Chapter 24:
Private Sessions
"I still think we should have stuck to what Seraphim had planned."
"Nonsense!" Julian tells Calisto with a casual air as he sets another one of his mutts in the plants and the lizard blends into the surroundings immediately. "Seraphim isn't in charge anymore so we're going to do the Private Sessions our way."
"Yes but putting the tributes with dangerous mutts?!" Calisto asks in disbelief and gestures at the set-up Julian has spent the last evening putting together. Magnus holds a container for him and Julian reaches in with no issue to pick up the snake that does who knows what. "They're supposed to be showing off their skills and ability to survive!"
"And they will be," Julian replies as he puts the snake around his shoulders. He grins lazily over at Calisto as he pets the snake. "We're testing their ability to recognize dangerous fauna and animals. And now I need someone to test out the scenario."
"But do I have to be the test subject that goes through it?" Calisto grumbles and crosses his arms as he glares at the maze of plants filled with many mutts he can't see, but knows are in there. "Or better yet, have Magnus do this instead."
"Magnus isn't afraid of my mutts so that won't work," Julian replies before gesturing over to the man in question, who is currently picking up one of the insects. "Sweetheart, don't pick that one up. It will eat your flesh if it gets the scent of blood."
Magnus's eyes widen in fear and he gently sets the insect back down and it scurries back to the others. "I can never tell with your mutts which are dangerous or not because you treat them all exactly the same!"
"I'm going to die today," Calisto shakes his head in disbelief. "Are you trying to get the tributes killed?!"
"Oh it won't actually kill you," Julian says with a chuckle as he picks up the insect. "It actually only just eats the dead skin!" He holds out the bug to him and Calisto takes a few steps back immediately. "Come on, it will leave your skin as smooth as can be. Better than any spa you could go to."
"Get away from me you freak!" Calisto shoves Julian back from him, scowling when he barely manages to make him move. Julian just grins at his reaction, which makes him cross his arms and scowl even more. "God, why the fuck did I agree to this?"
"I don't think you really had a choice," Julian points out and Calisto gives him a blank stare for a moment, until the older man shrugs. "Just saying."
"That's beside the point," Calisto answers him and takes a step back from him. "I am not going through your ridiculous maze of plants and animals that all want to kill me! I like being alive but I really can't say the same for you because you seem to thrive on putting yourself in dangerous situations! So for the last time, I will not be your test subject!"
"I still can't believe you got me to go through that hellish maze," Calisto grumbles as he rubs an angry red welt on his arm that just won't go away yet, despite being bit hours ago. "The mentors aren't going to be happy when all of their tributes show up with welts and marks from being attacked!"
"Oh they're all fine," Julian tells him with a wave of his hand. When Calisto raises his arm to point at his own mark, he starts grinning, "The tributes got full doses to treat any bites. I just didn't give it to you because you were being such a whiny bitch about it in the first place."
"You…" Calisto says quietly before jumping towards him. He grabs him by the shoulders and starts shaking him, getting angrier by the second when this just makes Julian laugh. "Give me the antidote, you psychopath!"
"I won't give it to you if you ask like that," Julian says and puts a hand on Calisto's chest and pushes him back, easily keeping him at a distance where he can't reach him. "What's the magic word?"
"Suck my dick?" Calisto offers and when Julian sneers at that, he flips him off. He shoves Julian's hand off of him and steps back, rubbing at the spot on his arm. "I'm calling Kostas and telling her what you put me through."
"Hey, you should be glade I didn't make you get bit by Noodle like the tributes did," he says and when Calisto gives him a look, he sighs loudly. "Okay fine, I'll give you the ointment," he gives in and reaches in his pocket to toss a bottle over at him. It hits Calisto's chest and falls before he gets the chance to catch it, only making Julian smug. "Don't make her send me back to the dungeon already and lock me up for another fourteen years. I kind of like freedom. Oh, and you'll have to do this all on your own if you send me back."
"That's a good point," Calisto answers as he picks up the ointment and puts it on his bite, immediately getting relief from the itching. "And I don't want to assign scores on my own. So let's hurry up and figure these out so we can move on with our lives."
"I agree completely," Julian responds as Calisto sits down at the desk first and spreads out his notes. Julian takes the seat across from him and leans back in his chair and props his feet up on the desk and crosses his arms behind his head. The private sessions were a prime example of how he couldn't do this full time. Just one year is already too much for him to sit through. "You know, it was kind of sad and pathetic watching some of them try so feebly to prove they can win."
"At least they were trying," Calisto tells him and raises his eyebrows at his casual pose and gestures at him, "Did you take any notes?"
"Nah, it's all up here," Julian answers, tapping the side of his head before shrugging. He starts leaning back in his chair and Calisto is half tempted to kick it and send him toppling backwards. "And I figure you'll remind me of anything I missed."
"You're unbelievable," Calisto mutters as he sorts through his scribbles of notes, which he only really started a few Districts in when he realized there was no way he was going to remember everything. "Soooo…the Capitol. Adonis was up first."
"Negative 10, too much flirting with me," Julian says immediately.
"We can't give negative scores," Calisto rolls his eyes.
"I'll settle for 4 then," Julian shrugs.
"You can't give a career a 4," Calisto replies in exasperation and Julian just shrugs once more. This is going to be a pain in the ass, he can tell already. "Fine, a 4 from you. I think he has more skills than that and there's the whole sleeping with Drazen thing that the Capitol will find entertaining so I'll say…8?"
"Then he averages to a 6, works for me," Julian answers casually and Calisto stares at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if he's actually serious. He soon waves his hand to move things along. "Bez is up next. They get bonus points for causing drama with the careers."
"We're supposed to be giving them scores based on their ability to win or not," Calisto points out to him. "That being said, they were training for years before coming here, that has to be worth something. More training than Adonis. I'd say…9."
"They volunteered to feel something with their art," Julian says with a snort and air quotes, telling exactly how he felt about that. "But that being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them fuck shit up with the careers. That's a 10 for me."
"Alright, then are we rounding up the average to a 10?" Calisto asks and Julian gives him a thumbs up, so he jots down the number. "Okay, moving on to District One. Ardent up first."
"Careers sure have changed since our day, huh?" Julian comments and raises his eyebrows. "Or at least the convicted ones have. Like that's some good tea, Ardent having feelings for Rhiannon but pushing her away to be a career. Bad choice in my opinion."
"Does he even want to win?" Calisto genuinely asks, not knowing the answer. "Seriously, I couldn't tell."
Julian shrugs in response. "Don't know but he has more drama to him than most of the trash reality TV shows I watch so I'll give him a 9."
"Well I say 6 because I don't know if he even wants to win," Calisto responds, trying not to feel bad for Ardent. He can't let himself start to feel things for these tributes… "So, what, that averages to 8 when we round up?"
"I suppose," Julian shrugs and looks down at his nails for a moment. "Which brings us to Mercy. Can you say bor-ing?"
Calisto tries to hold in a snort at that, not wanting to encourage him. But…he's not wrong. "She is rather typical of careers. Or maybe we just got spoiled our year with more out there careers."
"Boring and too anxious," Julian shakes his head. "Like damn, she made me secondhand anxious just watching her with my mutts and I am never nervous around them! So 5 for me."
"She has some skills to offer," Calisto points out, trying not to be too biased against careers like Julian clearly has no issue with. "I'd say…8?"
"A rounded up average of 7 is too high for her," Julian grumbles as Calisto writes down the score. "Now time for your favorite District."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Calisto grimaces, which just makes Julian chuckle at his response. "I say we give them both a 2, match their District."
"Oh that's evil, I like it," Julian says with a laugh. "Here I was going to give Vulcan a 7 because they're not as bad as the others and Chantelle a 5 because she was trying too hard for a high score so I purposely want to give her a lower one. What do their scores average to then?"
"A 5 and 4 respectively," Calisto answers and wiggles his eyebrows, trying to encourage Julian to go along with his scores. "Come on, when else will we ever get the opportunity to stick it to the careers and give them low scores?"
Julian considers this for a moment and taps his fingers on the desk before pointing at the paper. "Write down those scores," he instructs and Calisto happily obliges. "Oh I wish I could see the looks on their faces when the scores get announced."
"Me too," Calisto says with a chuckle, just imagining the panic. "Anyways, District Three with Ryam first."
"Why did this kid even volunteer?" Julian asks, seeming quite serious about wanting the answer. "Seriously, his last name might be Driver, but he has no drive. A 1 for me because you won't let me give negatives and I doubt you'll let me give 0 either."
"I…" Calisto shakes his head at that. "You're not wrong. I don't understand his reasoning at all. I'm saying 3."
"So a 2, cool," Julian shrugs. "Which is the score I want to give Riley."
"Why?" Calisto asks, genuinely surprised at that. "She's smart and knew all sorts of things about your death maze."
"Smart doesn't mean you're willing to kill people," Julian points at him and Calisto hates that he can understand that logic. "That and she's so malnourished."
"Well I think she has more of a chance than that," Calisto says stubbornly, liking how devoted to her family she is – and a little jealous. "So I say a 6."
"Which will average to a 4, you realize that?" Julian asks and Calisto just shrugs as he writes down the score. "Fine. Next, our spicy one, Juno. I don't think they even know what alliance they are part of and I love it."
"We do love seeing the careers crash and burn," Calisto agrees with him. Yeah, he knows these aren't the same careers that tried to kill him years ago, but still…
"I say 12, that's the kind of drama I live for," Julian says with no hesitation.
Calisto blinks in surprise at that. "Are you trying to get them targeted by everyone else?!" he asks in disbelief. "No, Theodosius will kill us if we get his double agent targeted. I'm saying 8 because an average of 10 is normal for a career, not a 12."
"Agree to disagree," Julian replies, knowing he's right but not wanting to stay here all night arguing over it. "Which leads us to Valletta…" he rolls his eyes and sighs loudly. "She is about the most basic and traditional career Four could have sent this year. Did they not know what they wanted this year and went for opposite ends of the spectrum of crazy?"
"Probably, just look at their track record the last two years," Calisto points out to him. "Can you blame them for trying both options?"
"Yes, I can. If she wasn't freakishly tall, she would have no defining characteristics to make her memorable to me," Julian replies with a casual shrug. "She isn't Juno, just saying. A 2 from me."
"You're not biased at all, clearly," Calisto scoffs at him and Julian just shrugs, not even trying to deny it. "She's just…a standard career. And not from District Two so I'll say 8."
"Which averages to half of Juno's score at a 5," Julian tells him, looking a little smug at that. "Thankfully we're done with the traditional careers now. Which brings us to Morris."
Calisto just shudders thinking about them. "The whole obsession with death thing is just fucking creepy, man. I don't like it one bit."
"You just say that because you have actually died before," Julian says and Calisto rolls his eyes. Like he didn't also die before. "I like it because it means they'll probably kill. 6."
"1," Calisto says in disbelief, but then again, he's not that surprised that Julian likes them. It checks out for him. "They're fucking weird."
"Rounds up to a 4," Julian shrugs at that before his face grows angry as he starts thinking about the next tribute. "Ciana deserves an 8 and I want her to fuck shit up with her piece of shit ex. What a pathetic piece of trash excuse for a human being. I'm half tempted to send out a thunderbird to get him."
"Okay how about we just pass along the information to Theodosius and he can take care of it?" Calisto says, holding out his hand to try and calm him down. "I agree that she deserves revenge and I hope she gets it. But realistically, I'm putting her at a 5, mostly because of her determination."
"Well we have to round up and I will take that 7 for her," Julian says, a bit of rage still simmering in his eyes just thinking about what her ex did to her.
"Which brings us to the siblings," Calisto says, tapping his pen on the desk. "Let me tell ya, I did not expect them to be connected to Elias. Also that's fucked up that their grandfather made them both volunteer to inherit the fighting pits."
"Why? You of all people should be used to fucked up families," Julian says with a shrug and a grin, ignoring the way Calisto glares at him. "At least it means they know how to fight. But still, I don't like them."
"Why not?" Calisto asks, confused by that.
"Kasada is too sassy and I'm the only one allowed to be that sassy," Julian says, holding up a finger to stop Calisto when he goes to make a remark that he is also sassy. "And Farren opened his mouth and a whole lot of dumb came out. So a 3 and a 2 respectively."
"Well I disagree with that completely," Calisto scoffs at him. "I like Farren, even if he is a bit dumb. A 6 for him because he's got skills but not enough backbone. And Kasada gets an 8 because I think she's more likely to kill than Farren."
"You're not wrong," Julian shrugs. "So that's…4 for Farren and 6 for Kasada?"
"I suppose," Calisto crosses his arms, thinking they should be a bit higher but knows he won't win that argument. "Which takes us to District Seven…"
"Pour one out for Baylor," Julian says, not sounding at all conflicted about her death.
Calisto gives him an exasperated look at that. "Are you even capable of feeling anything for other people?" he asks in disbelief. "You realize the shit Glen and Cal have had to go through the past couple of years?"
"I feel bad for them but her death isn't their fault," Julian answers with a noncommittal shrug. "Sorry your home District is so fucked up but I don't see how that effects Karter's score. Which, on the topic of fucked up…he's hella fucked up and I'm not fully convinced he even wants to win. A 2 from me."
"Well I have faith in him," Calisto says and Julian raises an eyebrow at him silently. "Or rather a bias. But still, he's been training. So I say an 8."
"If you insist," Julian says with a roll of his eyes. "I think a 5 is too high but such is our method of assigning scores. As such, moving on to District Eight and Kazu. What a stubborn little teen, getting a gambling debt." He rolls his eyes to show what he thinks about that. "That being said, stubbornness can get you fair. You should know."
"Yes, it can," Calisto replies, barely holding back his own eye roll. "But he hasn't shown any sign that he can actually fight so I'd say…4."
"Well I'm going to say 6," Julian says.
"Any particular reason?" Calisto asks with an eyebrow raised and Julian just shrugs in response. Calisto sighs and writes down the score before looking back up at him. "So, what do we think about Rhiannon?"
"I find it hard to believe she ever killed before," Julian shakes his head at the thought. "No conviction at all. A 1 for me."
"She killed in self-defense after her brother was killed," Calisto tells him and Julian just shrugs. "You're unbelievable. I'm giving her a 4 because I believe in her. Which means rounded up 3."
"But you shouldn't if she's going to get caught up in feelings for Ardent," Julian points out before letting out a sigh and putting his arms behind his head. "Man, sure wasn't easy breaking it to her that Ardent was sticking with Bez, but someone had to do it."
"You're an awful person," Calisto says and flicks his arm. Julian just grins in response but doesn't try to deny it. "Whatever, moving on. Next we have Lobo," he says, shaking his head thinking about his private session. "Why did he straight up let himself get attacked just to prove he could handle pain? That was weird as fuck."
"That's what we call daddy issues, yikes," Julian shakes his head at that before turning to Calisto. "You're the expert in that, right?"
Calisto jumps up from his chair and punches Julian in the chest, who lets out the most apathetic 'ow' in response. "Shut the fuck up. You know nothing about what my life was like. Nothing."
"Geez, just trying to ease the tension with some jokes," Julian says, rubbing the spot and not looking apologetic at all about it. "I'm giving him a 2 because of those daddy issues."
"I put 6 because he's so…angry but I don't know," Calisto shrugs because he really doesn't know what he's doing here. "So a 4, I suppose, overall."
"And then there's Inutil," Julian shakes his head at the girl, almost – almost – looking as if he cares for a moment. "She better hope she doesn't run into any mutts in the arena because if she tries to pet them like she did here…" he draws his finger across his neck, mimicking what will happen to her. "So I have to go with a 1."
"I…" Calisto sighs and shakes his head, feeling awful for the girl. Getting forced into this by her family is just awful. "I want to believe in her and I hope she says something at the interviews tomorrow. I gave her a 3…so an average of 2."
"Which brings us to Ten," Julian grins and slaps his hand on the table suddenly, making Calisto jump. "Great tributes this year, Cimmer is great, an 8 for me. Love that he's named his chickens."
"You're…giving him an 8…because he named his chickens?!" Calisto asks in disbelief before rubbing his temples, feeling a headache coming on from dealing with him. "Unbelievable."
"That and some small bias," Julian clarifies with a smug grin.
"Well I'm giving a more realistic 4," Calisto says, shaking his head at the offended look Julian gives him. "He's too nice of a kid for the arena. An averaged 6 is too high for him."
"Well too bad," Julian shrugs at him, not at all feeling bad. "Shams is getting a 10 from me. Love that she murdered someone before!"
"Someone who was trying to assault her!" Calisto points out and Julian just shrugs.
"He had it coming," Julian says simply. "And quite frankly deserved if for trying to attack her for something her parents did."
"Yeah but shouldn't we be telling Kostas about it?" Calisto asks, trying to take this seriously. "I agree that he deserved it but…she didn't report it or anything. That's not good…right?"
"Eh, I didn't report my killings to the authorities," Julian answers before grinning. "But to be fair, my killings were authorized by the government and there wasn't much left to find after the thunderbird was done."
"You're fucking psycho," Calisto mutters, pointing over at him. "And I think Shams's murder has to be addressed, somehow…" But does she deserve to get targeted for protecting herself? And who is he to decide that? "I don't know…I'll just say 6, middle of the pack."
"So an 8, got it," Julian says and taps his fingers on the desk. "Which brings us to the last District. I'll be frank, Ricky irritates me. He's just too angry for no reason."
"I mean, I agree, but I don't think he has no shot in the arena," Calisto says and shrugs at him. "I'd say…5."
"Well I'm saying 3 because he annoyed me," Julian says and Calisto writes down the averaged 4. "And now Sonya, a 10, loved her."
"A 10?! Why?" Calisto asks in disbelief. "I was going to say 5 because she's determined, but her health conditions are going to limit her in the arena."
"I like that she knew her snakes and likes studying them," Julian tells him, grinning at the way she got excited earlier being able to identify his snakes. "Granted, she still got bit by one, but still. So that means rounded to an 8, correct?"
"I guess so," Calisto grumbles as he writes it down before looking over the list of scores, shaking his head at them. "This is the most messed up list of scores ever. They're going to get upset with us."
"Excellent. Let's get Kostas here and pass them off so we can more on with our lives."
Kostas tentatively opens the office door and pokes her head in, fully expecting to see the two fighting with each other, but instead finds them sitting at the desk calmly. She fully opens the door and steps in, giving them a hopeful smile. "So, everything go well today? No disasters I have to report?"
"It went excellent," Julian replies, grinning at her and making her give him a look, not trusting that look. "Hey, no one got seriously injured and we have the scores and some juicy information, so I call that a win."
"Yeah and I only punched him three times," Calisto adds as Kostas sits down, making her sigh loudly at them.
"We can work on your work relationship later since we're on a time crunch. So, any tributes that we need to keep an eye on?" Kostas asks as she gets settled in her seat. Once comfortable, she takes out her tablet and gets ready to take some notes. "Particularly anyone with concerns that would make us want them not to win? We do have Juno who can take care of them."
"Do you want to hear about the murder or the fighting pits first?" Julian asks her casually.
Kostas blinks at him a few times and looks at Calisto to verify he's being serious and the younger man nods his head. She lets out a small sigh and shuts her eyes for a moment, before opening them and facing them again. "The murder, please. I'm assuming this is one we didn't know about before?"
"Yeah, it's Shams," Calisto says quickly as Julian opens his mouth, which soon turns into a pout. "One of the kids her parents used to work with tried to attack her after her parents turned his in… She really didn't seem like she did it intentionally."
"A murder is still a murder," Kostas says, sighing loudly as she takes some notes. "I'll…discuss it with Theodosius. The situation and her current actions makes me think this was a one time thing, but still…"
"Can I talk about the fighting pits now?" Julian asks and Kostas gestures for him to continue. He rubs his hands together and grins about it. "So the District Six pair are the grandchildren of the Faceless Man, also known as the man who sponsored Elias as his champion."
Kostas stares at him for a moment, processing this information. "So why did they volunteer?" she finally asks.
"To decide who is worthy of taking over the pits someday," Calisto pipes in with a shrug. "Kasada wants it but it should be Farren's because he's older. Personally, it sounds like a big mess to me. But for what it's worth, Farren actually cares for the fighters and takes care of them."
"And Kasada is just a bitch," Julian adds on with a nonchalant shrug.
"I see," Kostas says, tapping her fingers on the desk as she stares off to the side, deep in thought about this information. They sit in silence for a minute as she thinks until she finally clears her throat and looks between them. "I'll discuss with Theodosius and probably talk with both of them and Elias. I'll let you know what we decide going forward."
Julian nods in agreement with that, clearly having no issue with potentially targeting the two, while Calisto just feels uneasy about it all. It was just all too familiar to him…is this the kind of conversation they had when discussing him, all because of his own fucked up family? "Targeting them seems wrong," he speaks up, trying not to back down from the looks they give him. "I think they should at least have a chance to prove themselves. You've given Juno a second chance and they have done a lot worse crimes than these two."
Kostas purses her lips at his statement and her eyes narrow a little in thought, before she finally nods her head once. "That is a fair point and something we'll keep in mind during our discussion," she says, a note of finality in her voice. She clears her throat and glances between them. "Now, the scores?"
"Of course," Julian says and gestures for Calisto to pass her the piece of paper. "We each gave a score and averaged them to decide the final score," he tells her, watching her eyes widen as she looks them over.
"I'm sorry but what the actual fuck are some of these scores?!" Kostas asks in disbelief as she skims over the notes. "We can't give careers a 4!"
"We can and we did," Julian replies with a shrug, not seeing the issue with it at all. "You put us in charge and that's our assessment."
"I am really questioning that decision right now," Kostas sighs loudly and grabs a pen to start crossing out scores and writing new ones. Julian and Calisto share a look, but neither of them looks too upset about it. "I'll have to adjust all of these before we give them to Kora to announce."
"You're no fun," Calisto tells her and she looks up for a moment just to glare at him.
They sit in silence for a few minutes as Kostas debates each score, mumbling to herself and ferociously scratching out some of their scores. The silence is only really broken by Julian as he sits there, holding Fucker on his hand and scratching her head as he talks to her quietly. Calisto sits there fiddling with the notes he took on the tributes, trying his hardest to distance himself from them and what he's going to have to do to them.
Finally, Kostas sets her pen down and picks up the paper to look at her new scores. She nods her head in approval before looking at the two men. "There, now we can give these scores to Kora."
Happy one year anniversary to Renegades! It's wild to think it's already been one year since I first posted this story, but time has been an illusion the last year lol. This is certainly not where I expected the characters to be at in the story but I'm not mad about it XD And I'm real excited to keep going and get to the Games! Woo boy do I have Things planned.
That being said, I want to know which submitters are still around at the one year mark. So consider this a submitter check in. Send me a message (a PM on here, not on discord) telling me what score your tribute(s) earned so I know you actually read the chapter. Because one year later and there's still some submitters I have never heard from so here's your last chance to let me know you're actually reading before I start writing the bloodbath. I've tried to be fine writing characters from people I never hear from, but it's getting harder and at this point, I can't make any promises on how much I'll write your tribute once the Games start. I gave everyone their obligatory POV in the pre-Games but going into the Games, that just ain't happening for everyone. I'm writing who I want and when I want to move the plot forward. If you're active, well, your tribute(s) will be shown more, simple as that.
Anyways, the actual chapter! I forgot how much fun these two are together until I reread this and kept laughing, they're just so dysfunctional. I was going to do the private sessions report but then realized there is no way these two would do all that extra paperwork lol. Kostas is just in a permanent state of having a headache now working with these two lol.
RQ: Predictions on what score your tribute(s) will actually get? And if you don't have a tribute, pick your favorite and comment on them lol
Looking ahead, I've finished writing the pre-Games! So it is officially time to plan out the bloodbath! And speaking of, I have a tentative schedule for the remaining updates to get us to that point, which is on my profile. The bloodbath is going to be July 16th! Which I know seems like a while but it will most certainly go by fast lol.
Alrighty, I'll see you back on our normal Friday update in two weeks for the Score Reveal!
