the start of something disastrous { lionel x marik }

[k!ah]

There was something surreal about the thought of going back home. The moment I had stepped off that platform back in Five I had believed that I would never be coming back. Well, not alive, anyways. And each day since, I had embraced the feeling of escape. Even if that escape still had had me caged. The cage was far larger, and far prettier, and more exciting than the one my father had tried to keep locked in. And there would be no way on this damned earth that I would ever be shackled to him again. In fact, I was looking forward to the moment I saw him. To the moment I could tell him to fuck right off without restraint. Without the suffocating fear of earning his disapproval. Of another verbal fight that would leave me raw and broken.

Not anymore. Never again.

The thought alone was enough to justify the grin that hooked up my lips as I reached the train stations platform. Around me camera's flashed and people called out my name. They howled in approval, and begged for me to notice them. I didn't. In fact, I barely noticed anyone as my eyes landed on Marik Shadow. Last years Victor. However, more importantly, Xov's mentor. My smile turned slightly crueler as I step away from the crowd, moving towards the white haired victor. There were dark shadows under his eyes and he looked exhausted. Which sucked for him because it aged him up 10 plus years. Which was not a good sign for him, considering there could hardly be a year or two between us.

"Marik Shadow," I say around a grin, cutting off whatever conversation he had been engaged in previously. "How does it feel to have come sooo close your first year out, only to have failed so spectacularly?" I ask, casually leaning against the wall beside him as I studied him closely. "Between us girls, I think I did you a favour taking out Xov," I say conspiratorially as I lean in a little closer. "She would have been quite the debby downer to be shackled too for the next however long. Though, maybe the two of you might of made a cute, pathetically miserable, couple."

[Cato]

It's hard. Knowing that I am going back home without a victor when I was so very close. I had hope, and maybe that was my mistake, but it's hard not to have hope when I watched Xov make it as far as she did. I wanted to believe. I wanted to keep that hope alive, but I didn't do enough. Actually, I can't even say that. I did all that I could, and at that point in the game, it was completely up to her. It doesn't make it any easier though. I'm excited to get back home despite everything. I'm ready to see my sister. I'm ready to stay with her until it's time for the next reaping, and then I make my way back to the Capitol. I'm grateful that her friend's parents are willing to look after her while I'm gone. I shudder to think of what would happen otherwise. I was hoping for a peaceful moment, but it's all interrupted when Lionel makes his presence known.

"How does it feel to have come sooo close your first year out, only to have failed so spectacularly?" I simply ignore him at first because it doesn't matter what I say to him, but he's definitely hit a sore spot. I watched him in the games, and he's definitely someone I wouldn't normally associate myself with. He does have a point though, although, I refuse to show him any sort of emotion. I keep looking away pretending like I don't even see him since it seems he's wanting to push my buttons. And push my buttons he does. Lionel keeps going on and on and on, and I'm trying to continue ignoring him as I let everything he says bounce off me without a care in the world. Soon, however, it becomes too difficult.

I turn to him, but I keep my face calm because I know he wants me to react to him. I feel he wants to get under my skin, and he's doing such a good job at it, and I hate it. I hate everything about it, but sometimes people have to respond. "Couple?" I ask and shrug my shoulders unsure of what he's hoping to get out of it. "You're being such a twat, Lionel." I shake my head unsure of where to really go from here, but I'll figure it out. I always do. "And honestly? If I fail, it's because I didn't try my best." I look at him still keeping my face clear of every emotion. "You want my best?" I force myself to stand tall, to wear this with pride because I survived as he did. "Six fucking kills and winning."

Table By Dars

[k!ah]

He's ignoring me. Well, thats not quite true. He is trying to ignore, but I can tell each time something hits, because there is a muscle in his jaw that twitches just enough for me to know that even though he is trying hard to pretend I don't exist.... He is failing. And it is exhilarating. I feel as though each time that muscle twitches it encourages me to keep going, to keep going until he snaps. And he would. They always do.

Here it comes. Three. Two. One/

"Couple?" He asks with a shrug as he finally looks at me. His face is the picture of calmness, but I could tell in the tightness of his shoulders, and the unease, frustration, and what is that? Shame? Disappointment? Greif? In his eyes that I knew it was a bluff. I was getting under his skin. Just like I had Xov's. And just like with Xov, I was going to dig and dig and dig. Why you night ask. Because why the hell not? Because I fucking deserved it. Because After everything, after the games, after my father, my mother and even my damned brother, I didn't give two fucking shits about what anyone thought of me.

"You're being such a twat, Lionel." My grin widens, and I shoot him a quick wink because fuck yeah I was being a twat. And this was just the beginning.

"You want my best?" He asks, puffing out his chest as he pulls back his shoulders. He stands at his full height, and fuck me, it was infuriating that he was a good inch or two taller than me. "Six fucking kills and winning."

Six fucking KiLls and wInNiNg, I mock in an exaggerated version of his voice mentally. My grin turns into a smirk as I push myself off the wall, crossing my arms as I move into his space so that we are almost nose to nose. Another infuriating fact was that his death count was one higher than my own. Though, if I counted Marceline, which I do, because I broke that bitch down until she was nothing. And I basically had that kill but the rabbit dog from two sweep in and stole it like the fucking pest she was. Then we were even.

"Ooooh, please, I'm so fucking scared," I mock, stepping closer until I was well and truely all up in his grill. "Big bad Marik Shadow and his six fucking kills." My gaze sweeps over his face, landing on the dark shades of purple under his eyes for a long moment before returning to his own. "Look at me, I am shaking in my boots."

[Cato]

I hate that I let him get under my skin, but I can't stand this guy. He's vile and cruel, and he knows what to say to make someone mad. It seems as though he gets his fuel and ammunition through upsetting others, and maybe it bothers him when he can't. I don't know, but I stand here watching him, and I wonder what his next plan of action is. It's tough to know, but I take a deep breath preparing myself for whatever may come my way. And instead of giving him any sort of satisfaction, I stand there unwavering, and I make sure to keep my face clear of emotions by controlling my breathing in a slow and calculated way. I've already given him what he wanted once, and I'm going to do my best to not let that happen again. Maybe I can take my chance to get under his skin, and maybe then he'll leave me alone.

People know exactly which buttons to push, and that is a flaw of mine. I've spent a lot of my life watching people pick on me, and they want a reaction, and I promised myself I would never give any more reactions because it only led to worsening problems. People knew what to say and what to do, and I don't know how Lionel did it, but he managed to get under my skin. He managed to get a reaction. He managed to do what I swore I wouldn't let anyone do ever again, and now I must deal with it. It isn't easy, but I focus my breathing. If he wants to play this game, I can play this game too. I can give him a taste of his own medicine. I want a reaction from him. I want to see how he feels when the tides are turned. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll start off small, and then add in something that is bound to make him upset.

"You better be shaking, Lionel." I keep my voice calm, and I try my best not to let anything show on my end. "Otherwise you'll end up six feet in the ground." I know what I'm capable of, and I know what he's capable of. I watched him, and I'm sure he watched me too. We could battle it out right here, but I don't want to do that. "At least you'll have company there, right?" A sly grin slowly spreads across my face as I take a moment to take it all in. "How's Felicity?" I ask as the grin grows even larger. I know they were close. It's why Lionel was so hellbent on Killing Hal. "She okay?" It might not make sense, but I want a reaction. I want to see him become a firecracker, and if he hates me for it, he hates me because I don't care. He wanted to have this exchange, and I'll make sure it's one he never forgets.

Table By Dars