Nerissa Kitharion, 18
District Two Female
1823 – June 12, 124 ADD.
Honestly, Nerissa isn't sure how she keeps ending up in these situations.
She's not the only one that feels this way. Ibai is similarly wary, based on the way he looks to Thessaly for guidance every time the turn passes to him, and Callum was fine up until the bottle of vodka was introduced. It did surprise her that Saccharine didn't look even a little scandalized, but then again, it's hard to get that girl to express much of anything. There's something about her that Nerissa wants to flag as suspicious – maybe the fact that Saccharine has done nothing of note so far. It's sort of unsettling.
Naturally, the other three are far more into the game. Pantheon gets a little too excited every time the turn passes to him, Zephyr is surprisingly good at picking a proper dare or question to engage the less enthused players, and Thessaly…
Nerissa frowns a bit. Thessaly is almost taking it slow this evening. She's on the floor between Ibai and Zephyr, with her legs thrown over the latter's lap. Her hyperactive energy from their fight earlier is gone. Nerissa's not sure if that means she's totally worn out, or… something else. Whatever the case, she doesn't trust it.
Admittedly, this isn't a complete nightmare for Nerissa. When the attention is off her, she has a bit of fun watching everyone else make a fool of themselves. When it's her turn, Nerissa doesn't care about fun as much as she cares about trying to gather information she can use later on, when this alliance is inevitably in shambles.
She can't put her finger on exactly why, but Nerissa feels certain that her alignment with the others won't last forever. There are too many moving pieces for her to keep track of. All she aims to do is stick around long enough to profit, then leave before she can get dragged down with everyone else.
That's why she's tried to stay on the outskirts. The closer she is to the heart of the group, the more vulnerable she becomes.
It's the sort of thing she sees play out every year – at home, in the Games, in training. Staying close has its benefits, sure, but Nerissa knows that in the end she'll only have herself anyway. Might as well start early.
With a sigh, Nerissa turns her attention back to the matter at hand. Ibai is currently staring down at a shot glass about half full of vodka. He's the first victim of a rule Thessaly explained at the beginning – you can't do more than two truths or two dares in a row. As a result, Ibai was forced to choose dare, and now he's facing the consequences. Nerissa has carefully kept tabs on her own choices as well: it's one thing to get a dare from someone like Callum, and it's something else to get one from Thessaly.
"Is this even legal? Where did it come from?"
"Rhosyn," Nerissa explains. "She has it on hand whenever she's here. Says it's for the experience or whatever. Apparently we're easier to deal with when we're happy?"
"'We?'"
"Tributes in general. Point is, it won't kill you. You'll be fine by morning."
"You did not answer the part about legality."
"Considering we're all about to be seasoned murderers in a few days, I'd say a bit of alcohol should be the least of your concerns. Just drink it."
There's a strange look in Ibai's eye when he goes to drink, but he finally downs it, then grimaces. "That was terrible. Do people drink this regularly?"
"Yeah, alcoholics."
He shudders, not wanting to linger on the subject for long. "Nerissa. Truth or dare?"
"Truth," she answers swiftly, then regrets it when she realizes it's her second in a row.
Ibai thinks about it for a moment. Nerissa keeps her eyes pinned on Thessaly, making sure the other girl isn't giving him any ideas. "What is your preferred weapon?" he finally asks.
"A pudao," she answers honestly. "Though I can make do with almost anything. Why's that your question?"
"I theorized that with your background, you would have the most weapons knowledge of anyone, and thus were the most likely to have a niche pick."
"My background?"
Ibai flushes and glances at his hands. "I've done a lot of research. I recognize your last name."
Nerissa frowns at him. That's not something she's exactly eager to get into a discussion about in public, so she figures it's best to throw everyone's attention on someone else.
"Zephyr," she says, getting their attention. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"You're pretty agile for Seven. Where'd you get your skills from?"
"Work, mostly. I work at a lumber mill company, running around repairing saws and the like. Takes a lot of skill to keep from losing a finger." They wiggle all ten of theirs. "But if you mean the knives, that's just a byproduct of living in one of the outer districts."
"What, you worried about getting jumped?"
He shrugs. "You can never be too safe. Looks like my paranoia paid off, didn't it?"
"Ask me that again in a couple weeks."
Zephyr laughs. "Fair point. My turn, then?"
She gestures for him to go ahead, and they glance around the group contemplatively. "Theo," Zephyr drawls. "Truth or-"
"Dare."
"Take off your shirt."
Nerissa sighs and averts her eyes. Zephyr shrugs apologetically at her, but she gets it. By this point, she's relatively familiar with how Pantheon works, and he's a little too eager to accept any opening to take off his clothes. It's almost like he's trying to flaunt, but Nerissa isn't really sure who the view is for.
"Saccharine, truth or dare?"
The One girl is the only one not sitting on the floor. Instead, she's perched primly on the very edge of a chair. She blinks as everyone's gaze lands on her. "Dare."
"I dare you to go scare a mentor."
"Does it have to be one on this floor?"
"No. Why, you got one in mind?"
She stands up and dusts herself off. "I pick Estelle. She might forget by morning anyway."
Before she leaves, she passes her turn off to Callum, and the game continues as normal. Nerissa watches the elevator for a few minutes once she's gone, thinking to herself…
"I dare you," Zephyr says, "to lock yourself in a room with our good friend Nerissa."
The sound of her own name catches her attention. Nerissa snaps her head up just in time to see Zephyr wink at her playfully.
"No way," Nerissa cuts in. "Leave me out of this." She has no idea what the two of them want from her, and she doesn't want to find out.
"This isn't your dare," Ibai points out helpfully. "The rules state that only the receiver of the dare can reject it."
Right. As if Nerissa could forget. She has exceptionally little faith in Thessaly doing this one thing for her.
"How long?" Thessaly asks instead, question directed at Zephyr. She hasn't looked at Nerissa yet.
"Ten minutes?"
"Don't come knocking unless we're not out in twelve."
"Try not to be late, then."
"I make no promises," Thessaly teases. She gives Zephyr a swift peck on the cheek before standing up. "Where to, Ner?"
Right. This is her floor - her territory. That alone eases Nerissa's mind. She still has something of an upper hand, which she can use to stay on good terms with her allies for the time being, and then move on with her life.
Letting out an incredibly deep sigh, Nerissa gets to her feet. "My room," she says, tilting her head in that direction. "Let's get this over with."
The group behind them is unnaturally hushed as Nerissa leads Thessaly into her room. She's almost relieved when the door closes, but that just leaves her and Thessaly.
Alone.
It doesn't take long for her to decide she hates the silence more than Thessaly's endless chatter. "Ten minutes," she says. "You plan that or something?"
"Nah. It was my idea to play, sure, but this is nothing more than luck."
"Good luck?"
Thessaly's gaze cuts over to her. "Depends."
Nerissa turns and leans back against the door. "Depends on what?"
"It's my turn. You answered two truths in a row. Which means…" She waggles her brows.
Nerissa sighs heavily. "A dare. Of course."
She expects Thessaly to get on with it immediately, but the other girl merely turns her back and begins exploring the rest of the room. "I didn't expect all these rooms to look the exact same," she says. "You bring any sort of token?"
"No, and certainly not something that qualifies as room decor."
"A shame," she sighs. "Though I'm sure your preferred token would just be some kind of weapon, and they wouldn't let that fly."
Nerissa snorts. "Probably not. And there's nothing sentimental or useful about a block of unsmelted steel."
"I didn't take you as the sentimental type anyway."
Shrugging, Nerissa finally steps away from the door. "Guess you're right about that."
Thessaly reaches the desk tucked into the corner of Nerissa's room and hops up on it. "Ten minutes," she says aloud, as if there's something else she's thinking about.
"Less than that now."
"Have you been keeping track?"
Not particularly, but Thessaly doesn't need to know that. "Enough to know that it's your turn, and you're wasting time."
"Aw, don't sound so eager. What's the worst I could do?"
A good question. Nerissa doesn't particularly want to find out. What she does know, however, is that Thessaly's got a glint in her eye, and Nerissa doesn't like the look of that. Her room suddenly feels even smaller, and to make up for it, Nerissa crosses her arms and attempts to convey that she's unbothered.
"I'm not sure," she says, and the words ring a little too honestly.
"You could pick truth if you wanted. No one has to know."
She grits her teeth. "Why are you giving me an out?"
"Isn't that what you want?"
"Just ask me."
Thessaly hums. "Truth or dare?"
Nerissa sucks in a breath.
"Dare."
The other girl tilts her head to the side, sizing Nerissa up. "Okay," she says slowly, "I dare you to kiss me."
Sagan Pomare, 15
District Three Female
1904 – June 12, 124 ADD.
It's been three days since she's seen her mother.
More than that. It was bright and early when they separated so Sagan could file into her designated area at the reaping. She was supposed to go back right after. She should be right there at her mother's side, not miles upon miles away, unable to do… well, much of anything.
Bitter tears sting at her eyes, and Sagan swipes them away quickly. She misses home so bad it's almost painful – she misses her mother so bad it's almost painful. She should be at home, making dinner, making everything okay.
Everything is always okay when Sagan and her mother are together. She makes things okay.
The sun creeps closer to the horizon with every minute that ticks by, though it won't set for another hour. It's warm outside, but the wind blows briskly enough that Sagan feels plenty comfortable in her skirt and long sleeves.
She's too put together, too clean, and not by her own hands. Her bangs are cut straight across her forehead, all her clothes are perfectly tailored to her body, and she's just so… so…
(She hasn't looked this put together in years. Not even when her siblings still lived with her. They were all about appearances, all about making things seem normal and happy. But that was merely a pale imitation of what Sagan looks like now.
It's as if she's being shown just how far off she was – that no matter how hard she tried to keep her mother afloat, it wasn't enough.
She has to get back anyway. She has to keep trying.
She's the only one who can.)
The rooftop is safe. It's far away from everyone else – all the nosy mentors and noisy tributes. She ate dinner by herself and then scurried away, seeking out solitude where she could just… be. Same as last night.
But of course, just like last night, she can't seem to be left alone for long.
Aleksei's intrusion into her life isn't exactly unwelcome. He can keep to himself… sometimes. He's not exactly good at being quiet, and he asks a lot of questions, but he doesn't bother Sagan when she explicitly asks him not to. In a lot of ways, that's as good as she could get.
Well, it would obviously be better if she was left alone entirely, but considering he's somehow even more stubborn that her, Sagan hasn't figured out how to be rid of him yet.
This time, he shows up and sits down a few feet away without an unnecessary introduction. He kicks his feet over the edge a few times, smoothes his hands over the rough edges of the roof, and side-eyes her at least three times before she says anything.
"You're later than last night."
"I know! I'm sorry. Dinner was a little late because Cadilla wasn't, um, ready to eat for a while. She's a little… not all there." He laughs nervously. "District Six, yanno?"
Sagan does not know. She hums. "Sure."
"So yeah, sorry I'm late! I didn't mean to make you wait."
"I wasn't waiting."
He shrugs. "Still. I didn't want you to be on your own for too long."
"I'm okay on my own."
"Like… always?"
"I'm not always alone. I have my mother."
"She's back home though. And you're here. But I'm here too! Which is why that's okay!"
Sagan digs her fingers into the cement. "Right."
"What did you think of Xander and Marri today?" Aleksei asks, thankfully switching topics.
"I didn't like them."
"Why not?"
"Xander's mean. Marri's… weird."
"They're not so bad! I just thought, yanno… they're around our age."
"Are they?" Sagan tries not to think about the other tributes unless they're staring her in the face expecting an answer. For the most part, that's just been Aleksei, and she's been the relatively unwilling recipient of many facts about him because of that.
"Yeah! And it's just the two of them, and-"
"I don't want any more allies."
She expects him to be saddened by her quick shutdown, but Aleksei only perks up more. "More? Like we're already allies?"
Hm. She guesses they hadn't explicitly covered this before. Sagan feels sort of like she just got cornered, but she's able to accept the fact that she walked into this on her own.
She turns towards him. "I don't know, are we?"
Aleksei's smile is just as swift and bright as always. "I'd like to be! But we can't be anything unless you agree."
Right. He keeps wanting her input on things. Doesn't Aleksei understand that Sagan is best left to her own devices?
(Why hasn't he given up yet?)
"I don't know," she finally says. "I'll think about it."
The smallest glint of hope is enough for him to sigh contentedly. "I'll hold you to it!"
You don't have to, she thinks. It would be better if you left now, got it over with. Easier for both of us.
But naturally, Aleksei doesn't move. He didn't hear her, because Sagan didn't say any of that out loud, and he doesn't seem to notice her inner turmoil. She's lost in her own world, and he's lost in his.
The hour drags on. Sagan focuses on the sky the whole time, watching the colors bleed together – blue and orange and pink, all circling the dimming light of the sun. Their idle chatter is more sporadic than it was last night, but Aleksei never truly grows quiet. Sagan would find it impressive if it wasn't so… distracting.
Eventually, Aleksei sighs and leans back on his palms. "I miss my siblings back home. Kinda weird to think that I haven't seen them in a few days. It was pretty hard fitting all ten of us in the goodbye room, but we managed. What about you?"
She tenses. "What about me?"
"Do you have any siblings? I know you mentioned your mom…"
Yeah, she has siblings. She has two useless siblings that left her, left her mother, and only visit because they want Sagan to leave too. They said bye to her, but Mira left as soon as Sagan told them to, a mess of pointing fingers and tear-streaked faces. The only one who stayed was Ansel, and he…
("Why are you being like this?" Ansel snaps, hands waving in the air. "We're trying to say bye to you, show we care, and you're pushing us out again! What, is that all you know how to do?")
"Yeah," she bites out. "I do."
Aleksei sighs wistfully. "I bet they miss you."
"Why would they miss me?"
"Well, 'cause you're gone, and-"
"I'm not gone," Sagan insists. "And I'm not going to be gone."
He blinks. "I didn't say you were?"
"You're trying to say they'll be okay even when I'm gone."
"Sort of? I hope mine will be okay, even though I don't plan to be gone gone."
"But I do? I will?"
"No! That's not it at all! But… I guess if you do die, it helps to know someone back home would miss you?"
Sagan is on her feet so fast that her head spins. "What, so you just think I'm going to die?" Sagan snaps. "Is that it?"
(Ansel's mouth twitches. "Sagan, you know that's not what I'm saying. I'm trying to promise that things will be okay for when you get back, not because you'll be gone.")
"I- huh? No! That's not at all what I was saying! I said if, and I just-"
"You don't have any faith in me, huh? Is that why you want me to be your ally so bad? Because I'll die, and then you get to live?"
"I don't want either of us to die!"
"I have to go home! I can't– I can't leave– they won't take care of her like I do!"
("You already left!" she seethes. "You won't take care of her now that I'm gone. What, are you going to ship her off somewhere? Get your hands clean of her for good? She needs me!"
"No, we need you, Sagan! This is what I've been trying to tell you for years, but you never listen to me-"
"Because you all left! And I'm the only one that stayed!"
The rest remains unspoken. How can I trust that you wouldn't do it again?)
"I don't understand," Aleksei is saying. He stood up at some point, and his face is pinched with worry. "I'm not trying to… can we…?"
Her hands are trembling so violently that not even clenching them into fists makes the shaking stop. "Just leave me alone," she manages. "And not just for tonight."
"But-"
"I want to be alone!"
Sagan doesn't give him a chance to respond. She sprints to the elevator and jabs at the button until it arrives. She only realizes the racing of her heart and the shallowness of her breathing when she leans against the cool steel wall.
The silence is a welcome reprieve. Sagan sucks in a few breaths, trying to calm herself down. She sniffles. The elevator starts moving.
This would all be easier if she was home. She'd be with her mother again. She could make plain tea for herself before bed. She could play ball in her backyard. She could rest easy knowing that life was okay because her mother was okay and they were together.
Now, there's no guarantee of anything.
And Sagan doesn't know what that could mean for her.
Marri Esters, 15
District Seven Female
2017 – June 12, 124 ADD.
Marri blinks.
The room around her is empty.
She's not sure how long it's been like this. Marri tries to retrace her steps, going all the way back to the end of training. She came up to the seventh floor, took a shower, came back out here… and then?
Mmm.
She's hungry. Marri gets up from the couch, and makes her way towards the kitchen, trying to sort out the past few hours as she goes. Her mentors seem close, so they're probably off talking in one of the other rooms. And Zephyr seems to have made his own friends, so maybe they're all together on a Career floor. Every idea she comes up with leads back to the fact that she's here all alone, and Marri… she just tries not to think about it.
The silence presses in around her as she pours a glass of water, as she grabs leftovers out of the fridge, as she sits down to eat. When Marri is left alone, she is given the chance to think, and that is not much of a gift these days.
"These days." It's been… a week? So much time has passed, and yet none at all. Marri is still kneeling beside her father's bed, eyes completely dry, wondering what could've gone wrong to make this happen.
Did she do something? Did they do something? Maybe she should've spent more time with him, and then she would've seen the signs sooner. Every way Marri looks at his death, she sees a hopeless tragedy, but she also sees her own missteps scattered throughout. There was a way, there was always a way, and she didn't find it, and now it's far too late.
Her plate is empty now. Marri stares at it, tracing her fork around the edge until it screeches, and then winces as the sound rings throughout the room. That's enough of a sign for her to put her things away, and so she does, beginning to hum a quiet tune to herself.
"What are you doing?"
Marri drops her plate into the sink and whirls around, heart beating a little faster. She feels a strange mix of shockexcitementconfusion when she sees Xander standing on the other side of the counter, looking just as surprised as her.
"It's too loud on my floor," he says, jumping to give her a reason before she can even ask. "Too many people. I thought at least here it would be… quiet."
"Yeah," she breathes, trying to calm herself back down. "Super quiet. So quiet you could hear a mouse, even though a place as fancy as this probably doesn't have any running around."
He wrinkles his nose. "I'd hope not."
"Did you eat already?"
"Thankfully. Pasta, because that's what Madoka knew Akira would like, and then they threw a fit about it because apparently that's what she ate last night. Somehow devolved into yet another argument, and then Akira stormed off, and Madoka started complaining to her girlfriend about how she - Madoka - can't do anything right, and I got sick and tired of it so now I'm here, where I can't possibly hear any complaining about stupid sisters."
Marri hums. "I think Lynx and Briar or siblings. Or they just call themselves siblings. They pick fights sometimes too. I think that's just what siblings do."
He shoots her a mildly betrayed look. "Whatever. Mine have never acted like… that."
"What do they act like, then?"
A strange look flits across Xander's face. Before Marri has the chance to recognize it, it morphs into a scowl. "Different."
Right. Time for her to move on before he finds an issue with her presence as well. That wouldn't do, not when Marri feels like a real person for the first time all evening.
"Is there anyone else that has caught your eye in training?"
"What does that mean?"
"I mean… they're all interesting, aren't they? All these people with their own lives, who we'd never meet if it wasn't for the Games. Interesting can mean good or bad, you know."
"Of course I know," he snaps, but his words lack a certain bite to them. "I'm thinking."
"I thought Aleksei and Sagan were very nice," Marri says - an offer to start. "Particularly Aleksei."
"He seems too nice. The kind of nice that will get you in trouble."
"He's got Sagan with him, though. Doesn't that help?"
"She seems pretty set in her ways."
There are several ways Marri could choose to comment on that, but she tries to shove them all aside for now. "Then there's Zephyr and Akira. I think Zephyr is very nice, and-"
"You think everyone is nice."
"And you think everyone is… grating."
"Yes, because they are."
It's hard to talk to Xander sometimes. She's starting to think this conversation is going down the wrong path again. Marri could compare it to walking on a tightrope, knowing that certain death awaits if she stumbles, an endless fall where she has no one but herself to rely on.
(Marri can't be alone. She can't stand it. She hates the way it gives her space to think about everything that could happen to her in the next week or so. Death has come close enough to brush her cheek before, and she's afraid now it wants more from her.
Her life is all she has. How is it fair that that's all she can give?)
"- and he appears to be all brawn, and she's all brains, which is the sort of nonsense that sponsors eat up and theorists say should get you through half the Games. I disagree. I think something is bound to go wrong there."
She blinks and tries to reorient herself. "Any idea what?"
"Obviously not. I haven't spent any time around them, nor do I care to know the intricacies of their personal lives that might lead to their inevitable downfall. I just know it will happen."
"Couldn't you make that argument for anyone? That they're doomed to fail, just because of the baggage they bring with them?"
"Certainly. Even the girl from last year almost fell victim to what she tried to bring into the Arena with her."
Marri can vividly remember many of the mistakes from last year – most of them, from what she can tell, the result of an incredible amount of care. "But she won anyway."
"And plenty of other people died."
"Who has the most baggage, do you think?"
He makes a face. "Maybe the Nines. I don't even want to think about what's happening there."
"Because they're… dating?"
"Going into the Arena with anyone you know is practically a death sentence. Look at the Twos from last year. These two… They're certainly getting a lot of attention, but it'll backfire on them eventually. Thank god. I don't want to see one more public display of affection out of them."
"It's sort of sweet. It's like they're in their honeymoon phase. All over each other."
Xander gives her a reproachful look. "They are not sweet."
"They're in love!"
"And bothering everyone else about it!"
Marri tries to hide her giggles behind her hand, but based on the way Xander crosses his arms, it doesn't work very well. "You think they're the worst, then?"
"The Careers give them a good run for their money. Particularly the Two boy."
"Oh yeah. Is that because he came up and introduced himself to us on the first day?"
"Who the hell names a kid Pantheon? And he's so loud and… expectant, like he was looking for us to do something besides just give him our names." Xander scoffs. "Freak."
Marri could agree that he was a little odd, but she didn't know how to describe it. Still, freak sounded a little harsh. "I think he and the Nine boy would get along."
"I doubt it. They're both attention-seeking enough that they're more likely to rile each other up."
"They'd make for excellent rivals in a theatre production."
"I would hate to see either of them perform."
"Pot calling the kettle black," Marri muses aloud.
"Excuse me?"
"Pot and kettle. Pantheon and Kodo."
"Yeah, I guess. Who else is there?"
"The Eights. They don't seem to be doing well."
"That's all the boy's problem. The girl is doing just fine with Akira for whatever reason. Apparently that's where Akira disappeared to last night."
"The Eight floor?"
"Yeah. Came back bragging, like any of us care. I guess her sister did, but I just wish I'd been asleep by then."
Marri thinks back to training again. She'd seen the three of them together, but by halfway through the day, the boy was all on his own. Eight seemed rather lonely, but he glared at anyone that dared draw close, so maybe she was wrong. "I think he's going to miss them," Marri declares.
"No way. I can't fathom anyone missing Akira enough to be willing to go back. He probably knows he's better off now."
"What about you?" Marri asks suddenly.
Xander pauses. "What about me?"
"Do you find yourself to be better off now?"
He ponders this for a moment. Marri did not give him something to compare his current situation to. He could answer in the context of alliances, or before the Games, or within the past hour or so. He's not exactly the complimentary type, so Marri is pleasantly surprised when he says, "Compared to the clamor of my own floor, this is… considerably more agreeable."
Marri nods once. "Agreeable is perfectly acceptable."
Thessaly Akaste, 18
District Four Female
2249 – June 12, 124 ADD.
Thessaly frowns at the paper in front of her, trying to figure out how to finish it off. She taps the pen against her chin a few times, deep in thought.
There are so many things she wants to tell Euna. Part of her wishes that Euna could be here, experiencing everything with her, but she would never wish that on her dear sister. Instead she's back home, safe and sound, just like their parents always wanted.
(And Thessaly is far, far away, just like their parents always planned.)
She signs the paper with a grand flourish, then adds a couple doodles for good measure. Her scratches don't quite measure up to the origami they completed in real life, though. She's about to seal up the letter when a thought hits her. Thessaly scampers over to her nightstand and snatches up the bird she crafted. She grins widely at the thought of Euna opening this and laughing, thinking about their various expeditions out to the beach.
It would be nice to be home again. Thessaly misses the wind on her face, the sand between her toes, and her sister's laughter ringing in her ears. She hopes that the Arena will at least contain some taste of the ocean, but without Euna, the vision is more hollow than she'd like to admit.
Thessaly doesn't linger on this for too long. Instead, she tucks the papers under her arm and pads out into the hallway. She's been cooped up for so long – a couple hours – that she's starting to grow restless. A change of scenery, however minute, is welcome at this point.
She's pretty sure Ibai went to bed a while ago. The events of their little game wore him out, but she suspects that has more to do with the way he's still skittish around everyone that's not her. Thessaly isn't quite sure what to make of that, but she was hoping that this would help him open up more. She wants everyone to get along now, before…
(Before…)
When she makes her way to the kitchen, Thessaly is surprised to see she's not alone. Bastian is up – something that she only finds odd considering he's actually on the floor. He spent nearly three days avoiding them like the plague, and even today she only saw him because he went up to the Two floor during their game. He seems to be nursing a glass of water, intently focused on a packet of papers in front of him.
Well, Thessaly doesn't want to scare him. She takes her letters out and smacks them on the table as loud as she can. He jumps and nearly spills water on his papers, giving her a startled look.
"What the hell?"
"Good evening!" she chirps. "You busy?"
"I- no? Is this about… private sessions or interview strategy?"
"Aw, don't worry about those! I'm sure that will come to me in the moment."
He frowns. "Okay… Shouldn't you be asleep already?"
"Probably," she chirps. "Anyway, can you do something for me?"
Bastian grows instantly wary. "Depends."
"I have a letter I want you to send back home. Well, multiple letters. To my sister. I'm trying to keep her updated on everything, and I figured this was the best way to do it."
Thessaly isn't fully convinced this will work. From what she knows, the tributes aren't supposed to get anything back to their families until they're corpses, and considering she's pretty alive right now, a direct line back to Euna should be impossible. But she's never been the kind to give up so easily, and trying always leads to better odds than not trying at all.
Gingerly, Bastian takes the letters in his hands and turns them over. He doesn't look at her as he asks, "Do you have an address?"
"I can write it down!" Thessaly scrambles for a pen and paper, scrawling her address down in barely legible handwriting. When she's done, she pauses, and squints at him. "You can get this delivered?"
"If I can't, I know someone with more connections than me. So… I'll try."
Thessaly beams and throws her arms around him tightly. Bastian immediately stiffens in her embrace, and then very carefully pats her shoulder. She doesn't wanna push things too much, so she steps back after a few long seconds. Considering he looks more contemplative than anything else, Thessaly will consider this a win.
"Can you keep me posted on them?" Thessaly asks, and then laughs at her own joke. "When they get sent out, I mean. And if it works, can I give you more on the last night?"
"Yeah," Bastian says. He's strangely lost in thought about something. "Yeah, I can do that. I… I promise."
The elevator dings, and Thessaly steps away, pleased. She stretches her arms over her head, content to go to bed just like this. Euna will have letters from her, a piece of her, and that's more than enough to power Thessaly through the next few days.
"Oh." Bastian holds a hand out, trying to get Thessaly's attention. "I, uh, think this one is for you."
"Huh?"
Thessaly spins around. She's not sure who she's expecting to see, especially this late at night; a tall frame with platinum blonde hair was certainly at the bottom of her list.
"Nerissa?" Thessaly asks, stunned. She didn't expect to see Nerissa, not tonight, not after-
The other girl's head dips closer, closer. Thessaly can hardly breathe. She tilts her chin up, ready to meet Nerissa halfway.
Instead, there's the softest brush of lips against her cheek. Thessaly sucks in a surprised breath and blinks at Nerissa. The other girl merely quirks a brow, as if unaware she's the cause of Thessaly being so… disappointed.
"There's your kiss," Nerissa says, too casually. "Are we done now?"
Bastian glances between them, coming to the conclusion that he's now intruding on something, and clears his throat. "Goodnight, Thessaly."
"Night, Bastian."
He flicks off one of the lights, and the whole area becomes a lot… smaller. Thessaly stares at Nerissa, and Nerissa stares back at her, all the way up until they hear a door snick shut.
"So," Thessaly says. "You came for a visit?"
"Something like that."
Thessaly waits for Nerissa to continue, or at least offer up a change in subject, but she doesn't. The other girl seems frozen in place, a little too stiff to be natural.
Very interesting.
"My room, then?" Thessaly offers.
Nerissa doesn't appear to like the idea, but strangely, she doesn't argue. She follows Thessaly down the hall, two doors to the left, and slips inside without a word.
As the door closes behind them, Nerissa buffers in the middle of the room, looking almost lost. Perhaps taking in her surroundings – which really are the exact same as her own room, except maybe not as meticulously clean. Eventually, she decides to lean against the wall by the door. Thessaly, in turn, chooses to perch on the edge of the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her.
"Ibai's asleep," Thessaly says. "Bastian will be soon. I haven't seen Faye in a few days. Pretty soon it'll be just the two of us awake up here."
The other girl eyes her for a moment. "Why are you telling me that?"
Thessaly shrugs. "I thought it would help if we were somewhere quiet and undisturbed. You seem like you have something on your mind."
"I guess I do."
"Feel like sharing?"
"That's the part I'm still thinking about."
A laugh. "You're thinking about it too much, then."
"What, and your solution is going to be to just not think?"
"Yup. You're the one making it more complicated than it needs to be. Here – we'll do truth or dare again. I'll start, yeah? Truth. Why-"
"I thought I got to pick."
"Did you want a dare?"
Nerissa rolls her eyes, but that's all the complaint Thessaly gets for now.
"Truth. Why did you come up here?"
She huffs out a laugh. "You're getting right into it, aren't you?"
"That's how it works. You can choose not to answer if you want. Rules aren't the same here. We can make it up as we go."
"Very organized," Nerissa mutters. She sighs and lifts her chin. "I am not sure why I came up here. I felt there was unfinished business to be taken care of."
"Something you want to take care of now?"
"My turn." Nerissa leans back against the wall. "Truth. What were you doing before I showed up?"
A smile tugs at Thessaly's lips. "Writing a letter to my sister. Trying to get it sent off."
"And you… don't mind that I showed up?"
"God, not at all. I'm glad you did. I like spending time with you, Ner."
Nerissa hums but doesn't say anything. She tilts her head back to Thessaly, who realizes there's a question burning on the tip of her tongue.
"Truth," Thessaly says, voice hushed, "why didn't you kiss me?"
"I did."
"You know what I mean."
Nerissa squirms again, but she doesn't leave. "I fulfilled your dare on a technicality. Because…" She squeezes her eyes shut, and then forces out the rest. "You put me in a situation where I thought you wanted some kind of reaction out of me, and I didn't want to give you that."
"Oh," Thessaly breathes. "I didn't- it wasn't even my idea, really."
Nerissa doesn't respond to that. "Truth. Why'd you do that, anyway?"
"Do what?"
"The dare."
"Because I wanted to kiss you. Still do."
She sighs in exasperation. "Thessaly-"
"Dare," she cuts in. "Call me Thess."
The other girl pauses, tilting her head to the side. She mulls it over for a moment, and Thessaly holds her breath in anticipation. She half already knows the answer.
"Thess," Nerissa says, voice impossibly level. "Why do you insist on making things so difficult for me?"
"I like having fun. You keep me from getting bored-"
"I'm sure Ibai and Theo and probably even Zephyr are all better at that-"
"-and even though you insist otherwise, I have the same effect on you."
"You certainly know how to keep things interesting," Nerissa concedes. "But you're incessant and insufferable and…"
"Inspiring? Impressive?"
"Impossible."
"You make it sound like you can't stand me."
"I can't."
"And yet you still came to see me. In my room. After eleven. Far too late to come up with a good excuse."
"Maybe so."
"It almost makes me think you have a reason for coming here."
Nerissa twists her lips, and if Thessaly didn't know better, she'd swear the other girl was pouting. "Not necessarily. It's not like you have a reason for half the things you do."
"I already told you the reason! I do things that are fun, things that I like to do. C'mon, what do you like to do?"
The other girl gives her an unamused look. "Train. Work. People watch. Buy plants that I eventually kill."
A surprised laugh bubbles up out of Thessaly, and she hides her smile behind her hand. Nerissa crosses her arms and turns her head to the side, but Thessaly can see that the tips of her ears are starting to redden.
"If you let me," Thessaly says, one hand trailing up Nerissa's arm, "I could show you what I like to do for fun."
She stiffens, but doesn't move away. Thessaly pauses, waiting for Nerissa to say something – anything.
"I don't want anything more than this." Nerissa brings a hand up to tuck a strand of Thessaly's hair behind her ear. "No… attachments. You have other allies for that."
"Right."
"This is just a…" she mulls it over, looking for the right word. "Distraction."
"I must be lucky, then. You're the prettiest distraction here."
Nerissa laughs, quickly growing flustered. "Thess…" she protests, but there's no real complaint behind her words.
"Alright then, Nerissa," Thessaly teases, watching the other girl's eyes darken. "Let me show you just how much of a distraction I can be."
rb told me she doesn't like scissors so the rest of this pov has been redacted :/ hope everyone understands!
happy pride month take 2. i am not immune to the allegaytions.
it's also ve time now! i'd like to squeak out two updates and ve by august but we'll have to see how it goes! i do hope to see y'all within the month at least for training day 3. we're getting close to the end here...
wait also happy 150k fr
~ de laney is out