pride & a lil loyalty [ivan's toast]

[☢️]

IVAN KORSCH

”If you keep refilling your drink before it finishes, it only counts as one!” Ivan pours a bottle of champagne into the glass of a supporter who is adamant that they will only have one tonight. The problem is that he overspent his father’s funding on beverages for the occasion, so his main task tonight is hiding the evidence, even with his father as guest. It is just a matter of topping up the old man’s glass without him noticing. ”It is called High Councilor math.” A chuckle and a glass clink, then he is onto the next endorser with money pouring out of their pocket.

”Before you top up everyone’s glasses, are you forgetting something?” Ivan’s sister, Lilijana tugs at his sleeve, stopping him from approaching his next soon to be tipsy victim. Ivan looks down at the bottle that he’s gripping by the neck and then shrugs at Lili. ”I was only planning on serving alcohol tonight.”

”No Ivan! Before you get everyone intoxicated, you need to deliver the speech that dad wrote!”

”Oh yeah that.” Ivan tries to drop the bottle on Lili’s feet as he pulls the cue card from his trouser pocket but by some miracle, she manages to catch it. ”Wow.” He says as he peeks over the cards at the woman who is swarming in a red mist. ”Clink some glass or something, help me get their attention.”

Lili taps at spoon against the half-empty bottle in her hand as Ivan moves to the center of the hospitality suite that his father kindly lent to him inside of their manufacturing building. ”Welcome everyone and thank you for joining me here at Korsch Manufacturing. Mass producers of tar for your axes, poison for your knives and all other deadly consumables for a successful…who wrote this?” Ivan skips to the next card in the pile. ”I am proud to represent my family blah blah blah,” He continues to shuffle the cards, ”There is no future Panem without Korsch blah blah blah.”

He can see his sister’s head about to explode and his father fidgeting in the armchair that had to be specially brought in for the old fart to sit in. Ivan just lets the cards slip from his hands; one by one they falls to his feet. ”My family may have supported the running of the Hunger Games over the years. A history of loyalty and dedication but it is time Panem started to evolve. Even the Districts are getting with the times. They’re voting out the dinosaurs from the mayor’s houses and bringing in new faces to help dig themselves out of the dirt. So why shouldn’t the Capitol get with the times too?” Ivan beams a teethy smile at his endorsers clap with the glasses that he personally poured. ”That is why the Council needs me. The fresh face that it needs and well…yes, I am a loyal little dog. Panem is my playground and I really want to help it evolve with the rapidly changing future that is approaching. None of you would be here if you had any doubt, let me prove to you that your money isn’t wasted.”

Ivan swipes the bottle from Lilijana’s hand. His sister eyes him, disappointment pulsates from her. Ivan just squares up to her and laughs as he turns back to the only people in this room that have any kind of belief in him. ”I wasn’t supposed to announce this today but it is such a better time! I am going to be one of the Gamemakers of the 96th Hunger Games! The very first Korsch to hold the title! Now aren’t you proud of me dad?” Ivan raises the bottle to the old man across the room who is being helped out of his chair. Then he chugs the half-empty bottle.

ELEGANT