Tomorrow Will Be Kinder // [Topaz/Mace]

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

for what it's worth, I have a slow disease that sucked me dry... I always aim to please
but I nearly died

Mace didn't like being apart from Elon, even while the other boy slept. But he'd made it very clear that if Mace didn't leave, he'd never get any rest at all. It was late afternoon, just before dinner, and Elon had insisted on a nap. There were certainly better ways they could have been spent the time - reviewing the other tributes, going over his first aid training - but Mace was finding it harder and harder to deny Elon. If he wanted to spend his last few days before the Games dreaming in a comfortable bed, who was Mace to deny him?

And in his heart, in one of the dark compartments, Mace knew that Elon's chances of napping ever again were slim. So he left him, paced the hallways until he ended up at Aranica's. He hadn't intended to end up taking Kieran, but as he had just fed, it was just as good a time as any for him to "bond" with his son. Mace certainly didn't feel comfortable by himself with a baby but it was supposedly very important for him to spend time with the boy while he was an infant, so that he might remember that he did indeed have a father while he grew up in Twelve. Mace held him in the crook of his arm, the boy clean passed out from the milk in his tummy. When he returned the hallway, he realized he finally had the courage to do what he should have done upon arriving in the Capitol.

It was a long way to Topaz's apartment, and he got turned around twice on the way there, which irritated him. He would've made that more clear to the second person he had to ask, if not for the baby sleeping against his chest. As it were he was tense by the time he came to her door, all the more so because he knew what sort of position he was about to put her (and more importantly, himself) in. But there was nothing to be done about it; he needed someone to understand, and Julian was no longer an option.

Mace's nose flared at the thought of Julian Bryze, who hadn't so much as said hello since they'd been in the Capitol. Mace looked down at Kieran's sleeping face, all squinched and round. How could anyone be mad at him for this? He didn't even know anything about this boy, about his son. And it was hardly fair to call him that; Mace had half a mind to try to convince Ara to find someone else in Twelve, to pretend that he had a father who could be there for everything his own had not. But he wasn't that selfless; more than a moment or two thinking about made Mace want to punch someone - that fake father figure, whomever it might have been.

Kieran was his in a way that nothing else in all of Panem was, and he loved him for that. And, well, maybe a little for the strange coo he made when he yawned and twisted in his arms. Mace lifted his right hand, knocked, and then used it to cover Kieran's dozing face as he waited for Topaz.

banner credit: jurate
lyrics:placebo for what it's worth

[Lulu]

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it's been a long time coming it's not up for debate
you've been a hollowed out apple
though you're standing up straight
.:.:.:.:.:.:.

During training week of the 61st Hunger Games, Topaz had taken to spending her mornings and afternoons in her own apartment in the residential area of the Capitol, rather than in the training center. For one, the training center had never been a pleasant place to be; it brought back too many unwanted memories. But the real reasoning behind this was so she could avoid her insubordinate, acerbic tribute Stark, who seemed to have been determined not to get along with her mentor from the start. And it was nice to be away from all the drama of the Games, particularly surrounding her district because of the reaping of another Moreno.

Of course, there was another district that was getting just as much attention: Mace Emberstatt's brother had been reaped, and the press was having a field day with that. Topaz couldn't bear to be around that drama, because it reminded her far too much of the 59th Games, when Sapphire...well, when she'd gone through much the same thing. It happens too frequently to be a coincidence. She and Mace weren't the only victors who'd had to deal with a reaped sibling. Topaz had (unfortunately) fought alongside Anani Petros in her own Games, sibling of little Aranica Petros, 55th victor. And there'd been plenty more before that; it was plenty clear by now that the Capitol liked traumatizing their victors by sending in their siblings. Anything for more entertainment.

To entertain herself, Topaz lounged on her couch and flipped through television channels, but to her dismay there was never anything but Games reruns broadcast at this time of year. She ended up watching final battle scenes of the past decade of Games, conveniently switching to the channel just in time to watch the battle that had crowned Arbor Halt - one of the only people she could truly consider her friend anymore - victor. Then it was Aranica versus Dru - the one who Topaz had truly been rooting for those Games. And then - the redhead swiftly jabbed the off button as the telltale flaming pillars that announced her climactic fight with Takeba came into sight. Not watching that. Absolutely not.

At that moment there was a knock at the door, which surprised Topaz; no one ever came to see her here. Who could it possibly be? Wary, and hoping beyond all hope that it wasn't the paparazzi, Tope got up and hesitantly opened the door... to reveal none other than Mace Emberstatt, holding a sleeping baby. His and Aranica's, she thought, for she'd heard that story already. All of Panem had. "Well then," she began, once she got over her surprise. "Hello there, daddy dearest. What brings you here? Come to show off your bouncing baby boy? I'm afraid I forgot to pick up a gift." Though her tone was sarcastic, it was accompanied by a good-natured smile; though she'd never gotten to know him properly, Mace was one of the few victors she was fairly certain she could actually get along with if she tried.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.
it's later than you think and we're not gonna wait
if you continue to tell us if you continue to tell us
.:.:.:.:.:.:.

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[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

for what it's worth, I have a slow disease that sucked me dry... I always aim to please
but I nearly died

Mace curled his arm protectively, holding Kieran closer to his chest, as the other victor opened the door. Topaz was no doubt one of the most attractive victors, and that made a lot of people forget how dangerous she could be. But not Mace. He was presently in the mindset that all Careers were to be taken seriously. It wasn't like anyone forgot their training, after all. He might not be able to ranch for weeks on end like he once had, but he could still bring a bull to heel. It was just too bad there weren't any bulls in the Capitol.

He smirked at her, stepping into the apartment without being invited. Mace whistled low in his throat. "Shit, Topaz. You really know how to live." He grey gaze wandered over the luxurious furnishings, and mostly he saw things that he or his son could wreck, just by being near them. That once would have bothered him more, and it was still strange to know that he could replace anything they broke. They. He was still getting used to thinking about someone else constantly, to shifting I to we. With Kieran physically in his arms, it was a little easier.

"I'd settle for a drink. He should be out for awhile. Figured Ara could use the rest." And he could've stayed with her, talked, struggled to understand. But right now Mace needed Aranica to be something associated only with Kieran, with the future, not a painful past, even if it was a history he was destined to share. No. It was much easier somehow to be in pain in front of Topaz. It was more a question of how much pain. "I wanted to get out for awhile too. You know. From training." His words came out slowly, haltingly, grinding towards that invariable truth: that if he wasn't spending time with Kieran, he really ought to be training Elon.

But then, Topaz ought to be doing the same. He'd seen the Reaping tapes. She undoubtedly had her hands full with those two, and he had more than his hands full considering what he was going to do to keep them from killing his brother. He wasn't so stupid as to say that, or to appeal to Topaz. Really he just wanted to forget about it, but since that wasn't possible, he wanted to at least be around someone who understood the depth of his misery.

banner credit: jurate
lyrics:placebo for what it's worth

[Lulu]

.:.:.:.:.:.:.
well it was fine until you fell off of the face of the earth
because we would call you at home
and no one picked up the phone
.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Shit, Topaz. You really know how to live." Topaz snickered at Mace's amazement as he invited himself into her apartment and observed the scenery. She shrugged - her apartment was no more luxurious than the Training Center; even less so, because it was merely a modest Capitol residential building. One of the nicer ones, sure, but not designed to impress by Capitol standards. But Mace doesn't live by Capitol standards. Most of the victors don't. Topaz, however, had all her life, and this had only escalated since she'd become a victor. As much as she tried to deny it, the redhead was incredibly materialistic, and wouldn't settle for anything less. "Well, I guess luxury is an acquired taste."

Topaz pushed away her skepticism when Mace asked for a drink, telling herself that it was just a gesture between friends - or acquaintances, at least, she wasn't sure if they'd reached the friends area yet - and not a jab at her notorious alcoholism. Come on, don't be so touchy. What's wrong with a friendly drink? You can handle it; it's mid afternoon. Of course she could handle it. "Well, I'm always up for one of those," she laughed lightly, floating over to the bar in her kitchen - part of the reason you chose this particular apartment in the first place - to examine its contents. She didn't usually drink here much; usually this was just her recovery location after a night of partying. But it's nice to have, anyway. "So what'll it be? I've got whiskey, scotch, champagne, wine, vodka, martinis, rum, beer, tequila..." The vastness of her collection surprised even her. Shit. I didn't know I had that much. "I could try to mix up something special, but I'm not much of a bartender so no promises that it'll actually be consumable."

As the twenty-one year old began to pour herself a glass of wine - something simple, nothing too hard for this time of day - she heard Mace slowly mutter, "I wanted to get out for a while too. From training." Hear, hear. But despite her general narcissism, she was sure Mace had it worse. Stark and Jae were a handful, sure, but it was nothing compared to mentoring your own sibling. And he isn't about to pretend to hate Elon like you did to Sapphire. "Yeah, it's... it's hard," she mumbled, corking the wine bottle and slipping it back in its place. "But you seem to be handling it pretty well." Stupid. Why would you know if Mace wasn't handling it well? He could be screaming himself to sleep every night, for all you know! But Mace was tough, tougher than Topaz was, for sure. If anyone could deal with it, it was him.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.
we were worried that you'd fallen in the river or worse
but then you sent us back a letter that said in capital letters
the universe is going to catch you
.:.:.:.:.:.:.

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