//Smoothie King{and Queen}// [Thundy]

[sbeeg]

Jeff Ryder

Why are weekdays so damn boring? Ryder though, lying on the roof of... well he didn't know which building he had picked to mope on. His limbs were stretched out spread eagle, his face staring blankly up at the sky. It was getting even colder in the districts now and his thin plaid coat, while somewhat stylish, was wearing thin from the many years he had owned it. A few snowflakes float down from the clouds to die a quick death of heatstroke against the warm sidewalks below. One of the white fuzz balls lands right in the middle of the boy's forehead. Reaching a hand over his face to grab it but his fingers only came back wet. Groaning, he threw his arm back against the roof. Jeff didn't really care for snow that much, it made him stick out against the backdrop of the district- something he tries to avoid. Nothing like red hair to make a kid stand out.

Exhaling, the boy watched his breathe escape into the chill air. For a few minutes he pretended to being a fire breathing dragon, and then a few more smoking a cigarette. It had been ages since he had one of those... one thing about being poor it makes you quit habits that's for sure. Having enough of what the boring rooftop had to offer him, Ryder pulled himself to his feet. He bent over and grabbed his toes and stretched out his stiff muscles. "Where to now?" he asked under his breath before slapping a hand over his arms and stretching the other one out to point in front of him. The boy began spinning around in a circle. He usually tried to count to ten but this time his foot caught the edge of a metal vent and sent him sprawling onto the concrete. Opening his eyes, Ryder took inventory of his injuries- a scrap across his chin, a skinned elbow, and a bruised ego. Sighing, he looked to see where his arm was pointing- east. Maybe northeast? Well the Bored Gods have spoken and that's where he would head.

After pulling himself together, the boy hopped from one rooftop to another. The street he had been lounging on top of was an older one and the buildings were all shoved in next to each other like those nasty sardines in the pull cans the charities give them every two weeks. When he was younger, the orphan used to wait in line just to be able to eat something substantial. However, as he grew older and became more familiar with the underbelly of his district- and the assortment of crimes one could commit in it- he scoffed at the idea of the stinky, tiny fish. They were a bad memory and one he wished he could erase. Yet every times Jeff walked past the charity building his shoes would send the thin metal cans clanging across the street. The soundtrack of his childhood, that he hopes will not reach over into his adult life.

Jumping across the rooftops, the boy reached the corner where the buildings became more stretched out and his walk would have to involve more... maneuvering. A leap onto a fire escape, a few skips across a bakery and- there it was. District One's Training Center. It wasn't the only one, but it was the biggest. Usually on busy days, Jeff could slip in there and mess around with the swords and weight equipment for shits and giggles. Most of the time he got dirty looks and on one interesting occasion was escorted out. The long white building was just across the street and it seemed to mock him with its shiny weaponry and smoothies. Ryder once stole a smoothie from some kid who had the misfortune to wander into the wrong part of town and it was probably the best thing he had ever tasted. He may, or may not, have started a smoothie fund in his back pocket. So far he only had a few nickles and a quarter and smoothies don't come cheap.

Slipping down the bakery's wall, Ryder made his way across the street towards the training center, but ignored the main entrance. It was covered in large pictures of Topaz Ross, Peridot Myler, and Opal Shore the three popular District One Victors. Their air brushed faces seemed to shout at him "You too can be like me and kill a shit ton of kids by spending a lot of money of a gym membership and smoothies" If only.

With his hands in his pockets, the red haired boy made his way to the back entrance of the training center. It was normal sized door without the extra adornments of blood and biceps, and usually took in supplies and new equipment and- you guessed it- smoothies. Maybe, if he hung out long enough, the smoothie man might pay a visit and he could sneak a peek into the back of his trunk. A small awning stuck out over the doorway and it was the perfect size for Jeff to stick his butt on. With just a firm push against the wall with his foot and a bit of upper body strength, the boy pulled himself on top of the metal overhang.

Leaning on his stomach, the boy peered over the edge, sticking his head below to stare at the door. His red hair was all pointed towards the ground and looked like someone enchanted as fire to hang from the ceiling.

"Come on. Someone bring good ol' Ryder a smoothie."

[Sunrise Rainier D2 // [Thundy]]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][bg=000000] I built a man made out of bricks And lived inside his chest

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Carrica Tinkham was holding a sword in her hand when she saw a curious flash of red hair outside the window, which was peculiar – she didn’t really know of any red-headed Careers, or at least not any with that shade of red, kinda like the color of fire on a cold winter night or the way a tiny copper coin looks on a sunny day. The face of the stranger disappeared stealthily around the corner before she could get a better look, but that was it; she had to find out who it was. She was drawn to bright colors like a moth drawn to a lamp in the dark, but curiosity played a bigger part in her decision to take a break and find out who it was. Her feet moved quickly as she dropped the sword in its display, walking with determination out the front door, only to find that the stranger had completely disappeared.

Huh.

Carrica walked a few feet and looked around the corner, but the stranger was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t know anyone with fiery red hair, and she thought maybe it might be a girl, based on the length of the hair – perhaps someone on the other side of the District that she hadn’t met.

Giving up, she walked back into the training center and over to the snack area. She grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip, only to jump when she heard a noise that sounded like it had come from right behind her. "Come on. Someone bring good ol' Ryder a smoothie." The bottle of water almost slipped straight through her fingers out of surprise, but she managed to keep hold of it as she twisted her head around to look.

Thankfully it didn’t seem to be coming from anyone in her vicinity, because that would be awkward. A Career was supposed to be alert and constantly aware of their surroundings, and being snuck up on like that would hardly be acceptable. But where was the voice coming from?

Carrica looked around, but nobody was close enough to the food to sound nearly that loud. And it sounded like it came from.. above her? Confused, she tilted her head back, but nobody was climbing into the rafters or anything like that. She twisted her head around, and immediately her eyes locked on the back door. Determined to figure out where the smoothie request had come from, she opened the door and stuck her head out to find that nobody was there.

Until she looked up.

Her face lit up in a smile almost immediately, for there was the boy with the coppery hair, leaning face-first over the edge of the awning.

”Ah, so you’re the one with the cool red hair,” she said, tilting her head up to talk while shielding her eyes from the sun. ”Did you say.. smoothie? That actually sounds kinda good right about now. Hang on a second,” she said, assuming that he wouldn’t plummet to the ground any time soon.

A minute or so later, she emerged through the door again with two smoothies in hand, happy to see that the fire-haired boy hadn’t gone anywhere. (And why would he? There was a free smoothie, after all.)

Staring up with a grin, she looked at the boy. He seemed sort of ragged, nothing like a usual District One citizen – but interesting enough.

Fortunately she was tall enough to hand him the smoothies, so her hands were free to pull herself up. It was safe to say that there wasn’t a lot of room on the awning for both of them, but Carrica found a way to balance without falling off of the thing entirely.

”Whatcha doing all the way up here? Enjoying the view?” she asked, picking up one of the smoothies and taking a sip.

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[sbeeg]

Jeff Ryder

Naturally, Ryder didn't expect anyone to hear his babbling. Half of what the kid said was to himself and he was used to not having to deal with replies. Yet scarce after the words had left his lips the back door to the training center swung open and he nearly fell head first off the awning. His fingers gripped the metal tightly as his eyes made contact with a pair staring at him from the ground. Light blue marbles staring up at him from the flushed face of a girl who had been training. Her lips were pulled into a smile as she gazed up at him and all Ryder could think about was how his own face was contorted into some mixture of confusion, surprise and awe. ”Ah, so you’re the one with the cool red hair.” Right then the boy's face was the same shade as his hair. Was he known around here? Was his cover blown? What exactly was happening?

”Did you say.. smoothie? That actually sounds kinda good right about now. Hang on a second." Then the girl was gone, her lean frame disappearing through the door frame. The boy swallowed hard and pulled himself back onto the awning, throwing his feet over the edge. ....what? was the only solid thought Ryder's shocked mind could make. If he had run into any other career, the boy would have high tailed it out there but no other career had told him to "hang on" while they went to get a smoothie.

Soon he heard the squeak of the door opening and Ryder stuck his head over the overhang again, spying two smoothies in the girl's hands. The girl shoved the drinks at him and Jeff was more than happy to free her of their burden. Only right afterwards she grabbed a hold of the awning and pulled herself up onto it. Now there was barely enough room for Ryder to perch on it and with a second person up there well... there wasn't an excess of room. While the girl pushed herself onto the hiding place, Ryder tried to make room for her but the only way he could was to throw his legs off either side of the awning and straddle it. His fingers still clutched the cold drinks and in the half ass snow storm they were having at the moment he was beginning to think smoothies weren't the best idea ever.

The girl perched herself across from him and even though the boy's back was flush against the wall of the training center giving as much space as possible between them he still felt his ears burn. The girl took one of the smoothies from Jeff's freezing hands and took a sip. She hadn't stopped grinning since he first laid eyes on her. What did she look like when she wasn't looking so... kind? If she was leaving the training center then she must but a Career but she didn't look like one- didn't act like one either. Ryder had his share of encounters with Careers. They aren't very nice, especially the day after their last possible reaping when you call them "to dumb to volunteer right." He might still have a scar from that, now which side had it been the left or the right-

"Whatcha doing all the way up here? Enjoying the view?” oh yeah there was a girl there. A rather pretty one too and she brought him a smoothie. The boy's eyes widened as he looked at what "the view" from his spot was. Well, it was entirely filled by this nice looking stranger he had just met.

"Uhh," the boy shoved his face into his own smoothie, once he remembered it was in his hand untouched. Delicious. Beyond delicious- well, he couldn't think of any word that was beyond delicious but Ryder was positive the girl before him was some kind of angel. Jeff's upper lip was covered in the strawberry drink but he hardly noticed. His skin was already chilled and the situation was so odd his mind was focused on other things. "Well, I'm mooching smoothies off of strangers- what are you doing? Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strange boys?"

He didn't really think about what he said it just kind of spilled out. His name! He should have said his name! He behaved just fine with the girls from the other side of town. They used to count his freckles and saw that he earned one every time he got into a fight. They were easily kissed and forgotten about in a few hours. They drifted in and out of your day like a cloud- they didn't buy you smoothies and root themselves in front of you. And they most certainly did not have Training Center memberships.