bakerstreet | (no subject)

[ District Four has never been shy about sending their tributes when their trainers and guides suggest they volunteer. Being fourteen at the time of his games made him both headstrong and nervous all at once, a boy too young to volunteer, too young to fight for his life. And yet, he won favor in the eyes of the Capitol, and struck out alive in the end.

Sometimes, he wonders just what good it did him, coming out alive. Sure, he's been lucky to have other victors keeping an eye out, understanding to some degree, but they'll never really know, will they? His heart drops when he hears Snow's announcement about the 75th, when his name is drawn, and Mags volunteers over Annie. He may as well have cut his heart out in the arena years ago. Secrets wouldn't be useful in the arena, but the rebellion had begun, he could practically feel it in the thrumming in rhythm with the train that raced him to the capitol.

Cashmere's tough rips him from his reverie and he turns, instantly smiling, aptly. ]

Well, we do, don't we? At least before things get rolling, won't be much time for talking then.

[ His words carry an easy cadence, rhythmic and light, no doubt one of the ways he's charmed many a Capitol citizen. ]

[ She rolls her eyes. ] Don't be weird. Don't do the thing with me. [ Cashmeres gestures to him, but there's teasing in her tone. This flirtatious, charming act he puts on. She does it too and knows it's exhausting. It's a way to survive, but she's still here, isn't she? Eleven years doing whatever the Capitol wanted her to do, and here she is. When they called her name, all she could do was smile and be the proud tribute they wanted her to be. It was always going to be her. She doesn't want to die, but she doesn't want to live in a world without her brother. There will never been two winners, not again. So where does that leave Cashmere? ]

Come on. Not here. [There's a back stairwell that's for avox use only, and that's where she leads him. What are they going do, kill her? The stairs are empty, but Cashmere stays close to his side anyway. She leans in to whisper to him. ] We're friends. We shouldn't bullshit each other. I don't lie to you. [ Well. Unless she had to pick between Gloss and Finnick. Everyone knows she will always choose her brother. ] Tell me what's going on.

[ The act is something Finnick knows as well as the back of his own hand, the facade slipping easily into place when it was necessary. Of course he trusts Cashmere, to a degree, but Victors did have to band together when they could, especially those Capitol favorites. ]

Oh, someone is impatient today, I see.

[ These taunting words are enough to fool the cameras, the officials watching their every breath, but when they're in the dark stairwell, the easy lightness begins to drain from his face. It's not like they weren't necessarily allowed here, and if anyone caught them, he could just as easily spin a web of lies as she could. Funny, how easily they could fall in sync with one another. Unless Gloss came blundering through -- he always did complicate things. ]

I don't think I have to tell you. This whole Quarter Quell... it's not in the rulebooks -- not the way we're being made to play this game. He's feeling threatened. We've all played nice until now, all suffered our lots. But he's gotten his feathers ruffled, and Panem is noticing.

[ She winks back at his teasing. Let the cameras think what they want. she doesn't keep track anymore, not after reading some rumors about her sibling relationship that she'd really like to forget. of course they are burned into her brain instead.

Her expression darkens as he alludes to what's been unspoken between most of the victors for a long time now. things have always been tense but the 74th Games were unlike any other. ]

It's true, then. We heard you had a bad winter and the Capitol couldn't get any shrimp. [Four had cut-off production. How did they get away with it? And yeah - she hates what the Capitol has done to her, what winning has done to all of them but she and Snow have a deal. Stepping out of line means Gloss will pay the price for her mistakes.

But they all have deals, don't they? ]

Let's not get crazy.

[ He smirks, all too knowing, even if his voice is affected, sad. He very nearly sounds disappointed. ] A bad winter, yes. It was terrible, the frost and snow. Just terrible, our supply just couldn't make it.

[ Finnick is proud of his district, for beginning to take it's stand against the Capitol. They didn't need the announcement of a Quarter Quell to set things into motion. Katniss opened the doors, barreled through and inadvertently paved the way for change. ]

Crazy? And what do you think I plan on doing? I think my first priority is to stay alive. We know it's not us he's after, but he'd plow through us all just to get to them.

[ Cashmere doesn't know what he's planning, and that's what terrifies her. There's a voice deep inside of her that tells her that Panem will never be the same after this year's Games. Maybe it won't matter, because she doesn't expect she'll live to see it anyway. ]

Yeah, I know he will. [ Cashmere's done little to disguise her animosity towards Katniss, who seems intent on tearing apart the delicate fabric that holds their lives together. Peeta's just along for the ride. ] Which is why I think you've got something up your sleeve. Come on, Finnick. We're going back in too. [ Cashmere and Gloss are a package deal. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. ] Shouldn't we be together on this?

[ Finnick wouldn't say he has a plan, so much as he has been given an ultimatum. There would be a war -- even he could see that waiting for them on the horizon, with ever raised hand or quiet mockingjay song. ]

I'm not so deceptive. [ He laughs easily, a practiced gesture, a well carved facade made just for the world the games has thrust him into. ] Of course we should stand together, we have for this long, haven't we?

[ He sucks in a deep breath, looking both ways, trying to catch sight of any camera, any recording device. ] Who are you allying with? Picked any good candidates yet? [ To anyone else, this is small talk, a bit of teasing between long time victors, and yet there is a cold seriousness in his eye despite the lilt of his voice. ]

Yeah. Yeah, of course we have. [ because even though communication between the districts is banned and the Capitol does it's best to keep the victors from ever being more than competitors, there are friendships.

Cashmere avoids his gaze but she can feel it burning into her all the same. he doesn't really need to ask. she's sure he can guess. who else would One ally with? when she looks back at him, it's with a sigh. ] Gloss wants Two and you know he's better at making allies than I am [ who hasn't been on the receiving end of one of Cashmere's drunken rants? ] so I'm letting him make the decisions. Anyway, we want you if you'll have us. [ she smirks, and takes a stab at lightening the mood. ] Actually we want Mags, but I told Gloss that would mean we were stuck with you, too.

[ he spends an indefinite amount of time alongside these victors, of course, during the Games. Once their tributes are left to the arena, they keep close to screens and sponsors -- who else would they talk to? ]

Oh, Gloss better at making sponsors? I hardly believe that. [ It's too easy to slip back into the teasing, playful tone. He might even pluck at a strand of her hair. But then there's talk of an alliance, and he knows already where he's been placed, but how could he tell her? ]

Trust me, you'd be better off with Mags. Great hair styling tips, easier to deal with, and definitely a morning person. Me? Not so much. Oh no. [ He would go where Mags went, the woman who mentored him, kept him alive during his games, and has been there for him ever since. The kind, older woman, who makes him feel a little more like a human being than most. ]

Oh, the sponsors love me. It's the tributes I have a problem with. [ they never bought her saccharine bullshit, so she stopped bothering. ]

Finnick. [ her tone grows serious, with what's maybe even a tinge of desperation. they're all going back in, there's no doubt about that. but who is coming back out? and what's going to happen while they're in there.

she hesitates, and then wraps her arms around him in an embrace, her face nuzzled againsts his. if anyone caught them now, there'd be rumors of an entirely different set of star-crossed lovers. she's just trying to eliminate the distance between them before she whispers treasons to him. ]

If Gloss and I can't come out together, we don't want out at all. Whatever's happening. That's what we want.

[ if he's not going to admit to knowing something bigger than both of them is already in motion, he can at least do her the courtesy of granting her a last request. ]

(no subject)

voice testing, be gentle ;o;

<3

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lol tagging back from forever ago, yolo do what you want