the tributes were twelve- and thirteen-year-old boys. "I think she jumped off. I, uh… I kinda just moved on my own."

Char let out a low sigh and glowered over at the District One chariot as it continued to disappear into the distance. The District Eleven chariot came to a stop behind them, and Theo figured the chariots had come to a full stop now that the parade was over and they were all a substantial way under cover.

"I almost thought that asshole pushed her," Char muttered. Bellatrix looked between them both, confused, and furrowed her brows.

"Who?" she asked, her tone firm. She wasn't taking a vague answer for this, Theo figured.

So Theo was honest. "I think his name is Montresor," it explained. "That girl—she came up to me and Char and asked us to make her so busy talking that she couldn't move. He just shoved her and dragged her away, even when she tried to resist."

"I think he's an ex-boyfriend," Char said offhandedly.

Bellatrix let out a short, unimpressed hum and let go of Theo's hands.

"It's not our business," she told Theo. And then she gave Theo a hard stare, that firm tone returning again. "Listen to me, Theo. It's not our business."

Theo pursed its lips and looked away. She didn't want to answer—Theo wanted to help if she could, not just ignore someone in need if they reached out—and when Bellatrix saw its refusal to answer, she just sighed and stood back up. Further up the aisle of chariots, Theo could see Ajax stepping off the District Two chariot and heading towards the elevators without even a glance back their way.

"I'm not helping you," Bellatrix told Theo. "I'll still ally with you, but I'm not helping you fix someone else's broken home. For all we know, they could be putting on an act."

"But it's so much effort," Theo mumbled. "To lie and hurt people."

"Well for some people, it's like breathing." Bellatrix was almost pitying Theo now, the way she was looking at her almost… making Theo feel inept. Like Theo should know better—but how could it know better? All it struggled to understand was why someone would want to be so hateful. So hurtful.

Bellatrix walked off for the elevators at that, and Char held a hand out to Theo. He also looked frustrated, though not at Theo from the way he watched Bellatrix leave, and when he did look at her, he tried his best to smile. Theo dusted off her toga and let out a small, hopeless sigh.

Understanding why people were so cutthroat and petty in something like the Hunger Games—making everything so personal—was even more difficult for Theo to understand than Academy social drama.

"Look," Char tried, "don't mind her. What you tried to do was perfectly fine."

"But you ran after me as well and freaked out," Theo mumbled.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, you gave me a heart attack with that stunt." He nudged Theo with his elbow, trying to get it to lighten up. Theo pursed its lips and looked at the floor, though, disappointed in herself. Fortuna had seemed so upset that Theo had tried to help, so maybe Theo had done something wrong. Had helped wrong. Hadn't helped enough. "But your heart was in the right place. And as bad as it is to say, something tells me our damsel in distress will appreciate you showing compassion and try to seek you out later to ally with us."

Theo glanced at him, uncertain. "What if that guy stops her?"

Char shrugged. And then, surprisingly, he pointed towards the District One chariot. Theo followed his line of sight, past the other tributes dressed in their costumes, and she spotted the twins from One looking through the crowd for them. When the blonde twin saw them, they both brightened and began sprinting towards the duo from Two with big smiles on their faces.

"Something tells me we'll have some help with that," Char muttered.

The twins slowed to a jog and came to a delicate halt in front of Char and Theo. They were smaller than the distance of the chariots allowed for Theo to notice—Theo was over six feet tall, certainly, but these two had to be barely over five feet tall to begin with. Both it and Char stared down at them, the redhead coming to a stop in front of Theo while the blonde stopped in front of Char, and they both seemed to speak in tandem with each other when they greeted the duo.

"Salutations!" they chirped at the same time.

Theo and Char looked at each other—Char with his brows raised in confusion, but Theo was more surprised, because it'd never heard someone greet her with salutations before.

"Uh… Hi," Char said slowly.

"We saw what you did for Tuna," the redhead said.

"And how you spoke to Monty," the blonde said.

They moved in tandem like puppets controlled by the same puppeteer. Both of them clapped their hands together and tilted their heads ever so slightly to the right.

"That was, like," they chirped again in sync, "totally badass of you."

Okay, how were they doing that? Theo felt like she was having an out of body experience as she heard the same voice speaking at the same time, and it grabbed Char's hand just in case its soul really was about to escape. But Char looked just as mystified, and he gripped Theo's hand tightly back as he tried to smile warmly.

The twins looked down at their hands with the same minute eye movements, and they asked, "Are you two a couple?"

Char snorted, his cheeks ballooning as he tried to hold in his laugh, and Theo let out a long wheeze as it doubled over and propped her hand on her knee.

"I—" Char laughed, finally trying to speak. He needed a second, it seemed, and when he finally gathered himself, he pointed up at himself with his free hand. "I'm gay. So's she."

"Oh!" the redhead gasped.

"Besties!" the blonde decided.

"How cute!" they fawned in tandem.

"How are you two able to do that?" Theo asked quietly. It was certainly unnerving, and definitely not something it'd ever seen Char and Betty do when they spoke at the same time. They normally got frustrated with each other and competed for who got to speak, with Betty winning priority due to the fact that she was actually prone to forgetting her thoughts if dragged away from them.

The twins looked at each other with bright smiles, and when they looked back at Theo, it was the blonde who spoke first.

"Do what?" she asked.

The redhead blinked and asked, "The speaking?"

"It's a twin thing," the blonde supplied.

"Do you have a twin?"

"Probably not, if you didn't know it was a twin thing."

"Yeah, it's a twin thing."

Char pursed his lips and squinted at them. "I don't do this with my twin," he told them.

"You guys are bad twins, then," the blonde told him.

"Bad twins," the redhead agreed.

"You should strengthen your bond with them when you get home!"

"A strong bond is important!"

Theo looked at Char with wide eyes. She knew that if it looked in a mirror, it'd see sparkles and hope in her reflection's gaze. And Char saw it too, immediately shaking his head back at Theo with a sigh.

"No. Nope. I don't want to do the weird twinning with Betty where we read each other's minds," he announced. He jabbed a finger at Theo, poking its chest, and added, "I'm too busy trying to get her laid by you. Last thing I want to hear in my head is how good it was."

"Oh a wingman!" the blonde chirped.

"Supportive twins are good too!" the redhead agreed.

"You're an alright twin," they declared together.

Char cleared his throat and looked at Theo awkwardly. He had an almost helpless expression on his face, and Theo wasn't sure what to say either. The way the twins spoke, Theo found it hard to keep up. It'd never heard Char and Betty, or any other twins it knew, talk like this. And the twins… It was almost like they were one person instead of two, which Theo was struggling to wrap her head around right now.

But Theo still tried to jump into the conversation. It coughed into its hand and smiled at the twins.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both," Theo tried.

The blonde perked up and held a hand out to her to shake. The redhead did the same, holding her hand out to Char, and both Theo and Char took their hands to shake.

"Truffle," the blonde said.

"Saffron," the redhead said.

"We're Truffle and Saffron," they chimed.

"Saffron uses she/her," Truffle chirped.

"Truffle uses she/they," Saffron said matter-of-factly.

"But we're very interchangeable," Truffle added.

"We're basically each other already," Saffron gushed.

Under his breath, Char muttered, "What the fuck…"

Both of their gazes snapped to Char. Theo hurriedly jumped back into the conversation with a loud, "A—And I'm Theo! She/it!"

That seemed to get the twins' attention. They both looked to Theo, eyes wide, and it seemed its pronouns had gotten their interest.

"We've never met someone who likes using 'it' before," Truffle chirped.

"Most people get upset when someone calls them an it," Saffron lamented.

"I like it," Theo tried. And then she cleared her throat and shook its head. "The pronoun, I mean. I like 'it'. It—I mean— 'It' feels more like me."

"Totes understandable."

"Truffle likes 'they' on occasion."

"It's very comforting to use something more neutral sometimes."

"Just Truffle, though."

"Just me."

Char wheezed, sounding like a balloon leaking air, and he held Theo's hand in a clamp-like grip. He was starting to get uncomfortable, understandable enough to Theo, and it squeezed his hand back in an attempt at calming him. He tried to relax, but the twins were proving to be too much for him.

"Well, it was nice to meet you guys!" Theo chirped. She smiled brightly at the twins, doing its best to make sure they didn't think she disliked talking with them. On the contrary, despite how difficult it was to keep up when they spoke at the same time, Saffron and Truffle were easy to talk to. "Me and Char are—"

"Alliance," Truffle cut Theo off. Theo blinked, surprised, and glanced at Saffron next. It was getting easier to know which one to look at now. Truffle seemed to be the one who'd speak first, with Saffron finishing their sentences.

"We want to ally with you," Saffron told Theo.

"You guys want to do a career pack, right?"

"We're pretty skilled."

Oh. Theo looked at Char with bright, hopeful eyes. He did say they might have some help with the twins allying with them! Now Theo could check on Fortuna a bit better and make sure she was okay!

Char seemed to catch Theo's intentions, and he laughed casually as he propped a hand on his hip.

"Early birds, huh?" he joked. Theo didn't get it, and Saffron didn't seem to either, but Truffle nodded excitedly. "Alright. Come see us at training tomorrow and we'll work out who else to include. I'm guessing you guys don't want Montresor in the alliance?"

And that was where the twins hesitated. They looked at each other, uncertain, and Truffle's gaze dropped to the floor anxiously.

Saffron was the one to speak up first, for once.

"The thing with Monty is…" She chewed her lip and cleared her throat. "Well, he's definitely strong. He's the top volunteer for a reason. But he's very… aggressive."

"He's totally obsessed with Tuna," Truffle blurted out. "It's so gross."

Both Char and Theo stared at Truffle with surprised expressions. By now, the outer District kids were heading for the elevators and returning to their rooms. A boy from District Ten, dressed up as a bull with large horns and cow print chaps, looked at them with a disgruntled expression as he pulled the horns off and handed them to the young girl with him. She was happily turning them over in her hands to observe them.

"We don't know the full story," Saffron went on.

"But Monty and Tuna have a bad history," Truffle explained.

"Rumour has it, she turned him down last year and he's held a grudge over it since," they both told the District Two duo.

Another grudge choosing? Theo scrunched up its face and looked away. Where did all these vindictive people get the energy? She couldn't even fathom holding a grudge for a year—Theo would move on after a week at the most! At least now they knew why Saffron and Truffle didn't want Montresor involved. But now that left Fortuna's position up in the air. Did they recruit her? Knowing that Montresor would follow obsessively? Or did they exclude her, even if it would kill Theo to ignore a cry for help?

Char swung Theo's hand slightly, pulling her from her thoughts, and it was able to focus again after unscrunching its face. Moping over everyone using their choice for grudges and petty arguments could wait until she was back in the District Two lobby.

"That's a shame," Char told the twins. "But understandable. We won't approach Montresor about the alliance. Is Fortuna any good in a fight?"

"Oh, she's great," Truffle chirped.

Saffron nodded in agreement. "Have you ever seen someone use a meteor hammer? It's incredible."

"Do you want her in the alliance?"

"We can persuade her!"

Char nodded once, but then he hissed and let go of Theo's hand. He propped his other hand on his hip, both hands in place now, and he put on a faux-conflicted expression. Even Theo could tell he was playing up being torn over the choice.

But the twins were eating it up perfectly fine.

"See," he drawled, "that'd be cool and all, but we can't be having Montresor following her. And how do we know they're not in cahoots?"

"Absolutely not!" Truffle shouted.

"She'd rather choke!" Saffron agreed.

"But me and Theo don't know that," Char went on. He shrugged and sighed, laying it on thick, and Char shook his head. "Mm, no can do, not if Fortuna can't shake Montresor. But we'll consider it if you guys can pull it off."

There was a fire in the twins' eyes when Char gave the offer. Saffron was crossing her arms over her chest, irate, and Truffle was scowling as she balled her hands into fists as her side.

"Oh, we'll pull it off!" Truffle grumbled.

"And you'll be eating those words!" Saffron added.

"We're pros at getting people to leave us alone!"

"Monty will want nothing to do with Tuna by the time we're done with them!"

"Great!" Char clapped his hands together and beamed down at the twins. They both blinked up at him, surprised, but it appeared only Saffron noticed what Char had done. Her face went red as she tried to compose herself, but it was clear she was trying to match Truffle's confusion. It looked like a little effort still had to go into pretending to be the same person, Theo thought. "Get back to us during training and we'll see how you two go. You're gonna love Trixie."

He linked his arm around Theo's and, as the District Twelve teens walked by, he pulled Theo away from the twins and walked it to the elevator. It wasn't until they were in the elevator with the kids from Twelve that they relaxed, and while Theo caught a couple of glares from the foursome, no one really talked to each other. They got off at Twelve's floor first, being lower in the building's hierarchy, and Char relaxed even more when it was just the two of them in the elevator.

Theo ran a hand through its hair and sighed.

"Are we actually the only people to pick someone we like to bring with us?" Theo asked, horrified.

Char pinched at his nose, equally tired in his demeanour, and shrugged one shoulder. "Certainly not as many well-adjusted tributes as us, that's for sure."

"Maybe we should see if District Four has anyone worthwhile," Theo suggested. "I like the twins. I really do. And Fortuna's meteor hammer skills sound super helpful. But it's starting to look more and more like District One hates each other."

There was a heavy sigh from Char.

"A career pack like that would come apart at the seams at the bloodbath," he mumbled. "The twins are alright. I noticed Saffron was leaning more into the twin gimmick than Truffle, though."

"Oh." Theo looked up and smiled at Char. "I noticed that too! I was worried I'd missed too much in the conversation."

"You kept up really well. I'm proud," Char said, and his tone was earnest. Theo felt a bit of pride well up in its chest. He was proud. "I doubt Trixie will be happy we're bringing home a lost puppy, but I think the career pack will benefit from a meteor hammer expert. Those things are brutal."

Theo blinked. "When did we find a puppy?"

"Oh, the puppy is Fortuna. When someone says they're bringing home a lost puppy to someone who will be upset about it, it means they're welcoming someone into their home or space against someone else's wishes." Char turned and leaned against the elevator wall. "In this instance, 'home' is the career pack and the puppy is Fortuna."

Theo let out an enlightened sound and nodded. That made sense. And Fortuna did seem like a kicked puppy—the kind that lashed out after years of abuse, not the kind that shied away in fear. Maybe Theo and Char could help her warm up to them with enough TLC!

Maybe.

The elevator dinged and opened up to the District Two lobby. Bellatrix was already changed out of her chariot outfit, dressed down in a bathrobe and drying her hair in a towel, and she gave the duo a nod when they entered the lobby. Desdemona and Gunner weren't around, but Birdella was fluttering about with bottles of water and bags of snacks in a box held under one arm. As soon as they saw Char and Theo, they brightened considerably and scurried over to the duo.

"There's my stars!" they cheered. "Oh, you would not believe how much the crowd loved you! Gunner isn't back yet, but he's been inundated with sponsors already trying to reach out and get more information on you two!"

"That's great!" Theo gasped, excited. It quickly matched Birdella's energy as they guided her towards the living area. Char followed, not as enthused, but almost as curious. "Is there anyone else they have their eyes on?"

"Oh! A strategic alliance for goods!" Birdella nodded in satisfaction. "Very smart play, Theo!"

The box of snacks and water was dumped on the couch, right next to where Theo sat, and Birdella gestured for Theo to help itself to some snacks. Theo wasn't hungry, but she didn't pass up a bottle of water. All the drama of the chariot parade was starting to catch up, and Theo was parched.

Char hovered over Theo from behind, and he took the water Theo offered to him after she was done drinking. Between the two of them, they drank half of the bottle by the time Birdella found a remote to turn on the TV.

"So there's a lot of drama with people using the Quell twist to carry out grudges," Birdella explained. Theo and Char both sighed. Boy howdy, did they know that all too well. Birdella looked at them with their brows raised. "Oh, you've met some tributes who did that, did you? Such a shame, those kinds. Whatever happened to good sportsmanship?"

"Some people are just angry all the time," Char said airily. "It's their entire personality."

"I can think of another word starting with 'a' that's their entire personality," Birdella muttered.

Theo furrowed her brows and leaned back to whisper to Char, "Aggressive?"

"Asshole," Char whispered back.

Theo let out an understanding sound and sat forward again. That made sense. It was mean, but it made sense.

Birdella waved a hand dismissively and flicked through the channels. There was a channel, they explained, that looped Hunger Games pre-arena footage leading up to the arena deployment. It was already looping the reapings and chariot parade, they told Theo and Char, and when they finally found the channel, Theo could see what the chariot parade had looked like from the crowds.

Theo looked so small compared to the massive expanse and the large chariots, but the camera zoomed in on the District Two team's face and tracked them for half a minute before moving onto the next chariot.

"Apparently, one duo from Four caught people's eye," Birdella told them. They pointed up at the screen as the District Four chariot slowly entered the frame. "These two—Khoi Su and Cyanea Leone. Apparently Khoi confessed their love for Cyanea on the stage at the reaping, and instead of pushing them away or rejecting them, Cyanea's been clinging to them ever since." Birdella began to flap their hands excitedly. "Oh! Oh! Here it comes!"

And then Theo was treated to the sight of Cyanea, the taller of the two, gently grabbing Khoi's chin and kissing them on the lips. A chaste moment, but Theo stared at the screen with furrowed brows.

"What's the big deal?" it asked.

"It's a kiss, Theo!" Birdella insisted. "Kissing is very intimate!"

"But I kiss people all the time," Theo explained. "I understand that it's not a way to express platonic love for everyone, but is it really such a big deal?"

"I mean…" Char shrugged. "It's not the most lewd kind of PDA out there."

Birdella scoffed and turned their nose up in the air. "Unromantic, the both of you!"

Char shrugged and pushed away from the couch. He headed for his room, likely to shower, and Theo sipped on the water some more as it pondered for a moment. It continued to watch the footage of the chariots, of the different reactions everyone had, until District Twelve's kids were out of the view of the cameras and the host and announcer were back on the screen.

The host spoke about the reported relationships between tributes, pulling up a map with colour coded connectors and breaking it all down. They used red for romantic relationships, black for enemies and rivalries, blue for family, pink for unrequited feelings, purple for friends. And when Theo saw her and Char on the board, its brows furrowed and Theo stood up abruptly. The host linked a red line from Theo to Char, and Theo was already disappointed to see this misinformation being spread.

It looked at Birdella, and Birdella didn't seem phased. But then Birdella seemed to remember something, and they held their hand over their mouth as they looked at Theo with wide eyes.

"Right," Birdella whispered. "I should go fix that."

"Please," Theo muttered, genuinely pleading with them. They nodded and scurried out of the room, aiming the remote and switching off the screen as they did so, and Theo sighed heavily.

When the door shut and Bellatrix came out of her room to check on Theo, soon followed by Char, Theo just sank into the couch and pulled her hands down her face. It didn't think miscommunication would be so rampant behind the scenes like this. Theo and Char had clearly said they were each other's best friends, and Birdella knew that too. Theo had announced onstage that Char was its best friend! At the reaping!

Theo hoped this would be easy to correct. She didn't expect people to understand her way of showing affection, but it did expect at least some willingness to listen when it said Char was just a friend. This was just like the early days of the Academy, Theo thought, and who knew how long it'd take to change the opinion of all of Panem now that this had aired for everyone to see?

She would just have to persevere, Theo thought. Perseverance was all that mattered with correcting mistakes.