Author's Note

I hope everyone appreciates Midnight going through some major character development. He's an utterly different person now!

TW: mention of suicide in this chapter. Nothing heavy – I don't think Midnight has the capacity to process serious topics.

Enjoy a slightly longer chapter this week! =D

Chapter 8

"What the hell do you mean, make you gay?"

"I mean make me look gay. I already am. Deep down, I have always been. But I need help breaking out of my shell, to be my true, fabulous self."

Anomaly and I stand face to face in the dining room. Well, more like face to elbow, given the height difference.

For some reason, she doesn't seem thrilled that I've joined her lifestyle.

She deliberately calms herself and speaks slowly.

"Ok, what do you mean by look gay? You're gonna have to be more specific."

"I don't know! You're the professional! Something like what Effie wears, you don't get gayer than him."

In a mental image, I borrow one of Effie's silk scarves that he wears when he's out of drag. I could pull off his casual kakis and T-shirt ten times better than he does. I could even get my ears pierced if that will help.

"Ok," says Anomaly, "I'll figure something out. This will be more fun than I thought, at least."

Now she looks excited. I smile to myself. Who knew gay people could bring so much joy to others?

Me. I did. I'm a genius.

Just then, Kitty appears in a doorway, wearing a red and black dress. Her white hair is streaked with scarlet.

"Kitty! Guess what Midnight wants to wear for his interview! He's actually letting me…" Anomaly trails off, "Kitty?"

Kitty's face is pale. Like, beyond goth-foundation pale.

She chokes, "Help-" then a torrent of blood streams from her mouth.

Kitty collapses with a thud. Red begins to stain the carpet.

The red on her dress and in her hair is not dye.

Anomaly runs over. I'm frozen.

Behind Kitty, Pinty stands holding a small switchblade.

"Man told you I'd cut you up, innit." She growls.

"You did this?!" Anomaly shouts.

"Yeah, you wanna go the same way, cuz?"

Haymitch bursts into the room.

"What's happened n-" he surveys the scene, "Oh, for fuck's sake Pinty! What did I tell you the first time?!"

"This has happened before?!" Anomaly cries.

Haymitch gives Pinty a look that I'm well accustomed to from living with him, then turns and yanks the phone from the wall.

He's about to talk into it when Pinty says, "No point getting medical help, you know. Man shanked her a good thirty times, no lie. She's dead. Man ain't cappin'."

Haymitch rounds on her.

"For what?! You can't just kill whoever you want! You're going into an arena with twenty-three other kids for you to slaughter; isn't that enough? And you need your stylists to make people like you, which – frankly – you specifically need a lot of help with."

"So get man another one. Man don't want some Capitol prep tellin' man what I can't do, you get me?"

Pinty glowers up at all three of us glaring back at her.

Anomaly says, "I'm strongly considering looking for a new job now."

"I don't blame you." Haymitch grumbles, "Why would you want to help this psycho, let alone Midnight."

I say, "Let's look on the bright side – at least it wasn't my stylist she killed this t-"

"Shut up Midnight." Haymitch and Anomaly say in unison.

"Yeah, shut up bruv." Pinty adds.

Haymitch isn't done being angry at her though.

"Are you going to tell us why you did it?" He says.

"We were talking about man's token, innit. Kitty told man I could only bring my eyepatch, but man was like, you cappin' with me bruv? That don't count."

"So you killed her." Anomaly states, "Logical solution."

"Man's with you on that one, innit."

"What token were you going to bring that was worth taking a life to argue for?" Haymitch sighs.

I don't think I want to find out, but I kind of have to at this point. What does Pinty love so much that she would kill to defend it?

I catch her eye and remember that this is Pinty. She doesn't need a reason to kill.

I wonder if her parents ever taught her that killing is bad… She really is a poor, ignorant child.

Pinty digs into her pocket and withdraws an object. She dumps it onto the dining table.

It's a rat corpse – no, a taxidermy – with stiff limbs, matted fur and shrivelled eyes. The rat sits on its haunches, its front paws permanently fixed as gang signs.

We stand in silence for a while as blood seeps into the carpet.

"That is grim." Anomaly states.

Haymitch tilts and catches himself on a wall.

"Midnight. Booze." He orders.

I toss him a bottle of red wine from the dining table. It smashes against the wall next to him and wine splatters everywhere.

"You idiot." Says Anomaly.

Haymitch raises his hands and rolls his eyes in resignation. He walks back to his room.

Anomaly says, "I'm not sticking around here to get murdered."

She exits to the stairwell.

Pinty snatches up her rat and storms off too.

With no other option, I return to my own room.

The only thing that can clear my head is to buy a ton of Robux and spend them all in one go.

My PS6 and TV screen are on the floor, not plugged in.

I'm hit by a wave of emotions. Overcome with grief, I curl up on the floor and sob and sob until I don't know how long has passed.

"Hey, cry-baby."

I look up with streaming eyes to see Haymitch standing over me.

"I've got some news that might cheer you up." He says.

"Since when do you know what will cheer me up?"

"I know what makes you happy," he shrugs, "I just never do any of it."

"What's the news?"

I sit up and regain my composure. I wipe my eyes and blow my nose on the silk sheets.

Haymitch crouches next to me.

"The dining room is covered in blood, whine and dead rat germs, and they've sent the Avox girl to clean it up. I certainly do not want to be there while she works, so I've spoken to the mentor from Eleven and she says we can all eat with them tonight."

"Right," I say sulkily, "You clearly don't know what will cheer me up. I've spent enough time with the freaks from the other districts already today. I don't want to eat with them."

"I asked Eleven because you have an ally from there, don't you?"

"Oh! Yeah, Rubis! I'll get ready right away! Out; I'm getting changed."

I haul Haymitch to his feet and shove him towards the doorway. He wears a faint smile.

I slam the door and root through my wardrobe.

It's full of clothes provided by the Capitol. All I have to do is select an aesthetic on a tablet and the doors open to display an entire range of options, all tailor-made to fit me.

I select 'formalwear'.

I rifle through and come out with a metallic pink suit that reminds me of a Quality Street wrapper. This is what I should have worn to the Reaping.

Expensive. Flashy. Chic.

But I'm a whole new person now. I need something else to complete the look – to show how much I've changed.

Then I find it.

Rainbow suspenders and tie. I will wear my pride for all to see.

Commending myself on my courage to come out to so many people at once, I secure the tie in a flamboyant bow around my neck. I wear the suspenders over my jacket, so that they are visible.

When I look in the mirror, I don't see the boring, vanilla Midnight that I was. I see a star.

Everyone is waiting for me when I exit my room.

Their faces say it all. They let out raucous, nervous laughs, only now realising how underdressed they all are.

Haymitch, Pinty, Anomaly, Effie – who is now in drag – and I make our way to the floor below.

The door is opened by a petite woman with straight blonde hair. Behind her, a Golden Labrador zooms about, wagging its tail so fast that it must be about to take off.

"Hello!" The woman greets us, "Oh, there are a lot of you, aren't there? I'm Edna Bread – Rubis' and Anita's mentor. Come in, come in."

Edna's voice is formal and high-pitched. I know she must be from Eleven, but she seems to fit in well with all the Capitol folks.

We file into the lavish quarters – a near replica of the futuristic interior upstairs, minus the dead body and omnipresent orange hairs.

My heart skips a beat when I see Rubis' robust form hunched over the dining table. He glances at us between his long hair, then goes back to loading his plate from the buffet provided.

Also around the table are Anita and three Capitol people, who I assume must be the District Eleven stylists and escort.

Effie and Anomaly immediately head over to regale them with the story of Kitty's death, in all its glorious horror.

Meanwhile, the Golden Lab pelts over to us and jumps up at me of all people.

I stumble backwards into Haymitch, who shoves me away.

"It wants to eat that hideous tie." Haymitch grunts, "You've got a smart dog, Edna."

Giving Haymitch an appalled look, I say, "That's homophobic!"

"Oh, you've finally come out, have you?" Haymitch raises an eyebrow.

I smooth my rumpled pants, grateful as the dog turns its attention to Pinty.

"Yes Haymitch, if you must know, I am openly gay, and there is nothing wrong with that."

I make sure to project my words so that everyone can hear.

Rubis does not react.

"Never said there was." Says Haymitch.

By now, Pinty is struggling under the affection of the dog. It jumps up at her, full of excitement, and sniffs around her jacket.

Edna says in a soft voice, "Gabby… Gabby… Come here, don't be naughty."

The dog – Gabby – continues to investigate Pinty's pockets.

Rubis booms from the dining table, "Gabby!"

The dog zips off towards him.

Edna says apologetically, "Sorry about that, she likes meeting new people. She seemed to really like you… What's your name?"

"Pinty innit. And animals don't like me. It's 'cause man smells of rats, you get me?"

"Err… Right." Edna says dubiously, "Well its nice to meet you all. Please take a seat, help yourself to dinner."

I dash over to the table and sit next to Rubis before anyone else can steal him. He scrapes his chair a few inches away from me.

Anita says to me, "Have you seen Burger?"

"The rat? No?"

"Oh. Gabby scared her away from this floor; I wondered if she was on yours."

Anita stares mournfully at her empty plate.

Once we are all seated, I ask, "Isn't there supposed to be another mentor? I thought Eleven had enough victors for there to be one each."

"Ah," Edna explains, "There was… but somebody scared him off. So now it's just me. Gabby will have to be Rubis' mentor now."

Gabby's tail beats against the table leg, making the silverware clatter.

"She would do a better job than you." Says Rubis.

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you started showing Hallum all your disturbing things like Rusty Cage and Happy Tree Friends and… and…"

"The Human Centipede?" Rubis offers.

"I love that one!" Anomaly looks over from her conversation with the stylists.

"That sounds truly disgusting." Effie pouts, "Anyhoo, have you all heard that ruffs are coming back into fashion?"

The District Eleven escort says, "I say! I must make more of an effort to stay on trend!"

The fashionistas return to their superfluously inane conversation.

I ask Rubis, "Was Hallum your mentor? Where is he?"

"He went to the roof and decided to see if he could fly."

Rubis smiles.

"It's not funny!"

Edna's voice has risen an octave above what it already was.

"Yes it is." Says Rubis, "Come on, he deserved it."

I laugh along with Rubis, even though I'm totally lost.

Rubis stands and lifts his full plate from the table.

As he begins to walk to his room, Edna says, "And where do you think you're going?"

"To eat."

"Not when we have guests you're not. Sit back down; we need to discuss your strategy."

Rubis turns to face us again.

He says, "My strategy is to be the last one standing."

"And what about your ally?" Edna persists, "Shouldn't you discuss your plans with him?"

With a reluctant sigh, Rubis sits down again. He starts to eat his meal, glaring at Edna.

She appears unfazed.

"So, what are we thinking?"

Edna looks at Rubis and I expectantly.

After a long pause, I say, "I like Rubis' plan."

"Well that's not really a plan, is it?" Edna sighs.

When neither of us offers an alternative strategy, she says, "Will you hide out in different places or set up a well-defended camp and wait it out?"

Between bites, Rubis says, "For the last time, Edna, I'm not taking the pacifist route. The idea is to kill people."

"No… You don't have to. Come on, do you really want the blood of innocent children on your hands?"

"Sure." Rubis shrugs.

"We're kids too." I point out.

"And they're tryin' to mess us up first, innit." Pinty adds.

Despite the range of cuisine provided by the Capitol, Pinty's plate consists only of meat.

Edna sulks, "There's nothing wrong with trying not to kill anyone. When you think about it, do you really have to?"

All three of us respond, " Yes."

That's when Anita pipes up.

"I'll try not to kill anyone, Edna. Most of the tributes seem like pretty cool people, and the chances of me winning are so low anyway, I might as well save my morality."

"That's a better attitude!" Edna commends her.

"It's definitely not." Says Rubis, "You might as well jump off your pedestal."

"But that would explode her!" I say.

" Yes, it would, wouldn't it?" Says Rubis.

Haymitch puts his elbows on the table, leaning forward.

"Alright, enough with the directionless conversation. Let's talk strategy for you two."

He gestures to me and Rubis with his fork, a chunk of potato impaled on the end.

As an aside to Pinty, he says, "I don't think you need a lot of help in the arena, to be honest."

Edna says to Anita, "You do. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks."

Now with the attention fully on me and Rubis, Haymitch says, "Have you considered any more allies?"

Pinty says, "Man's not an option, got it?"

I nod.

It's safe to say that neither of us see a benefit of adding Anita to our team either.

Rubis says, "More people is a bigger risk of being stabbed in the back. It's not worth it."

"Yes, Rubis is strong enough to protect us both, aren't you?"

I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah…?" he says, as though I've weirded him out.

Oh God, I've come on too fast.

I sit stiffly and hastily stuff my mouth with food.

"What about joining the careers?" Haymitch asks.

"Sugar's group?"

Edna sounds dubious.

"Yeah," says Haymitch, "I believe the group this year consists of Sugar and Salto from One, Gregory and Jess from Two, and Rob from Four."

I remember the psychos from One, and the totally jacked boy and brown-haired girl from Two.

All I know about Rob is that he has long, orange hair and freckles, reminding me of a pasty geek turned wannabe-stoner.

"What about the girl from Four?" Rubis asks.

"Her name's Tuna." Replies Haymitch. To our perplexed expressions, he shrugs, "It is the fishing district. She seems to be living in La La Land – she doesn't want to join a bunch of Careers."

"And why would we want to either?" asks Rubis.

"Gregory's really buff." I say without thinking.

Pinty sniggers.

"Captain Horny has a point." Haymitch says, "That group is particularly powerful. You've seen what Sugar is capable of. Salto isn't far behind in skill, apparently, and the kids from Two are professionally trained in a range of weapons. Plus, there are a lot of powerful tributes this year, who aren't careers."

"Like the mutants from Five," Edna takes over, "and Tardi – that mammoth from Six."

"You'd need a whole gang to take them down, no cap." Pinty says.

"Exactly. And the two from Seven."

"Wait, what's so threatening about the Goths?" I ask.

"Corvid and Izzie? You don't know?" Anita says.

"No? They're just edgy teens, right?"

"Not quite. I actually knew them before from Discord. Back in their district, there was only one computer, and that was in the peacekeepers' base. Those two used to work together to stage a massive distraction – blow up a building, start a riot, that kind of thing – just so they could sneak into the base and use the computer to play videogames and watch anime."

"Bruv, that is sick!" Pinty exclaims.

Edna says, "It's… committed…"

Haymitch adds, "The two of them are dangerous, especially when fighting together, which they will be in the arena. Their district is lumber. If either one of them comes near you with an axe, you're dead."

"So that's already a good…" I count on my fingers, "eight or so massive threats. And then there are the ones who are plain nut-jobs, like Blaze, Minx and…"

I look at Pinty. I gulp and shut my mouth.

"That's why you befriend some." Haymitch explains, "Team up with the careers, take out the other threats, then split off from them, kill them, whatever."

"And if they kill us first?" Rubis asks.

"That's the tricky bit. You want them to think you're valuable allies, but not strong enough to stab them in the back. Midnight, we'll work on making you seem useful. Rubis, hide your strength."

Edna says, "Haymitch is right. Stick to stations like fire-starting, edible plants, that type of thing."

"Of course you don't want me to practice fighting." Rubis complains, "Although, I'm happy to sit and practice my noose-tying skills."

"This isn't an excuse for you to tie more nooses! You've already ruined Hallum's bedsheets by doing that."

"It was just a friendly suggestion for him. But he didn't choose to use my method anyway, which I find very cruel."

Haymitch says, "So are we in agreement that you two will attempt to get the careers on your side?"

"I'd rather not." Says Rubis.

Haymitch leans across the table to look him dead in the eye.

"Think about it. If you don't get any other teammates, the only person you will have to speak to and work with is Midnight. I know you wanted him as an ally because he'll follow you blindly, but do you really want him to be your only social interaction for days on end? I've lived with him. I can tell you, he's not good for the mind."

Rubis furrows his brow.

Haymitch has lost me. I'm sure there was an insult in there somewhere, though.

I defend myself by saying, "He's right, I will follow you blindly. I would give anything for you. You won't find a better ally than me. I'll stay by your side forever."

I puff out my chest and give him a look as earnest as I can muster.

Rubis doesn't take long to consider.

He says, "Fine. How do we get in with the Careers?"