morning call [avriel & flynn]

[gamemaker ☢️ ivan korsch]

Is this bed mine? My mind is trapped below a fluffy duck feather stuffed duvet and my body will not wake up to push the covers to one side. How even did I get here? One moment I was ordering a small glass of wine recommended by Annie. Then I am in another bar, then another and another…and now somehow, I am in bed. Am I actually in bed or is this a symptom of intoxication? Never have I ever been this bad before, maybe a little cheery after a few glasses of champagne but never to the point of questioning my existence…

Ugh, my head!

All the way across my temples, there is a thudding sensation and despite being half asleep laid down, somehow, I am having a dizzy spell…

Damn, I am thirsty!

The dehydration knocks my body up a gear, finally some movement in my limbs. My right (or maybe it is my left?) hand reaches out to my bedside tables. I always have a full glass of water beside me, sudden dry mouth in the middle of the night seems to be a side effect of the radiation/post-arena syndrome. My fingers hit a glass; it feels light. I tip it back through my cracked peeling lips and…it is empty! Fuck, who even got me to my bed last night? I need to give Annie a call.

But not right now, it is barely 7am. I gotta sleep…

Bang bang bang!

Who d’fuck is knocking on the door at this time? There is no planned Capitol appointment until later in the afternoon, they have me stood with a fake smile during the daily Rose Plague bulletins. My presence supposedly helps boost morale and the likelihood of citizens abiding by the social distancing measures. I’d like to see the stats on that to be honest…but none are scheduled for this time of day!

I eventually slide from under the duvet covers as the door bangs again, a little louder this time. ”Okay okay, I am coming. Just wait…” I call, struggling to maneuver in the sneakers I was too wasted to remove from my feet last night. I am still in the same clothes, how gross is that! I catch a glimpse of my appearance in the mirror in the opened bathroom as I walk by. My hair has been hit by some kind of fuzzy nuke, there is no way I have time to tame it before opening the door.

”Avriel? It is so early…” I rub both my eyes, making sure it is exactly who I think it is. ”What’s up, have you wet the bed?”

[✌ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

A V R I E L

Things have made less sense since Patricia died.

In a way, that does make sense. Avriel's still terrible at loss but he struggles with change, he always has. His brain isn't wired for it. All his life, he's tried so hard to keep things as they are to the point of self destruction. That persistence has never really done him any good but he never seems to learn, just causes himself pain over and over.

It almost pisses him off that she's gone or maybe he's just already hit that stage of grief. He doesn't really know, just that all week he's been afraid of missing the sunrise.

He's still not one hundred sure that it will rise every morning, there's still a lingering feeling in the back of his head that chews at him, telling him he's going to step outside and the world will have disappeared into blackness again.

Then Akira dies, Jack soon after. He continues to spiral.

The night that girl from six, Izzy dies, there's a special news broadcast featuring a picture of Flynn pointing at plague stats on the screen.

Avriel sits at the dining room table in his victor suit and writes a letter to Billie because it's been over a year since he last saw her. He doesn't even know where she is, she might even be one of the statistics on screen that Flynn is pointing to and he'd have no way of knowing.

"I don't care," he murmurs at the paper beneath his pen, trying the lie out on his tongue to see if it will even fit. It sounds stupid even as he says it, Avriel's proven himself a liar, yeah, but he's never been a very good one.

There's a clattering sound from the coffee table and Avriel looks up to see Scout pointing madly at the image of Flynn on screen. It's little mouth opens and closes a couple times, then opens again to let out one long whistle.

"You want Flynn?" Avriel asks the kodama.

Scout bangs its head up and down, arm flapping at the screen.

The victor from Six is someone Avriel would classify as a friend though half the time when they see each other they end up arguing. Scout just remembers their first meeting too well, at that diner. The owner gave the mutt its own burger and 'Flynn' has meant 'food' since.

He checks the clock on the wall, half six in the morning, there's no way Flynn's awake yet. Well he could be. Flynn's never taken the death of his tributes too well and Avriel doesn't have to think long about how much losing a tribute at the last moment fucking sucks.

For someone who's really not good at giving comfort he tries way too often.

Avriel looks down at the letter, finished now for the last half hour. He shoves it in the envelope and seals it carefully before dropping it back down on the table. It's probably going to live there forever.

"Alright," he says, "Could use some breakfast anyway. C'mon."

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Five minutes later, Avriel is at Flynn's door with Scout at his heels. He's got an old hoodie on over the same t-shirt he's been wearing for three days straight but he's making the look work pretty well.

"Hey Flynn," he says, fist still raised to knock as his friend opens the door, "No, nothing like that. We're getting breakfast." Sometimes he forgets that an invitation is supposed to be an offer, not a plan already set in action. Avriel blinks and looks Flynn over, at his cloud of hair and obvious lack of actual sleep wear. He's even already in a pair of sneakers, as if he knew Avriel was on his way over.

"Oh, looks like you're ready."

Then he notices the slightly green tinge to Flynn's face and the puffy look to his skin. His brow furrows, head falling a bit to the side.

"You look terrible" he says without thinking. Then he blinks and hooks a thumb over his shoulder "I've got a good spot. Come on."

[gamemaker ☢️ ivan korsch]

”We are?” The sun is not shining yet but my eyes retreat to the back of my head with the sheer force of the awakening sky. Even amongst the entire library of medical textbooks and journals I have revised, I do not recall a single cure for a hangover that has any kind of credibility hence why I have avoided the triggering the condition for so long. It seems I am so easily influenced and now I am under the influence. Even though my body begs to be back within the comfort of the bed, Avriel’s presence is an uncomplicated influence that makes me shut the door behind me and not question his early arrival further.

”I am pretty sure looking terrible is an everyday occurrence for me, I guess you have seen the daily briefings?” If I rocked up at the newsroom in the state I am in right now, the stylist that fills the room with blush powder every evening pampering the newsreader would have to be hooked up to a ventilator if they saw me. Whilst being in the Capitol, seventy percent of the time I do not look anything like who I truly am. Just another trademark piece for the stylists that are trying to make a name for themselves to get the most sought after position in the training centre. It is just as well Skye makes up for it by being a pretty decent human being when dealing with the tributes.

I rub my brow while following alongside Avriel and the little unnerving being that is always in his shadow, Scout. There are a lot of things that I will not let go in my life and the fact that Avriel got to keep Scout and Limey the Blob seemed to disappear without a trace but its plushie replicas still sell out in the gift shops is just so unfair. I have always kept that complaint to myself.

”But yeah I blame Annie for the state I am in right now, I am never looking at a glass of wine ever again.” The thought of it just makes my stomach churn and breakfast will either tame it or knock it up another gear. Now it is going to be awkward if I throw up in front of Avriel and especially if he is going to take me to some kind of public joint. ”Where is it you are taking me? I hope they have coffee! I think that is all I can stomach right now and maybe a jug of water to go with it…”