adventure into the unknown.— [abel/aurora]

[Deleted]

Kassandra and I had a little bit to drink. Well, she had a little bit to drink. I had a lot to drink. Normally I didn't like getting drunk, I got the worst hang overs. But to be fair, I was about to enter a competition of death - a little hang over was the least of my worries. Plus, I felt like shit over Cain. He told me I was definitely going to die in the Hunger Games. I didn't know how to feel about that, honestly.

I know he loves me, but it hurt so much to hear him say that. He barely even hugged me back. I don't know what good he thought would come out of it. I had volunteered, and there's no take-backs. I had always looked up to Cain for as long as I could remember, following him around like a shadow. He was everything I wanted to be. If there was anyone who's judgement I could trust it was his, he knew me best. And that's why what he said terrified me.

I wanted to forget. I wanted to forget that fear that I felt in that moment. I wanted to forget him coming in and immediately yelling at me. I wanted to remember the good moments though. Him giving me my district token, the hug we shared even if it wasn't very tight. I hoped bottle after bottle of wine would help with that. After all, I was a different person when I drank.

Some people get mean when they drank. Pa thought it was funny to scare us kids whenever he got drunk. I was the opposite, I was nice. I knew what that meant, that niceness and need for affection was always there. I just hated to admit it. I hated to admit how much I didn't want to be like Cain and Pa. And how lonely I felt, especially right now. So when I went into the elevator, giggling like a school girl, and saw the girl from Six? I thought she seemed like a fun person to hang out with.

As I spoke, my words were a bit slurred and my cheeks were flushed red. Between the giggles I had a content smile on my face. I obviously wasn't sober, even if she couldn't quite place if I was drunk or high. Hell, even Six and Fly would be able to tell I wasn't sober at this point. And I doubt anyone in that family minus the oldest four had even touched a bottle of alcohol, let alone drank one.

"Heyyyyy ya! You're Aurora, right? Wanna go on an adventure with me!? Just around the Training Center!"

I would regret everything I did tonight in the morning, but perhaps what I would regret the most was the look I gave her. Big puppy dog eyes. I may be religious, but I'm not deaf. I've heard people at school call me a twink before. Doing puppy dog eyes while drunk and giggly? That definitely wasn't going to help my case. Sometimes I really wished I got Cains sharper, more defined features.

[ table by griffin ]

[k!ah]

The elevator ride had been peaceful. My hands had worked my long tangled locks of hair into a semi-decent braid that rested on my shoulder. My head was spinning from the hours and hours of training I had been putting my body through... And tonight I was supposed to sit down with Flynn and go over more tactics, more potential scenarios, and survival skills that could potentially save my life. And he was expecting me within the half-hour...

But it was only a couple of days in and I was already exhausted. I knew I should be grateful to Flynn for putting in the extra work, for trying to save my ass from a situation that should have never happened... But I was so emotionally and mentally drained that I just needed the night where I could take a moment to process what was happen. Take a moment to come to terms on my own, about the situation that I was in and the prospect that in a couple of weeks I will probably be dead and it would be my fault. And what that meant to me, to my family, to him- what I was putting all of them through.

I think I was putting him through the most, forcing him to have to watch as I died, forcing him to have to be by my side as the days counted down, as my execution neared knowing that in the end, there was not a lot be could do, but that wouldn't stop the fact that he would blame himself the moment my cannon sounded.

The peacefulness evaporates the moment the elevator door slid open and a giggling, obviously drunk kid wanders in, wide-eyed and excitable her turns of me and I can't help back stare back with slightly judging eyes.

"What are you looking at-"

"Heyyyyy ya!" He cuts me off with a loud and obnoxious greeting and if he hadn't been blocking the doorway it would have sent me exiting the elevator, waiting for the next that didn't have the drunk kid from eleven occupying it- wait for a second, the drunk kid from eleven... The one part of some hardcore religious cult group.

Curiosity surges through me, as I watched him stumble deeper into the elevator, words slurred from his intoxication, "you're Aurora, right? Wanna go on an adventure with me!? Just around the Training Center!" I was almost certain that teen intoxication would have been frowned upon in a household like his- hell even mine, but in his, it might be seen as something deeper, dirtier.

I try to ignore the puppy dog eyes he's giving me, ones that should have made me cringe. But instead, I give him a grin, looping his arm into mine, a little trouble-making might just be the distraction I was looking for. Procrastination of allowing myself to think about what I had done when I stepped forward for Nina. I would apologize to Flynn later.

The night to think, to process was not tonight.

The doors close and I flick the button for the 11th floor. "I think we need to get you back up to your apartment, you shouldn't be running around the training center hallways as drunk as a skunk, you never know who is lurking around. Might be someone wanting to cause trouble."

[ griffin ]

[Deleted]

She was right, I should never have left the 11th floor - let alone my apartment. But, that's not what drunk Abel wanted to hear. Drunk Abel felt trapped in that apartment, used to the wide open spaces of Eleven. Drunk Abel craved some fresh air, adventure, and excitement. And he didn't want to take no for an answer. But, he could still have some fun. Maybe hanging out with Aurora wouldn't be too bad. I just had to test the waters.

I wondered where she was going before I interrupted her. How long was she going to stay on the 11th floor with me? Would her mentors notice her missing? I had heard some rumours, some whispers. Apparently she was friends with Flynn before she volunteered. How was he handling it? Did she volunteer for him? So they could be victors together? That seemed like a stupid reason to volunteer if you ask me.

"I don' wanna go back back there! It's boring! Unlesss, you wanna come too? Hang out? We can have a sleepover! I haven't had a sleepover in a while!"

I mean I had had a "sleepover" not long before the reaping. My cousin Prop had gotten his leg broken in a fist fight. And I guess my aunt and uncle were tired of dealing with him so they let Pa deal with him instead. Prop had to stay with us for a little bit as punishment, guess they hoped Cain might convince him to become a Peacekeeper too. Or that Pa's strictness might carry over once Prop went back home. I guess I should have said "a sleepover with someone I got along with". But that was far too wordy.

I kept our arms linked and hummed along to the elevator music. Part of me wondered what the sixth floor was like. But the rational part of me interjected. If other mentors saw me, Kass and I could both get in trouble. I could get in trouble for being intoxicated. And Kass might catch some heat for supplying me with the alcohol. Though if you ask me, all of the tributes deserved some booze. We were about to fight to the death in front of the entire world. We should at least be able to catch a buzz before all of that shit goes down.

[ table by griffin ]

[k!ah]

"I don' wanna go back there! It's boring!" He starts and I roll my eyes, eating as the numbers on the screen grow. The number six comes and goes and I feel guilt twist my stomach. I should be getting off, spending the evening with Flynn, trying to figure out a way to get me out of this alive, if not for my sake, then for his. Because he didn't deserve any more pain than he had- than he was- already suffering. "Unlesss, you wanna come too? Hang out? We can have a sleepover! I haven't had a sleepover in a while!"

Sleepover? I look at him unsure how to feel about the child-like excitement that seemed to consume him. It was perplexing to watch, so perplexing that I barely notice that he keeps our arms linked tightly, humming to himself in time with the music. The ding of the elevator signals that we reach his floor and I lead him into the apartment, and for a moment my breath my lungs, my eyes taking in the sweeping view of the capital and the shimmering lights as the moon dances in the sky, almost at eye level. I slip my arm from his moving to stand by the window. I had thought the view from the 6th floor had been amazing, but it had nothing on this.

"Woah," I breathe, "it is something, huh-" I flick my gaze back to Abel, to see that he had disappeared. "Water," I say, cutting myself off as I move towards the kitchenette pulling out a glass. I flick on the faucet, filling the glass before heading back over to the drunk from 11. "Here, drink this."

[ griffin ]

[Deleted]

As we got off the elevator, I let our arms unlink and I headed inside. I didn't notice at first that Aurora was no longer following me. I stopped when I realised she wasn't and I turned to watch her. She seem entranced by the view. Even drunk I couldn't blame her. The first time I saw the view from up here I was awestruck and honestly a big overwhelmed. I gave her a small smile, she looked cute like that. Any mask she had up was gone and in that moment she was fully a human being. Moments like that are rare here.

Once she snapped out of if she got me a water and tracked me down. Honestly, I was grateful for it. I knew not drinking water would make my impending hangover even worse. I knew I should probably also get some food. So I walked over to the large window and took a drink of my water before facing her. A drunken smile on my face. This was honestly fun. For once I felt free again. This whole thing has made me feel so damn claustrophobic.

"Sit down! Nd enjoy the view! I'll get us some snacky-snacks and we can talk and look! It's really cool seeing everything!"

Without giving her time to object I finished off my water and went into the kitchenette. I grabbed a few snack foods - some fruit, some sandwiches avoxes prepared earlier and left in the fridge, and a bag of popcorn. Of course I had to wait a few minutes before the popcorn was ready. Part of me feared when I went back she'd be gone. Another part of me wondered why I even cared if she did leave. The rest of me thought it was fun to watch popcorn pop while drunk. And then I went back to where I left Aurora, snacks in hand.

[ table by griffin ]

[k!ah]

He takes the water gratefully, drinking it as he gazes from the window. Below us was a sea of shimmering lights, and for a moment we stand in silence, as we stare out into a city that was beautifully dangerous. After another moment he turns to me, grinning widely, "sit down! And enjoy the view! I'll get us some snacky-snacks and we can talk and look! It's really cool seeing everything!"

I hesitate, I didn't come here to get to know the boy, I came here to mess with him, to cause some trouble and to leave. "Ah, um," I start, but he has already wondered off, leaving me standing in alone, almost awkwardly as I take a seat on the floor, back against the wall, head resting against the window.

I close my eyes for a moment and I think about Flynn, about the pain I had seen in his eyes that day back in six when I had first seen him after his first games as victor. I think of his anger, of his helplessness and I wonder what my death might do to him.

Would it break him?

Maybe, but he would get through it because he was strong. He would get through it because he had people who would support and care for him back home.

After a few moments Able re-appears and I force Flynn to the back of my head, picking a sandwich from one of the plates he precariously balanced him unstable arms. "So, your family is pretty much a cult, right?"

[ griffin ]

[Deleted]

She honestly looked kind of pretty in a weird way with all of the city lights shining behind her. Not pretty like Nylon, pretty in her own way. I wondered if she knew she was pretty. Then I wondered when I got so god damn cheesy. I sat down and put the plates on the floor by us. I sat facing towards the window, taking in the view. It never ceased to amaze me, truly. What also amazed me was her question.

"So your family is pretty much a cult, right?"

Even if I wasn't a bit buzzed I would be confused. Where the Hell did she get that idea from? Instead of answering I grabbed my own sandwich and took a bite, washing it down with water. It was a stupid question. I had a few kids at school make fun of me for being related to the weird family, not realising being cousins with the weird family make us basically part of the weird family. But cult was definitely a new descriptor.

"Why'd ya think that? We aren't a cult. What cause we believe in God? What's wrong with having something to believe in? Don't y'all need something to believe in too?"

[ table by griffin ]

[k!ah]

I don't think he liked my question, which was good, because I wasn't sure I liked the way he had been looking at me, with the same big eyes that I had used when staring out into the city below. "Why'd ya think that? We aren't a cult."

"I don't know, I guess it's just a rumor going around," I shrug, picking out the tomato that poked out of my sandwich, scrunching my nose up at the jelly-like flesh that covered my fingertips, yuck.

"What cause we believe in God? What's wrong with having something to believe in? Don't y'all need something to believe in too?"

"I believe in science. I come from a family of scientists." I take a bite of my sandwich, but instantly regret it, the remnants of the tomato tainting the ham and leaving a foul taste in my mouth. I swap it for a piece of fruit. "Why did you volunteer? Doesn't your god look down on things such as killing?" I ask without restraint, taking a bite from my slice of apple. "It's a sin, right?"

[ griffin ]